The next day, the entire school was turned upside down.
The student council presidency duel between Aizel and Simon had been derailed by Kajan Edvalt’s sudden intrusion. To make matters worse, Kajan, the runner-up, had actually defeated Aizel.
But with rumors circulating that Simon had nearly defeated that very same Kajan, the student body was thrown into a spiral of confusion.
"Kajan beat Aizel, but Simon beat the crap out of Kajan?"
"No way. What’s actually true?"
While the students spiraled in confusion, Kizen Headquarters and the faculty convened an emergency meeting.
A heated debate raged over how to discipline Kajan Edvalt for interfering with the match and attacking Aizel along with the other students. They also had to decide what to do about the vacant student council president position.
The students eagerly awaited the verdict.
"Kajan is definitely getting expelled, right?"
"I don’t know about that."
"I doubt it."
Kajan wouldn’t be able to avoid severe disciplinary action, but whether Kizen—an institution strictly governed by meritocracy—would actually expel the student who had just proven himself the strongest remained to be seen. The third-years, in particular, were certain he would avoid expulsion.
Rumors about Aizel were also circulating.
"It’s a huge shock that Aizel got crushed by Kajan like that."
"Actually, about Aizel..."
Whispers exposing Aizel Bringer’s fabricated persona were spreading like wildfire.
Everyone had memories they wanted to forget.
"Pfft, hahaha! I told you to act like a snail, so why are you acting like a turtle? Put some effort into it!"
"Whoever loses rock-paper-scissors has to pretend to be Aizel’s girlfriend for the day. Wanna play?"
Every single day at his old school had been hell.
The scars from that time felt carved into his soul. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape them.
Even now, as a necromancer, he was certain he would reflexively wet himself if he ran into those bullies on the street.
It was a wound that refused to heal. Perhaps that was why he had been so desperate when he first enrolled at Kizen.
"My name is Linea. What kingdom are you from?"
A small act of kindness from a girl he met at the entrance ceremony.
"Let’s go eat! Oh, Aizel. Do you want to come too?"
"They say Rochest has everything!"
The warm invitations.
The genuine goodwill.
It would have been nice if he could have just accepted the kindness poured onto him on his first day, but he couldn’t.
He fabricated reasons for it.
’They only talked to me because I’m playing the part of an outstanding elite.’
He set boundaries.
’If my true identity is exposed, they’ll be disgusted. They’ll turn their backs on me without hesitation.’
So he worked himself to the bone.
He did it so he wouldn’t betray his friends’ touching kindness.
He didn’t care if their warmth was directed at the fake persona he had created rather than his true self. Just smiling behind a mask was enough to satisfy him.
But now, everything was exposed.
"Aizel Bringer! Were all those stories from back then just lies?! Were you just using and mocking me for your little elite roleplay?!"
Kajan Edvalt had shown up knowing his true nature.
Aizel had never seen Kajan so furious.
Watching Kajan erupt with anger like a volcano, Aizel felt the sandcastle he had spent two and a half years building collapse all at once.
He assumed everyone else would react just like Kajan, furious that he had deceived them.
His legs had trembled, and his will had broken.
Unable to display even half his strength, he was beaten helplessly.
’My life is over now.’
’I’ve fallen from the position of Kizen’s strongest, and I’ve made an enemy out of Sota Pshyke, who knows my true nature. The rumors about me will spread through the school in a day.’
"My name is Linea. What kingdom are you from?"
’I should have just accepted her kindness for what it was back then.’
’It’s too late for regrets.’
Still, while unconscious, he had a happy dream.
"Aizel! Please open your eyes! Aizel!"
He dreamt of his peers desperately crying out as they pushed his hospital bed. They were shedding tears for him.
Thinking about it objectively, there was no way that was real.
’I’m not Kizen’s strongest anymore. And I couldn’t even keep up the elite act while passed out.’
’Ahaha.’
He recalled that happy dream one last time.
And then, Aizel opened his eyes.
’Chirp, chirp.’
The peaceful song of mountain birds drifted through the air. Bright sunlight poured through the window, washing over the room as the curtains fluttered in the gentle breeze.
This was the Kizen infirmary.
