"Wait for your future husband, Rose."
Julius mumbled his eyes shining brightly with joy, his cheeks were flushed from excitement.
"Master Julius, I will wait here for you," Alfred said respectfully. He gave a small bow.
"Okay," Julius replied happily with a quick nod.
He walked up to the huge gate. It was so big that it would normally need at least ten people to push it open.
Luckily, the school had used gravity magic on it. Thanks to that magic, students and teachers could open the gate easily with almost no effort.
Julius placed both hands on the gate and gave it a gentle push. The heavy doors swung open smoothly.
The moment the gate opened, a beautiful fresh view appeared in front of him.
Many students moved around the huge yard like busy ants.
The yard was so big that Julius could see the tall academy buildings standing at least one kilometer away.
Students carried books, magic staffs, and weapons as they walked. Julius smiled to himself.
"It seems, it's going to take some time to find my Rose," he muttered while heading toward a blue gate.
The blue gate looked exactly like the dungeon gates he had seen in comics.
"Let's see…" he whispered when he reached it.
He stretched out his right hand, closed his eyes, and focused. A warm energy rose from deep in his lower belly.
He guided that energy slowly up to his right hand, then gently pressed his palm against the blue gate.
Small ripples appeared across the surface of the gate, like stones dropped in calm water.
Julius pulled his hand back. His lips formed a small, impressed pout.
"Not bad… he has already reached the arcane core stage," he said quietly to himself.
His eyes narrowed for a moment, but he didn't stay there long. He stepped through the gate.
...…
...…
"Oh wow, this is really amazing!" Julius cheered as he walked out on the other side, his voice full of excitement.
The students passing by looked at him with frowns and mocking glances, but no one said a word. They just kept walking.
Julius now stood in front of a very large building.
He turned his head left and right, eyes shining with joy as more students walked past him.
After looking around for a little while, he took a deep breath.
"Okay… I should find my Rose first," he said firmly.
He closed his eyes for a second, trying to remember where she might be right now.
After a bit he blinked and slowly opened his eyes.
"Hmm? Why can't I remember anything?" he muttered. A deep frown appeared on his face as he tried to think hard.
After a few seconds, it clicked.
"Ah, right… that useless piece of shit was narrating that trash's hard life at this point in the story," he recalled.
"This part wasn't even in the novel. It'll be a long time before the narrator even notices us."
He started walking slowly, hands in his pockets.
"Come to think of it… that trash must have regressed, right?" Julius muttered to himself.
He glanced down at his own body and nodded.
"Hm… judging by this body, I look exactly like I did when I was fourteen. So if I'm fourteen now, that trash should be thirteen. And he regressed back when he was twelve…"
Julius paused for a moment, eyes narrowing as he pieced everything together in his head.
"That trash…" Julius muttered under his breath.
"If that stupid author hadn't given him that overpowered sh*tstem with all those broken abilities, my Rose and I could have crushed him with just one finger. Hmph!"
He let out a sharp snort, clearly irritated.
"That damn system even has regression…" Julius's eyes narrowed into a frown.
"And this twelve-year-old regression was just his first one. He'll keep regressing more times in the future."
He sighed heavily. "Haa…"
His mood turned sour in an instant.
"That trash… If only my Rose had gotten that system instead. She would have been completely invincible. Tsk, tsk, tsk. It's really such a waste, like pairing a beautiful flower with a monkey!"
Julius clicked his tongue in deep regret, shaking his head as he kept walking.
He complained to himself for a while, lost in his thoughts. Then he suddenly stopped walking. A small embarrassed chuckle escaped his lips.
"Hehe… I completely forgot I was looking for my Rose."
He gave himself an embarrassed smile and scratched the back of his head, cheeks turning a little pink.
Shaking off the awkward moment, he looked around quickly.
His eyes landed on a student passing by. Without thinking twice, Julius reached out and grabbed the collar of the boy's uniform, yanking him to a stop.
"H-hey—!" The student yelped in surprise.
The student was a boy with glasses. He had green hair and a youthful face, but his eyes looked tired.
