Chapter 78: The Strange Feeling She Couldn’t Name.

Lily had arrived at the banquet a little late.

Unlike the other nobles, she didn’t have much money to buy flashy clothes, so she had bought a simple, inexpensive dress from the Academy City.

Not that she had ever cared much about her appearance before but ever since coming to this damned academy, things had been becoming far too strange.

Sometimes, she felt strange impulses to go somewhere for no reason as if wanting to see someone she couldn’t remember. Other times, she found herself wanting to make sure she looked perfect before going to class.

Even before coming to the banquet, she had spent nearly an hour getting ready, something she never would’ve even dreamed of doing in the past.

Am I slowly enjoying this peaceful life?

Am I slowly becoming like those other girls?

The questions echoed through her mind again and again but the strangest thing of all had happened today during the banquet.

She had suddenly felt an immense amount of bloodlust toward two other women, women she only knew about because of her mission.

But, something felt different today.

Hope Aeth Crownforge and Seles Divus Auremont.

She had felt this inexplicable rage every day towards them but today it was far stronger than usual. She couldn’t explain why but somehow it reminded her of being thrown into ice-cold water after her training sessions.

Her body felt numb and her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

What is happening to me?

She couldn’t understand it.

Then that moment came.

She felt a surge of bloodlust even denser than anything she had ever experienced before, radiating from a familiar boy as he held onto the wrist of the Prince of the Holy Empire, Ruvian.

Unlike everyone else, her senses were far too sharp to miss even a fraction of that overwhelming bloodlust but instead of surprise or fear, somehow, she felt something weird.

Everything that happened after that was practically a blur as her attention remained fixed on that damned blue-eyed boy, the one who had been annoying her for the past two days.

Zenith.

Despite deliberately making it look difficult, he won the fight with ease before being taken away by the Student Council President for a chat.

As he walked away, her attention shifted back to the banquet as she tried to distract herself from thoughts of that annoying weirdo.

She did her best to ignore the lustful and disgusting gazes at her while standing quietly in a secluded corner.

A few noble students tried to strike up a conversation with her but the cold aura of Rwar within her shadow was enough to intimidate them into keeping their distance.

She had heard a lot about the welcome banquet.

During her mission briefing, she was told about how it would be one of the most difficult phases of life at the academy.

Most senior students bullied the first-years while simultaneously trying to recruit them into their factions.

The Royalists accepted only high nobles as their core members while the Traditionalists flaunted their authority as seniors by toying with the junior students.

Meanwhile, the subtle Meritists quietly poached anyone who showed exceptional potential. Lily was sure that the Student Council President had taken Zenith away for the very same reason.

Finally, those who weren’t accepted by any of the other factions found themselves in the Collaterals. The faction was made up mostly of commoners, along with a handful of disgraced or low-ranking nobles.

But this time, things were completely different.

The eyes of every faction were fixed on Zenith.

The Royalists hated him because he had beaten one of their influential core members. The Traditionalists hated him because that member happened to be one of their seniors. The Meritists were trying to poach him while the Collaterals chose to play it safe and simply watch from the sidelines.

All in all, it ended up saving every other first-year student from being bullied by the seniors because the full brunt of their hatred was already focused on someone else.

Still, she could see a few unfortunate students being dragged away by groups of seniors. Thankfully, she avoided most of their attention and the needless trouble that came with it by quietly standing in a corner and sipping her wine alone.

"I should head back now."

Just as she was thinking about returning to her dorm, Rwar’s voice echoed in her head.

[Lily, Lily... look, that weirdo is staring at you again.]

[He is even pointing at you while talking to that other human.]

[Is he starting to suspect us? Is that why he keeps sticking so close to you?]

Lily turned her gaze in his direction and sure enough, he was chatting with his sister while pointing at her subtly.

Before he could notice her looking, she calmly looked away and asked,

Can you hear what they’re saying, Rwar?

Rwar immediately spread her senses across the vast banquet hall as the fragments of their conversation soon reached her.

"She is the one, Sis."

Rwar’s eyes widened as she filtered the voice of that annoying weirdo who had been bothering her contractor for the past two days.

The next words came even more clearly.

"She is the one I love. Her name is Lily."

As soon as Rwar heard those words, her eyes widened from within Lily’s shadow as the words escaped her lips before she could stop herself.

[...He said he loves you?!]

Lily almost spilled her drink as a faint blush spread across her cheeks while her expression went completely blank.

...What are you talking about, Rwar?

Rwar replied at once.

[It’s true, Lily. He said... he loves you!]

Lily’s gaze drifted toward him once again but as if sensing it, he looked up.

Their eyes met.

A smile spread across his face as he waved at her.

Behind him, his sister also offered an awkward smile before giving her a small wave.

Lily’s entire body froze.

She tried to act completely normal but as if controlled by invisible strings, she slowly turned one hundred and eighty degrees and without looking back even once, she walked out of the banquet hall with a stiff expression.

Only after putting a considerable distance between herself and the hall did she finally stop and realize what had just happened.

"...What just happened, Rwar?"

She asked as she took a deep breath, her face still feeling slightly warm.

"What is wrong with me?"

"Why have I been acting so strangely lately?"

Was it simply because, unlike how she had been raised as a vile being since childhood, someone was actually paying attention to her now?

She lightly slapped her cheeks to clear her mind but then Rwar’s rational voice interrupted her thoughts.

[You, my poor girl, have somehow been tricked by that playboy weirdo, Lily.]

"Playboy?"

Lily tilted her head innocently.

[You haven’t seen much of the outside world, my child but there are always men like this. The kind who say "I love you" to one woman, promise marriage to another and then run away with some other spirit—]

Rwar paused for a brief moment.

[—I mean, some other repulsive woman.]

She continued bitterly, as though speaking from personal experience.

[Men like that always know the way to a girl’s heart. Innocent and inexperienced girls like you are their favorite targets.]

She continued in the same cautious tone.

[You must always remain careful because men like that can never truly love just one woman. Haven’t you seen him talking with that Princess just this morning?]

"...But he said... he was talking about something else."

Lily didn’t even realize why she had defended him.

[Oh my God... you have already started defending that playboy too.]

Rwar let out a horrified gasp.

[At first, I thought he was just some weirdo with unusually sharp senses who could even notice me but only now do I realize just how deeply his influence has spread.]

She let out an exasperated sigh.

[He has to be some black magician... or maybe the descendant of an Incubus to have gained such influence over your heart in such a short time.]

Rwar’s voice turned resolute.

[But worry not, my child. This Rwar will never let him break your heart.]

Lily let out a quiet sigh.

She could clearly tell Rwar was overreacting, just as she always did whenever something concerned her but one thing was almost certain.

She had to keep an eye on Zenith.

Because she didn’t know whether he was a black magician or some Incubus descendant, as Rwar claimed but the strange emotions she sometimes felt whenever she looked at him...

They felt far too real to be ignored anymore.

***