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A/N: The Headmistress’s manor in the picture above.
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The third term in Lumière International School rolled in and for the first years, their final term as first years. The term progressed slowly much to the detriment of both students and staff.
Jayden and Noel had just come out of third-period English and were walking down the hallway to their lockers.
‘Do you know the feeling you get when time seems to stop? Honestly, I could almost swear that the clock was moving backward.’
Noel leaned on his locker and groaned. Jayden glanced at him in amusement as he keyed in his locker combination.
‘You were dozing off in class, weren’t you?’
Noel shot him a dirty glare. ‘At least I had the decency to try and stay awake, you just placed your head on the table and slept through the whole thing.’
Jayden shrugged, an amused grin on his lips. ‘I was tired.’
Noel shook his head. ‘You don’t learn, you don’t pay attention in class; you sleep through half of your classes and skip the rest. How the hell do you get good grades? You even top some of them!’
Jayden shrugged again. ‘I’m amazing that way.’
Noel muttered darkly under his breath as they began to make their way to their next class. They walked through the hallways but before they got to the class, Noel grabbed Jayden’s arm and dragged him down another hallway.
‘I need to pee,’ he said in answer to Jayden’s questioning look.
They walked towards the washrooms but before they entered, they heard an angry shout from within.
‘I HATE YOU, I FUCKING HATE YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT!’
Jayden and Noel shot each other a puzzled look.
‘Wait, isn’t that…?’
Jayden nodded. ‘It is.’
They entered the washroom to meet an amused Cameron leaning on one of the stall’s doors.
He nodded at them as they came towards him. ‘Sup.’
Noel glanced warily at the closed stall as a loud groan sounded inside. ‘What’s going on?’
Cameron folded his arms and grinned at them. ‘Leo is understanding the meaning of consequences.’
Leo groaned again. ‘This is all your fault. Why didn’t you stop me?’
Cam rolled his eyes at the stall door. ‘I did. I warned you not to eat it, I begged you not to eat it and what do you do? You ate it!’ He shook his head. ‘I took it from you at a point but you snatched it back because you never listen to me. Keep quiet and enjoy it.’
Noel looked worried as Leo emitted another groan but Jayden just looked amused. Noel glanced warily at the closed door.
‘Would he be alright? Should we get the school nurse?’
Cam shook his head, a small smile on his face. ‘He would be alright he just needs to get it all out of his system. Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened. Nor the second, or third, or fourth, or fifth.’ He shot a dirty glare at the door. ‘You think he would learn.’
Another groan came through the door. ‘Fuck you.’
Cam shook his head as the washroom door opened and Paul and Samuel walked in. They looked surprised to see them all there and made their way over, Samuel immediately attaching himself to Jayden’s side.
Paul glanced at Cam and Noel. ‘What’s happening?’
Cam gestured at the closed door. ‘Leo is questioning all his life choices.’
Samuel grinned at that and walked up to the door. ‘Leo buddy, everything alright in there?’ he asked as he knocked on the door.
‘Fuck you,’ he answered feebly.
Samuel giggled and walked back to stand beside Jayden. He placed his hands on his bag straps and grinned at him. ‘Doesn’t seem to be going well.’
Jayden ignored him and turned to Noel. ‘Shouldn’t we be getting to class?’
Before Noel could answer, the door opened and a group of guys walked in. Charles was among them and he shot them a curious look as his friends shouted boisterously and played amongst themselves. They didn’t pay them any mind and Charles hung back after they left to walk up to them.
He shot a look at the door and asked no one in particular. ‘What’s going on?’
Cam shrugged. ‘Leo is learning why he has to make the right decisions.’
Charles chuckled as Leo emitted another groan. ‘Hey weirdo.’
‘Hey Charles,’ Leo answered weakly before letting out another groan.
Charles chortled and shook his head. Jayden frowned slightly as he studied him curiously. He noticed that he and Noel seemed to be avoiding each other’s eyes and they seemed uncomfortable.
The bell went off and Paul shrugged. ‘There goes fourth period.’
Samuel smirked and nudged Paul. ‘Do you think he’s doing the position? The ‘I regret eating that’ position.’
Paul grinned as he considered the question. ‘Isn’t that the position where you clutch your stomach and roll your eyes all the way up your head?’
