Now I think we should return to the present. After recounting the past of the characters, there remains a mystery... Who is Felix after all? Why does he still seem familiar to me? I haven't had any accidents, so...
"Maurice, are you alright?" Felix asked me.
"I-I'm fine... Just a bit dizzy... Anyway, I wanted to talk about the fight last week..."
"There's no need... I understand that you hate me, and the feeling is mutual, but I don't want to suffer because of you..."
"Wait!"
It seems it will be very difficult to try to talk to him about what happened and how I feel like I've met him before. Anyway, I think it would be better to go to the dining hall and have something to eat... I just hope I don't stumble on my way there...
Well, it seems I didn't stumble and I arrived safely at the dining hall. After Emily departed from the Academy council, there was an empty seat at the council members' table... Yes, to the surprise of many, the students who were council members ate together.
Anyway, our table had one empty seat, so I decided it would be good if someone occupied it... Our secretary was the only one who didn't sit at the table with us, so to prove my innocence, I needed to befriend Felix, right?
To the surprise of my colleagues, I got up from the table and went to Felix's table to convince him to eat with us.
"Hello, Felix... Enjoy your meal..."
"Thank you, Your Highness. Do you need something?"
Honestly, yes, I do,"
"Anything, as long as I can do it..."
"Alright... I invite you to join our table... Now that you're our secretary and a seat just became available, you can have your meal with us..."
"To be honest, I don't know what to say... I know that the Vice President can't stand me, and you-"
"Don't worry... Everything will turn out fine... Anyway, tonight we're planning to go out to eat in the city, will you come with us?"
"If you'll accept me into your group, I will come... Thank you for the invitation..."
"You're welcome... See you at 3 p.m., alright?"
"S-Sure..."
Why am I becoming more and more depressed? Is it because I can no longer see my true family? Perhaps it's because Felix doesn't have and will never have any feelings for me. Maurice, pull yourself together... Anyway, I need to do something to calm down... I don't think isolating myself in my grandmother's palace is a possibility to recover... However, I need to think about something other than Felix, right?
"Maurice, tomorrow night is that night," Jonathan interrupted my thoughts.
"What night? I don't understand what you're talking about..."
"Oh, come on... Don't forget that you're the Supreme Pontiff of our cult, and we can't conceive a night of the 13th without you, don't you think?"
"I-I don't understand... Something is escaping me..."
Seriously now... What the hell is happening? Maurice is the pontiff of a religion he invented. Seriously, nothing worse could have happened. Plus, I know absolutely nothing about it even though I've read the entire book... Maybe-
No... It can't be... It's not about a cult! It's about something else... Something malevolent, something brutal and extremely weird. Oh no... Don't tell me it's some kind of mafia or a secret group where you need some secret card or something to enter. Well, in our world, it wouldn't be impossible, honestly. But in the world of a romance novel? Seriously, God?
The meal ended well, to my surprise. The only thing that bothers me is the effect I have on people. They look at me as if I'm their idol and they respect me, but there's nothing to be respected about this person. I understand he has the physique of an ancient god from the statues in the imperial palace's hallway, but still, I don't think he has done anything beneficial for anyone... These people and their desire for validation... Anyway, I need to recover, I can't succumb to feelings of guilt and appear weird, right?
I went to my room to rest for a while... Honestly, I wish I could wake up in my room in my world and be with my brother, my mother, and my college friends. I don't want anything else at this moment...
"Maurice, are you okay?" Jonathan asked me.
"No, I'm not okay at all. I'm starting to feel more alone than anyone in this world... Everyone has friends they can rely on, and me-"
"Wait, what am I then?"
"You're my childhood friend, but I need someone with whom I have a different connection... Someone I can be more open with than just a friend or something..."
"You want a romantic partner, don't you?"
"That's not what I mean, Jonathan... I want something more..."
"Two partners? How about three?"
"Jonathan, that's enough... Anyway, why don't you go see what Marcus is doing, don't you think?"
"Marcus is fine... We're going somewhere together tonight, and I hope we'll become closer, you know?"
It seems that even my friend Jonathan has someone else. Right now, I wish I had someone... Someone for whom I could have feelings beyond mere friendship... Anyway, next week we'll be going on a trip, and I hope everything will be okay then. I hope...
In the evening, we decided to go out for drinks together. Well, almost everyone, to be precise. The notable absence was Jonathan, the only one I had grown close to since coming to this world because of the character's past with Jonathan... I haven't had much contact with the others, so I sat and drank the beer I ordered.
"President, are you okay?" Adrien, Felix's colleague, asked me.
