Chapter 10.4

On the day he went to the temple with that young lady, Garzen had asked for her signature on a witness document during the carriage ride home. The document she gladly signed was approved by the King and sent to the Rontiano Imperial Family.

Now, as soon as the Emperor of Rontiano gave permission, the investigation into Derrick Harrington would begin the moment he was found.

Until then, the key was to avoid falling for any more of Hamartia’s tricks.

Finishing his thoughts, Garzen resumed the meeting with a serious expression.

“Now that everyone agrees, I trust there are no objections. I insist that we increase the protective forces at the Demekia Grand Temple in preparation for what’s to come. At this rate, the next target is likely to be the Grand Temple, so it’s wise to prepare defenses in advance.”

Garzen’s gaze swept over the princes before settling on the King.

“And, Your Majesty, I respectfully request that you strengthen Academy security. Please deploy more knights throughout the campus and issue new student notebooks. Since the ones already leaked outside can’t be retrieved, let’s make them useless.”

At that moment, a pleased smile appeared on the King’s lips, who had been silent until then. He gazed at Garzen and raised his hand.

“…Very well. Prepare as the Third Prince has advised.”

With that authoritative approval, the King rose from his seat.

“Now that we’ve reached a conclusion, let’s adjourn today’s meeting. Since there were no serious casualties, inform the Academy they may begin the term.”

As the King left the meeting room, signaling the end of the session, Garzen stood up with a satisfied face and saw him off.

The princes, weary from the long meeting, also left one by one, and the once noisy room quickly became quiet.

But one person remained.

In the empty meeting room, someone still hadn’t left.

Tap, tap-tap. Brown eyes glinted ominously as they stared at the seat where the King had been.

* * *

“Nice to meet you all. From today, I’ll be teaching you as Ruyten Cheira. Please feel free to call me Professor Ruyten.”

A new day dawned at Roeta Academy, where the huge explosion had occurred.

Parents who had sent their beloved children to the Academy protested, saying the start of the term should be delayed, but they couldn’t stop the Royal Family from enforcing the schedule.

Students gathered in the classroom with heavy footsteps, staring grimly at the podium.

And Professor Ruyten, who would be in charge of these students for the year, was no different. Spotting a student nervously looking out the window, Ruyten gripped the podium tightly.

“…Before I introduce my teaching style, I want to offer words of comfort about the incident at the entrance ceremony two days ago. As a professor at this Academy, I truly feel responsible.”

A shadow crossed Ruyten’s face as he mentioned the tragic accident on entrance day.

Though there were no fatalities, several people were injured in the serious incident. Moreover, one of those last seen in the library still hadn’t been found.

The fact that it was Diashi, who was supposed to become a new research student today, pained Ruyten deeply.

Missing.

This morning, Ruyten had personally written that phrase on his favorite student’s file, but couldn’t easily accept it. After much thought, Ruyten reached a conclusion.

Diashi was always a mischievous child and an excellent mage, so surely she could take care of herself.

Maybe it was just hope, or maybe a rational judgment. It was also a wish born of trust in a beloved student.

After a long pause, Professor Ruyten adjusted his monocle to steady himself.

“The Royal Family has decided to strengthen Academy security, so incidents like this won’t happen again. So focus on your studies without worry. And…”

Forcing a smile, Ruyten opened the box on the podium.

“You’ve been instructed to receive new notebooks. Please take out the ones you already have for return. The administration will dispose of them, so double-check that nothing important is written inside.”

Brienne, sitting quietly in the front row, nodded and placed her notebook on the desk. As Ruyten confirmed that students were taking out their notebooks one by one, he glanced toward the door.

“Starting from the front row, come up one by one to receive your new notebook. The assistant will collect your old one after checking it.”

As Ruyten nodded for someone to enter, the classroom door slowly opened. At the sound, the students paused and looked in that direction.

“…”

A brief silence lingered in the large classroom. The students’ eyes widened as a man entered with elegant steps and stood beside the professor.

“…Wow.”

In that breathless silence, someone uttered a tiny exclamation.

Only then did Professor Ruyten realize the mood among the students had changed and quickly raised a hand to introduce him.

“This is my assistant, Herace Belif. He’ll be helping you all for a year. Herace, please greet them.”

“Nice to meet you, everyone.”

Herace, wearing a painted-on smile, gave a short nod. His deep gray eyes slowly scanned the students, then stopped in one place.

A much warmer voice echoed through the classroom.

