Refrain from Obsession - Chapter 4 - 2. Mistakes of the Past

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2. Mistakes of the Past

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It took two days by carriage to reach the academy, which was quite far from the capital.

After staying overnight in a large town midway, she arrived at the academy. Looking up at the building with its classic atmosphere, she had the coachman move her luggage.

She gave a generous tip to the coachman who was returning to the mansion, then headed to the living quarters mentioned in the guide to receive her uniform.

As she opened the well-maintained but old door and entered, the students already inside all turned their heads to look at her.

The previously warm atmosphere instantly turned cold.

Aer sighed, recalling past events.

‘Nothing is ever easy.’

She knew that bad rumors had already spread in high society due to her father chasing after the original female lead.

However, the reason these people were openly whispering was largely Aer’s own fault.

“Sigh…”

In the past, Aer had fallen for someone she shouldn’t have liked.

Unable to rely on anyone, she had misunderstood her vague admiration and nurtured a one-sided love.

Of all people, why did she have to fall for the son of the original female lead?

Her father was chasing after that woman, and his daughter was obsessing over her son – how ridiculous they must have looked.

The past Aer’s extremely timid and gloomy personality also contributed to spreading the rumors.

But she no longer intended to act like a love-starved fool as she had in the past.

Aer moved forward confidently, with her chin slightly raised. An academy staff member immediately approached her with a pen and documents.

“Please state your name.”

“Aer de Bestia.”

There was a peculiar rule at the Basium Empire’s academy: everyone had to use formal speech regardless of rank.

This meant that nobles and commoners were all considered equal.

Thus, even nobles couldn’t bring their own maids, and everyone had to take care of themselves while living at the academy.

That’s rather fortunate.

Bringing a maid from her family would have only been troublesome anyway.

“Ah, please wait a moment, and I’ll bring you your uniform.”

“Thank you.”

Aer sat on a nearby sofa. Immediately, a young lady sitting on the opposite side of the sofa stood up and moved to another sofa.

As if being near Aer would infect her with a disease, she made a disgusted face as an added bonus.

Then, covering her mouth with a fan, she whispered something to the young lady sitting next to her.

Although they were speaking softly, in a space with little other noise, it was quite audible. They seemed unaware of this fact.

Or perhaps they just didn’t care.

“How shameless of the Bestia’s.”

“Shameless isn’t enough. They’ve abandoned noble dignity altogether.”

“Well, with a father like that, how could the daughter be any different?”

“To run into her on the first day at the academy… Is my academy life going to be unlucky?”

“Oh my… Don’t think like that. It’ll be fine.”

“How delightful it would be if Lord Ian were here at a time like this.”

“You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to today just to see Lord Ian.”

“So you feel the same way, my lady.”

Aer could hear every whispered word with perfect clarity.

Moreover, hearing a name she didn’t want to hear made her want to hide somewhere out of shame.

Ian de Raymond.

The son born between the original female lead and male lead, and the older brother of the protagonist in “Moonflower Under the Moonlight” side story.

He was also someone Aer shouldn’t have liked.

Aer found Ian extremely uncomfortable. Partly because of how harshly he had rejected her confession, but even more so after recalling her past life memories.

Think about it.

How much must he have disliked her, the daughter of a man still pursuing his mother, confessing her feelings without knowing her place?

Even now that Aer had realized her place, she sat quietly pretending to be unbothered.

The academy staff handed out uniforms in order of arrival.

Aer received her uniform and instructions after the young ladies who had been insulting her left the living quarters. She was about to leave the room.

“Oh?”

Just as Aer grabbed the door handle, someone tried to enter from the other side, causing the door to open and pull her along.

Holding her uniform in one hand, Aer lost her balance and collided with someone.

She buried her nose with full force into a firm chest and sat down on the spot, in too much pain.

“Are you alright?”

A large hand descended in front of her as she sat on the floor, holding her nose.

Aer slowly raised her head, following the unusually fine hand.

