I'm Trapped Inside a Prince as the Most Powerful Entity-Chapter 172: Uncomfortable Lunch

Eric was completely bewildered by Monica’s accusation.

He looked at her at the fuming princess. His expression was one of pure unadulterated confusion.

"But," he said his voice a mixture of surprise and a genuine almost clinical curiosity

"I didn’t say a single word to you during the entire class. I didn’t even look in your direction. So how could I have possibly distracted you?"

The moment he said the words a flash of realization and then profound embarrassment crossed Monica’s face.

She realized with a sickening lurch in her stomach the magnitude of her mistake.

She had in her anger and her frustration admitted that she the proud focused princess of the Empire the best student in the class had been so thoroughly distracted by the mere presence of this boy that she couldn’t even concentrate on her studies.

It was a humiliating admission. It was one that completely undermined her carefully constructed image of cool untouchable superiority.

She had just made herself look foolish in front of everyone.

With a frustrated almost pained expression she shot one last venomous glare at Eric.

"Just stay away from me in class," she snapped her voice a low furious hiss.

And with that she turned on her heel and stormed out of the classroom. Her cheeks were burning with a fresh wave of humiliation.

Eric was left standing there completely and utterly confused.

He had no idea what had just happened.

He did not know what Monica was trying to say or why she was so incredibly angry with him.

He turned his expression one of pure bewilderment to Gold and Silver. They had been standing quietly beside him observing the entire bizarre exchange.

They were both smiling a faint almost imperceptible amusement twinkling in their eyes.

"Did I... did I distract you two as well?" Eric asked a genuine note of concern in his voice.

He was starting to wonder if he was unknowingly projecting some kind of distracting aura some strange energy.

Gold and Silver both smiled a full warm smile this time. And then in perfect synchrony they shook their heads.

"No Eric," Gold said her voice a soft melodic whisper.

"We think," Silver added her voice identical to her sister’s "that you only distracted the princess. No one else."

This only served to deepen Eric’s confusion. But I didn’t do anything to anyone, he thought a sense of profound almost comical frustration washing over him. I was completely focused on the teacher’s lecture for the entire class. I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. How could I have distracted her? He shook his head still trying to make sense of the strange encounter.

Eric walked out of the classroom. Gold and Silver fell into step beside him their movements graceful and silent. They were like his shadows.

As they walked down the wide sun-dappled corridor Gold and Silver turned to him their expressions now serious. Their earlier amusement was gone.

"So," they said their voices once again a single unified whisper "you still haven’t obtained the Emperor’s signature yet. The one week deadline is passing. We are waiting to see when you will bring it."

The reminder from Gold and Silver about the Emperor’s signature was a stark sobering splash of cold water. It brought Eric crashing back down to reality.

He realized with a jolt that the [System] hadn’t yet taken any discernible action on that front.

The one-week deadline was looming ever closer. And as far as he knew no progress had been made at all. For a moment a familiar wave of panic threatened to engulf him.

But then he remembered his decision his new resolve.

He decided right then and there that this was the System’s task to handle.

He would not interfere. He would not question it. He would not force its hand.

And he would not pester it with his own anxious inquiries. He would simply let the [System] do its work whatever that might entail. His job his only job was to train to become stronger.

Everything else was in the System’s capable if mysterious hands. He had to trust it.

This thought this conscious act of surrendering control of letting go of the worry brought a strange sense of peace to him.

A genuine unforced smile spread across his face. He looked at Gold and Silver his expression now one of relaxed confidence.

"When the time comes for that," he said his voice calm and unbothered

"it will happen. But for now," he added a more mundane human concern taking over his thoughts "I’m quite hungry. We should go and eat."

With that he started walking briskly towards the cafeteria. His earlier anxieties were replaced by the simple pressing need for a meal.

Gold and Silver their expressions unreadable but their presence a silent graceful affirmation fell into step beside him. They walked together.

A short distance away Eric saw Void and Kado.

They were standing together near a large tree seemingly engaged in an intense conversation. As Eric and the twin girls approached both Void and Kado looked up from their talk.

Void’s expression was as usual completely neutral.

It was a mask of calm indifference that betrayed no emotion whatsoever.

Kado on the other hand broke into a wide enthusiastic grin the moment he saw Eric.

