Episode 60
“It’s ridiculous. The average score was 40.”
Elonia looked around the classroom.
Even Dianne, who had been so cheerful and bubbly just moments ago, looked dejected after the mention of the entrance exam.
“The only one who achieved a satisfactory score was Elonia.”
‘Why are you dragging me into this?’
Elonia, suddenly put on the spot, was flustered.
Caroline, true to her reputation as an eccentric, didn’t let her off the hook.
“Elonia, you got a perfect score on the entrance exam, didn’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“How did you study?”
“…I just read the textbooks thoroughly.”
“Exactly. The exam questions were designed to be solvable by anyone who read the assigned materials. But your scores suggest that most of you didn’t even bother to read them.”
If Caroline had been criticizing adults, people who were responsible for their own actions, Elonia wouldn’t have cared.
But she was berating children.
Thirteen-year-old children.
Elonia, unable to contain herself, stood up and protested,
“Professor, I object. Is it appropriate for a professor to belittle the students’ efforts like that?”
The freshmen, surprised by her defiance, started whispering amongst themselves.
Caroline stared at her intently.
Elonia met her gaze, refusing to back down.
But instead of reprimanding her, Caroline grinned.
“You’re right.”
Huh?
Elonia frowned, surprised by her unexpected response.
Caroline chuckled mischievously, like a teenage girl, and continued,
“What do you think is the foundation of magic? Is it reciting formulas perfectly? Or honing your mana?”
The students remained silent.
Most of them looked like they couldn’t imagine anything else.
Caroline shook her head sternly.
“No, it’s none of those things. The foundation of magic is defying the laws of nature.”
The classroom fell silent, but Caroline, pacing around the lectern, continued her passionate speech.
“Even to light a small fire, a human needs materials and effort. But with magic, we can create fire even without any physical fuel, using only formulas and the mana within us, two invisible forces. We, as mages, constantly defy the laws of nature. And that means defying God.”
The freshmen were all from Ravanta.
Even those who weren’t particularly religious were shocked by her words.
“Question everything, even my words as your professor. Challenge and refute anything you don’t understand. And question God. That is the essence of being a mage, the mindset you must cultivate.”
Elonia, along with the other students, was stunned.
Questioning a professor was unheard of, let alone questioning God.
To them, professors were figures of authority, to be respected and obeyed, not questioned.
Caroline grinned, continuing her lecture.
“The entrance exam questions were designed to be solved only by those who questioned everything. Most of you received low scores because you blindly followed the standard methods.”
“…”
“That’s all you need to remember in my class. Challenge me, refute me, question me. The more you do, the more enjoyable teaching becomes for me.”
Her grey eyes, sharp and piercing, were fixed on Elonia, like a hawk eyeing its prey.
“Elonia was the only one who challenged my words today. I hope to see more of you standing up and questioning me in the next class. That concludes today’s lecture.”
Caroline left the classroom, leaving behind a trail of confusion and bewilderment.
The rumors about her being the academy’s biggest eccentric might have been an understatement, the students thought.
She was probably the most eccentric mage in existence.
***
“Professor Caroline’s reputation was bad, but I didn’t know she was this crazy!”
Elonia stared at Dianne, who was ranting in front of her, completely baffled.
Dianne, sensing her lack of reaction, urged her on.
“Don’t you agree? She’s treating us like idiots.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“See? You think so too! What does she even think of us?”
Elonia listened to her complaints, taking a bite of her omelet.
She had ended up having lunch with Dianne and had been offering occasional agreements to her rants.
After finishing their meal, Dianne asked,
“I have a Theology elective next. What about you, Elonia?”
“I have ‘The Definition of Nobility.'”
“An Academic Department class. That’s a shame, we don’t have any overlapping classes.”
Dianne pouted, her eyebrows drooping.
She looked adorable, but Elonia felt drained after just a few hours of conversation.
It wasn’t that she disliked Dianne.
It was just that her social skills weren’t quite up to par with Dianne’s chattiness.
She was actually relieved that they were parting ways for now.
Elonia left Dianne and headed towards the Academic Department building.
She had some time before her next class, so she decided to kill time on a relatively empty bench.
‘It’ll be awkward if I go to the classroom too early.’
She might even run into Llewellyn here. If she was bored, she could always grab him and chat.
Now that she was away from the palace, even Llewellyn, who was usually annoying and mischievous, seemed like someone she would be happy to see.
‘This spot is nice. Quiet and peaceful.’
Elonia smiled, swinging her feet back and forth, enjoying the fresh air.
But her peace was short-lived.
“Your Highness, please refrain from drawing attention to yourself.”
It was Lucius’s voice.
Elonia, assuming a crowd had gathered, quickly got up to leave, but then she froze.
She spotted the familiar red-embroidered uniform in the distance and her eyes widened.
They hadn’t noticed her yet and were arguing in raised voices.
