Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Days passed, and it was finally the first day of Daniel’s exams.

Sitting comfortably behind his desk, waiting for the exam to start, Daniel looked around the classroom. Most of his classmates seemed tense, and some were even shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

He turned to his left and addressed the one sitting at the desk next to him.

"Buddy, nervous much?"

His classmate turned to him and slowly nodded.

"Yeah... I don’t think I’m gonna survive this one."

Daniel shook his head firmly and spoke with a smile.

"Naah, don’t overthink it. Passing the exam is not that hard; you’ll do just fine."

His classmate nodded, though his expression was a bit awkward.

Moments later, the teacher distributed the exam sheets, and the exam started.

***

A few days had passed since the exams, and today was the day the results were coming out.

Daniel and his parents were sitting together on a sofa. There was a laptop on his father’s lap, and they ‌all had their eyes fixed on the screen, waiting to see his results.

Even though getting first place had become natural to him, his parents always sat together and waited for his results. Though they always showered him with praise as soon as they saw his results, which is why Daniel also looked forward to this moment.

His father suddenly straightened his posture.

"Ah, the results are out. Let me get them real quick."

His father downloaded the file from the school’s website and opened it.

They brought their faces closer to the screen as the file loaded.

But...

’....Huh?’

Daniel became somewhat confused by what he saw.

==========

Name: Daniel Montross

Rank: 2

Score: 799/800

==========

’I got 99 in a subject instead of 100? But why? I answered all the questions.’

This lack of one mark had caused him to fall to second place this time. And the boy who had always remained in second place had reached first place.

’Did I make some sort of mistake?’

Well, it was just one mark; he would be able to earn it easily during the next exam. It was not that big of a deal, right?

But as he turned to look at his parents, he froze.

They were both staring at him expressionlessly, their faces drained of their usual warmth. And he could feel a strange intensity in their eyes.

Suddenly, his mother grabbed both his shoulders and asked anxiously.

"Daniel, what happened? Why is your score like that? Just what did you do?!"

His father also asked in a tone similar to his mother’s.

"Son, what is this? You said you were prepared, so why are your marks like this?"

Their eyes were so intense that it was scary, making his heartbeat quicken.

His lips trembled as he spoke.

"I-I don’t know. I answered all questions just like always."

Hearing his trembling voice, his parents paused and looked at each other. Soon, their expressions returned to normal, and the intensity in their eyes faded.

They looked at him apologetically.

"Sorry, Daniel, Mom was a bit worried for a second. Still, I shouldn’t have reacted like that.

"Yes, son, we were worried about your result and overreacted."

Daniel’s heartbeat slowly returned to normal.

’Yes... they were worried about me. It’s okay.’

His mother picked up her smartphone and turned to his father.

"I am calling his class teacher to ask why our child didn’t get full marks even though he answered the questions."

Putting the call on speakerphone, it rang for a while before his teacher picked up.

[Hello?]

His mother was the one to answer.

"Yes, this is the mother of Daniel Montross, one of the students in your class. I wish to discuss his recently released exam results. My child says that he answered all questions, so why was he deducted a mark in one subject?"

[Oh, so this is the reason you called. Miss Montross, you need to understand that Daniel is not the only child who has answered all the questions. And since all those children couldn’t be given full marks, we had to evaluate accordingly. And even though your child answered correctly, one of his answers fell short in comparison to the child who ranked first. I hope you understand, ma’am.]

His mother and father stared at the phone for a while, not saying anything.

[Um... Hello? Miss Montross?]

"Ah, yes, yes, we understand. Thank you."

She ended the call.

Silence filled the room as none of the three spoke. It was a silence that felt heavy and oppressive.

Then, both his parents turned to him and spoke in a serious tone.

"Daniel, you must work harder. You can’t let something like this happen again."

"Son, you have to maintain your Rank One spot, no matter what. You must work harder."

Daniel slowly opened his mouth and spoke after some hesitation as he tried his best to pull his lips into a smile.

"Ah, is there a need to worry so much, Mom and Dad? I just made a mistake this time. There is no way it will happen again."

Their expressions loosened into relief, maybe after seeing his smile.

But unknown to him, there was someone else present aside from the three, watching them all expressionlessly.

Daniel soon returned to his room.

Sitting behind his study table, he began studying with all his focus.

Just then, someone put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn around.

"Oh, it’s you. We meet again."

The one standing behind him was a boy who looked a bit younger than him. His bangs covered his forehead, almost hiding his distinct grey eyes.

Daniel didn’t know the boy’s name, so he referred to him as the boy with grey eyes.

His eyes were just that striking, something Daniel had never seen before.

The boy stared at him expressionlessly for a while, not replying. Then he spoke evenly.

"So you are going to ignore it?"

Hearing his question, Daniel paused.

Then he smiled and asked in confusion.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about, buddy. Could you not be so cryptic?"

Daniel couldn’t even guess what the boy in front of him was talking about. He was not ignoring anything...

The boy with grey eyes stepped closer, looking straight into his eyes.

"That intensity in their gaze that you saw, you know what it was, don’t you? After all, you are too perceptive and understand things even though you pretend otherwise. You have realized it, haven’t you?"

***

Since that day, Daniel’s parents started spending time with him while he was studying. They said that they wished to help him.

Daniel was happy for their support.

Days continued to pass this way, and a school semester went by. Just like that, it was now time for another exam.

This time, Daniel had put in a lot more effort studying and left for school with complete confidence.

And by the end of the exams, his confidence had increased even more. Last time was just a mistake; it was not going to happen this time.

No, that mistake was just a one-time thing.

And soon, the day arrived when it was time for his results to come out.