The Reincarnated Villainous Young Master's Guide to Happiness

Chapter 18: Royce

So if Royce was attempting to date Guinivere...

Bye-bye, Royce. He would be no more.

The students were starting to get whiplash with all these conspiracies.

What in the world was going on? There were too many changes happening in the higher nobility. Will the Crown Prince show up next week as the Crown Princess?!

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Neo missed Royce by just a few minutes. His mind was rather preoccupied as he entered the courtyard of the school.

Rainier and he hadn't spoken to one another after what happened. Neo had taken to dressing himself for the last few days and Rainier made no comment to stop him from doing so. It wasn't like anyone was going to see them break etiquette.

The past few days had been awkward. They were never comfortable with one another, to begin with. Their bond as servant and master was a practical one, rather than an emotional one. After the emblem situation, conversations between them turned stilted.

Neo toyed with the silver hair stick Rainier used to pin his hair up. Today, the servant styled it half-up and half-down.

This morning, he saw him wearing the bracelet he gave him during Aurelion's abduction before he left for school.

In a way, they matched.

The realization distracted him throughout the carriage ride.

Finneas and Tybalt were the first to notice the whispers around them.

"It looks like Royce finally finished his Successor Training," Tybalt remarked in a rather playful manner.

Finneas rolled his eyes. "Is that what they called it? I thought the bastard went on an extended vacation."

Neo heard the mention of Royce and stopped and looked around. Royce was nowhere to be seen.

"Naza?"

"Hm?"

Tybalt gave him a knowing look. "Are you going to see Royce? For the..." He trailed off, letting Neo fill in the blanks.

Neo pursed his lips. "He needs to know."

The three of them knew what the statement meant. Royce hadn't been around for a couple of weeks and didn't know the current situation with their group.

"Go," Tybalt insisted. "We'll cover for you."

Neo shook his head. "Our first class is with Rickman."

Tybalt paused. A few seconds later, he beamed. "We'll try our best."

"Fuck you. I'm not challenging my uncle for your shitty life choices," Finneas snapped.

Tybalt ignored him. "Go," he insisted.

Neo seemed to contemplate his choices. In the end, after weighing the importance of Rickman's potential ire and Royce, he finally chose Royce.

He separated from his friends and rushed into the school building.

There was a group of girls standing in the hall, giggling with one another. Neo was surprised they weren't also gossiping like the rest of the school.

They seemed tiny.

It took him a moment to realize they were Junior Division students.

All five stiffened as he approached them.

"Excuse me, but have any of you seen Royce Benedick?"

One girl blinked. "Bene... dick?"

"Tall, red hair..."