The Raymond family crest was engraved on the jewel embedded in the jacket sleeve he was wearing.

Even without looking up further, she couldn’t help but know who the man before her was, but Aer couldn’t stop the flow of her gaze.

It was almost instinctive, as he was the one the pre-awakened Aer had fervently liked.

His vivid green eyes caught her attention first, followed by his brilliantly shining silver hair.

His large eyes with distinct double eyelids, sharp nose bridge, and unusually red lips seemed to imprint themselves in her pupils one after another.

As expected of the son of the Mercedes male lead, he was indeed very handsome.

Ian, too, seemed to recognize Aer, as he withdrew the hand he had kindly extended.

She stared blankly at the large hand that had retreated from her sight, then gathered her uniform and stood up a beat later, pretending to be unaffected.

“What kind of trick is this?”

At that moment, a young man beside Ian confronted her.

Although Aer was displeased by the implication that she had deliberately bumped into Ian, she spoke calmly.

“We are supposed to be courteous to each other here.”

“We’re all first-year students anyway, is it really necessary to use formal speech?”

Ian remained silent, arms crossed. He, who was always kind to other young ladies, was unusually cold to Aer.

Knowing the reason, Aer couldn’t meet Ian’s eyes.

“I was just trying to leave. It was just a coincidence in timing, so don’t try to make it into something strange.”

“This is ridiculous. This is why they say blood is scary. Look at her doing exactly what her father does. Right, Ian?”

Aer might have endured if Ian had gotten angry instead.

Not because she liked him, but because he had a reason to be angry.

Although he was a distant father, they were still connected by blood, so if Ian had expressed his displeasure because of that, she could have listened.

She could have apologized multiple times if her confession had been unpleasant.

But it was always uninvolved people who made a fuss.

If confessing one’s feelings was such a wrong thing to do, shouldn’t the person himself be angry?

Why did they keep trying to incite others?

Moreover, she no longer had any interest in Ian. He was someone she needed to distance herself from.

“I’ve already been cruelly rejected in front of everyone. Do you think I still like him?”

The young man in front of her flinched at her cold tone.

The Aer they occasionally encountered had seemed like easy prey in their eyes.

Until now.

“I’m the one who got hurt, so why am I being interrogated? Besides, I bumped into the young lord Raymond, not you.”

Aer continued, glaring at Ian who was standing quietly behind.

“Is the young lord Raymond deliberately not correcting this? Shouldn’t a true friend stop their friend when they’re making a mistake?”

“You!”

At that moment, the young man in front of her raised his hand. But Aer, without blinking an eye, recited the rules.

“You do know that if an Awakened harms a regular person, they’ll lose their qualification as an Awakened, right?”

Awakened, Healer, and Regular.

The academy was largely divided into three classes based on the type and presence of abilities. This was the world setting of “Moonflower Under the Moonlight”.

At her words, the young man froze with his hand raised, and only then did Ian step forward, uncrossing his arms.

“I apologize to Lady Bestia.”

After this unexpectedly polite apology, Ian immediately added:

“However, trust is important for people. It seems my friend misunderstood due to the actions you’ve shown so far, so let’s end it here.”

His words were polite, but the content was merciless.

Aer felt wronged, but she knew that this world would revolve around Ian’s family anyway.

Thinking that there was nothing good to come from a supporting character getting entangled with the protagonist, she backed down.

“…Yes, I will. Then, excuse me.”

As she walked away from Ian’s group, various emotions seemed to swirl in her chest.

Her head felt indifferent, but her heart was different. She felt resentment towards him, then affection, then fear, then defiance.

Aer decided to take a walk around to clear her troubled mind.

If she went to the dormitory now, other young ladies would just be noisy anyway.

She went behind the living quarters building. There, no people were in sight.

Judging by the less-maintained garden compared to the front of the building, it seemed like a place where people rarely visited.

Only then did her troubled mind start to clear a bit. Aer moved her steps while humming softly.