UNDER THE LUNAR ECLIPSE

CHAPTER 4- FLAME BOARDING SCHOOL

Lessa still couldn't tear her gaze away from Rendall's pair of deep yellow eyes. The girl trembled with fear; it was the first time Lessa had seen something so unreal in her memory.

Rendall felt he had made Lessa uncomfortable with the different color of his eyes. He immediately closed both of his eyes for a few seconds before reopening them, and a pair of naturally dark blue eyes had returned. Lessa couldn't help but keep her mouth open in astonishment.

"Let her go!" Rendall commanded, his eyes staring at Lucas's hand still resting on Lessa's shoulder, even though he wasn't holding her back at all. In Rendall's eyes, Lucas was holding the girl hostage.

Lucas quickly raised both of his hands as if surrendering like a criminal.

"Is she okay?" Lucas asked, worried about the fate of the man still pinned under the iron table. No one seemed willing to help him as long as the two Midnights were there.

"None of your business."

Rendall walked away from the scene of the heavy bloody tragedy that had unfolded in just a second. He didn't look at Lessa, who still had her eyes locked onto him. Lessa held her breath, not knowing how long she had been doing it.

"Ready, Master!" Lucas exclaimed cheerfully, sounding like a psychopath. He didn't immediately rush to follow Rendall, as usual.

Lucas stared at Lessa for a moment as he walked past her to check on the motionless body in front of him. Lessa didn't know how to react until someone tapped her on the back.

"Are you Alessandria?" a girl with thick glasses and long curly hair tied neatly greeted Lessa.

Lessa nodded, wondering who was approaching her this time. She was still confused by Rendall's eyes that could change color. It wasn't possible for him to use colored contact lenses in an instant, was it?

"Great! I'm Maria Wilson, we're roommates!" the girl exclaimed joyfully and enthusiastically. She really couldn't read the situation. Lessa, who was already weakened by hunger and the recent events, could only muster a fake smile.

"Come, have lunch with me. I'll get your portion; we have a special table for people like us... you know what I mean, right?" Maria kept babbling without caring that her conversation partner seemed completely unenthusiastic about responding.

Lessa looked at her puzzled. She looked around to find Percy, who had disappeared from civilization.

"Over here!"

Maria managed to forcefully drag Lessa to a long iron table that was almost full of other people enjoying the school's food offerings. Lessa sat on an empty chair as directed by Maria.

"Friends, let's welcome the arrival of the new scholarship student. My roommate, Alessandria!" Maria exclaimed loudly, making Lessa feel a bit awkward for a moment. A black-skinned man sitting in front of her seemed to keep staring at her with admiration. Lessa just frowned.

"I didn't expect to find such a beautiful girl as Alessandria in this community!" exclaimed a chubby man sitting near Maria, his large hands had just slapped the surface of the iron table, causing plates and bowls on it to fly for a few seconds.

"This community?" Lessa wondered. She still didn't understand the very sudden change in atmosphere. The girl needed more time to adjust. From tragedy to a party celebrating her joining a community, life inside the school was not as simple as she had imagined.

"Yes, it's true, very beautiful."

"Are you sure you got the right person, Maria?"

"Are you sure her name is Alessandria?"

"How can she be poor with a face like that?"

"Is she just pretending to be poor?"

"Ahh, I think I've fallen in love."

Whispers and chatter among the people at the long table suddenly made Lessa's head feel dizzy. Her ears itched from having to hear the talk of those around her openly discussing her as if the girl wasn't there with them. Lessa closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Brakkkk!

Startled, the girl spontaneously opened her eyes to find a large hand with bluish-green veins had just stopped the commotion by banging on the table, causing some glasses to spill their contents. It was right beside her. Lessa lifted her face to see who the owner of the hand was.

"Follow me!" Rendall. He came and immediately gave an order.

Given no chance to refuse, Rendall roughly grabbed Lessa's wrist, forcing her to follow the man she officially hadn't met yet.

"Damn, what's with this guy again? I have to avoid him. I don't want to get involved in his life issues," Lessa thought, unable to resist.

