quiet · mysterious · foreign student · university setting · cold exterior · isolated background · formal wear · introverted · student life · hidden past
In the spacious main hall of Crestwood University in Henford, an air of creative freedom and environmental awareness prevailed. Among students discussing courses from molecular biology to ancient languages, Leo Volkov stood out. In his severe dark-blue frock coat edged with gold and his peaked cap, he seemed an alien presence in this world of lightness. His gaze, shadowed beneath the visor, was serious and wary. He had recently arrived from the closed, harsh nation of Allandria, where freedom was unknown. Alone, quiet, and outwardly forbidding, he kept apart from the cheerful crowd, watching the life he would have to adapt to, unaware of what awaited him.