“Yes, yes!”

Teary amber eyes shook up and down.

Now that she looked, Yenica was wearing the same uniform with the magic department emblem and blue tie as Nigel.

“Why did you come here…”

Before Nigel could finish speaking, Yenica pounced on her again.

“Of course I came because I missed Nigel!”

Nigel patted Yenica’s back as she seemed about to cry again.

“Okay, have you calmed down a bit now?”

Yenica dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and nodded meekly like a gentle lamb.

Seeing even that common handkerchief embroidered with the Arenium imperial crest, Nigel realized this was not a lucid dream but reality.

“I wanted to meet Nigel first as soon as I came to the academy, I can’t believe it really happened…!”

Yenica still seemed overcome with the joy of reunion as she clasped Nigel’s hands tightly.

“…Liar.”

At that moment, someone whispered in Nigel’s ear.

“Don’t be fooled, Nigel. Yenica met me and Noah first, then went around looking only for you.”

Allen clicked his tongue, looking at the brazen-faced Yenica.

“See, when she met us, she didn’t even shed a tear, just asked where Nigel was. Right, Noah?”

Noah nodded.

“Of course. The depth of emotion is different. When I look at Nigel, my heart truly stirs unlike when I’m with you two.”

Yenica hugged Nigel tightly.

Seeing this, Noah’s eyes narrowed then quickly returned to normal.

“We need to verify if Yenica is really from the Kingdom of Krena. Can a foreigner speak so fluently?”

“Allen may not know, but all things are possible through the power of love.”

Undaunted by Allen’s sarcasm, Yenica placed a hand on her chest and spoke generously.

“It was also thanks to love that I was able to come to Sienna.”

“Calein…?”

“Arenium.”

When Nigel cautiously mentioned the Arenium Empire crown prince’s name, Yenica cheerfully added his title.

“After I persuaded Calein, who kept saying no, no, with the power of love, I finally got to spend this semester as an exchange student!”

As the excited Yenica shook, the large diamond ring on her chest sparkled.

The faces of the three people instantly hardened as they recalled the butterfly effect that ring had caused.

“…Oh, are you all like that because of this ring? Don’t worry, I engraved a loss prevention spell so it won’t slip off my ring finger!”

Only then did the stiff faces of the three people soften.

“Then Nigel, you’ll show me around the academy before the entrance ceremony, right?”

At the sweet voice like a mixture of honey and flowers, Nigel’s head nodded up and down on its own before her brain could think.

At the same time, Yenica was whisked away on Nigel’s arm in an instant.

“Wow… I think it’s the first time I’ve seen Nigel not complain about skipping a meal. Noah, looks like you’ve got competition from day one of the semester.”

Allen snickered and observed Noah’s reaction.

“…It’s fine. After all, Her Highness Yenica is female.”

“Hmm, if you’re fine with it, why are you gritting your teeth and smiling so stiffly unlike your words?”

“…Because I couldn’t properly talk to Nigel yesterday or today.”

“Ugh…!”

Allen’s face contorted as if he was about to vomit at his friend’s wistful expression.

“…I feel sick, shouldn’t have asked. Noah, aren’t you being too uninhibited since the confession? Stop frustrating people watching and hurry up and date or get rejected.”

Noah followed behind the staggering Allen with a smirk.

That’s right, now that he knew Nigel’s true feelings, there was no need to be petty and jealous of a woman or feel rushed alone. They had plenty of time.

That’s what Noah thought.

But this time, perhaps Nigel’s misfortune outweighed Noah’s luck, as Kirellia did not give Nigel and Noah even a moment to talk.

It wasn’t just Nigel and Noah.

“Well, this concludes today’s lesson. And the content of today’s class will be on the quiz next time, so everyone prepare well without any scheduling mistakes.”

“Everyone’s used to it now, right? We’ll be testing the moves we learned this week next time, so make sure to master them perfectly, that’s all!”

“Submit an essay of at least 5 pages by next week on how the historical facts we learned differ from political and theological perspectives.”

The faces of the blue-tied second years were all as lifeless as wilted spinach.

The excitement of becoming second years and the honor of having the Krena princess as an exchange student all disappeared after just a day or two of the semester starting.

Classes increased from 6 to 7, and both the level of each subject and the professors’ requirements became even higher.

