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"MASTER LEIGH, BREAKFAST IS ready," Étienne calls out from outside Max's bedroom. No one answers him, so he does three consecutive knocks, but still, there was no answer. Without a second thought, he barges inside the room after his fourth knock. He expected to see Max sleeping in bed, but to his surprise, Max was half-naked on the floor doing pushups.

     Étienne instantly bows apologetically and says, "I thought you were still asleep master."

     Max finishes five more pushups before standing on the floor. Étienne rushes to take a towel so Max can use it to dry himself with it. Max doesn't thank his butler and uses the towel to wipe the sweat dripping from his chin. He then heads to the mirror to check his body. Max used to exercise and train for his self-defense when he was younger, but since he's been busy with the corporation, he never had a chance to do it. That's why Max decided to start exercising again, especially when fighting can happen in their school.

     "Where's my brother?" Max asks before throwing the wet towel back to his butler.

     "Sir Marcus is already eating breakfast downstairs. He said to—" Étienne suddenly stops in the middle of answering Max's question. Max looks at him confusingly, but then he realizes that Étienne is actually staring at his chest, or more specifically, he's staring at the necklace that he's wearing.

     "Master, you're wearing madam Luna Lemieux's family necklace," Étienne says with shock. "You actually kept it."

     Of course Étienne would be surprised, considering the fact that he came from a line of butlers, specifically for the Lemieux family. His father was Luna's own personal butler, which is why Étienne was assigned to Max when he was born. The necklace is as significant to him as Max.

     "Starting today, I'll be wearing it," Max answers, touching the necklace as he said it.

     "You are aware that you cannot wear that publicly, am I correct?" Étienne asks, but Max doesn't answer him and wears his shirt instead. But even though he didn't give an answer, Max knew about that fact. Max can only inherit the Lemieux riches, along with the necklace, when he turns eighteen. He's still seventeen, so he's still not in the position to flaunt it.

     "By the way, if you ever mention anything to father I will fire you," Max warns before hiding the necklace underneath his shirt. Étienne wanted to tell him about how his father would react if he ever catches Max with that necklace, but he decides to keep his mouth shut and nod his head instead. "Understood."

      "I'll eat breakfast after I finish some paperwork. Please tell Marcus to not wait for me," Max says after, and Étienne bows and walks to the door. Before leaving, Étienne looks over his shoulder and seriously tells his master, "Madam Luna was killed because she was a Lemieux. You don't want to end up like her nor the Stepanov's." Then Étienne leaves and closes the door behind him.

      Max takes a seat on the sofa and stares at the scattered papers on top of the center table. He reads through one of the reports, but as he's doing so, Max unconsciously touches the necklace through his shirt. He traces the shape of the pendant and whispers under his breath, "Lemieux." And as soon as he says that word, he spots a signature in one of the papers. A signature from a man named Denzel Sinclaire.

...

Marcus left using a different car this time. No one knows about the relationship he has with Max, but it's better to be safe now than be sorry later.

     "Master Leigh, sir Marcus wants me to send you a message before he left the household," Étienne says as he opens the car door for Max. Max heads inside and waits for Étienne to do the same. As soon as his butler fastened his seatbelt, Max finally asks, "What was it?"

     Étienne adjusts the rearview mirror a little and answers, "Avoid crossing paths with the kings. That's what he said."

     "Did he forget that phones exist? He could have just texted me that," Max comments, and Étienne just shrugs his shoulder and drives off.

     Today is the official start of J.S High's exciting school activities. The events that took place yesterday overwhelmed Max, but after reading and reviewing both the White Uniform and the Brotherhood student handbook, Max finally knows what and what not to do. They're almost like literal house rules. But even though there are a lot of rules that one has to be careful of, there will definitely be loopholes. One rule may apply to a certain situation and so on, so if mastered, one may be able to get out of any situation.