“It’s an honor to meet you all like this. I look forward to working with you for the next year.”

Brienne’s expression clouded with confusion as she met the familiar face smiling at her.

* * *

‘What’s going on?’

After the freshman orientation, Brienne paced the hallway, waiting for Herace to come out.

Herace, still in the classroom, was surrounded by students asking all sorts of questions.

Would she even be able to talk to him today?

Brienne glanced into the classroom and sighed. She realized that Shylo hadn’t exaggerated about Herace Belif’s popularity.

Standing among the blushing girls, the man looked more heavenly than ever today.

Brienne furrowed her brow as she watched the girls react eagerly to his every smile.

‘…What’s so fun about that?’

What kind of interesting stories was he telling?

In truth, Herace only nodded awkwardly, not saying much, but to Brienne, even that seemed annoying.

When she first met Herace, she’d imagined him exactly as he appeared now.

If only she could drive all those girls away from him.

Brienne’s eyes sharpened as she recalled the face of Herace, who had comforted her the other day.

<Let’s go in now.>

Half a day after the terrible explosion.

After the knights finished putting out the fire and began clearing debris to search for casualties, Herace, who had stayed by Brienne’s side for hours, finally stood up and offered his hand.

When he said those words, Herace was not smiling. He was simply looking at her with a gaze that felt so earnest.

Only then did Brienne realize the state she was in, sitting on the cold floor. The school blouse Diashi had given her was stained with dark ash.

Herace’s clothes were even worse.

Finally coming to her senses, Brienne stood up. She realized she’d kept him waiting too long, especially after his long journey.

<…Sorry, I was only thinking about myself. You must be tired too, Herace.>

Regretful that she’d been so focused on Diashi’s disappearance that she hadn’t considered Herace, she heard him reply:

<No. Today, you were simply brave.>

Brave?

Brienne shook her head with a faint smile and took his offered hand.

<…All I did was cry like a fool. You’re the one who fought the fire, Herace.>

The warmth of his hand melted her ice-cold body. Herace gently whispered:

<…>

Herace softly bent down and reverently kissed the back of Brienne’s hand.

As Herace slowly raised his head, his eyes held a different light than usual.

With those eyes, he smiled.

What could that possibly mean?

Brienne did not ask for an answer. Whatever the true meaning, she knew well enough that it was meant to comfort her.

And that was enough.

<…Thank you, me too.>

Thanks to that, Brienne regained her usual composure and was able to turn away from the library, holding Herace’s hand.

On the way back to the dormitory, there were no more words exchanged, but even so, the warmth of the hand that had never let go lingered vividly to this day.

She would wait.

As Herace had said, Diashi was not someone who would fall so easily.

With that in mind, Brienne steadied her heart and prepared for tomorrow. There were moments, several times a day, when she felt like she might collapse from the thought that she had done nothing, but each time, she endured by recalling Herace’s comfort.

But now…

“…….”

Brienne’s gaze turned to Herace, who was listening to the students with a sociable smile.

Suddenly, she disliked the idea of others discovering his kindness. She felt a selfish urge not to share that smile with anyone else.

It was at that moment, when Herace sensed Brienne’s gaze and turned his head.

“Um……”

Someone approached Brienne, who was standing by the door.

“Yes?”

Snapped out of her thoughts, Brienne looked at the man who spoke to her with a slightly startled face. He was the third son of Viscount Myers, whom she had run into a few times even in Rontiano.

“Oh, nice to see you. It’s quite the coincidence that we Rontiano natives ended up in the same class. My friends and I were wondering if you’d like to join us for a meal at the shopping street ahead…”

Trailing off, the man smiled amiably and glanced at his friends standing behind him. Brienne’s eyes flickered briefly as she followed his gaze.

“Ah…”

She couldn’t easily refuse the unexpected invitation. In Rontiano, she would have declined right away, but the fact that they would be classmates for a year weighed on her mind.

Just as Brienne parted her lips to answer—

“Excuse me for a moment.”

The closed classroom door opened, and a shadow fell over Brienne’s head. Herace, glancing at the man standing before Brienne, smiled and lightly raised the box in his hand.

“I need to go to the administration office for something Professor asked me to do, and I need someone to help me.”

“Oh, then I’ll help you!”

The third son of Viscount Myers jumped forward in surprise.

But Herace’s gaze remained fixed on just one person, as before.

“Miss Brienne, if you’re not busy, would you help me?”