The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 34

I gape a little as we walk down the long, dark tunnel towards…

I mean, I don’t even know what we’re walking towards.

“Where are we going?” I ask Rafe, a little breathless with intrigue and excitement.

“Into the Academy,” he hisses back, like it’s a secret, but I know he’s kidding even before I glare up at him.

“Uniforms,” Jesse says smoothly, running a hand through his hair like he’s very suave. “We’ve got to get fitted, because Academy cadets always look good.”

“What?” I say, a little confused. “Honestly, that can’t be first –”

“His dad,” Rafe says, “the vainest man in the world –”

“Um, justifiably,” Jesse counters, grinning.

“Yeah, whatever,” Rafe says, grinning, “anyway, Uncle Roger really did decide that all of the cadets enrolled here need to look their best at all times. So, yeah,” he shrugs, “first thing is fittings for uniforms.”

“Whoa,” I say, and my awe is not simply for Uncle Roger’s semi–predictable flare for looking good, but also for the cavernous room we walk into next. Because, I mean, the tunnel was literally just that a tunnel, with rough walls and low lighting.

But this?

“Damn,” Luca says, a smirk on his face as he comes up next to Jesse. “Looks like this city boy has finally made it, haven’t I?‘

I nod as I stare around the room, with its three–story arching stone ceilings and polished floors. And I mean, this is the bottom of the castle, where I assumed the dungeons were. If this is here, what the hell is upstairs?

“This way,” Rafe says, tugging me along towards a line of professors waiting at a set of tables ahead of us, a set of boxes in front of them.

“Ah, Cadet Sinclair,” one of the professors says, smiling at Rafe as he steps forward. “Naturally we thought you’d be one of the first to appear, but now I see that you

Chapter 34

beyond Rafe and blinks a little at Ben and 1, clearly having

on his best Prince and Heir persona. “Is there something here we need to collect?”

and key, the Cadet Handbook, and a map of the parts of the castle which you’ll need to find your classes. Class information will be along this

and I jump a little when I hear

name.

repeats, and as I turn I realize with surprise that it’s the dark–haired professor again – the one who made us hold that strange orb this afternoon. I move eagerly towards him, seeing he has what I assume is my box in his hands. “Congratulations, Cadet.” he says, his voice dry and amused in a way that makes me look

because…I mean, he’s just staring at me in this knowing

says softly. “I’ll look forward to seeing

of Princess training that taught me to be sweet to anyone who says they look forward to seeing me again, but my reaction just makes his own smile deepen. And suddenly, as he holds my gaze, I get the sneaking suspicion that he knows….absolutely everything about me.

him I realize that I am on much shakier ground here, and under a great deal more scrutiny, as a cadet in the Academy than as a candidate in

know, masculine. “Thank you, sir,” I say seriously. “I’ll look forward to

chuckles a little, clearly pleased and entertained, and nods to

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Ben, and Jesse accept their own boxes, my mind racing as I follow Rafe to the next step in our process.

which is smaller and has walls covered in mirrors. I look around passively, my mind still reeling from my interaction to the professor, who was the

the Captain and this brown–haired professor teach? They’re so different – I can’t imagine, at all,

I go very still in shock before I suddenly burst out laughing, realizing that I’m

coming to my

little, observing my plain face with no makeup, my hair tucked expertly

room like I’m doing, his face bursting into a grin as he sees

takes me seriously,” I murmur. Because honestly, I do look like a boy, but I’m sure

I go still when I hear it, turning towards it in shock as she laughs a little too and waves me forward. I mean, it’s not like I recognize the voice or anything – it’s just….a girl. “A lot of guys have that reaction when they see themselves for the first time in candidate grey after two weeks,” she

nods to the round platform in front of which she kneels on a little ottoman. “Come forward,” she says. “I’ll take your measurements, and we’ll have you

hesitate, realizing suddenly that this young

wants to

And while my baggy candidate uniform conceals everything about my slight

SUN, LU Mar

Chapter 21

to some

you’re shy, I can