453 – A Fresh Semester with a Fresh Start

Peace draped over the Academy’s opening ceremony.

“Haa…”

The ardour they’d held at the entrance ceremony, all but vanished. Now, students, mired in the bog of the new term, wore gloomy faces as they gathered in the assembly hall.

-The opening ceremony will begin in 30 minutes. Please be seated.

A flurry of voices rose and fell.

After nearly two months apart, the students were brimming with stories.

Who went where during the break.

Who spotted whom on the street.

Unlike the modern age, communication was limited to letters and expensive magical devices. They had only these snatched moments to share their news. Without a breath, they traded updates on their lives.

“Did you have a good break?”

“The best… I spent it with my family, travelling to the West. Ah, if only the break had lasted longer.”

“Wow, lucky. I went to the North…”

“Isn’t the North better? It’s getting hotter these days.”

“I nearly froze to death…”

“Pfft…!”

Reunited with their friends after so long, the students unpacked their story bundles, chattering away.

But one topic reigned supreme.

“Wow… unbelievable.”

The voices of the female students, those who worshipped the Academy’s living idol.

-Ah… damn, I hate the start of term.

“Wow…! Isn’t that Ruin-sunbae?”

“I can’t believe it, he’s become even more handsome… I bet he ate some kind of handsomeness-enhancing fruit during the break. He’s even cooler than he was last semester. Ah~ *This* is why I’m excited for the new semester.”

“Didn’t you used to bash him relentlessly when Ruin-sunbae gained weight? Saying how he was far from the face of the Magic Faculty…”

“That was then…! It’s different now.”

In Hanna’s eyes, he was just seaweed. But the voices of the female students, dreaming of love as they gazed at Ruin, echoed boisterously through the hall.

-Where’s Shartia?

-The 3rd Princess is preparing behind the stage for her speech.

-As soon as the speech is over, secure a promise to speak with Shartia alone. We need to borrow the personal funds she holds to prevent the situation in the West.

-Understood.

“It’s the Crown Prince…”

“He looks so… alluring… why do the dark circles under his eyes look so alluring?”

“I know…”

The female students, enraptured by the Crown Prince’s appearance, wearied by the affairs in the West, dreamed of a forbidden love that transcended social standing.

But the greatest object of their attention was Mikhail, with the secret that made any affection for him forbidden.

-Riccardo came and went?

-Yes…

-Did he come just to see Bailin?

-No… he said he was coming to see Hanna as well…

-…Bailin, what year are you in now?

-I’m a second year.

– …Huh?

“Crazy… the vibe is totally different.”

“Are we even in the same space…?”

“…I just want to hold her hand once.”

“Me too…”

Mikhail. Ruin. The Crown Prince.

The academy’s idols, the three of them, continued their own conversations, oblivious to the buzzing gazes of the female students.

Two of them loved one woman.

And one woman loved one man.

Ruin, who happened to be seated next to Mikhail, offered a small smile and spoke.

“Hey… Mikhail.”

“What?”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“A little, but… I’m not starving.”

“It’s driving me nuts… My appetite’s gotten worse since I started dieting. I used to give Olivia hell for being a pig, but now I get the shakes if I don’t have chocolate.”

“That’s diabetes, Ruin.”

“Is it…? Ugh… Damn. This sucks.”

Maintaining his weight, Ruin melted into the bustling atmosphere and subtly tempted Mikhail. He knew that pleading with Yuria would be a lost cause anyway.

“Hey, Mikhail. After the opening ceremony, wanna grab a drink tonight?”

“Drinks? Why drinks all of a sudden?”

“It’d be nice to have a drink with the guys for once and then hit the bathhouse.”

“No thanks.”

“Don’t tell me you’re…”

Ruin’s suggestive words made Mikhail clench his fists. He pondered how to deal with the grass-green-haired idiot.

‘Killing him is out of the question.’

Would hitting him on the crown of the head with the flat of the blade erase his memory, he wondered.

Thanks to Ricardo being alive, the reason for cross-dressing had disappeared, but Mikhail had lived as a man for so long that he was now conflicted about living as a woman.

Since being seen as a woman by one person was enough, Mikhail planned to slowly reveal his secret over time.

If he revealed that he was a woman now, his relationship with Yuria, and his friendships with others, would change drastically.

Of course, Ruin.

“Small.”

Had not the slightest suspicion about Mikhail.

“Ruin…”

“What.”

“You’re kind of an idiot.”

“…Huh?”

Just as a vulgarity was about to escape Ruin’s lips, shouts of admiration from male students erupted from another direction.

