Tangled Desires: Arrival at the Academy
It had been half a day plus another eight hours since Arwen left the mansion for the Academy. He would likely arrive within the day. Though it was the early dawn hour when everyone else lay lost in deep sleep, I couldn’t close my eyes. Thoughts of Arwen buzzed inside my skull like summer mosquitoes, refusing to let me rest.
It wasn’t some simple, one-dimensional sorrow at parting from my brother. Confusion, betrayal, and an inexplicable thrill all tangled together, pressing down on my mind.
“So Masha and Arwen were… like that.”
The night before, after a heated argument with Mother had left my heart in turmoil, I had gone to Masha’s room seeking comfort. What I witnessed there was shocking enough to stop my breath. The woman who had always seemed as untouchable as a flower blooming on a cliff was lying beneath a man with her legs spread wide.
It hadn’t been rape. Though I couldn’t hear their voices clearly, even from a distance I could see the expression on Masha’s face. It was the face of someone savoring pleasure.
Yet what stunned me even more than the sight of Masha having sex was the identity of the man driving himself into her. It was Arwen.
The moment I realized it, my heart froze solid. Could the man kissing Masha and rolling his hips really be the brother I knew? That quiet, gentle Arwen? He devoured Masha’s body with a greed that made him seem like an entirely different person from the one I remembered.
And it wasn’t only Masha. The beastkin maid named Raibel—the one who trembled like a leaf whenever she met my eyes—was also rolling across the bed with them. The encounter I’d had with Raibel while she was bringing medicine to Arwen had clearly been no coincidence.
I wanted to burst in and stop my brother from carrying on such improper relations with both the mansion’s maid and Mother’s most loyal knight. But my body refused to obey. As I watched Arwen claim a woman, a lewd flood poured from my own sex, as if a dam had burst inside me.
My temperature rose, overtaken by a heat I had never felt before. It was the first time in my life I had experienced such a feeling. Before I knew it, my fingers were plunging into my pussy—my cunt—moving on their own.
By the time I came back to my senses, a lake of my own juices had already formed on the floor beneath me. After several hours of frantic masturbation, I barely managed to slip away just before Arwen noticed me.
I ran straight to my room, locked the door, and when the moans finally faded and silence returned, an unbearable shame crashed over me. More unbelievable than the fact that I had masturbated in the mansion hallway was how excited I had become watching my own brother have sex.
As I stared blankly at Arwen’s performance, I had projected myself onto both Masha and Raibel in his arms. My own face had overlapped with Masha’s, her tongue hanging slack and pathetic as she moaned around my brother’s cock.
Lost in that toxic blend of guilt and regret, I hadn’t even managed to say goodbye before Arwen left the mansion. Not that I would have had the courage to face him anyway.
“Haa… I can’t possibly tell Mother about this.”
If Mother ever learned of the relationship between Masha and Arwen, their bond would shatter beyond repair. I couldn’t bear to be the one who caused that.
“What on earth am I supposed to do…?”
While my heart wavered, unable to decide, time flowed on without hesitation.
With the creak and jolt of the carriage coming to a stop, my body lurched forward from inertia.
“Whoa?!”
My head, which had been nodding off from the endless rocking inside the confined carriage, snapped awake. I had nearly planted a passionate kiss on the carriage floor.
“Have we… arrived?”
I shook my head vigorously to clear away the lingering fog. Through the carriage window, I saw a magnificent European-style castle in the distance—the kind you only ever saw in movies or dramas. It looked less like a fortress meant to repel enemy invasions and more like a palace where an emperor or archduke might reside.
Its white-brick walls, gleaming like pearls under the sunlight, were crowned with roofs where lion banners symbolizing the Holy Legion Empire fluttered proudly. Reinhardt’s mansion had seemed luxurious enough to Byeon Tae-sung, who had once lived in an ordinary Korean apartment, but it couldn’t compare to the splendor before me now.
“So that’s the Academy?”
“Correct. To be precise, it is Friedich Palace, named after the fourth emperor of the Empire, Friedich the Second. It currently serves as the Academy’s main building.”
Boris, the Academy administrator, appeared in response to my awestruck country-bumpkin exclamation. He offered a kind smile through the wide-open carriage door.
“I… I see.”
“It is also where the new student entrance ceremony that Lord Arwen will attend is about to take place.”
With that, Boris bowed politely, signaling that it was time to disembark. I gathered the bag I had carried from the mansion and stepped down from the carriage with careful, measured steps.
