Chapter Text
“Ha?! I said I don’t wanna!” The boy threw a canvas on the floor in a fit, knocking over paint buckets, making them spill all over the already dirty floor. He was making a mess out of his studio because he refused to get out of it.
“But, Young Master, we had already promised the principal! We’re going to make a large sum of money from doing so, so I ask you to obey your mothers orders!” The maid who was in the same room as Edgar spoke as calmly as possible to try and soothe the painter into settling down, to try and make him quit throwing a tantrum despite being in his last year of high school.
He was trapped between the wall, and the maid pinned him down. “There’s no way I’m going to a commoner’s school just for a simple few million dollars, which I could easily make by selling one of my worst paintings!” He argued, attempting to break free from her grasp. But, as he was shorter than the average female, he was also considerably physically weaker - although that was mostly because of his illness.
“Your mom is also doing this for you! Last time you collapsed at the prestigious school from being overworked. You know how bad your physical condition is!” She reasoned arguably. The painter stopped his pursuit at trying to escape, and just grunted, letting out an annoyed “fine” so he wouldn’t have to deal with this.
His illness made him unable to involve himself in physical activities, such as P.E. and gym, ever since he was a wee child - he would always stay inside and paint. His parents have tried to homeschool him but he would never pay attention to them, wanting to paint instead - knowing he had to go to a school itself but going to a private school would overwork him, they decided to send him to a public school instead.
“Good. Now go to your room, we have prepared an outfit for you. We have a car for you outside, so when you’re bathed, dressed and ready to go you may leave to eat your breakfast in the limousine on your way to school.” The maid would open the studio door for Edgar to leave, and begin to pick up the large mess he had made as her job. He scoffed and walked out, slamming the door behind him, visibly angry, up until he arrived at his class….
“Hello class. As you’ve heard, we have a new student joining our class from today on.” The tall, beautiful woman had short, yet beautiful white hair, and gorgeous red eyes - who was actually their homeroom teacher, looked at the door and nodded, signalling someone to come inside. Her name was Mary.
The class stared in awe as a beautiful boy walked in the classroom, with silky long brown hair that was tied up, with a beautiful rouge bonnet, wearing an elegant outfit that still managed to fit with the school's theme. He looked like a model - like someone out of a TV series - yes, that was the well-known young painter, Edgar.
“I am Valden Edgar. I will be starting school here from now on. Don’t get in the way of my work.”
He had no intention of hiding his arrogance, obviously not caring about what others thought of him. “R-right, there’s a seat for you right in the middle of the desks, right at the empty desk..” The teacher replied, clearing her throat as she directed his attention towards his new spot. He walked over and sat down, all eyes on him. He didn’t mind, of course. Obviously when someone as talented and famous as him enters a commoner’s place, he’d be the center of attention. “Well then, since the exam results are coming up soon, us teacher’s will be busy marking everything, so you will have a free period… but no leaving the school grounds.”
Naturally, the whole class was around Edgar, curious about him, trying to get to know him personally. All except one - who sat at the back of the class in silence, not letting out a single peep. He was focused on writing something - but out of curiosity, did glance at Edgar occasionally. One of the student’s caught Edgar looking at Victor, because he was wondering why he did not try to approach him. “Oh him?” Naib would start, scratching the back of his head.
“That’s Victor. No one’s ever heard his voice before. The teacher’s quit callin’ on him for answers. You shouldn’t meddle with him.”
“...I see.” The painter was indeed curious, but at the same time didn’t bother to try and approach him, because he was busy dealing with his annoying classmates that seemed to have nothing better to do than pry on about themselves and bloat about how big fans they are.
It was the last period when the teacher brought up a project the students would have to complete by the end of the week. “You may work in pairs, or work alone . Your instructions are on the sheet of paper that I gave you.” After Mary had finished explaining, a hand went up.
“Miss, can I work with Edgar?” She asked, but the teacher just sighed.
“No you may not. I don’t know where he is in this field, so for now I’ll pair him with Victor, seeing as he has the best grades in the class.
“Aww…” the girl retreated back into her seat, obviously disappointed with the answer. “Everyone, please do your best, and don’t be afraid to ask me if you have any questions.”
“Okayy..” The class responded, clearly not interested in working on said project.
“I’ll be off then.” Edgar didn’t hesitate to pack all of his things up to leave for the day.
“Huuhh? Miss, there's still 20 minutes left in class! Why does he get to leave early?”
Mary cleared her throat. “A-ahem, he’s just getting used to the school, don’t worry about it okay class?” Lies. “He’ll be attending properly soon!” More Lies. But Edgar was used to it at this point. Being suckered up to because he was richer, superior, a higher standing in society. It was nothing new. Everyone thought of themselves as stepping stools for him, and he responded by looking at them the same way. Always.
…..
Ding Dong!
