Chapter 9 - 9: The Assembly
"What's that?" Kylo asked as Charlton sat beside him.
"Something my mother asked me to pick up." Charlton lied with a straight face.
Kylo just raised his brow while Serena smiled at him. The food was already served and so they ate in silence. After dinner, they walked back to school as their carriages were waiting for them. They all sent Serena back to her dorm first before going back to theirs.
"I won't be able to accompany you much starting tomorrow, but I will try to make time whenever you need me. I'll see you in the morning at the assembly. Good night, Serena." Leonard said as he walked with her to the entrance of the dorm.
"Thank you for today brother Leonard, Good night!" Serena said, then she waved at Charlton and Kylo who were standing in front of their carriage waiting for her to get in.
--
It was quarter to eight in the morning when Serena arrived in the assembly hall. As she was recalling the details in the novel, she observed the hall filled with students. The area was divided into three sections. On the right and in the middle were students wearing uniform. The boys were wearing black colored three-piece suit with white undershirt and plaid burgundy tie, while the ladies were wearing burgundy-plaid skirt of varying lengths, matching ribbon, white undershirt, knee high socks and black coat. On the left were students in civilian clothing, obviously the girls looked eager to wear the uniform while the boys can't take their eyes of the ladies in uniform. Meanwhile, at the very front there was a platform where a teacher was standing.
Not seeing any familiar face, Serena walked to the area for 1st year students.
Windsor school for nobles was quite large. The main school building consists of three-story structure. Facing it head-on, there was a large entryway, with an east and west wing leading off on both sides. In you go straight, it will lead you to the assembly hall under a high ceiling glass dome which would have been very lovely at night. The school requires students to stay in campus for 3 years. Although there were only 3 levels, there were still more than 300 students enrolled. The reason for this number is that all kingdoms in the empire send their children here before they debut in society at the age of 21.
The empire has 8 kingdoms, think of it as ASEAN which has 8 member countries. The premise was almost the same as each kingdom has autonomy and none of them were under the rulership of the other. Windsor though, is one of the, if not the richest kingdom amongst the 8. This of course, raise the status of nobles of the kingdom. That is why in the novel, although there are also princesses in school, Serena's status was considered special.
Being the only biological daughter of a very rich Duke, one can only imagine how large her dowry is. And as if that were not enough, she was also the most beautiful girl in the empire. If not because of her reputation and mental illness after the thing with Geoffrey, she would have easily been the most desirable woman.
"All students please settle. We will begin the school assembly in 5 minutes." The teacher said as more students filled the hall.
Serena stood amongst the first-year students. The ladies were all keeping to themselves, smiling shyly at one another, while the boys, most of them already knew each other so they had their own cliques.
Looking at the entrance, Serena saw Charlton and Kylo entering. Charlton and her eyes met, so she waved at him while smiling sweetly. Charlton blushed and waved back. Kylo seeing Charlton waving followed his eyes and saw Serena.
"With a chick like that..." Kylo sighed as he continued "I have no idea why Geoffrey is trading a pearl for fish-eye. Hey Charlie, stop smiling like that, it creeps me out. If I didn't know you better, I'd wager that you'll soon be a Lancelot wooing his Guinevere."
"Not funny." Charlton replied as they walked to where the 2nd years were at.
All the students straightened when the platform was filled by the school's dignitaries.
"Welcome and welcome back to Windsor School for Nobles. Today, we welcome 128 new students to our school. We also welcome back the 112 2nd year students, and 98 senior students in their final year. Please let us give ourselves a round of applause." The teacher said as all the students clapped.
Afterwards, he introduced the school principal to give his welcoming ramarks.
"Good morning everyone. It is with great pleasure that I welcome all of you today. As we all know, our school was founded 150 years ago after our forefathers signed the regional cooperation between the 8 kingdoms, Windsor, Alighieri, Russow, Eulio, Militeia, Guiea, Balamb, and Horace. This school was built upon their hope that the time spent in this school will strengthen the ties amongst us as we grow...."
Serena tuned out whatever the principal was saying as she saw Leonard standing with a group of students near the platform. Beside him was a black haired man who Serena believe must be Crown Prince Geoffrey, her fiancé. The mic was again given to the teacher as he asked the student council to climb up the stairs.