Outside, the people who had escorted me all the way here stood lined up like department store VIP attendants. The overwhelming courtesy made me feel almost guilty for being the one who should be thanking them.
“Thank you for your hard work. Welcome to the Academy, Lord Arwen.”
I took in my surroundings with Boris’s welcoming words as background music. The vast panorama of the Academy unfolded before me in a single glance.
“It’s… huge…”
Even if I hadn’t wanted to sound like a country bumpkin, the awed sigh slipped out of my slack-jawed mouth anyway. The Academy’s scale was nothing like what I had experienced while wandering it as Arwen in the game. In reality, it dwarfed any university campus I had known.
There was a lake park with water as blue as a clear sky, buildings of every shape and style I had never seen in the game’s illustrations, and a dense forest visible in the distance. It was massive enough to be called a small city.
‘This is actually pretty exciting, isn’t it?’
Enrolling in a school within a fantasy world to learn swordsmanship and magic—wasn’t that every child’s romantic dream at some point? With Arwen’s handsome face and prestigious family, girls would surely line up for him. I might get to experience the sweet, youthful sex with classmates that only existed in fiction, or perhaps secret after-school rendezvous with a beautiful female instructor.
‘I wonder who I’ll sleep with first? Aries, with her childhood-friend setting? Or maybe the one-handed sword instructor Helena wouldn’t be bad either.’
Aries could be met in offensive magic classes, while Helena appeared in swordsmanship lessons. Both were heroines.
While I stood there blankly pondering which Academy women I would conquer, Boris and the others remained bowing.
‘Ah, right. I forgot.’
“Sorry for making you wait,” I told Boris. “The Academy is far more impressive than I expected…”
Boris gave a gentle, understanding smile. “There is no need to feel embarrassed. Many students from provincial territories who did not take the entrance exam here show similar reactions.”
“I… I see. Haha…”
Now that he mentioned it, carriages from other territories were arriving one by one, depositing their passengers. Every one of them wore flashy, perfectly tailored uniforms that screamed nobility.
And just as Boris had said, quite a few of the arriving students wore expressions similar to mine. Even a plain-looking boy who appeared to have come with his father was no exception.
“Father, isn’t this larger than our Siegmund territory?” the average-looking boy said in an average tone.
I had no memory of him. He probably hadn’t even existed as a character file back when Elysia Story was still just a game, before I possessed it.
“Don’t be intimidated, Josef. Even if the Siegmund family’s power is modest, someone like you will surely catch the eye of those above us,” the middle-aged noble encouraged.
So the ordinary male student’s name was Josef. A determined spark lit up in his eyes at his father’s words.
“Understood. Leave it to me, Father.”
A father and son boldly declaring they would find a worthy master to pledge their loyalty to. ‘Well, this is the place where the children of the Empire’s greatest houses gather. It makes sense some would enroll with that goal in mind.’
Choosing the right faction was simply one survival strategy in the cutthroat world of noble society. It wasn’t something to laugh at.
Just then, the pair noticed my gaze. Our eyes met.
The moment Josef’s father saw my face, his bushy mustache twitched.
“That silver hair… could it be…?”
“The Dragon of the North, the Reinhardt family?” Josef finished loudly, taking over his father’s words.
‘Dragon of the North? What kind of chuuni title is that?’
Josef’s embarrassing nickname became the spark. More and more people began turning their attention toward me.
“If it’s the Reinhardt family, then that means he’s the son of Lord Ethan, former commander of the Northern Conquest Army…”
“Then is that the rumored heir of the Reinhardts—Arwen Reinhardt?”
Though the Reinhardt family had planted its roots far to the north, distant from the imperial capital, its name carried just as much weight as any famous ducal house in the capital.
Just before a human wall could form around me, Boris approached and whispered in my ear.
“Lord Arwen, it would be wise to head inside the palace quickly before you draw even more attention.”
“Understood. Thank you, Boris.”
“May the blessings of Lady Elysia be with you, Lord Arwen.”
Leaving behind Boris, who had offered a blessing in the name of Elysia, the chief goddess of the Holy Legion Empire’s state religion, I made my way toward Friedich Palace where the entrance ceremony would be held.
“W-wait, young master!”
I cleanly ignored Josef’s urgent voice calling after me.
‘Young master? Sorry, but I have no intention of becoming your family’s lifeline just yet.’
Of course, I would eventually have to become the family head and dive into the muddy waters of noble politics, but that time was not now. At the very least, I wanted to enjoy my sex life while at the Academy.
