Ch. 105 - I Have a Lover (1)

Chapter 105: I Have a Lover (1)

Flame occasionally had such thoughts after turning in her 20s and facing society.

‘Ah, I want to go back to those days.’

Carefree days with friends, each day full of freedom during her school years.

Back then, she didn't know that she would really get to relive her school life. And that too, in a different world from Earth.

‘This is hell…’

There was a time in South Korea when all students had mandatory evening self-study, and Flame was a student of that generation.

Looking back now, the evening study time seemed like a truly happy time.

‘What's so hard about just sitting and studying? This damn practical training. It'd be fine not to do these practicals!’

Stella's schedule pushed humans to their limits, leaving no room for even a little rest.

Of course, her being in Class S and perhaps having signed up for too many courses could be reasons too.

After the Familiar Contract Ceremony, Flame was experiencing extreme challenges every day. Yet she couldn't help but think about the future. Many things had changed from the original novel's story.

Nevertheless, the core storyline continued to unfold.

Among them, one of the biggest events that would happen in the future was undoubtedly the ‘Dark Magic Corruption Incident’ in the Seventh Tower.

But even Flame didn’t know how that event would unfold.

Maizen Tyren, who was planning to occupy the Seventh Tower, died much earlier than expected.

‘But... the dark mages won't give up on it.’

The dark mages were causing continuous incidents in the magical society as if stating, “We’re still barbarians who only know how to rampage recklessly.”

However, behind humanity’s back, they were like serpents who were quietly sneaking into the magical society and cunningly proceeded with their plans to devour the magical society.

There was something in the Seventh Tower that compelled the ants out of their hideout.

In order to claim it, Maizen Tyren gave up her identity and occupied the place.

Although Maizen died earlier than planned, the dark mages wouldn’t give up the item.

They needed to prepare, but accessing the Seventh Tower was currently completely impossible.

It was not just a simple issue of the academy barring any access; the tower itself was treated as mere rumor or legend.

So even if someone were to shout, “There's going to be a dark mage attack on the Seventh Tower!,” no one would believe it and might even consider it an embellishment of the legend.

‘But that's something for a bit later…’

She had been having fun in practical magic training, but she was physically tired while her mind remained energetic.

Magical combat training.

She had no confidence in the training initially.

How often would she have to fight?

Surprisingly, she realized she had a talent for strategy and tactics.

While she was not able to brawl with her fists, she found it quite easy to read the psychological gaps in the opponent, anticipate their moves, and come up with even more advanced strategies.

"Cough! I surrender!"

After restraining one of the students from Class A with solid vines and summoning three light spheres, he surrendered.

Flame grinned, wiping off sweat. Though it wasn't exactly thrilling to fight against kids, winning still felt good.

Having easily secured victory, she glanced over at Baek Yu-Seol who was dueling another student from Class A in the corner.

Swoosh!

"Crazy."

The approaching wave of power encompassed the entire field.

If one didn't have a shield made of iron, one couldn't possibly block it, but he swung his sword to cut it in half.

‘Now he’s going to openly reveal his combat prowess?’

There was no reason to hide strength, especially since he hunted down Maizen alongside Ma Yu-Seong.

After all, what he was really hiding was not his ability but his knowledge of the future.

Thud!

Lost in thought, a loud crash caught Flame’s attention, and she looked toward it.

There, a giant golden spear was thrust into the field.

"Wow..."

"Crazy! What's that?"

The sound of admiration from the students erupted.

'Golden magic.'

A peerless magical art with both attack and defense capabilities, and a top-tier morale-boosting magic in the world.

In the original novel, it was Jeremy Skalven’s unique bloodline magic that received the evaluation of ‘the most expensive-looking magic.’

Since the magic would naturally disappear once the mana was depleted, it was impossible to detach the gold and sell it.

Nevertheless, due to its exquisite craftsmanship and luxurious appearance, it garnered an enormous fan base among the readers.

With the added characteristic of [Artist's Soul], Jeremy Skalven used to do decorative art and even adorned the golden magic with carvings and gemstones.

Casually and effortlessly, Jeremy defeated his opponent, brushed back his golden hair, and unexpectedly locked eyes with Flame.

