Editor : Amethyst00



"Leo is going to the dance party with Eliza?"

Watching the duel between Abad and Duran, Carl muttered to himself.

'Am I going to get killed by Senior Elena?'

He remembered his past self, who had bragged so confidently.

Eliza had even moved to stop Lyl—because of him.

And now Eliza was going with Leo as her partner!

How on earth was he supposed to face Elena's wrath?

"…Should I run away?"

As he agonized, Carl glanced over to where Eliza was sitting with her sister, Freyna.

At that moment, his eyes met Eliza's.

Carl, who was about to wave, lowered his hand quietly as he saw Eliza sharply turn her head away.

"Still… she's going with Leo?"

The fact he was trying so hard to forget floated back to the surface.

"Why?"

It was natural that she would go with someone else if not with him.

But the fact that the "someone else" was Leo threw Carl off.

"Could it be that Eliza has feelings for Leo?"

He couldn't shake off the thought.

Leo was undeniably a cool guy—even Carl had to admit that.

It wasn't just the looks.

As a Hero of the Beginning, he was everyone's object of admiration and guiding light.

Now that Eliza knew Leo's true identity, it was possible her feelings had changed.

Thinking that, Carl felt his chest tighten.

It wasn't that he was jealous of Leo or blaming Eliza.

He could understand—it was Leo, after all.

But that didn't mean his heart felt nothing.

"Nah, no way."

Carl laughed awkwardly.

"They probably just ended up going together by chance… yeah, just by chance…"

Trying to comfort himself, Carl bowed his head deeply.

"Unnie, who do you think will win?"

"…"

"Unnie?"

Freyna, watching the duel between Abad and Duran seriously, turned to Eliza with a puzzled look.

Eliza, chin resting on her hand, was staring intently at Carl.

Seeing that, Freyna furrowed her brows.

"Did Carl-sunbae do something rude to you?"

"No."

Eliza shook her head firmly and scoffed, trimming her nails as she spoke.

"Duran has the advantage. The duel isn't fair in the first place."

Eliza answered indifferently, then glanced at Carl, who was still bowing his head, and stood up.

"Huh? Where are you going?"

"You stay and watch. A fight between a knight and a mage could be helpful."

"What about you?"

"I'm not interested."

It wasn't that she wasn't interested.

The truth was, she couldn't focus.

'Hmph. He must be pretty shocked. Well, he will have to deal with Senior Elena after all.'

Eliza snorted inwardly.

She was annoyed with Carl, who hadn't even bothered to ask her to the party and instead had been goofing off with other girls.

And, just as she expected, the effect was phenomenal.

But it seemed Carl's shock wasn't just because of that.

'Is it really that shocking that I became partners with Leo Plov?'

Eliza sighed softly.

'Who told him not to ask in the first place?'

Trying to shake off thoughts of Carl, Eliza stopped walking down the hallway.

'Surely he doesn't think there's something between me and Leo Plov?'

She absolutely refused to let such a misunderstanding spread.

'Ugh, whatever! I don't care!'

Feeling her head ache, Eliza returned to the dormitory.

Crackk—!

Lightning aura surged wildly in all directions.

Abad soared into the sky to avoid Duran's thunderous slash and swung his staff.

Whoooosh—!

A violent gust of wind deflected Duran's attack.

Whoom—!

Abad soared higher with tremendous speed.

Though not quite as fast as Chelsea—who was among the top five in the third year—Abad's mastery of wind magic granted him incredible speed.

His chant speed was also remarkably quick.

Whoosh—!

Duran burst through the gale and reached right in front of Abad.

Golden lightning swirled at his toes.

He used Aura Step to chase after Abad.

Clang—!

Duran swung his longsword at Abad.

Boom—!

His sword was blocked by a wind shield.

In that brief moment—

Abad created a blade of wind at the tip of his staff and aimed it at Duran, as if thrusting a spear.

An unexpectedly clean strike for a mage.

Duran quickly pulled away.

"Hmm. Impressive."

Duran curled the corners of his lips.

His fighting style was completely different from that of most mages.

"So this is what they mean by 'versatile type,' huh?"

In mock battles, Abad's fighting style against Duran resembled Chloe's.

Chloe prevented Duran from approaching at all with overwhelming magical power.

On the other hand, Chelsea—being a battle mage—didn't hesitate to close the distance.

Both were mages in their own right.

But Abad, who took the fight seriously, was different.

His 1-on-1 combat style somewhat resembled that of a knight.

The reason Duran felt that was simple:

'Distance control.'

Compared to traditional mage Chloe, Abad's spell power was weaker.

Compared to battle mage Chelsea, his close-combat ability was lacking.

But as a true all-rounder, he could fight in any form.

This meant Abad could freely control the fighting range most favorable to him.

