Opening Ceremony

Unedited

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The next day, Cyrus and Atlas woke up early to go to the auditorium to hear the principal’s speech. When Cyrus opened the door, Ronan was already waiting outside. He was an early riser and always on time.

As for Cyrus and Atlas… Well, Cyrus woke up earlier than Atlas so he needed to wake Atlas up. Atlas was extremely slow in the mornings, so Cyrus helped him by picking out his outfits.

Atlas’ wavy hair was a bit messy, but he was too tired to deal with it. Why did the principal want to give a speech at six in the morning? He wanted to sleep in a little longer…

Normally, he woke up at seven, but that was if he got 8 hours of sleep. He went to bed a little late because Starlight was not used to the new room and she was feeling restless. It took a couple of hours to calm her down before he could finally sleep.

Ronan saw the tired Atlas and tried to tame his bedhead. The curls at the end of his hair were sticking up in all kinds of directions. He tried to pat them down but found they were quite stubborn.

“Just give up, his hair does what it wants.” Cyrus already tried, but he was also unsuccessful.

Atlas didn’t really understand why they were petting his head, but he closed his eyes and leaned into Ronan’s hand. He was about to fall asleep again if they kept this up!

“Cute…” Ronan mumbled, almost ready to stay here and let Atlas sleep a little longer.

“Ronan, stop indulging him. We should get going.” Cyrus burst his bubble.

“Okay.”

He was a bit reluctant, but Ronan grabbed Atlas’ hand and guided him to the elevator. There was no way he was going to let Atlas go down the stairs when he was so tired…

Cyrus and Ronan easily moved Atlas because he was obedient and didn’t fight. They would have brought Sir Walter to help move Atlas but tamed beasts and monsters were not allowed in the auditorium.

When they got to the auditorium, they were escorted to the front of the seating area where all the other Class A students were. There, they met up with Sophie who saved some seats for them.

Sophie looked like she rested well in contrast to Atlas who looked like he was going to fall asleep the moment he sat down.

The seating arrangement was Sophie, Cyrus, Atlas, and then Ronan.

Atlas, who only got a couple of hours of sleep, nodded off while listening to the voices of Sophie and Cyrus. He tried his best to keep himself awake but everyone could see that he was ready to sleep.

Five minutes later, the principal walked onto the stage and gave a 40-minute speech. His voice was low and steady, making a lot of the students fall asleep.

Atlas was already out like a light. His head was on Ronan’s shoulder because the height was perfect. Cyrus was a little too short for him to use as a pillow.

Ronan did his best not to move. He couldn’t even fall asleep because he had a speech after the principal.

As the student who ranked number 1 on the entrance exams, he was told to make a speech to inspire his fellow classmates.

The principal kept talking for more than 40 minutes, not noticing that almost half of the students had fallen asleep or were close to falling asleep. Even Cyrus felt his eyelids were feeling heavy.

He talked about the history of the Imperial Academy, the achievements of the alumni, and his honor to watch the new generation grow. He also said that he hoped everyone would work hard and improve the Empire.

By the end of his speech, he only looked at Ronan before making his closing statement.

The teachers clapped to not only wake up the students but to give time for Ronan to go on stage to give his small speech to the new students.

Ronan woke Atlas up, and by that time, Atlas felt a little more rested.

“Good luck on your speech,” Atlas said with a yawn. “I will do my best to stay awake.”

“Thank you, Atlas. It will be quick.” He patted Atlas on the head and went to the stage. Luckily, he was close so he didn’t have to walk very far.

Atlas was a bit dazed by being patted on the head but felt it was fine. Cyrus also liked to pat him on the head.

Ronan stood in front of the podium and looked over at Atlas who was looking at him with excitement. He couldn’t help but smile at him and then looked up with an expressionless face.

“Hello everyone, my name is Ronan Hirean. As the representative of the First Year students, I congratulate everyone here for passing the academy’s assessment. It is a testament to your hard work and determination.

