Refrain from Obsession - Chapter 5

The end of the path was a broken spot. It wasn’t high, but it was the edge of a cliff.

The sunset visible beyond was incredibly beautiful, and the lush overgrown weeds felt soft and pleasant to touch.

The untrimmed tree branches completed the natural scenery.

It was quite different from the artificially manicured garden of the Marquis’ residence she was used to seeing, but to her, it looked like the mountain behind the house she often visited in her past life, making her feel nostalgic.

Next to it, there was a slightly rusted but still sturdy-looking bench. And a male student was sitting on the bench.

Aer approached carefully and observed the male student up close.

The bespectacled male student was motionless as if he had fallen asleep for a moment.

Judging by the uniform placed on his thigh, she could tell that he was also an academy student.

Aer hesitated for a moment, then muttered while looking at the sunset in front of her.

“It’s beautiful……”

At that moment, the male student who had been still suddenly grabbed Aer’s wrist roughly.

Caught off guard by the sudden action, Aer was pulled onto the bench, almost falling.

“Ah!”

She grabbed her uniform tightly as it was about to fall to the ground, trying to maintain her balance.

“Who are you? How did you get here?”

A clear, high-pitched voice flowed out. Judging by the clothes he was wearing, he seemed to be a man, but his thin build, red lips, and voice made it confusing.

“I’m Aer de Bestia. This doesn’t seem to be private property, is there any reason I shouldn’t be here?”

His skinny fingers were so strong that they seemed likely to leave marks on her skin.

She thought that now that she had mentioned her name, the other person would be startled like the young lady from earlier or Ian, and let go of her wrist.

But the male student, still gripping her wrist tightly, muttered something inaudible to her.

“I couldn’t hear any sound, but clearly……”

His eyes, visible through his glasses, were wide open as if he had witnessed something unbelievable, something marvelous.

The male student stared at Aer with a persistent gaze. As if looking at her could reveal her thoughts.

She stared back at the beautiful violet eyes, as beautiful as the current sunset sky, visible between his glasses, then tugged her wrist again.

“This is the last warning. If you keep holding on, I’ll scream for help.”

In truth, Aer was surprised. That’s why her response was a bit delayed.

She had naturally assumed that mentioning her name would make him recoil, but the male student in front of her showed no reaction as if he didn’t even know her name.

Instead, he scrutinized her persistently. As if looking at a strange creature.

“……I seem to have misunderstood. I apologize.”

The male student retreated cleanly, contrary to his persistent staring. He also didn’t forget to apologize politely again.

“I’m truly sorry for grabbing a lady’s wrist so carelessly. I’ll go to the infirmary to get some ointment and bring it to you.”

“No need. I have some first aid supplies, so don’t worry about it.”

“If that’s the case…… I understand.”

The male student who answered slowly removed his gaze from her.

Then he looked up at the red sunset that was disappearing as if nothing had happened.

Aer felt a strange emotion. Had there ever been anyone who had a conversation with her with such an unbiased, normal gaze?

No, never.

There had only been conversations filled with mockery, calling her the shameless Bestia, the disgraceful Bestia.

She had never received a polite apology after a mistake, nor heard words offering to take responsibility for her injury.

Even Ian earlier had apologized for her getting hurt, but didn’t take responsibility.

Rather, he shifted the responsibility onto her.

Strangely, Aer didn’t feel unpleasant even though this male student she was meeting for the first time had made a mistake.

Aer glanced at the male student repeatedly.

His unkempt black hair looked messy, but the hair itself was glossy.

The bridge of his nose supporting his large glasses was sharp and high, and below it, his lips were plump and cherry-red.

Aer looked at him curiously, intrigued by his androgynous appearance, then examined the clothes he was wearing.

Due to the academy’s egalitarian nature, students’ social status wasn’t disclosed, but one could roughly guess from the casual clothes they wore.

The clothes the male student was wearing looked neat but showed signs of wear in places.

He was probably one of the commoners who had just enrolled.

That’s why he didn’t know about her infamous reputation in high society.

It feels so comfortable when the other person doesn’t know you.

She carefully observed the male student and then asked a question.

“Can you tell me your name?”

It had been so long since she had experienced a normal conversation, and she hoped not to remain strangers.

So she gathered her courage.

The man who had been staring straight ahead slowly turned his head. He still looked at her with undisguised curiosity.