Samuel shook his head. ‘No, it’s the one where you place your head between your knees and stare at the floor.’
‘OI!’ Leo shouted from inside the stall.
Noel frowned. ‘Actually, it’s the one where you hold your head and stare up at the ceiling.’
Charles hummed. ‘Nope, it’s where you raise your legs and hug your knees to your chest.’
Samuel furrowed his brows thoughtfully. ‘Wait, how is that even possible?’
‘Excuse me!’ Leo yelled but no one paid him any attention.
‘You know, like you sit and go like this…’ Charles proceeded to demonstrate and everyone nodded in understanding.
‘Has no one heard of privacy! How about a little privacy, hmm? Is that too much to ask?’ he was cut off by another loud groan.
Cam rolled his eyes. ‘Shut up and suffer. You deserve every single bit of it.’
‘You know,’ Paul continued. ‘I bet it’s one of those where it’s spicy going in and extra spicy coming out.’
Samuel nodded in agreement. ‘Probably.’ He turned to the locked door. ‘Yo, is it?’
Leo answered with a loud groan, louder than the others.
Samuel nodded and turned back to them. ‘Yep, it is.’
‘Fuck you! Fuck you all!’
‘There, there. It’ll all be over soon.’
Cam sniggered. ‘No, it won’t.’
However, a flush soon sounded and a haggard Leo stepped out of the stall. He went to the sink and washed his hands as he glanced tiredly at the mirror.
The others surrounded him and Cam handed him his bag pack.
‘Wow bro, you look…’ Samuel trailed off.
‘Fucked up?’ Paul suggested.
‘Dead?’ Charles chimed in.
‘Wasted?’ Noel contributed.
‘Disastrous?’ Cam added.
‘Exhausted,’ Samuel finished.
Leo shot them all a dirty glare and walked out of the bathroom. The others followed him and they made their way into the cafeteria for lunch.
They took their seats around a table with their food. Leo took one look at their food and groaned, burying his head between his hands as he placed them on the table.
‘Get those disgusting things away from me. I never want to see, hear, smell or talk about food again in my life.’
Noel patted his back comfortingly. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be alright.’
Cam snorted. ‘Give it an hour, he’ll soon be back to stuffing his face.’
Leo raised his head to shoot him a filthy glare before plopping it back on the table. Charles and Noel continued to awkwardly avoid each other. Jayden was studying them silently as the others continued to chatter around the table.
A group of Charles’s friends walked over.
‘Hey Charles, what are you doing hanging out with them?’
‘Yeah, come on over and hang out with us. You don’t want to catch any disease from the disgusting poor brat, do you?’
Everyone on the table immediately frowned. They all turned to look at Charles expectantly.
Charles didn’t say anything. He blinked and slowly got up, turning to look back regretfully as he left with his friends.
They stared after him and Paul turned back to the table to snort in disgust. Samuel shook his head silently to himself and Cam and Leo looked mad. Jayden was the only one who kept his thoughts and emotions to himself, his face that impassive and indifferent mask it always was.
Paul turned to give a worried look at Noel who looked crushed. He looked up at his questioning look and gave him a reassuring albeit watery smile.
‘What a weak cunt!’ Leo spat.
Cam nodded in agreement but the others said nothing in response. The conversation slowly picked back up and it wasn’t long before Leo was ranting about how he broke into the Professor’s house.
‘And like, it was in the afternoon and I knew he normally had his nap in the afternoon,’ he snorted. ‘In fact, he can’t go three hours without falling asleep. Anyway, I crept into his house and took back my comic he seized from me.’
The others looked impressed though Cam was looking exasperated. ‘And you couldn’t just leave it and buy another one? You could have broken your neck jumping from that window, or worse, you could have been caught and then expelled!’
Leo was looking highly offended. ‘Okay, first of all, that was a first edition autographed comic. It was unreplaceable! Second, of course I wouldn’t have been caught. I am the amazing Leonardo Ferrars. I am invincible!’
His expression turned incredulous. ‘Third, who the fuck thinks being expelled is worse than having a broken neck. You are the one who needs to sort out your priorities not me.’
Cam humphed and rolled his eyes, giving up. Leo snickered and glanced around the table at the others who were all looking impressed.
