Suspicion (1)
The student council conference room at Yolam Academy. Today’s meeting was supposed to be a simple introduction between the newly elected executive committee members. Yet the only thing circulating around the table where the officers sat facing one another was a thick, murderous tension.
“Sorry, but the first-year representative position was decided as Jin Yeseo a long time ago.”
The girl with round glasses and braided twin tails—Choi I-re—glared across the table with a ferocious expression. Her chin and neck were still tightly wrapped in a cast and bandages.
“That’s right. It’s far too late to change it now… hic.”
Cheon Ha-rin, a student council executive who had been nodding along with Choi I-re, suddenly gasped and choked on her words. From across the table, a pair of blazing red eyes was staring straight at her.
The new student council executive, Yeon Minha, leaned far back in her chair with her chin arrogantly raised, radiating an overwhelmingly high-handed attitude the entire time.
In that frozen atmosphere, a timid-looking male student wearing thin gold-rimmed glasses sat at the head of the table. He watched the arguing girls with an anxious face. A small wing-shaped badge on his uniform lapel glittered in gold. The nameplate on the wide desk in front of him bore the bold letters: Student Council President.
He was a rather legendary figure who had risen to the presidency purely through political maneuvering, despite coming from an unremarkable family and possessing only slightly above-average magical talent for Yolam. That was precisely why the current situation felt even more distressing to him.
Young ladies from illustrious noble families—people he would never have dared look at directly if this were anywhere outside Yolam—were now sitting across from each other, engaged in a vicious battle of nerves. Simply being near them was, even as an understatement, not good for his heart.
Originally, he had planned to gently refuse Yeon Minha’s application to the student council to prevent any conflict. However, yesterday… after witnessing a commotion through the slightly ajar door of the student council room, he had no choice but to change his mind.
The rumored freshman. The one who had hidden his identity to enroll at Yolam but was now being touted as the next heir to the Black Lotus in place of their reckless eldest son. He had clearly seen that masked male student personally looking after Yeon Minha.
The Red Fire family might be half-ruined, but if they had the Black Lotus backing them, the story changed completely. On top of that, subtle rumors of a romantic scandal had already begun to spread among those who witnessed the scene yesterday.
Considering that background, flatly rejecting her student council membership was far more likely to produce undesirable results. That was why he had used his authority to approve Yeon Minha’s joining…
‘Sigh…’
He let out a deep internal sigh. His stomach burned as if acid were rising. The stomach medicine he had taken before the meeting was clearly useless.
“Decided in advance, you say…”
Yeon Minha repeated Choi I-re’s words with a scoff, then turned her head toward the head of the table. Her signature sharp gaze flashed. Her voice carried a chill like frost.
“President. Was there ever such a rule? I don’t recall hearing about it once.”
“Y-yes?”
Startled by Yeon Minha’s sudden question, he faltered. Despite being the student council president who represented all his peers, for some reason he continued to speak in polite, formal language to everyone present.
“Ahem… Well, I’m not entirely sure myself… so perhaps we should check the regulations first and then apply a separate interpretation…”
“…Tsk.”
Apparently displeased by his vague answer, Yeon Minha openly clicked her tongue and scrunched her face. Her gaze returned to Choi I-re sitting across from her.
“Decided in advance? Sure, decided in advance is fine.”
She let out a derisive snort as if the whole thing was ridiculous.
“But if it’s already decided, shouldn’t the seat go to the Black Lotus rather than the White Light? Whether you look at ability or status.”
“…He didn’t even enroll under his real identity in the first place. On paper, he’s still just a regular recommended student…”
“Yeon Minha, I’m starting to get really annoyed. Stop playing word games and let’s wrap this up already. You’re busy too, aren’t you? From what I hear… you visit the hospital every day, right?”
“You—!”
“Ladies! Please, calm down…”
The moment Choi I-re flared up at Yeon Minha’s provocation, the president frantically waved his arms to stop them.
“This is still an official student council meeting… It would be better if you set aside personal feelings while we engage in substantive discussion for the development of Yolam…”
He desperately searched for a way to end this uncomfortable gathering quickly. Soon, his eyes turned toward the seat beside Choi I-re.
There sat a female student with long black hair, sitting in a modest and graceful posture. The overwhelming talent born from the Heavenly Baek family. The most likely candidate to succeed Hae Wolhwa as the next strongest mage. A girl for whom any superlative would be fitting.
Baek Seoyeon.
She, too, had been newly elected as a student council officer alongside Yeon Minha, yet for some reason she had not said a single word throughout the meeting except for her greeting. It was slightly suspicious, but right now there were more urgent matters to resolve than questions.
With a desperate tone, he tried to draw an opinion from her.
“Um… what does Lady Baek Seoyeon think?”
“You… mean me…?”
Baek Seoyeon answered weakly when called upon.
“…”
After a brief pause, an answer no one could have predicted came from her lips.
“…Well. I think… it would be fine if the Black Lotus side joined as well.”
“Pardon?”
“Seoyeon?”
Choi I-re and Cheon Ha-rin, who were sitting on the same side as her, whipped their heads toward her in shock.
