Remembering what the novel stated about Clay's backstory. Anastasius couldn't help but burst into tears.

Now that he sees it, Clay is really wearing gloves. He can even peek some fresh scars that might have come from Clay's obsessive hand washing.

"Anastasius, what's wrong?" Charles immediately turned frantic.

Ever since they were a child he never once saw Anastasius cry this much. He does cry whenever they watch tragic theatrical shows, and when he reads a sad novel, but his face right now showed a different kind of grief.

While still crying, Anastasius felt a sharp throbbing pain on his temples which made him lose consciousness.

"Anastasius!"

"Mr. Clarimières!"

Were all the words he heard before completely passing out.

🔹🔷🔹

Anastasius slowly opened his eyes. Adjusting to the light coming from the infirmary's windows. His head no longer hurts but his heart still does for Clay.

Yuu was an orphan who lived in a humble orphanage, he remained the only child who didn't get adopted in the house so he wasn't able to escape the horrendous sight of severe child abuse that he sees on the children that gets taken in by their orphanage.

The orphanage was a warm and loving household, he didn't actually learn the extent of an adult's wickedness there, he learned it through the stories of the children that were brought in it.

Their orphanage was known to be the house of children who suffered from abuse. Except for Yuu who was only abandoned, everyone had a story to tell about their parents and relatives, they were either molested, sexually assaulted, beaten daily, or mentally manipulated. Most of these abused children played a big part on Yuu's life because they became his friends along the way.

That's why he considered Clay's backstory as close to home. Clay reminded Yuu of his friends in his past life. That is also why he couldn't help but break down on the spot as his memories about Clay flooded his mind.

"How are you feeling?" Anastasius looked for the owner of the voice and saw Charles, sitting beside the bed he's laying on.

"I... I think I'm okay now." He answered with a weak voice.

"The nurse told me it was probably because of stress and fatigue, the student assistants said it was probably because Mr. Yoshioka scared you, but I know it's more than those things. Do you want to talk about it?" Charles' voice is filled with warm affection, just hearing his voice calmed Anastasius greatly.

"I'm probably just feeling homesick, I'm sorry if I made you worry." Charles didn't believe Anastasius' excuse but he got the message that the younger didn't want to talk about it. So he decided to drop it for now.

"Where's Mr. Yoshioka? The tour..."

"You should rest for now. The tour can always wait." Charles said sternly.

"But-"

"I said what I said. Your knees are still weak aren't they? Sleep for now while I inform your professors about your condition." The prince's voice left no chance for Anastasius to retort. He must've been really worried. He'd never seen Charles look so stressed, some of his hair is sticking on his sweaty forehead, his uniform was a little wrinkled from when he carried Anastasius to the Infirmary, there was a stubborn crease on his forehead and his lips were pressed into a line.

Having a friend like this is a blessing indeed. Anastasius thought.

🔹🔷🔹



(Lethicia Academy)

The next morning. Anastasius prepared himself for the Academy Tour with Clay. When he arrived at their waiting spot, he spotted Clay standing straight beside a post looking like a professional knight.

He's too early! I'm even 10 minutes earlier than our meeting time, I wonder how long he has been standing there.

Anastasius immediately let his presence be known by the other person, calling out Clay's surname politely as he waves his tiny hands, running towards the stoic man with an apologetic smile on his face.

"I'm sorry! It was very unprofessional of me yesterday to...um.."

"It's okay." Clay said indifferently. He sounds snob but since Anastasius already knows his real personality, it didn't affect him at all.

The tour started smoothly, Anastasius avoided touching Clay or even asking him about his gloves which really surprised the stoic man even though it didn't show on his face. It's because Anastasius was the very first person who didn't ask him about his gloves in the middle of summer. Even the heroine asked him about it in the original storyline, but he didn't know that of course.

"The next one is..." Clay suddenly stopped at his tracks when he saw a cute chubby squirrel near the Academy's fountain. Anastasius couldn't help but look at what had stopped Clay.

A cute squirrel! Oh wait, I remember reading something about how Clay loves animals.

"Are you fond of animals?" Anastasius asked with a charming smile.

Clay was taken aback, it was the first time someone smiled and looked at him without getting scared, I thought he was scared of me when he cried yesterday, he thought. He was also surprised when Anastasius asked him if he likes animals, whenever people saw him looking at one they would always accuse him of hating them so he doesn't know how to answer the little one's question even though he got it right.

But now...

Anastasius walked towards the squirrel, attempting to pat its head.

"Don't!" Clay accidentally raised his voice. He's afraid that the squirrel might scratch Anastasius' hand since they were usually feral, and he didn't want the kind young man to get hurt in return.

However he was left dumbfounded when the squirrel rubbed its face against Anastasius' hand. The squirrel even climbed through it to go to Anastasius' shoulder and give him a kiss.

"I think it's okay." Anastasius said with a smile.

'Just okay? It's the first time I saw a squirrel acting so friendly!' Clay thought, still wearing a poker face.

"Do you want to hold it?" Anastasius unconsciously asked, but he immediately regretted it when he saw Clay rub his gloved hands together. He doesn't know if it's because Clay really wanted to but his phobia was stopping him, or because Clay got conscious of his phobia when he was asked to hold the animal. Either way, Anastasius knew that Clay didn't want to talk about his condition, so he just brushed the question off with a different reasoning to save Clay.

"Oh, I take it that you're allergic then? That's fine! We can just look at it instead." Anastasius said with a smile. Clay heaved a relieved sigh because he didn't need to form an excuse about it anymore.

Anastasius didn't seem to be too prying about his condition but he also didn't seem unconcerned, he wears the sweetest smile that makes the mood better and he loves animals as much as Clay does.

'If I'm not being hopeful enough, I wish we'll end up being in the same class' Clay thought.