"I’ll do it."
Anna’s smile widened at my acceptance, and she immediately pulled me into a tight hug, mumbling something into my shirt.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you."
She repeated it over and over, her grip tightening until it actually started to affect me despite my newfound physical strength.
"Anna."
I tried to snap her back to reality for a moment. And she pulled away, still wearing that wide smile.
"Yes, Reyn?"
Whatever reality she was in, it looked like she wasn’t snapping out of it anytime soon. She looked at me like there was nothing strange about the way she was acting.
And, honestly, she was right.
There was definitely nothing wrong...
None at all~!
"Nothing. Just keep doing that until you feel better."
Considering her unraveling from Lucius, whom the novel had described as her "whole world," it was best to give her this time to cling to me.
If there was anything I’d learned from my old world, it was that rushing things was the worst thing you could do if you wanted your plans to succeed.
And for her, holding me close like this was the best strategy I could come up with for today.
✧ ✦ ✧
To my surprise, she stayed like that for a full hour, clinging to me like I was a rock and completely forgetting about studying magic.
She only let go when the academy bell rang, signaling that non-dorm students had to return to their estates. By the time she finally pulled back, her eyes looked like she’d cried an entire river. Even so, her smile never faded.
"See you tomorrow, Reyn."
She said it before we went our separate ways, each heading home. And honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect come morning.
But...
It turned out better than I’d hoped.
"Laws and Politics for first period... then Magical Assessment in the afternoon."
I muttered to myself. It was about time I showed off after a month of training, and having a legal way to do it through the Magical Assessment was definitely ideal.
If I nailed something like that, my reputation, at least in class, would completely turn around. And as for the consequences...
Unlike before, I was now fully prepared to handle whatever came my way, even a knuckleduster to the forehead from a few jealous students.
But I didn’t stay on that thought for long. Someone unexpected was waiting for me just outside the Brimstone estate.
"Anna?"
"Reyn, good morning!"
"How long have you been standing here?"
"Well... probably close to an hour."
She said it casually, one finger tapping her chin as she thought, then shrugged it off as if waiting an hour for me just outside my estate were completely normal.
"Anyway, let’s go! Otherwise, we’ll be late for first period."
First period? Weren’t her classes an hour later than mine? If anyone was going to be late, it should have been me. What in the world did she mean by that?
We arrived at the academy like usual, well, not exactly. It was the first time she’d walked with me the entire way. Normally, we just met at the gates and went on from there.
I guessed she was already trying to replace her old routine with Lucius with one centered around me.
I still remembered how the two of them always walked together, even after Celeste joined them, adding a faint, lingering awkwardness to every step they took.
But that still didn’t answer the first-period comment. So I waited.
To my shock, she followed me straight into my lecture hall and took a seat right beside mine on the tiered seats. It didn’t take long for everyone else to notice.
"Isn’t Lady Rose assigned to Room 346?"
"What’s she doing here?"
"Did she transfer?"
"But isn’t it already too late for that?"
Whispers spread through the room, loud enough that they weren’t even pretending to be subtle.
"Hey, Anna."
"Yes, Reyn?"
"Why are you in my class...?"
I asked, and Anna answered with a beaming smile that said more than words ever could.
"I transferred here, obviously. It wasn’t hard to convince my parents after I showed them my magical progress."
Right... House Rose was just as powerful as the Brimstones. Maybe not exactly equal, but still influential enough to push through a change in the academy’s arrangements in less than a day.
In this case, it hadn’t even taken a night.
"So we’re in the same class now?"
"Yes! Isn’t that great? That means we don’t have to wait for vacant periods or after school just to meet anymore."
I couldn’t exactly argue with that kind of logic. Nor did I really want to.
"You’re right. It’s much more efficient."
"Glad you think so! I even planned a few more things so it really feels like you’re my childhood friend."
"How much time did you spend last night preparing all this?"
"I didn’t sleep at all."
She replied bluntly.
Well... what else had I expected from her, honestly?
"Everyone, return to your seats."
Our professor’s voice echoed through the room before he even stepped inside, the same man from Reyn’s old memories, and the same one who’d been teaching us these past few months.
Lycan Bartimore.
Retired dragonslayer, imperial mage, and someone who apparently decided that teaching snobbish nobles was a suitable retirement plan. In the novel, he’d been a surprisingly important character for one arc.
Whether he’ll still be useful in this timeline... that, I don’t have an answer for.
My magic was more than enough now that I don’t have to rely on the novel’s deus ex machinas, after all.
But it was still too early to say for sure.
"Now then..."
He strode to the lectern and set down his books and materials before his gaze landed on Anna, who was sitting far too close to me to be called "just friends."
"Lady Rose...?"
He looked just as surprised as the rest of the class.
"Don’t worry, this will explain everything."
Anna rose from her seat and walked down the steps to the dais, handing him a letter sealed with the crest of House Rose, drawing even more murmurs from the other students.
"Do you think Reyn blackmailed her?"
"No way, even he wouldn’t touch someone from House Rose..."
"Then why are they sitting so close? If it’s not blackmail, then what? There’s no way he’s actually that... decent, right?"
While the professor read the letter, Anna glanced over her shoulder, her sharp, judgmental gaze sweeping over everyone. And even crazier—
She actually spoke.
"Please refrain from such vulgar remarks about Lord Reyn. As a daughter of House Rose, I will not hesitate to press charges against anyone who dares sully the name of one of our house’s connections."
...Look at her.