His long, thin fingers slightly lifted the frame of his glasses. Then the male student opened his mouth.

“My name is Louis.”

Aer roughly guessed from his attitude of not revealing his family name separately.

However, it didn’t matter at all. After all, her past life memories had changed her values.

She smiled brightly and extended her hand.

“You’re enrolling this year, right? I’m also a first-year student, so I look forward to getting along with you.”

Louis looked at her intently, then slowly extended his hand.

The hand she held was small and delicate, unlike that of a teenage boy, making Aer smile involuntarily.

Somehow, it felt like she had gained a younger sibling, but she reminded herself that he was the same age as her.

Aer, who found her own thoughts amusing, naturally smiled as she looked up at the now pitch-black night sky.

Although it was a dark, unfamiliar place, whether because of the stars filling the night sky or because of Louis quietly sitting beside her, her heart felt peaceful.

“Wow….. It’s beautiful, truly.”

As she exclaimed in admiration at the Milky Way that seemed about to pour down, Louis stared at her persistently.

Louis was feeling just as unfamiliar a sensation as she was.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

After the entrance ceremony, Aer was adapting to the academy relatively quickly. Her memories from her past life were a great help in this as well.

Having graduated from university in her past life, she found the academy classes quite easy.

Especially the regular class she was in was even easier compared to the Awakened class or the Healer class.

Of course, that didn’t mean she neglected her studies.

If one performs well in the regular class, they can be connected to jobs in the imperial palace or other noble houses later. If she could secure a place to work even if her family falls, wouldn’t that prepare her for the future?

Moreover, it was easy to concentrate on classes because no one approached her.

After class, Aer glanced at Louis, who was in the same class as her, then sighed and left the classroom.

She wanted to acknowledge him, but she was worried that if she did, it might cause trouble for him as a commoner.

Although people rarely confronted her directly, only whispering behind her back, if the target of their anger was a commoner, things could be different.

Especially if it was a commoner without any awakened abilities.

And there was one more reason why she couldn’t acknowledge him.

She was afraid that Louis might distance himself if he heard the rumors about her.

She didn’t want to lose her only normal friend in a place full of malice.

As she watched him walking away, voices whispering behind her reached her ears.

“This next class is the activity class, right?”

“Yes! It’s the only time we can see Lord Ian!”

“Why is it only once a week? It would be so nice if it was every day.”

Hearing the familiar name, Aer unconsciously frowned. Since their first encounter, she had often run into Ian in the corridors.

Each time, Ian would look at her along with his friend, who had berated her before.

The young ladies who uncannily noticed these glances also didn’t hide their unpleasant expressions as they glared at her.

Being stared at by everyone in the middle of a crowded corridor was not a pleasant feeling.

“Haah……”

She sighed deeply while holding her books.

Although she had resolved to act composed, it wasn’t easy to shake off the pressure that came unconsciously.

She greatly wanted to postpone the activity class if possible.

In the side story of “Moonflower Under the Moonlight,” more than half of the incidents occurred during activity classes.

Even if the current point in time was before Ian’s sister, the protagonist of the side story, had enrolled, she couldn’t let her guard down.

In the mountains near the academy live weak magical beasts prepared by the instructors.

It was designed for first-year students who had just awakened their abilities to hunt weak magical beasts.

Usually, the period of awakening as an Awakened or Healer is from ten to thirteen years old. Then they enter the academy at seventeen and study for three years before graduating.

After graduation, Awakened and Healers often went to the battlefield for the empire.

Currently, the Basium Empire was constantly engaged in various wars, big and small.

Because the territory was so vast, there were many cases of invasions from neighboring countries and attacks from magical beasts.

There wasn’t much for regular people to do in this situation. The only reason regular people were included in the activity class was for one purpose.

To protect the precious Healers while the Awakened deal with the magical beasts.

It was called protection, but in reality, it meant dying in place of the Healer if a situation arose where the Awakened couldn’t handle it.

Seeing the girls in her class excited about seeing Ian without knowing this, she couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

Being a regular student at the academy wasn’t a good situation, but being awakened as a Healer and not finding your match was even worse.

Element pairing.

If Awakened and Healers don’t meet their matching partner, they die unable to harness their energy.

Of course, there was a temporary measure to prevent this.

It was the healing stone and the awakening stone.