Fateful Love, They Say?
The kind of fated love you only ever hear about in stories…?
The kingdom was a traditional powerhouse. That was why its nobles carried immense pride in their “traditional” status as the “strong,” and they tended to react with open hostility toward anyone who dared look down on that lineage and power.
“Isn’t that guy straight-up insane?”
Especially when the offender was a commoner—someone who was supposed to look up to them.
A girl with the pale mint-green hair that symbolized the Asher Marquis family—masters of the East and leading voices in the Hydro school—watched Rain as he stepped down from the podium with that crude attitude.
“What a complete blockhead.”
Despite her words, the corner of her mouth slowly curved upward. There were two big reasons Chloe Asher’s lips had drawn that arc. First, it was downright hilarious to watch a commoner openly insult and threaten nobles right here in the Academy—the very heart of the kingdom’s future ruling class. And second…
“Still, he’s got the balls to back it up. That guy’s stupidly strong.”
The overwhelming power that gave his outrageous behavior actual weight. As a mage who studied the arcane arts and pursued the Truth, the razor-sharp aura that had sent chills down her spine was more than enough to spark Chloe’s interest.
“Aah. Coming to the Academy was the right call~.”
She gave a satisfied nod, a pleased little smile on her face. Just then—
Buuuuz.
The terminal tucked inside her blazer vibrated. No matter how chaotic the situation was after Rain’s declaration of war, texting during formation was hardly proper noble behavior… but if it wasn’t fun, what was the point of living?
To the sole daughter of the Asher family—who had engraved a wild, instinct-driven creed into her very bones—living life exactly as she pleased mattered far more.
Chloe casually pulled out the device and lit up the screen.
—A young lady raised with way too much pampering.
“Yeah, yeah.”
After pressing the one-hour mute notification button, Chloe tossed the device back into her pocket like nothing had happened.
“I’ll message you when it’s over.”
At the short, simple text, Roselia showed no reaction even as Rain walked right past her. His handling of the situation was smart and only natural. After openly disrespecting the nobles present, if the duke’s daughter acted like she knew him, there was no telling how the ripples would spread—and she had zero desire to find out. In this Academy, and in the kingdom at large, looking down on nobles was an act you wouldn’t commit even if you had nine lives.
‘Just what is he thinking…?’
That was why Roselia couldn’t figure out his true intentions. When she had heard about the petition urging him to forfeit the ranking test, she had been so worked up she nearly stepped forward. Even after his provocative declaration, she had almost forgotten her position and approached him. She had always thought of herself as cool-headed thanks to the social skills she had built up since her debutante ball, yet even she had crumbled like this. Meanwhile, Rain remained perfectly composed.
If he was speaking those words, it meant he had calculated that he could handle the consequences…
‘No matter how outstanding his power is, it should be impossible to act like that in this kingdom without powerful backing———.’
The moment her thoughts reached that point, a shiver raced across Roselia’s entire body and her lips parted.
“No way.”
She knew better than anyone how absurd the idea she was entertaining truly was. Yet there was simply no other conclusion that fit the situation, so Roselia could only let out a helpless laugh.
In this kingdom that placed such importance on status and bloodline—where ranks stretched from the lowly baron all the way to the lofty duke—the only house that could possibly provide a commoner with the kind of backing that let him openly disrespect nobles was one.
The kingdom’s great sovereign. The rightful ruler of these lands.
———The Laenifel royal family.
“So that’s what it was…”
A murmur so soft no one else could hear it. Roselia smiled weakly.
The paths she walked were beautifully maintained, and even the simplest snack was a supreme delicacy prepared by a personal chef. Born as the noble daughter of a ducal house, commoners had always been an unknown quantity to her. So the moment she heard that “a commoner has enrolled in the Academy,” curiosity had surged within her—something unavoidable for a girl who had never once seen a commoner in her entire life.
The first thing Roselia did was pull his personal information. Extracting a commoner’s data wasn’t particularly difficult for a duke’s daughter, so she was able to view Rain’s profile in under thirty minutes.
Affiliation — Ether
The boy named Rain had learned the rare Ether school. The moment she confirmed it, her interest shifted from “commoner Rain” to “mage Rain.”
Fortunately, Roselia was in the same class as him. She had told herself she wouldn’t manipulate her class assignment just because she was curious, but once they actually ended up together, she felt secretly pleased. Since things had turned out this way, she might as well make a commoner friend!
