The short vacation that wasn’t really a vacation ended. In the meantime, my hair and eyes that had turned pure white safely returned to normal. Asrein’s comment that I’d look good even if I kept growing my hair bothered me, but I ended up cutting it short as usual.

As I organized my lighter hair while looking in the mirror, I heard a languid voice from behind.

— What a shame.

Startled, I looked up to find someone other than myself reflected in the mirror.

“System…!”

— Why are you so startled, like you’ve seen a ghost?

System, meeting my eyes through the mirror, smiled brightly. Even though this wasn’t the first time he’d appeared without warning, I was particularly startled. Perhaps because his presence felt much more distinct than before. Now he almost seemed to exist in reality.

I swatted away the hand naturally caressing my hair and said.

“Because you appear like a ghost.”

— How very sorry. Should I give advance notice from now on?

“…Never mind.”

I sighed in resignation and shook my head. Did he appear just to nitpick? If it was such a trivial reason, the best strategy was not to react.

I was about to leave the dormitory when something suddenly came to mind.

“Oh, right. System.”

— Yes?

“By any chance, are there any magical creatures related to ‘prophecy’ in the encyclopedia?”

I’d wanted to ask for a while now. About magical creatures with the ability to prophesy. Asrein didn’t know, but I wondered if it might be in the Monster Encyclopedia. However, System cut me off decisively without even checking the encyclopedia.

— No. There aren’t any.

His firm attitude made me swallow the words asking him to search more thoroughly.

The fact that it wasn’t in the encyclopedia could be interpreted in various ways. Either that priest wasn’t a magical creature, or it was a trait that only appeared after raising relationship evaluation.

…Or it appeared in the last volume I hadn’t seen yet. Whatever the reason, right now I had no clues about it.

As I floundered in deep thought, System suddenly asked.

— Are you suspecting the priest you saw in Aconitum’s memory is a magical creature?

“That’s the most likely possibility right now.”

— That may be true, but…

“And the reason my appearance suddenly changed seems connected to that priest too.”

System, unusually serious without any joking manner, frowned slightly.

— Why do you think that?

“Before and after my appearance changed, that memory was the only thing that could have influenced me.”

Nyx had asserted it. That the god’s curse had long since disappeared. If the white hair and white eyes appearance was simply a side effect, it should have ended as a temporary phenomenon back then. But it changed again, plain as day.

That meant there was a separate condition for the appearance change.

— Are you saying that priest did something to you?

“No, I peeked at the memory on my own, so they couldn’t have done anything. …I just think I reacted unintentionally.”

Some substances change shape or color due to external stimuli. I thought the magical phenomenon happening in my body wasn’t much different from a scientific phenomenon.

That priest’s powerful divine power touched the remnants of Reton remaining in me. That’s why that appearance called the ‘mark of stepping into the divine realm’ manifested.

But I still couldn’t understand the connection between that priest and Reton.

“How strange. That there are things even you don’t know.”

I finished adjusting my clothes and deliberately spoke sarcastically. Then System shrugged nonchalantly and answered.

— Even I don’t know everything.

“Really? You’ve always acted like you knew everything, so I wondered.”

I wasn’t sure whether he truly didn’t know or was deliberately not telling me. Reading System’s inner thoughts was as difficult as predicting the future. Still, there was one fact I could confidently guarantee.

The holy city Iafe, opening on the founding anniversary. All the clues would be solved there.

“Anyway, I should go before I’m late.”

I hurried to the meeting place. I’d said we’d eat lunch together, but I wondered if they were waiting because of me. As soon as I entered the room in the restaurant, I greeted them with an apologetic face.

“Did you wait long?”

Sezan was the first to stand up.

“Tae-oh…!”

Still thinking I was sick, he readily approached and guided me to my seat. I was about to say there was no need for that anymore, but seeing him earnestly checking my complexion, I held back my words. I could feel how much he’d worried and suffered mentally.

Soon Sezan pulled out a chair and whispered in a voice only I could hear.

“How’s your body?”

“As you can see, I’m fine.”

When I answered with a smile, the worry clouding his deep navy eyes lightened. Belatedly, I also smiled and greeted Jin and Iris sitting across from me. Then Iris glared at Sezan with displeasure and clicked his tongue.

“Look at that, look at that. He stays quiet the whole time, then jumps up the moment Tae-oh arrives.”

The tsk sound rang out openly. Jin, unable to watch anymore, smacked Iris’s back and said.

“Hey. What’s with calling a person ‘that’? Besides, Lord Sezan has a higher status than you, so show some respect?”

“Since when did I care about status?”

“Geez…”

The deep sigh conveyed the weariness of a brother with a disobedient sibling. They now looked like real siblings rather than just friends. I asked after Jin, who looked quite tired, with a gentle smile.

“Have you been well? Jin.”

“Of course. Our professor is very healthy too.”

“Haha, how about you, Iris?”

“Nothing special. Just doing assignments like crazy.”

I was glad nothing happened. Even more glad that neither of them knew I’d collapsed.

While eating the freshly served appetizer and sharing daily life, Iris suddenly asked.

“But you’re going alone?”

“Pardon? Where?”

“The banquet at Sezan’s mansion.”

“Ah, Asrein agreed to go to the banquet with me.”

“Really? That’s good. It’s not the kind of place you should go alone anyway.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Sezan’s hand holding the fork flinched. When I glanced sideways, Sezan was staring blankly at his food. I thought he’d be happier hearing that I’d invited Asrein. But the sigh escaping between his lips held not joy but another emotion.

