Smolder in the Afterglow | Tales of Luminozenko

Chapter 14| Gaslight, Gatekeep, Roast Without Fire

"You've been looking at your shoulder since Weapon's Art," commented Delaney, also staring at my right shoulder, probably figuring out what was wrong with it. Then, he shifted his emerald gaze to my cheek.

Upon seeing the cut on it earlier, Delaney and the twin princes almost wanted to drag me to the infirmary. Although, I refused, saying it wasn't anything serious, yet as soon as they heard that, they began to aid me instead. They cleaned, put ointment, and even covered it up with a small gauze pad. And now I looked like I got hit in the face.

If mom were here, she would probably be yelling at me by getting hurt again. But after that, she would be asking how I beat the other person up and who won and cheer for me.

I missed her.

I sighed out loud. "It's nothing. My shoulder just feels a bit . . . Itchy."

"Jeez, then scratch it." He pulled a face.

"Eh." I copied his expression. "It takes time to take off and wear our uniform. Besides," I waved a hand in dismissal, "it's gone now."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say."

"Oh, right!" Prince Guren beamed out of the blue and walked ahead of us, before turning his whole body to us. "Do you guys have anything to do now that all of our classes have ended?"

It made me wonder if I was going to watch something funny, like him bumping into someone or falling over while walking backward. I guessed I had to wait.

"Not really." I shook my head. "I'll probably just head straight back to my room and read or draw."

"If I remember correctly, you appeared to be reading a trilogy when we met," Prince Lazul commented, tilting his head to the side a bit. "What kind of stories do you often read?"

I made a face, remembering how punchable they were, and clicked my tongue over how politely he presented himself. "Mostly novels," I said in a low voice. "Mystery, thriller, action, adventure . . . A bit of romance, and a lot of fantasies."

It would have been easier to just straight-up kick them if they hadn't approached me in a well-mannered way. Maybe, if they had talked shit about me or hit me first thing in class earlier, I would have an excuse in the eyes of others to punch them.

Unless the rest of the people in class condone their actions. Which wouldn't be unexpected since they were royalty.

"Oh, Guren and I only read mystery and thrillers when it comes to novels," he proclaimed with a small smile and Prince Guren nodded in agreement as he went back beside his twin. "But if we're talking about action, adventure, romance, and fantasies, then you have the same tastes as Murien, Kieran, and Calis. But they also tend to read darker stories."

I didn't ask though.

He glanced up and put his fingers under his chin. "Leonis likes to read books as well, but he mostly only reads books about History, Languages, and Ancient Runes."

"He studies Ancient Runes?" I echoed in a loud voice and immediately pursed my lips, glancing around the hallway. I found some students curiously looking our way.

"Yes," Prince Guren replied in a cheerful voice and a grin. "Do you already know about it?"

"Well, I got the gist of it, but not the entire thing," I fessed up, putting my pride down for curiosity.

"Alright, I'll elaborate further then," Prince Lazul declared. "Ancient Runes are usually used in making portals and magic tools. The most common example of those tools is our bracelets." He gestured to the accessory on his wrist. "And custom-made weapons. It requires a lot of magic and time as it's complicated and hard to do. Most of the people who perform them are Magic Engineers, also known as Sorcerers, inventing and building things. Everything needs to be precise and to do all that, you need to be fluent in Lumaniazeia as everything will be written in our Ancient Language."