The Ice Goddess
"I didn't see it myself, but… that's what the rumor says!"
"Right, a *rumor*. Haha!"
Aidan let out a loud laugh at the air. But it was pure theatrics — there wasn't a shred of amusement in his eyes.
"Hey, you! Chubby cheeks!"
Suddenly Aidan pointed at someone in the crowd.
"Wh-what?!"
The boy who'd been singled out flushed red, flustered by all the sudden attention. He was the very first one who'd spread the story that Bayul's mother had run away.
"The word going around is that a few nights ago, you wet the bed in your sleep. True or false?"
"Wh-what the—! Who's saying that?! It's not true!"
"I'm not the only one who heard it, you know? Plenty of people did. No?"
Aidan glanced around, and several students nodded along. Just as the boy's already crimson face began to deepen into an even darker shade, Aidan switched targets.
"And you there, beanpole!"
"M-me… what!"
"There's a rumor you confessed to Lanasa and got shot down. Is that true?"
At Aidan's bombshell, the boy known as Beanpole went ghost-white. It wasn't embarrassment that gripped him — it was fear.
Sure enough, glances heavy with jealousy began to converge on him.
"You confessed to *Lanasa*?"
"Barton, of all people?"
"Holy crap, is he insane? Who does he think he is, flirting with a girl way out of his league?"
"Ignorance is courage, they say. Honestly, impressive."
The students started whispering among themselves once more. But every one of their glances was drifting toward the same spot — and when Bayul followed them, his gaze trembled ever so slightly.
*That girl…*
A girl with luxurious golden hair and mysterious violet eyes. It was the very same girl he'd met on the train.
"Lanasa del Bostridge. First-year, Knight Faculty. A prodigy famous throughout the academy for her stunning looks and her monstrous swordsmanship. They even call her the Ice Goddess."
*Ice Goddess?*
It was hardly a fitting nickname for a girl of sixteen. And yet, remembering the look in her eyes on the train, Bayul could understand it. Even for just an instant, he had felt a killing intent from her.
She was the same even now.
Amid all the snickering around her, she sat alone with her back perfectly straight, gazing out the window — as if she existed in some other world entirely.
*She doesn't have even the smallest interest in me, does she.*
Interest? She didn't so much as spare him a glance. Bayul couldn't decide whether to be grateful or hurt by that.
"Shall I keep going? Hm?"
At Aidan's sharp, pressing question, not a single student dared to answer. The new term had barely started two months ago, and Aidan's hot temper was already legendary. Nobody wanted to get tangled up with him — that much was plain on every face.
"You know what's truly pathetic? Making fun of someone's weaknesses. And the absolute worst of the lot are the ones who spread rumors about things they can't even confirm are real."
Aidan's words flew like needles into the chests of several students. A few coughed awkwardly and turned away.
"This is a transfer student's very first day at the academy. Let's all try to play nice, shall we? Understood?"
No one answered, but Aidan seemed satisfied, rising to his feet. The severe air he'd carried moments ago vanished entirely as he strolled over to Bayul with a bright grin.
"Anyway — what a guy."
Eli gave Aidan a thumbs-up, then patted the seat in front of him, inviting Bayul to sit down.
"Whew. We meet again."
"…Yeah, we do."
He hadn't expected to share a class with Aidan. If he'd known, he would have cornered him and talked it out beforehand.
"I heard it at work. They said there was a transfer student, so I asked who, and up comes *your* name. And then they tell me you're the son of Duke Randert? I nearly fell over!"
"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but…"
"Forget it. You didn't have time. I get it, so don't worry about it."
"…Thank you."
"For what?"
Aidan twisted fully around in his seat to face him. Up close, the boy's face looked almost childlike — it was hard to believe the swagger from moments ago belonged to the same person.
"For everything today, that's all."
"That's what friends are for. You don't need to thank me for that."
"…Friends?"
"Yep, friends. Aren't we?"
