Chapter 27

"See you later guys." Said Namiku whose voice was more cheerful than usual. Her face was brimming with excitement as she quickly tugged them away.

"..."

Andrew and Rinca could only wave their goodbyes. A moment like that reminded them that the princess, whose strength could overpower both of them, was afterall, the daughter of "THE KING".

"Take care, Viola." Said Rizaul who not long after went ahead to his classroom.

"..."

Note's feelings of jealousy towards Andrew completely dissipated, as his face quickly crumbled in disbelief towards the green-haired elf.

"Excuse us then, Miss Viola. Oi oi oi! Wait for me, you ELF!"

As Viola smiled and watched them from afar, she could not help but be nervous, yet a rush of excitement still managed to fill her heart.

She was nervous, as aside from Naell who she had mixed feelings for (Mostly she felt fear), she didn't know anyone in her class. Nonetheless, she was excited, as just like other mages, Viola too, was in pursuit of new magic and knowledge.

'I can do this!' She thought to herself in an attempt to calm her nerves.

Viola at some point, with her good looks and her friendship with the good-looking Andrew and Rizaul, was often bad-mouthed. The impression she gave that was always good at first, would often be clouded by fits of jealousy towards her.

Had it not been for Rinca, she might have completely lost interest in making friends with other girls. That was why Viola was always thankful for all her friends.

As she walked to her classroom which was on the other side of the campus, (The Martial arts Department of Aura on the right, and both the Department of Magic and the General Department at the left)

Viola could not help but notice the disparity between the classes; martial artists were occupying most rooms, while the scholars and mages shared the same side of the building, only having one section for mages. Nevertheless, it had been the norm for a long time now, as mages were rarer than arts.

Upon entering, Viola felt the gazes of the other mages, whose numbers only reached 10. Upon noticing an empty chair amidst the front row of six ladies, Viola then walked over, plopped her bag down and calmly took a seat. The remaining four boys, however, were seated at the back, chatting among themselves.

Truly she felt fear as she anxiously felt their gazes, but soon calmed down as they smiled and greeted her.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Said the closest girl whose hair resembled Rinca's while somehow matching the cheerfulness of Namiku.

"Hello, nice to meet you as well." Viola's voice made all of them captivated. Afterall, her charming manner and beauty often left a very warm impression.

'She's cute...' All of them thought, even the boys who were uninterested wanted to exchange greetings with Viola, but before they could even do so, the door once again opened.

Then she entered, a woman wearing an attire differing from their uniforms. She was beautiful, yet in a different way from Viola. Her mage robe was fashionably worn with her other clothes.

She was exuding authority under her smile. As she approached and seated, she then felt the nervousness of some students and thought,

'How cute.'

All of the students then stood up and greeted her politely. She then smiled giving the hint that she was pleased with their manners.

"Goodmorning students. My name is Moni, and I'll be your adviser for the whole semester. Let us all get along." Moni's blue eyes and ash blue hair were cool despite having a warm yet intimidating voice.

Moni with a [ poof ] summoned forth papers onto her table. Wasting no time, she then called each of their names one by one,

"Lesjon Star." --- Present.

"Naell Beryldot." ...

"Viola Lumiheal." --- Present!

"..." --- Present.

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"Two are absent, huh." Moni's voice of disappointment was very clear to them, yet the students felt their absence was no surprise at all.

It was no secret that one of the policies of Esuela Dio sa de stated that students were not required to attend classes, but the failure of passing all the examinations would result in their expulsion.

Naell at that time when he read the school's policies was delighted, more so, upon getting the curriculum as he knew he could study all the things in the school's library.

Going back, Moni truly was dissatisfied, yet as a professional, she tried to explain with a soft voice while eyeing all the students.

"Certainly, it's no secret that martial artists are far larger in number compared to us mages. The same goes for scholars who could not be gifted with aura or magic--- and even those who had chosen to take major studies unrelated to those gifts..."

Neatly lining the papers onto her desk, Moni continued in an almost sympathetic tone.

"Yet, even scholars are far more plentiful than us mages--- we that some now call, dying breed."

