<Chapter 14>

Laren, gazing into the mirror, adjusted and tied his tie. Who would have ever imagined that in his entire life, he’d have the experience of tying a men’s tie?

‘It kind of feels like playing with dolls.’

In the mirror, the boy toyed with the hair near his ear, his expression a bit aloof. The navy suit jacket with white accents embroidered along the hem—the uniform of Ledithern City Academy—suited the boy’s face remarkably well. Having finished his preparations, Laren glanced at the empty spot across from his bed.

‘A commoner roommate, huh.’

After completing the enrollment procedures, Laren had been assigned a dormitory room under the guidance of an aide. Students from the same class shared rooms in pairs, and there seemed to be a subtle class system at play in the roommate selections.

Since he was a commoner, he’d been admitted to the Magic Department’s D Class regardless of his abilities. In the academy, there were only two people without noble status, including Laren himself. As a result, he was automatically paired with a commoner student from the Swordsmanship Department’s D Class for the dormitory.

Sharing a space with a male felt a bit awkward, but since his body was that of a boy anyway, a commoner was preferable to sharing with a noble.

The previous evening, when Laren had entered with his bag strapped on, his roommate was absent. He’d waited for the other’s return, but the roommate never showed up.

‘Does this academy allow overnight stays outside?’

Snapping out of his reverie, Laren quickly gathered himself and grabbed the academy guidebook. He didn’t want to get lost like he had yesterday.

However, as Laren crossed the campus, his face grew increasingly pallid. With every step, piercing stares clung to him.

‘Stop staring already. You’re wearing my face out.’

Was it his appearance that intrigued them, or was it the fact that he was a commoner? Up until now, Laren had never had the chance to meet nobles outside of the Tatio Dukedom, and he had zero experience stepping into high society.

He’d only learned about it in theory; he had no way of knowing what the actual atmosphere of noble society was like. The Helian Viscount family was an exception, as they had no choice but to show him favor.

In any case, this was the first time in his life he’d been subjected to such intensely heated gazes. Thanks to that, by the time he merely arrived at the lecture hall, he felt utterly drained.

“Oh my, is that the one…?”

“It seems the enrollment recommendation was approved.”

“Of all places, in our class… A commoner in the Magic Department.”

Classmates adorned with various jewels on their uniforms gathered in small groups, whispering among themselves. When Laren turned his head to stare, they frowned and scattered to their respective seats.

He’d anticipated some resentment toward his commoner status, so he could overlook the murmured gossip. But as the lecture hall began to fill with more classmates, the talk about Laren started to turn blatantly overt.

“Oh dear, someone unfit for their station is sitting here.”

“What was the dean thinking, accepting such a commoner?”

“Trying to buy honor with money, the nerve of him.”

“Such a brazen face—how vulgar.”

Though he tried to let it slide, he couldn’t help his expression from twisting. No, in truth, his insides were already boiling over, on the verge of exploding.

Laren had been raised as the child of a duke’s family, but in a relatively free atmosphere. The people he’d met after escaping the estate were mostly without status, and he wasn’t the type to be bound by such things anyway.

He believed that differences in status didn’t divide human worth. The maid Radiel was bold and clever, and Biya had a gentle nature with deft hands. Among all the status-less people he’d met so far, none had seemed lacking in character.

Of course, he understood the class system intellectually, but facing the reality outside the estate head-on was quite severe. It even created a sense of disconnect from the world he’d built for himself while cooped up in the estate for so long.

‘Vulgar? Vuuuulgar?’

Gritting his teeth, Laren clenched his fist. Calm down—if he lost it here, he might get expelled right after enrolling.

* * *

The uneasy atmosphere persisted even as they moved to another lecture hall. Students from other classes would click their tongues and pass by when they encountered Laren. He’d wanted to avoid attention as much as possible, but thanks to his low status alone, he felt like he’d become the academy’s unwilling star.

‘This is really troublesome.’

For someone like him, who had come here with the purpose of finding the cursed one, this was an annoying situation. Laren, his face now hardened, brushed his lips.

Since arriving, he hadn’t uttered a single word. His mouth felt bitter. As Laren seethed, a dark shadow suddenly loomed before him.

“Where’s that sigh coming from? Don’t pollute the air here.”

A man with pink hair lightly tied back wore a mocking smile. Judging by the unfamiliar face, he seemed to be from another class.

Apparently, this lecture was a combined class. Laren met the man’s eyes without any change in expression.

“What an unlucky face you’ve got.”

“Your gaze is quite insolent.”

“How dare you meet the eyes of someone superior without a shred of courtesy.”

Behind the pink-haired man, three men who appeared to be of lower status glared sharply at him. Laren glanced at the group before indifferently turning his head away.

Their fawning while belittling a commoner struck him as utterly ridiculous. Just a few words were enough to reveal exactly what kind of people they were.

‘It’s not that my face is unlucky—it’s just better-looking than yours. I’d rather stare in the mirror all day than look at the likes of you.’

Normally, he might have flared up, but after hearing similar remarks all day, it didn’t hit as hard. He couldn’t even be bothered to engage. Propping his chin on his hand, Laren let out another sigh.

“Insolent!”

“Vulgar!”

‘Okay, so what’s the standard for vulgar, anyway?’

The three men continued to put on stern faces from behind, raising a fuss. It was a bit amusing how they only barked from their assigned seats. Were they the three stooges? As the commoner’s lips twitched, the pink-haired man slammed his fist on the desk.

“How dare a lowly thing like you ignore me!”

“Lord Pygone, what would such a base commoner know?”

“Beg for forgiveness at once!”

