Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

Chapter 38: Cold stares of my roommate

It was Tuesday afternoon, and Ruelle sat by the cold stone window, her gaze drifting towards the clouds that had darkened over the past few hours. She knew she should be focusing on the ongoing class, but her mind wandered to her Elite roommate, Lucian Slater.

With him giving her his old books, she thought things would simmer down, but they hadn’t. Since she had returned to Sexton, she somewhere felt like he was much colder to her than before. It was almost as if winter had settled between them, and a sigh escaped her lips.

"Ms. Belmont," a sharp voice cut through her thoughts.

Ruelle blinked, her attention snapping back to the present. Mr. Garrison, one of her professors, looked at her with narrowed red eyes.

"I asked you a question," Mr. Garrison repeated, his voice low and chilling. "Or were you too preoccupied with your thoughts to pay attention?"

A ripple of hushed laughter followed his words, carried mostly by the Elite vampires seated in the front rows, their sharp red eyes gleaming with amusement, along with a few human students who couldn’t hide their smirks.

What a wrong time to be distracted, thought Ruelle to herself. This is what happened when you thought about a male. Swallowing, she stood up to apologise,

"I apologise, Mr. Garrison. Could you repeat the question?"

A scoff echoed from the front row, coming from an Elite vampiress who leaned toward her friend and whispered, "Must still be saving up to get the books."

"Groundlings shouldn’t even be here; they waste our precious time," someone muttered, loud enough for the class to hear.

through the noise, silencing the whispers with a single sharp word. When he turned to her, Ruelle’s stomach twisted,

with sarcasm, "perhaps you would care to enlighten the class. Explain the three phases

eyes shifted toward her, some of the students smirking in anticipation of her failure. After all, how could the girl who could

mind raced, but not in panic. No, she had read about

emotional synthesis," she began hesitantly, and the smirks around her faltered. "In the second phase—cognitive alignment—the human’s brain starts integrating human and vampiric neural impulses. This phase enhances sensory perception, leading to sharper instincts and reflexes, but also causes a temporary mental conflict. During this time, the brain experiences a... disagreement between human emotions

at each other while

that the answer? How does she know that?" The humans were keeping track of

more valuable than a second-hand copy from the library. Lucian’s books, filled with neat, precise annotations—his thoughts, his insights—had become her

praised with a small nod. "Though I suggest you focus more on the

her seat again, with her classmates still

rang, the classroom filled with a hum of chatter. Ruelle, Hailey, and Kevin stepped into the corridors together,

the look on everyone’s face—like they

said modestly, "I just remembered what

Hailey nudged Ruelle’s arm. "I wish June had been there to see it—she would have been fuming,

smile softened. June’s absence had been odd, but she hadn’t thought much of

or hiding away because she knows she’s falling behind," Kevin mused, thoughtfully. "At this rate, she might end up at the bottom, even if she keeps trying to steal

as her gaze drifted to the

casting a sombre light through the windows. The corridors, usually bright, felt darker today,

back to their rooms

smile. Hailey practically beamed at the sight of him, though Ruelle felt the usual flicker of awkwardness. She had