The pale light of dawn receded, and the faint golden rays of morning poured through the curtains.
Yustia opened her eyes drowsily and slowly raised herself up.
“My lady, you’re awake.”
Yurika, who had approached before she knew it, greeted her softly as she deftly straightened the bedsheets.
The morning sunlight settled over her neat maid uniform as if shattering into fragments.
“Yes. You woke me right on time.”
Yustia answered in a languid voice and stretched.
Yurika familiarly prepared Yustia’s academy uniform and began to brush her hair with delicate care.
Her hair, flowing smoothly along the comb’s teeth, caught the morning sun and gave off a radiant gleam.
“But, my lady, last night…”
Yurika’s hand, which had been tending to her hair, paused for a moment before she cautiously spoke.
There was a trace of unease in her voice.
“Yesterday, while I was returning home with Mr. Taesan, we met an academy senior in the park. A third-year senior named… Ive, I think.”
Yurika told her everything that had happened in the park the night before—the battle with the new student, the strange wound Ive had left on Taesan’s wrist, and the matter of the antidote.
As Yustia listened, her eyes sank coldly.
By the time Yurika finished brushing her hair, Yustia’s face reflected in the mirror still retained its usual elegance, but her chilly gaze had been honed to a sharp edge.
“What? How ill-mannered. Touching someone else’s summoned beast without its master present is truly lacking in manners.”
Yustia took a small leather notebook from the drawer and asked,
“What did you say her name was?”
“Ive. She said she was a third-year.”
Yurika answered, trying hard to hide her anxiety.
“Ive… Ive… Ah, here she is.”
Yustia fixed her gaze on one page of the notebook and smiled.
“A student who handles insect spirits. And… a member of Imperial.”
“What? That person was with Imperial too?”
Yurika’s eyes widened roundly in surprise.
“It seems so.”
Yustia answered indifferently and closed the notebook.
The dull sound of it snapping shut pressed heavily down on the air in the room.
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know that, and I…”
“It isn’t something you need to apologize for.”
As Yurika lowered her head, at a loss for what to do, Yustia lightly waved her hand and cut off her words.
Her gaze was directed toward the morning sunlight outside the window, but her eyes had frozen over like frost in the depths of winter.
“However, that arrogance of taking advantage of the master’s absence to lay hands on someone else’s summoned beast…”
Her voice lowered like a dense shadow.
“I’ll have to make sure she pays the price.”
Her steps as she left the dormitory room carried an elegance laced with a cold dignity.
“Where is Mr. Taesan?”
“He was exercising until late last night, so he should still be asleep now.”
At Yurika’s cautious answer, Yustia’s eyes sharpened.
She lightly stroked her chin and murmured,
“Starting today, we’ll have to go together even during class. I’ll go on ahead, so bring him to the lecture room as quickly as possible.”
“Yes!”
***
A cautious knock pierced my ears.
“Mr. Taesan, are you awake?”
At Yurika’s urgent voice, I forced my heavy eyelids open.
When I sat up, fatigue pressed down on my entire body like a weight.
I opened the door to find Yurika standing there, her face flushed with agitation.
“What is it?”
When I asked in a hoarse voice, she poured out her words without even taking a moment to catch her breath.
“Did you know? That senior we saw on the way back yesterday! The young lady checked her notebook, and apparently she’s affiliated with Imperial.”
“What?”
At her words, my sleep vanished in an instant.
“The young lady said that from today on, you should accompany her even when attending class, and told me to bring you to the lecture room as quickly as possible.”
Yurika’s expression was thick with anxiety at the realization that what had happened last night had not been a simple coincidence.
I brushed my fingers over the faint scar that remained.
“Does it hurt?”
“No.”
Yurika looked from one of my wrists to the other and asked worriedly.
I did not finish speaking and clicked my tongue quietly.
“It seems they’re holding a deep grudge because the young lady didn’t join Imperial.”
Yurika murmured with a deep sigh.
Her voice was steeped in exhaustion and unease.
“Maybe so.”
I answered briefly and walked to the wardrobe.
“Let’s go.”
Yurika and I hurried out of the dormitory and entered the walking path leading to the academy.
Over the road, where a thin mist had settled, only the rustle of fallen leaves beneath our feet could be heard.
Yurika kept looking around, unable to hide her anxiousness.
