Chapter 97: Meeting Of The Houses
"One dining hall. Three Houses. Countless invisible lines waiting to be crossed."
~Rebel Beast
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Rhydian Drakhar was a remarkably tall, broad-shouldered man, so much so that Charlotte felt as though she were walking beside a giant.
She didn’t mind in the slightest.
Instead, she walked beside him with barely restrained excitement, constantly fighting the urge to slip her arm through his. She held herself back.
Even Charlotte knew it was too soon. Rhydian wasn’t interested in her — yet.
Charlotte had chosen a fitted red corset top and paired it with charcoal-gray wide-leg cargo trousers that sat low on her hips. The color hadn’t been an accident. Red was the color of Rhydian’s dragon, and if she had any say in it, it would soon become the color he associated with her as well.
The corset hugged her a little too tightly, pushing her breasts together until they looked ready to spill free at the slightest wrong movement. Charlotte considered that perfectly acceptable.
She hadn’t missed the brief moment Rhydian’s eyes had fallen on her earlier.
It might have lasted only a second, but it had happened. And that was enough.
Everyone knew Rhydian Drakhar loved women. Female beasts practically threw themselves at him, and from what Charlotte had heard, the Dragon Prince had never been particularly good at saying no.
She was human. That was the only obstacle. And Charlotte had every intention of becoming the first human to make him forget every beast woman who had come before her.
The other girls didn’t know it yet.
But by the time the Concordia Program was over, she’d be the one walking away with a dragon prince.
"Breakfast usually ends by eight, and everyone is expected to head to class afterward," Rhydian informed them as they walked along the cobbled path leading to the dining hall.
"But it’s already nine, Your Highness," Charlotte pointed out in an unusually sweet voice. "Does that mean we won’t get anything to eat?"
The sugary tone caught everyone’s attention. Zainab, Indigo, and Meredith all turned to look at her.
Since when did Charlotte sound like that?
It was painfully obvious she was trying to look cute for Rhydian. None of them had the heart to tell her it was a little embarrassing.
Rhydian replied haughtily, "You’re walking with the dragon prince. That should answer your question already."
In one word, those rules didn’t apply to him. He could have his meal anytime and whenever he wanted.
House Aetheris was the closest to the dining hall, the sprawling building sitting only a stone’s throw away from the academy itself.
The moment they stepped inside, the human girls slowed to a stop, a collective gasp escaping their lips. The canteen was far grander than any of them had imagined.
Warm morning light streamed through towering windows, illuminating polished stone floors and neat rows of wooden tables spread across the vast space.
The ceiling stretched high overhead, its elegant lighting making the already enormous hall feel even more open. What caught the girls’ attention most, however, was the seating arrangement.
The dining hall had been divided into three distinct sections that stretched the length of the room. Wide walkways separated each section, making the division impossible to miss.
An open balcony overlooked the entire hall, and from what they could see, the upper floor followed the same layout.
"Why is it arranged this way?" Meredith asked, noticing that the serving stations had already closed for breakfast. Even so, fresh food had been set aside, as though someone had expected late arrivals.
"Each House prefers keeping to itself," Rhydian answered. "It avoids unnecessary disputes."
"So Aetheris eats with Aetheris, Therion with Therion, and Ophidian with Ophidian?" Indigo asked.
"Problem solved," Rhydian replied with a grin.
Considering how much the three Houses—or more precisely, Aetheris and Ophidian—seemed to dislike one another, the arrangement actually made sense.
"What about upstairs?" Meredith asked, glancing toward the balcony.
"That’s usually reserved for beasts at the top of the hierarchy. Predators above, prey on the ground floor."
He was about to continue when his gaze drifted across the dining hall.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
"Well, well..." he murmured. "Isn’t this a surprise? Looks like one predator is breaking the rules."
The girls instinctively followed his line of sight.
Their eyes landed on Caelis Cobryn.
The Basilisk Prince occupied an entire table by himself, eating breakfast with the same cold elegance he seemed to carry everywhere.
Well, not entirely by himself.
Karen, Olivia, and Fatima sat at the same table, quietly eating their meals. Even so, it was impossible to miss the distance between them and Caelis. An invisible boundary seemed to surround the prince, keeping everyone just far enough away to avoid intruding on his space.
The four of them ate in silence. At least, until Rhydian and the others arrived.
Immediately, Rhydian strolled toward the Basilisk Prince with the confidence not many people possessed. He stopped beside the table.
"Well, isn’t this a blast?" Rhydian grinned. "Looks like we’re both giving our humans the royal treatment."
Caelis didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he calmly cut another piece of his meat, took a measured bite, and only after swallowing did he lift his gaze to Rhydian.
"Morning, Rhydian," he greeted with no warmth. "To what do I owe the pleasure today?"
"Oh, don’t be so dramatic." Rhydian waved a dismissive hand. "I’m trying to convince my humans that I can actually be fun. Hard to do that if I can’t even chat with my nemesis."
Only then did Caelis’s attention shift beyond Rhydian. His silver eyes settled on the group of human girls standing a few paces behind him.
Charlotte stood with her chin raised defiantly, glaring at Karen. If looks could kill, Karen would already have a murder case on her hands. To think that little rat was still alive and well.
It wasn’t just Charlotte and Karen. Both groups of humans seemed to be glaring at one another.
But the silent standoff didn’t last long. Another group of humans entered the dining hall at the same time.
Just like that, the spotlight shifted.