‘Honestly, no one can beat me when it comes to sneaking around. I’m the motherfucking master.’
Samuel nodded. ‘True. Except for Jayden that is.’
He leaned down and whispered. ‘He was in the Israeli military.’
Leo didn’t look convinced. ‘Really?’
Samuel nodded eagerly a proud smile on his face.
An excited gleam lit up in Leo’s eyes. ‘How much are you willing to bet on it?’
Cam gave him a wary look. ‘Leo…’
Leo waved away his concerns. ‘Don’t worry, it’s just a friendly bet. We’ll make a competition out of it.’
Jayden smirked at him. ‘What do you suggest?’
‘How about,’ Paul came in. ‘You each sneak into a teacher’s house without being caught?’
‘Nah that would be too easy for them.’ Samuel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He snapped his fingers suddenly. ‘Yes, I’ve got it. You both sneak into the headmistress’s manor, whoever gets caught loses.’
A heavy silence descended on the table.
Jayden shrugged. ‘Alright.’
Noel looked at him in surprise, concern written all over his face.
Leo looked unsure but he nodded. ‘Fine.’
‘Leo…,’ Cam warned.
Paul stared at them in shock. ‘Are you serious? Think about this carefully, sneaking into the headmistress’s manor is no joke.’
‘It’s not a joke, it’s blatant stupidity!’ Cam exploded. ‘Honestly, why don’t you ever use your head! You just rush off into danger despite my warnings and I always have to bail you out!’
Leo was startled. ‘Hey, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.’
‘NO!’
Cam got up. ‘If you insist on being stupid then I won’t stop you.’ He let out a derisive laugh. ‘As if I can anyway. This time don’t expect me to be there to pick up the pieces.’
He stormed off and Leo stared after him in shock. He turned back to the others. ‘What’s gotten into him?’
Noel turned uneasily to Jayden. ‘He’s right you know. It’s dangerous. You don’t have to do this. Please don’t do this. Please, I’m begging you.’
Jayden patted his shoulder in reassurement. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve done far more dangerous things and I’ve gotten into worse scrapes. I always come out of them in one piece. I’ll be fine.’
Noel sat back unconvinced. Jayden felt the anxiety coming off him in waves but he wasn’t discouraged. He was definitely going to do it, he needed some excitement in this term else he might just pull out his eyes out of boredom.
With the plan set, the boys turned back to their meal and later that night, they sneaked out of their dormitories and soon found themselves crouching behind the purple rhododendrons, which lined the driveway to the headmistress’s stately manor.
The manor stood out starkly against the star-filled night sky. A light breeze ruffled the tree branches and an owl hooted solemnly in the distance.
‘So are we all clear on the plan?’ Samuel whispered from behind the shrub. ‘Jayden and Leo sneak into the manor and bring out an object that will undoubtedly show it’s from the manor. Not a valuable object though and whoever is caught loses. The rest of us would keep a lookout and alert them with the signal if we notice something suspicious. Alright?’
They all nodded. Paul turned to Leo and whispered, ‘Where’s Cam?’
Leo shrugged. ‘The stubborn idiot refused to come and ‘witness my folly’. He doesn’t know what he’s missing out on. Nothing will go wrong.’
But he didn’t sound sure. They all turned to stare at the manor that now seemed imposing and foreboding as it stood out starkly against the night sky.
‘Are you ready?’ Samuel enquired.
Jayden and Leo nodded. Jayden could feel the disquietness coming from his side. He reached out and grabbed Noel’s hand comfortingly.
‘I’ll be fine,’ he whispered.
‘Go.’
He squeezed his hand then he was off. Jayden and Leo slunk like snakes towards the manor. The others stared after them until they melted into the shadows, disappearing from sight.
‘Is he gone?’
They turned in surprise to see Cam crouching towards them. He had made his way over when they were staring after the two.
Noel nodded and he sighed. He clutched his hands to his chest as he stared anxiously at the manor.
‘Please be careful,’ he whispered into the night.
Jayden and Leo had made their way unnoticed through the front lawn and were now pressing themselves against the side of the manor. They stared up at it contemplatively.
Leo bit his thoughtfully. ‘So how are we going to get in?’
Jayden snorted. ‘Find your own way in.’
