Chapter 3

The first day as a disguised human. The first day as a Stellaerian.

The first day of the beginning of everything.

"Keep your identity well hidden, white dragon," Miracle muttered, adjusting the little red bow tie on her uniform. "As long as I'm not exposed, everything will be all right."

"Miracle! You done?" Lyn shouted from the bottom floor.

"Just a second!"

As soon as she walked down the stairs, the smell of flour and vanilla extract wafted to her nose. She sniffed. It was something she wasn't used to smelling.

Hayden gestured for her to come over. Grabbing two slices of bread from the toaster, he coated each with a generous amount of peanut butter. Watching his hand move to the empty plate at her seat, only then did she understand the pieces were meant for her. Miracle pulled out the chair, exhaling a silent sigh. She wanted to refuse the meal. Such mortal food—she barely had one in her thousand years of life.

Dragons didn't eat sandwiches or drink milk; they rarely ate. But if they did, it was always fresh, raw meat.

"Miracle, you have to get used to this. All dragons sent here must get used to this,” Hayden said, adding a note of stress to his voice.

She knew the point he was trying to make. To remain hidden in this world, she had to first act like a human.

“I got it," she uttered, finally taking a bite of her first-ever human breakfast.

"You'll be fine." Lyn squeezed her hand. "Dad has prepared everything for you. All you have to do is go with the flow."

It took a while for Miracle to realize Lyn was referring to the school she had been enrolled in.

"Thanks, Lyn." She smiled.

***

"Miracle Watson? You may enter now," Nancy Reed, the homeroom teacher, said as she glanced over at the entrance.

The door slid open. When Miracle saw the sea of faces in the classroom, she was taken aback for a moment. Her toes twitched inside her pair of black Bata shoes, and she clenched her fists tightly. She couldn't bring herself to step forward.

'They are the ones who killed Xiao Xun, Xue Er.' She wavered as her stare drifted from those faces to the name tags sewn below their badges. 'Are they really worthy to be protected? Worthy of us risking our lives in exchange for their peace? They don't even believe in us anymore. Why are we trying so hard to keep them safe?'

Just before the evil thought could take hold, she saw Kingsley and Lyn waving at her.

'No no no, Xue Er. You're here to protect. You can only protect,' she reminded herself.

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and stepped into the class.

As if a spotlight were on her, everyone stared in awe. The boys, afraid to miss even a moment of admiring her beauty, didn't blink at all.

"Hello. I'm Miracle Watson. Nice to meet you," she said.

"All right, Miracle. Let's get you a seat."

Nancy slid her specs down the bridge of her flat nose and scanned around, looking for an available spot.

"Miss, over here!" said one of the excited boys. 

"No, mine is better! It's closer to the board." 

"Excuse me, who wants to see the board when you get to see the sea?" 

"What nonsense are you talking about? We aren't in a dating class, moron!" 

"Enough," the teacher cut in.

But it wasn't loud enough to keep the class under control. Seizing the cane hanging next to the blackboard, she smacked it onto the teacher's table, sending decorative flowers from the ceramic vase scattering across the floor.

"Quiet or get out."

She didn't raise her voice, but the students understood their teacher pretty well.

How about the one next to Rex, our monitor?" Nancy suggested, holding the students down with her glare.

"Sure, sure," Miracle agreed and hurried off with no dither. Too much attention wasn't something she liked.

Right before the lesson started, Rex Long greeted her under his breath, "Nice to meet you, Miracle. Hope we can get along well.”

"Nice to meet you too, Rex. I'm sure we will," she said flatly, brushing away the stray strands of hair stuck on her cheeks.

And the conversation ended there.

While she didn't like humans, it’d be bad to turn down a greeting from a new friend who seemed no harm. But it'd be worse to engage in close relationships with them.

Lessons went on with almost no breaks in between. Nancy Reed, the chemistry and class teacher; Sam Lee, the literature teacher; Maddie Hart, the history teacher; and a few others she couldn't remember. Spending eight hours in school listening to human logic was crap—a total waste of time. She didn't need to know how the scientific theories in this world manipulated human ways of thinking. All the technical terms and relationships—first law, second law, and whatnot—were obviously lies meant to ease, or to be more exact, to cover the reality of supernatural phenomena.

She hated them. Too ridiculous.

As soon as the final school bell chimed, Lyn quickly pulled Miracle away, and with equal speed, Kingsley grabbed her school bag from the chair. Before anyone could say anything, they hastily left the classroom.

Before her deskmate could bid her a proper goodbye.

"You did a great job on your first day, Miracle!" Lyn wrapped her arms around her the moment they stepped out of the school gate. 

"Did I?" She chuckled.

"Good job!" Kingsley patted her head. But upon realizing the difference in their divine rankings, he pulled back his hand at once. “Sorry, I..."

"When I said to ignore the protocols, I meant putting aside the status as well" She winked. “We’re all the same here.”

Kingsley smiled.

Walking along the street, Miracle and Lyn had their arms linked, playfully teasing the twin brother for lagging behind. From a distance, the trio resembled close-knit siblings rather than a dragon accompanied by two half-mortals as her bodyguards.

Kingsley caught up with their pace and idly kicked stones along the pavement. Perhaps it was the sunlight that his high cheekbones seemed more pronounced than the night before.

“As TinXi, we were told to protect the dragons, to help them look after the mortals even when they're not around," he said.