It was common to have 5 assignments overlap in a week, and weekend outings that were frequent during freshman year became a distant dream.

The faces of classmates, competitors in one class and partners in another, became sickeningly familiar.

The time when just seeing each other’s faces was exciting was just a mirage of memories; now classmates’ faces seemed to have only subject names and assignments written on them.

Even Yenica, who used to be excited just being with Nigel, deflated after a week.

Nigel and most students truly realized why seniors were so obsessed with department scores only after becoming second years.

Noah’s situation was even more desperate than others.

“Nige…”

“Ars, what reference book did you use for this week’s politics assignment?”

“Oh, I used Stewart’s…”

Even when Noah barely escaped Roneh’s training hell and tried to speak to Nigel, Nigel was often surrounded by students, making it difficult to even call her name properly.

“Nigel!”

“Senior Noah, you were here!”

When Nigel turned to look at him, Amber mysteriously appeared to talk to Noah.

Nigel cutely blinked at Noah and Amber before leaving the spot without hesitation.

Seeing that clean, unattached attitude made Noah wonder if it was all a dream when Nigel kissed his hand at the Northern Temple and said she liked him.

Hoping Nigel would be jealous of seeing him with Amber was a great luxury; Noah just wanted to talk with Nigel for even 10 minutes, no, even 5 minutes would be fine.

But there were always many others besides himself vying for Nigel’s attention, and as a paradoxical result, the class where Noah could talk most comfortably with Nigel was none other than Roneh’s Imperial Swordsmanship class.

“Nigel, you need to put a bit more weight on your right leg in this stance to avoid injury.”

“…Ah, right.”

Nigel, her lush black hair tied up high, stopped her movement and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the hem of her training uniform.

As Nigel’s bare skin was exposed, Noah quickly turned his head and stood in front of her, worried other students might see.

On a hot summer day, Noah wouldn’t have cared if other female classmates flipped up their activewear and washed their backs at the faucet, but he became anxious at the slightest exposure of Nigel’s skin.

‘She’s friendly with Amber and other girls, but stiff only with me.’

Meanwhile, Nigel wiped her sweat with the hem of her training uniform and frowned at Noah’s back as he avoided her gaze.

The situation was just as frustrating, if not more so, for Nigel as it was for Noah.

During class time, she was absorbed in taking notes; after meals, a barrage of questions from classmates awaited; and after school, preparing for various assignments and quizzes took up time until bedtime.

And at night, when everyone was asleep, Nigel’s day ended after secretly discussing the identity of Widrun and the Shining Rose.

Since Noah was just as busy as Nigel, they were lucky if they could even greet each other, let alone return Noah’s signet ring.

As a result, Nigel made the big decision to change one class before the class adjustment period ended after much deliberation.

‘…Why did I choose this class again?’

The reason for choosing Roneh’s infamous Imperial Swordsmanship class, which even most Swordsmanship department students dreaded, was due to the fact that Allen and Yenica couldn’t follow along – something that Noah would never know.

Roneh, who still looked at Nigel greedily, believed that pairing her with someone good would make her interested in swordsmanship, and as a result of trusting Roneh’s ambition, Noah became Nigel’s partner.

The Imperial Swordsmanship class lived up to its terrifying rumors, being difficult enough to barely keep up with Roneh’s movements, but it also had its advantages.

Everyone was so exhausted and focused on Roneh that no one paid attention to Nigel and Noah.

“How do I maintain that center of gravity you mentioned earlier?”

“Oh, that’s done by straightening your back like this… oops.”

Noah unconsciously touched Nigel’s shoulder to correct her posture.

“I’m sorr…!”

As soon as he removed his hand from Nigel’s body, a large amount of mana flowed through Noah’s body.

Nigel couldn’t hide her smile and greedily lifted the corners of her mouth at the mana flowing in so smoothly.

“Nigel, Noah! What are you doing not moving?”

“We’re sorry, Professor!”

At Roneh’s roar, Nigel quickly approached Noah and let her mana flow once again.

Noah’s face turned bright red in an instant like a shy child at the warm vitality spreading throughout his body.

Yes, the decisive advantage of being able to naturally release mana to Noah without anyone’s interference was why Nigel chose this class.