Chapter 93: Detention for Two

Chapter 93 — Detention for Two

Monday morning fell apart within the first ten minutes of Pack History class. The teacher opened the first presentation box, meant to hold materials for the treaty assignments, and pulled out a stack of ridiculous student caricatures instead, mixed right in with the official documents. One drawing showed the teacher as a wolf wearing spectacles, chasing a crowd of terrified students with an enormous textbook raised over his head. The class erupted into laughter.

The teacher was not amused. Roxanne recognized Liam’s handwriting scrawled across one of the mismatched labels, but before she could say anything, the teacher noticed that she and Lucien were standing closest to the boxes. Lucien had been returning borrowed materials, and Roxanne had simply arrived early for her group’s notes. Neither had touched the labels, but the teacher seemed convinced they were covering for whoever had.

Their punishment was to stay after classes and restore order to the classroom materials. "Your brother did this," Roxanne whispered the moment the teacher turned away. Lucien gave her a flat, level look. "Which one?" "The one who thinks being entertaining is a public service," she said. "That doesn’t narrow it down," he said, and she had to press a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

After classes ended, they reported to the classroom together, and Lucien approached the whole task like a formal administrative assignment. He created separate piles, checked each item against an inventory list, and began sorting everything alphabetically.

Roxanne watched him for several minutes before she couldn’t help herself. "Do you organize everything like this?" she asked. "Everything that needs organizing," he said. "That’s a frightening answer," she said. "Would you prefer we finish tomorrow?" he asked, and she immediately picked up a stack of papers without further comment.

Their differing approaches turned the afternoon into a running argument. Lucien wanted a perfect, complete inventory, while Roxanne just wanted the mess cleared before dinner. They debated whether a box of old essays should be sorted by year, subject, or the likelihood of embarrassing their authors.

While shifting a heavy cabinet aside, they discovered a stack of forgotten school magazines tucked behind it. Lucien recognized several names immediately, including his own and those of his brothers. Roxanne found herself fascinated by the old photographs, Liam already looking like trouble, Kai serious in every picture, Roshan standing slightly behind the others.

Lucien’s own younger self looked startlingly formal in every photo, stiff-backed and serious. "You looked like you were attending a royal funeral," Roxanne said. "I was thirteen," he said. "That explains nothing," she said, and for once he didn’t return immediately to sorting. He took the magazine from her hands and studied the old photograph himself.

The old magazines led them into a different kind of conversation. Roxanne found a short article about a school play in which Lucien had apparently played a character who accidentally ruined an important royal ceremony. She looked at him slowly. "You acted?" she asked. "Once," he said. "What happened?" "Liam volunteered me," he said. "Of course he did," she said.

Lucien explained that Liam had promised the teacher he could convince his eldest brother to join the production, and Lucien had refused until the teacher threatened to cancel the play entirely. Roxanne demanded every detail, and he admitted he’d worn an absurd costume and delivered a speech while Liam operated a badly built prop that collapsed halfway through.

"Did you finish the speech?" she asked. "Every word," he said, and Roxanne laughed so hard she had to sit down. Lucien looked offended for exactly three seconds before the corner of his mouth twitched. She realized, watching him, that she had uncovered a side of him that never showed up during lessons or royal gatherings, a boy once dragged into ridiculous school activities and surviving through sheer stubbornness.

They soon discovered the classroom’s materials were in worse condition than expected, old magazines mixed into current lesson plans and the filing cabinet full of papers from entirely different departments. Lucien started compiling a detailed list of everything that needed reporting.

Roxanne stopped him. "If we report every missing paper, we’ll be here till graduation," she said. "We’re responsible for restoring the room," he said. "We’re responsible for fixing the mess," she said. "We can report what we can’t fix." She proposed a simpler system instead, sorting everything into what belonged in the classroom, what needed returning to the library, and what the teacher would have to review herself. Lucien considered it briefly and agreed, and they finished the task in half the time.

He acknowledged her solution without turning it into a performance of praise. "You were right," he said. Roxanne looked up at him. "Would you mind repeating that? I want to remember the date," she said. "Don’t ruin it," he said, and she grinned down at the papers in her hands.

While returning the last stack of magazines, Roxanne found a photograph tucked between two pages, all four brothers sitting on the steps behind the old music building. Lucien had an arm slung around Roshan, Liam was making a face at the camera, and Kai looked away as though interrupted mid-thought. A handwritten caption read: The four of us, before everything became complicated.

She asked Lucien what it meant. He read the caption and went quiet before explaining that the brothers had once skipped a formal gathering to sit behind the music building, eating stolen pastries and arguing about which of them would make the worst king someday. "Who won?" Roxanne asked. "Liam," Lucien said. "Obviously," she said.

Lucien admitted, without any dramatic confession attached, that he used to believe growing up simply meant becoming the person everyone expected him to be, and that he sometimes missed doing something ridiculous without weighing every consequence first.

Roxanne looked back down at the photograph. "Then do something ridiculous," she said. Lucien raised an eyebrow. "I’m not suggesting you overthrow the monarchy," she clarified. "Start smaller." He took the photograph and slipped it into his jacket pocket instead of returning it, and that small decision told her more than a long speech ever could have.

As they finished cleaning, the classroom door swung open, and Liam appeared in the doorway holding a paper bag, wearing the unmistakable expression of someone who had just remembered an obligation he’d been avoiding all day. He took in the sight of Roxanne and Lucien surrounded by neatly sorted papers, and his face fell instantly. "Oh," he said.

Roxanne folded her arms slowly. Liam tried to explain that he’d only switched two labels as a joke, never meaning for the whole box to end up this chaotic, but another student had borrowed it and made things worse.

Lucien looked at him. "You left without checking your work?" he asked. "I had a very busy morning," Liam said. "You had Moonball practice," Lucien said flatly. "Exactly," Liam said. "Extremely demanding." Roxanne started laughing all over again as Lucien informed him that he’d be explaining the entire situation to the teacher himself.

Liam tried to recruit Roxanne to his defense, and she refused. "You can charm your way out of your own detention," she said. "You’re a terrible friend," he said. "I’m an excellent friend," she said. "I’m just not your accomplice." Liam left to confess, muttering darkly about family betrayal the whole way out. Once the door closed behind him, Lucien glanced at Roxanne. "You enjoyed that," he said. "Immensely," she admitted. "So did I," he said, and the admission landed far more warmly than either of them expected.

Their punishment officially over, Roxanne gathered her things, and Lucien walked with her to the main corridor, trading bets over whether Liam would actually apologize properly.

At the junction where their paths split, Lucien stopped her. "Roxanne." She turned. "Thank you for making that less tedious," he said. She smiled. "You’re welcome. Next time, organize your own detention," she said. "I’ll keep that in mind," he said, and she walked away smiling while he headed off, the old photograph tucked safely in his pocket.

Later that evening, her phone buzzed with a message from Liam. For the record, the teacher says I’m helping with the next school play. A second message followed a moment later. Lucien is playing the lead. Roxanne stared at the screen for a long moment before she started laughing so loudly that Isla came rushing over, demanding to know exactly what had happened.