Chapter 1.1

The prestigious, historic empire’s best educational institution, Rondale Academy.  

Agnes Belle Lemanche, the top second-year student in the Department of Magical Engineering, has two secrets she cannot tell anyone.

First.  

She was still a v*rgin.

But because she unintentionally pretended to be promiscuous in front of her classmates, this must remain an absolute secret.

Second.  

Agnes was in love with Kallion, the top student of the second-year Swordsmanship Department.

And if she were to add just one more secret, a third—

Agnes observes Kallion closely every day.  

Very closely.

***

Rondale Academy is located on the outskirts of the imperial capital. Since the entire student body lives in dormitories, its geographic location is not much of an issue.  

The only drawback is that, being far from the city center, there is a lack of entertainment within the academy itself.  

Naturally, in such a closed environment, even the smallest bit of news becomes major gossip.  

For example, who is dating whom, or who won in a friendly match between students.  

And today was the day of the monthly event match for the Swordsmanship Department.  

“Agnes, did you hear? Kallion won again today. He’s never lost, not even once.”  

At her classmate Ribelli’s news, Agnes inwardly scoffed.  

Of course she knew. How could she not?  

There was nothing she didn’t know about Kallion!

Agnes even knew exactly how many pairs of underwear Kallion kept in his dorm.

However, this was an absolute top secret she could never share with anyone.

It was only natural to keep it hidden.  

“Oh, really?”  

Agnes widened her eyes and put on a surprised expression, pretending not to know.  

To act as if she had no interest in Kallion at all.  

But in her mind……  

‘Today’s opponents were Raphael, Demiern, and Peyton. There’s no way Kallion wouldn’t win by a landslide.’  

She was recalling each of Kallion’s opponents by round.  

Well, Ribelli would have no way of knowing unless Agnes said something.  

Unaware of all these facts, Ribelli responded excitedly.  

“Yeah, he had a winning streak last month too, and now again! Kallion is really amazing these days.”  

“Wow……really, that’s impressive.”  

“Seriously. You’re probably the only girl in the academy who doesn’t get excited over Kallion, Agnes.”  

“Sorry, sorry.”  

When Agnes didn’t seem interested in the topic of Kallion, Ribelli’s interest waned and she moved on to another subject.  

“By the way, Professor Repel’s new……”  

After a few minutes—  

“Oh my, look at the time. I have to get to my next class.”  

After chatting away, Ribelli checked the time and turned toward the building where her classroom was.  

“Yeah, you’ll be late, go quickly. See you later!”  

Agnes quickly saw her off.  

Watching Ribelli’s retreating back, Agnes felt relieved.  

‘Phew, I guess I seemed natural.’  

Pretending to have no interest in Kallion—another success today.  

Now Agnes was left alone.  

Which meant there was something else she had to do next.  

Thump, thump.  

It was the moment she had been waiting for.  

‘There really isn’t anyone around, right?’  

Whoosh—whoosh—  

After glancing around and making sure there was no one nearby, Agnes moved to a corner and took out a thin, rectangular object from her bag.  

After fiddling with the mysterious item, about the size of a medium notebook, a video began to play on its surface.  

A man with light bronze skin was swinging a sword with sharp, precise movements.  

His sweat-soaked black hair clung to his skin, adding to his wild charm.  

“Wow, he’s so cool.”  

Agnes’s clear blue eyes sparkled. The bored look she’d had while pretending not to know about Kallion was nowhere to be found.  

She kept her gaze fixed on the video, repeatedly expressing her admiration.  

“Wow, how fast was that swing just now? That’s insane!”  

Yes, of course, the star of the video was……  

“How can Kallion be perfect at everything?”  

The top student of the Swordsmanship Department, Kallion Roy Bishuern.  

She had acted uninterested in front of Ribelli……  

But in truth, Agnes had already recorded today’s match of Kallion using her magical device.  

‘I wanted to watch it right away. It was so hard to hold back.’  

This magical device, designed so she could watch videos on the go, was something she’d invented about two years ago during her foundation studies.  

It was also the devoted item that had helped her graduate at the top of her class in the foundation program.  

Of course, she’d never imagined at the time that she’d end up using it every day to watch videos of Kallion.  

By the way, the device’s nickname was TapTap.  

Fixing her gaze on TapTap, Agnes’s hands trembled when Kallion’s opponent attacked him in the video.  

“Oh my, what is this guy doing? Scratching my Kallion’s body? That precious body should be designated as an imperial treasure!”  

Indeed.  