'In terms of difficulty… he's more troublesome than Chloe or Chelsea.'

Duran's eyes lit up with strong competitive spirit.

Even so, the fact that the fight was still in Duran's favour hadn't changed.

Crackle—Snap—!

Golden aura sparked around Duran's body.

"Abad, did I do something wrong to you?"

Duran asked with genuine curiosity.

He knew he didn't have the best personality, and that Abad was a gentle person.

So Duran thought maybe he had offended Abad somehow.

He considered Abad a close friend.

That's why, duel aside, he wanted to apologize if he'd done something wrong.

Abad gave a bitter smile.

"You've done nothing wrong to me."

"Then why are you fighting me so seriously?"

Abad was silent for a moment as Duran asked in confusion, then finally spoke.

"It's because of Celia."

"Celia Zerdinger?"

"Yeah."

Wooooom—!

Mana flared in Abad's eyes.

"I can't stand seeing Celia with another man."

"…"

Duran looked genuinely surprised.

"Abad, did you have feelings for Celia Zerdinger?"

"Yeah."

"That's unexpected."

Duran let out an impressed whistle and lowered his sword.

"To challenge someone to a duel for the woman you love. That's more knightly than I expected."

Grinning, Duran crackled with lightning again.

"I recognize you as a knight, Abad Lewellin."

"I'm a mage, though."

Abad laughed as he gathered more mana.

Duran didn't plan to drag it out.

If he gave Abad more time, a massive spell would be completed.

'I need to end this before that happens.'

Abad knew Duran would push for a conclusion.

Whooooosh—! Crackle—Boom—!

Storm and lightning collided in the sky.

bl

Abad opened his eyes.

Next to his bed in the infirmary, someone was peeling an apple.

"Chelsea?"

"Sorry to disappoint. It's me."

Celia's exasperated voice rang out.

"…Did I win?"

"Are you an idiot? If you beat Duran in a pure 1-on-1 duel, that would mean you could beat me. Do you think you can beat me?"

Even among evenly matched fighters, matchups mattered.

1-on-1 fights were basically a knight's domain.

"So I lost."

"Obviously."

Abad let out a hollow laugh.

Watching him, Celia bit into a slice of apple with a crunch.

"Duran told me he wants to cancel being my partner."

"…!"

"You told him something about me, didn't you?"

Abad gave a bitter smile as Celia narrowed her eyes at him.

"Duran's not a blabbermouth."

"I know."

Swallowing the apple, Celia clicked her tongue.

"Not that I planned to go to the dance party with you anyway."

"I know. I was just feeling petty."

"Petty?"

"I'm jealous. I couldn't stand the thought of you entering with Duran."

"…"

"I guess… I fell for you more than I thought."

Looking away toward the window, Abad sighed.

Celia, watching him, stabbed a slice of apple with a fork.

"Still, don't do stupid things. Like I told you before, it's not like I dislike you."

"…."

Abad said nothing.

Celia spoke again.

"Let's make a deal."

"Huh?"

"If you beat me in a 1-on-1 duel even once…"

"If I win?"

"I'll marry you."

JUMP—!

"Really?!"

"Yeah."

Celia smiled softly.

"Otherwise, you're bound to do something reckless. Not that it'll ever be easy."

"That's fine!"

Abad's face lit up with joy. Sitting up, he grabbed Celia's wrist.

"Celia! I challenge you to a duel!"

"…"

Celia looked at him like he was pathetic.

"Do you really think you can beat me right now? And…"

She pulled her wrist away and shoved the apple into his mouth.

"Even if you win, what are you planning to do after marrying me?!"

"Mmph. As heir to the Lewellin family, I need to secure the next generation."

"My family's still in chaos from what my brother Rhys did! And next generation? What kind of perverted thoughts are you having?!"

"As heir, it's only natural to think about that."

A very typical noble heir's remark.

Abad laughed.

"Wipe that smirk off your face. Before I turn you into melted butter."

Celia clicked her tongue.

"Whatever happens, you might never beat me in a duel."

"Turning the impossible into possible—that's what mages do."

"You sure talk a lot."

Celia rolled her eyes.

"Still…"

Crossing her arms, she chuckled.

"If I do have your child, the next head of the Lewellin family might wield flame aura, huh? That'd be wild…"

"What was that?! Who's having whose child?!"

A chilling voice called out from behind, and Celia froze stiff. Chelsea had entered the infirmary without them noticing, glaring at Celia with a terrifying face.

"You witch! What are you trying to do to my brother?!"

As Chelsea, blushing furiously, lunged toward Celia, Leo grabbed her to stop her. While restraining the flailing Chelsea, Leo looked at Celia.

"Celia."

"What?"

"Don't do what Rhys did. The uncles might actually kill Abad."

"That won't happen! Don't say ridiculous things!"

Celia shouted back.