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The Estellia Academy is broadly divided into two colleges: the Department of Knights and the Department of Magic.

While both aim for the same goal of transcendence, it’s only natural that the paths of martial arts and magic—two inherently incompatible disciplines—would diverge.

That said, it wasn’t entirely unusual for students from different departments to cross paths. Collaborative projects and tasks handed down from the academy often required students from different colleges to come together, despite their differing affiliations.

However, now, as a student from the Department of Magic stepped into the building of the Department of Knights, all eyes of the Knights Department turned towards her.

With snow-white hair like that of a dove and transparent purple eyes reminiscent of amethyst, this appearance belonged to the only person at Estellia Academy, a magic prestige family that rivaled Ertuven within the Empire—the bloodline of the Duke House of Edelweiss.

Lady Elena Edelweiss, the girl bearing that name, walked through the Knights Department, ignoring the numerous gazes directed at her.

It wasn’t odd for a student from the Department of Magic to come here, but this wasn’t simply about that. They were curious about why Elena had chosen to visit the Knights Department.

Nonetheless, she had no obligation to satisfy their curiosity. Ignoring their stares, Elena turned her head to look for that one person who might be here.

‘Is something wrong?’

As she searched in vain, she couldn’t help but feel a growing sense of worry about not being able to find him.

While one might think that anything happening at the academy was just a matter of a professor taking someone away, Elena and the person she was looking for, Damian, had fought against the heretics hiding here just days ago.

Thus, her heightened vigilance was somewhat unavoidable.

After waiting at their usual meeting place, however, he still hadn’t shown up even after several minutes.

Being the kind of person who would inform her in advance if he couldn’t make it, the possibility that something had happened to him became increasingly plausible.

What if he had been attacked by heretics again, just like before?

‘No, that can’t be true…’

Elena shook her head, immediately dismissing such gloomy thoughts.

The surrounding area felt too quiet for that to be the case. Certainly, if it had been him, he would have done something to alert her about any unexpected trouble. Even if something occurred, given that they had promised to move together beforehand, it was unlikely that he would act alone.

Thus, it was very likely that his absence was due to entirely personal reasons.

“Uh, excuse me, do you happen to know where the third-year Knight, Damian Kraus, is?”

Finally, Elena stopped a passing student from the Knights Department and posed her question. The sudden inquiry seemed to catch the student off guard, but he was able to respond.

“Damian…? Ah, Damian Kraus. That guy? I saw him going towards the main building’s garden with Prince Orcus a bit earlier. But is something the matter…”

“Is that so? Thank you for your answer.”

Hearing this, Elena turned away from the student and immediately dashed towards the garden where he was said to be.

The answer was just provided to her moments ago.

Yet, even so, Elena couldn’t seem to stop herself from searching for Damian. Initially, her concern prompted her actions, but even after realizing it wasn’t necessary, she found herself walking towards where he would be.

In truth, Elena knew well what she was feeling.

While she kept telling herself that she was worried about his wellbeing, the reality was quite the opposite.

What she was experiencing now was a sense of deprivation. It felt as though something of hers had been taken away by someone else.

It was almost laughable.

The promise she made with Damian was of such casual nature that it could easily be canceled if their schedules didn’t align. They didn’t have to meet to do anything in particular—just a formal, routine check-in on each other’s situations.

Still, Elena understood that the emotion she felt now was genuine. The thought that a time meant solely for them was stolen lingered in her mind.

Perhaps it was all the more so because it was Orcus.

Since he, too, belonged to the Department of Magic, Elena could somewhat predict the nature of the conversation Orcus might have sought out with Damian.

How did it come to this…

As she ran, Elena repeatedly asked herself the question.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have acted this way. It was common for their meetings to be thwarted for unavoidable reasons, so a reaction this intense was unwarranted.

However, ever since Damian danced with Noel at the ball, something had begun to change. From that day onwards, it seemed she became fixated on the moments they could spend together, just the two of them.

The same places, the same actions, the same times felt different from before. She didn’t want to miss a single second, nor did she want to share them with anyone else.

Though she had already reversed time once, she had never felt such feelings in her previous life. That’s why Elena was aware that this strange emotion was the source of her confusion, yet she couldn’t figure out what to do about it.

As she stepped outside, she soon spotted the two figures standing in the garden. The brilliant golden hair of Orcus, shining in the sunlight next to Damian, was visible from afar.