“Hello? Did you get back all right yesterday?”
Just then, a familiar voice came through the mist.
I stopped walking and turned my head to see Ive standing there with a leisurely smile.
Yurika reflexively stepped in front of me and guarded against her with a sharp gaze.
“Oh my… Looks like you found out I belong to Imperial? But don’t be so wary. I really was sorry about yesterday.”
Ive shrugged and watched Yurika’s reaction as if she found it amusing.
“What business do you have?”
“It’s nothing much. You’re on your way to Yustia Rosenheart, aren’t you? I thought I’d go with you.”
“Why are you trying to go to Yustia?”
“Hmm… Well. To be honest, I’m more interested in you than in Rosenheart, but you’re only a summoned beast, aren’t you? I’ll have to talk to her.”
At the casual answer that flowed from Ive’s lips, Yurika’s shoulders flinched.
It was the moment we once again confirmed that what had happened in the park last night had not been simple curiosity.
The way she had observed me, the traces of alien mana that had flowed across my skin.
All of it had been a persistent investigation aimed at my very existence.
“Oh my, what a scary expression. Do you think I’m going to eat you?”
Ive giggled, her eyes curving in a smile.
I gently moved Yurika behind me and looked straight into Ive’s red eyes.
“I’ll show you the way.”
“Oh? More obedient than I expected. Good, lead on.”
Ive lightly nodded, still wearing that cheerful smile.
The sound of her footsteps began to follow closely behind me.
“Imperial seems like quite a large club. Why are you so obsessed with Yustia?”
At my question, Ive drew close to my side with a graceful gait and opened her mouth.
“Who knows? I may belong to Imperial, but I don’t have any particular interest in Princess Rosenheart. It’s just…”
Her eyes lingered slowly over my face, as if crawling across it.
“Because you beat Lucian down in one blow, he ended up unable to enter Imperial. So I was just curious what kind of people blocked my cute junior’s path.”
“Lucian?”
When I asked back, Ive exaggeratedly shrugged.
“Yes. He was a cute junior I was looking after, in my own way. He handled poison too… He had his uses.”
There was a languid interest mixed into her voice.
Her gaze held a light resentment and sticky curiosity, like a child whose amusing toy had been taken away.
“What does Lucian have to do with me…”
“Who knows? The others looked down on him quite a bit, but Lucian was stronger than you’d think. He had talent.”
Ive slowed her steps and narrowed her eyes.
“A basilisk atop field magic has extremely high defensive power, and its aggressively skewed stats had aspects that even Imperial seniors would find troublesome. His skill at handling deadly poison was fairly useful too.”
Her languid voice continued, drawing close beside me as it took on an alien chill.
“But you beat that basilisk to death, I hear? In one blow, no less. So… I became curious about you.”
Ive’s eyes burrowed persistently into my face.
I recalled the moment yesterday when I had smashed the basilisk’s crown down into the sandy ground.
That sticky curiosity, wanting to confirm the very bottom of my existence.
Ive turned her head first.
“It’s over there, right? Where the special class takes lessons… Who was the professor again?”
“Professor Raven.”
Yurika answered cautiously, taking one step back.
“Ah, that professor.”
A light snicker slipped from between Ive’s lips.
“I find him a little eerie and scary. And he’s incredibly strong. The rumors were everywhere. They said he really never goes easy on anyone until the very end, and if you don’t reach a certain level, he won’t give you a badge. Back when we were freshmen, there were probably more than twenty students who couldn’t make it to the Grand Final because of Professor Raven. That’s why the rumors about him aren’t very good.”
“I see.”
“Keep it in mind. Later on, you’ll have to face him yourself.”
Ive turned her head, met my gaze, and warned me with cold eyes from which all playfulness had vanished.
Before I could even think about what she meant, her steps came to a stop.
Ive naturally fixed her gaze on her own wrist and murmured lightly,
“Now.”
No sooner had her whisper ended than the heavy bell announcing the end of class rang out through the academy building.
“Wow…”
An exclamation burst from between Yurika’s lips.
Following her gaze, I saw a single door maintaining an especially heavy silence amid the students pouring out through the open doors.
“Phew… Look at that. Students are starting to come out of the other lecture rooms, but only that one’s door is still firmly shut. That must be it.”