[Aestrea’s POV]

“Dammit…”

I muttered under my breath, staring into the bathroom mirror.

My reflection was almost unrecognizable.

My eyes had completely changed color, and now I couldn’t even recognize myself.

But even more frustrating? The status window wouldn’t open for me to figure out what the hell was going on.

Instead, the same irritating message kept flashing.

[The system is currently under a new update!]

“This stupid update has got to have something to do with my eyes,” I grumbled, dragging a hand down my face before letting out a deep sigh.

After splashing some water on my face, I left the bathroom, before starting to walk through the academy grounds.

The place was ridiculously massive—so big, I felt like I needed a map just to keep track of where I’d been.

And honestly, even if I explored every day, I’d probably still miss half of it by the time the semester ended.

As I wandered aimlessly, a soft, familiar voice broke through my thoughts.

“…Oh my.”

I turned my head, already recognizing the teasing tone.

“…Violet.”

I unconsciously uttered her name directly.

“Ara~? You’re calling this big sister by her name? How cute,” she said, laughing lightly and covering her mouth with a perfectly manicured hand.

“Haaa…” I frowned, my shoulders slumping a little.

I really wasn’t in the mood for her today, but well…

“What’s with that face? Aren’t you happy to see me?” she tilted her head to the right, giving me a mock-pout.

“…Yeah, yeah, I’m very happy indeed,” A small and forced smile appeared on my face as I said those words in the “happiest” tone possible.

My tone was the absolute definition of sarcasm, but of course, she didn’t care.

“That’s what I like to hear!” Violet said brightly as if I’d just handed her a compliment. She stood a little taller, clearly pleased with herself.

Was she playing dumb, or did she seriously not notice my tone?

Whatever it was, I didn’t have the energy to figure it out.

“So, my cute Junior…” she started, her violet eyes glinting with amusement, “how about we go on a date during the festival?”

“…A date?” My eyes narrowed slightly.

Where the hell did that come from?

“Exactly! A date! Just you and me,” she said, clasping her hands together like she was proposing the greatest idea in the world.

“It’ll be a chance for us to get to know each other better!” Her smile was warm, but the sparkle in her eyes told me she was up to something.

I could already feel the gazes from the students around…

Couldn’t they be quieter?

“Ah… I’m sorry, but I’ll have to ref—”

“—It’s a promise, then!” she interrupted, suddenly closing the distance between us.

Her pinky hooked onto mine before I could react, and she gave it a little shake.

“A pinky promise is sacred, so don’t even think about breaking it,” she said, winking mischievously.

“I’ll see you at the central fountain when the festival starts! Don’t be late, Junior~!”

And just like that, before I could argue or even process what had just happened, she disappeared.

Vanished.

Like smoke in the wind.

“…Fuck,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

My gaze drifted upwards to the sky as I let out another deep sigh. The sunlight felt annoyingly bright as I tapped my cheek lightly, trying to pull myself together.

The festival was only three days away.

And of course, I wasn’t remotely ready for it.

Not physically, not mentally—not anything.

I hadn’t even bothered to make plans because, well, I’d been too lazy to care.

And now, between Violet’s ridiculous antics and whatever was happening to my body, the festival was shaping up to be just amazing.

And just when I thought today couldn’t get any worse…

“Hey, commoner!”

An obnoxiously familiar voice cut through the air, loud enough to make my blood boil.

I didn’t need to look to know who it was—Telmo, the arrogant brat who clung to Ella like a dog, strutting around like he owned the place.

And, as usual, his “royal highness”, Prince Leon, was trailing right behind him, wearing that smug little smirk he always had.

I ignored them.

I wasn’t in the mood to deal with them.

Not today.

“Fucking brat… OI! AESTREA!” Telmo shouted, quickly rushing towards me.

A hand suddenly clamped down on my shoulder, attempting to hold me in place.

“Reply to me, you bastard!” he growled with an irritated voice.

Gosh…

I let out an exaggerated sigh and brushed his hand off me like it was nothing more than an annoying insect.

“I’m really not in the mood for this, Telmo. Try again next time.”

I turned to walk away, but before I could take another step, Leon’s voice, or rather, the name he uttered, made me stop in my tracks.

“Liliana…”

That name.

My chest tightened as I froze in place.

“Is that name familiar to you?” Leon continued, a sly smile curling his lips.

“Haha,” he chuckled softly, crossing his arms like he had all the power in the world.

“Wasn’t she your big sister? I did a little digging into your past, and wow, what a tragic story. A whole village burned to the ground… such a pity.”

He shook his head, pretending to look sad, but his tone was full of mockery.

Hearing Leon’s words, Telmo also laughed, as he added:

“Come to think of it,” he started, a disgusting grin spreading across his face, “wasn’t she supposed to be the most beautiful girl in that shitty little village of yours? Damn… if I’d been there earlier, maybe I could’ve been her knight in shining armor. Imagine all the fun we could’ve had…”

He licked his lips provocatively, and that was it.

That was enough.

