Chapter 3

Around 1980

A girl dressed modestly looked nervous as she walked past several male and female students, entering a prestigious university where she pursued a nursing degree. A year ago, she wouldn't have imagined being able to continue her education at a university given her family's economic situation. Especially at one of the prestigious universities with tuition fees that made her heart ache.

"My mother will kill me if she finds out," she whispered softly.

The only thing that kept her going through high school was attending a public school with very low fees. The money to pay for her school fees came from the leftovers of her part-time job after deducting her family's living expenses.

Four months ago, a representative from a university visited her school and offered scholarships for one semester to a few outstanding students. The university only offered scholarships for the nursing department, as it was a newly opened department. Somehow, she became one of the three recipients chosen by her principal as scholarship recipients.

It surely wasn't because of her intelligence. Her grades were always mediocre, and she was somewhat slow in learning things. The most likely reason she got the scholarship was that the principal felt pity for her. The old man always understood her late payment of school fees. He even prioritized school fee payments with his own money several times. Or maybe it was because not many students were interested in the nursing department.

Whatever it was, of course, it made her very happy. She could enter the university without worrying about registration fees and early semester tuition fees. At least, she could enjoy half a year of college education, even though she would definitely have to leave everything afterwards. There was no way she could continue the next semester on her own strength.

"Dreaming too high will only hurt yourself," she whispered softly to herself.

On the second day of starting college, Claire took chemistry classes. She entered the lecture hall and chose a seat in the upper corner of the room. Although it required walking and climbing further, she liked the seat's position. From her seat, she could see a man pushing his wheelchair into the room.

"My name is Alex," the man said right in front of all the male and female students. Claire could sense the firm impression from the lecturer. Alex stated his age as 30 years old. However, his face looked much older than his age. Despite both of his legs being disabled, the lecturer still looked handsome with his distinctive facial features. He had  a bit of Dutch blood with Dutch lineage from his grandmother. That's how the lecturer tried to coldly answer a few questions from curious students.

"We will start the chemistry lesson; those who still want to talk and don't want to learn, please leave before I kick you out." The first introduction went quickly because Alex looked annoyed and in an instant, the room fell silent. All the students immediately focused their attention, and in just a few minutes, they gave Alex the nickname "cold-blooded lecturer."

He didn't hesitate to kick out all the latecomers, including two female students who were busy talking and not paying attention to his lecture. Claire looked at the students around her, intimidated by Alex, yet they still seemed so happy and could smile without worries. She wanted to live like them, enjoying life without concerns.

She sighed softly, realizing she would never be able to be like them, living life like a princess. Wearing nice clothes, having money, having many friends, and not having any problems except studying.

They had everything, they were free...

Claire's hand opened the worn cloth bag she had been using for three years and took out a thin notebook. The notebook still contained some notes from her high school days. She believed that there was no woman in the world who had never dreamed of being a princess. She did too. Claire glanced at the clothes whose colors had long faded and smiled sadly.

A princess who only had two pairs of decent clothes that had already faded. And never-ending problems...

This morning, she found her kitchen had nothing to cook for her family. She couldn't even smile if what she had to do was wear a sad face just to borrow money from her coworkers just to get through the day. Besides, she also had to restrain herself from any happiness. Her debts were too many. Even by using all her salary for this month, she would still remain in debt.

The pencil in Claire's hand started scribbling on the pages of her book, and her brain began to organize her schedule. She had started working part-time at a restaurant called Mark's Burger about a kilometre away from the university three months ago. Now, she had to arrange her study time and work time so they wouldn't interfere with each other. Besides, she also had to think about the time to go home, which was about six kilometres away from the university. She had to be home by around ten o'clock at night, not earlier, and preferably not later.

Claire's eyes glanced at some students who seemed to be trying to flirt with her. She didn't have time to think about men like other female students; she already had too many problems to think about on her own. Men never made it onto her life list.

They were rough, selfish, and disgusting creatures who always wanted to win on their own.

***

A week later.

Alex pushed his wheelchair through the long corridors connecting room after room in the university. He glanced at his watch, which showed eight o'clock in the evening. His face looked irritated; he didn't understand why the faculty meeting could last that long if there were no important matters to discuss. Even if there were important matters, each faculty member would prioritize their own department. In the end, it was always the rector who made the final decision.

"These people have no respect for time!" His wheelchair moved along the dimly lit long corridor. This corridor was located in the west wing of the university building, and he always passed through it to reach the front yard of the university, where his car was parked. Suddenly, he found a female student sitting on a long chair in the middle of the corridor.

Alex frowned. There was clearly no rule prohibiting the presence of students in the university outside of class hours until ten o'clock at night. However, there was something strange about that student. The university buildings were divided into three sections: the west wing, central wing, and east wing.

The central wing, where the main building was located, and the east wing, where the cafeteria and various laboratory buildings were situated, were always bustling with people. The west wing, on the other hand, was the quietest area. After five o'clock, hardly anyone could be found here. This area mainly consisted of unused rooms and old equipment warehouses. The lights in this area were rarely turned on, and many were broken and not replaced.

"They're just brainless young couples here to satisfy their base desires," Alex thought as he passed the student in silence.

A few days later, Alex found the same student sitting on the same chair near nine o'clock in the evening. The girl was trying to read under the dim lights, which clearly wouldn't help much. After years of teaching at this university, Alex had never encountered anyone quite like her. While he often caught a few couples in the dark corridors, especially new students, they were never alone.

"What is she doing there, Captain?" Alex grumbled to a security guard in the west wing named Captain. The old security guard was indeed named Captain. When he was born, his parents wanted him to become a military captain. However, now in his late fifties, he could only be a university security guard.

"Who?" Captain emerged from his small guard post and accompanied Alex to where the professor's car was parked.

"The student in the west wing corridor?"

"Oh, you mean Claire, Sir," replied Captain, turning to look at Claire in the distance, causing his potbelly to jiggle. Alex noticed Captain's belly getting bigger every year. He bet that if there were ever a theft on campus, Captain would be the last person to chase after the thief. "She's there every day."

"Why?" Alex asked, sounding displeased. "Waiting for her boyfriend?" Most girls nowadays had nothing but handsome guys on their minds. They would instantly swoon if they encountered a guy who—using the new term HHC—Hot, Handsome, and Charming. Add the word Rich, and the girl would be completely smitten. Alex didn't like it.

"Claire?" The Captain's face looked puzzled.

"Why didn't you chase her away? People her age should be thinking about their future, not having fun," Alex sighed, realizing he might be too old-fashioned for today's youth.