The Morning Scandal and the Hunter's Cold Gaze
Unaware that my father had calmly neutralized the duke's killing intent back home, I spent the entire night wide awake, terrified that assassins from the Astrea Ducal Residence might burst through the window at any moment. Huddled in the corner of my bed, shivering uncontrollably, I watched as the faint light of dawn gradually seeped in through the window.
"Haa... I'm exhausted. Feels like my lifespan just got shaved off."
Unable to sleep a wink, I dragged my stiff body out of the dorm room as soon as day broke. Rubbing the dark circles that had sunk down to my jawline, I trudged heavily down the dormitory hallway toward the lounge.
It happened just as I turned a corner in the hallway, eyes half-closed. I collided head-on—thud—with someone staggering along, precariously balancing a stack of documents as tall as me.
"Kyaaak!"
"Oof!"
With screams, hundreds of sheets of parchment fluttered into the air like cherry blossoms. Spotting the person behind the pile reeling backward, I unleashed my decade-long teacher's reflexes and thrust out my hand. The plan was to wrap an arm around their waist, absorb the impact, and cushion the fall so they wouldn't get hurt.
But the waist in my grasp was far too voluptuous for a student's, and the heady, mature fragrance that wafted over was intoxicating. Splat! A dull thud echoed as my back hit the floor, and the scattered parchments rained down on us like snow.
Rubbing the back of my head, I opened my eyes. And in the next instant, my breath caught in my throat.
"Mm... Evans Viscount? Are you alright?"
The woman in my arms was none other than Margaret, the dorm supervisor whose curvaceous figure always drew the stares of the male students. The problem was our position. As we fell, half my face had buried itself in her ample bosom, and our legs—tangled in a mutual attempt to protect each other—were intertwined without a single gap, slick and intimate.
To anyone watching, it looked like a man and woman in the middle of the hallway, early in the morning, locked in a passionate lovers' embrace—a perfect 19+ misunderstanding pose.
...Shit.
As I paled and scrambled to get up, a gasp echoed from the end of the hallway.
"Gasp...!"
Turning my head, I saw Elarra von Sterling—god knows how long she'd been there—standing with her mouth agape, staring at us. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and soon her quill was flying across her notepad at breakneck speed, sparks practically flying.
No! That crazy gossip hyena again...!
I shoved the supervisor aside and reached out desperately, but Elarra, face alight with the thrill of a "scoop of the century," vanished down the hallway without a backward glance.
I collapsed to the floor, staring blankly into space. Elarra's pen tip—far deadlier than any assassin's greatsword—was hurtling straight for my throat.
Evans Baron's Insatiable Lust!
Does the Ruler of the Night Seek to Dominate Every Woman in the Academy?
Before I could even grasp the severity of the situation, as I entered the cafeteria for breakfast, a stiff sheet of paper dropped onto my table.
Haa... that crazy bitch. I pressed my temples against the pounding headache.
But the real disaster was right beside me. Reina, who had sat down to eat with me, was staring fixedly at the article.
Ah. I'm dead.
The air around Reina didn't just warp—it unleashed a horrific gravitational field unlike anything before, crushing down on the entire cafeteria like a tidal wave.
Crack... Boom! Crunch!
The marble floor sank in and spiderwebbed with cracks. Not just my soup plate in front of me—even the hefty oak tables uprooted and floated into the air.
"Kyaaah!"
"S-save us!!"
The students plunged into full panic. Deafening roars and clumps of flesh scrambling under tables filled the cafeteria with chaos.
"...That woman."
Even amid the building-crashing din, Reina's beastly growl pierced my ears clearly.
"I'm gonna rip her apart."
Every piece of furniture and hundreds of dishes in the cafeteria vibrated, poised for indiscriminate bombardment from the air. An unprecedented berserk rage from a jealousy-blinded beast. If I didn't stop her now, the supervisor turning into mincemeat would be the least of it—the entire cafeteria's flesh lumps would be crushed flat.
"Reina!! Wait! Stop!!"
I hurled myself forward, dodging razor-sharp forks slicing through the air, and desperately grabbed her cheeks with both hands, forcing her rage-filled eyes to lock onto mine.
"Listen! It's a misunderstanding! That article's full of crap!"
"...Liar."
"No!! We just bumped into each other and fell! And think about it logically!"
The collapsing building's rumble and students' screams drowned out my voice. My brain, overloaded with extreme fear and fatigue, utterly failed at crafting a mature excuse.
I just spat out my raw, unfiltered heart to the one girl whose eyes were locked on mine, hoping my words would reach her.
"Why would I look at another woman when I have you-!!"
My desperate, blatant shout. But it was thoroughly buried by the surrounding destruction and the panicked screams.
The only one who heard that embarrassing line clearly was the single person whose cheeks I held, eyes meeting mine.
In that instant, silence.
Reina's destructive magic halted like a lie. With her cheeks in my hands, she blinked her purple eyes wide, lips slightly parted.
"......Huh?"
As she let out a dazed sound and blinked twice, the crushing pressure over the cafeteria vanished like mist.
