In the morning, Jessica was awakened by a cold voice "Jessica"
She opened her eyes slowly and saw a boy beside her.
Under the sunlight filtering through the window, his face seemed sculpted with almost unreal precision, as if the light itself had paused just to highlight him.
"What is it?" she mumbled, her voice still thick with sleep.
Taylor brushed her cheek with a gentle gesture. "You'll be late for your first day."
At his words, every trace of drowsiness vanished instantly. Jessica sat up abruptly, her heart racing. "What time is it?" she asked in a panic.
Taylor remained vague, almost amused. "You still have time, don't worry. They'll bring breakfast soon."
No sooner had he finished speaking than someone knocked on the door. "You may enter, Rebecca," he said.
Rebecca entered, carrying breakfast, and placed it on the nightstand beside Taylor. Before leaving, she added, "Young master, letters have arrived from various forces." Then she closed the door behind her.
Jessica followed her with her gaze, realizing that, despite performing her duties flawlessly, the maid had a surprisingly detached manner.
Taylor took the breakfast tray and, sitting beside her, made a clear gesture, he wanted to feed her.
Jessica blushed instantly, surprised by the intimacy of the act, but in the end decided to let herself be indulged a little.
Seeing that he didn't start eating, she grabbed a portion of the food and, with a decisive yet careful motion, brought it to his lips to feed him.
They ended up finishing the entire breakfast feeding each other, in a quiet silence that seemed to belong only to the two of them.
After eating, Jessica got up to put on her uniform, while Taylor simply dressed in casual clothes.
"You're not putting on your uniform?" she asked, confused by his behavior.
He gave her an indifferent look. "I came here because I wanted to accompany you, not to go to the Academy."
Jessica smiled, about to say something, when the door suddenly swung open, and Sofia entered with an air far too proud. Taylor cast a cold glance at her.
Sofia, holding herself with fake confidence, declared "What's the matter? You should thank me for giving you that book. I've come to collect my reward."
"Rebecca."
Taylor's voice echoed through the room. The maid appeared almost instantly, so quiet that both Sofia and Jessica flinched.
"Yes, Young master," she replied calmly.
"Increase the gold on her card from two million to ten million per week."
Sofia's eyes widened, the smug smile already on her lips, but it shattered the moment Taylor continued, icy "And in addition to her Essence control training, add sword training as well."
Sofia was about to protest, but just meeting Taylor's icy gaze silenced every word in her throat. And as soon as she noticed Jessica nearby, she ran immediately toward her.
She hugged her and, lifting her head, said with a fragile expression, "Big sister, look how he treats me, I tried to help you, and he only thinks about bullying me."
Jessica, struck by the way she called her, decided to take her side and, turning to Taylor, said, "Darling, you know she still has to get used to the academy, don't you think it's too harsh to increase her training after school as well?".
Taylor fixed his icy gaze on Sofia, who turned and hugged Jessica tighter, and Jessica returned the gesture. Sighing, Taylor said to Sofia, "This is the last time I want to see you with books like that and entering without knocking."
Seeing that the tactic was working, Sofia decided to try her luck and said to Jessica, "Big sister, you know I've grown up now and need to know certain things."
Jessica smiled, giving Sofia a glimmer of hope, only to take it away with her words "Taylor is right, you should stop reading that stuff, it's not healthy for a young girl like you."
Feeling offended, Sofia retorted, "But I'm fourteen!"
Jessica stroked her head and said, "I know you've grown up, but it's not the right time to study certain things."
Strangely, Sofia felt affection for the gesture and nodded.
Taylor, watching the interaction between the two, hesitated before saying, "You have twelve minutes before you're late."
The two girls immediately let go of each other and, saying together, "See you later" headed toward the villa's exit.
Taylor, turning to Rebecca, asked, "Are the letters in my office?"
And Rebecca nodded.
Once in his office, Taylor opened the letters, tossed some into the trash, and said in a cold voice, "They're really arrogant even in their letters, they make me want to eliminate them."
Going through all the letters, he noticed that some were invitations to banquets, but one immediately caught his interest.
With a cold voice, yet filled with anticipation, he said, "I have the first star, I know the second star will participate in the auction, and the last star should be at this banquet."
Without hesitation, he accepted the invitation.