Caelus made his way down the grand corridor toward the East Foyer, his footsteps echoing against marble walls gilded with faded crests of noble houses. The further he walked, the heavier the stares became. Eyes clung to him like gnats to a corpse, and though their owners kept their voices low, the whispers reached his ears all the same.
"That's the Luvelaine bastard."
"Can't believe he showed his face here."
"A fallen noble like him? How pathetic."
He kept his gaze forward, the cold glint of his glasses shielding whatever emotion might have flickered in his eyes. Ignoring them was easy — or at least, it had been for the first hundred steps. By the time he reached the East Foyer, the words had begun to settle like a haze in the back of his mind.
There, a third-year student was waiting for him. The upperclassman's appearance was a mess. Long, tangled waves of dark hair nearly veiled his face, and deep, heavy bags hung beneath dull amber eyes that looked like they hadn't known sleep in days.
"Luvelaine, right?" the older student asked, voice dry and unbothered. "You're the last one. Guess we can finally get this show started."
Without another word, he motioned for Caelus to follow. The group ahead, a scattered assembly of first-years, turned their heads. The stares resumed, and so did the murmurs.
"We're picking our majors next week, aren't we? What are you gonna do?"
"Probably swordsmanship. Regrettably, I don't have much of an aptitude for magic."
"Ah, that's unfortunate. Hmm... I wonder where the Luvelaine is going."
"Home, that's where. I doubt he can wield a sword or cast a simple fireball spell."
"Pfft..."
He still didn't react. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction. But even the most weathered stone will begin to crack under the relentless drip of water, and Caelus could already feel the dull ache of irritation settling beneath his skin.
Should I just kill them all?
The thought flickered by, a dark, almost comforting instinct.
No, that wouldn't do. He may have spent the last five years among demons, lived like them, fought like them, and embraced their brutal philosophy. But these people aren't demons. They're humans. Fragile, petty things. Too easy to break. And so, he let the thought go.
"And over here we have the Runic Halls," the upperclassman announced as he approached a towering building, its spires adorned with glimmering glyphs. "For those of you choosing to major in Elemental Magic, the Rune Study course is pretty much mandatory. This is where you'll put theory to practice — crafting spells, inscribing scrolls, all that good stuff."
It was then that a voice piped up from the back.
"I bet that Luvelaine guy won't even make it this far. He'll probably get stuck in Principles of Magic forever."
"I'll say," another snickered.
Laughter rippled through their little clique. The upperclassman sighed and raised a hand in a lazy attempt at peacekeeping.
"Alright, enough of that. Let's keep it civil, Alexander," he said wearily. "At Rhodeia, status doesn't matter. You'll find nobles, commoners, and even foreigners here. Everyone earns their place. Including our young Luvelaine."
"Oh, come on, Sir Leidt," Alexander scoffed. "There's no way he got in through proper channels. He had to have pulled strings. It's obvious."
Leidt tilted his head, clearly unimpressed.
"That's a bold accusation. Rhodeia takes its admission process quite seriously. If you're claiming that someone violated college law, you'd better have proof."
"Proof? Yeah, sure. I got proof," Alexander sneered. "And it's that he's a fallen noble."
More snickering. Leidt pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed, as though it were too early in the day for this nonsense.
"Right. Well, I think that concludes today's tour," he muttered. "I suggest you all focus on making a decent start at this place instead of digging your own graves."
And with that, Leidt turned on his heel and left, leaving the group to themselves. Which, of course, gave Alexander the perfect opportunity to swagger toward Caelus with a smug, ugly grin.
"Since we're on the topic," Alexander sneered, swaggering a step closer, "why don't you tell us, huh? How'd a disgraced little shit like you crawl your way into Rhodeia College? Who'd you bribe? What strings did you pull?"
Caelus didn't answer, nor did he spare even a flicker of acknowledgment.
"Hey," Alexander snapped. "I asked you a question, so why aren't you answering? It couldn't be that you are guilty, could it? You can just admit it, you know. No one here would be surprised."
