Chapter 9

“Bringing that up out of nowhere when it’s been so long since we’ve all gathered.”

Muttering with a pout, Ciera lowered her body slightly. The friends, each having been buried in their own assignments, had finally gathered in the student cafeteria for the first time in days.

“Is that really true?”

While the other friends poked fun, Kisha, who had been quietly nodding along, asked softly. Tislin shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know if ghosts actually exist. It just seems like there was a commotion because someone saw something that looked like one.”

“Ugh, creepy.”

Irina’s face contorted as she answered. Yet, her hand bringing a spoonful of pudding to her mouth didn’t hesitate for a second. As the other three stared at her, Irina blinked and replied nonchalantly.

“What? What does a ghost have to do with pudding? The living still need to eat.”

“She’s not wrong, though. It’s rare for something like this to even be served at the school cafeteria.”

“They donate so much money, yet where on earth do they spend it all if the meals are this lousy?”

When Tislin entered the Royal Academy, the Count of Ermiz family had sent a donation worth about three times her entrance fee. Kisha’s family, the Count of Maris family—whose financial situation was similar to Count Ermiz’s—must have contributed a comparable amount as well. As for the Marquis of Fontine, who cherished his only granddaughter dearly, he likely paid more than triple that amount.

Irina’s father, Baron Kirshi—a former banker—must have sent an astronomical donation if only to protect his reputation, though it was hard to even guess the exact figure.

‘I wonder if it’s comparable to the donation His Grace the Grand Duke made when Damien enrolled?’

Even as he ground his teeth over his beloved disciple being snatched away by the Royal Academy overnight, the Grand Duke of Luxen had not hesitated to pay a massive donation for his disciple’s sake. Regardless of the nervous tug-of-war between the King and the Grand Duke, the only winner was the Royal Academy, which landed both a massive donation and Damien Xsanov.

At any rate, despite receiving all those donations, the Royal Academy cafeteria maintained a food quality that was merely edible. One could almost feel their resolve never to put a single extra penny’s worth of quality into the mouths of the students paying those donations.

To be fair, the school did have dining halls with better food—such as the cafeteria on the second floor of the Central Plaza, or the faculty restaurant near the Dean’s office. But going to places like that every single day was out of the question.

“His Highness Anatis enrolled this year, yet nothing has changed.”

“Isn’t this pudding the change?”

When Irina poked at her remaining pudding and asked, Ciera grimaced.

“Just this?”

“Shh.”

Tislin and Kisha, who were sitting side-by-side facing the door, quickly hushed Ciera.

“Why?”

“You wouldn’t like it either if someone talked about you behind your back.”

When Tislin worded it that way so Ciera wouldn’t turn around, Ciera seemed to understand and nodded. Prince Anatis was walking through the cafeteria doors.

The noisy chatter inside the cafeteria fell into a strange silence.

“Hmm. Is it usually this quiet?”

Only after the prince muttered that did everyone gradually start talking again, though the fact that every ear remained tuned to his words remained unchanged. Truth be told, Tislin’s table was no exception.

The prince was accompanied by a student wearing the emblem of the Department of Knighthood. It was fascinating to see them interacting so comfortably, as if they were old acquaintances.

Then again, in terms of status, Lady Adelinde of the Grand Duke’s family—who was just as noble as the prince—was as innocent and lively as a little child whenever she was around Tislin or Damien. Prince Anatis was two years younger than Tislin and three years older than Adelinde, so it was hardly strange for him to hang around a friend of similar standing.

Even so…

“I thought I’d be able to see Sir Xsanov once I entered the Royal Academy. Daif, you’re in the Department of Knighthood, right? Have you seen Sir Xsanov?”

Why is it Damien’s name again? Tislin almost choked on the food in her mouth.

“I thought I’d be able to see Sir Xsanov once I entered the Royal Academy.”

Fortunately, her friends were focused on Prince Anatis’s conversation and didn’t catch her expression. Swallowing her food quickly, Tislin set her cutlery down completely just in case. Since there was no telling what might be said next, she didn’t even dare drink water.

“You haven’t seen him?”

“No, Your Highness. I haven’t seen him yet.”

I thought they were friends, but I guess not? Ciera muttered softly. Tislin lightly shrugged her shoulders.

“Make sure to tell me what he’s like once you see him. Brother entered the Department of Knighthood all by himself and actually got to meet Sir Xsanov…”

The Crown Prince Castro, Prince Anatis’s older brother, entering the Department of Knighthood was certainly unusual, but it was by no means to meet Damien. The Crown Prince had enrolled at the Royal Academy two years before Damien, and after Damien transferred in June, they only studied together for half a year before the Crown Prince graduated.

Since those details weren’t in the prince’s head at all, he simply stood there with a pouting face.

Tislin had often seen men in Luxen showing that kind of admiration toward Damien. At times, such men were even more enthusiastic than the women who liked him—even though Damien himself was equally indifferent to both men and women.

“Right. If you meet such a great knight, you’ll learn a lot. If needed, you may use my name.”

The prince spoke generously. Then, after taking a bite of the meal he received from the cafeteria, he let out a sharp sigh and put his spoon down. Knowing that all eyes were on him, he refrained from spitting the food out.

“He had to order that of all things. I guess the upperclassmen didn’t warn him never to order soup at the cafeteria.”

Well, it’s obvious he doesn’t have friends from the same department. Everyone exchanged knowing glances, sharing the exact same thought.

The four of them rose from their seats to prevent their conversation from drifting into badmouthing the prince for no reason.

“Speaking of Sir Xsanov… Tis, didn’t Sir Xsanov come looking for you the other day?”

Ah. This topic finally came up.

Tislin had already guessed that Irina and Kisha had been holding back their curiosity out of consideration for her when she was buried under her assignments.