“Just because you have passed the assessment, it does not mean that is the end. Continue to learn and find your passions. Continue to strive for greatness. This is just the first step on your journey to finding who you are as a person.

“Finally, don’t forget, even if you are here to learn, you are also here to connect with your peers and hopefully, make lifelong friends along the way.”

Ronan saw everyone was awake by the time he had finished his speech. It was a relief to know that no one was sleeping…

After that, he said his goodbyes and walked off the stage with everyone clapping for him. He didn’t look at anyone else but Atlas, who was waiting for him.

Well, Cyrus and Sophie were there too, but in dragon fashion, he only had eyes for Atlas.

“How did I do?” It was the first time Ronan had given a speech in front of so many people. He knew he would be fine, but he wanted to hear Atlas praise him.

“You did amazing! A real professional.” Atlas was happy to see his childhood friend thriving and doing well.

Seeing his genuine happiness for him, Ronan also smiled. “Thank you, Atlas.”

After realizing his feelings for Atlas, it felt like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders and his interactions with Atlas felt more natural.

Cyrus saw Atlas, who was a bit oblivious, and Ronan, who was so obvious that he could see it with his eyes closed. The two were surprisingly well suited for each other.

He called out to the two, “Since the opening ceremony is done, we should head off to homeroom. Luckily, we only have a half day today.”

Atlas nodded his head and walked over to Cyrus with Ronan following close to him.

Along with Sophie, the four of them made their way to their homeroom class with the other Class A students.

All the theoretical courses for each grade and class were in the same building. It was also close to the training grounds, so the students were able to navigate the Academy easily.

When the four of them arrived at the Class A homeroom class, Atlas saw a familiar face. It was Rowan Eumia, his history tutor. Since Rowan no longer had to tutor Atlas at the Alnhart estate, he decided to go back to teaching at the Imperial Academy full-time.

Atlas’ other tutors had done the same.

“Lord Atlas, I know you are excited to see me, but this is not the time or place for conversation.” Even though Rowan’s words seemed like he was scolding Atlas, his tone was indulgent toward him.

Atlas had a goofy smile on his face, ready to rush over.

“Okay, Teacher Rowan.” He looked a little sad but he knew that he was taking up space hovering around Rowan. Plus, other students needed to greet the teacher as well.

When they sat down, Ronan tapped Atlas’ hand to get his attention. “Who is that?”

Ronan knew who Rowan was, where his family Rowan was from, where his family lived, etc. He just wanted to know how Atlas’ would describe their relationship.

“He is my history teacher. He’s been teaching me since I first came to the Hirean Empire and has taught me a lot. Without him and my other teachers, I would have a harder time adjusting to life here.”

Ronan could see it was pure admiration and there were no other feelings behind it. Unconsciously, he felt relieved.

“Then you must be happy to see your teacher.”

“I am! I heard my other teachers are here too saying that they wanted to continue teaching me if possible. They spoil me too much.”

Just as Atlas had said, his other teachers also followed him to work full-time at the Imperial Academy. They had nothing else to do when they stopped tutoring Atlas.

In the first year of Atlas’ time in the Hirean Empire, his teachers decided to dedicate a lot of their time to teaching him while working part-time at the Academy. Now that he was in the Academy, they decided to go back to working full-time.

Seeing Atlas happy, Rowan also felt happy. He patted Atlas on the head. “Then you better study hard and continue to make them proud.”

“I will!” Atlas seemed a lot more determined now that Rowan was his homeroom teacher. He wondered if he could see his other tutors soon.

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Grandpa Marky: Merry Christmas everyone! I am sorry I am only now posting. As y'all know, I started my full-time job last week and then this week, I started working 10-hour days (because I am only working 4 days a week for this week and next week). it's been brutal. I'm so tired but it's only going to be two weeks of this so I just gotta power through!

Anyway, that's all from me! I will, hopefully, see you all next week :D have a lovely day/night my beautiful grandchildren <3