Smolder in the Afterglow | Tales of Luminozenko

Chapter 12| Cotton Candies Came From Spiders

"Good morning, both of you."

I stared at the twins, not knowing which one greeted me, and my brows slowly furrowed. With their heterochromatic gazes, they looked down on me from head to toe, taking in every detail they could, until Delaney spoke.

"Good morning, Your Highnesses," Delaney replied, raising to his feet and giving them both a small bow, which got both of their attention from me. "It's been a while. But I can see nothing has changed. Single-handedly acing the Exam, huh?"

"That's given," one of them commented with a confident smile, the one who held my wrist two nights ago. He and his twin took seats on Ny's other side, which I was absolutely thankful for, and they started a conversation about what happened here and there.

I let my eyes wander around the room, catching people staring at me only to look away immediately, but I stopped at a black-haired girl with panther ears on top of her head, and amber eyes looking at me. She smiled and waved a hand in my direction.

I glanced over my shoulder if she was waving at someone else, but none other than me had an eye on her.

Just mirror her actions, I guess. I brought my gaze back to her, painted a smile on my lips, and waved back. Okay, that's enough.

I craned my neck ahead and sighed. I tapped on my bracelet and let a pencil and sketchbook materialize in my hands. I flipped it to an empty page, glanced forward, and looked back down at the pad.

Though, as I started to sketch things up from my perspective, Delaney called, and I hummed in response.

"Are you drawing the room so you can show it to Lady Amara?" He asked, peering over my shoulders and minding our wings so they wouldn't touch.

I halted midway from sketching and gave a small nod. "Yeah, but just a sketch for now," I mumbled and faced him. "I want to draw it whole, but I don't think I can do it at the moment. There are many details to do after all."

"So you draw," one with the gold eye on the right and gray on the left commented. He had his chin propped on his gloved palm, elbow resting on top of the desk. The longer red strand of his hair slipped through the gaps of his fingers like a bloody waterfall. A condescending grin crept on his face. "I would like to see your artwork one day."

"Ah, that," I returned the smile, "I don't simply show my works to others. I hope you understand."

"Why so?" He asked.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Delaney slowly leaning back in the seat.

I wiped off the smile from my face, painting it over with a calm expression. "I don't see a reason why I should show my things to others."

"Because we'd like to?" He declared, although sounding a bit uncertain.

"Well, that's a 'you' problem." I shrugged, rolled my eyes, and went back to making lines in my sketchbook. Why couldn't people just mind their own businesses?

"How is it a problem that we're interested in what you're doing?" Questioned the other twin, who had his back straightened, demeanor calm and well-mannered.

The line of the paper thickened and darkened as I pushed the pencil down harder. "Because," I shot them both a glance, "you are anno. . ."

"Given your personality, I wonder if someone can stand you?"

"You're drawing again? Focus on your studies first."

I put up a smile and closed my sketchbook. "You won't like my drawings." I looked away and put my sketchbook on my bracelet.