Chapter 50: Morning Star (7)

Estelia Academy was divided into two main faculties: the Faculty of Knights and the Faculty of Magic.

Although they both pursued the same goal of transcendence, they followed separate paths that couldn't coexist—the path of magic and the path of martial arts.

It was only natural for them to be distinct from each other. However, it was not unusual for students from different faculties to be seen in each other's buildings. There were many tasks that required students from different faculties to come together, such as joint projects or assignments given by the academy.

Yet, when a student from the Faculty of Magic entered the building of the Faculty of Knights, all the students from the latter couldn't help but focus their attention on this newcomer.

With snow-white hair, and eyes resembling translucent amethyst irises.

Only one person with such an appearance existed in Estelia Academy at the moment. A magician prodigy who stands on par with Erthuwen in the empire. There was no one here who did not know the characteristics of the Edelweiss duchy's blood relatives.

Elena Edelweiss. The girl with that name walked through the Knights Faculty building, leaving behind countless gazes directed at her.

While it wasn't unusual for a student from the Faculty of Magic to visit, this particular instance piqued curiosity. Students wondered why Elena had come to the Knights Faculty and what her purpose was.

However, Elena had no obligation to satisfy their curiosity. She ignored the directed gazes and turned her head, searching for someone who might be present.

'Did something happen?'

She started to worry unnecessarily about someone who couldn't be found no matter how hard she looked.

Even if something happened at the academy, there wouldn't be much to worry about apart from being caught by a professor. But just a few days ago, Damian, the person she was looking for, had fought against the infiltrating heretics here.

So, it was natural for her to be more cautious.

She waited at the place where they always met, but he didn't show up even after several minutes.

Since Damian was the type to inform in advance if he couldn't make it, Elena had valid reasons to think that something might have happened to him. His absence without a word was unusual. Could it be that he had been attacked by the heretics again?

'No, it's not possible, but...'

Elena immediately shook her head to dismiss such assumptions.

However, the surroundings were eerily quiet, making it difficult to maintain that line of thinking. If it was the person she knew, he would have caused some sort of disturbance to inform her of any changes happening to him. Even in unforeseen circumstances, Damian wouldn't act alone since they had promised to face everything together. Therefore, it was highly likely that he couldn't come due to a deeply personal matter.

"Um, excuse me, first-year Knight student. Do you know where Damian Kraus is?"

In the end, Elena grabbed a passing student and asked the question. The student seemed flustered by her sudden question, but he was able to provide an answer.

"Damian...? Ah, Damian Kraus. He was on his way to the main building garden with Prince Orcus earlier. But is something wrong...?"

"I see. Thank you for the answer."

After receiving the answer, Elena immediately ran towards the main garden where he was said to be, leaving the student who answered her question behind.

The answer had been found through the student's response.

However, Elena continued to search for Damian without stopping. Although it had initially started out of concern, she knew that she didn't have to look for him. Yet, she still walked toward where Damian was.

In fact, Elena herself was well aware of it.

She kept telling herself that she came to find him out of worry, but in reality, that wasn't the case.

The emotion Elena was feeling now was a sense of deprivation, as if something had been taken away from her.

It seemed absurd.

The promise she had made with Damian was the kind that could easily be canceled if the timing didn't align. It wasn't a meeting that required their presence together or the completion of a shared task. It was simply a formal and occasional gathering to exchange updates on the situation.

But even so, Elena knew that there was no falsehood in the emotion she was feeling. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something that should have been exclusively her time with him had been taken away.

Perhaps it was because the other party was Orcus that she was reacting so sensitively.

He was also from the Faculty of Magic, so there was a certain expectation of what topic Orcus would bring up when he purposely sought out Damian.

How did it end up like this...

Elena kept questioning herself as she ran.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have acted like this. It was not uncommon for meetings to fall through due to circumstances beyond their control. It wasn't a significant enough event to elicit this kind of reaction.

But ever since Damian danced with Noel at the ball, something had started to change. Since that day, she had become fixated on the time they spent alone together.

The same place, the same actions, the same time, but everything felt different from before. She didn't want to miss a single moment and didn't want to share it with anyone else.

Although she had already turned back time once, she had never felt this emotion in her previous life. That was why she knew that this strange feeling she didn't know was the cause, but she couldn't give a clear answer on what to do.

As she stepped out of the building, she immediately saw the two standing in the garden. Damian, standing next to Orcus, with his golden hair glistening in the sunlight, was noticeable even from a distance.

When Elena spotted Damian, she calmed her breathing and slowly approached the place where they stood.

"So..."

