In the history of the Empire, an unwritten rule was carved into the graves of fallen houses: an incompetent heir brings absolute ruin. It didn’t matter if you were a count, a baron, or a duke; if your bloodline failed to produce an exceptional talent, your legacy died.
To combat this, the nobility utilized the ’Dual Ascension Rite’—a desperate, ruthless ceremony allowing a lord to adopt a prodigy into the main line, effectively replacing their own flesh and blood to preserve the family’s honor.
My father, Duke Roderick, was a man of strict pride. He refused to take a second wife, and though my sisters possessed staggering talent, the patriarchal laws of the Empire strictly barred women from inheriting the ducal seat.And so, the trap was sprung.
Right there, in front of the bruised and newly disowned son he had just struck down, Duke Roderick turned his back on me. He looked at Erwin, his voice carrying clearly over the silent courtyard, and publicly invited him to join the Roderick family.
A toxic, blinding rage crawled up his throat. Vale’s fists trembled with the urge to tear something apart, but he forced his breathing to slow. He knew that if he stayed a second longer, He would entirely lose my composure.
Turning on his heel, He walked away. Nobody noticed. Nobody cared. Every single eye in the courtyard was locked onto Erwin, the new golden boy.
’Whether he accepts it or not... I don’t care’ he thought, shrugging the tension from his shoulders as he slipped into a deserted corridor. He kept walking, putting as much distance as possible between myself and the suffocating pressure of the crowd.
By the time the murmurs of the academy grounds faded into absolute silence, his knees suddenly buckled. The physical combined with the emotional exhaustion of the confrontation, finally caught up to him.
’I need somewhere quiet’ he muttered to myself. His eyes drifted toward the southwest edge of the academy, landing on a lone tree standing isolated against the horizon. It was small, but its branches were thick enough to cast a deep, protective shadow. He dragged his heavy feet toward it, sliding down against the rough bark of the trunk. Tilting his head back, he stared up at the vast, unbothered blue sky.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled, tossed-away piece of paper—a stray scrap he’d been mindlessly carrying.
Then, a sudden warmth spilled over my hand. A single, heavy droplet hit the paper, bleeding into the fibers.
I blinked, thoroughly stunned. More moisture gathered in my eyes, blurring the sky above.
"What the...?" his breath hitched. "Why am I crying? Don’t do this, Vale. Get a grip"
He wiped his face angrily, but the tears kept coming.
The crushing despair of a boy who had spent his entire life begging for a glance of affection from his father, only to be discarded like trash in front of the entire world.
As he sat there, letting the grief wash out of his system, a gentle breeze swept through the branches. The crisp, clean air carried the sharp scent of falling leaves and faint lavender—the unmistakable trace of an early autumn dawn.
For the longest time, he had dreaded what would happen to him in this world without magic. But looking up through the golden leaves, a strange, unprecedented sense of relief washed over him. He was disowned. He was a nobody. He had zero expectations riding on his shoulders anymore.
A genuine, peaceful smile crept onto his face. For the first time since opening his eyes in this world, he felt entirely free.
Lost in the quiet luxury of independence, his eyelids grew heavy. He leaned against the tree and drifted into a deep sleep, completely unbothered by how many classes were passing him by. After all, nobody was coming to look for him.
’Tap’. ’Tap.’
The soft crunch of footsteps on the grass broke through his slumber. His eyebrows twitched, but hebkept his eyes closed, refusing to give up his peaceful spot. He figured it was just some of Matheus’s lackeys coming to teach the magicless degenerate a lesson while he was down.
"S-Still d-daydreaming...?"
The voice was soft, feminine, and carried a distinct, trembling stutter.
His eyes snapped open. Standing a cautious distance away was Helen.She looked absolutely terrified. Her hands were shaking so violently she had to tightly clutch the hem of her uniform skirt just to keep them still.
It baffled him. She was immensely stronger than me—she possessed mana, and he was a defect who had recently tried to harm her. Yet, her voice was cracking from sheer panic, and she kept her eyes glued to the green grass, too frightened to meet my gaze.
’if she’s this scared of me, why the hell did she even come here?’
Then it hit me. Walking up to your attacker takes a level of raw courage ’I couldn’t even fathom’. And looking at her trembling figure, the crushing weight of my inherited guilt resurfaced. ’I owed her an execution of decency’.
He took a deep, deliberate breath, letting the cool morning air steady his nerves, and let out a soft sigh.
"Helen."
She shrieked at the sudden sound of her name, her hand flying up to nervously adjust her goggles.
"Why did you come all the way out here if you’re so terrified of me?" he asked, his voice softer than usual.
"I... I, uh..." she stammered, her face turning pale.
"I’m sorry," I interrupted, cutting through her panic before she could force out the words. I shifted my weight, planting my feet firmly on the ground, and bowed my head deeply toward her. "I am truly, deeply sorry for what I did to you in the infirmary."
Helen froze, her breath catching.
"I know you were only trying to help me," he continued, keeping my head lowered. "Yet I lost my mind and tried to hurt you. I almost killed the only person who tried to help me There’s no excuse for it. I am sorry."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Slowly, he lifted his head. Helen’s pupils were blown wide, her entire expression caught in a state of absolute, paralyzed shock. His apology had completely shattered whatever script she had prepared in her mind.
Before she could even process a response, a large tear rolled down her cheek, quickly followed by another.
’What the hell?’ he panicked, my analytical calm instantly evaporating. ’Why is she crying? Did I say something wrong? Did my apology sound like a threat?!’
"Hey, don’t cry! Look, if you’re still angry, you can—"
A sudden, watery laugh cut me off. Helen wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve, a breathless, relieved smile breaking through her tears.
"No, it’s not that," she whispered, her voice still shaky but no longer bound by fear. "It’s... I’m just so happy.."
Before he could even begin to process what those words meant, the space between us vanished.
’Huff!’
With a quick, determined stride, Helen lunged forward and threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly. The sudden impact knocked the wind right out of my lungs. He stood there, completely paralyzed, as the soft, radiant warmth of her body pressed against mine, her shallow, rapid breaths brushing directly against the crook of my neck.
’What the actual hell is happening right now?’ His mind went entirely blank.
Realizing she had vastly overstepped her boundaries, she violently loosened her grip, stumbling backward with a gasp. Her face and especially her ears flushed a brilliant, furious red.
Without uttering another single word, she spun around and bolted, sprinting across the lawn. She threw a frantic, embarrassed wave over her shoulder without even looking back, her boots kicking up loose grass as she vanished behind the academy buildings.
Left entirely alone beneath the tree, I stood dazed, his hair swirling gently in the cool autumn breeze.
"What... just happened?" he muttered to the empty air, rubbing the back of his neck in utter bewilderment.