Aidan tilted his head, looking back and forth between Bayul and Eli. While Bayul hesitated, Eli answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Of course. Why wouldn't we be? Aidan, you're the first person I decided to acknowledge after enrolling here. A thoroughly charming human being. And Bayul, you're the second."
"I'm second…?"
"I liked your first impression."
Bayul and Eli had first met at Six Tables — a place where all they'd done was order food. When Bayul stared at him in confusion, Eli flashed an enigmatic smile, as if he knew something Bayul didn't.
*Creeeak.*
Just then the lecture hall door swung open, and a heavyset man walked in. He had a bushy beard and strikingly sharp, bulging eyes.
"Kal Barnes. He teaches the Ga Kingdom language."
Aidan snapped upright, eyes forward, while Eli leaned in close to Bayul's ear and whispered.
*Heh.*
Whenever someone new appeared, Eli was always there with an explanation. Bayul found it both endearing and entertaining. Such diligence, such warmth as a guide — he was beginning to understand why Professor Rothius had entrusted him to Eli in the first place.
*Tap tap!*
"There's a transfer student, isn't there? Is it you?"
Professor Barnes slammed his pointer down and looked straight at Bayul. Bayul rose from his seat and gave a polite bow.
"Bayul Romanov von Randert, correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"And my class is your very first class at the academy, is it?"
"That's right."
"Oh-ho."
Bayul had no idea why that was such a big deal, but the corner of the professor's mouth twitched with delight, sending his luxuriant beard rippling along with it.
"In that case, I can hardly let it pass."
*Tap!*
"Bayul, my boy — would you introduce yourself?"
Commanded the professor, rapping the lectern with his pointer once more. There was one difference from before: he was no longer speaking the Empire's common tongue. He was speaking the language of Ga. Which meant, naturally, that Bayul was expected to answer in Ga as well.
Caught off guard, Bayul faltered — while the students' eyes lit up with interest. Some looked on as if to say, *he's the Duke's son, surely Ga is child's play for him.* Others wore unmistakable smirks: *how much Ga could a weakling like you possibly know?*
Cold sweat ran down his spine. He hadn't expected things to be smooth sailing, but he hadn't imagined hitting a wall in the very first class.
Can I really do this?
If anything, the future worried him more than the present.
"Ah — good morning, everyone. I am Bayul Romanov von Randert, transferring into the first year of the Administration Faculty."
Digging up the Ga he'd learned alongside Bail, Bayul opened his mouth in fits and starts.
"It's… nice to meet you all…."
"That's it?"
"Ah — no, sir."
If he ended it here, he'd be a laughingstock for the entire term. Bayul shook his head quickly and pressed on.
"I am sixteen years old, and I have no particular talents. I've simply loved reading ever since I was small. As for my aspirations… I know I fall far short, but I intend to work as hard as I can to become a man like my father."
"You want to become a man like your father?"
Professor Barnes's eyes curved with surprise — and no wonder. Duke Randert was not a man one could become through effort alone.
Even so, Bayul had brought up his father because he refused to let his frailty show. Here at the academy, if nowhere else, he wanted to live as someone else.
He wanted to cast off his true, weak-willed self and live the way Bail had — like his brother, who had always shone as brilliantly as sunlight.
"Yes, sir. I strive every day to follow his example."
Professor Barnes pointed his pointer at Bayul, as if to say, *go on.*
"My closest friend to this day has been my guard dog, Jasper. Whatever I did, he was always at my side — but coming here, I had no choice but to leave him behind."
"Ah, how unfortunate."
"But I have no regrets. Because today, I've already made two friends — and I'll make many more."
There was no need to say who those two friends were. Eli gazed up at Bayul with a soft, fond look.
"And lastly, one more thing. I would like to correct a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?"
"Yes. I've been told that my mother did not run away — she passed away giving birth to me and my brother. She is someone who has already gone to her rest, and I ask that you stop speaking of her so carelessly."
*Have I always had this kind of backbone in me?*
Even as he said it, Bayul felt dazed. But strangely enough, just knowing Aidan and Eli were beside him filled him with courage.