By now, anyone could see it—  

Agnes’s way of having a crush on Kallion was quite different from others.  

Especially since the person in question, Kallion, absolutely must never, ever find out.  

***

[Magical Engineering: The study of creating various magical tools using magic stones.]  

It’s said that, in the past, magic existed in the world.  

But now, the only trace of magic that remains is the magic stone.  

The technology that maximizes the power of the magic stone to create tools infused with magical power is called ‘magical engineering’.  

As a technology that contributes to the advancement of society, everyone agreed that magical engineering was the most important field in the Empire.  

If you had to pick the most prestigious department within Rondale, it would undoubtedly be the Department of Magical Engineering.  

The Department of Magical Engineering at Rondale Academy, the Empire’s top educational institution, was the very future of the empire itself.  

And the top scholarship student of this remarkable institution was Agnes.  

The Academy’s rising star.  

Genius Agnes.  

She had never lost her shining title of top student since admission.  

Already, people all over the empire were waiting for Agnes’s graduation.  

However.  

Agnes, the best of the best, was using her outstanding talents to have a crush on Kallion.  

More precisely, to create tools for observing him.  

Today, too, Agnes’s daily routine was no different.  

Wake up at 6:50 a.m.  

Sit by the window next to her bed with the magical telescope she made herself.  

And at 7:00……  

‘Oh my, Kallion! His muscles are looking especially lively today.’  

She started her morning by secretly watching Kallion inside his dorm.  

Kallion woke up at 7:00 every morning.  

Agnes always took her spot by the window ten minutes earlier than that.  

Why?  

Because she didn’t want to miss the moment Kallion opened his eyes!  

‘Ah, what a feast for the eyes.’  

Just seeing Kallion’s face made her feel as if her vision had cleared, as if she could see far into the distance without a magical telescope.  

He made Agnes’s heart race every single day.  

‘Kyaa, look at those veins. Why is his skin so s*xy?’  

His thick forearms looked like they could easily support Agnes if she hung from them.  

Agnes thought that even someone suffering from low blood pressure would be cured upon seeing Kallion’s handsome face.  

No, perhaps the opposite—they might get so excited they’d develop high blood pressure.  

His jet-black hair made his lightly bronzed skin even more attractive.  

‘I heard his skin used to be much paler.’  

From what Agnes had heard, Kallion’s skin was the result of hard work and training.  

Just how much effort and dedication did it take to become like that?  

Even that was so cool!  

Agnes was always busy admiring him. She watched the same scene, the same routine every morning, but it always felt new to her.  

‘Hmm, then just how pale was he before?’  

Agnes suddenly became curious about Kallion’s past appearance.  

Of course, she wanted to know everything about him.  

‘Maybe he was as pale as that boy from back then.’  

Recalling a brief encounter at the edge of her memory, Agnes shook her head.  

On second thought, that boy was too pale. Kallion probably wasn’t like that.  

“No, what am I doing? I have the perfect subject right in front of me, and I’m thinking about someone else.”  

Agnes decided to focus on the present. She couldn’t waste this precious time.  

‘He really is my vitamin, my sunshine!’  

In fact, ever since Agnes started watching Kallion, she felt more energetic.

People around her had recently commented that she seemed to be in a good mood, so perhaps it really was having an effect.

“That aside, Kallion really does have the same routine every day.”

Through her morning observations, Agnes had learned a few things about Kallion.

First, it seemed that Kallion liked sunlight.

She had concluded this after watching him change clothes by the window every morning, basking in the sunlight.

‘Well, it’s good for me since I can see him better.’

Thanks to that, Agnes’s dorm, which faced Kallion’s dorm building, was the perfect place to observe him.

Next, Kallion clearly had a laid-back personality.

Otherwise, there was no way he could change clothes so leisurely every time.

Watching him walk around his room shirtless was endlessly satisfying.

Of course, thanks to that, Agnes could observe his bare body for a long time.

For Agnes, this aspect of Kallion’s personality was actually a good thing.

“He’s so agile during training, but at times like this, really, how is it possible!”

Kallion, who could move between being leisurely and being quick at the right times, was perfect in every way.

Lastly, Kallion seemed to be a tidy person.

The lens of the Magical Telescope not only captured his sculpted appearance but also showed the inside of his room clearly.

The Magical Telescope she had developed boasted about three times the performance of any commercially available one.

Thanks to that, she had received high praise from the professor in the last practical evaluation and solidified her spot as top student.

Good grades, and it helped her observe Kallion, too.

This really was killing two birds with one stone.