Leo turned to him but found himself standing alone in the darkness. He cursed silently under his breath and studied the plan of the manor, his mind working furiously.
He grinned and walked over to a pipe that lay on the wall. He scaled it carefully to the first floor, unlatching a window on the floor before slinking in.
Jayden watched him enter as he stood in the shadow of the hedges, making sure he was safely in before making his way forward. He cast a quick glance over the side of the house before walking to the back.
Sure enough, he found a back door and after picking the lock, made his way silently inside. The room was dark but Jayden’s eyes quickly adjusted and he could make out a table, stools, and a few sacks.
He made his way stealthily across and came out of the room into a parlour. Through the parlour he came out into the entrance room and made his way up the grand staircase.
He moved from room to room staring with interest at the items in it as he wondered what to take out. The headmistress’s manor was not only stately on the outside but also within. Every room was filled with curiosities, things from far away. Some of the rooms were dark and others dimly lit.
He made his way through a dimly lit corridor and entered a sitting room. He looked around quickly and was about to leave when it happened.
An alarm suddenly went off loudly on the upper floor and the whole building started awake. Lights blazed on from the windows and the others outside looked on in panic as they wondered what was happening.
Jayden cursed loudly under his breath and made his way quickly to the upstairs unit where the alarm had sounded. He arrived there before the servants and cast a glance around the dark floor, hissing urgently under his breath.
‘Leo!’
A slight noise came from a corner and then, ‘Jayden?’
Jayden turned to see Leo’s frightened eyes stare up at him from behind a suit of armour. He walked towards him and grabbed his arm, pulling him from behind his hiding place.
‘What happened?’
Leo looked sheepish as he mumbled, ‘I was going up into the attic and I guessed I tripped an alarm. Sorry.’
Jayden rolled his eyes and dragged him quickly out of the room. ‘Apologize later.’
They rushed down a side staircase, as they tried to find a way out. Jayden quickly pulled them into an alcove as a group of servants rushed by them. They walked through the corridors, hiding from sight whenever they heard footsteps.
‘How are we going to get out of here?’ Leo panted as they hid again from running footsteps.
They waited until it had passed before continuing. Jayden didn’t answer, he led them through another corridor and down the final flight until they arrived at the window that Leo had entered through.
It was bolted shut. Leo rattled it forcefully but it refused to swing open. Jayden led them to the back entrance but it was blocked by servants who were studying the picked lock suspiciously.
Leo cursed and to Jayden. ‘What now?’
Jayden didn’t answer. He pulled him up the stairs again to the fourth floor, glancing quickly at the doors that lined the corridor before opening one and shoving him inside. He closed the door after him and made his way to the window.
‘What are you doing?’
Jayden ignored him and swung the window open, looking down on the ground below. A cold breeze entered causing Leo to shiver as he stepped up to him.
‘Are you mad?’ he hissed, glancing down the window. ‘We can’t get down from here! We would break our necks!’
Jayden rolled his eyes and pointed to the side of the window. ‘Don’t be stupid. Look.’
Leo looked and was surprised to notice thick sturdy vines creeping down the side of the wall beside the window. It had been obscured by the darkness hence why he hadn’t noticed it earlier.
‘How did you know that it was there?’ he asked in admiration.
Jayden rolled his eyes again. ‘Unlike you, I am not an amateur. I made sure I had multiple exits available if anything should go south and thanks to you, it did.’
Leo blinked and looked up at Jayden with respect. ‘That’s-‘
‘Shut up and climb down. Hurry!’
Leo nodded and quickly swung himself out the window. He was barely out when they heard the door to the room jostle. Leo shot him a panicked look.
Jayden’s mind worked furiously as the lock clicked. He turned to Leo. ‘Go! I’ll distract them.’
‘But-‘
‘Don’t argue!’
He turned to block the window as the door swung open and a flashlight beam shone in. It searched the room for a moment before coming to land on Jayden.
The holder of the flashlight blinked in amazement as he studied the boy in front of him.
Jayden fixed him with an imperious glare which he had mastered from his mother. His voice was commanding and cold. ‘I would like to see the headmistress.’
The man withered under his fierce glare. He blinked rapidly and hesitated for a second before stepping aside. ‘Right this way, sir.’