It was true that he was stricken with a wretched illness, and true that his brother had drowned. But when it came to his mother, the rumors were not true. He knew it for certain, because he had heard it from his father's own lips.
He had never known her except through a portrait, but the mother his father had treasured so dearly deserved no slander — and that much, he would never stand by and watch.
With a resolve he had never shown before, Bayul laid the rumor to rest.
"What's this I'm hearing?"
Professor Barnes widened his already enormous eyes and swept his gaze across the students.
"This boy is on his first day at the academy. It should take everything you have just to help him feel welcome — and instead you gossip about his late mother? You disgraceful lot!"
The professor's pointer hammered against the lectern, blow after blow.
"Moreover, Bayul's late mother was the wife of Duke Randert himself! And who is the Duke? The man who ended the Ten-Year War and raised our Empire to be the conqueror of the continent — indisputably the Empire's greatest hero! And you dare shame the beloved of such a man? Have you all lost your minds?!"
"I-It's quite all right, sir!"
Of everyone startled by the professor's roar, none flinched harder than Bayul himself. All he'd wanted was to correct a misunderstanding — not to cause *this*.
"No. I shall discipline you all so severely that something like this never happens again!"
As he guided Bayul back into his seat, Professor Barnes spoke with stern gravity.
"This is not special treatment because you are the Duke's son. Understand me, Bayul — if you cause trouble, you will be dealt with like anyone else, without exception. *However!* When it comes to the Duke himself, that is another matter entirely."
Every time the Duke's name came up, the professor's voice thickened with fervor. Judging by that, he was unmistakably one of his father's worshippers.
"Phew."
Bayul couldn't help the sigh that escaped him — it was entirely beyond his control.
"What's wrong with you? You said you couldn't speak Ga."
"…Huh?"
Eli had dodged Professor Barnes's gaze, muttering under his breath. When Bayul blinked at him in confusion, Eli gave him a playful jab in the side.
"You said you'd only learned a *little*. Isn't that modesty going a bit too far?"
"Modesty? What do you…?"
"The Ga language. You're always saying you can barely manage it, so how are you this fluent? Honestly, you sounded like a native. You really shouldn't lie, you know."
*What on earth is he talking about? Me, good at Ga?*
The thought had never once crossed his mind, so to Bayul it was utterly absurd.
"Bayul, you're incredible! When did you even learn Ga?"
Up front, Professor Barnes was still mid-lecture. Sneaking a look past his torrent of words, Aidan twisted around and winked at him.
And that wasn't all. Reading the mood, Bayul could feel glances from all around the room reassessing him. For someone whose only point of comparison had ever been Bail, it was a strange and bewildering experience.
*Bail was far more fluent than I ever was.*
What if Bail had been sitting here today? He had surpassed Bayul in every possible way. And somehow, the fact that no one here knew of his brother's existence left a bitter taste in Bayul's mouth.
"I trust you've all understood me by now. Be vigilant — and vigilant again — so that nothing like today ever happens again!"
The endlessly long lecture from Professor Barnes finally came to an end. Bayul had worried that the students might resent him for dragging them into all this, but thankfully, no such feeling seemed to linger.
"Now then, let us begin today's lesson. Lanasa del Bostridge — will you read for us?"
At the professor's summons, Lanasa — who hadn't moved so much as a finger all class — stirred for the very first time. She rose quietly from her seat and began reading the Ga script on the blackboard in a calm, measured voice.
Fitting her title as the Ice Goddess, even her voice carried a chill. And yet her command of the language was every bit as effortless as Bayul's own.
*What happened on that train?*
She was nothing like the girl he'd seen then. He had no intention of telling anyone — but even if he did, he doubted anyone would believe him. It was simply beyond imagination.
*Lanasa del Bostridge.*
What secret was she hiding? Somehow, her tear-streaked face on the train overlapped with his own wounds, and Bayul found himself seized by an inexplicable curiosity.