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chapter 18
“Did you… see that?”
The moment his eyes met Kanis, Asphodel Luxelord flinched and shrank his neck in surprise.
“Wait, hold on. Why are you so startled?”
It was only Kanis Escliff, after all. He had once thought of becoming closer to her, but after seeing her behavior at the academy over the past four years, Asphodel kept his distance.
Still, she occasionally caught his attention.
“If she had grown up in our house, she wouldn’t have turned out like that.”
That was what he thought.
Kanis’s biological mother, the former Duchess Yuria, had been Luxelord’s second daughter, which made the two cousins.
In fact, Kanis’s current mother—the reigning Duchess Luxelord—had wanted to bring Kanis over. She had always lamented that her niece, who resembled her beloved younger sister, was made a laughingstock in the Escliff household.
After Yuria Luxelord died at the Escliff estate, the relationship between the two families had worsened so much that they could no longer meet. As a result, Asphodel had often heard these words as a child:
“If you happen to meet her at the academy, make sure to get along.”
Unfortunately, Asphodel could not fulfill her mother’s wish. Even though she had enrolled in the rare magic department at Luxelord, her status as a Luxelord princess made associating with a “dropout” akin to throwing herself into a whirlwind of rumors.
For a teenage girl, that was far too cruel.
The Luxelord Duke seemed to understand his daughter’s situation and rarely scolded her. Sometimes, he would simply gaze sadly at a photo of his younger sister.
That was why Asphodel couldn’t help but notice Kanis.
Asphodel stared intently at her book, sneaking glances at Kanis.
“What happened over the vacation?”
Had something changed in her mindset?
Just as her silent curiosity was reaching a peak, a stern-looking professor entered.
It was Vernua, in charge of the compulsory courses for second semester seniors.
A genius who had graduated top of the academy, he was known for being strict and stingy with grades. Hearing the rumors, Asphodel shifted slightly in her seat.
Bang! He slammed his pointer onto the desk with a sharp sound.
“I am Vernua, and I will be teaching you advanced magic techniques this semester. If you think you can tackle this subject casually, thinking only of the basic and intermediate spells you’ve learned before, you’re in for a harsh surprise.”
Sighs echoed around the classroom. The male student sitting in front of Asphodel even whispered to his friend.
Of course, Vernua did not pause his lecture.
“However, no one can avoid the difficult! Advanced magic techniques are the pinnacle of magic and the most essential knowledge, which you all should understand. Over the next half year, you will maintain discipline and graduate properly—”
His lecture abruptly halted as his gaze fell upon Kanis, who was dozing off with her chin resting on her hand.
Seeing this, Asphodel’s hand holding her pen trembled slightly.
“What… when did she fall asleep?”
If she wasn’t pretending, falling asleep that quickly was quite a feat.
Meanwhile, veins bulged on Vernua’s forehead. Despite how boring or difficult the subject might be, no student dared to openly sleep in his class, given his fierce expression and loud voice.
And that blue hair!
There were only two students in the academy with hair that color. The other one was sitting upright, so it was clear who she was.
Having already heard bad rumors about Kanis, Vernua could no longer contain himself and shouted:
“Hey, you there!”
Being foreign-born, he didn’t care much about the empire’s class hierarchy.
He intended to teach that even a duke’s daughter had to follow the academy rules. Bonus: he would assert his dominance.
“Can’t you hear me?!”
His angry voice should have startled her awake, but Kanis continued to sleep soundly.
The classroom murmured.
“Kanis Escliff!”
Finally, losing his patience, he swung his arm.
“Ah.”
“Are you ignoring me?”
A piece of chalk flew and hit Kanis on the head. Asphodel flinched.
Kanis, awoken from her deep sleep, glared at Vernua with eyes sharper than usual due to lingering drowsiness.
“Damn it. Why are all the men here so bad at throwing things?”
“…What is it?”
She slowly lifted her head, her sharp eyes giving off her usual troublesome vibe. Vernua, undeterred, stepped toward her.
Bang! He slammed his desk, echoing through the lecture hall. The other students whispered among themselves.
“Isn’t he supposed to be super strict?”
“They say if a student sleeps in his class, he’ll shake them awake until they snap out of it.”
“Right? He probably beats anyone he doesn’t like. Professors hate lazy, clueless students the most.”
The negative opinions stemmed from Kanis’s past behavior.
But Kanis paid little mind. It wasn’t directed at her, and she had confidence that she could soon overturn these assumptions.
What mattered now wasn’t managing public opinion, but handling this annoying situation.
Seeing Kanis’s rebellious attitude, Vernua gritted his teeth. He asked a question she could never approve:
“Since you’re acting arrogant and slacking off on the first day, I assume you’re confident in your skills?”
“Ah… well…”
‘If this were the old Kanis…’
“I’d be the best, of course.”
“What?”
The professor was dumbfounded at her bold response.
‘Why is she so confident?’
Internally unsettled, he soon concluded she must be bluffing.
Of course. Everyone at the academy knew Kanis, a terrible student with barely any magic power and no effort, constantly ranking last.
He scoffed.
“Now you’re lying too? Even a foolish student who never studies wouldn’t get away with that. Why bother lying when you’ll be exposed immediately?”
“?”
Unlike others who had to calculate complex formulas to use magic, a naturally talented individual like Kanis could do anything with just a flick of a skill. Her face held a questioning look.
But Vernua misinterpreted it and, with a mischievous grin, presented a sheet of paper in front of her.
It contained problems far beyond a fourth-year academy level, meant to intimidate students.
“Can you solve even one of these? Or at least read them?”
Even an average student would struggle to read the symbols, runes, and formulas they’d never seen before.
Kanis quietly glanced at the paper.
Seeing this, Vernua thought she was speechless and pressed on aggressively.
“Ha! So you can’t do it, huh? You can’t even solve these basic problems. What have you been learning for the past four years?”
Then.
Kanis, fed up with the nonsense, flicked her index finger.
Vernua froze mid-reach, paralyzed as if struck.
“What… what’s happening?”
“Maybe the duke behind her suddenly looks scary?”
The students whispered, confused, but Vernua knew for certain.
He wasn’t moving.
He couldn’t move.
Cold sweat ran down his face as he remained frozen, unable to even close his gaping mouth.
What the hell…?
‘Could it… be magic from the princess?’
The thought flashed, but he immediately rejected it.
“No, impossible. Even if it’s magic, paralyzing someone like this is impossible unless it’s the tower master.”
It wasn’t a paralysis spell but temporary immobilization caused by manipulating bioelectric currents, something Vernua had no way of knowing.
He had heard of Kanis Escliff.
A hopelessly inferior student with no magic power and no effort, yet somehow in her fourth year. A troublemaker involved in countless incidents.
Normally, she should have been expelled long ago. In fact, she shouldn’t even have been admitted to the magic department.
Her continued presence was entirely due to the academy head’s deference to the Escliff Duke.
Thus, it was more plausible that some other genius unknown to him was at work, rather than Kanis casting immobilization magic.
But.
“Number 1 is ln7. Number 2, cscα=4π. Number 3, 17. Number 4, 0.8185. Number 5, the sum of t-values is 6…”
As Kanis continued, Vernua’s eyes widened.