Finally spotting the one she had been searching for, Elena took a deep breath and slowly approached where they stood.

“So…”

As she drew closer, she could faintly hear their conversation. She didn’t even need magic to enhance her hearing to catch Orcus speaking to Damian.

But that meant she had no choice but to pause her steps.

“So you mean to say that you and Lady Elena have no relationship whatsoever?”

Hearing Orcus’s words was like being pierced by a sharp dagger. This was her first change in the fate since her return, but how could anyone have known that this would be the very thing she wished to revert the most?

Had there been a reason then, she would have readily retorted to Orcus. But the fact that she couldn’t respond only deepened her emotional turmoil.

However, what tormented her the most was that Damian remained silent without denying Orcus’s words. The following words from Orcus drove a nail deeper into the already crumbling Elena’s heart.

“In that case, Damian, although it’s a rather untimely question, how about getting engaged to Noel?”

Upon hearing those words from Orcus, Elena fled the scene without listening to anything more. She closed her eyes, covered her ears, and escaped into a world where she could neither see nor hear anything.

She wasn’t curious about how he would respond to Orcus.

No, she didn’t want to know.

*

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Lady Elena.”

Under the warm sunlight, Orcus’s golden hair glistened.

A while? In recalling their meeting before her return, it truly was a while. But no doubt he wasn’t here to talk about that; he must be referring to a time before I joined the House of Kraus.

It was a memory from quite some time ago, but unlike other memories, it hadn’t faded at all. How could she possibly forget this? It was a pivotal turning point in her life, a memory that shone like an eternal jewel.

Hailey seemed frozen in shock at Orcus’s sudden appearance; she hadn’t even thought to greet him. Given she had been relaxing just moments ago, it was remarkable she didn’t topple over.

I stood in front of Hailey, blocking her from Orcus’s view, and cautiously greeted him.

“It’s an honor to meet the Sun of the Empire. Thank you for remembering the encounter with me.”

Orcus frowned, as if he found something odd about my reply. I was sure my etiquette was in line; why was he reacting this way?

Realizing the change of expression on his face, he quickly returned to his usual demeanor and replied with a feigned casualness.

“Ha ha, I apologize. The sunlight is just rather strong today.”

So let’s pretend that previous moment never happened, he added. Of course, he must have noticed when I cringed upon seeing his face just a moment ago.

I brushed off his words with a light smile.

“By the way, I should offer my congratulations first. Congratulations on your engagement, Lady Elena. Although it isn’t a blessing from my father, I sincerely hope for happiness in your future.”

The light bursting from Orcus’s hand soon turned to powder and scattered across the corridor. While the warm sunlight enveloping me felt pleasant, I couldn’t shake the unease—was it due to the foreign beliefs’ sacredness or because Orcus was the source of the blessing? Even with such divine power, it didn’t feel quite as good as when I received blessings in the past.

I smiled softly and expressed my gratitude for his good intentions.

“Certainly not. Thank you for your kind words.”

This only caused Orcus’s expression to cloud once more.

Was it just my imagination that he reacted every time I smiled? Orcus seemed to realize this too, as he appeared somewhat embarrassed and turned towards the window, responding.

“Hmm… it really is blinding today…”

A person with divine light blaming the sunlight? Truly there was no more pathetic excuse to be made.

Clearing his throat as if to change the subject, Orcus directed his attention back to me, this time with a noticeably serious expression.

“By the way, if you’re here, that means young Master Damian must be around as well. Do you happen to know where he is?”

Unlike when he spoke to me before, a shadow seemed to hang over Orcus’s face as he asked about his whereabouts. I could understand without needing him to say it.

I shook my head in response to his question.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know where he has gone.”

It wasn’t wrong to say I had a rough idea of where he might be, but it was also true that I only knew he had gone to find Alphonse.

Upon my reply, Orcus’s expression reflected a sense of distress, as he muttered, “This is quite the problem…” and then bade me farewell before disappearing before my eyes.

Once he vanished, I regained my composure and turned back to Hailey.

“Hailey, would you like to go wait in the room first? I’ll return after stopping by somewhere for a bit.”

“Eh? Where are you going, Lady?”

“To the Training Grounds.”

Having stated this, I swiftly made my way outside of the castle. My steps towards it were light, almost as if enchanted with magic.

It seemed my reunion with an old friend would come sooner than I had expected.

 

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