Although the incident of Damien coming to find her had been pushed aside by the wave of coursework, no one had completely forgotten about it.

“Uh, well. He did.”

“Is your family acquainted with the Grand Duke’s family of Luxen?”

Tislin rolled her eyes. She couldn’t possibly tell Irina and Kisha about the engagement.

The two were good friends and would certainly try to keep Tislin’s secret. However, both of them frequently interacted with Viera’s high society, and both had personalities that made keeping secrets difficult in different ways.

“Uh, it was because of the assignment.”

“Right, you two are partners for the assignment. But Sir Xsanov came looking for you before the assignments were given out.”

Why are you needlessly sharp right now!

“Maybe he found out in advance. Since he’s really busy and couldn’t make it to class that day…”

“He was told in advance? By the professor? That’s a bit unfair.”

“I mean, that is…”

As Tislin’s face gradually turned red from trying to make up an excuse, Ciera noticed her struggle and quickly turned the subject.

“Well, how would she know the exact details? More importantly, what was that about the ghost?”

Tislin desperately wanted to jump on that topic, but unfortunately, that was the extent of her knowledge. Luckily, Irina spoke up first.

“Well, their martial arts tournament is in May, right? Maybe someone saw something while training late at night.”

“Then they must have just misseen it because it was dark.”

“Kisha, isn’t your fiancé in the Department of Knighthood too?”

“I don’t talk to him.”

Kisha, who rarely spoke in such a firm tone, cut her off with rare coldness. It seemed she had gotten into another massive fight with her fiancé, who was a year younger than her. Yet despite cutting the topic off so harshly, she still slyly dropped a piece of information.

“They say those guys take all sorts of weird supplements to build muscle. They probably experienced a group hallucination.”

“I wish the students in the Magic Department would take those too,” Ciera muttered, resting her chin on her hand, before gesturing toward Kisha. “The guys in the Knighthood Department are impossible to talk to, but they have great bodies, right?”

Kisha let out a sound of disgust, while Irina burst into a loud laugh.

Ciera’s gaze briefly flicked toward Tislin testingly, as if saying, ‘You know too, right?’ Tislin squeezed her eyes shut, but her mind involuntarily recalled a past memory.

It was before either Tislin or Damien enrolled in the Royal Academy, at the training grounds of the Grand Duke’s residence in Luxen. Deep blue eyes looking down, a hand wiping away sweat dripping from beneath his chin, and clothes clinging tightly to his body.

It was a embarrassing memory of having to hide behind a pillar until her flushed face cooled down. To make matters worse, Damien had spotted her back then.

‘Tis. What are you doing there?’

“Tis. What are you doing there?”

The moment she heard that voice, her breath had caught, and she had covered her mouth and squatted down on the spot. She wouldn’t react like that now, but back then, she was naive.

“What’s this? What are you thinking about that’s making your face so red?”

“My goodness, Tis. Do you perhaps have someone in the Department of Knighthood…?”

This girl can’t even take a hint when I try to save her. Shaking her head in mock pity, Ciera scooped Tislin up to rescue her.

“Goodness. I’ll interrogate her thoroughly.”

“Inquisitor Fontine. I leave it in your capable hands.”

At Irina’s sudden roleplay, Ciera giggled and bowed deeply from the waist.

“Yes, Your Eminence.”

Escorted to the dormitory by Inquisitor Fontine, the heretic Ermiz promptly begged for mercy.

“I have nothing to say for myself.”

“Right. I can’t keep saving your skin forever, you know.”

She’s completely right.

Tislin had to decide whether to find a way to hide her cursed complexion or come up with a decent excuse. To be completely honest, the latter seemed far more likely.

“Still, I think Irina and Kisha both know you have someone you like.”

At this point, Tislin had given up on that part. According to Arkin Rudera, most of the young nobles in the Grand Duchy of Luxen already knew she liked Damien, so what did it matter if Irina and Kisha knew too?

“At least it’s a relief that rumors haven’t spread in the Department of Knighthood.”

“Damien isn’t the type to go around gossiping in the first place, and Arkin Rudera must have kept his mouth shut.”

“Hmm. Anyway, if you really plan to break off the engagement, you better be careful. You do realize you’ve just been lucky so far, right?”

If things went even slightly wrong, news of her engagement to Damien Xsanov could spread across the entire school. Just as Ciera said, she had simply been lucky up until now; otherwise, rumors would have spread long ago.

“Besides, you just can’t seem to talk properly whenever you’re in front of Sir Xsanov.”

“It’s not really something I can control… but I still have to try.”

Ciera crossed her arms and warned her firmly.

“You said you have to go all the way to the Department of Knighthood to work on your assignment, right? If you get caught then, it’s all over.”

“I’ll be careful!”

“You might be careful, but will Sir Xsanov be? He probably doesn’t care whether rumors spread or not. And if you didn’t plan on breaking off the engagement, you wouldn’t be worrying so much about rumors either.”

That’s true.

Tislin nodded her head. If she genuinely intended to marry Damien, she would have stamped the contract firmly and been done with it. The embarrassment caused by spreading rumors would have been a secondary matter.

“As soon as you see him, tell him right away—ask him to keep it a secret. He’ll listen to you, right?”

“Probably?”

Even if breaking off the engagement was a different story, he would probably grant a small favor like that.

If Tislin had heard a request like that from Damien, she would have felt deeply hurt and sorrowful, but since Damien didn’t feel the same way about her, he wouldn’t mind. It would be fine.

“Right. I have to do that.”

Tislin repeatedly steeled her resolve, promising herself that she would say it directly without flustering.

Ciera watched with a worried expression as Tislin kept whispering to herself under her breath: “Please keep our engagement a secret.”