Establishing the rules

Adrian paused as a slight glint of uneasiness wandered in his blue eyes.

"I have dual elements." He admitted as he studied Callan's expression to see how he would react to his words, "Water and Ice."

Callan had been smiling at him ever since the handshake and even now didn't waver, but still, having heard that dual elements was rare and not wanting the other boy to judge him or think of him as entitled or arrogant, Adrian quickly added.

"But my ice element is so weak that's practically non-existent. Before the enrollment examination when they tested us for compatibility, I didn't even know that I was compatible with it."

Adrian was actually telling the truth. During the exam, he'd been speechless when he'd found out that he was able to use the ice element. As a mermaid, it was only natural for his main element to be water and he'd always had a strong affiliation with it without ever having to test it but he never imagined he'd also have an innate ice element.

And when he found it out he was annoyed that he'd never realized it before. It would've been so much cooler to play and experiment with it when he was younger, so he could only bite his tongue and mutter his curses at his own obliviousness.

"What a coincidence." As if sensing his unease, Callan's tone was soothing and instantly released some of the tension that had been pressing down on Adrian's shoulders. He smoothed his grey hair back and his fingertips adjusted the length of the sleeves of his shirt as he rolled it back to his elbows, abandoning his unfinished book page without a second thought as he had found something much more interesting, "I also have dual elements."

Adrian's mood instantly brightened, "What are they?"

"Fire and light." Callan said this calmly,

Adrian frowned.

"If you have the light element then you must be related to the royal family right?"

Even if he was a bit of a shut-in fish who had never attended a noble social event and had never had his debut in high society, Adrian's parents had still tried to give him a decent education, so he knowledge wasn't majorly lacking, which was also partly owed to his love of books.

This is why he was aware that only those with royal blood of the imperial family who had been blessed by the gold phoenix, could possess the light element.

So... Callan was probably someone really important then, right? Instantly becoming self-conscious, he tightened his posture and he could hear Damien's voice ringing in his ears, telling him to stay away from the royal family no matter what, or else he'd send him straight back home.

Callan noticed this change and smiled internally.

Obviously, the boy before him wasn't of noble descent otherwise he would've been prostrating on the floor at even the mention of the light element. This was a pleasant surprise as he had come to the academy under a disguise so he could avoid all those senseless formalities and kiss-assers.

But he didn't reveal this happiness just yet, and as a master of his own expressions, he instantly switched to a sorry one. After all, he didn't want to reveal his identity here and also wanted to gain his beautiful new roommate's trust.

"Probably, but the bloodline is very weak and my light element has very poor aptitude." A painful expression pooled in his grey eyes that were suddenly turning red at the edges and his voice had an air of wistfulness to it, "It was likely an affair from ages ago because my family has never received a noble title or benefits."

He didn't mention any more or anything about his current family or background because he didn't want Adrian to guess anything.

His cover was that he was the only son of a rich merchant who happened to have a strong talent for the fire element and had come here to learn magic because of it. As the school didn't care about outside situations of hierarchy and status, no one would pry too deep into it unless he willingly revealed more and so his cover was perfect.

"Oh..." In the depths of Adrian's eyes swirled teary emotion, "I'm so sorry to hear that! I should've known better than to ask."

Adrian apologized as he held in a sigh of relief. The royal family were one of the many dangers that his parents and Viscount Dyamere had warned him to stay away from, even though they refused to explain why.

"But still, I don't really want anyone to know." A pair of mysterious grey eyes made contact with this, "So can you keep it a secret for now?"

Adrian nodded furiously, which caused the black hood to slide back off his head, and instantly, long tendrils of platinum blonde hair pooled at his shoulders. His hair was straight and slightly untidy, but in Callan's eyes, it only added to his charm.

How could one person be so good-looking? He wondered suspiciously.

Surely with his appearance, he could've been famous throughout the kingdom regardless of his background, and yet, such a beautiful existence had gone virtually unnoticed. In fact, if someone had told Callan prior to that about it, he would've been skeptical.

Maybe this kid was more complex than he looked?

Everyone had secrets after all, but not everyone was as ravishing as Adrian. A dark glint swirled in his grey eyes as for an instant, he reveled in the thought that not many people knew about Adrian, so it was like a special feast made only for his eyes. Perhaps he should give up on going to the academy and instead drag him away from everyone's prying eyes, chain him up and peel away his secrets along with the layers of his clothes that shielded his supple white skin.

But thankfully Adrian didn't know the truth of what his new roommate was pondering and instead thought that maybe his words had recalled up previous bad memories as he watched Callan's gaze darken and immediately he felt sympathy.

"Um, so do you wanna establish some dorm rules or something?" Adrian spoke up after a while, in an attempt to change the topic and also out of necessity. If it really wasn't possible to change rooms, then he would just have to make sure that under no circumstance Callan would be able to find out. Luckily the room was quite big and the other didn't seem so obnoxious as to avoid the concept of personal space.

Callan's attention gradually returned to him and he nodded his head calmly, as his trademark smile resurfaced on his lips, "Of course."