Seizing the moment, he waved his hand with a glimmer in his eyes.

'Ugh!'

Jeremy's greeting was so genuinely innocent that if Flame hadn’t responded, she would have felt like trash.

Flame attempted to turn her head away, but he approached her first.

"Flame, are you done already?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving."

"Wait... Could you spare a bit more time?"

"No." Flame coldly brushed off Jeremy and quickly walked away.

She could hear his footsteps behind her, but conveniently, she met a professor who had come to the practice room at the perfect time.

"Oh, Flame. You're here."

"Yes? Did you need me?"

"Absolutely! Your thesis on 'The Effects of Light Magic on Plant Life' that you submitted for the recent written exam has become a huge topic in academia! To think that through photosynthesis, you can enhance the growth of plants. Even the elven mages want to meet you."

“Really?"

She remembered writing something along those lines hastily during the written exam.

"This is unprecedented! The '12 Rising Stars' rule hasn't changed for hundreds of years, but your amazing thesis might break that rule! If things go well, you could become the 13th rising star!"

The professor, more excited than ever, passionately explained to Flame. 

While she understood the conditions for the 12 Rising Stars to attend the Aslan Seminar, she had little interest in it.

However, at that moment, the thought of escaping from Jeremy prompted her to nod eagerly.

"Wow, this is exciting! Let's go, Professor!"

"Sure, you seem happy too! Haha, naturally!"

Flame glanced back slightly.

Jeremy was still looking her way with a gloomy expression on his face.

The Skalven Club was in disarray.

Jeremy, who had returned to the chief's private lounge, leaned back comfortably on his sofa, his expression cold and rigid.

With no one around, there was no need to strain his facial muscles artificially.

He stared at the bookshelf for a while and snapped his fingers.

Magic activated without a wand.

Zap!

A golden blade sprang out of the wall, slicing through the expensive, high-end bookshelf and tearing all the books apart.

Numerous books with a common theme.

[17 Ways to Win a Woman's Favor]

[Characteristics of an Attractive Person]

[Dr. Kim Pal-Gu's Love Theory]

Despite various attempts, he was futilely trying to explore different strategies.

‘Why are all these useless?’

He thought about it seriously, but he couldn't figure it out.

Since he used to effortlessly attract everyone's favor, it felt strange to encounter a situation in which he had to gain favor instead.

And gradually, irritation crept in.

'Hmm...'

Perhaps it would be better to find another way.

Flame had formed many connections within Stella, so she wasn't particularly lonely, and there were plenty of guys around, making it seem unnecessary to focus on just one person.

As much as he wanted to assertively confine her, he didn't want to recklessly ruin something precious like Flame.

‘Destroying something you want so badly would give an even greater thrill when it’s completely in your grasp.’

‘So then…’

‘What about creating a setting? A method to disperse the connections around her without completely ruining her. A way to make her inevitably focus on only me.’

‘Hmm, I have an idea.’

If there was a method, there was no need to hesitate.

Snap!

When Jeremy snapped his fingers, a student who had been waiting in the club room walked in.

It was Verazane, a second-year student who had been the head of the Skalven Club until the previous year.

“Yes, Young Master. Is there something you need?”

"Send in a first-year female student who has some interaction with Flame."

Although she was anxious about what schemes might be brewing in the young lord’s strange mind, Verazane followed his instructions without a word.

"Understood."

With a relaxed mind, Jeremy leaned back on the sofa.

He didn’t think of breaking her before he even had her. But if he couldn’t have her intact, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to damage her just a little.

At least, that was how he rationalized it.

Late in the evening.

Flame rubbed her tired eyes as she staggered back to the dormitory. The professor had eagerly shared the future plans for the rising stars. She thought about escaping a hundred times because it was so bothersome. “Damn, I thought I’d get some rest since classes were short today.”

When she returned to her room, her friends were gathered and playing together. Although she was in Class S, she lived with her friends, so seeing them playing together was a usual sight. 

“Gosh, it’s a zombie.”

"Flame! We heard it too. They say you might be chosen as a rising star, right?"

"Ughhh..."