“When we’re not around?” Miracle arched her brow and looked at the brother.

“While the 18th year marks the reoccurrence of the bloody battle, small fights still happen from time to time.”

"Dragons have yet to defeat the evils, but they managed to prevent them from breaking the barrier on Syihuex Island." Lyn paused, rolling up her sleeve. "See?" She pointed at the burn scar on her upper arm. "Mynheex gave me this during a night patrol a few years ago.”

Frowning, she brushed the wrinkled patch gently and asked, “Do they only come out at night?”

"As far as we know," Kingsley uttered.

"But why didn't they reveal the truth to the mortals? Mortality breaths no longer hurt them."

"True. But they're also part of the myths that humans refuse to believe. Up till now, their cultivation has yet to reach the level that can withstand the sudden outburst of those breaths," Lyn continued explaining.

"Wouldn't the mortals who survived make a fuss about what they saw?"

"Sadly, no one has ever survived a Mynheex attack," Kingsley replied, secretly cursing a stone that had almost tripped him.

***

When they reached home, Hayden was holding something in his hands. He slid it under the cushion he was sitting on and pushed it in deeper to avoid any unnecessary attention. Obviously, he didn’t want anyone to notice it.

Lyn and Kingsley didn't. But Miracle did.

"How was your day, Miracle?" He smiled. And within the curl, there was a slight hope that wished for her not to see the letter he was holding a moment ago.

"It was fun, Hayden." She acted along. "Lyn and Kingsley helped me out a lot."

"It's their job."

She saw his muscles relax.

Untangling the ribbon on her uniform, Lyn widened her eyes as though Hayden had just spoken a taboo. "Job? People get paid for their jobs. But we," she paused for a while, "don't."

A series of clinks came from the kitchen island as Kingsley struggled to steady the jug while pouring water, all the while stifling a laugh. His hand shook even more vigorously when he caught Lyn glaring at him.

For once, Miracle felt envy. 

'It must be nice to have an elder brother growing up together,' she thought.

Dragons might be experts when it came to fighting, but not when it involved relationships like love or family. They had been brought up in such a way that relationships were just burdens. "Family" was such a strange word.

Yes, it was true they had parents, and some might have siblings.

But not family.

"Having lunch, Miracle?" Hayden tilted his head slightly to the back as she climbed up the stairs.

"Later, Hayden." Her voice echoed.

Miracle stayed in front of her room, making no attempts to enter. She pretended like she was up for a rest by deliberately clicking her door. 

A few seconds later, Hayden's subdued voice confirmed her inexplicable worries. ”We need to talk."

"Go ahead," Kingsley said.

"Not here. Somewhere else." He grabbed the keys and left the house.

The twins followed suit.

Miracle quietly followed behind the Watsons. It was a hot afternoon. Scattered clouds dotted the sky, and the wind lay still. Hayden led the way, eyes glued to the tar, the earlier letter visible in his pocket as he walked. Sweat streamed down his neck, almost drenching his entire blue T-shirt.

Hayden was disturbed.

Something serious had happened. 

Soon, the TinXi came to a stop in front of La'Oceanies, a café adorned with yellow-toned lighting and decorations hanging down the walls. When Kingsley pressed the switch on the tinted glass door, a gentle tinkling of a bell came through before it slid open. The moment it did, a surge of noise filled the air as the door revealed the lively ambiance within.

Miracle slid into a seat three tables away from theirs. She shook her head when a waiter in a brown vest came over, asking for her order. Her focus remained fixed on the Watsons as she did whatever she could to eavesdrop on their conversation without getting noticed.

"Good evening. What would you like to have?" The same waiter went to them.

"Cappuccino, please." Lyn handed back the laminated single-sheet menu without giving it a thorough look.

"Make that two," Hayden said. 

"No, no. Make that three. Thanks."

Just as the waiter was about to deliver their orders, Kingsley grabbed his arm.

"You look a little… familiar." He lowered his head to have a clearer view of the face hidden under the black cap. Right then, his eyes widened in shock. ”P-Peter? You're working here? I thought you hated jobs like this, man!" he teased.

Glancing around to make sure there weren't any supervisions on him, Peter Mason forcefully pulled back his hand. "Shut up, Kings. Don't you dare spread this in school!"

"What if I do?" he provoked.

"Then be careful with the cappuccino you’ll be drinking later." He stuck his tongue out at him.

"That's so Peter-ish," Kingsley mumbled, watching his friend walk away.

Lyn faked a cough. "Serious, please."

Hayden began, "We're a step too late."

"What do you mean, Dad?" she asked.

“This morning was already the third one. The victim’s heart was gone."

Miracle gasped. 'Third one?'

"W-What? The third one?!" Kingsley would have shot up from his chair if Hayden hadn't pressed him down.

“Yes.” While Hayden sounded calm, there was an edge to his voice. “The third one.”

“But aren't we supposed to let Miracle know as well?" Lyn frowned. 

Hayden sighed. "She'll have to know. I called you guys out just to give you a heads up that the cycle this round seems off—it’s a little too fast.”

Miracle tensed. The menu she used to block her face crumpled under her force.

Mynheex, green-slimed creatures that worked for fallen angels. They munched on mortals' hearts, especially the ones from young and energetic teenagers, to survive in the world of immortals.

The more they ate, the stronger they became.

"Damn you," Kingsley cursed under his breath, drawing cracks to the ears as he pressed hard on the table. "Mynheex."