Chapter 68: Stillness Before Ownership

*** Academy Alley

“H-Huh!?”

Vivianne fell from the sky after she was teleported, but instead of falling flat on her face, she managed to gain leverage from the wall with her foot.

Jumping from wall to wall until she managed to land safely on her feet.

“Phew…”

Vivianne wiped the sweat off her brow, her heart pumping at a terrifying pace after seeing Evelina just attempt to kill her.

“I hope she doesn’t hold a grudge.”

She whimpered, covering her face with her hands as she shouted in sheer nervousness and panic.

“But… I’m not like the Vivianne from before!”

She clenched her arms together, pumping herself up; she couldn’t just let her training go to waste and still become a cowering mess hiding behind the frontlines.

“Lady Vivianne…?”

“H-Huh…?” Vivianne looked behind her cautiously.

Did… did someone just really see her while she was embarrassingly pumping herself up?

“Did you just… come from the sky?”

It was Marcellus, his mouth agape and pointing at where she just came from, but more importantly, he saw just how easily she had mitigated her fall with physicality that no mage should even be capable of.

“Lord Lionbright!?”

She turned quickly, bowing in reverence. This was the second time she met a higher-ranked noble in the most compromising situation possible.

“Did you just… did you actually convince Arden to teach you?”

Vivianne opened her mouth, hesitant about how she should answer. It was clear that Marcellus or Julius didn’t have a particularly fond relationship with her new teacher.

And she was afraid that if she answered truthfully, she might become an enemy.

“U-Umm…”

She stuttered for a bit, then stopped… this was exactly the thing she wanted to prevent.

To stop panicking and bowing to those higher than her, what was the point of all her training if she’s still afraid?

Besides… it isn’t like Marcellus is Evelina; he wouldn’t just go executing and shaming anyone who acted defiant.

“Ahem… yes, I did.”

“You could have approached me instead, you know? Getting wrapped around a troublesome person like that—”

“I urge you not to continue.”

“H-Huh?” Marcellus looked surprised. Did the meek and compliant Vivianne really interrupt him? “Did I do something wrong?”

“You do not have the right to argue about my choice of mentor.”

“I didn’t mean to insult you, I just meant that…”

“I suggest you also don’t insult, Cael.”

“Cael…? You two are on a first-name basis?”

Vivianne surprised even herself; it all came so naturally to her. After all, not once did she ever feel inferior during her training.

In fact, she had been treated more like an annoying friend who wanted to get stronger than like a proper student. She’d grown so used to it that even calling another noble by their first name, something that was normally rude unless you were very close, came naturally to her.

“No… it just happened to come naturally to me.”

“I see.” Marcellus sighed, “Look, I apologize if I came off as rude. I’m just… curious, is all.”

“Curious?”

“Of course. He’s strong, stronger than most people I know, despite being from a fairly unimportant family. Even you’re curious why, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but… It’s none of my business.”

Vivianne looked off to the side, her smile twitching slightly as she remembered Evelina’s possessive side, something she had never expected to ever see in her lifetime.

“And I’d rather not make it part of my business…” She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself and chuckling nervously.

“You act as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Demon more like it…” She blurted out accidentally, catching Marcellus’s attention.

“You’ve managed to get on the wrong foot with Evelina, haven’t you?”

“H-How…?”

“Another woman goes to another man’s estate, while his lover was away and busy… I could have guessed what could have happened.”

“H-How!?”

“I’ve got eyes everywhere.”

Marcellus laughed, placing one hand on his hip. “Anyways, I’ll be off, and once again, I apologize if I have offended you or Arden.”

“Lord Lionbright, huh…” Vivianne stood in the alley alone after Marcellus left, deep in thought, surprised at how talkative Marcellus was.

He usually kept to himself, only becoming sociable when he was with Julius or when he wanted to act like a model student; he was never much for small talk.

“Although… I did just fall from the sky, that’s enough to make anyone talk…”

*** Arden Estate – Cael’s Room

I decided to give Evelina a tour of my estate while she was here, besides… it didn’t seem like she wanted to leave anytime soon, especially after… that.

But I didn’t mind; having to tour her around my estate gave me the perfect excuse to be with her after not seeing her for days already.

“This is your room before you moved to the academy? It’s a bit… simple.”

Evelina glanced over the bed and the rest of the room. Compared to what she was used to as a duke’s heir, this simple room belonging to a baron’s son was hardly worth noticing.

Single bed. Wooden desk. Bookshelves worn at the edges from use. No extravagant artifacts, no enchanted decorations, no servants waiting at the door 24/7.

Just… lived in.

“…Simple,” she repeated.

“That’s one way to put it,” I replied, leaning against the wall. “It was enough.”

Her fingers brushed over the edge of the desk, lingering on the faint demonic energy that was still present when I first summoned Beelzebub.

“So this is where you got all that power… I’m surprised you did it inside your room and not somewhere secluded.”

“Well… I was in a rush.”

“Really?”

“I mean… didn’t really think about it much…” I replied truthfully.

“Even until now, I still couldn’t fully decide if you’re smart or dumb.”

“Call me anything you’d like.”

“Cheeky.”

[Photographic Memory]

Right… I almost forgot to ask her what had gotten her so busy for the past few days. I knew she was preparing, but it wouldn’t hurt to know the details.

“What kept you from attending classes?”

“Oh, that… I was just refining the darkyte we obtained from the tomb. Took me longer than expected.”

So that explained how she managed to cast that abyssal spear without issue…

“But enough about that, let’s make up for some lost time, shall we?” Evelina proposed, still not letting go of the fact that another woman had spent days with me.

Sweating with me in training…

Changing clothes inside my estate…

Having her see me wipe myself with a towel…

It disgusted her to no end.

’How dare she…’

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