It was deep relief, like he’d survived. He didn’t look at all like a son who’d fulfilled his father’s request. Rather, he had the expression of a subordinate who’d successfully carried out a superior’s order.

“Sezan?”

When I placed my hand on his tensely rigid arm, Sezan’s shoulders jerked greatly. Belatedly meeting my eyes, Sezan showed an awkward but faint smile.

“That’s good. Father will be pleased too.”

“…I hope so.”

I already knew Sezan’s relationship with his father wasn’t smooth. But his excessively tense attitude kept bothering me. Throughout the rest of the meal, Sezan sat blankly like someone whose soul had gone elsewhere.

After finishing lunch and leaving the restaurant, Sezan called out to stop me.

“Tae-oh.”

“Yes?”

“This probably won’t happen, but…”

Sezan, unusually anxious, spoke with difficulty.

“Please avoid being alone with my father at all costs.”

That was quite a strange request.

***

Time passed quickly and it was already Sezan’s birthday. I dressed up nicely at Asrein’s mansion and boarded the carriage. Until we departed, I was excited about meeting Sezan and congratulating him.

But that only lasted briefly.

“Want to lie down a bit more?”

I only came to my senses after the carriage arrived at the luxurious mansion.

“…Tae-oh?”

How could I overlook the most important part? This was directly connected to my survival.

“Are you really okay?”

I belatedly recalled that Sezan’s mansion was very far from the capital. Very, very far.

“Haha, …ha…”

I couldn’t even say I was okay. I quietly wiped my face and cold sweat came off on my palm. After lying down for a while after the carriage stopped, my churning stomach gradually felt better.

Only when I could finally stand on my own two feet did I get out of the carriage with Asrein’s support.

“It’s really… far.”

“I didn’t expect the medicine’s effect to wear off midway.”

“Me neither.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“If I opened my mouth… I felt like I’d throw up right away.”

When I let out an awkward laugh, Asrein sighed deeply. At least Asrein noticed late and cast healing magic, otherwise I would have almost given up before even arriving at the mansion.

“I’m really okay now.”

“…That’s good.”

I organized my disheveled clothes and slowly looked around. Already, splendid carriages were lined up in front of the mansion. The luxurious attire and elegant behavior were all suffocatingly aristocratic.

Thanks to that, I realized anew.

“There are more guests than I expected.”

“House Piart is a renowned noble family.”

That Sezan was from an impressive family.

Within Angelus University, everyone seemed much the same when you set aside their backgrounds. So I didn’t care who had money or which family was more successful. But coming outside the school, the differences were clearly felt.

“The young master of Piart has truly grown up.”

“Haha, he’s going to become a marquis, so of course.”

“I’m very much looking forward to seeing how he’ll lead the family.”

Everyone was talking about Sezan without exception. Even as I deliberately entered an inconspicuous corner spot after entering the banquet hall, the name ‘Sezan’ never ceased. But the owner of the name on everyone’s lips didn’t appear in the banquet hall.

They say the protagonist always arrives late, but something felt off.

“Asrei…”

I was about to ask if he saw Sezan, but it was already too late. As always, Asrein was already surrounded by other people. Eventually, I stepped a few paces away to avoid being in the way and earnestly looked around alone.

That’s when it happened.

“Huh…?”

Wasn’t that person I just saw outside the window Sezan?

No matter how I thought about it, it was him. But he wasn’t entering the banquet hall, he was going out to the garden. Moreover, even seeing him in passing, his complexion was far too dark.

I’d never seen Sezan so anxious before. Why was he making such a serious expression on his birthday when he should be happier than anyone? After agonizing for a while, I couldn’t just leave it and turned my steps.

“Asrein. I’ll just step out for a moment.”

“What?”

“Sezan’s outside. It’ll only take a moment.”

I hurriedly left the mansion, leaving behind Asrein who was about to say something.

Since the banquet was in full swing, no one was walking outside the mansion. Soon I entered the spacious garden.

Befitting a garden attached to a luxurious mansion, all the trees were perfectly maintained as though measured with a ruler. However, the garden trees cut into neat squares without protruding branches felt somehow stifling rather than beautiful.

“Where did he go…?”

I definitely saw him go this way, but Sezan wasn’t visible. As I searched every corner of the garden, I suddenly heard voices from behind the terrace. Thinking Sezan might be with someone else, I held my breath and turned the corner.

At that moment, a sharp sound pierced my ears.

Smack!

“How dare you open your mouth!”

The heavy voice trembled finely with anger.

Surely not. I desperately hoped my expectation was wrong as I looked through the bushes. However, the scene unfolded exactly as I’d imagined.

“Did you want to disgrace me and this family so badly?”

Sezan with a bright red swollen cheek stood facing a middle-aged man who greatly resembled him. No, could I even call that facing each other? Even standing side by side, it was a vertical structure. One side was completely oppressing and crushing the other.

“Didn’t I repeatedly teach you what happens if you don’t conduct yourself properly…”

Unfortunately, Sezan looked far too familiar with that situation.

But even more shocking than that—

“I already heard about who you’ve been associating with. Still, I thought it couldn’t be true. I don’t remember raising my son to be that stupid.”

“……”

“But it’s actually true.”

“That’s…”

“A fallen noble, the tail end of a criminal who committed s*icide in an underground prison. And a guy who was a count’s servant. …You’ve truly gone mad.”

The reason Sezan was hit by his father was because of me.