-Woooaaahhh!!!

It felt like a spring breeze was blowing. Even though summer had passed and autumn was approaching, the passionate exclamations of the male students accompanied the figures walking towards them. Ruin and Mikhail, who had been talking, turned their heads and let out dry laughs.

“Wow…”

“Why?”

“That’s one hell of a painting, for real.”

“Crass, Ruin.”

“Are you a eunuch or something?”

Ruin, ever faithful to his desires, followed the others heading toward the grand hall. The women, meanwhile, walked with a bashful air, bathed in the ardent gazes of the men.

“-How have you been?”

“-I kept having nightmares about the undead…thought I was going to die.”

“-Puh-hah…really?”

Yuria, strolling along with a Healing Arts student who had also signed up for the special class, disappeared in a flutter of rose-colored hair, leaving a trail of unrequited love in the hearts of the male students.

“Insane…how can someone be made like that?”

“Hey…it’s spring now, right?”

“It’s spring…spring in my heart.”

“Idiot.”

Yuria had earned the animosity of many nobles purely because of her face. That, and being a commoner made her the target of every girl’s envy.

“…Doesn’t she seem different?”

The students who usually tormented Yuria whispered amongst themselves, remarking on the change in her aura since the break.

“She doesn’t feel like the commoner b*tch I knew… Feels like if we messed with her, she’d grab us by the hair.”

“Did she eat something wrong or what?”

“Who knows…what if she’s dating Mikhail…”

“If that happens, I’ll actually kill someone…”

The one reacting most vehemently was ‘Kaila.’

“What the hell happened to make her so irritating…”

Kaila, once Yuria’s closest friend and the mastermind behind her bullying, gnawed at her nails and clenched her fist.

“Tch.”

Yuria wasn’t the only one. The appearance of the female students following behind her was creating a massive wave among the boys.

Tetra Shuen, second year.

“Ohoho…! Long time no see, commoners!”

-Crazy…

-I should have gone to the Magic Faculty.

-Like she’d even treat you like a person.

-Still… if we were in the same faculty, she might at least talk to me.

-Go to the convenience store. Then you can see her.

-No way.

-Why?

-She charges nobles more than the regular price.

-Insane….

Histania Hanna, second year.

-Looks ferocious…but I kind of want to be stepped on.

-Agreed…

-She’s the youngest ever Aura Awakener, you know. She wouldn’t even glance at us. You’d have to be at least a senior like Mikhail to stand a chance.

-Haa…

Finally.

-Students, please be seated.

Shartia’s bewitching voice, targeting the Emperor no less, stirred the hearts of the male students.

Changed in such a short time, they were preparing for the new semester with a strength unlike their peers.

Shuen had realized love.

‘A commoner, flirting… Then I shall offer a flirtation worthy of nobility!’

Mikhail had learned the truth of the story he’d been chasing so relentlessly, resolving to run harder than ever.

‘I will become someone who can help Ricardo.’

Yuria, who once loved a villain, cast aside her stagnant heart and steeled herself to protect her own people.

‘Ricardo worries because I am weak.’

Hanna, too, yearned for growth beyond anyone else, desiring to ascend to even greater heights.

‘I’m still not good enough to stand beside the butler.’

Those who had been with Ricardo were seizing a stronger resolve than before. Discarding the feeling of settling for mediocrity, they awaited the new semester with fierce determination, harboring the desire to stand proudly by his side.

-In three minutes, the opening ceremony will begin. Please maintain solemnity.

The Crown Prince, having been unable to see Yuria for a long time, glanced at her sitting far away and muttered to himself.

“What happened to Yuria while I was away from the capital?”

One of his close aides, Gerard, nodded in response to the Crown Prince’s words.

“While Your Highness was in the west, it seems they held something called a special class. Other than that it was overseen by current senior director, Histania Malik, detailed information has not been released.”

The Crown Prince sighed softly.

“Find out. Who participated in it, and who taught them.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Taeoh rubbed his forehead, letting out a frustrated sigh.

“Haa… nothing goes as I want.”

Ever since Shartia rounded up all the escapees, the balance had begun to shift greatly.

Taeoh was slowly realizing. The blade prepared by Shartia was now reaching for his own neck.

He’d been willing to be lenient because she was family… But faced with Shartia’s rebellion, her self-imposed march to the grave, Taeoh glared at Shartia standing on the podium and hardened his resolve.

-Esteemed academy juniors, fellow students, did you all enjoy your summer break?

As if she were looking directly at him, he burned with the will not to back down either.

-Grip…

He hardened his resolve.