Seven Knights: Because I Like You, Duh

Scene 2: The Problem with Nobles

"Kris, do you have a plan during the winter break?"

Kris clicked his tongue covertly when one of his noble friends caught him even though he tried to leave his class alone secretly. It was getting crowded with all of them always following him around. He wanted to be left alone for only one day for goddess' sake!

"Winter break," Kris repeated in a deadpan, completely uninterested in what his 'friend' wanted to say, but didn't want to seem rude for not at least hearing what he said.

"Winter break," the blond noble teen nodded, parroting back with a smile... no. Fake smile. It did look pretentious in Kris' eyes. These days Kris realized that a lot of his peers did that around him, faking smiles and singing praises to him. Not all of them, but mostly. Some people really did admire him, but some...

Kris sighed.

After being more aware of Rudy's existence in Luxtov Academy of Knights, Kris was uncertain about the young noble men around him that claimed to be his distant family and his family's close friends. Surely, their fathers and mothers seemed to be friends with Kris' parents, but their children hadn't earned themselves any trust from Kris aside of their 'fake smile' and 'empty commendations'.

Oh, Kris earned those achievements with his own ability. He was absolutely confident in his skills, but the way those people delivered the compliments made him doubt their sincerity, like they were hiding something, or had ulterior motives.

They were so very different from Rudy.

Rudy's smile always brightened the space around him, so free and genuine, and looked very good. His eyes were alight along with his mirthful mood and laughter, and when he looked at Kris in the eye, those soft amber pools penetrated his own with sincere care and gentleness.

It annoyed Kris to no end. He actually got embarrassed just thinking about it. Rudy was very honest with his feeling and a terrible liar despite his occasional sarcasm. People could always tell how he felt from his expression alone.

Kris also realized that a lot of his peers were jealous and resentful of Rudy's achievements. Rudy was as good as Kris in his sword-fighting skill and as smart as well for being an honor student in his class of his year, beating his noble classmate with a wide margin. Yet, unlike Kris who got compliments and admiration, the noble-born discriminated Rudy even more because he was an orphan and a commoner.

It disgusted Kris to know that his noble peers which were supposed to be noble in their character, could be so... so immature and petty in treating people with different background. Though, Rudy didn't seem to be disheartened by the unfair treatment. He just sighed, smiled and ignored their demeaning insult.

Kris started to feel his bad mood rising at the thought. He tried to dismiss it, but it just didn't sit right with him. Surely, not all noble-born were petty. Kris, for one, never thought of Rudy as inferior than him just because of his family background. There had to be others that thought the same as him.

Kris fixed his expression to be as neutral as he could. "So, what about winter break?"

"Yeah, there will be a snow ball party at my family castle at the first weekend of the winter break. Would you come to enjoy the party with me and my family and the other invited guests?"

The blond, noble teen (who was his name again? Slughorn? Lughorn?—Kris couldn't, even if his life depended on it, remember his full name. He would just call him 'Lug' in his head for now) offered him another 'fake smile' complete with the exaggerating gesture that made him look silly instead of elegant.

But still, his parents were good friends of Kris' father. He couldn't just carelessly turn down a formal invitation if he didn't want to insult the young man's family. His father would disapprove, but Kris didn't exactly care about his opinion. It was his mother that he did not want to disappoint.