     The only thing Max has to learn more about are the brotherhoods themselves. There are thirty brotherhoods in total, but only six are in the House of Kings. Other than their brotherhood name, banner, and leader, Max knows nothing about them. That's why the first brotherhood he'll want to start with is none other than the brotherhood he betted an insane amount of money of, Jokers.

     People may say he's crazy for donating such a large amount, but for Max, it's like investing. And as a son of two business tycoons, Max is very good with investments.

     "We're here master," Étienne says, unbuckling his seatbelt before heading out to open Max's door for him. Max grabs his bag and heads out, and as soon as he did, a cheerful voice greets him. "Max! Good morning!"

     Max turns around and spots Felix emerging from a black Jaguar XJ Sentinel. There are two guards with him too, so the students couldn't help but look, especially since Felix is as small as a grade-schooler. The protection that his family gives to him is mind-boggling for Max. Max doesn't even have guards with him all the time!

     "I'm really starting to think you're a son of a president," another voice says, and Max sees Ari walking towards him with his bag rested on his shoulder like what those delinquents do when they enter a scene.

     Felix respectfully bows to his guards and joins his new friends. Étienne, on the other hand, stares at his master with a smile, surprised yet proud that Max now has friends who greet him in the morning. Max has always been a lonely boy, so Étienne is glad that he's starting to socialize at least.

     "I hope you have an amazing day master," Étienne says with a slight bow before taking his leave. As soon as he drives off, Max looks back at Felix and Ari and asks, "Do we have any exciting events today?"

     The three start walking towards the main building, AKA the Keep, but this time Max didn't have a tire stain on his peak cap anymore.

     "Well, it is Brotherhood Week so a lot of exciting things can happen. And don't worry, I'm sure sir Barron will explain about this later," Felix answers.

     "We're also getting our armbands today," Ari answers next, and since he already expected Max to ask about it as well, he explains further, "Armbands are what we wear so that we can be identified. Black is for serfs, blue for dwellers, and gold for gaffers. And once we wear those armbands, the real battle begins. So if you think you can still use your Sinclaire card, then think again. You might end up getting shoved in a toilet if you don't be cautious."

     "You got to be joking," Max says with a chuckle, but the serious look on both Ari and Felix made him stop.

     "I've been shoved in a toilet and a trash bin last year, twice." Felix shares, shocking Max.

     "You let them do that to you? Didn't you even fight back? Did no one help you?" Max asks, and it's Felix's turn to chuckle at Max's innocent remark.

     "Like what we've been saying Max, ranks here are everything. No one will help a serf, even other serfs won't help them. And come on, look at me. Even a kid can beat me up," Felix tells him, and for some reason, something about that made Max feel uncomfortable. He knew about what might happen, which is why he even started exercising, but he didn't expect it to be up to this level.

     "Are you guys saying that since you're a serf, you can't fight the people who are ranked higher than you? You can't even defend yourself?" Max asks next, and Ari shakes his head and answers, "Not exactly. If you have the guts, then go wild. But it will do you more harm than good. You can fight a gaffer if you want and win, but that gaffer can hire dwellers or even other serfs to beat you up. So most serfs just keep it low and hope they get promoted as a dweller since dwellers are the safest group you can be in."

     "Then have you done that before, Ari? Have you bullied or hired someone to beat a serf up?" Max then asks, and the questions surprised Felix more than Ari. In an instant, Max knew that Felix knows something about Ari's past activities, and he's just worried about what Ari would say.

    Ari got ready to open his mouth to answer Max's question, but then the bell rang, so the three were forced to hurry to their rooms. When they got there, the class was as lively as ever. Most of the students ignored them, probably because they were with Ari, but some students who were playing around bumped into Max and even stepped on him, the pain electrifying his entire body as it happened.

     The students waited for Max's reaction, but Max remembered what Felix and Ari said to him earlier, so he shook the pain off and walked to his seat. Soon after, sir Barron arrived with Gavriil who's holding a large red velvet case.