“…Baek Seoyeon. What exactly are you trying to do…”
Yeon Minha glared at her with a completely bewildered expression. But all she could see were eerily emotionless, hollow eyes.
Yeon Minha felt a strange sense of unease. Baek Seoyeon, who always wore a bright, smiling face that made it impossible to read her true thoughts—that detestable mask. Yet right now, the face looking back at her openly revealed deep, sticky hostility.
Though she found it a bit strange today, Yeon Minha did not avert her gaze and met it head-on. Intellectually, she fully understood her father’s sins. The cold way he had treated her still remained a raw wound. However, the image of Baek Seoyeon who had turned the Red Fire territory into a complete mess and then slaughtered her father right before her eyes was still vivid.
If anyone had the right to hold a grudge, it was her.
“A-ahaha! The process must be fair—that’s what you mean, right? As expected of the Heavenly Baek family’s young lady, such dignity…!”
The student council president, who had been sweating profusely trying to decipher the hidden meaning, burst into exaggerated laughter.
“Then how about this? This is Yolam. If there’s a problem, shouldn’t we solve it in Yolam’s way?”
“Yolam’s way…”
At Choi I-re’s question, the president nodded.
“Naturally, a duel.”
“What kind of nonsense is that, President? There’s clearly no talent in the first year who can surpass her.”
Yeon Minha glared at him with an icy expression. Her aura was so sharp it seemed she might stab him to death.
“Ahaha… Lady Yeon Minha. Still, every matter has its proper procedures…”
The president desperately tried to navigate the awkward situation. He couldn’t openly take one side anyway. If he could end things neutrally while only receiving such hostile glares, that would actually be getting off cheap.
“…Hah.”
Though she wore an openly dissatisfied expression, Yeon Minha did not raise any further objections. Setting personal feelings aside, the president’s suggestion was actually the correct approach. It was an unprecedented situation where members of the Five Families had joined mid-semester. Moreover, if Jin Yeseo’s pre-selection was forced, the reverse naturally held true as well.
Choi I-re and Cheon Ha-rin on the opposing side also looked troubled. Since both the president and Yeon Minha had taken this stance, persisting any further might make the situation even stranger.
“…”
When both sides expressed silent agreement, the president finally looked relieved and let out a good-natured laugh.
“Haha! As expected of the children of noble families—such wise decisions. Then shall we conclude this matter here? We’ll discuss the detailed duel schedule later…”
The president, eager to escape the uncomfortable room, hastily wrapped up the meeting, gathered his documents, and scurried out of the conference room.
Yeon Minha, having finished her business, also left without looking back. The other students exchanged greetings and departed one by one, but the black-haired girl remained seated in her place.
In the now-empty conference room, she stared at the seat where someone had just been sitting and murmured.
“Yeon Minha…”
“…Therefore, in conclusion, all particle array devices can be seen as operating based on the logical structure we just discussed. Organizing the formula once more… Oh my, is it already time?”
When the bell rang through the amplifier, the elegant-looking female professor who had been continuing her lecture lifted her head.
“Then we’ll end today’s lecture here… Does anyone have questions?”
The moment she finished speaking, someone in the row in front of me raised their hand high and stood up.
“Professor. The Falling Star Day festival is coming up soon—will that day be a holiday?”
“This kid… I told you to ask questions about the class…!”
The professor made a stern face for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and kindly answered the student’s question.
“We don’t have anything like a Falling Star Day festival at Yolam. Of course, regular classes will be held that day as usual.”
“Aw, Professor…!”
“That’s too much…!”
“Enough! Students should be thinking about studying!”
At the complaints erupting from all directions, the professor finally glared and raised her voice.
“If anyone brings up the Falling Star Day festival again, it’s demerits for everyone!”
“So what exactly is the Falling Star Day festival?”
After Particle Amplification Structural Studies ended, I asked Yena, who was walking beside me. Our classes overlapped, so we were heading to the next lecture hall together. Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since I’d had a relaxed conversation with her. Ever since returning from the Red Fire territory, I had been constantly busy handling chores and dealing with people…
“It’s literally an event to commemorate Falling Star Day.”
“Why would they commemorate something like that? In history class they definitely said the chaos caused by the meteor shower was enormous. The Ten Burning Days happened because of the aftermath of Falling Star Day, and our ancestors were destroyed in that war too…”
“The Bessel particles that came with the meteorite spread and began the history of magic… so they commemorate that, I guess…”
Yena trailed off and suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“They say there are parades and all kinds of performances in the capital… but it’s on a weekday so we can’t even go see them… It’s such a shame… right…?”
Her face clearly showed how disappointed she was.
“Um… Hyun-ah… actually…”
“What?”
“You… um… like candy… hic.”
Yena, who had been hesitating for some reason, was about to speak again when she suddenly looked straight ahead. Her face turned deathly pale in an instant. Wondering what was wrong, I turned my head and saw a now very familiar and friendly female student standing at the end of the stairs.
Yeon Minha was looking this way with a pouty expression, clearly displeased about something. To be precise, she was looking at me.