Escaping the burdensome stares, I hurried along the neatly paved brick path and soon reached the palace. At the entrance, staff wearing the same uniform as Boris were greeting the students.
“Welcome to the Academy. Please leave any luggage with us. After we inspect for prohibited items, we will deliver everything to your assigned rooms.”
‘Fuck. Prohibited items? I’m screwed.’
The luggage I had brought contained love juices and the Handcuffs of Weakening. If they discovered the former, being labeled a pervert would be the least of my worries. I hadn’t expected a baggage inspection the moment I arrived.
While I hesitated, a young male staff member approached with a bright smile.
“Nice to meet you. May I have your name?”
“…Arwen Reinhardt.”
The staff member checked the roster in his hands.
“Arwen… Arwen… Here you are. Lord Arwen Reinhardt, I will take care of your luggage.”
“Um, about that…”
“Yes, my lord?”
‘Damn it. If I resist here, it’ll only make things worse.’
I had considered snapping at him—how dare he think of inspecting the luggage of the Sword Saint’s descendant and heir of the Reinhardt family?—but the calm atmosphere of the students quietly submitting to inspection suggested my chances of success were zero.
In the end, all I could do was hand over the bag while praying nothing would come of it.
“These are… handcuffs?”
Suspicion gradually filled the eyes of the staff member checking the contents.
Well, it wasn’t exactly common to find handcuffs in a new student’s bag.
“Th-they’re for self-defense… Are they prohibited?”
I put on the most innocent expression I could manage. Of course, it didn’t work at all.
The staff member gave me a look that said “handcuffs for self-defense?” before answering my stupid question.
“Any item that could harm another student’s body is not permitted. We will hold onto the handcuffs until you return home.”
“…Please do.”
In the end, the expensive Handcuffs of Weakening fell into the Academy’s hands.
‘Damn it, handcuffs are suspicious, sure—but what about all the guys carrying swords and magic staves?’
I grumbled inwardly, but if this world’s common sense considered carrying handcuffs more suspicious than a greatsword the size of a grown man, I would simply have to adapt.
“And this bottle?”
Next, the staff member pulled out the glass vials containing Raibel and Masha’s love juices.
“That’s, uh… syrup. The maids at the mansion packed it. You spread it on bread… Haha.”
‘Haha my ass. You brain-dead idiot, what noble brings syrup to school?’
I cursed my own pathetic improvisation, but the excuse had already left my mouth.
“Syrup, you say? Hmm…”
The staff member seemed to find it strange as well. He examined the bottles containing Raibel and Masha’s fluids more closely. If the two women had been present, they would have blushed with shame.
After shaking the bottles a few times, pulling the cork, and sniffing the contents, the staff member nodded.
“I don’t sense any mana, and it doesn’t appear to be poison. I will safely deliver your bag to your room, Lord Arwen. You have been assigned to room 207 in the Astrea Building.”
Fortunately, the Academy staff member—who possessed the same pure-looking face as my past self—didn’t seem familiar with the scent of a woman’s love juices. Then again, it hadn’t been that long since I myself had learned their taste and aroma.
‘Fuck… That nearly gave me a heart attack.’
As I let out a mental sigh of relief, another staff member overseeing the students called out.
“New students who have submitted their luggage, please proceed to the auditorium.”
Following the instructions, I joined the growing crowd of freshmen and moved inside the palace. Once within, I saw suits of armor decorated with extravagant feathers—armor so ornate I doubted it could actually be worn into battle—standing guard along the grand corridors. Marble busts and numerous paintings further adorned the interior.
It felt like I had come on a backpacking trip through Europe.
‘Whew~ So this is how luxurious schools for the elite really are? Not that I would know—I’ve never attended one.’
While I quietly marveled, I reached the place the staff had called the auditorium. There, I saw people who had already taken their seats and were waiting for the new students. They were the professors responsible for the Academy’s various departments. A few faces were familiar.
They were the instructors for the swordsmanship and offensive magic classes I had favored in every playthrough. Among them was the beautiful swordsmanship professor Helena—the very one I had been debating whether or not to fuck earlier.
Beside the professors sat five male and female students who appeared to be our age, each occupying their seats with confidence. They wore matching white uniforms accented with gold buttons—Academy uniforms, if my memory served.
And I recognized her at a glance.
Among the five students, the one with the same silver hair as Arwen was none other than his half-sister and the second boss in the game’s intended order—Sophia.