Chapter 55
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: She Thought This Was the Best Way
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Tail headed straight back to his classroom.
The corridors were quiet since classes had ended.
When he returned to grab his things, Yujin and Alice were standing in front of the classroom.
Judging by their anxious expressions, they had been waiting for quite a while.
Yujin's face lit up the moment he spotted Tail.
"Tail!"
Yujin rushed over in an instant.
Alice followed behind, scanning Tail from head to toe.
"No injuries, I see."
Tail let out a small chuckle at her words.
"Of course not."
Though a lot had happened, of course.
Tail trailed off, his eyes meeting Yujin's worried gaze.
Yujin's look seemed to say, Are you okay???
He had probably heard the story from Alice.
Tail gave a faint smile.
Alice picked up on their exchanged glances and spoke up.
"Looks like you two have things to discuss. Now that Tail's back, I'll head out."
With that, Alice left without so much as a goodbye.
Once Alice was completely gone,
Yujin looked at Tail and asked,
"So! Did Chloe call for you?"
Tail chuckled again at Yujin's words.
"Yeah."
"And? What did she say?"
Tail fell silent for a moment before speaking.
"She told me... to leave the academy."
"Suddenly?!"
Yujin's voice echoed loudly through the quiet corridor.
"No way! What did you even do wrong? Is she crazy?"
Yujin clearly looked furious.
"There must be a reason."
Yujin pouted at Tail's calm response.
"What reason?!"
Yujin seemed thoroughly pissed off.
"She hasn't even sent a single letter all this time..."
Yujin let out a deep sigh.
Then he followed Tail into the classroom as Tail started packing his bag.
"Sigh. If that's how it's gonna be, she should've at least sent a letter. Or had a proper talk."
Tail smiled faintly at Yujin's words.
"Well, the beginning's always the hardest. Plus, in a world with such rigid class distinctions, a commoner achieving something is bound to irk the nobles."
Yujin sighed heavily.
"I don't get it. Honestly, I'm pissed at Chloe."
Tail chuckled at Yujin's declaration.
He could understand Yujin's reaction.
Truth be told, Tail was pretty upset himself.
As he packed his notebook, Tail said casually,
"Still, she looked kind of sad about it."
Sad.
That word made Yujin grimace.
"No! Why's she sad?! No matter how you justify it!"
While Tail packed his last items, Yujin kept ranting.
"And then what? Just 'Please leave the academy' with no explanation?"
"Hey, someone might hear you."
Even with Tail's warning, Yujin didn't stop.
"No one's around anyway. Seriously, both of them are too much. Cecilia for egging on the duel, and Chloe too."
He hadn't been this mad when he heard about Cecilia inciting the duel yesterday...
As Tail slung his bag over his shoulder, Yujin's grumbling continued.
"And besides, if she was gonna call you, why wait until everything blew up? Why act like she never knew you from the start?"
"No choice. In the public eye, 'top-scoring commoner enrollee' is more famous than my actual name."
Yujin grimaced at Tail's words.
"No. She could've just used your name. Why do nobles always call you that crap?"
"Probably don't want a lowly name dirtying their ears."
Yujin snorted at Tail's reply.
"Thanks anyway."
Yujin pursed his lips and shot back,
"For what?"
"For cussing her out on my behalf."
The two shared another silly chuckle.
The next day.
It was a drowsy afternoon.
A gentle breeze was blowing, the perfect weather to make you nod off.
And on top of that.
The current class was Introduction to Magic Theory.
While teaching complex incantations, the students' eyelids grew heavier.
Even those with mana rarely became mages.
First-years only learned theory; only second-years who majored in it could actually cast spells.
Scritch, scritch.
Professor Maria Sissere of Introduction to Magic Theory was currently teaching an incredibly complex incantation.
"Now, from here... what should we do?"
She turned around, only to find half the class already succumbing to sleep.
A vein bulged on Maria's forehead.
"Everyone?"
She placed her hands delicately on the podium and continued.
"Mages are a rare breed, few in number."
She pushed up her slipping glasses.
"More than half of you will become knights instead. So you're probably thinking, 'Why do I need to learn mage incantations?'"
Well, fair point.
Tail nodded.
He didn't know why he had to take this class himself—imagine how the others felt.
Maria's words continued slowly.
"However, precisely because there are so few, the moment one manifests, they're treated as valuable assets and assigned to critical duties."
