After the first class of the day wrapped up, Kain and Rosalina made their way down the steps of the Liberal Arts building.
"Caelus never showed up," Kain said. "Do you really think he got expelled?"
"There's no way," she snapped. "Taylor and the crown prince were pardoned, so there's no reason why Caelus wouldn't have been either."
"I mean... He did threaten Prince Asta's life."
"It was justified, for Prince Asta threatened his life."
"Do you think the college will see it that way?"
Rosalina hesitated, then let out a sigh.
"They must. If this college truly doesn't care about statuses like they claim, they'll understand. Besides, Professor Silva Ains witnessed it, and she's Caelus's Dark Magic professor, isn't she?"
"Well, if the college really is the chivalrous entity as you say it is, then she wouldn't let her bias get in the way of determining his fate."
"Tch... Dammit."
Out of nowhere, Kain bumped his elbow into her arm. Just when she was ready to blow up on him, she stopped when she noticed his easy smile.
"Chin up, Rosalina. You were never one to sour the mood. Don't let it be the case this time. We don't know if he really was expelled, so until we do, we should keep our hopes up."
"Hah. House Diadalin should know that hope only leads to disappointment."
"Maybe. But hope is what got us that far to begin with. Just because something seems unlikely doesn't mean we should outright disregard the possibility."
For a moment, Rosalina couldn't say anything. All she could do was look at him, trying to act cool, but it was strange... because he actually did look cool. After snapping back into reality, she played it off.
"W-whatever..." she mumbled.
"Pfft~ You ran out of things to say or something?" Kain chuckled. "That's unlike you. Whatever happened to the witch of the bog, Rosalina Sigurdia, always having a comeback to everything I—"
She smacked him across the arm, sending forth a loud, echoing sound akin to the strike of thunder.
Kain looked up with a face of disbelief, then down at his arm, then back up at her.
"Ow?!"
"You deserved that," she mumbled.
"Eh?! How?!"
She didn't answer. Instead, she inched forward along the path, holding her hands behind her back. The winds brushed against her hair, swaying the strands like a waterfall of snow. Cold was the air, yet she did not feel it.
Something was off.
Elsewhere within the college, in a laboratory room for alchemy, Castorica Lancinox was resting at a table with her chin on her hand. She lost her focus when her eyes locked onto a vial of liquid. It was a mesh of cyan and pink — together in one, but never mixing.
All around her, students were bolting around, carrying jars and ingredients needed for whatever ungodly creation they had next in mind. But for Castorica, she didn't reflect their enthusiasm.
A loose sigh escaped her, and the young lady next to her noticed. She was a lady of a small noble family in the countryside of Vectis — a small, frail thing with short brown hair and round hazel eyes behind big glasses.
"Something wrong, Casty?" she asked like a cute mouse.
"Ah... no. Sorry, Lily," Castorica mumbled, the fatigue clear as day in her angelic sapphire eyes. "It's just... something on my mind."
"That's new. I don't remember you ever being bothered by menial things. Must be pretty important if it's got you tied in a knot."
"Well... yeah. I guess you could say that."
While Lily continued working on the alchemy set in front of her, another group of students approached them.
"Hey, Castorica!" the young man at the forefront greeted her. "The guys and I are gonna go grab some lunch. You and Lily wanna tag along?"
"Lunch?" she scoffed. "Do you really think you'll have time for that, Gideon? We have an exam for our alchemy class later today."
"Ahh, it's not that big of a deal. I already studied a ton last night. Even borrowed a whole alchemy set from the Student Resource Center."
"Pfft, you went all out, huh?"
"I had to! You've been in Professor Lao's class for just as long as I have. Rest assured, if you run into a question you think we've never been taught, you're probably right."
Castorica let out a wholehearted laugh, which made Gideon's heart flutter. It was hard for him to approach her at the start of the semester, but after they began to get along, he looked at her with nothing but affection.
"Hmm... Maybe I will go," Castorica said after a brief pause. "I do feel my stomach punching at me from the inside. What about you, Lily?"
"No thanks, Casty," she replied. "There are still some things I don't understand about the current lesson. I'd rather have everything covered before moving on to the next; otherwise, I'm gonna go into that exam feeling unprepared. Then it's gonna stress me out. And when I get stressed out during exams, I freeze up! And if I freeze up, I'm gonna—"
"Alright, alright~ I get it. Looks like it's a no-go for Lily."
The group let out a collective, "Aww..."
"D-don't do that to me, guys!" she squeaked. "You're being really bad influences right now!"
"It's because you're cute, Lily," Castorica winked as she stood up. "Alright. Let's go."
Together, the group made their way out of the alchemy lab, but they were stopped by a mob of students crowding near the window. Incoherent murmurs filled the hall as more and more ran over to witness whatever commotion lay outside.
"Huh. What's going on?" Gideon asked.
"Only one way to find out," Castorica scoffed as she walked over. "I wonder what it'll be this time. Another public confession? A fight between two man-children, perhaps? Or how... a-about..."
Her words were caught in her throat, unable to make the dramatic exit they were always destined for.
Walking by his lonesome was a man who previously exuded no presence whatsoever, yet his mana pressure was now leaking and could be felt even from this second-floor window. Once, people looked at him with mockery and contempt, but now the eyes of the spectators fell nothing short of awe.
His black hair swept across his face amid the cold wind. His robe from the Faculty of Magic swayed with every step. Gone were his overly thick glasses, as they had been destroyed from his previous altercation with the crown prince, and in their place were a pair of apathetic and utterly disdainful lavender eyes.
Naturally, the crowd could not contain its chatter.
"Hey... That's Caelus de Luvelaine. The guy who challenged the crown prince just yesterday."
"He didn't just challenge him. He stood up for Princess Aria against that bully!"
"Speak no foul words against His Royal Highness, or he'll have your neck. Still... to have the guts to take Princess Aria's side right in front of her brother was a move I have to respect."
"And he probably would've won if that professor hadn't shown up! What was her name again...? Anyway, you heard about it too, right?"
"Yeah. That so-called fallen noble down there is a certified Fourth-Circle mage — and thus far, a lot of ignorant students have made him their enemy."
"Hmm... Isn't he kind of... cute? Without his glasses, which he always wears."
Castorica, along with her group of friends, stopped in awe from the side. Gideon put his arm against the window and scoffed.
"Well, would you look at that," he said. "What a guy, huh? Came out of nowhere and became the talk of the empire for all the wrong reasons. And now, he's on the rise. Speaking of which, there was... a weird rumor circulating about you and him, Castorica, but it's all just nonsense, right?"
He waited for a sweet and playfully sarcastic voice to answer, but he did not receive it.
"...Castorica?" he called out once more.
Still, she did not answer. Instead, she slowly walked up, the clamor of the hallway fading behind her. Her eyes widened, and her lips parted just slightly. Then, without warning, she broke into a sprint.
"W-wha—?! Castorica?!" Gideon exclaimed.
"I'm gonna have to sit this one out!" she shouted back. "You guys enjoy, though!"
Before Gideon could say anything else, she had disappeared into the crowd.
"Is she... going to meet that guy down there?" asked one of the friends behind.
"But if she is, then the rumor—"
"Isn't true," Gideon snapped. "There's no way it's true."
He stood there to process his thoughts for a moment before turning back to the window. Just beyond, Caelus was steadily making his way across the campus.