Burying her face in the bed, she responded in a half-asleep, half-awake manner as they chatted excitedly amongst themselves.

‘Well, I still need to wash up...’

Letting out a sigh, Flame got up and took a quick shower.

She began to put on her pajamas when she noticed the expression of the girl sitting quietly next to her was rather unusual.

"Hey, Ramilka. Why do you look so serious?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah... Well..."

She was slightly flustered while touching the letter she was holding, confusion clearly showing on her face.

"This… I need to give it today... but the timing..."

"What is it? A love letter for your boyfriend?"

"I-I don't have a boyfriend! And it's… It's not a love letter either..."

"Is it a secret admirer? A potential romantic interest?"

"It's… It's something like that..."

"Oh… Things are getting interesting."

In the Aether World, where smartphones weren't prevalent, love letters were common everyday items.

Their contents were quite mundane as well, just casual conversations without any poetic verses, so to speak.

However, even in ordinary conversations, secretly exchanging letters added a touch of mystery to teenage romance.

"Just give it to him. It's not like anyone will say anything."

Romance wasn't forbidden in Stella. From the start, there were many noble youths coming to Stella to find marriage partners and even commoners were aiming for social advancement.

Although going into the opposite sex's dormitories was outwardly prohibited, it was implicitly allowed to a certain extent for the sake of interaction if it was related to a romantic relationship.

The noble youths' marriage business was something even Stella, with its unique atmosphere, couldn't entirely prevent.

"Well, it's, um, embarrassing..."

"How do you usually handle this?"

"I ask a different friend to do it for me..."

"Did the other person accept it?"

"Uh, yeah? They… They accepted." Ramilka was strangely flustered.

Flame chuckled darkly, chalking up the reaction to embarrassment.

No matter how tired she was, listening to such romantic stories could be considered a source of joy in life.

“So, you’re saying...”

Ramilka hesitated and looked towards Flame, who was lying flat on her own bed.

"Um, could you... maybe deliver this instead?"

"What? That's such a hassle."

"P-Please! It's a favor. If not you, then who?" Ramilka pleaded.

"Ask those guys.”

Flame pointed at the friends gathered on the dorm floor, munching on food.

When she gestured toward the group of friends crowded around food on the dorm floor, Ramilka shook her head.

"I've asked them too many times already, and I feel bad..."

"Ugh, fine, fine. I got it."

Although they weren’t particularly close, Flame felt a bit guilty about rejecting a young one's innocent request.

Since the boys' dormitory wasn't too far away from the central hall, she decided to quickly throw on a robe over her pajamas and get going.

[S-109X]

‘Hmm, what's this? Isn’t this the Class S dorm?’

She had thought of Ramilka as just an ordinary girl, but now she considered her to be quite capable as she knocked on the door of S-109.

"Who's there?"

Creak!

As the dormitory door opened, Jeremy’s full head of golden hair was revealed.

"Hey Flame,” he said with a grin, greeting her as if it were obvious.

Flame looked at the letter and then at Jeremy with a bewildered expression.

‘Crazy. Her secret crush was Jeremy?’

Well, Jeremy was practically an idol to the girls, so it made sense.

Given his personality, he probably received letters like this all the time.

"What's that? A letter for me?" Jeremy asked as he tried to step outside.

Anticipating his annoying behavior instinctively, she swiftly handed over the letter and turned away.

"No. My friend told me to give it to you. I'm leaving."

It was annoying to get involved for no reason.

'Sigh, I'm stuck with extra classes.' With that thought, she quickly turned on her heel and headed back to the dormitory.

"Hmm..." Jeremy looked at the letter handed to him by Flame and smiled strangely.

Things were going according to plan from the first day, and his mood improved.

It was a shame she left before he could say anything, but it was still fine.

This should be enough evidence.

He quietly stepped out of the dormitory and said loudly, "It's okay for you to come out now."

“Yes, sure."

A male student who had been hiding behind a potted plant came out, handing Jeremy a camera-like object.

It was an expensive item that captured high-quality footage of scenes discreetly.

On the camera's film, the side view of Flame having a conversation with someone in the boys' dormitory was captured very clearly.

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