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Chapter 03
“…She’s already stopped breathing.”
The physician on duty at Orod Academy shook his head.
Accidents were common during festival season—but he hadn’t expected a corpse to be brought in.
“Severe head trauma and hemoptysis. The exact cause of death will require investigation. For now, we should inform—”
“Examine her again. What do you mean she’s dead?”
The doctor shot an annoyed look at the male student who had cut him off—Atio.
He was about to rebuke the boy for his rudeness when Atio spoke again.
“I’m telling you that’s impossible. Examine her again.”
“…This student is dead. Her heart has stopped.”
“No. Check again!”
“Ha. There will be no re-examination. I’ll notify the Headmaster and the guard, and that will be—!”
The doctor suddenly trailed off.
He had just noticed the name on the student’s badge.
Atio.
A member of the Grandium family—the founders of the academy and the foundation.
‘Damn it… of all people, a Grandium.’
Grumbling under his breath, the doctor examined Pale once more. She was a mess.
‘There’s no way she’s alive.’
Blood stained her mouth from coughing it up. Her hair was red from bleeding caused by head trauma.
No breath stirred beneath her nose. No pulse. No movement. Her skin was drained of all color.
‘She’s definitely dead.’
And yet, unlike before, the doctor couldn’t bring himself to say it so easily.
“Ha…”
He let out a long sigh.
Atio’s gaze, which had been fixed on the doctor, slowly turned to Pale’s bloodless face.
“Hey. Pale.”
He had tried to ignore how quickly her warmth was fading while he carried her here.
But the warmth in his arms had long since vanished.
It had been there.
Even so, despite her cold, rigid body, Atio leaned his head down toward her face as if refusing to accept it.
“Wake up. Why would you die?”
When their foreheads finally touched, hers was ice cold.
How did someone who used to move so freely—almost like flying through the air—end up like this?
“Get up, Pale. You said you were going to Orod Academy.”
You said you’d become Solia.
“You promised you’d dance with me.”
Her eyelashes didn’t even tremble.
“Pale.”
Atio could only stare blankly at the girl in his arms.
Darkness settled into his blue eyes.
“Pale!!! My daughter!!!!!”
The former Baron and Baroness of Poste clung desperately to the black coffin.
“My daughter! Bring my daughter back!!”
The timing of Pale’s death was unfortunate.
It was the season of the Empire’s largest festival. The death of a single commoner student failed to make much impact.
[Death by Falling]
That was the official announcement.
Pale, weakened by illness, had accidentally fallen from a terrace railing.
Atio found it strange.
Yes, Pale had been ill. But he had seen her stubbornly practicing despite it.
“My body might be like this, but first place in the graduation exam is still mine. Don’t let your guard down.”
A girl who said that wouldn’t have gone to the terrace alone.
Wouldn’t have approached the railing carelessly.
She wouldn’t have put herself in danger.
“I will now announce first place for this year’s Hice Academy graduation exam.”
Even after Pale’s death, the exam proceeded as if nothing had happened.
To be honest, Atio barely remembered how it unfolded.
“And first place goes to Atio Grandium!”
He had taken first place.
Second place was Ebony Bleang.
Ebony—who had called herself Pale’s friend—seemed strangely unaffected by Pale’s death.
“Congratulations. So you ended up first.”
She was smiling brightly.
As if nothing weighed on her heart.
“You. Does it not bother you at all that your friend died?”
“What?”
“Pale.”
For a split second, Ebony frowned at the mention of Pale’s name.
Then she sighed softly and fiddled with her earlobe.
“Please don’t mention Pale’s name. It’s painful for me too.”
She looked sorrowful.
Atio didn’t believe her. He couldn’t.
He had seen the way she looked at Pale—with disgust and contempt.
“Ha—”
He merely stared at her in disbelief at the blatant acting.
But Ebony seemed to misinterpret his gaze. Her cheeks flushed pink.
“Anyway, congratulations. Let’s both work hard at Orod Academy.”
She extended her right hand.
Atio did not take it.
“You’re going to Orod Academy?”
“Of course. I’ll enter Latyula and become Solia. My dream is to ascend to the Hall of Sol.”
Like you.
Ebony gazed at Atio—beautiful and brilliant—with greedy eyes.
Once they entered Orod together, surely Atio would join Latyula as well.
‘The genius of the century will obviously become Solio.’
And the one standing beside him would be her.
Not that lowly commoner, Pale.
‘She didn’t even know her place, chatting with Atio like that.’
Fox-like bitch.
Who did she think she was aiming for?
A man like this—
Naturally, I should be the one beside him.
Ebony smiled.
When news reached Duke Grandium that Atio had taken first place, he was overjoyed.
“What do you mean you won’t become Solio?!”
But his joy didn’t last long.
“I told you. I’m not interested.”
“How long do you plan to disappoint me?!”
“I graduated top of the High Academy like you wanted. You said after that, you’d respect my choices. Grandfather.”
“…You insolent brat!”
The Duke’s anger had a reason.
He thought his grandson had finally come to his senses when he began studying and practicing seriously.
Now he believed Atio was wandering aimlessly again.
“You seemed to have regained your focus. Was that not true?”
“Well… I did regain some interest near the end. But it disappeared again.”
“What?!”
The Duke grabbed the back of his neck in frustration.
Atio Grandium loved art.
Once, his dancing had been extraordinary—equal to the depth of his love.
He had been called gifted since childhood.
“I will ascend to the Hall of Sol.”
The Hall of Sol.
A building within Orod Academy where portraits of past Solios and Solias were displayed.
Every academy student dreamed of seeing their own portrait hung there.
“I will hang my portrait there beside yours, Grandfather.”
It may have sounded arrogant, but no one mocked the young Atio.
His dancing was so beautiful it was called a gift from the gods.
And yet—
Atio changed again.
His interest in the academy, in the Hall of Sol, in dance itself—
Vanished like a snuffed candle.
The boy who once blushed with passion as he danced saw his fire wither.
“I don’t know. My heart just doesn’t race like it used to.”
Ever since Pale died.
“It’s just not fun anymore.”
The competition at Hice Academy had been unexpectedly fierce.
Competing for first place with Pale—
That presence had become larger than he realized.
He had practiced harder because of her.
Because he wanted to win.
“What? You’re not interested in Latyula or Solio?”
The Duke was deeply displeased after Atio graduated Hice.
“Yes. I just don’t want to.”
“You ungrateful brat!”
In the end, at the decisive moment when Solia and Solio were to be chosen—
Atio disappeared.
“Once you enter the academy, you’ll meet someone whose dance steals your gaze. Then you’ll dance again.”
His grandfather had said that before he left for Hice Academy.
He thought he had met that person.
But before the spark could fully ignite—
She was gone.
“Ha.”
Atio let out a hollow laugh.
Pale’s dance—always stealing his gaze—came to mind.
“Maybe I’m truly mistaken.”
Who else could give him that same fresh shock?
Until he met someone like that again—
He would remain like this.
Under pressure from his grandfather threatening to disown him, Atio eventually entered Orod Academy.
And spent his days in boredom.
Until he met Rose Bleang.