Crash!! Boom!! Shatter!!
Hundreds of floating plates and tables plummeted to the floor, shattering into pieces. Amid the ear-splitting explosions, I belatedly realized the insane line I'd just spouted.
...Crazy. Did I just say some third-rate romance hero bullshit?
Heat rushed to my face, ears burning red to the tips. Reina, cheeks still in my grasp, flushed crimson over her stunned expression.
The cafeteria lay in bombed-out ruins, students huddled under tables, pale and trembling. To those who hadn't heard my confession amid the roar, we must have looked like a terrifying 'mastermind' who subdued the beast through some incomprehensible horror.
Yet at the eye of the storm, the two of us stood with flushed faces, awkwardly averting our eyes—a ridiculous contrast.
"Ahem! Uh, anyway... misunderstanding. Let's eat."
"...Yeah."
I yanked my hands away, cleared my throat awkwardly, and plopped into a half-smashed chair. Relief at saving the supervisor's life and the cafeteria's peace washed over me, mingled with soul-crushing shame that made me want to crawl into a hole.
Leaving the half-wrecked cafeteria behind, the moment we stepped into the academy grounds, I felt the atmosphere on the way to class was completely different. Elarra's scandalous extra edition was already in every student's hands.
They parted like the Red Sea, but their gazes toward me weren't awe—they were blatant disgust and contempt.
Ptoo. Filthier than a beast.
Someone spat at my feet where I passed, pointedly. Others shoulder-checked me openly, and whispers treating me like vermin stabbed like daggers from all sides.
"That trash dares cheat on Her Highness?"
"Toying with the supervisor using his power—dirty lecher."
"If the duke finds out, he'll tear that scum limb from limb and hang him in the square. Poor Her Highness."
The noble brats' mocking glares choked me. I swallowed a deep sigh.
Haa, yeah. Curse all you want. Compared to the shit I took from pissed-off parents grabbing my collar for ten years, that's cute.
With adult coping skills, I steeled my face like iron and marched forward silently. But Reina walking beside me was off.
"......"
Tensing that the floor might crack again, I stole a glance at her. Weird. The air wasn't heavy, no building-crashing booms. Nothing like her earlier jealousy-fueled mana rampage.
She just walked quietly beside me. But peering into her purple eyes, a chill raced up my spine—I gulped.
Her eyes held not a shred of emotion. An eerily calm, empty gaze like the eye of a storm. Not the eyes of an angry woman, but a hunter's cold ruthlessness.
That utter stillness, without a leak of mana, felt several times more dangerous than any hateful glare.
It was when we reached the hallway in front of Classroom 1-1 for first-years. As if waiting, the source of all this hate—the culprit—boldly blocked my path with her notepad in hand.
"Baron Evans! As editor-in-chief of Academy Today, I demand an explanation for your ugly truth!"
Elarra von Sterling. She glared up at me, chin high like a judge of justice.
Inside, I was screaming profanities like Is this third-rate tabloid hack insane? But I held back, forcing my lips into a smile. She was the heir to the Sterling Merchant Guild, a proper countess's daughter. A lowly border baron like me couldn't casually drop informal speech on her.
"Lady Sterling. Thank you for your early morning reporting efforts, but that article is complete misinformation. Would you kindly step aside?"
Polite and courteous as possible. Of course, internally: Get out of the way, you nutcase. Can't you see the look in the girl's eyes next to me?
"Misinformation?! I witnessed that vulgar, filthy act with my own two eyes! How dare you make excuses...!"
As Elarra raised her voice and stepped closer— the instant her foot entered my one-meter radius.
Swish. Without warning, Reina softly raised her right hand.
My decade-teacher senses screamed. Experience breaking up countless classroom fights—my instincts caught the subtle shoulder twitch right before a punch.
...She's gonna strike!
No time to think. I lunged reflexively, slapping her right arm upward roughly.
Sching!!
No mana wave, no explosive boom. Just a single, eerie tear through vacuum silence.
A compressed silver aura shot silently from Reina's fingertips, grazing Elarra's swaying hair ends. And sliced horizontally across the thick wall behind her.
"......"
Silence. Elarra gaped, slowly turning to the severed marble wall above her head.
Thud. Her notepad hit the floor. Her eyes rolled back white, and she collapsed face-first without a scream. Fainted.
"H-heek!"
"Did... did Her Highness just attack?"
The noble students nearby paled. Even their top-tier senses hadn't caught Reina's move.
"Impossible. No killing intent, not even a mana precursor."
"No one sensed the slash!"
"But... Baron Evans blocked it!"
"He read Her Highness's unseen slash and deflected its trajectory?!"
Fully grasping the scene, the noble brats blanched and retreated like waves. The disgust and mockery toward me flipped to awe and terror.
Normally, I'd scold Reina loudly for what she did, but I clutched my pounding heart, frozen in place.
...Crazy. If not for me, that lady's head would've really flown.
I slowly turned to Reina. She tilted her head innocently, as if wondering why I ruined her perfect hunt.
For the first time, I truly began to fear this yandere beast on whose leash I held the end.