Jayden followed him out the room as he led the way through the now brightly lit corridors into the headmistress’s private apartments.
He knocked softly and waited until he heard a soft, ‘Enter.’
He opened the door slowly and stood at attention. ‘We’ve found the intruder headmistress and he insists on speaking to you.’
‘Let him in.’
Jayden entered the sitting room which was lavishly decorated to reflect the true Aquila spirit though there were also the soft undertones of the school colours.
The headmistress was in her nightgown as she sat upright in a duvet with a thin shawl covering her shoulders. Her white hair which was usual tied up in a strict bun or a French twist now cascaded softly down her shoulders.
The firelight flickered off the lens of her half-moon spectacles as she fixed Jayden with an interested stare.
‘Thank you Daniel, you can tell the other servants to retire. I will take it from here.’
Daniel nodded and left the room, closing the door gently behind him. The headmistress placed her teacup down and looked at Jayden.
‘What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Mills? You know the rules, no student is supposed to be in the home of a member of staff without-‘
‘The express permission of the headmistress,’ Jayden bowed, finishing with a flourish.
He gave her a charming grin. ‘Headmistress, may I have your permission?’
The headmistress frowned but Jayden continued. ‘You did tell me I could come and see you anytime I wanted to talk. Remember?’
The headmistress studied him over her spectacles. ‘When I extended that invitation I didn’t expect it to be in the dead of the night.’
She sighed. ‘But, since you’re here I’m going to pardon you just this once. So what did you want to talk to me about?’
Jayden smirked and walked around the room. He walked up to the fireplace and studied the portrait that hung above the mantle. It was a stunning portrait of a beautiful woman scantily clad in a silk cloth. Her hair flowed down her shoulders like a waterfall and a large ruby pendant graced her smooth elegant neck.
The headmistress walked up to him and smiled, staring up at the portrait. ‘I was quite the catch back in the day, wasn’t I?’
Jayden swung his head to look at her in surprise. ‘That’s you? You are the one in the portrait?’
The headmistress chuckled at the shock in his tone. ‘Hard to believe, isn’t it? I’ve gotten all wrinkly and grey now.’ She shook her head sadly and stared wistfully at the portrait. ‘Time is a cruel friend.’
Jayden studied her closely. It was obvious from anyone who took just a glance at her that Francesca Fontaine had once been a great beauty. Her face still possessed vestiges of the beauty of her youth. Jayden just hadn’t realized how great of a beauty she had actually been.
Francesca turned to him. ‘Enough about the treasures of the past. What was so important that you needed to invade my home at such an ungodly hour?’
Jayden rubbed his neck sheepishly. ‘You know, you’re right. It is late, I’m sorry for disturbing you. Maybe we can talk tomorrow.’
Francesca frowned suspiciously at him from behind her half-moon spectacles. She nodded however and turned to stare thoughtfully at the flickering flames.
Jayden turned to leave but stopped to study the china on her table. ‘Headmistress, can I borrow your teacup?’
If she was surprised by the odd request, she did not show it. She merely shrugged as she continued staring at the flames. ‘Keep it if you want.’
Jayden picked it up and turned to leave. He was at the door when the headmistress stopped him.
‘By the way, do inform Mr. Ferrars that if he wants to sneak into my attic, the west wing is not the place to do so. He should try the east wing next time.’
Jayden froze and turned slowly to face her but she did not look up from the flames. She appeared lost in the thought of a different time and that is how Jayden left her, with the past reflected in her eyes and her figure outlined sharply against the flames of the fireplace.
He walked through the grounds of the manor and was immediately crowded by his friends the minute he stepped behind the bushes. Their faces were filled with worry and Noel was bleeding a little from his lips from biting them in anxiety.
‘What happened?’
‘How did you escape?’
‘Were you caught?’
‘Are you alright?’
‘Okay! Okay!’ Samuel cut through the fire of questions. ‘One at a time.’ He turned to Jayden with concern in his eyes. ‘Tell us what happened.’
Jayden just shrugged and tossed an object at him. He caught it easily with his quick reflexes and studied it closely under the light of the moon. It was a white teacup and in the pale silver light, two elegant Fs could be clearly seen emblazoned in the centre with royal blue.
Samuel’s eyes widened. ‘Is that?’