As she said that, all of the students were now anticipating her next words. Most of them knew of the professor, as she, in her own right, was a famous mage. Not to mention, being employed in that school, already gave prestige to her name.

"As you might know, one factor that contributed to our decline was because of our tendency to seclusion. Such is the case with, perhaps the two students who are not present here."

Moni upon seeing their faces, smiled. She knew they understood what she was saying. Nonetheless, she was still disappointed, as she was actually expecting the two absentees, especially the young master of Beryldot.

In truth, all her curiosity started when Naell's examination became rather unusual. Even the other facilitators who knew of the matter were surprised, as getting a consistent 88 percent with the three exams was just absurd, to begin with.

'If it was a coincidence, then that is fine, but if not--- and he is hiding his capabilities... I guess that too is also fine. It's just really amazing to have that kind of control!'

Viola and the rest felt awkward, as their professor who seemed to be deep in thought, stood frozen for seconds longer than what was comfortable.

Luckily for them, Moni was brought back to her senses by her professionalism and experience. So with a cough for an excuse, she continued on,

"Of course it is a policy, so I have no qualms about it, but I do hope you students who are present today will not be like them."

Viola was feeling perplexed about the discussion. She could not help but remember Andrew's unusual awakening, yet even if they wanted to share that information, they couldn't do so without at least studying about it.

Not to mention, tipping the balance of what they had at the moment could very well lead to war. It could also be said that even the risks should be studied further.

Still, she was grateful, as she knew Sarah Star would truly do research about it, and perhaps in time, they would discover a way to safely make more mages in the process.

The lecture quickly went on. At the very least, Viola was happy as her classmates were all friendly and warm.

It might have just been Moni's way of teaching, but the entire class--- all ten of them, was fully engaged. None of them had noticed that their class was nearing their dismissal, as they were only reminded when the school bells rang.

As Viola began heading towards the dormitory, she heard a voice calling out to her.

"There she is! Viola~" Namiku's voice was so loud that some students could not help but be startled. Yet seeing it was the famous princess of the east, they went on with their ways. Nonetheless, Andrew and the others could only sigh and smile towards their overly-cheerful friend.

"Everyone..." Viola was happy to see all of them waiting for her. Shortly then, Rinca with a concerned voice said, as she held her friend's hand,

"How are you?"

Viola saw all their concerned faces. She could not help but smile knowing she was gifted with friends whom she didn't deserve.

She was still so young when her parents mysteriously disappeared, but she could at least remember their warmth and care.

When she thought she had to live on her own, it was then out of kindness that the chieftain of their village took care of her. She was grateful that even the villagers were kind and helpful, yet even with all those good moments, troubles soon befell her life.

It was purely out of jealousy and immaturity, but her peers blamed her for their misery. Saying it was her fault that her parents had left her, that she was a cursed child and that even the famine they were facing was her fault.

As a kid, it was too much for her to bear, resulting in her reclusive behavior. She never felt she deserved the kindness she was receiving. That was why it was normal for her to run away and leave for her own.

Yet after some time, her only living relative, an older cousin, managed to find her and give her the scolding of her life.

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Suddenly, tears started flowing down Viola's eyes. She felt the emotions that had built inside her become immense feelings of joy and nothing else.

Misunderstanding the situation, Andrew and the rest were shocked, and not even a second later, Rinca's chilling aura could be felt over her already furious expression.

"Where is he? What did he do?" Even Namiku's voice who was usually cheerful was at that moment, emitting a tiger-like aura from her amber eyes.

Other students were frightened at how the princess could emit such aura befitting her bloodline. Not to mention, Rinca's aura was already suffocating some students.

Luckily, before they could eventually hunt down the wimpy Baron's son, Viola's words softened their furious heart.

"Wait! I'm just... really glad to actually have all of you..." Viola then further explained why she was crying at the canteen where they eventually headed.

Her embarrassed expression and somewhat blushing skin made all of them laugh. Yet Note's tactless words as he turned to his cousin took a toll for the worse,

"You should have seen the look on your face! Glowing like that while you were being all "fierce" and "growly", Hahaha!"

It could be said that after his blunder, Note's head had two growing lumps that lasted for hours.