He scanned the room for any signs of life, but of course, it was empty.
There was no reason for anyone to be there.
’Now that my identity as a loser has been exposed, no one will...’
"Oh."
Just then, he heard the rustle of someone sitting up. Aizel’s eyes widened.
A long-haired girl, who had been resting her head on the edge of his bed from an uncomfortable folding chair, was waking up, rubbing her eyes.
"Linea?"
At the name that slipped from his lips, she opened her eyes wide and stared at him.
Tears quickly welled up in the corners of her eyes.
"Aizel! You’re awake! I’m so, so glad!"
She threw her arms around him, holding him tightly. Aizel took in her familiar scent with a dazed expression.
"Linea... what are you doing here?"
Muttering absentmindedly, Aizel belatedly realized his own condition.
Cold sweat ran down the back of his neck as a surge of anxiety washed over him.
While still trapped in Linea’s embrace, he fumbled with his free hand, urgently sweeping the bedsheets.
"Looking for your glasses?" she asked gently.
Aizel flinched, freezing in place.
"I think they broke during the battle. You probably won’t find them."
She let go of him and smiled. Aizel’s face flushed crimson. His lips trembled as he stammered, instinctively trying to cast dark magic to fix his appearance.
"Dark magic is forbidden in the infirmary," Linea scolded lightly.
She smiled, reaching out to smooth down his bangs, which had fluttered up from the wind magic he’d attempted.
"And this."
She patted down his puffed-up blanket with her palm.
"There’s no need to use wind magic to make yourself look taller, either."
"Right..."
Aizel lowered his head, his expression turning gloomy.
"You saw everything."
"I did."
Aizel clutched his chest tightly. Trembling on the verge of a panic attack, he eventually let out a long, shaky exhale.
"Now the whole school must know."
"They do."
Just as Aizel had feared, the events of the student council president match had spread throughout the entire school.
On top of that, Sota Pshyke had exposed every detail of Aizel’s true nature.
Having decided to abandon Aizel and side with Kajan Edvalt, Sota needed at least some justification for Kajan attacking Aizel in order to salvage Kajan’s public image.
The newspaper club had even published an exclusive scoop. They had apparently contacted Aizel’s old school for an interview.
’Haha.’
He felt stripped bare. Everyone knew his truth now.
And yet...
"How do you feel, Aizel?" Linea asked softly.
He had thought his entire world would collapse the moment his identity was discovered.
He had thought it would be better to just die right then and there.
And yet...
"I feel... somewhat relieved."
His mind was strangely at ease.
Instead of the extreme panic he had anticipated, his heart felt so light that it was almost strange.
"Well, I guess I’m only feeling this way because I’m stuck in the infirmary," he muttered. "Once I go outside and feel everyone staring at me..."
"Here!"
As if expecting this, Linea held up a large board made of taped-together sheets of paper. It was covered in messages written by his peers.
[Get well soon, Aizel!]
[Shake it off and get up so you can get your revenge!]
[You’re going to come with us to Rochest again, right?]
[Thanks for everything! Have a great vacation!]
"Just so you know, the others voluntarily wrote and gathered these ’after’ your identity was exposed," she pointed out.
Unable to believe it, Aizel’s eyes darted across the board as he read his classmates’ messages. Some were short, some were long.
The memories of the past two and a half years flooded his mind one by one.
"And Aizel," she added, lowering the board. "I knew about your true self from the very beginning."
Aizel’s head snapped up.
"R-Really?"
"Of course. Who wouldn’t notice such an obvious and fragile act?"
She covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
"Honestly, most of the kids from Class 1-B probably knew. The upperclassmen might not have noticed since your acting improved over time, but we did."
"Then..."
"Why didn’t we say anything?"
Linea let out a deep sigh.
"Because on the days you made even a single slip of the tongue, you’d beat yourself up in an empty bathroom. You’d bang your forehead against the wall until it bled and shatter windows. You suffered like you were dying."
Aizel went silent.
"What could we possibly say after seeing you like that? Everyone in our class just agreed to pretend we didn’t know and let it go."
She sighed softly and offered a gentle smile.
"You’re not the only one walking around wearing a mask, you know. I do it, too. Outside, I try to speak politely and softly. I act coy in front of the professors.
