The Fake Romance at the Academy Festival
The opening of the Academy Exhibition was spectacular. After all, it was an event held at the Empire’s premier academy, so it had to be presented with full flair.
From booths showcasing each faculty’s unique symbols to the invited performance ensembles blasting fanfares without pause, the fair drew crowds of commoners and nobles alike, brimming with excitement.
Amid this anticipation, our club had also set up a proper booth. For the first time, the male lead trio finally had a chance to demonstrate their abilities and backgrounds, and they threw themselves into the preparations with genuine effort.
“Leave the job of bringing in guests to me and Brother Yoter! When we two team up, people will come on their own.”
“We’re calling this the ‘Face Madam Role,’ aren’t we, Rsen?”
“No way. I’m going to swing a sword around and draw everyone’s eyes.”
However, it still felt as though they were helping us. Why was the Literature Club advertising that they would be swinging swords for all they were worth? Couldn’t they simply take on the Face Madam role, as Ranihan had suggested?
Let’s just think about it normally.
In the Empire, the heir to a top-tier duke, a financial minister serving as a special consultant, a saint and several princes, the successor to a major tycoon, and the son of the Sword Emperor—there were simply too many important people. Who wouldn’t be interested? Most of the nobles who would show up would do so with some hidden agenda in mind. And our main strategy was precisely to capture these nobles.
While thinking this over, the male leads in the middle of booth preparations began to show genuine curiosity about this year’s entry.
“So, Kassel— what is the true identity of the ambitious work you prepared this time?”
“Oh, that one.”
I answered Serhan while giving him a calm look. His intelligent eyes gleamed with curiosity, as though he had already guessed something about the entry.
If a prince of the Magic Kingdom were to see this work, he would definitely fall backward in shock.
“Finally revealing it? Honestly, I’m very curious too.”
Interest from Javier soon followed. Since Ranihan and Rsen were both watching and waiting, it seemed the right moment to unveil the piece.
I pulled out a single book from my bag amid everyone’s expectant gazes. It was, quite literally, just a book. On the cover was written:
[Becoming a Mage Even Humanities Majors Don’t Have to Apologize For]
“What… is this?”
Serhan received the book and narrowed his eyes at the strange title, his forehead creasing along with it. He gave me a questioning look full of suspicion.
“What is this, Kassel?”
“What do you mean? It’s a book.”
“What kind of book?”
“A grimoire that even knights who know nothing about magic can use after memorizing just one sentence.”
More than a mere grimoire, it was a book that incorporated humanities-style magic understanding into the verses of a famous literary collection.
This would be my application of one of my little sister Ruina’s papers—‘Approaching the Four Elements through Philosophical Analysis.’
“You’re saying that simply by reading this book, anyone can cast magic? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Not everyone, but a few usable in daily life. High-tier magic is, of course, impossible.”
Serhan’s face twisted in disbelief at my words. Javier beside him looked the same, and Rsen and Ranihan both wore expressions of surprise.
They clearly didn’t believe it.
I calmly faced the two skeptical mages and pointed at Ranihan. If they doubted it, I could simply create a perfect teaching aid.
“Then let’s make it a bet. If Ranihan, who can’t even use magic properly, reads even one paragraph of this book and actually casts a spell, what then?”
“Ha! You’re assuming I’m the prince of the Magic Kingdom and still making this kind of proposal?”
“Of course.”
I started the bet with the assumption that the prince of the Knight Kingdom could learn magic by reading a grimoire once.
“What do I get if I win?”
“Anything. Within my capabilities. What do you want?”
“Let’s keep it simple— one wish.”
Just as I had done with the Cheat Key Trio, I invited Serhan into the game with a single wish as the stakes.
“Why are you gambling with me…?”
Of course, it wasn’t a bet Ranihan had suggested; it was mine alone. Yet since it would ultimately benefit him as well, I decided to push through anyway.
I had expected magic to involve difficult concepts, but there was nothing difficult about it. In truth, I simply had to read the content written on this year’s entry exactly as it was.
