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

at

says blandly, smiling at the professor and putting on his best Prince and Heir persona. “Is there something here we need

according to your candidate apparel. Also within the box is your dorm information and key, the Cadet Handbook, and a map of the parts of the castle which you’ll need to find your

around Rafe, listening interestedly, and I jump a little when I hear my

name.

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

and then I hesitate because…I mean, he’s just staring

he says softly. “I’ll look forward to seeing

into a practiced smile, a knee–jerk reaction after years 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.

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

don’t know, masculine. “Thank you, sir,” I say seriously. “I’ll look forward to you

a little, clearly pleased and entertained, and nods to me.

Chapter 34

scowl, turning away as Luca, Ben, and Jesse accept their own boxes, my mind racing as I follow Rafe to the next step in our

my mind still reeling from my interaction to the

the hell do the Captain and this brown–haired professor teach? They’re so different –

my eyes lock on a figure across the room and I go very still in shock before I suddenly burst out laughing, realizing that I’m looking at myself in the mirror

asks, coming

face with no makeup, my

a second and then looks across the room like I’m doing, his face bursting into a grin as he sees

a boy, but

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 says, smiling

in front of which she kneels on a little ottoman. “Come forward,” she says. “I’ll take your measurements, and we’ll have you looking dashing

realizing suddenly that

wants to touch

while my baggy candidate

SUN, LU Mar

Chapter 21

some details I don’t want anyone to

shy,