"I pretend to be innocent, pretend I eat like a bird... My makeup is a mess right now, isn’t it? My eyes are all puffy, and you can see my blemishes..."
"No, you’re still beautiful," he blurted out.
Linea gasped, catching her breath for a moment.
Her face turned bright red as if she had taken an unexpected hit, before she quickly shook her head to compose herself.
"Anyway! I’m just saying that acting differently from your true self in front of others isn’t necessarily a bad thing."
Aizel smiled warmly.
"Thank you. Truly, Linea."
"You’re welcome."
Their gazes met, lingering in a comfortable silence.
His face slightly flushed, Aizel brushed his bangs back out of habit and lowered his voice.
"But honestly, it has to be a bit of a turn-off for your boyfriend to be like this. I..."
"I told you, there’s no need for that."
Linea grabbed both of Aizel’s hands and placed them gently on the blanket.
"Your true self—clueless, shy, and human—is pretty decent, too."
"Linea?"
"You idiot. I’m only going to say this once, so listen closely."
She leaned in, her voice soft and sweet.
"The you who tries so desperately to change yourself, the you who bluffs and acts tough, and the you who gets all flustered like this..."
Time seemed to stop.
The boy and girl’s lips met.
"They’re all Aizel. And I like you."
Simon woke up three days after the student council president match.
He woke up even later than Aizel. He hadn’t noticed during the battle due to the adrenaline rush, but he had passed out immediately after the fight ended.
It seemed he had been severely poisoned while fighting Kajan Edvalt.
By the time he opened his eyes in the Kizen infirmary, the end-of-term ceremony had already finished and vacation had begun. Kizen had sent a notice to Simon’s parents so they wouldn’t worry, allowing him to stay in the infirmary until he fully recovered.
"The student council kids dropped by whenever they had free time," Lorraine said.
They all seemed to want to stay until Simon woke up, but students who hadn’t filled out the stay-request forms had to leave without delay once the ceremony concluded.
Simon munched on a slice of fruit she had cut for him.
"I’ll have to write them letters as soon as I get home," he noted.
"Yeah."
"Aren’t you going anywhere for vacation, Lorraine?"
"I have a house on Roc Island, after all."
Simon nodded and glanced to his side.
Serne, who had practically moved into his hospital room, was resting her chin on her hand, watching him with a sly, fox-like smile.
"But Serne. Why are you still here?"
"Hehe, I have some business to attend to, so I decided to stay on Roc Island for a few days."
Hearing that, Lorraine narrowed her eyes.
"The staff member who processed your stay request said they don’t remember doing it," Lorraine pointed out sharply.
"There’s no problem on paper, right? Why do you keep picking fights?" Serne shot back.
The atmosphere between the two of them rapidly deteriorated. Caught in the middle as always, it fell to Simon to defuse the tension.
While they engaged in their battle of nerves, Simon looked out the window.
The Kizen campus was deserted. With vacation underway, it felt like there was no one left on the island.
’Vacation.’
Simon tilted his head back against his pillow.
’What should I do this vacation?’
"Oh, right."
Lorraine held up a letter.
"I got word from Headquarters. It seems your parents were worried about your condition, so they decided to come pick you up themselves."
"Ah, really?"
Simon scratched his head. Richard would probably come in person again, acting as his uncle.
"They must be busy with the estate. I feel bad making them come all this way."
"Are they really coming? This is no time to be sitting around."
Serne hopped down to the floor, her eyes curving in delight.
"I need to hurry up and make myself look my absolute best to meet Simon’s father."
"...Serne," Simon sighed.
At the same time.
Langerstine.
Passersby murmured as they made way. A woman with silver hair tinged with a faint blue light strolled down the street.
"Madam, could you spare a moment?"
"The streets of Langerstine are dangerous without your husband, so please, let me..."
Middle-aged men from all directions tried to hit on her. Some men couldn’t tear their eyes away and ended up getting smacked in the back of the head by their partners.
Elegance, grace, and beauty.
The woman who possessed all of those qualities parted the crowd and stopped in front of a passerby.
"Excuse me," she said, offering a sweet smile.
"Which way is the Langerstine port?"

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