The surrounding students murmured, a low tide of agreement rising behind him. Baseless accusations, but it didn't matter. Truth was irrelevant when a mob could be stirred by sheer momentum.
While Alexander carried on, spewing petty venom, Caelus quietly mused to himself.
It'd be fine if I killed him, wouldn't it? Just one. No one would miss him. He's giving me every reason. Wouldn't I be justified?
His hand twitched slightly, but his attention shifted. Amid the crowd was a noticeable presence. An abnormality on the edge of the group.
A young man stood with his arms crossed, leaning casually against a lamp post as though watching a dull play. Uneven brown hair framed sharp emerald eyes that glimmered with quiet amusement. And that grin never left his face.
Without a word, the young man bent down, plucked a small pebble from the ground, twirled it between his fingers, and flicked it.
The pebble zipped through the air, weaving past several heads before smacking Alexander on the side of his head.
"The fuck?! Who the hell—"
Alexander spun around, enraged, but the moment his eyes met the culprit's, the words died in his throat. The crowd instinctively parted like water before a blade.
There he stood, arm still lazily extended.
"K-Kain Diadalin..."
Kain smiled, tilting his head. "Oh, don't stop on my account. Go on. Finish what you were going to say, Sir Alexander."
Silence, as deafening as the cries on a battlefield.
He chuckled and strolled forward, wearing that same lopsided grin.
"Yeah. Of course you won't. You're the type to bare his fangs at the weak, yet unable to do the same when faced with someone stronger. Typical. It's almost boring."
He held his arms out theatrically.
"So? You've got all the proof you need, don't you? I threw that pebble. On purpose, no less. So why not come at me? Shame me. Threaten me. Just like you did to him."
Alexander's face had gone pale. A tremble ran down his body as his gaze hit the ground.
Kain let out a long, airy laugh, then leaned in just enough for his voice to drop.
"Hah... Hahaha!" he laughed like a maniac. "Truthfully, you amaze me. Unlike when you were baselessly accusing Luvelaine over there, you had all the proof in the world to come after me. And yet, what did you do? Absolutely nothing. You're a fucking pathetic coward, and it just so happens that I despise cowards, especially those who act out of place. You know where I'm going with this, don't you?"
Alexander flinched. Without another word, he scurried away, dragging the remnants of his little pack with him. Those who'd stood by him, once so eager to laugh along, dispersed in his wake, too afraid to linger in the aftermath.
In the end, it was just Kain and Caelus left standing on the path.
Caelus watched the others vanish down the path, their whispers now reduced to background noise. He let out a slow, steady breath. The itch to spill blood hadn't entirely left him, but it was dulled beneath that carefully controlled exterior.
Then, his gaze shifted to Kain.
Most people who approached him did so with scorn, suspicion, or veiled contempt. This one, however, wore none of those things. That crooked grin wasn't one of kindness, nor was it purely malicious. There was something else lurking in those emerald eyes. Sharp, calculating, and above all else... a predator's curiosity.
It unsettled Caelus more than outright hatred ever could.
Kain stretched with a yawn, then tossed another small stone into the air and caught it.
"Man, what a bunch of cowards," he said casually. "Bearing fangs when it's safe and tucking their tails when it isn't. Same damn story with disgraceful nobles like them."
He glanced sideways at Caelus, his grin widening.
"Luvelaine, huh? Can't say I expected to see you here. Thought you'd be rotting in a ditch or clinging to whatever's left of your old estate."
Caelus said nothing, watching him with unreadable eyes.
Kain chuckled.
"Not much of a talker either. Or maybe you're just sizing me up, huh? Wondering if you could take me. Hate to break it to you, but you'd lose."
He said it like a joke, but beneath the words was an undercurrent of warning.
"But hey," Kain added, flicking the pebble away with a snap of his fingers. "I'm not here to start a fight. I'm just interested, that's all. You've been gone five years. Most people assumed you were dead. And now, here you are, strutting into Rhodeia as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Guess I just wanna see what kind of idiot you are. And something tells me I'm gonna find out real soon."
Without waiting for an answer, he strolled down the path, leaving Caelus alone with the faint, lingering echo of his words.