Chapter 283: Cursed Lily

"I’m curious... very curious," Vlad replied, his eyes turning ahead again.

"Then—"

"Because it doesn’t really matter," Vlad continued, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Wanting to know about you is my curiosity, not a necessity. Whatever identity you hold, you will still be my friend, still be Lily for me."

A breeze swept through the forest, blowing Lily’s hair back and revealing her slightly widened eyes and parted lips as she looked at Vlad.

"Besides," Vlad said, looking at her with a guilty smile. "I’m also keeping many secrets, not just from you but also from my family and loved ones. But it doesn’t really change who I am. We all wish to have some place where we can be true to our personality and character without the burden of responsibilities and titles. I’m glad that I can be that place for you."

A low gasp escaped her lips, her eyes slowly lowering. For the first time in the several centuries she had lived...

Her heart was racing as she looked at someone.

’Wh-what is this feeling?’ she muttered, her hand moving to her chest.

"Lily, you alright?" Vlad asked, noticing her knees pulled up to her chin, her face tinted slightly red.

"J-just a little cold," Lily lied, her face flustered. After all, how could winter itself feel the cold?

Vlad took a jacket out of his storage ring and placed it over her shoulders. "It’s going to snow soon. You should wear warmer clothes."

Lily tugged at the collar of the jacket as if trying to hide inside it. "Vlad..." she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "I need to leave."

"Eh? All of a sudden?" he asked, his brows rising in confusion.

"I will text you when I receive a phone," she blurted, rising to her feet.

"Wait, I need to ask—"

Before he could finish his sentence, countless snowflakes suddenly spiraled around Lily, covering her completely. When they vanished, Lily was gone along with them.

"I wanted to know what the Principal likes," Vlad sighed, finishing his sentence. He wanted to apologise to her for being rude in the office.

He rose from the ground, murmuring, "I wonder what’s gotten into her so suddenly. Wait..."

His eyes widened as it dawned on him. "How am I going to leave the barrier?"

His gaze shifted to the transparent energy barrier a few metres ahead of him. There was a small, door-sized opening in it. Lily had most likely opened it to let Vlad out.

He released a sigh of relief. If he had been stuck in here, he would have missed the exam tomorrow.

"I should also hit the bed now," Vlad said, stretching his arms, finally feeling sleepy.

Meanwhile, in a different place, a certain someone might not be able to sleep at all.

---

Lily reappeared in her chambers in a swirl of vanishing snowflakes. The moment her feet touched the floor, she staggered, one hand flying to her chest.

’Am I sick?’ she muttered, sitting at the edge of the bed. ’It can’t be. My body can’t be affected by mortal disease. Or was it poison? Did someone try to assassinate me?’

Frost crept across the window as her heartbeat refused to slow, a few stray snowflakes drifting down inside the room.

She sat cross-legged on the bed and began channeling her mana to check for any poison inside her body.

There was nothing. Just to be sure, she checked five more times but still couldn’t find any trace of poison.

’Then why...’ Her eyes shifted to the jacket around her shoulders. ’Still be Lily for me.’

Vlad’s words echoed in her mind, his scent clinging to the jacket and turning her face even redder.

She couldn’t understand the reason for the sudden quickening of her heartbeat, but she was sure it had something to do with this jacket.

’A curse, then. It must be a curse. Someone put a curse on Vlad’s jacket and now it has afflicted me as well,’ she declared to herself as she took the jacket off her shoulders.

Her eyes glowed sharper, her pupils turning into snowflakes as she scanned the jacket for any hidden mana.

Obviously, she couldn’t find anything strange in the jacket either. Still, she decided to destroy it to be extra careful.

The frost crept into the fabric of the black jacket, turning it silver.

Her lips pressed into a thin line, and the frost stopped.

’I will keep it for now,’ she decided. What if the curse in the jacket spread throughout the campus once it was destroyed?

She put it away and lay on her stomach on the bed with her head buried beneath the pillow.

For the whole damn night, Vlad’s face kept appearing the moment she closed her eyes. When she opened them, his words would echo in her mind like a lullaby that wouldn’t let her sleep.

She kept shifting positions and ended up spending the entire night fighting this powerful curse.

For the next few days, she didn’t leave her room, leaving Aldric to deal with all the workload. She told Aldric that she was sick, which made no sense to him.

---

As the sun rose from the horizon, Vlad dressed in his formal academy uniform after a long time and left the dormitories.

He reached the main building together with Chloe, where they had to part ways because their seats were assigned in different halls.

As for Seraphina, he only received an "All the Best" message from her. Her exam was scheduled for a different time, so they didn’t meet.

Vlad settled at his desk in the inclined hall. A multi-page writing sheet and a blank sheet of paper had already been placed on the desk.

Soon, more students entered the hall, some wearing confident looks, some nervous, while a few seemed already dead. They were most likely going to bomb the exams.

When only five minutes remained, the invigilator entered the hall and ordered the students to take their seats.

At exactly 8.30, all the windows and doors were suddenly sealed, and the glow stones in the ceiling lit up the room.

On the blank sheet placed on the desk, content appeared in black ink.

Midterm Examinations—Semester I

Elemental Studies