An unnatural smile crept onto Maria's lips.
"In other words, if we rise to important positions in the imperial court, we'll encounter mages in wars or key battles at any moment."
Ethan nodded in agreement, scribbling notes.
"So we need to understand mages well to counter them effectively."
At that moment, Maria slowly picked up a piece of chalk.
"Therefore..."
Mana swirled around her body.
"Wake up, you lazy bastards!"
Maria hurled the chalk at the student slumped over the most.
Shwooooom-!
The chalk flew at a speed impossible to track with the naked eye.
And right before it hit the student's head.
Woooong-!
With a short resonance, the chalk stopped dead in front of the student.
The student slowly sat up, silver hair parting to reveal hazy, obsidian-black eyes.
"What. Yawn."
She glanced at the chalk hovering before her.
At the same time.
Crackle-!
The chalk, reinforced and protected by magic, shattered harmlessly.
Maria's expression hardened.
Was there a student who could control magic this precisely?
Besides, the speed she threw it at wasn't something a first-year could stop.
'Was she even sleeping in the first place?'
Maria was bewildered.
Meanwhile, the girl who had opened her eyes scanned the now-staring class, her gaze locking with Tail's.
She smiled brightly.
Tail blinked.
Did she just smile at me?
Alice let out a hollow laugh, apparently noticing too.
"You know Ennis as well?"
"Ennis?"
"Ah, well, you've been busy. That's her name. The youngest of the Prill family, I think."
Ennis Prill...
'First time hearing it.'
But she felt vaguely familiar somehow.
'Wasn't it just from that cafe?'
More precisely, her aura felt too familiar.
Like something he'd felt a ton before.
As he puzzled over it, Alice said coolly,
"Tail seems popular with girls."
"...Me?"
"Not?"
The only girl left was Alice herself.
He couldn't guess her intent.
Seeing Tail's confusion, Alice sighed.
"Whatever. Forget it if you don't get it."
Something felt oddly uncomfortable.
At that moment, in the student council room.
Chloe stared blankly at the papers before her.
Mint-haired bob-cut Justin Oel, a student council member beside her, looked at her worriedly.
"President? You okay?"
"Ah. Huh? Oh. Yeah."
She definitely didn't look okay.
Seeing Chloe's utterly drained expression, Justin stood up.
"I'll make some warm tea."
Chloe replied dazedly to his offer.
"Ah. Yeah, thanks."
Once Justin left, Chloe alone buried her face in her hands.
"Haa."
Whether her eyes were closed,
or open,
yesterday's events replayed vividly in her mind.
"Haa."
Chloe let out a deep sigh.
Tail's hurt expression kept flashing before her eyes, making it impossible to work.
She knew it herself.
She should have explained the full situation to him.
Starting from why she said those things,
that she'd been waiting only for him, that she'd become emperor for his sake, and that she'd even rewrite imperial law if he wanted.
And begged him to wait.
She'd wanted to say all that.
But she couldn't at the time.
Because student council members were watching from beyond the rooftop door.
She could only deliver the message briefly.
Of course, she knew it would hurt him.
But she couldn't afford to act any sweeter.
Not when she didn't know when or how her brother—the heir to the throne—might be watching.
She believed this was the best way.
She couldn't lose him to her brother, not yet.
First, get him out of this dangerously infiltrated academy, away from her brother's lackeys.
Then later, visit the monastery and beg forgiveness.
But everything had gone wrong.
"Still, I thought if it were you two, you'd have some reason not to receive my letters, some reason not to forget me. I really believed that. But I guess I was wrong."
Tail had been hurt more than she thought.
"I have no intention of leaving the academy."
And he had no plans to leave the academy.
'What do I do.'
If things stayed like this, she'd only earn his resentment and gain nothing.
Just lose everything.
Chloe bit her thumbnail lightly.
'How can I...'
Get Tail out of the academy without hurting him?
She whispered softly to herself.
"Tail..."
No matter how many times she looked,
his beloved face appeared before her.
Chloe reached out, but then Tail—heart pierced—collapsed.
She jolted up, and the vision shattered.
Chloe wore a look of despair.
"This can't go on."
She needed to come up with a plan.
She couldn't lose him like this.
'First, get Tail to safety. Then figure out the rest.'
Her blue eyes flashed.
And from the cracked-open door, Justin—holding tea—peeked at Chloe's expression.