The Facade

"Hmph."

While snorting, Emilie turned around and walked away.

Seeing her petulant behavior, Eden couldn't help but sigh, wondering,

'The way she behaves towards me…I guess it would be hard to approach her.'

Then, as a smile shaped his face, he added,

'It might be hard but not impossible.'

Then he started walking outside the room.

'Hey, look. Requaniel's out again.'

'Gosh, I don't get it. Where is he going again?'

'Is he going to meet father now?'

'Idiot! Father will only yell at him if he meets him between the classes.'

'Then, where in the world is he even going?'

Remembering the memories of his school days in the land of honour, Eden just smiled. He seemed to recall his habit of taking a five minutes break between classes, just so he could catch a glimpse of Lady Celestia in the hallway.

'I was really a hopeless romantic back then.'

Eden giggled inwardly, remembering all his mischief, just to have a look at Lady Celestia.

"Ding!"

[You're still one, host!]

Interrupting his thoughts, the system stated.

Hearing the system's voice, an indifferent expression shaped Eden's face. He requested,

"Please don't read my thoughts…"

[My bad, I just did so out of habit.]

Afterall, it didn't feel bad if you criticised your error but if someone else did it to you, you might end up feeling down to hell.

Sigh!

Eden sighed after hearing the system's response and walked straight towards the registration office.

Shortly after arriving there, he requested a form for new students and filled out the entries.

"Here."

He gave the form to the teacher on the desk.

"Oh, hmm? Are you Eden White? The one with 'Unrivalled' mana capacity?"

The teacher asked with a curious look, wanting to hear Eden's response.

After catching a glimpse of the teacher's curiosity, Eden just smiled, replying,

"Yes, there's only one Eden White here, and it's me."

'Ugh! It looks like I acted a little too arrogant now!'

Yet he chastised himself inwardly.

"Oh! It's a pleasure seeing you in person!"

The teacher, however, reacted differently than Eden's anticipation.

He shook hands with Eden while having a beaming smile on his face as if he was meeting a celebrity.

Still, having an 'unrivalled' mana did make Eden no less than a celebrity.

"Y-yeah, thank you."

Faking a smile, Eden responded, wondering,

'Now, I'm getting an ominous feeling. It appears like my university life wouldn't be filled with solitude like I desired!'

"W-Well, can I go now?"

Eden asked while trying to yank back his hands from the teacher's.

"Oh! sure, sure!"

The teacher again shook hands with him and finally let go of his hands.

Getting freed, Eden hopped back and started walking away, trying to act calm.

"Have fun, sir!"

The teacher responded with a thrilled voice.

Eden nodded with a fake smile and increased his speed.

'I better hurry and go to the classroom. But wait, what if people there will be just like this teacher?'

He pondered, and then he snapped back to reality after remembering the reactions of people at the mana exams.

"Hmm, well, whatever. I should just stop caring about it. What I need to care about is–?"

Suddenly, his voice trailed off as he noticed a familiar person walking in front of him.

"Lady Emilie!"

His face brightened up after noticing Emilie as he walked faster to catch up to her.

"Hmm?"

Emilie turned around as she heard someone was calling her.

As soon as she noticed Eden, her gaze narrowed. She said,

"Ah, isn't it rank one?"

"It's Eden."

Trying to maintain his cool, Eden responded.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

With an indifferent look, Emilie responded, asking,

"So? What do you want from me?"

Her tone still showed pomposity.

"...."

Seeing her behaviour, Eden just faked a smile. However, deep within, he screamed,

'Damnit!! What's wrong with her attitude?! How come she is one of the fragments of Lady Celestia?! Lady Celestia was the polar opposite of her!!'

Sigh!

In the end, he sighed, speaking,

"Well, I'm just curious. Are you, by chance, angry at me?"

He wanted to be friends with her, but he realized that he would get rejected off the bat by her.

So, he tried to act assertively now since he believed that being gentle with her would take him nowhere. Of course, just a little, not much.

"Hmm? Angry at you? What do you mean?"

Emilie lifted her right eyebrow, having a slightly annoyed look on her face.

Eden just smiled and started walking past her while letting out.

"It might be my overthinking, but the way you're acting with me just because I ranked one is kind of bad, you know?"

