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Chapter 05
Lady Rose Bleang would be entering Orod Academy next year.
The very day the Marquis gave his permission, the news spread through the Bleang estate as if it had grown wings.
“Is that really true, Rose?”
The first to come running was Ebony Bleang.
Dressed in a gown as red as her hair, Ebony looked like a crimson rose in full bloom.
“Yes. I barely managed to get permission.”
“I see… I guess…”
Ebony looked uncertain whether she should be happy about it.
She had naturally assumed that Rose, with her frail body, would never attend the Academy.
“You’re coming to the Academy… I’m not sure whether I should just be happy about that.”
Rose giggled at Ebony’s words.
Amused by the playful reaction, Ebony ruffled Rose’s pink hair.
“Did you want to attend the Academy I go to that badly?”
“Yes! I want to go with you!”
“Just get admitted. I’ll keep you by my side the whole time.”
Ebony’s casual physical affection made Rose feel like dying.
The familiar scent of her perfume and her distinct body scent triggered a reflexive revulsion.
“You said you’re Latyula’s Solia, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then that means you’re the most amazing person in Latyula right now?”
Ebony puffed up with pride.
Compliments from her younger sister felt extremely pleasant.
“Of course. So walk around confidently at the Academy.”
“Big Sister, but what happens if a new Solia appears?”
The unexpected question made Ebony’s fluent reply falter mid-sentence.
Who would dare ask something like that?
No one at the Academy would ever ask such a question. It would be extremely rude to ask the current Solia that.
“If a new Solia appears from the incoming students, what happens to you?”
There wasn’t a trace of malice in Rose’s innocent expression.
Ebony forced a smile and gently pinched Rose’s now slightly fuller cheek.
“Do you think your sister would get pushed aside by someone?”
“Oww.”
“That will never happen. I will graduate as Latyula’s Sol.”
Do you know how I earned this position?
“Then there wasn’t anyone better than you?”
For a moment, someone flashed through Ebony’s mind.
That impudent commoner who had always stood ahead of her.
Even if Pale had lived and come to Orod Academy, nothing would have changed.
Solia had always been her position.
After all, the Academy was a noble institution for aristocrats. Commoners shouldn’t even have been able to step inside.
“Pale, that lowly commoner…”
Ebony pictured Pale dancing, silver hair flowing beautifully—not the image of her falling from the terrace, but the one from the practice room.
From the closest seat, pretending to be a friend, she had watched Pale dance more than anyone.
Ebony’s dark green eyes slowly sank, and her expression changed.
“Big Sister?”
“Ah—?”
She snapped back at Rose’s voice.
“What’s wrong?”
Rose leaned in closer, concern in her tone. Those transparent light-green eyes sparkled as always.
“Ebony Sister.”
But for a moment, another pair of eyes overlapped with Rose’s—slightly darker, yet the same light green.
The foolish girl who had smiled, unaware she was being deceived.
“Pale.”
Ebony mouthed the name soundlessly.
Then she startled herself, clapping a hand over her mouth and trembling.
Had Rose seen?
But Rose only looked puzzled. She hadn’t read her lips.
“Rehabilitation takes a long time… There’s less than a month until next year. So you’ll enroll the year after next?”
Ebony deliberately changed the subject.
“No. Depending on the doctor’s approval, I’ll enroll next year right away.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll be of age to enter the Academy next year anyway. Even if I’m late, I plan to join mid-semester.”
The Marquis and Marchioness had suggested waiting another year.
But Rose had been firm.
“Miss must not be put under stress.”
Dr. Dalton’s warning had given Rose wings.
“I’ll be a first-year, and you’ll be a second-year. It’ll be so fun. I’m excited.”
Counting on her fingers, Rose smiled sweetly.
Then she added something that startled Ebony.
“This is actually a secret. I’m telling you first.”
“Really? What is it?”
Covering her mouth with both hands, Rose whispered in Ebony’s ear.
“You know…”
Ebony, you couldn’t defeat me with your own pure skill.
“So if I enter the Academy…”
That’s why you chose to kill me.
“Like you…”
You’ve forgotten the rightful way to become Solia.
You don’t deserve that position.
“I’m going to join Latyula.”
Rose beamed like a blooming pink tulip—bright and sweet.
But Ebony couldn’t smile.
“After hearing you, I want to become Solia too.”
How did those words sound to you, Ebony?
Like childish innocence?
Or like an obstacle in your path?
Silence filled the room.
Ebony broke it.
“Rose, I didn’t know you were thinking that.”
Sunlight emerged from behind the clouds, illuminating Ebony’s face.
She was smiling.
“Yes. Latyula’s Solia is a position every noblewoman dreams of.”
Kiss.
Ebony pressed a kiss to Rose’s forehead.
“To think I’ll be competing with my beloved little sister.”
If anyone else had said such a thing, it would have deserved endless humiliation.
But because it was naïve Rose, raised inside the estate and ignorant of the world, it felt cute.
“I’ll be cheering for you, Rose.”
Early education and innate talent.
Ebony had both. Rose had neither.
Their starting points were different.
If Rose were to become discouraged midway, how should she comfort her?
Ebony let the words go in one ear and out the other.
In the blink of an eye, three months passed.
Spring arrived, snow melted, and life sprouted anew. Ebony returned to the Academy, and Rose devoted herself to rehabilitation.
“It seems we did well to send her to the Academy.”
Her recovery, initially slow, began accelerating noticeably.
Though still physically weaker than others, Rose endured the intense treatment schedule through sheer stubbornness.
“At this level, there should be no major issue with attending the Academy.”
Dr. Dalton finally concluded.
At last.
The shackles that bound her wrists were broken.
“Well done, my daughter.”
The sickly, fragile Rose was gone.
Through diet control and exercise, her face now glowed with healthy vitality. The Marchioness wiped away tears.
“We’ve already spoken with Orod Academy. The entrance ceremony has passed, but since it’s still early in the term, mid-semester enrollment is allowed. You’ll leave in two days.”
“Really?!”
Rose bounced in place and threw herself into the Marquis’s arms.
“Are you that happy? Haha.”
“Of course!”
Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?
Burying her face in his clothing, Rose’s eyes turned cold.
Orod Academy.
It looked just as it had in her memories.
Before the golden geometric-patterned gates.
The shining marble floors, the lush green lawns.
The place she had longed for.
“Orod Academy.”
Similar to Hise Academy in the east, yet more luxurious.
Larger. More grand.
Step by step, she walked toward the towering building.
“I never thought I’d return like this.”
The Pale who had once been full of pure dreams and passion was gone.
The feeling was strange.
But not entirely bad.
“I’ve finally come.”
This is only the first step.
Dragging this battered body, she had finally reached the starting line toward destruction.
“It begins now.”
As the karma you all must bear.
