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The ride to Le Viour Academy was confusing. After a long time on the lay-by figuring out the route with me, my family driver was able to locate the secluded campus with the instructions included in my letter. But this must be a small price to pay for being highly exclusive and lucrative, accepting only the one percent of society.
Leaning back into the plush velvet backseat of the car, I mulled over Eli's words back at the void.
"SS, I want you to know that not only is this the last time loop, but also your last mission."
It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that this is the last mission I'll carry out. Or that this is the final time loop.
But if I were to finish it, I'd have to keep to myself for the most part-I have a feeling Eli wouldn't like it if she knew I told anyone else. It's best if no one knows anyway, for it would only escalate into a huge, uncontrollable mess.
Just as I did in any other time loop, I had to be perfect. My image had to be the perfect girl who knows what to do, knows what to say, knows everything. In short, I had to be a model student, a scion of noble blood.
Eli had arranged for her relatives to act as my parents in this time loop. So I was known as SS, the daughter of Septpian royalty. So far, they treated me well enough; they gave me everything I needed.
But then again, I was not Eli, nor will I ever be her. I'm only here for a mission, anyway.
"Miss, we're here," the driver announced, stopping just right at the grand front door of the academy. I thanked him and got off, clutching my small muted pink suitcase.
From the outside, Le Viour looked like a palace. A high-standing, dignified wall of impeccable brickwork shielded by coal-colored shingles meticulously laid in a perfect row and gaping, dusty windows greeted me, complemented by an ethereal landscape of shrubs and trees that could not easily be replicated by anyone. Behind the grand campus was a backdrop of an enigmatic grayish blue sky that never tells if it was going to rain or not.
Hundreds of cars, obviously expensive, were scattered across the roundabout driveway that had a jovial grand fountain as a centerpiece. Everyone was already by the front porch, pooling in towards the already open grand doors, that unveiled a foyer that was the epitome of pure opulence.
Gold was the light that enveloped the foyer, with checkerboard flooring, lush red velvet carpets that lined marble stairs that led to a single balcony, wooden panel walls that had oil paintings on almost every inch, and a giant crystal chandelier that hung from a gilded ceiling.
As I've heard, Le Viour was the prime school of choice for parents of the one percent to send their children to, so of course it had to look the part of being a highly classy school.
But as much as it was grand and classy, I felt like they've overdone it.
As I entered the foyer, a strong aroma of ginseng wafted in the air. Teenagers clad in tastefully tailored outfits milled about, conversing amongst themselves, until a voice spoke from the intercom a short while after.
"To all first-year initiates, kindly line up in single file and go to Room 256. Thank you."
I took out the envelope and searched for a map of Le Viour's interior, and located a map which detailed how to get to Room 256 from the foyer. It was quite the long walk, but I had trained to endure long distances and arduous paths.
As I lined up, I felt a soft tap in my shoulder. I whirled around to see a girl with curly brown hair and a bright grin illuminating her soft features.
She looked very familiar.
"Hi!" the girl exclaimed, extending her silver-embellished hand. "I'm Umbra."
I pursed my lips. "I'm SS," I replied as I took her hand and shook it. I swore I saw her space out for a hot second until she brought back her smile from earlier.
"It's nothing. I have a feeling that we'll be friends," she added.
I smiled at her, warmth budding up my chest with some foreign knot in my gut. "Me too," I said before turning back.
Ah. She's Umbra. I knew it.
I always knew her to be optimistic and bright, but I looked into her eyes and it feels like she's forcing this happy image on herself.
If she was talking to any other person, she would be labeled a creep. But I know Umbra. She's being friendly. She always is. But I couldn't explain why her eyes were so...empty. This is not the Umbra I know, whose eyes shone like the sun and whose smile was contagious and reached her ears.
Guess Eli wasn't kidding when she said this time loop was different.
But then again, was Eli even the type to joke around a lot?
I shook off these thoughts when someone patted me on the shoulder, from a scowling girl with jet black hair that tumbled down her shoulders like ocean waves. "Excuse me," she interrupted, "the line's moving."
"Oh, right," I grimaced, before moving along with everyone else.
After every technology we owned had been surrendered-much to the majority's dismay-we were all instructed to stand on a platform that had our names on it when we entered Room 256. Only then when the last person stood on their assigned platform did an astute man walk over to the platform in front of us, with a sleek tablet that seemed to have a blue hologram of the Vitruvian man projected from it.
Oddly enough, it reminded me of the technology from the time loop before this one. Advanced and high-tech.
"Welcome, everyone, to the final elimination round of Le Viour Academy's entrance test. My name is Dr. Aster Keele, and I will be overseeing the whole round," Dr. Keele said, with a stone-cold tinge to his clear voice.
At the front of the white, sterile-looking room with surveillance cameras on almost every corner, Dr. Keele stood like a dignified rationalist with a crisp lab coat and his ash brown hair in some stiff pompadour. His stern, slightly wrinkled face added some level of intimidation no other authority had, but for some reason, I wasn't really that fazed. I was used to people like him, especially due to past time loops in which I had to train under rigorous authority.
Chatter began to fill the room, until Dr. Keele made a motion that looked like a conductor finishing a song. That seemed to shut everyone up. "Today, all of you are gathered here as initiates for Le Viour Academy's admission rites, which will take a day," he explained. "For this round, you will be answering a hundred questions within one hour."
After Dr. Keele was done speaking, black stands with touchscreen tablets attached to them rose up in front of all of us. This room was quite out of place with a campus that looked like it was built for noblemen in centuries past. But hey, this is Le Viour, a school for the rich. Of course there's bound to be technology to catch up with the times, despite the fact that all our tech had been surrendered.
I felt a knot twist my gut again. I'm not sure how or what, but it's like someone is staring holes at me, that it was very unnerving.
"Those who do not answer everything nor meet the benchmark score will be pulled out," Dr. Keele stated. "Does anyone have any questions?"
Someone raised their hand. "What is the benchmark score?" a small feminine voice, like tinkling bells, asked.
"The benchmark is 75," Dr. Keele answered, then everyone erupted.
My eyes widened. I heard Le Viour's academic tests were notoriously hard. This is why I thoroughly prepared for this—while I underwent training to be SS, Eli made sure to quiz and educate me on various things, even hiring the best tutors and professors. As such, there is no room for me to doubt my score.
"Settle down. Likewise, do note that we are watching you. The timer starts in three...two...one."
Immediately, the first question popped into the tablet. As I breezed through the first few questions, I started to wonder. Who is that person staring at me like I had taken something important to them? Did I do something wrong in a past time loop?
No. I had to focus. There was a time limit for this academic preliminary test, after all. One hundred questions in one hour. It seems impossible, but I feel like there is something more to this.
I thought, I analyzed, I computed, then I tapped in my answers from the choices provided in the tablet, but somehow I could not shake off that unnerving feeling of someone staring at me.
But as soon as I finished with less than a minute on the clock, I turned around and found a mysterious man in a trench coat, his imposing eyes that were glued onto me seemingly like a viper's, about to lunge towards its prey. My heart stopped and sank to the floor.
I feel like he's about to ruin everything.
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