CHAPTER 9: ECHELON TIER RANKING
1429 Words
The entire academy buzzed with anticipation.
Velmire Royal Academy's main square had been transformed overnight, banners fluttering with the sigil of the kingdom, and a massive floating crystal above the plaza that would soon project the names of the new Top 10 Echelon Tier students. The air thrummed with whispers, speculation, envy.
Belle stood near the edge of the crowd, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Beside her, Lira chewed her lip, bouncing slightly on her feet.
"You think Orion will be in the top 10?" Lira whispered.
"Obviously," Belle muttered. "He doesn’t even try and still outpaces everyone."
Students from all ranks gathered: Gold, Silver, Bronze. It was a show of hierarchy masked as celebration. Belle felt her skin crawl.
The Chancellor stepped up the podium, his voice magically amplified.
"Today, we unveil the ten most exceptional students of this term!" he boomed. "But first—a new privilege awaits them."
Murmurs surged.
"Our top ten may now each select one Bronze tier student to act as their aide for the remainder of the semester."
Belle's blood turned cold. Around her, Bronze students shifted uncomfortably. Some were excited. Most were afraid.
The Chancellor continued, oblivious to the storm his words brewed.
"These aides will live in the upper dormitories, have access to certain classes, and will support the top echelon students in whatever they require."
Lira hissed. "This is wrong. This is just... a fancy way of calling someone a servant."
Belle's eyes searched the crowd. Clarisse and Genevieve stood near the front, grinning ear to ear.
"They’re going to pick me," Belle said under her breath. "I can feel it. They don’t care if I’m not ranked. They want to humiliate me."
Lira grabbed her wrist. "I won’t let them."
As the crowd stirred with confusion and whispers, a sharp voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"This is absurd!" Lira stood up from the front row of silver tier students, her eyes flashing. "Who suggested this barbaric benefit? Who dares to make the top ten into masters of slaves?"
The hall fell silent. Even the gold tier students who usually chuckled at her temper now watched with held breath.
The Chancellor, unmoved, adjusted his spectacles calmly. “The academy received the suggestion through formal channels. As for the identity of the proposer, that information is confidential.”
Lira’s fists clenched. “So you expect us to obey a rule made by a ghost?”
“It is not a request,” the Chancellor said coolly. “It has already been approved by the board. I suggest you all adapt.”
Her mouth opened as if to protest, but she bit it back, nostrils flaring. Im watching from the corner, felt a cold ripple in my spine.
Im in trouble. And someone—someone powerful—was pulling the strings.
The crystal shimmered.
Names began to appear.
TOP 10 ECHELON RANKING
1. Orion Leonhart – Silver Tier
2. Elsin Draine – Gold Tier
3. Prince Albrecht Cain – Gold Tier
4. Caylee Chen – Silver Tier
5. Clarisse Vonder – Gold Tier
6. Genevieve Vonder – Gold Tier
7. Vashar Lynx – Silver Tier
8. Catrina Ezel – Gold Tier
9. Toren Blackwater – Silver Tier
10. Lira Valemont – Silver Tier
The square exploded in cheers, gasps, and even a few boos.
Clarisse threw her hair over her shoulder, lips curling into a satisfied smirk. She turned, locking eyes with Belle across the plaza.
Genevieve giggled beside her.
Then the Chancellor spoke again.
"Each top ten student has until sundown to name their chosen aide. Announcements will be made here."
Orion, who had remained expressionless the entire time, walked off toward the library without a word.
-----
That evening, the academy's main square was tenser than ever.
One by one, names were called.
Genevieve rose next, her heels clicking dramatically as she walked toward the front. Her posture radiated confidence, but her eyes shimmered with the same cruel gleam Clarisse had carried moments before.
“I choose Belle Mayne Vonder,” she declared, voice honeyed with false sweetness.
A second eruption swept across the hall — louder this time, more confused.
Belle’s spine stiffened. Again?
She could barely process what was happening. She couldn’t breathe.
Lira was already pushing up from her seat. “She’s—”
“Already taken,” a voice interrupted calmly, just before Lira could finish.
The Chancellor didn’t look up from his scroll. “Miss Vonder has been previously selected.”
Genevieve blinked. “What? No, she hasn’t. She just rejected Clarisse—”
“She did not need to accept Clarisse,” the Chancellor said, his tone clipped. “She had already been claimed under an earlier selection.”
Genevieve turned. Her narrowed eyes scanned the room. “By whom?”
The Chancellor finally looked up. “That information is private unless the participant wishes to disclose it.”
The dining hall buzzed again.
Lira leaned toward Belle. “Did you... accept someone? Belle—who picked you?”
But Belle was frozen. She shook her head faintly. “I—I didn’t say yes to anyone.”
Her voice was barely a whisper. Her heart thundered in her chest, her thoughts spinning. Who could have chosen her? Why hadn’t she been told?
Across the room, Orion is seated seemingly disinterested. But his fingers drummed slowly on the lap, once, twice, in rhythm.
Genevieve looked furious but covered it with a sneer. “Very well,” she said through gritted teeth. She picked a quiet Bronze-tier girl instead and returned to her seat without another word.
The Chancellor gave a single nod. “Selections are now complete.”
She couldn't shake the questions twisting in her gut. If Lira didn’t pick her, then who did? Why in secret? And why her?
She felt eyes on her—some curious, some jealous, and some downright cruel.
And one gaze... unreadable.
---
Later that evening, after the main square cleared out, Belle stood at the base of the east tower stairwell, clutching her books. She wasn’t waiting for anyone, but she couldn’t bring herself to walk back to the dorms yet. Her legs were stiff. Her mind still spinning.
Then came the quiet voice behind her.
“You freeze like that every time someone says your name?”
She turned.
Orion.
His hands were in his pockets, his hair slightly wind-swept from the walk between halls. There was something different in his expression tonight — not the usual bored disinterest, but a trace of sharpness… something almost amused.
Belle straightened. “What do you want?”
He shrugged. “To see if you’d unravel.”
She scowled. “Is that supposed to be funny?”
“I wasn’t joking,” he said simply, stepping closer. “You have a way of unraveling that’s… fascinating.”
“Stop saying things like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re watching me.”
“I am watching you.”
Her eyes widened.
Orion’s voice dropped. “You have no idea how many eyes were on you tonight. But only one mattered.”
She took a step back, heart hammering.
“Did you—” she started. “Did you pick me?”
Orion tilted his head. “What if I did?”
“Why?” she demanded. “So you could taunt me up close?”
He smirked. “Tempting. But no.”
Belle clenched her fists. “Then what?”
He was quiet for a moment.
Then: “Do you prefer to be pick by your sisters?"
I frown "ofcoarse not, but Lira is going to pick me. But apparently you have your kind of way to ruin of plans of others."
He slowly go to me and I step backwards. But I already felt the wall in my back. He bow down a little so he can let our eyes be equal.
"I already choose you what can you do about it Lumi"
She didn’t know what to say to that.
Orion step back and leaned against the cold stone wall, eyes flicking toward the stairs. “Walk with me.”
“I don’t want—”
“That wasn’t a request, Lumi,” he murmured, using the strange nickname again — soft, foreign, almost affectionate.
Belle hesitated… then fell into step beside him.
Not because he asked.
But because somewhere deep down, something told her she was no longer playing by the rules of the academy.
She was now caught in something much deeper.
Something much more dangerous.
- Writer
