William stared in disbelief at the three beauties that were standing at the front of their classroom.
He knew all three of them and, with the exception of Pearl, William was surprised by the two other ladies that were present inside his classroom.
'What a small world,' William thought as his eyes wandered to the three beauties in front of him.
He was acquainted with all three, but only Princess Aila and him were on good terms.
The Half-Elf had also admired how the Princess had fought alongside her Big Brother, Crown Prince Alaric, during the battle in the Southern Continent.
There were very few healers on the battlefield, and the Princess' face was a common sight at the places where the injured people were gathered.
Because of this, William had a very good impression of her.
As for Princess Eowyn and Pearl, the Half-Elf wasn't too interested in the two of them. For him, the Elves were trouble. The only good Elves in his opinion were his mother, Arwen, and his ex-roommate, Kenneth.
Everyone else was a stranger, and William didn't give a hoot about what they did with their lives.
"Today is your lucky day everyone, especially the boys," Professor Garen said with a smile.
His comment was greeted with cheers and applause by the boys who were looking at the three beauties with infatuated gazes.
"Two Elven beauties! It's very rare to see them here in the academy."
"I think I'm in love!"
"Me, too!"
"Me, three!"
"Bruh, you fall in love with every beautiful girl you see. Have you forgotten that you still have the face of sardine?"
The class became very excited, but Professor Garen managed to calm them down before they got out of hand.
"Okay, can you girls introduce yourselves to the class," Professor Garen smiled as he made a gesture. "I'm sure that all of them are dying to know your names."
Princess Eowyn stepped forward and made a curtsy, "Eowyn Elbereth Nienna. Please, just call me Eowyn. It is my pleasure to meet all of you."
The beautiful Elf didn't want the others to know that she was an Elven Princess. Although she didn't mind introducing herself as such, she deemed that it would be best if the others didn't treat her as royalty.
That way, she would be able to get to know them better and talk to them as equals.
After introducing herself, she took a step back and allowed Pearl to introduce herself as well.
"Pearl McLean," Pearl said. "Call me, Pearl."
She took a step back without another word and stood beside the Princess that she was tasked to guard with her life.
Princess Aila took a deep breath and stepped forward.
"My name is Aila Sol Zelan," Princess Aila said. "I would be very happy if all of you called me Aila."
The boys clapped their hands, and some of them even whistled after the three girls had introduced themselves.
People liked to look at good looking girls, even the ladies of the class weren't an exception. Elves were an excotic race and known for their beauty. However, Princess Aila's angelic face looked so pure and innocent that the boys couldn't stop themselves from looking at her like she was someone they needed to protect no matter what.
When William arrived in the classroom, he was surprised to see that a few more desks and chairs had been placed behind their own desk and chairs.
Now, he understood their purpose.
The three new students sat behind William's group, which didn't come as a surprise to the Half-Elf. He even thought that this arrangement was pretty uncanny and believed that the Academy's Headmaster, Byron, had a role to play in this.
Still, there was nothing he could do about it.
He could only sigh in his heart because he felt that the Headmaster was targeting him specifically, after they had their confrontation on Antilia Island.
He turned his head, just in time to catch Princess Aila staring at him. Their two gazes met and the angelic princess immediately averted her eyes in embarrassment.
A second later, a reddish hue crawled up from the base of her neck, up to the tip of her ears. The boys that saw this immediately glared at William and made him their public enemy number one.
Bruh, you already have two beautiful wives, give us a chance dammit!
William didn't hide the fact that he was already married to his classmates in order to deter the ladies who were giving him bashful gazes on his first day of class. After seeing Princess Sidonie and Chiffon, most of the ladies backed out because they felt that they couldn't compare to William's wives.
The boys also felt at ease because they had one less rival when it came to wooing the beautiful ladies in their class.
The Elves were indeed beautiful, but the students knew that they preferred to have a relationship with their own race. In their eyes, Princess Eoywn and Pearl were just eye candies that they could look at, but never touch.
Princess Aila, on the other hand, was a different matter. Although she didn't introduce herself as a Princess, her angelic features were more than enough to win the boys' hearts.
"How is that old pervert, Owen?" William asked in a teasing tone. For some reason, he felt like bullying the blushing girl who was doing her best to pretend that the staring incident didn't happen.
"Master isn't a pervert," Princess Aila raised her head to defend her Master. Although her face was still beet-red from embarrassment, she would not allow anyone to slander the kind old man that had taught her how to become a Life Magician.
William chuckled and nodded. "Sorry, It has been so long since I've seen you and I suddenly got the urge to tease you."
"Sir William, you're such a bully."
"Sorry. I'll do my best so that it won't happen again."
Princess Eowyn kept her gaze in front of the class, but her ears were focusing on William's conversation with the girl seated beside her.
She was already aware that William and Princess Aila knew of each other. She even hoped that Princess Aila could help her get close to William, so that she could apologize for what happened back in the Southern Continent.
Although she was a Princess, her authority in the expedition was not enough to overturn the general situation. She was merely a supervisor, and the Elves only gave her face because of her lineage.
Princess Eowyn had already expected that William wouldn't treat her kindly, but she still felt bitter at the cold treatment that the Half-Elf was giving her. Even so, she endured it.
She knew that the two of them couldn't instantly become friends, after what had transpired in the Southern Continent.
The best she could do was close the gap little by little, and try to win the forgiveness of her Master's son.
Lady Arwen had assured her Second Disciple that, although William was the type to hold grudges, he was also capable of forgiving others.
Princess Eowyn didn't expect to see William at the academy, but she deemed that this was the workings of Fate in order for her to atone for the sins that she had done in the past.
Pearl, on the other hand, was giving side-glances to the Half-Elf who had abducted her little sister.
She still hadn't forgotten that William had summoned his subordinates to attack her. Since then, Pearl knew that there was no way that she could beat William in a head-on confrontation.
For now, she was willing to wait.
Waiting for the perfect opportunity to arise when she could negotiate with the Half-Elf, and set her sister free from his control, once and for all.
