Evangeline's eyes trembled as she looked at Veronica's battered figure. Her hands clenched tightly at her sides, guilt gnawing at her heart. "I promised Father I would protect you, yet I…"
Before she could finish, Veronica shoved her lightly toward the classroom door. "Save the apologies for later, Evangeline. Go."
"Veronica, wait!" Evangeline called out, reaching for her. But the girl was already gone, her figure disappearing down the corridor like the wind.
Evangeline slowly lowered her hand, whispering to the empty hallway, "I just wanted to thank you…"
"Host, you have got thirty seconds left," the system's cold reminder echoed, breaking the moment.
Veronica didn't slow down. Dust kicked up behind her as she sprinted across the academy grounds. Her mind wasn't calm in the slightest. The villain's favorability value on her panel flickered an alarming shade of red. Her stomach twisted. That couldn't mean something worse than -999, right? Surely it couldn't go even lower… could it?!
Following the glowing marker on the map the system provided, she arrived at the door of her assigned classroom.
But when she stopped in front of it, her legs refused to move.
"Why aren't you entering?" System 5060 questioned in confusion.
"Don't tell me you're chickening out already," Yumike's mocking voice chimed in, sharp and sarcastic.
Veronica pressed her lips together, forcing down the tightness in her chest. She inhaled deeply, then curled her trembling fingers into fists.
Straightening her back, she gathered the last of her courage and braced herself for whatever awaited her beyond those doors.
The moment Veronica pushed open the door, a heavy silence swallowed the classroom.
Dozens of students were already seated in their places, their attention shifting as one to the intruder who dared arrive late. Their stares were suffocating—curious, mocking, some openly hostile.
She froze at the threshold.
At the front of the room stood the professor.
He didn't need to speak to command the atmosphere. The entire class felt like it was holding its breath under his presence. A shard of crystalline ore floated lazily above his palm, spinning in perfect circles as if bound by invisible chains. Each flicker left behind glowing runes across the black stone board—symbols that writhed for a moment before hissing out in showers of red sparks.
The sound of magic humming filled the chamber, low and oppressive, crawling beneath the skin.
Then his eyes lifted.
Golden. Frigid. Merciless.
The instant they landed on her, Veronica's throat constricted. The glowing runes faltered and dissolved into nothing. Veronica took a step back, hardly believing what she was seeing.
"You're late."
His voice was low, smooth, and cold as steel. He did not need to raise it; every syllable landed with the weight of judgment.
This face...
He tilted his head slightly, gaze never wavering. The shard of crystal froze mid-spin, hanging still in the air like a blade suspended over her throat.
"Fifteen seconds late."
No, no, this can't be happening...
Veronica continued to back away, hand on her chest, her face pale as if she has seen a ghost.
She could never forget that face... How could she forget?
Whispers erupted instantly, sharp and poisonous.
"She's done for."
"Professor Thorne notices everything…"
"Not even a minute and she's already marked."
The crystal cracked with a sharp snap. A single fracture line ran through it, glowing red like molten fire. The sound silenced the room at once.
Zareth's lips curled into something colder than a smile.
"Step forward," he commanded.
The air itself grew unnaturally heavy, pressing on Veronica's chest like someone had thrown a boulder onto her lungs. Every breath was a battle. Her legs shook so badly she half-expected them to snap like cheap twigs.
And then her eyes landed on him.
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
That face. That smug, infuriating face. Sure, the hair was a different color, and the eyes weren't quite the same shade, but everything else? Exactly like the douchebag who had murdered her in her previous life. What were the odds? Did the universe just have a personal hobby of recycling killers?
"Speak." Zareth's voice slid through the silence, smooth and cold. "Do you have a reason to explain your tardiness?"
Tardiness? Seriously?
She had crawled here like a half-dead raccoon, one shoe missing, bloodstained, bruised, and this sadist was worried about punctuality?
His sharp gaze swept over her pitiful state, and instead of the mercy of pretending not to notice, his lips curled. That little smirk. That was the look of a man who didn't just enjoy your misery—he ordered popcorn for it.
Veronica's brain completely failed her. Her mouth moved, but all she managed was a pathetic shake of her head.
Then she noticed the crystal glass above her head, gleaming as it tilted toward her.