He wanted to correct them: not a base commoner, just a commoner. Facing the raging group, Laren remained silently tight-lipped. The one called Pygone gnashed his lips with his front teeth, his face twisted in fury.

Pygone—a fairly renowned count family from the eastern territories. To Laren’s eyes, Pygone seemed utterly laughable. The arrogance of a highborn family’s heir leading the charge in scorning a commoner.

Noblesse oblige. The first moral lesson one learns upon being born into a noble family. The higher one’s social position, the more one must possess corresponding integrity and social grace—that’s the first step of an honorable noble.

Recalling his childhood lessons, Laren shook his head. It seemed Count Pygone needed to re-educate his child from the ground up.

“How dare a mere commoner ignore my words!”

Pygone shouted, his face contorted in rage. Seeing that expression, Laren couldn’t help but let out a deflating chuckle.

‘I’m screwed.’

It wasn’t intentional laughter at all. He simply thought the pink hair paired rather well with the flushed red face. With a sharp slap—the sound of flesh meeting flesh—Laren’s head jerked to the left.

“Kyaa!”

“Huh!”

The students, who had been watching the scene with bated breath, let out small screams. His left cheek burned as if scorched by fire, stinging fiercely.

Strangely enough, humans are particularly sensitive to pain in the cheek among all the body’s parts. He’d intended to endure and let it pass if possible, but the thin thread of rationality Laren had been clinging to snapped with a resounding crack.

“What are you all doing? Return to your seats!”

The professor’s voice boomed, his beard flowing long enough to warrant it, and the tense, hostile atmosphere shattered in an instant. Pygone clicked his tongue in apparent regret at the unwelcome interruption.

Gritting his teeth, Laren clenched his fist tightly. The regret is mine, not yours—if there had been just three more seconds, I could have unleashed a fiery punch.

As soon as the lecture ended, Laren dashed to the nearest restroom with a mirror.

“This handsome face…”

It was truly dismal. As expected, the left cheek reflected in the mirror was swollen so prominently that anyone could tell he’d been struck.

“How could he hit the face, of all places?”

For a moment, Laren considered healing magic, then shook his head. While Holy Qualitas included healing spells, the major drawback was that he couldn’t use them on himself. It was akin to the process of infusing a summoned spell back into one’s own body—simply impossible.

It wasn’t as if the magic demanded he heal others while neglecting himself, and he didn’t possess such a devout sense of service anyway. If he did, he’d be in a temple, not the academy. Oh, God Gatmiell.

“Are you calling yourself handsome? That’s impressive, really.”

“Ah, you?!”

A very welcome figure appeared beyond the mirror—the gray-haired boy who had helped him find the dean’s office. When Laren smiled brightly, the swollen cheek stood out even more. Perhaps finding the sight pitiful, the boy’s expression hardened slightly.

“Why did you laugh like that, anyway?”

“Were you watching the whole thing? I didn’t laugh because I wanted to.”

It was just that Pygone’s face was funny. Laren forcibly swallowed the rest of his words. Watching him awkwardly close his mouth, the boy shook his head.

“You’re a total star now.”

“Well… I expected as much. Though I didn’t think I’d get slapped across the cheek.”

Laren nodded calmly. Looking back at the mirror, the massively swollen cheek drew his gaze inescapably. This wasn’t the time to be calm—fury boiled up inside him once more.

‘How do I repay this insult?’

As Laren touched his face and seethed, the boy’s eyes also shifted to the cheek.

“Being here as a commoner won’t be easy. This place is like a miniature noble society. Except for you and one other, everyone has noble status.”

“He should’ve avoided the face, at least. To hit such a beautiful boy’s face… I won’t let this slide.”

The boy’s words didn’t register with Laren, whose lid was about to blow from the rising anger. Logically, how could anyone strike such a flower-like appearance? Even in a fight, one should protect a beauty’s face. Pygone clearly lacked the basics of combat etiquette.

The boy stared blankly at Laren’s muttering form beyond the mirror, then burst into loud laughter.

“What are you, really? Why is your personality like that?”

“What’s wrong with my personality?”

When his character was suddenly called into question, Laren whipped his head around. The boy leaned one hand against the wall and pounded it with the other, laughing for a good while.

“Stop laughing already? I’m serious right now. What’s so funny?”

Laren shot him a dubious look. Somehow, it seemed like there wasn’t a single sane person in this academy.

Finally ceasing his laughter, the boy wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. With a strange exhale, he took a deep breath and abruptly extended his hand.

“I’m Zian Lobaine. And you?”

“Me? La… no, no, Ren. I’m Ren.”

Caught off guard, their joined hands swung back and forth through the air. Laren rolled his eyes in embarrassment. Though the situation was awkward, this was the first proper introduction he’d made since arriving at the academy.

After meeting Zian Lobaine, the subsequent classes left Laren rapidly exhausted. Dealing with uncomfortable stares, the heat from his swollen cheek, pondering the cursed one—ten bodies wouldn’t be enough. And all this had happened in just one day.

Dragging his fatigue-laden body back to the dormitory, he found it still empty. There were no signs anyone had entered. The only other commoner, his roommate—what kind of person was he, that Laren hadn’t even glimpsed him yet?

Overwhelmed by stress, he adopted a whatever-happens-happens mindset. He’d encounter the veiled roommate eventually.

After showering, Laren, now utterly drowsy, leaped into bed.

‘I’ve successfully enrolled, but how do I find that person?’

Staring at the ceiling where moonlight filtered in, Laren blinked heavily, opening and closing his eyelids, before finally shutting his eyes for good.