"I-I'm fine... I mean, I'm trying to be as good as I can..."
To be honest, I'm used to the ignorance of people my age... In my world, I never could properly connect with my classmates. In high school, I did various favors for my classmates, so they had a reason to be around me. But in college, it's much worse... All my classmates hate me... Well, not that there are many of them. I only have five classmates who are extremely hostile towards me. Why only a few? The other ten take online courses, so I only see them during exams. Anyway, I have nothing in common with those guys, and that college is not what I expected. And the dorm... It's like a maximum-security prison... But anyway, let's get back to the evening in the city.
"Maurice, if you need anything, you can tell us, okay?"
"I'm fine, but thank you for caring..."
I think I'd better start drinking something. Honestly, I think alcohol can make me more sociable or something. I ordered another round of drinks and this time I started engaging in different conversations.
"President, are you trying to say that you've never had a partner?" one of my colleagues asked me.
"Well, as far as I know, no... Anyway, it's not like I'm so experienced or anything..."
"Oh come on, you're already 21... We expected you to be much more experienced than many people around here, right?"
"Well-"
"Maurice, I think you're just shy because you're with your rival, aren't you?" Adrien asked me.
"Wait, what? What rival?"
"Oh, come on, stop pretending not to know... We all know you can't stand Felix... Now that I think about it, you were so eager to get him out of the game, weren't you?"
"And here we go again with that... It's not my fault, okay? If you don't believe me, then-"
"No... We believe you... It's just that you're nothing like the old Maurice. Because when a guy glanced at Emily's legs two weeks ago, you were ready to break his legs, and he ended up being hospitalized for 10 days..."
"Well, the thing is, I don't like Emily anymore... Now I like someone else, but that person doesn't like me at all..."
"Oh, come on, who wouldn't like you?"
I guess it's needless to say that the evening ended well, although I was just as shattered as before. I still hope that something will be resolved soon...
The next day, we had classes again. The classes became increasingly annoying and boring. Maybe I've become more bored with this parallel universe and the fact that I'll be alone forever. Anyway, not much has changed... Except for one thing... Felix has disappeared.
"Hey, Jonathan, have you seen Felix?"
"Maurice, are you okay? Why are you asking about Felix? Anyway, I haven't seen him today. I think he's sick or something... That being said-"
"Jonathan, if you've done something to him..."
"Calm down, President... It's not like I'm some evil character or something, don't you think?"
I didn't have much time to think about Felix today because my mind was occupied with other things. Honestly, I wish all of this would come to an end... Felix will never have feelings for me, so I should forget about it and refocus... Yes, I guess the new Maurice isn't as pleasant as the old one. Why be someone else when you can be yourself and enjoy being right no matter what happens? Interesting idea, by the way...
This afternoon, I decided to take a walk and see different things in this world. I feel like I need to get used to the place before I can take action. Behind a rather large bush, some activities were happening that I'd wanted to see for a while. Two of our classmates were kissing and hugging, hidden from the eyes of onlookers... I guess if I were to join them, nothing would happen.
Anyway, I can't afford that right now. I don't have the necessary desire, and I would be so distracted that I couldn't enjoy it. In any case, I need to prepare for tonight. Jonathan said it's quite an important event that no noble would miss, no matter what. Right after enjoying the perverse sight from a distance among the academy bushes, I returned to the common room of the Academy to get something.
"Maurice, have you come to get something?"
"Yes, give me a drink... I want to drink something today, especially to prepare myself spiritually for tonight."
I also need to pack some things for the trip, right? I've ordered some warm clothes for the trip, along with other necessary items.
"Maurice, why are you so thoughtful?"
"Jonathan, you know we're best friends, right?"
"S-Sure... Anyway-"
"I'm planning to leave the Academy after we come back from the trip. I'll talk to my grandmother about it and hopefully, she'll agree."
"Maurice, you're not allowed to do that... All nobles are required to be students of the Academy for two years... Don't you think there will be consequences?"
"I don't care. Honestly, I want to be alone and get away from all this noise around me."
"Maurice, our mission is to rule the world, not to be in solitude, can't you understand that? Do you want to become a hermit in the woods?"
"You'll never understand... It's not like I have anything to lose in this world... Anyway, have you taken care of what I asked you?"
"S-Sure... I just can't understand you, Maurice... You've become a different person overnight. What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing... Everything is fine."
What have I done? I've made sure of a few things with Jonathan's help. Firstly, I made sure that no one will disturb me tonight. Secondly, I made sure that everyone will be in the Academy dormitory tonight. How? I put sleeping pills in the dinner at the cafeteria. Clever, isn't it?