"Hi," Julius said casually, still holding the collar firmly.
The boy blinked up at him in shock, mouth half-open.
"Where is my Rose?" Julius asked, voice calm but direct.
"..." The boy just stared, eyes wide with disbelief and a growing spark of fear.
Julius tilted his head slightly, frowning at the timid reaction.
"I asked… where is my Rose?" he repeated, slower this time.
The green-haired boy swallowed hard. His voice came out small and shaky.
"R-Rose…? I-I don't know who that is… S-sir, please let go…"
Julius narrowed his eyes for a second, studying the boy's pale face.
He blinked as something suddenly clicked in his mind.
"Ahh, right… her name is Rosalina Valentine," he said out loud, mostly to himself.
The green-haired boy's eyes suddenly went wide. His whole body shook a little in surprise.
"R-Rosalina Valentine…?" he repeated in a stunned whisper.
Julius noticed the reaction right away and grinned.
"Oh? So you know where she is?"
The boy hesitated. But when his timid eyes met Julius's golden gaze, he let out a sigh.
"I… I know where she is," he admitted quietly.
"But I'm warning you… you can't blame me if she gets angry."
Julius laughed lightly, not worried at all.
"Haha, she won't get angry at me. Don't worry about that. Now lead the way."
The boy swallowed hard, still looking nervous, but he gave a tiny nod.
He adjusted the books in his arms and started walking slowly, glancing back every few steps to make sure Julius was following.
Julius followed him with a confident grin as he put his hands on his pocket.
"Hey, what's your name?" Julius asked casually while walking.
"Timmy… Timmy Nathan," the boy replied timidly.
"Haha, no wonder you're so timid," Julius joked.
But his words had no effect on Timmy at all.
After that Julius quietly followed Timmy upstairs, looking around as they walked.
When they reached the second floor, Timmy stopped in front of a room.
"This is her assigned cabin," Timmy said. "It's prepared for the student council president candidates. She spends most of her time here."
"Okay. You can leave now," Julius said. "I'd like to be alone with my Rose."
He turned toward the door. Written on it in bold letters was a name:
Rosalina Valentine
Timmy looked back with a confused expression and muttered under his breath,
"Madman."
Then he walked away.
Julius smiled and placed his hand on the door.
This would be his first time seeing her. He didn't know what she would look like, but one thing was certain, she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
His cheeks flushed red as he heaved an excited breath, he was about to open the door when—
"Rosalina, do you think you can achieve everything with power?" A sharp voice filled with anger echoed in the room.
"Oh my, are you going to cry?"
Another voice followed, mocking and cold.
"Don't think you can win the election with power alone." The voice echoed again, making Julius frown.
'Who dares to speak like this to my Rose?'
"We'll see who wins."
The moment that mocking voice spoke, Julius opened the door.
And the moment he did, two gazes met.
Time stopped for Julius.
A girl stood there in her white shirt and red skirt uniform.
Her beauty was unmatched.
Her long black hair fell straight and smooth down her back. Her eyes were deep black, sharp and bright like polished stones.
Her nose, though small, was like the peak of pure arrogance, straight, proud, refusing to bend.
Her lips were full and curved like the wild waves of a raging sea, strong, restless, ready to command.
The proud tilt of her chin rose high like the top of an unclimbable mountain, bold, untouchable, full of quiet power.
She frowned delicately, but everything about her screamed fierce, unmatched beauty.
The blush on his cheeks grew even more as he thought, 'So this is what you look like, Rose?'
Time began to move again.
"How dare you come here, Julius Augustus Hayes!?" The girl shouted, her face filled with anger.
But Julius said nothing.
Instead, he moved without thinking and pushed the girl Rosalina had been arguing with aside.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"
The girl snapped, her frown deepening.
"..."
Julius remained silent as he stepped forward and stopped right in front of Rosalina.
Rosalina stood up from her seat, her expression twisted with displeasure.
"You are crossing the line, this is the prestigious Arcane academy."
"Don't force me he…..?"
"Marry me, Rose."
"..."