(Chapter 9) Introduction?

"Look! Winoa is here! And... Who is that girl beside her?"

"The girl beside her? I'm not too sure, is she a transfer student?"

"Doesn't it look like they already know each other? She looks a little... Ordinary with her clothes."

"Well, Winoa isn't a descendant of anyone important, it wouldn't be strange if her friend wasn't either."

Most of the girls watched as Winoa walked into school alongside someone they hadn't seen before.

It was understandable they didn't remember Astrid. She only came to school for a month and was bullied relentlessly, she also looked a lot different since that time. And now that she was a different person entirely... People just didn't remember her.

But for Winoa... She was allowed to study at Giovanti Private School purely because of her studies. Since she didn't hold any power and was from a common family... She wasn't appreciated in the arrogant and 'pure' school full of the wealthy.

Then one girl stood out and approached the oncoming Winoa and Astrid. With Astrid and Winoa being quite short. This girl looked like a giant in comparison!

"Winoa! It's been so long!" She came running up to them with a smile.

Winoa responded by walking slightly faster, but remembering Astrid was next to her... She made sure not to speed up too much.

"Fran. It's been too long." Winoa spoke with slight anticipation when seeing her good friend.

"Hehe, I was worried when you said you were going to not be in for a while! You should have told me why." The tall girl looked slightly upset.

Winoa chuckled embarrassingly. "Mm, sorry. Anyway, Fran, this is my friend Astrid. Astrid, this is Francesca. She is our age." Winoa gave a small introduction.

Francesca looked down on Astrid with curious eyes. Upon seeing her outfit up close... Her eyes sparkled. "Wow! Are you are hidden princess? You look so cute! Maybe I should drag you to France with me in a few years." Francesca felt so tempted, tempted to pinch Astrid's cheeks to see her reaction.

Meanwhile, Astrid was looking up at Francesca. Not judging her, just thinking that she was quite tall for her age...

"Do you want to be a model in the future?" Astrid asked out of the blue.

Francesca felt a smile blooming along her blushing face. "Yeah, it's been my dream since young... Why do you ask?" Francesca thought it was a strange way to start a conversation.

Which it was. But Astrid was someone who could go months without talking if she didn't want to. "Oh, You're just really tall. It would suit you." Astrid replied bluntly. As her focused shifted to behind Francesca.

'Hm, A school for the wealthy. The mentality of most children in this situation would be to discriminate against the poor. Especially the children with less than satisfactory upbringings.'

Astrid knows that her identity here was completely hidden. Although she didn't understand how her father could have the power to do that. Since many of the children in this school were from richer backgrounds, how her father managed to keep her identity hidden was something interesting.

"Hehe, I guess I am." Francesca took the compliment with a blush.

"Alright then, we should get to classes before we are late." Winoa knew the class wouldn't start for a little bit. But she took into account Astrid's walking speed.

Francesca nodded, as she started to walk alongside Winoa. The height differences between the 3... Were quite funny to the teenagers.

Francesca was indeed really tall for her age. At close to 170 cm she was giant compared to Astrid how was at around 140 cm...

Then Winoa was a little below average, at least she looked normal compared to the 2 beside her which were 2 ends of the extreme.

As they walked to the entrance they earned some sneers and laughs. Mainly at them...

Francesca's face slowly turned red from anger. She was about to aflame until she was lightly pinched by Winoa.

Winoa slowly shook her head. 'If only Fran had some patience, she would be quite good then...'

Francesca kept her rage bottled up, while Astrid was calculatingly looking at the school.

'These hallways are a pain. So much money yet they can't even afford good paint? How... Disgusting.' With Astrid's perfectionism, she had been heavily affected by her house. Which was by most accounts, perfectly laid out for her. She couldn't find any flaws in the house and it suited her well. But this school was lavish, the best in the country. Yet if you squint closely enough you could see the difference in shades on paint, where something had been repainted.

Of course, normal people wouldn't notice such a thing. But Astrid was never 'normal.'

"Ahhh, we have to meet in the main hall after the teacher takes a register, what a pain." Francesca was still fuming about being stared and ridiculed at. So standing in the hall for an hour wasn't the first thing she wished for.