“Kassel, you really won’t lose. You’re smarter than Rsen, but you don’t have the head for magic.”
“Fine, stop complaining and just read it.”
“I won’t stand for it, honestly.”
“Why did you pick me to bet on?”
A brief moment of trouble arose when I challenged Rsen to a bet, but Ranihan obediently agreed and opened the grimoire.
The recommended section was on page 78, the part titled ‘Hymn of the Flame.’
Ranihan squinted and began to read the verse-like content from the literary collection slowly, savoring every word. The key was to understand the meaning by pausing and reflecting on each line.
“…The flame orb is ultimately fire. Fire expands, and expansion means destruction, destruction means removal. This is to burn away what is impure. Therefore, fire can be called purification.”
One by one.
Without haste, he followed the sentences born from the careful chaining of words and grasped their meaning.
It was possible.
“Holy protection. Protection is a gift bestowed by the gods. In ancient beliefs, fire was given to humanity by the gods out of compassion.”
Even a person with no talent for magic.
“Fire is a song of praise that speaks the will of the gods.”
With a little magic, I could use it.
After the recitation ended, silence fell. Rsen smiled arrogantly, while Javier sensed some anomaly with his fairy senses. Rsen simply looked bewildered.
Watching everyone’s reactions, I let the corners of my mouth curl up meaningfully.
Then.
—Flare.
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
“What…?”
A small flame orb bloomed in the air before Ranihan.
The game was over.
I offered congratulations to Ranihan, who looked dazed.
“Congratulations on becoming a mage in the shortest possible training period, Your Highness. How do you feel?”
The moment everyone’s shock was conveyed in silence.
Ranihan gave a short comment.
“This is insane.”
For a prince, that was a rather cheap reaction.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
After the first demonstration of the booth’s entries at the exhibition.
Inside the booth, noise continued for some time. The source of the noise was naturally Serhan and Javier. The two of them were reading the grimoire with genuine effort, denying reality itself.
“This… this is impossible! The magic doesn’t trigger like a scroll inside the paper—it activates the moment a specific phrase is read?! Based on literary magic manifestation? In theory that’s possible, but the world would never accept it as legitimate…?”
What exactly was magic manifestation?
It was the ability to operate the magic power flowing through one’s body and cast magical techniques. It also required the world’s proper recognition to activate.
Literary magic manifestation required connecting different senses and phrases and forming the Mudra of the Wisdom Fist, receiving permission from the world before using magic.
In contrast, mathematical magic manifestation used formulas, equations, and magic circles to prove magic to the world before using it.
These were the standard examples of magic manifestation.
Of course, there were those who did not fit here—synesthetic prodigies like Iris and the Ivory Tower Master.
They were geniuses and beneficiaries who connected completely different senses and inner images to manifest magic in entirely new ways. They received the world’s favor and used magic with total freedom.
That explained why Serhan and Javier looked so shocked. Even though it was only a small fraction, anyone who read and understood this grimoire could use magic. The barrier to entering the world of magic had been lowered in an instant.
Moreover, this would become a good textbook for synesthetic prodigies who manifested magic in completely different ways from others. This was all thanks to Iris’s growth build-up.
“Ah, who am I?”
“Who are you?”
“The fastest-trained mage—Ranihan. Hehe.”
“Snap out of it. If you become a mage, the Knight Kingdom will be pleased.”
I watched Ranihan and Rsen exchange pointless remarks and chuckled.
In the original timeline, the setting of ‘Synesthetic Textbook’ had been implemented so perfectly by Ruina.
In the game, the Ash Knight had used magic through a grimoire accidentally discovered there, but in reality it was applied in this way, making it astonishing.
‘He’s using it like a shortcut with full power.’
I understood why mages hated synesthetic prodigies. If you studied and worked that hard, what good would it do? There was a prince of the Knight Kingdom who could just cast a fireball with a tap.