As the distance between them closed, bits of their conversation began to reach Elena's ears. She didn't have to use magic to enhance her hearing, but the voice of Orcus talking to Damian was enough for her to hear.

However, because of that, Elena couldn't help but halt her steps as she approached them.

"So, now between you and Lady Elena. There's nothing between you and her, right?"

Upon hearing Orcus's words, Elena felt as if her chest had been stabbed by a sharp dagger. The fate she had changed for the first time after her regression. But who could have known that it would become the very thing she wanted to undo the most?

At that moment, she wanted to immediately refute Orcus's words with a reason, but the fact that she couldn't say anything only further tormented Elena's heart.

But above all, the most agonizing fact was that Damian didn't deny anything Orcus was saying. Orcus' words continued to drive a wedge into Elena's already messed-up mind.

"In that case, Damian. It may be a bit strange to ask such a question and say this, but what about getting engaged to Noel?"

Upon hearing those words from Orcus' mouth, Elena didn't wait to hear the rest and hastily fled from the scene. She closed her eyes and covered her ears, escaping into a world where nothing could be seen or heard.

She wasn't curious about whether Damian responded to Orcus' words.

No, she didn't want to hear it.

***

"Interesting, isn't it? Lady Elena."

Under the warm sunlight, Orcus' golden hair glistened.

Interesting indeed. When I think of our meeting before the regression, it definitely fits the description of interesting. But since he never knew it, what he was talking about must be our meeting before I came to the Kraus family.

It was a memory from quite a long time ago, but unlike other memories, it remained vividly in my mind. How could I forget something like this? This memory, which was nothing short of a turning point in my life, was like an eternal, unchanging gem.

Hailey seemed frozen, unable to react in time to Orcus' sudden appearance. Well, considering that just a moment ago she seemed relaxed as if she were about to fall asleep, it was already a good thing that she didn't turn pale and retreat when the prince suddenly appeared before her.

I stood in front of Hailey, shielding her from Orcus' view, and cautiously greeted him.

"Greetings, the Sun of the Empire. It is an honor that you remember our meeting."

Orcus' expression twitched as if he felt something strange about my response. There shouldn't be any mistakes in my etiquette, so why did he react like that?

Perhaps he noticed the change in his own face because he quickly smiled as if nothing had happened and replied nonchalantly.

"Haha. My apologies. The sunlight is too strong, that's all."

Well then, let's pretend that nothing just happened, he was saying that indirectly. As expected, he couldn't have missed me furrowing my brows at his face just a moment ago.

In response, I also replied with a light smile.

"By the way, I should have started with congratulations. Congratulations on your engagement. Lady Elena. Although it may not be a blessing from Avamama, I wish happiness for both of you in the future."

The light emanating from Orcus' hand turned into particles and scattered over the corridor. The warm sunlight's gentle warmth permeated my whole body, undoubtedly a pleasant feeling. But whether it was because of the sacredness of the foreign gods or because Orcus himself was the subject of the blessing, it didn't feel as good as when I received a blessing before, even though it was undoubtedly a powerful sacredness.

I smiled brightly and expressed my gratitude for his good intentions.

"Not at all. Thank you for your kind words."

Then, his face contorted again.

Does he always do that whenever I smile? Is this just my imagination? Orcus, too, seemed aware of that fact and looked a bit embarrassed as he gazed out the window and replied.

"Well... The sunlight is really dazzling today..."

For someone who possesses the divinity of the sun to blame it on the sunlight. There was really no excuse more cunning than this.

As if trying to change the subject, Orcus cleared his throat. Turning his head back to me, he spoke with a more serious expression than before.

"Setting that aside, your presence here means that Lord Damian is also here, right? Do you happen to know where he is?"

Compared to our previous conversation, Orcus' face, which now asked about Damian's whereabouts, seemed slightly shadowed. Even without him explicitly mentioning it, I could guess the reason behind it.

I shook my head in response to his question.

"I'm sorry. I don't know where he went either."

It wasn't entirely unpredictable where he might be, but it wasn't a lie to say that I only knew he went to find Alphonse.

As I answered that way, Orcus wore an expression of difficulty and muttered quietly, "Looks like it's a mess..." Then, he bid farewell, saying we should meet again, and disappeared from my sight once more.

Now that he was out of sight, I regained my composure to some extent and spoke to Hailey.

"Hailey, would you mind going to the room first? I just need to stop by somewhere and I'll be back."

"What? Where are you going, Miss?"

"The training ground."

After saying that, I immediately headed towards the exit of the castle. The steps leading there felt light, as if I had cast a spell.

It seemed that the reunion with an old friend would happen sooner than I had anticipated.

--- END OF CHAPTER ---

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