Ashes and Stardust

"Meet Emily, she is my assigned partner and is a daughter of Baron from the Southern part of the continent, Kingdom of Thera."

Emily had short black hair and black eyes. Her figure was lean and petite, especially in a contrast to Evelyn or Cece, who were tall and curvy in the right places. Her face held an air of innocence, but her eyes hinted at something far more cunning.

Her gaze wandered from Damien to look at Ivan, clearly ignoring everyone else. She smiled seductively at Ivan, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears and said, "Your Highness, it's a pleasure to meet you." 

With a coy blush colouring her cheeks she added, suggestively, "Please let me know if I can be of any service to you…anything."

Damien, Cece and Eve cringed at every word that came out of her mouth. Even Cece's partner Edward shuddered with a frown on his place. 

Eve raised her brow, not just because Emily had blatantly ignored her and everyone else, but for the fact that the girl was practically drooling over Ivan. 'This… this is exactly the kind of a woman I can never become.' She thought to herself.

Ivan shot Emily, a look of pure disgust. He then said, "Damien, what did I tell you about not picking up trash?"

Damien sighed dramatically and said, "Ah must have been a bad batch. Tsk." 

He looked at Emily with eyes turning colder and said "You know I introduced you to everyone and not just him"

Already crimson with embarrassment from Ivan's sharp words, Emily looked around awkwardly and stammered,

"Ah….I'm so sorry. Let me introduce myse-"

"Don't bother," Cece cut in flatly, with her blunt words. "Maybe wipe the drool off your chin before speaking to others." 

The two Lumens, Eve and Edward shared a look and decided to ignore Emily entirely after the awkward exchange.

Trying to salvage what was left of her dignity, she said to Ivan and said with a forced grace, "I apologise Your Highness. I meant no disrespect. I've just always admired you, and was just eager to introduce myself to you first. I only wanted to offer my help, should you need any assistance with your projects or any other work. I'm very... available.."

Ivan responded in a cold and razor-sharp tone laced with irritation, "I already have Princess Evelyn for that, you on the other hand should probably concentrate on fixing your damaged brain, before you end up dragging my brother down with you. Unless of course, you are eager to find yourself six feet under. It wouldn't be the first 'accident' in the academy."

Damien frowned at her persistence, his tone matching his brother, "You better listen to him… because accidents happen in this academy... anytime." 

"Y-yes, Lord Damien." she shrank back in her seat next between Eve and Damien.

Eve, who had been quietly observing the exchange, had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.

'Well… that escalated quickly' she mused.

While Emily stood stiff and humiliated, Eve kept her face neutral, but her eyes sparkled with quiet satisfaction. She wasn't someone who enjoyed someone else's embarrassment, but watching Ivan and Damien shut Emily down with such chilling precision was... unexpectedly entertaining.

She glanced at Ivan from the corner of her eye. 'He handled it rather well.' she thought.

Ivan didn't spare Emily with another glance, as the woman was dripping with desperation he hated the most. He relaxed in his seat and glazed at Eve beside him who hadn't uttered a single word.

He then noticed a little sparkle of amusement dancing in her eyes and a very miniscule curve around her lip that she was trying so hard to control.

She wasn't smug or petty but she wasn't completely made of sugar either.

'Good' he thought 'she has teeth.'

Potion class soon began, led by a lumen Professor Ana Kimberly. She wasn't very tall, and had red hair tied in a neat ponytail with the glasses resting on a bridge of her nose. Like most lumens she was beautiful.

She first introduced herself and then went around to take everyone's introduction one by one. After that, she gave instructions to make a basic healing potion. Each pair was required to assist each other to make a single vial. 

Evelyn started crushing some dried herbs together and Ivan mixed liquids with controlled precision. When it was time to start adding the ingredients to the pot one by one, Ivan took the lead. Eve watched quietly, observing how effortlessly he moved.

When it was her turn to add the crushed herbs in the pot, Ivan turned to her and said, "Now you need to be careful on how much you add. Too much or too little and the result could be a disaster. We'll both fail, so listen to my instructions carefully."

She nodded, and added the very first herb powder. Emily, seated next to Eve, seethed with jealousy. It burned her from inside to watch how harmoniously Ivan and Eve were working together. How gracefully Eve was moving, how close Ivan was next to her watching her every action with focus.

What infuriated her the most was how he spoke to Eve, calmly, without the sharp, cutting words he had thrown at her earlier.

And on top of that, it was Evelyn's beauty that stung her. It was the kind of beauty Emily could never match. Watching her beside the golden prince, calm and radiant, was unbearable. So she decided to take revenge, for stealing what she believed should have been her place.

There was a vial of acid kept in the corner of the table, close to Evelyn. Noticing it Emily made up her mind and decided to 'accidentally' knock it over. 

Damien, on the other hand, wasn't paying her much attention. He had already written her off as useless and took charge of completing the portion himself, leaving her with only the bare minimum of participation.

Suddenly, Emily stood up abruptly, muttering an excuse about needing to use the powder room. As she slipped out from her seat, she swung her hand just wide enough to accidentally knock the acid vial, pretending to trip as she did.