He especially grinned when he saw the two beautiful Elven girls flanking him. He immediately started walking quickly towards them his earlier serious conversation with Void completely forgotten.

As Kado reached them his mouth was already open. He was likely ready to launch into a boisterous friendly greeting. But Eric simply walked past him. He offered no acknowledgment no greeting at all.

"I’m hungry," Eric stated his voice flat as he continued on his path towards the cafeteria. "I’m going to eat lunch."

Gold and Silver also walked past Kado without saying a single word. Their movements were a mirror of Eric’s own dismissive stride. They followed their new acquaintance.

Kado was left standing there his mouth still open his enthusiastic greeting dying on his lips. He was completely taken aback.

It was only then as he watched the three of them walk away that he realized something crucial. He noticed the section badges on Gold’s and Silver’s uniforms.

"Wait a minute," he murmured to himself a look of dawning comprehension on his face. He then turned to Void who had now strolled up beside him looking amused. Kado pointed a triumphant finger after the retreating figures of Eric Gold and Silver.

"Those two girls... they are in Section A aren’t they? I saw their badges!"

Void who had known this all along was not surprised. But he was quite surprised by Eric’s placement.

He had suspected it. He had even joked about it with Kado earlier that morning. But to have it confirmed... it was impressive. He had already sensed from the incredible feats Eric had displayed in the welcoming ceremony and in the cafeteria that he was more than capable of being in Section A. But to actually see it happen was something else.

Kado his mind now connecting the dots a look of utter unrestrained excitement on his face suddenly shouted. His voice was booming across the courtyard loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.

"Eric is in Section A! The Almighty Section A!" he yelled a huge grin on his face. He was incredibly proud of his new friend’s achievement.

Kado’s booming shout a proclamation filled with a mixture of genuine shock and vicarious pride echoed across the Academy courtyard.

The many students who had been milling about heading to their own destinations all stopped and turned.

Their attention was drawn first to the shouting Kado. And then inevitably it was drawn to the subject of his exclamation Eric.

A wave of murmurs and whispers immediately rippled through the large crowd. Their gazes now fixed on Eric were filled with a new profound sense of shock and awe. Section A.

The legendary almost mythical class reserved for the absolute elite of the Academy.

The best of the best. The children of the Empire’s most powerful noble families.

And this boy this upstart from a minor insignificant kingdom had been placed among them. It was an unprecedented almost unbelievable development. It had never happened before.

Eric however paid them no mind. He continued on his path. He was flanked by the serene and silent Gold and Silver. A short while later they arrived at the cafeteria.

The vast hall was already bustling with activity. The low hum of hundreds of conversations filled the air.

Eric began to scan the crowded room. He was trying to find an empty table. He wanted a quiet corner where he could eat in peace away from all the staring eyes.

Just then Gold pointed with a graceful elegant finger. She pointed towards a table near the center of the hall. "Look over there," she said her voice a soft melodic whisper. "There are some empty chairs at that table. Let’s go there and sit."

Eric nodded his head. After grabbing a tray of food from the long counter he followed Gold and Silver towards the indicated table. As he sat down he looked up and saw that they were not alone.

Seated at the other side of the same large round table were two other girls. And they were of all people Princess Monica and Alina.

Alina was quite surprised to see Eric sitting down with Gold and Silver. She was also surprised that they had chosen this table of all tables.

Her eyes widened slightly a flicker of something unreadable a mix of surprise.

Monica on the other hand was not surprised.

She was furious.

The moment she saw Eric sit down at her table her face which had been set in a look of cool aristocratic boredom contorted with a fresh wave of anger.

"Couldn’t you find any other table in this entire cafeteria?" she snapped. Her voice was sharp and ringing loud enough to draw the attention of the students sitting at the surrounding tables.

Eric who had been hoping for a quiet uneventful meal felt a surge of his own frustration.

He was tired of Monica’s constant inexplicable hostility towards him.

He raised his own voice his tone now matching hers in its sharpness.

"I was here first," he retorted a statement that was technically true. He had sat down before she had spoken her angry words.

The surrounding students who had already been covertly watching them now turned their full attention to the table.

A new more intimate drama was now unfolding before them.

It was a clash between the infamous newcomer Eric and the proud princess of the Empire Monica.

The cafeteria once again had become a stage. And everyone was watching to see what would happen next. This was better than any play.

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