Meanwhile, the scholarship students gathered at a long table still gaped, disbelieving. Between shock and amazement, they couldn't believe who had just appeared and banged the table for scholarship students, one of the Midnights. Rendall Midnight.

Finding Rendall approaching the special table for scholarship students was like finding the King of Great Madison joining the meal provided in Flame Boarding School's cafeteria.

"What's your problem?" Lessa finally managed to pull her hand away, which had turned red from Rendall's tight grip.

Both of them were standing behind a large pillar supporting the cafeteria building, a pillar located at the very end so that no one came to eavesdrop.

"You! Stop appearing in front of me! You don't know how it feels for my heart to beat ten times faster, and I have to hold it back so I don't transform!"

Instead of answering Lessa's question, Rendall suddenly exploded, scolding the girl with sentences that were completely incomprehensible to her. And it seemed that his heart was still beating ten times faster than normal. He looked sweaty, and with a slight tremor, Rendall began to unbutton his shirt one by one from the top. "Hey, what are you doing!" Lessa exclaimed, thinking of something inappropriate.

Rendall raised his thick eyebrows and still stared at Lessa with an unbelieving look. They both accused each other, but it seemed that neither of them could understand the disharmony.

"Never appear in front of me again! Do you understand?" Rendall threatened, growling a little with his deep voice.

"Do you think I'm following you? I just came here to fill my stomach, and you—what kind of creature are you, huh?" Lessa retorted, not willing to appear weak. Her courage had returned.

Rendall stared at her for a moment before starting to realize the disharmony that should have been known from the beginning.

"Heroes, didn't they tell you anything about this school?" Rendall frowned.

"Heroes? What do you mean? I already know about this school, the main hall, the library, and now the cafeteria!" Lessa explained, not wanting to look foolish. She detailed what she had learned so far.

"HAHAHAH!"

Rendall burst into laughter until his body shook. Lessa stared at him in disbelief. What was so funny?

"Heroes, they're really useless," Rendall mocked after managing to control himself from laughing. Even so, sweat was still pouring down his neck, diverting a little of Lessa's attention.

"Hot...," Rendall complained before continuing what was left unfinished earlier, unbuttoning his shirt until the front of his body was completely exposed.

Lessa was wide-eyed, finding Rendall who had just taken off his shirt and was now not wearing anything to cover his upper body. Lessa swallowed. Rendall's body curve was truly perfect; just by looking at it, you could see that his physique was physically trained, appearing strong. Lessa hadn't thought that Rendall would hide that beautiful body so tightly under his shirt.

"Don't misunderstand. I won't do what's in your mind!" Rendall took off the necklace circling his neck, a necklace with a logo that Lessa often saw in every corner of the school.

"This," Rendall approached Lessa, bringing the pendant of the necklace in front of Lessa as if wanting to give a brief lecture.

"Four squares, filled with fire, water, air, and earth. All four are magic elements that can be performed by witches. The circle in the middle of these four elemental symbols is a wolf's head... a Werewolf," Rendall explained quickly the meaning of the symbols used as the logo of Flame Boarding School. Lessa listened with raised eyebrows.

"Do you understand?" This time Rendall's two eyes had shifted from the logo on the pendant to Lessa's bright brown eyes, and instantly, she could feel her body getting warmer.

"Damn—I'll give you an example to make it easier!" Rendall exclaimed with a voice that changed strangely, as strange as his sudden restlessness. Not calm and composed like the Rendall Lessa had seen before. The girl didn't understand; Rendall circled the necklace around Lessa's head, and the necklace ended up circling her neck.

"Grrrr..."

Lessa was shocked to hear another sound that she could no longer understand. And just as the girl was about to ask if Rendall was okay, the man suddenly jumped onto the ground outside the cafeteria building, and an unbelievable transformation occurred.

"AAAUUUUUUUU!"

A wolf, larger than normal, had just replaced Rendall's presence, howling loudly and instantly attracting people in the school area to come out and see what was happening.

"Oh my God!" Lessa exclaimed, her knees feeling weak again.