among the cheering crowd, someone was watching from the sidelines.

    his eyes were golden. some say it was even sparkling, while his hair was the color of the setting sun, red-orange but beautifully decorated his head. eros watched closely at his younger brother, and the moment he saw his mom in full support of whatever apollo was doing, it filled his heart with rage.

    "why.. why is it always him?" he repeated those words inside his head until someone lightly tapped his shoulder.

    "young master"

    immediately, eros recognized him as a mage under the care of his teacher.

    "dylan, what''s up?"

    "young master your teacher has come, he is looking for you"

    eros nodded his head; however, before leaving, he glanced at his mother again before following dylan.

    "apollo, why couldn''t you just die?" he thought as his figure slowly disappeared from the dark.

    "hmm...?"

    "what is it, blair?" mckenzie noticed his sudden change and immediately asked what happened.

    "sorry i just thought someone was thinking bad about us"

    "you sense it?"

    "yes"

    "we will tell apollo about this later but for now we should enjoy this night"

    blair just nodded and soon moved to see apollo.

    .

    .

    .

    "an image capturer?"

    now he wishes he never invited anyone from the tower.

    "how much did they take?"

    [well sir arthur took a video when you almost tripped while the others took dozens of videos on their magic image capturer]

    "seriously"

    while embarrassment and frustration well up in the boy''s mind, isabella slowly approaches him and then clicks!

    "mom!"

    he shouted while covering his face.

    "come on, it''s too late to be embarrassed. everyone already has your photo except me. so let mom have at least ten shots, okay?" she was enthusiastic and left apollo in a chokehold. he could not reject such eyes looking at him excitedly. he felt helpless, and there was no one who could help him.

    with no other option, he could only say, "alright take as much as you want"

    isabella smiled and nervously held her camera to capture every moment.

    "smile more.."

    "how about moving around"

    "oookay.."

    apollo walk the same way he did when he first came up on the stage, and every step he took was welcomed by a series of camera flashes. the boy could not know whether to laugh or cry at his situation, but seeing his family and friends being happy, he had no choice but to surrender.

    "well, it''s rare for everyone to be this happy. i should just let them be," he thought, and although he felt embarrassed, he just went with the flow and enjoyed the moment.

    soon enough, they were called back on the stage, and despite not liking his situation, he strangely felt nervous. his hand felt sweaty, and for some reason, his throat became dry. whoever wins should not bother him, but for some reason, he felt restless.

    "damn it" he shouted in his head while his legs became shaky due to the heels.

    "jeremiah"

    [yes?]

    "i suddenly felt a sense of respect towards those girls who were in these heels every day"

    [is it really hard]

    "welcome then i will remove the corset"

    "yeah please do"

    in the next couple of seconds, sounds of rustling fabric can be heard, along with apollo''s painful groans.

    "have you removed it?''

    "no, i think it stuck"

    "stuck!"

    the boy felt lamented for a second, but then he thought of using disintegrate to finish his misery.

    "ali, can i destroy this corset?"

    "no, i can remove it just a sec.."

    "ugh! that hurts you are making it even tighter"

    "wait .....sigh, okay, you win. do whatever you want.."

    "thanks." then, within a second, the corset disappeared, and now the boy was standing with only a boxer shorts.

    a broad shoulder and back filled with scars came into alicia''s view. for a moment, she couldn''t help but look at them, although it wasn''t the first time she had seen them. the impact it had on her was always the same: a mix of emotions that even she could not comprehend.

    "alicia..." he finally spoke, knowing the meaning of that gaze; although he couldn''t see her face, he knew what she was thinking.

    "you plan to make it even right?" she just said earning a nod from apollo.

    "but i plan to give a different set of scars. i will be sure of it"

    his words had no hint of anger but instead sounded reassuring. she didn''t really understand but decided to pat his back as if saying good luck.

    "get dressed." she then gave him his uniform.

    apollo just smiled and took it; however, when he was about to wear his uniform, the door suddenly swung open, and the tower mages with his friends poured in to see him.

    "oh!" vesta exclaimed as she witnessed apollo''s bare body filled with scars.

    "that is a very nice boxer, apollo." mckenzie even whistled as he said that.

    "care to give me a little privacy?" a glare then landed on the newcomers, causing them to fall back but not immediately leave.

    "click!"

    a camera shuttle causes alicia to laugh, making apollo''s glare shift on her.

    "okay, okay, we will leave," the black-haired beauty chuckled as she said that then she dragged everyone out of the room.

    in the next second, apollo was left alone, and a sudden silence enveloped his dressing room.

    "sigh .... finally some quiet time"

    after a few minutes, he finally left the dressing and saw his mother.

    "mom...."

    "your friends are already outside since it is matilda''s turn"

    "oh i see, let''s head there then"

    after leaving backstage and finally landing at the audience stand a resounding clap echoes making apollo surprised. as he looked up at the stage, a silhouette of an imposing figure swallowed everyone with her presence.

    "is that matilda?"

    apollo was actually dumbfounded. he had never anticipated such an appearance.

    "good evening i''m matilda santiago from lower class!"

    a husky voice went through the mic, and with a face similar to a prince, the girls at the back cheered so loud it made everyone surprised.

    "what an impact"

    with just a few words, matilda caught the attention of many people, and just like that, the crowd increased surprising even the other classes.

    the girl standing in the spotlight walks confidently with a sword at her waist and a military outfit that evenly matches her charisma; the gallant soldier from the lower class makes many hearts skip.

    "just wow," mckenzie could only say until the figure on the stage disappeared and was replaced by the host.

    even when her figure was gone, her overwhelming presence caused everyone to yearn for her appearance again.

    "now i wonder what you will do at the talent portion, matilda," apollo said, feeling excited at the competition.