How to Make a Sinner Sleep

02 | roommate; the dragon's son

A clean, wrinkle-free shirt layered with a blouse, a tie and another slim-fit jacket draped loosely over his shoulders, held together by a jewel.

He combed his hair back, eyes fixated on the mirror as he watched his hands loop the ribbon around onyx strands, perfectly cut.

The Academy awaited him.

Located a short carriage ride from the small town of Perro, it was a low-key and hidden area that one couldn't visit so easily, if not an admitted student or professor.

A special school, in which only particular students could attend through invitation, granted by unknown requirements. He'd been invited—though his attendance was a matter of whether the royal family allowed him or not. 

And with a particularly malicious intent, they'd given him a mission to complete.

The dragon's trust.

He stared at his reflection for moments more, tracing a hand on the gaunt cheeks that painted a pitiful picture in the broken glass, before looking down at his fingers that had been neatly wrapped with bandages, covered in black gloves.

"You will pay for your crimes." He whispered to himself, to the history that was undone, now nothing more than a nightmare that haunted him at night. "I will make sure of it."

"Hurry up, dog!" snapped Reed, once again bursting through the door without warning, a scowl digging into his lips as he frowned. "Father is impatient as it is, and you know better than to disappoint him as you always do. Perhaps he will revoke your permission to the school."

Kaden turned and nodded, a false smile painting his lips that had been chewed on from stress. "I apologize."

He followed the servants outside, eying two of the carriages. Separate ones of course, when Reed wouldn't dare remain in the same area as somebody as lowly as him. Really, it worked in his benefit.

One of the drivers, a new and unfortunate youth that would later be severely punished, would end up taking the wrong road while Reed was in the carriage, leaving them lost in the forests.

However, both carriages would arrive late and be embarrassed, unable to make any claims to their rooms. It was rather unfitting of nobility to arrive a day later than scheduled, but it had happened.

Reed had been absolutely livid, and Kaden bore his wrath.

The youth that would go down the wrong road nodded at him with an excited smile, bowing his hat with a cheeky hitch in his voice. "Good morning, sir."

Kaden turned to Reed. "I will take his carriage."

The man narrowed his gaze. "Are you assuming you had a say in the matter to begin with?"

"Of course not," said Kaden slowly, tilting his head as a sarcastic tug of his mouth appeared. "I assumed you would rather take the carriage driven by a more experienced driver, considering your difficult personality."

"Difficult?"

"I meant special."

Reed's heeled boots clattered against the pathway as he paused beside Kaden, lowering his voice to a threatening hiss. "Do watch yourself, little brother. You think cheekiness will allow you to rebel? You forget where you stand."

Kaden lowered his chin. "I haven't forgotten for a moment."

If he remembered the devastation of hell he lived in, how could he forget who exactly he wanted to drag down with him?

He kept his head facing the ground as the sound of the carriage door opening sounded, and waited only when the wheels had left a far enough distance that they were nothing more than a muffled rumble against the earth.