The door to Edgar’s large house - dare I say mansion - was almost immediately opened by one of his butlers very quickly. “Ah, you must be Victor, the one Young Master has invited over for work. Please, come inside.” He said, very humbly, opening the door all the way, inviting him in. Flustered by being in such an elegant environment, he quickly entered the building and let the butler guide the way.
It had been almost a week since Edgar had transferred into the public school - he was beginning to settle into the new environment. Most of his classmates don’t talk to him much, after learning how foul-mouthed and arrogant he is towards his peers, constantly sharing his unwanted opinions and looking down on them. A lot are genuinely nice to him, but he still doesn’t reply in a grateful manner. Victor and Edgar had made 0% progress with the project - due to the fact that they haven’t communicated whatsoever. So Edgar went out of his way to invite Victor over to his house to work on it- but….
“Why aren’t you saying anything? You’re being a nuisance. Is it that hard not to speak?” Edgar tapped his foot on the carpet, not covering his impatience, as he tried talking to victor in one of his lounge rooms - though Victor just glared at Edgar, not willing to talk at all. He was all fidgety, because he’d never been in such a rich household before. “What a pain, having to deal with you…” He was about to get up and leave, until Victor started making a motion with his hands. It looked like…. “Are you doing a writing motion..?” He then understood exactly what message victor was trying to convey. “Very well. Ann?”
“Yes sir?”
“Get me a notebook and a pen.”
“Yes sir.”
When the maid had returned with the requested notebook and pencil, Edgar gave them to Victor. As he imagined, Victor took immediate action and began writing on the notebook.
“Sorry.” It read. “Why do you apologize?” Edgar asked, attempting to cover the annoyance in his voice. “I am not comfortable with speaking in front of people.” He wrote, smiling sheepishly, yet calmly. For some strange reason, the painter felt his heart flutter, just a little bit. “Th-that has nothing to do with me! On with the project, before I kick you out.” Edgar ordered, organizing the materials he had gathered on the coffee table in front of him.
“Such a fowl mouth for such a small body.” Victor grinned as he crumpled up the piece of paper, pretending not to have written such a thing, which obviously made Edgar mad. “Quite a big personality for such a quiet person!” He snapped back, trying to control his ferocity and work on the project. And so they did, until night time fell upon them....
“That is it, it is time for you to go home.” Edgar said, packing everything up. Victor sighed and nodded. “I’ll see you on monday. Please finish your part for the proje-” He was suddenly interrupted by the sudden power outage and the lightning strike - there was a power storm outside… and of course, a power outage too. “Wh-what the..?” Edgar was confused, this being the first power outage he’d had in years. He groaned and shook his head, facepalming. “And of course, out of any day this ridiculous storm had to happen today…”
Nonetheless, Victor was already heading out - before he felt someone tugging on his arm. He turned around, and much to his surprise - it was Edgar. He had a look of confusion and wanted to question why he had been stopped. “It’s dangerous. You are going to sleep here tonight.” Crap. He didn’t mean to sound so rude about that, and was just slightly worried about Victor’s safety - but brushed it off. “If something happened, I would be the one blamed, so stay here.” It was a reasonable excuse, was it not?
He didn’t actually sigh, but Edgar swore he saw it in Victor’s eyes, as he nodded and took off his coat, putting it back to hang on the wooden hook he had gotten it from. “My servants have made me dinner, but there are leftovers, so I suppose you can have those.” Edgar cleared his throat, directing their attention to something new. “It should be ready soon, so I’ll show you to our dinning hall.”
Empty. Victor thought, as they walked along a long hallway, Victor followed the painter’s lead towards said dining hall. His house… is empty. I don’t see his parents anywhere.. And there’s only two maids and one butler. Of course, he wasn’t going to pry into someone else's business. After all, he had secrets he needed to keep of his own… But he wasn’t going to think of that now of all times.
“Do you not see your parents very much?” Victor wrote to Edgar, as they both lay down on the two beds the guest rooms provided, after getting changed into clothes the Maid had provided. He scoffed in reply. “It’s none of your business, why do you care?” Edgar turned around to face the wall. “I was just curious.” Victor wrote, but Edgar didn’t bother to look at the note. “Good night,” Edgar said forcefully, turning off the lamp, which completely burned out all of the light in the room. “Good night.” Victor responded.
Wait a second. Did Victor just...? Edgar immediately sat up in the bed, and switched on the lights back on, in a daze. “What did you just say?” Victor blinked and looked at Edgar, wondering why he was so surprised.
“I said good night...” Victor paused, and then looked at Edgar, before quickly covering his mouth. Immediately, he cleared his throat and threw the covers over himself, not giving a single glance to Edgar. “....” Edgar closed the light, and lay down quietly. His voice...He thought. It’s so soothing… He felt his cheeks heat up and his mind went fuzzy, his heart beating as if it was going to explode. He thought he would never be able to fall asleep again, but as his mind went adaze again, he found himself waking up into his true reality…. Though most people would call it shifting worlds