Astra Chronicles

Chapter 2: Lord White

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"All things truly wicked start from innocence," ―Ernest Hemingway

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I remember how I had pushed my tiny body to the corner of the back seat.

I kept my breaths minimal and shallow.

An attempt to lessen smelling the putrid stench of mixed body odor and thick spicy or sour citrus fragrance.

It was hard to pin adjectives to accurately describe what he reeked of.

I found it offensive for the poor citrus fruits to be compared to the foul whiff.

That, I decided, was a result of heavy drinking without showering and not of any perfume.

The flabby man who was on the other side of the back seat had fallen sound asleep in our lengthy car ride. His snores filled the otherwise deafening silence.

I lost count of how many cities we had passed. But the sun had begun to set, making the skies glow in pinkish and orange streaks.

In a different scenario, I would have enjoyed the sublime scenery this ride had offered.

But the truth that I had been plucked away from my family and that I had become a property of an organization was far too unsettling.

"You don't look too happy, kid."

I flinched and whipped my head to the driver.

He looked—well, astonishingly similar to what the story books had described drivers would be.

A navy blue uniform on a neatly pressed white undershirt and adequately combed mahogany hair that had some elements of grey completed him. He seemed like he was in his fifties.

I forgot he could talk.

Not sure of what to say in response, I chose to keep quiet.

He didn't strike me as a bad guy but looks could be deceiving and the option for mistakes was not half enticing.

I should pick my words carefully.

"I see you're an observer," he spoke again, noticing that I was not going to reply.

"You're quiet and you look smarter than your age. Typical for Academia kids."

Academia kid.

I kept forgetting I had become 'that'.

I wondered how many children had the same ride I was having.

Separated from their families.

Carried what little things they could bring with them.

Forced to live with strangers and grown as dispensable tools in a school no one had really heard of.

"Lord White is a good man," the driver uttered, glancing at me from his rear mirror.

"He will not bring any harm to you. Besides, you're the lucky princess he adopted."

His smile was kind.

Possibly intended to comfort me because one could easily figure out I was anxious and was on guard for the past hours.

My stiff shoulders visibly relaxed just the slightest before he spoke again.

"At least, you're sure to live like a royal vieux while he enjoys being your family."

I took a nervous gulp.

My brain automatically served me the worst scenarios it could conjure.

Do they cook children who misbehave?

Or was all of this a scam?

That was highly possible because no one has heard of this Academia Astra.

Why didn't I consider that?

They could cut me up and sell off my usable organs to hospitals.

Then, they would dump my remains somewhere outside Gaea's Walls.

No one would discover that I was murdered.

It was too easy to conclude that I could die without anyone ever knowing what had become of me.

I was tempted to ask if Lord White was, in the very least, a human.

A normal human, to be exact.

Well, he had to be.

Because what would he be if he wasn't one?

I dreaded any answer to that question.

I hoped that he had a merciful spot somewhere in his heart.

If he was fatherly, then perhaps I could manage to persuade him to let me go and just allow me to pay my debt instead of slaying me when I fail to meet his standards.

The driver began chuckling to himself as if he found all of this funny.

To me, his laughter felt like mockery towards someone who was lured by a delicious cheese slice inside a mouse trap.

What he was not aware of was that this stupid mouse in the car understood that it was a snare yet she was given no other option but to get caught.

Maybe it was foolish but her motive in doing so was noble or even heroic. She had to. . .so that no other mouse would have to lose his life.

The driver fell silent as he drove closer to a ginormous steel gate.

A guard stepped out from behind the gates and circled the car, checking for something I was not sure about.

His eyes momentarily met with mine as he surveyed us before he gave a signal to enter and the driver responded to him with a curt nod.

The gates opened to a wide view of a lush garden surrounded by multistory buildings with connecting bridges between them.

The garden was the size of a football field. There were colorful flowers and plants of different leaf colors. The garden lamp posts glowed with warm white light and on the center of this scenery was an elegant fountain surrounded by red rose bushes.

Behind this stunning view were those tall buildings which were uniformly colored with white wash walls. It had several sophisticated wall lamps mounted by each entrance and the corners of every building, making the place give the impression of a five star hotel.

Despite the unexpectedly lovely landscape and the extravagant structures inside the high-rise walls of what I believe was the academy, I couldn't appreciate anything except the little cover my backpack had provided me.

I was busy fearing for myself and what was awaiting me.

Finally gathering enough courage, I clenched my fists and faced the driver. Picking my words with extra caution, I cleared my throat to gain his attention.

"What happens when he doesn't want me around?" I asked weakly.

He didn't answer right away and just continued driving. But I noticed how amusement seemed to have flashed in his eyes. I fidgeted uncomfortably as all sorts of possibilities flashed in my mind.

All of them were leading to my premature death.

After a nerve-wracking extended silence, the driver craned his neck to look straight into my eyes before answering a forgotten question I thought he had deliberately left to my imagination.

"Well, that's something you should never find out," he finally replied with a meaningful smile.