“Why should I? I’m three years older than those brats. It would be ridiculous if I was less intelligent than them. If they didn’t want me to stand out among those kids, they should have sent me to Ravanta when I turned thirteen.”
“Don’t be unreasonable. Originally, only Prince Simon—”
“Shut up!”
It was Olivia and Lucius.
Elonia, having missed her chance to escape, crouched behind the bench, hiding.
She remembered the warnings she had received, telling her to stay away from the Heilan hostages. And the situation seemed tense, making her hesitate to intervene.
Lucius, trying to calm Olivia down, maintained a composed demeanor.
“Your anger is justified, Your Highness. But that’s from a Ravanta perspective. You are the Princess of Heilan. So—”
“Ha, look at him, trying to lecture me. Do you really think we’ll ever return to Heilan? We’ll never go back. Only a fool would try to live here as a Heilan citizen!”
Elonia was shocked.
The Olivia she knew was a spoiled princess, but she was also adorable and harmless.
But the girl in front of her, her voice filled with bitterness and anger, was a stranger.
Lucius sighed, his expression troubled, and changed the subject.
“Yes, you’re right about that. But at least stop taking your anger out on Prince Simon. There’s no need to show the Ravanta people that the Heilan princess and prince don’t get along—”
“Why? Because it makes you uncomfortable?”
“…Yes. If you need to vent your anger, please do it to me, in private. That’s another task Felix assigned to me.”
“Ha, take my anger out on you? As if you could handle it.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Olivia scoffed at his submissive attitude, but Lucius’s expression remained unreadable.
That seemed to anger her even more.
Elonia, her heart pounding, watched anxiously.
Her premonition proved to be accurate. Olivia raised her hand.
‘No!’
Elonia instinctively started to run towards them.
But the warnings she had received echoed in her mind, stopping her in her tracks.
“If you understand the situation, I suggest you stay away from our hostages.”
“As the sole heir to the Ravanta throne, it’s best to ignore them.”
“They have nothing to do with you. It’s weird, El.”
Did she have the right to interfere?
Elonia knew the answer.
‘I don’t deserve to.’
Whether as Elonia Ainar Ravanta or Chelon Heilan, she had no right to interfere in their lives.
Slap!
Olivia’s hand connected with Lucius’s cheek before Elonia could even react.
Lucius’s head snapped to the side.
It must have hurt, but he endured it silently, without a single whimper.
“Does that satisfy your anger?”
He asked, his voice calm and composed, as if he hadn’t just been slapped. Olivia frowned.
“No, not at all.”
“Then hit me until you’re satisfied.”
“…You’re annoying.”
Olivia turned and left, her long coat billowing behind her.
When she was out of sight, Lucius turned to Elonia, his gaze piercing.
“I had no idea eavesdropping on hostages was one of your hobbies, Your Highness.”
“…!”
Elonia was startled.
She had concealed her presence, so how had he known?
Since he had already caught her, there was no point in hiding. She stepped out from behind the bench.
“How did you know?”
“Holy Power and mana are opposing forces. And I’m particularly sensitive to mana.”
But that only applied if his Holy Power was stronger than her mana.
‘I might be weaker than I was in my prime, but he can still sense my mana?’
Elonia realized just how potent Lucius’s Holy Power was.
Her gaze fell on his injury.
‘There’s blood on his lips…’
She hadn’t noticed it from afar, but his lips were split, not just his cheek.
Fortunately, his lips were naturally red, so the injury wasn’t very noticeable unless you looked closely.
‘Olivia, you have a strong hand.’
Elonia was both impressed and troubled by her sister’s violent outburst.
She broke the silence, asking,
“…Doesn’t it hurt?”
“It’s none of your concern, Your Highness.”
Lucius replied calmly, wiping the blood from his lips with a handkerchief.
How could it not be her concern? Elonia felt a wave of guilt.
It was her sister who had hit him.
She knew she shouldn’t get involved with the Heilan hostages.
But her heart wouldn’t listen.
Elonia instinctively took a step towards him, and Lucius, taking a step back, drew a clear line.
He couldn’t understand why she was looking at him with such a pained expression.
“I see my previous warning had some effect. You did well not to interfere. It seems the Asta young masters have also given you adequate advice.”
Lucius spoke dryly.
He reminded her of Chelon, the Chelon from her past life.
The Chelon who had endured physical punishment from those who were older and more powerful than her.
Initially, she had cried and protested, but over time, her emotions had dulled, and she had learned to endure it silently, just like Lucius.
Perhaps, no, definitely,
This wasn’t the first time Lucius had been physically abused.
He had said it himself.
‘If you need to vent your anger, please do it to me, in private. That’s another task Felix assigned to me…’
And it was Dolce who had been sent to the academy with him.
Could it be…
“…Did Prince Dolce hit you before?”