     "Take your seats, everyone," sir Barron tells the class as Gavriil places the case on the teacher's desk before taking his seat like the rest of his classmates.

     Sir Barron stands in the middle and starts, "As you may all know, it is brotherhood week, which means regular classes will not be starting yet. For the sake of your classmate who does not know about this, brotherhood week consists of two major events. The club orientation, and the welcome ball where brotherhoods have the chance to showcase themselves to gain underlings. The best underlings will then have the chance to become actual members of the brotherhood next year." He explains before looking at Max, "And since Sinclaire is a transferee, you have permission to look around the booths. The rest of you must head to your clubs to help for your club presentation on Friday."

     "Yes sir," the class answers.

     While sir Barron continues to explain the details of what will happen during tomorrow's club presentation, Max moves close to Ari and whispers, "What club are you in?"

     "Literature club," Ari answers, surprising Max because he expected him to be in a more exciting club. Max wanted to be in the same club as him, but after hearing about what it was, Max decided that it might be best that they're not together on that one.

     "What? I'm in a family of authors with noble prizes. Where did you expect me to be in?" Ari asks when he notices Max's shocked expression, but Max just shrugs his shoulder and asks next, "how about Gavriil?"

     Ari's expression changes a little when he heard of the name, but he answers anyway. "He's the advisor of the newspaper club."

     "Advisor? Is that even allowed?"

     "Well..."

      There are 35 clubs in the House of Kings. Each club has a teacher for an advisor while some are headed by senior students. In Gavriil's case, he's the advisor for the newspaper club because he's the vice president of the Elites, like how president Ian Rothman is the advisor for the broadcasting club. The reason is that the Elites must have full control of these two clubs to avoid scandals and misinformation.

     "Then how about Felix? Please tell me he's not part of the Math Club," Max says next, and Ari sighs and rests his elbow on his seat before placing his chin on his hand.

     "He's in Omega Society," Ari answers, and before Max could ask further about it, sir Barron walks towards the velvet box that the others can only assume is where their new armbands are.

     "I will now give you your armbands according to ranks. Know that these armbands represent your hard work during your freshmen year. All the merit points you have accumulated have now been totaled. Let's first start with the gaffers." Sir Barron says as he adjusts his black gloves before opening the suitcase. He then pulls out a gold armband with the roman numeral II engraved on it, indicating their year level.

     "With 8400 points, let me call on rank #2, Gavriil Ivanovich Alexeev" sir Barron calls first, and Gavriil stands from his seat and approaches their homeroom teacher while his classmates clap for him.

     "8400 points? How the hell did that happen?" Max asks with a shocked expression.

     Ari, who still looked annoyed, explains, "We enrolled at the same time, and he even got first on the exams while I got second. But when we were only freshmen students, he was already a gaffer, which was unbelievable. And then at the end of our third term, he became the vice president."

     "Doesn't that mean—"

     "Yes, he was already a student of J.S High but he stopped and then suddenly repeated. Which explains why he already has an insane amount of points." Ari concludes, and the two looked back at sir Barron who was putting the armband on Gavriil's arm.

     "Congratulations." Sir Barron tells him, and Gavriil thanks their homeroom teacher before returning to his seat. "Next we have rank #294, Aristotle Faulkner with 3660 points," sir Barron announces next, and Ari stands from his seat as the students clapped for him too.

     "Now for the dwellers," he says as soon as Ari went back to his seat. "Rank #323, Hazik Zahari bin Ahmad with 2405 points," he announces before taking out a blue armband this time.

     Students stood up from their seats one by one until finally, the only two serfs in the class were called. With a disappointed look on his face, sir Barron pulls out a black armband from the velvet case and says, "Now for the serfs. With 1470 points, rank #408, Felix Campbell."

     The students in the class laugh, even Ari who was sitting right beside Max who's also a serf. When Ari sees Max glaring at him, he instantly stops laughing as the two watch Felix stand beside their homeroom teacher with a terrified look.