I turned to them slowly, my expression dark, and I could feel the light in my eyes vanish. It was like something deep inside me had turned off, leaving behind only cold fury.

“Hey, losers…”

Both of them bristled at the insult, their arrogance replaced by growing annoyance.

“You little bastard!” Telmo barked. “Do you even know who—”

“—Do me a favor,” I interrupted coldly, “and clench your fucking teeth.”

Before either of them could react, I disappeared from their view, moving faster than their eyes could follow.

THUD!

“K-Kuhgh!”

“Augh!”

Both of them crumpled to the ground, clutching their stomachs where I’d landed two clean punches. They gasped for air, saliva, and even a trace of blood dripping from their mouths.

Without wasting a moment, I grabbed Telmo by the head, my fingers gripping his skull tightly as I hoisted him off the ground like a ragdoll.

“You little—f-fuck! S-stop it, you bastard!” Telmo wheezed, his hands clawing at my wrist. His legs flailed uselessly, but nothing he did could loosen my grip.

I could hear Leon behind me, muttering an incantation.

Trying to cast a spell, huh?

『 Fire Series: Fire Bomb! (✦ 5th-Tier Spell ✦) 』

BOOOOM!

CRUMBLE!

The explosion roared through the space, the ground trembling beneath us. Smoke filled the air, but as it cleared, Leon’s triumphant expression twisted into one of pure disbelief.

“I… Impossible…” Leon’s eyes widened as he whispered, falling to his knees.

I hadn’t suffered a single injury, as a small layer of silver mana coated my entire body before dissipating away.

Well, the privilege of having such a dense and high mana quality was quite great.

“Pathetic,” I muttered to Leon coldly, turning my attention back to Telmo.

“AHH!”

Leon shrieked in fear upon hearing my words. It must have been his first time being so overpowered.

“S-stop…!”

I heard a small murmur and switched my gaze to Telmo, whose strength was slowly dissipating away.

“…Beg.”

“W-what…? I-I—AAAGH!” Telmo tried to resist, but a simple increase in pressure made him cry out in pain.

He swallowed his saliva audibly, his body quivering as he finally spoke:

“P-p-please s-stop! I b-beg you!”

He cried out.

But, that wasn’t enough for me.

How dare he say those words about her?

Did he truly have a fucking death wish?

Or was he confident enough at the prince and the forces behind him?

Doesn’t he fucking know that I literally offended the Emperor on the first day that I’ve ever seen him?

“Hakguk…”

Telmos choked out as saliva started dripping from the corner of his mouth as he struggled to form words.

I was so fucking mad by their dumb attack that I couldn’t help but increase my strength unconsciously.

“Aestrea, stop!”

A sudden shout called out to me.

“Huh?!”

I turned my head towards the source of the voice just to see Ella, Lucas, Maya, Iris, and Rose, who had shocked expressions etched on their faces.

They also seemed a bit scared upon seeing my eyes.

I blinked, my grip on Telmo loosening slightly.

Thud!

His body depressingly fell into the ground, before he started gasping for air.

“Augh!” He groaned weakly, his body convulsing as he clutched his head, probably still feeling the pain from me clutching it.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Ella yelled, storming up to me.

She grabbed my collar and gave it a hard shake, her light blue eyes burning with anger.

I didn’t reply to her words.

Instead, I looked towards her light blue eyes, I could see her anger increase as a visible vein appeared on her forehead.

“Why did you att—!”

“—Second Princess Ella,” I immediately interrupted her.

She froze completely at my words.

Was it because I directly revealed her identity?

I wasn’t really sure about it, but I didn’t care at all.

I calmly took her wrists off my collar, before adjusting it slightly.

“It’s none of your business.”

I said so before turning to Telmo.

But, someone else was in front of me, Lucas, with his sword pointed at me.

“I’m sorry Aestrea… but unless you explain what happened, I cannot let you touch him,” Lucas said firmly, with a strong confidence that me almost laugh.

This was getting more complicated than it needed to be.

But even as they all stood against me, I didn’t feel regret.

Instead, it was better for me.

So, I smiled at him.

“Why? Just because you got a bit stronger, you think you can beat me already?” I narrowed my eyes slightly.

From my 『Judgement Eye (✦ S-Level Skill ✦)』 I could easily see that his power had increased by a ton.

But, he still wasn’t stronger than me.

After all, I too had some cheat, which was my Twin Heart Mana Body.

But somehow, my words shocked his group.

“Just let me tell you something… you’re far away from it,” I said coldly.

I reached out, pinching the flat side of his blade between my fingers, intending to push it aside.

But strangely…

I couldn’t.

And the moment my skin touched the sword, I froze.

And instead, I felt a little heat on my fingers, making me look at them.

A faint burning sensation crept up my fingers, and when I glanced down, two lines of bode streamed down my fingers.

I was a bit confused…

“This sword…” I mumbled.

But as I suddenly saw the strange symbol on the handle of the sword, I instantly knew why that had happened.

This bastard had finally gotten the holy sword.

The Excalibur.

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