"Now, let us welcome the student council headed by Crown Prince Geoffrey William of Windsor."
The group of 8 students climbed the platform as the teacher gave the mic to Geoffrey.
"Thank you very much for the warm introduction Sir, but please call me Geoffrey. Good morning everyone. I am Geoffrey William, a second year and the student council president, with me are the members of the student council, Artemis Philip, a senior who is also our vice president, Diana Murphy, a senior who is our secretary, Mary Thompson, a second year and our treasurer. We also have Diether James and Joan Keira as the Senior representatives, Leonard Maxwell and Gina Oslow as the Second year representatives with us. As you may have noticed, I did not attach a title to our names. That is because in this school, we are all students. We are equals and our superiors are our teachers and the school staff/ dignitaries. The second year and senior students are aware of this, but I know that this is a first for the freshmen. Please keep that in mind as you tread your life as students at this school. Other than that, I believe that you will all enjoy your learning experience here. After the preliminary exam, two freshmen students of opposite genders will be tasked to join the council, and I, together with our members, will be happy to welcome you then." Geoffrey said as he placed his right hand on his left chest and bowed.
'what a pretentious SOB...' Serena thought as she observed the male lead of the novel. 'he may look like a prince, and sound humble in his speech especially with the bow, but in the novel, there is no man who is more hypocritical with a hero complex than him. He actually only implements the social equality when it comes to the female lead, but for the others and for himself? Other than allowing everyone to use his first name, his attitude is 'Sorry, crown prince here'.' Serena thought as she rolled her eyes. 'Well, whatever, it's not like I'll be seeing him a lot. In the novel, Serena introduced herself, and after that, he avoided her like a plague. Besides, he will be too busy with the female lead. Now where is she?'
Serena didn't have to look for long, she just had to follow Geoffrey's eyes to spot a brown hair girl in front of the line. Said girl has her head bowed. She can not see her clearly as there were people in front of her.
"Thank you for that Geoffrey. And so with this, we now end our welcoming ceremony. The second year and Senior students, as your class and schedules have been distributed the day before, please proceed to your classroom. Meanwhile, for the freshmen, please follow me."
The students went out of the assembly hall, which also doubles as the school auditorium, in an orderly manner.
Before leaving, Serena's eyes met with Leonard as they smiled at each other. Geoffrey was walking with him but did not turn to her direction. Her eyes then went to follow the leaving 2nd year students. Kylo has his right arm slung across a girl's shoulder, while Charlton seems to be troubled with a girl trying to cling to his arm.
Charlton saw her looking at him as he shook his head, as if trying to say 'this has nothing to do with me'. Serena raised her brow then turned to follow the group of freshmen.
"We are now in the east wing of our school. Here on the ground floor is the school cafeteria, on the second floor are club rooms, and the third floor has the school library. You may walk around the school during your free time later." The teacher said as he continued to walk.
"Here on the west wing are the classrooms. The ground floor is for the freshmen. The second for the second years, and the top floor for the Seniors. As there are 128 of you enrolled this year, the school has divided you into 5 sections. All female students are in class 1 and 2, while all male students are in class 3 to 5. Kindly look for your own names, enter your classroom, take a sit, and wait for your teachers for further instructions. If you do not have any questions, then I will leave you amongst yourselves." The teacher said.
Luckily for Serena, she already knew that she will be in section 1 as said in the novel. So she just looked at the list to double check. She also confirmed that she will be in the same class as the female lead.
Serena was the third person to enter the class. She quickly chose a sit at the middle of the row beside the window. Although she has no plans on being the goody two shoes teacher's pet, she doesn't want to be labeled as the bimbo like in the novel.
Soon after, Serena saw the female lead, Emily Evans, entering the class. Today, she was wearing a neat yellow dress, nothing fancy but it suited her. Her long brown hair was braided to the side, and her head was bowed. She looked a little upset, perhaps due to finding out that Geoffrey is their kingdom's crown prince with a fiancé. She sat on the second seat in the middle row of the class.
Serena later noticed that the class has been filled and there were no more students outside.
Afterwards, the teacher came in. Serena already knew who their teacher will be based on the novel, but it is still funny to see the students being star strucked.
"Okay class, I am Ms. Grace Astoria, your homeroom teacher for this year."