Like everyone else, Nreu received a message early in the morning with his schedule and class assignment.
The moment he saw which class he had been placed in once again, he couldn't hide his disappointment.
B-04.
One level below that cursed half-elf.
And below his own sister, who was also studying in Trey's class.
Just thinking about it completely ruined Nreu's mood.
Still, he already had a plan that would help him stop looking quite so pathetic in his own eyes.
That plan was to find his brother—Alurik.
If he could locate the exiled prince and make sure others knew it was his doing, perhaps he could at least partially restore his reputation and prove that he wasn't as useless as he currently appeared.
For all these months, Nreu had been trying to find even the slightest trace of Alurik on his own.
But without success.
It was as if he had simply vanished.
Nreu understood perfectly well that all of this was little more than a childish attempt to boost his own self-esteem.
But he didn't care.
After getting ready, he headed to class.
Unlike elite stufons, his room didn't come with a private kitchen.
That meant he had to eat breakfast in the communal dining hall with everyone else.
And that fact irritated him more than almost anything else.
As soon as he went downstairs, he immediately saw groups of seated stufons.
The dining hall was already gradually filling up.
Cursing his terrible luck, Nreu started searching for an empty seat.
Soon, he noticed a vacant chair beside a dark elf girl dressed in the uniform of the Swordsmen Wing.
Without wasting time, he headed over.
"Hello, is this seat taken?" Nreu asked politely.
He had no idea who this elf girl was, so he decided to at least start the conversation properly.
The girl raised her head.
"Hi, human. No, it's free. Sit if you want," the dark elf replied in a sleepy voice.
Nreu gave a brief nod and went to get food.
Unlike in the castle, here he had to choose his own dishes and carry them back to the table himself.
It irritated him beyond measure.
How had he, a prince, ended up in a place where he was forced to eat in the same room as commoners and people of no noble standing?
The very situation felt humiliating.
But he had brought himself to this point.
In trying to prove that Trey had cheated, Nreu had only made his own circumstances worse.
Nothing could be fixed now.
All that remained was to accept the consequences.
Returning with a tray, he sat across from the dark elf and silently began eating.
She didn't even glance up when he came back, remaining fully focused on her own meal.
For a while, they ate in silence.
After finishing breakfast and already preparing to leave, Nreu suddenly called out to her.
"Wait."
The dark elf let out a heavy sigh and sat back down, already clearly irritated.
"Human, what do you want?" she asked displeased, looking at him.
Nreu mentally forced himself to remain calm.
"You're from the Swordsmen Wing, right?" he asked.
After receiving a short nod, he continued,
"I wanted to ask you to find out something about one stufon from your wing."
As he spoke, he studied her carefully.
Unlike Cassandra, this elf's eyes were black, almost like Trey's.
Her hair, however, was different.
White, like Princess Samantha's.
The dark elf gave an irritated snort and was already about to get up from the table.
But after hearing his next words, she sat back down.
"How much are you paying? And in what? Currency or gold?" she asked.
As someone from a non-noble family, she clearly couldn't afford to ignore an opportunity to earn money.
"For now, gold," Nreu replied. "It all depends on how useful the information turns out to be."
As he spoke, he found himself continuing to observe her.
She wasn't as beautiful as the princesses, but she still possessed an attractiveness that was difficult to ignore.
The dark elf noticed his gaze almost immediately.
Her expression darkened noticeably.
Realizing this, Nreu quickly added,
"Half now, half after results."
But judging by her face, that no longer helped.
"Sixty percent now and forty later," the dark elf replied coldly. "Additional markup for the way you're looking at me. Like you're picking meat at a market."
At her words, Nreu felt anger rising inside him.
All he could do was clench his hands tighter beneath the table.
"If you changed your mind, I'm leaving," she added calmly, starting to rise again.
"Fine, I agree to your terms," Nreu answered quickly, realizing she was genuinely about to leave.
The dark elf sat back down.
"So which stufon do you need information on?" she asked. "And what did he do to you? If I understood correctly, you're a prince."
There was faint curiosity in her voice.
"His name is Trey."
The moment Nreu said the name, her brows lifted slightly.
Obviously, she had immediately thought of a different Trey.
But he continued right away.
"And no, it's not that half-elf the entire academy is talking about right now."
Her expression instantly became noticeably bored.
"He's human. Golden hair, blue eyes, around my height."
After that, the dark elf visibly relaxed.
"Alright," she said with a short nod. "I'll try to find out as much about him as possible."
She stood up.
"I'll contact you myself within the next few days."
Then she extended an elegant hand toward him.
"And now, payment."
Nreu cursed inwardly, but still suppressed his irritation.
Taking out a small pouch of gold, he counted the required number of coins and placed them into her palm.
After checking the amount, the dark elf nodded in satisfaction.
"Pleasure doing business, Prince."
With those words, she turned and walked away, leaving Nreu alone.
Remaining seated at the table, he sank into his thoughts.
In his imagination, scenario after scenario replayed in his mind—ways he could interfere in Alurik's life and destroy any plans he might have for his stifon