Her pulse spiked, panic gnawing at her insides. Why, oh why, couldn't she ever catch a break? Was it too much to ask for one peaceful day in this freaking world?!
Without a second thought, Veronica threw herself into frantic bows, bobbing so hard she nearly smacked her forehead on the floor.
"Please show mercy! I'm just an ignorant new student. I will be careful next time, I swear!"
Humiliating didn't even begin to cover it. Begging once for her life in her old world had been bad enough. But begging again, and this time to the doppelgänger of the bastard who had murdered her? If there was an award for "Most Pitiful Second Life," she was already a finalist.
The crystal shard vanished dissolving like mist. His gaze remained steady, cutting through her like a scalpel.
"Introduce yourself."
"Huh?" The word slipped out before she caught herself. She quickly straightened, forcing a smile.
"Ah, Hello, I'm Veronica Noire Ravenshire. Please take care of me."
The silence that followed was… bitter. Not because anyone was moved, but because...
"...That's it?" a boy whispered, looking heartbroken.
"Boo! She should have at least lost an arm!"
Their petty complaints rippled across the room. Veronica looked at them in alarm. She knew they were monsters but it did not mean they really had to act like monsters, damn it.
Zareth's lips twitched into what might have been amusement—or maybe it was just cruelty.
"Well, Veronica, in this class tardiness is not tolerated. Consider yourself warned."
Veronica bobbed her head so fast then bolted to the farthest seat in the room. Phew. Close one. Too close.
Her relief, however, was instantly crushed by the screeching sound of desks dragging away.
One by one, the students beside her scooted their desks away with exaggerated disgust. By the time they were finished, she was sitting in a perfectly isolated circle like some kind of cursed exhibit in a zoo.
"She's just a weak, pathetic human. How did she even get into our class?"
"Look at her! Someone's already beaten her up. Do we really need more dead weight?"
Snickers and whispers spread like wildfire, the students not even bothering to lower their voices. Each word pricked at Veronica's ears, sharp as needles, but she forced herself not to flinch. If she reacted now, it would only give them more fuel to burn.
Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on something far more pressing.
Her heart thudded as her eyes slid back to the man standing at the front. That face. That voice. That arrogant, haughty air that screamed I-own-the-world-and-your-soul-too.
No matter how she looked at him… Zareth was the spitting image of him.
The mafia boss. The one who had wronged her, and killed her without a shred of hesitation in her original world. The resemblance was so uncanny it made her stomach knot.
Her thoughts raced, dizziness creeping in. What on earth is going on?
Could it be…? No. That was ridiculous. And yet...
Could it be that the mafia boss transmigrated too?!
The idea hit her like a thunderclap. And if that were true, then her situation wasn't just bad. It was catastrophic. Because if fate really had dragged that monster into this world as well, then surviving here wouldn't be easy.
Veronica pressed her lips together tightly. Great. Just great. Not only did I wake up in some twisted fantasy world, but I might also be sharing oxygen with my murderer. Lovely. Just lovely.
"System, did the villain transmigrate into this world too?" Veronica asked, scratching her head.
"No," System 5060 replied at once, its tone sharp and offended. "The villain is perfectly normal. Nothing is amiss. I can't sense any foreign energy coming from him."
"…Is that so." Veronica narrowed her eyes suspiciously. The System sounded a little too defensive. If she didn't know better, it was like it was protecting him. Now that was a terrifying thought.
Shoving that paranoia down for now, she forced herself to glance around the classroom.
The sight was blinding. Every student wore crisp white and gold uniforms that shimmered faintly under the light, with the proud emblem of a golden dragon stitched onto their shoulders. The way they sat tall and confident in their uniforms made the whole class look more like an elite knightly order.
Then her eyes caught on a familiar figure seated behind her.
Her face brightened. "Lyra, hey!"
It was the demon girl she shared a dorm room with a bad attitude, and all. Of course, she should've guessed Lyra was in the Dragonspire Class too. The pristine uniform on her made it obvious.
But Lyra didn't so much as glance her way. Her eyes stayed firmly fixed ahead, her posture rigid. She didn't blink, didn't flinch, didn't move a single muscle.
It was the kind of cold shoulder that could freeze a volcano.
Veronica's smile twitched. Oh. So we're doing the 'pretend-I-don't-exist' act, huh?
"The lesson begins now. Silence."