This meant Serhan could burn Ranihan with a fireball without a second thought. It was exactly while the male leads were quietly playing with the booth that I was watching.
“Haha! Kassel is here! Have you prepared for your date properly?! Of course, we are perfect. Come look at the adorable and lovely Yuri President!”
“Ah, Iris, stop…”
The shrill voice cut straight through my ears.
When I turned my head, Iris stood there with her shoulders proudly back, and behind her, Yuri was peeking out, unable to hide her embarrassment.
‘Eh.’
The moment I saw Yuri, my body went rigid.
She was small in stature, full of timidness, yet so many things had changed.
Her light makeup was perfect, and the shoulder-length bob that had barely touched her shoulders had been turned into long hair thanks to the addition of a wig. It was definitely the Yuri I knew, but my mind kept pulling up another face from the depths of memory.
‘Senior Arin…?’
It was her sister’s younger sister. The face was so similar that it was astonishing—enough that I would have believed Arin had returned if she had.
Here, standing proudly with her shoulders back and speaking a little too loudly, she could easily be called a reincarnation of Senior Arin.
The moment of mixed joy and longing made me hesitate. I fidgeted my lips.
Right now, if I said this, I would become the bad guy, wouldn’t I?
But I couldn’t hide it any longer, so I had to speak. After a long moment of hesitation, I finally opened my mouth.
“I have something important to tell you all.”
In my serious voice, people around me began to pay attention one by one. They seemed to have guessed what I was thinking—probably that an event like this would happen between me and the dressed-up Yuri.
“Oh my, you’re crazy…”
Just by looking at Iris, it was obvious. Under her piercing gaze, I declared boldly.
“Right now, I am in a fake relationship.”
“…Oh!”
“It’s a fake romance.”
“…Huh??”
“By the way, the other person is the Student Council President.”
“Huh…?”
No one would have believed it.
Right now, I was in a fake romance. With Beatrice, the Student Council President.
So.
“I hope everyone helps me. I want this romance to end as quickly as possible.”
Please cooperate with me.
Really.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Meanwhile, a short distance from the Literature Club booth.
“Hmm. Yeah. A fake romance.”
Laura watched the male student and club members with eyes full of suspicion. With her combined use of stealth magic, clairvoyance, and eavesdropping magic, she could now be called a skilled stalker.
‘After thinking about it, it’s really suspicious.’
Ever since she had trailed Eugene through the underground waterway last time, Laura had decided to properly investigate him. It was surprising that she was now focusing her eyes on Kassel.
A student who had already received a big shock from her once.
From what she heard, he was Cross Marquis’s hidden son.
‘At least add some exaggeration.’
The Empire’s Marquis—actually, the hidden son of the family that gained the most benefit during the Night of the Blade? I had never heard of such a thing.
The heir of the Grace family, who had been on perfectly good terms with him, didn’t know about it either?
And the human claiming to be the hidden son’s sister was the club advisor?
On top of that, he was in a fake romance with one of the Four Great Ducal Heirs and had submitted an entry at the academy level that even a humanities student shouldn’t be able to produce.
There were rumors that Kassel had been invited to the academy specifically because of high nobles from various countries, yet a hidden son of the Marquis was in the Literature Club.
The scent of something suspicious was thick in the air.
Especially this year’s club entry. A humanities magic book. Anyone could see it had been based on Ruina’s thesis.
It was enough suspicion considering the first meeting with Ruina that had involved Kassel.
‘Eugene, that bastard. After dealing with Kassel, who was perfectly fine, he’s using that identity… no way?’
It was an absurd guess, yet it was plausible.
With his face like that, he could get away with it!
“Actually, this can’t be, Eugene. It really isn’t. Even thinking about my brother, it can’t be…!”
So before he tried any more reckless stunts, she would monitor and block him. She would correct the brother who was worrying about his sister in the wrong way.
This was the reason Laura had begun suspecting and tailing Kassel.
In a way, it was truly sharp intuition.