With a resolution that was rather down-to-earth for a noble—or perhaps downright radical—Roselia had opened the door… and was met with an incredibly handsome face.
That day, Roselia discovered her ideal type.
She had discovered it, however…
‘Why does his backer have to be the Laenifels of all people?!’
It felt unfair. It was almost comical to describe the feeling as “unfair,” yet that was the only word that fit. After all, why did his first noble friend have to be someone else? She was supposed to be his first commoner friend as the duke’s daughter, yet Rain had gone and chosen someone else.
It was childish and ridiculous, but for Roselia—who had been born and raised in a ducal house—this level of childishness was still within the range of acceptable whining.
‘…Come to think of it, he seemed awfully close to Lady Sien, too.’
Setting the Laenifels aside (though they were not something one could simply set aside), the Alencia family was also a ducal house on par with the Eliards. Yet what was the current situation? He had bypassed his own classmate to make lunch plans with Lady Sien from the knight division—and not only that, they had linked arms. They had linked arms. They had linked arms.
She would say it again. They had linked arms!!
‘How is that even possible?!’
They had only met over the weekend, so how had they grown close enough to link arms already?
‘Fateful love… the kind you only hear about in stories?’
Pffft—!
Having once again reached an extreme and stimulating conclusion, Roselia’s face flushed bright red. Having learned about romance only through books and the occasional stories from her close personal maids, her imagination spread its sails like a ship racing across open seas.
A commoner mage with the mysterious Ether school, an appearance that perfectly matched her ideal type, carrying the Laenifel royal family as his secret backer, engaged in a passionate, forbidden love with a duke’s daughter.
‘Rain… you’re becoming more and more interesting.’
Roselia let out a dark little chuckle, a sly smile on her lips. She was quite satisfied that she was his first friend in the Academy.
———Ugh, chills.
The eerie sensation that made my skin crawl forced me to swallow hard without thinking. I even added a spoonful of caution by glancing around to check if anyone was watching.
‘Is someone already cursing me?’
It was ridiculous to hope I wouldn’t get cursed after pulling that kind of stunt, but I never expected to feel the exact same sensation I had when Sien threatened my life in my previous world.
‘Am I shaking?’
I was painfully aware every single moment that this body was hopelessly weak. No matter how much I struggled, the Seventh Circle seemed to be the limit. Even for me, the growth ceiling for this body’s mana circles was set at just the Seventh Circle, so I needed to escape this place full of powerhouses as quickly as possible.
…Thinking about it like that suddenly made me regret everything. Especially since there was no longer any way to scoop up the water that had already been spilled.
‘…I shouldn’t have provoked them.’
I regretted it, but what could I do? I had brought this on myself, so I would just have to take it like a man. As I let out a light sigh while thinking how painfully sharp the surrounding gazes were—
“———97th class, at ease.”
Yura Blair’s low, steady voice spread through the microphone.
Clack.
Everyone simultaneously assumed the at-ease position at her command. Behind Yura Blair, a middle-aged man wearing glasses stepped up onto the podium.
Dry, frizzy brown hair and dark circles so heavy they were obvious even from a distance. On top of that, pitch-black eyes that looked as if his soul had long since evaporated. The professor-exclusive Academy ID hanging from his neck swayed gently.
“Nice to meet you all. I am Miles Balakov, in charge of first-year oversight for the Magic Department and general instruction for the Geoki school.”
The man who introduced himself as Miles Balakov gave a lazy bow along with a yawn.
“Since I doubt any of you cadets are particularly interested in my name, let’s skip straight to the main topic.”
Beep.
He pressed a button, and above his head appeared a massive holographic window large enough for everyone present to see clearly.
“That concludes the explanation of the grade determination test. Please refer to the rulebook that will be distributed later for more details.”
Having finished speaking, Professor Miles adjusted his glasses and turned off the screen. As the content made clear, the test required participants to go through at least one promotion match—which meant fighting a minimum of three times (excluding the 0-point starting point of 5th grade).
Family honor, personal goals, rivalry and competitive spirit… everyone was desperate to do well in the grade determination test, so each and every duel consumed an enormous amount of stamina and mana. That was why the test demanded both skillful elements like outstanding strategy and stamina-mana distribution, as well as the element of luck in matchups, in order to achieve good results.
And if there was one surefire way to achieve the highest score in this test, it was obviously———
“From now on, students of the Magic Department will proceed to Maria’s Greenhouse.”
To secure the highest possible grade in Maria’s Greenhouse.
Of course, I was going to end up in 5th grade.