Then he glanced at her, adding,

"In any case, are you jealous?"

"?!"

Emilie's eyes dilated over his words as she folded her arms, retorting,

"Jealous of you? Oh, come on. I don't need to! Hmph!"

She then averted her eyes and started walking forward, outspeeding Eden.

"Oh, that's good. I think I don't need to worry about getting hated by you when I surpass you in every examination from now on."

Eden smirked, considering the lessons that he learned in the Land of Honour about how to start a conversation with an annoying person.

'I remember this lesson very well. But I'm not sure whether I'm doing it right or not. She seemed to be getting more annoyed somehow.'

"Hah?"

Hearing Eden's pretentious comment did end up annoying Emilie even more than before.

She glared back at Eden and paced towards him, snapping back.

"Who do you think you are, huh? Just because you have 'unrivalled' mana doesn't mean you'll outwit me in everything, you hear me?!'

Seeing her sharp expression at him, Eden nodded, responding,

"I hear you loud and clear, lady Emilie."

Realizing that the lesson wouldn't help him anymore, he resorted to being gentle.

"You! What's with this 'Lady' crap?"

"?!"

Eden's eyes dilated after listening to something he had never thought of before.

'C-crap…? Did she really just say that...?'

His image of Lady Celestia, which was built more than 500 years ago, started shattering.

"Just call me by my name. Hmph, dummy."

While snorting, Emilie started moving away.

"Sure…"

Eden nodded with a blank expression.

'Be real, idiot.'

He heard a voice within his head.

'She's the fragment of Lady Celestia. No matter how ethereal Lady Celestia was, her fragment just stayed one-seventh of it. Stop expecting too much.'

It was the voice from his angel self since Eden was particularly human now.

'Right.'

Eden closed his eyes to calm down.

"Hmm?"

Emilie halted, as she didn't notice Eden's presence around her.

She turned around, noticing Eden still standing there while lowering his head, perhaps thinking about something.

"What's with him? Did I say something wrong?"

She felt slightly concerned.

"Hey, Ran–!"

She was about to call him, but then she stopped remembering what Eden thought when she called him "Rank one," instead of using his name.

Sigh!

She did realize that it was kind of rude of her. So, she cleared her throat, calling out,

"Hey, Eden!"

"?!"

Eden's eyes burst open after hearing Emilie's voice.

"What are you doing there? Let's go already! Don't you want to see our classroom?

Hearing her comment, Eden gently smiled, replying,

"I do. Let's go then, Emilie."

Not using 'Lady' anymore, Eden started walking away with Emilie.

He did realize one thing:

'The past is past,'

Then he smiled at Emilie, adding,

'My present is different. So, let's appreciate it.'

"Say,"

Emilie finally called out.

"Why were you calling me 'My Lady' in the first place? I hope it won't be because I'm from a wealthy family, though."

Well, Eden didn't exactly know how to respond here since it was a habit of his.

So, he came to a clever decision, stating,

"Well, frankly, it's because I appreciate your beauty. Of course, I'm not a pervert here; I'm just being genuinely honest with you."

"Your beauty reminds me of a certain goddess, so like people admire goddesses and call them by adding Lady to their names, I just did the same. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way."

He stayed honest with no flattery, no deception, just the plain truth.

"Oh, I see."

Emilie, for the first time, giggled, responding,

"You're weird, you know, Eden."

"Well, it is what it is."

Eden scratched the back of his neck while smiling.

'I'm weird just for you.'

He sighed inwardly as his gaze sharpened. He added,

'I couldn't give a damn to others. I just care about you and the other six. Despite knowing that you're with me now, my revenge won't be over yet.'

'Even if I meet every fragment of my lady, I won't stay calm unless I drink the blood of heaven itself. Making them pay for everything that they had done to me. No one shall be forgiven—absolutely no one! I will annihilate their very lives, just like they did with mine.'

While Eden was contemplating, shortly they reached the classroom.

"Let's go."

Emilie walked inside while Eden watched her.

'One is here; six more are left to be found. Well, let's wear this facade of a curious and naive boy around her; maybe this will make her feel at ease around me.'

Thinking about it, he entered the classroom, his crimson eyes glinting. He added,

'My true self shall remain a mystery to her because it's only for those whose death count has already been started!'