The bell signaling the end of class rang loudly, breaking the silence of the academy and signaling freedom for the students.
However, for Lucien Hawthorne, that freedom was shattered instantly when his steps were intercepted by a tall, golden-blond figure in the corridor leading to the dormitory.
Prince Seilas stood there with a confused expression, blocking the path of the man most eager to get into bed and finally fall into a deep, uninterrupted slumber.
“Luciel!” “Damn it, what does he want?!” Prince Seilas deliberately intercepted Lucien to clear things up.
He didn’t want Lucien to misunderstand him and think of him as a belligerent nobleman, especially after the tense incident with Rayland earlier that afternoon during recess.
In Seilas’s eyes, he had to maintain a clean image in front of Lucien.
He absolutely must not give a bad impression, even though Lucien was completely unaware of his desperate inner turmoil.
Lucien, on the other hand, didn’t care at all what the prince’s motives were.
In his mind, Seilas was simply a nuisance, robbing him of precious rest after this grueling lesson.
Prince Seilas insisted on speaking, even though he himself was confused by the strange feelings in his chest.
Without waiting for permission, Seilas’ strong hand gripped Lucien’s wrist, then pulled him slowly but surely into a quiet corner, pinning him against the corridor wall.
“Lucien wait, listen to me for a moment.” Lucien’s body was so weak that his resistance was futile; he could only surrender while snorting in annoyance in his heart.
This pathetic physical stamina was truly starting to test his remaining shreds of patience.
Seilas stared into Lucien’s eyes with great intensity, then tried to string words together in an urgent tone, “Lucien…
Are you avoiding me because you’re afraid to see me?
I can explain everything, please listen to me.” Lucien blinked, struck by a godlike confusion.
Where did the assumption that he was afraid come from?
As for avoiding Seilas, it was, of course, because the prince liked to interrupt his leisure time.
Without further ado and wanting to get this over with quickly so he could go to sleep, Lucien replied curtly, “Yes, I’ve been avoiding you because you’re really annoying, Your Highness.
I’m not afraid of you at all, so let me go.
I want to rest.” Hearing this frank confession, the reaction was unexpected.
Prince Seilas was overjoyed, a wide smile spreading across his face.
As someone who had been exposed to Lucien’s magnetic aura too many times, Seilas thought that answer was a form of acceptance or even forgiveness from Lucien—when in reality it was purely due to Lucien’s apathy which had reached an acute stage.
Overjoyed, Seilas unconsciously grabbed Lucien’s hand and pressed it directly to his broad chest.
“I’m so glad you’re not afraid of me,” Seilas said with relief.
Lucien could clearly feel Seilas’s pounding heart in his palm.
Instead of feeling emotional or embarrassed, the nihilist mentality of his homeworld immediately took over.
With an expressionless face, Lucien made the most matter-of-fact medical comment a royal prince had ever heard, “Your heart rate is very fast.
That’s an early sign of a heart attack.
Cut back on the coffee, life is short, don’t speed it up.” Seilas swallowed the sarcastic and cold sentence whole as a form of sweet attention from Lucien.
His chest swelled with an inexplicable warmth.
Instantly, Lucien’s memory was jolted.
Damn.
This was one of the key scenes in the original novel You Are My Star (YAMS).
In the original plot, Luciel Edelweis—the soul who entered Little Rose’s world and corrupted everything into an obsession drama—used his magnetic aura to make the important characters see him in the body of a supporting character as everything.
And this scene of the prince being cornering him against the wall was the starting point of their chain of closeness.
Realizing that he was now being dragged into the clichéd script of the novel, Lucien—whose soul was Luciel Reed from the real world—consciously rejected the plot firmly.
“Then let me go now, and don’t come see me again tomorrow!” Lucien said sharply.
He jerked his hand from Seilas’s grasp, then turned and strode away, leaving the prince still transfixed in his excitement.
Arriving in his quiet dorm room, Lucien immediately flopped onto the soft mattress with a long sigh.
He thought to himself that his physical weakness made it very difficult for him to escape such an annoying situation.
In truth, he didn’t care about the main plot and had no intention of actively changing or avoiding it, feeling too lazy to deal with the complicated plot.
And yet, trouble always seemed to find its way right to his doorstep.
However, keeping his body this weak would leave him vulnerable to troublemakers like Seilas in the future.
“What a bother,” he thought before his eyes finally closed.
****** The next morning, the same routine repeated itself.
Reichardt and Rose faithfully escorted Lucien to the classroom door.
Their arrival was immediately greeted by enthusiastic and adoring gazes from classmates already affected by his magnetic aura.
Shortly after, the teacher entered and the class session began.
Just as the first period was ending, a surprising announcement rang out from the front of the classroom.
The teacher who was supposed to be teaching the first-year magic class had fallen ill and was unable to attend.
For Lucien, whose life revolved around peace and relaxation, the news was a tremendous blessing.
He cheered in his heart, ‘Keep being sick for a long time, so I can legally skip magic class and sleep to my heart’s content.’ However, reality apparently enjoyed a way of dashing Lucien’s small hopes.
The classroom door swung open, and a strange figure stepped in to take over as a temporary substitute.
From the distinctive robes, the intricately carved wand, and the oppressive aura accurately described in the original novel, Lucien’s eyes widened slightly.
He stared at the figure, then muttered softly in his heart with suppressed horror, “Grand Mage…”