     Felix gulps as sir Barron places his armband for him. Soon after, he heads back to his seat, only to be tripped by a dweller who stretched his leg when he walked past him. Felix falls, and the class laughs again. Max wanted to do something, but Ari was already holding his arm to stop him.

     "Mr. Campbell, please take your seat," sir Barron says instead of scolding the person who tripped him.

     Felix immediately apologizes and runs to his seat in embarrassment. And as soon as he did, sir Barron takes out the last armband and says, "For the last serf, rank #556 with a total of...50 points, Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire."

     The room falls silent as Max slowly lifts himself from his seat. He doesn't say anything, but he tries to walk to the front with a confident face even though he knew that the atmosphere was forcing him not to.

     Max stands beside sir Barron and faces the students. They all have blank expressions on them, but as soon as sir Barron placed the armband on him, their faces all became sadistic. Some were even smirking and grinning in excitement. Max was a boy who knew his place, which means now he knew that he was finally at the bottom of the food change. The thought of him being the prey made him feel frightened. But at the same time...

     It excited him.

     "You may take your seat," sir Barron tells him, and Max heads to his seat, not tripping like what happened to Felix.

     Sir Barron closes the velvet case and walks in front with his hands behind his back. "Like what I stated yesterday, as your homeroom teacher, I have the power to make the classroom rules. So other than keeping your grades high, I officially declare that anyone who is under rank #320 at the end of your second term, regardless of whether or not you are a dweller or a serf, will be kicked out of this class and will be transferred to Class B." Sir Barron announces, shocking everyone. The atmosphere changes in an instant as soon as they heard the announcement. Someone even gasped at the back.

     "Is he insane?" Ari asks with surprise, even though he's already in the safe zone himself.

     "Let me remind you all that you are an A-class, so I expect that this class will be filled with gaffers and dwellers, and not dwellers and serfs. You have six months to accomplish this," sir Barron tells them and the class starts talking with each other, already complaining about how hard the task is especially since half of the class is ranked 340 and lower.

     "Alright, once the bell rings, head to your clubs. I'll see you tomorrow," sir Barron finishes, taking the velvet suitcase and taking his leave. The moment he left the room, the noise became even louder.

     "Come on, it's six months. You can raise your ranks if you're all active enough," Ari says with his arms crossed, making some of the students secretly glare at him, specifically Ervin Walker who had a feud with both Max and Ari yesterday.

     "Well easy for you to say. You're already over three hundred," Max says before taking out his handy J.S High notebook.

     "And freshmen students will be hogging points starting today. A handful of them will be entering the top 350, pushing students like us back," Felix then adds as he approached Max and Ari's seat. The only serfs in class joined each other, but no one dared approach them because of Ari. Felix then leans on Max's desk, and the three start discussing the challenge that they will be facing thanks to their homeroom teacher's absurd class qualification.

     "Looks like I have to raise my rank if I want to stay in this class," Felix says, and Ari instantly snickers and teasingly tells him, "Wouldn't it be inconvenient to you then?"

     Felix's expression changes for a quick second, but he laughs it off like Ari just made a joke. "It will be hard, but I don't think it would be inconvenient," he says, and Ari finally lets it go.

     While the two were sending death threats through their eyes, Max writes down a detailed plan in his notebook. When the two noticed him, Ari asks, "Please tell me you're not planning to murder students so you can rank up."

     "That would be too easy," Max casually says, surprising Ari and even Felix since Ari was only joking, but Max didn't sound like he was.

     "I have a lot of things that I have to accomplish within this year, and sir Barron's classroom rule just made me ten times more motivated than before. All I have to do now is go through specific steps to achieve the ultimate goal that I want," Max explains without removing his eyes from his notebook.

     Ari and Felix look at each other confusingly before looking back at Max. "And what ultimate goal would that be?" Felix asks.

     Max writes one final word in his notebook before looking back at the two and saying, "Isn't it obvious? I have to conquer Vicktor Stepanov."

- END -