Paul grabbed the cup from him. ‘It can’t be.’
Noel peeked over his shoulder. ‘Those letters stand for Francesca Fontaine, don’t they?’
They all nodded speechlessly.
Samuel burst into laughter and slapped Jayden’s shoulder. ‘You son of a bitch you did it!’
Everyone was looking at Jayden with a new degree of respect. Paul wasn’t looking that happy though.
‘Dammit,’ he muttered. ‘I can’t believe I lost the bet.’
Noel stared at him in confusion. ‘Wait, you placed a bet on it?’
Samuel laughed in amusement. ‘He sure did. He bet on Leo and I bet on Jayden. Leo and Jayden of course, bet on themselves.’
He chucked a finger at each of them. ‘Jayden gambled his favourite luxury yacht. Leo gambled his island in the Caribbean, I gambled my villa in Milan and Paul gambled his castle in Tuscany. Cam of course, abstained though I was looking forward to winning his private resort in the Mediterranean.’
He rubbed his hands gleefully. ‘No matter, Jayden and I can make do with a castle and an island.’
Paul shot him a dirty glare and Cam punched Leo in his arm. Leo rubbed his arm absentmindedly. He glanced guiltily at Jayden.
‘I’m sorry for leaving you back there and I’m sorry for blowing our cover.’
Jayden shrugged at him. ‘Don’t apologize for that we had no choice, you would have been a burden and I got out alright. Also,’ he punched him in the arm. ‘That was stupid of you. Don’t be so clumsy next time.’
‘Next time? NEXT TIME?’ Cam’s voice grew shrill with incredulity. ‘There will be NO next time! I died out of anxiety several times and I think I now have grey hair. You are NOT putting me through that again.’
Leo cowered in terror. ‘Yes, please.’
The others laughed in amusement as Cam continued to scream at Leo all the way to the dormitories. It was after midnight, and Samuel was in his pyjamas getting ready for bed when he happened to look out the window and saw a figure moving into the woods.
He took one look at it before rushing out of his room and out the Lair. He entered the woods and followed the figure curiously, brushing branches out of his way.
He walked for a while before he tripped on the raised root of a tree. He fell with a loud oomph and he sat there for a while rubbing his head which had bumped against the trunk of a tree.
He looked up to meet the scowling eyes of Jayden who glared down at him. He glanced at him once before moving on, continuing on his path.
Samuel quickly scrambled up and walked beside him. ‘So what are you doing here, all by yourself, in the middle of the night?’ he asked brightly.
‘Trying to get away from you.’
Samuel pouted. ‘Aww, I thought you liked me.’
Jayden scoffed and quickened his pace but Samuel quickened his also. Jayden glared at him.
‘Go away.’
Samuel pretended to consider it for a moment. ‘Nope, I don’t think I will. Where are you going anyway? I always wondered where you want on your midnight adventures.’ His eyes widened comically as he gasped. ‘You’re not going for an illicit meeting with you and your girlfriend are you? Are you? Are you?’
Jayden stopped. ‘No.’
They were in front of a white circular building, which gleamed in the moonlight.
‘The observatory?’ Samul glanced at Jayden in confusion.
Jayden ignored him and walked up to the side. He walked around before coming to a set of metal ladders, nailed to the side of the building. He placed a hand on the rung and climbed up them.
Samuel hesitated for a second before climbing up after him. They stood on the roof of the observatory and stared up at the stars. They seemed so much brighter and closer here than they did in the dormitories.
They sat in silence for an hour till Jayden noticed Samuel shivering in his pyjamas. With a sigh, he stood up and led them back to the dormitories.
Samuel continued to come to the rooftop of the observatory and over time, it became sort of their thing. At times Samuel would chatter off about everything and nothing whiles Jayden pretended to ignore him at others they were silent, content to just sit and gaze at the stars. They were always tired during the day though but neither minded very much. It had become their nightly ritual.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: So at almost 5000 words and 12 pages long, this is officially the longest chapter in the book for now.
You’re welcome 😊.
Interesting chapter. Very interesting chapter.
Thoughts?
Lemme know in the comments and please don’t forget to light up the shy tiny star hiding in the corner if you enjoyed the chapter.
Till next time, which is hopefully soon.
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