Winoa nodded. Not for the same reason, she was worried that Astrid might not be able to take standing up for so long...

While Astrid just didn't care, she was more interested in the education curriculum in this world. She had to try her best after all...

Francesca looked over at Astrid multiple times. 'She walks a little slow... Maybe it's in the legs.' She had slowed down to allow Winoa and Astrid to keep up. Her legs were longer after all.

Winoa beamed at this. She gave a smile over to Francesca. 'Heh, I knew you would like the Young Miss! Isn't she just the cutest!?'

Francesca only knew that Winoa was thanking her. Not her other thoughts...

"Here is our classroom Astrid. Our homeroom teacher is pretty chill. Sometimes he will be in a bad mood. If he is, just don't say much and it'll blow over." Francesca gave a quick rundown. As she went to open the door.

The class was quite loud, they were back after a summer holiday after all. They had a lot to talk about.

Francesca walked in first, her tall frame overlooking all of the boys in the class.

Then came in Winoa. Her bright appearance was always a bonus for the boys, it was a shame that she didn't have many friends...

Then came in another girl. She was short, thin, and extremely cold-looking.

The classroom became quiet. 'Who is this? Is she a transfer student?' Nearly all the students wondered at the sight of Astrid.

Some were looking at her with some... Questionable eyes. Her lolita getup was extremely cute, and her cold exposition suited it well.

"Astrid, do you remember where you sit?" Winoa asked in a low tone.

Astrid nodded. She walked over to the back of the class.

All the class gawked at her. She was a new student after all! But... Her face did look a little familiar when they thought about it.

"Hey, don't you have to introduce yourself?" A boy at the back asked, puzzled as why the girl was walking straight to a seat.

"..." Astrid didn't respond as she walked to her seat. Upon seeing the people beside her staring at her, she calmly took a seat.

Francesca looked at Winoa. Wondering if she would be okay...

Winoa shrugged her shoulders. She was also worried, but she couldn't afford to show it on her face.

"Alright, alright. Everyone sit down. Quick." An older gentleman walked in the class with a couple of books in his hand.

The students all went to their places and looked at the teacher questionably. "Uh, Mr. Dihl where is Mr. Hyler?" One of the girls asked.

Mr. Dihl put down his books and looked over the class. Nodding, he said. "Ah, Mr. Hyler and I have been swapped. Why you might wonder? I don't know. But since I'm here now. Then let's all get along." He spoke calmly with a smile.

The class almost exploded! Who was Mr. Dihl? He was the most popular English teacher! The Italian children struggled with foreign languages and English was one. However, his lessons were amazing! He made it simple and easy to understand. While near to every student in his class was guaranteed to come out an expert in the language!

He would always manage to take any class of children and make them enjoy and want to take his lessons. Something extremely difficult to do.

Even Francesca and Winoa looked extremely excited. With everyone in the class celebrating. Only Astrid didn't even take her gaze away from the table.

"Alright, alright. With that, there's an announcement for me to make quickly." Mr. Dihl brought the class under control with a couple of words.

The class looked at him expectantly, what was next?

*Cough* "Well, it's some good news! I believe that you all knew that your fellow classmate, Astrid, had some health issues and couldn't come into school for a while. Well, she has also returned." Mr. Dihl announced.

"..." Huh, that autistic kid is back!? Close to every student felt a buzzkill instantly hit them.

Astrid... They couldn't even remember her surname, she was a kid who was extremely ill. Apparently she got in due to her studies, but with her sick body and mental health... They were sure she would never last.

Children at this age were ruthless. Since they all believed themselves superior to Astrid, they bullied her. Showed her how lowly she was. Within the first month of school, she never came back again...

Seeing the atmosphere in the class, Mr. Dihl sighed. 'My friend, I'm afraid that keeping her safe would be difficult, there is only so much I can do in the first place.'

Meanwhile, Francesca felt a light bulb go off in her head. 'Astrid!? No way!? Since when did she get better? Wait...'

"Since Astrid has already taken her seat, then nothing more should be said, we have 10 minutes until the principal will give his speech." Mr. Dihl then sat down and started to mark those books.