After a twenty-minute journey, the shuttle finally arrived at Zenith College's main building.
It slowly came to a stop.
As soon as the doors opened, students began getting off one by one.
Lilveth stood up from her seat reluctantly.
It was as if she wanted to stay there a little longer.
Before leaving Aethron's side, she turned to him one last time and spoke.
"My name is Lilveth Cehennem," she said.
"Nice to meet you."
There was a strange warmth and faint sense of possessiveness in her voice.
Then she looked straight into Aethron's eyes.
"And yours?" she asked.
It was clear that she genuinely wanted to know his answer.
And this curiosity was not normal for Lilveth.
She was usually distant and indifferent toward people.
But right now, she truly wanted to hear his answer.
Aethron spoke with a mesmerizing smile.
"My name is Aethron Marlow."
His voice was calm and confident.
Lilveth's eyes softened slightly.
"Aethron Marlow…" she whispered.
She repeated the name a few times in a low voice.
"Aethron… Aethron…"
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"That's a beautiful name," she said, with genuine admiration.
Lilveth stepped off the shuttle with happiness after getting the answer she wanted.
A faint smile had unconsciously appeared on her face.
Aethron followed right behind her and headed into the school building.
He passed through the wide entrance and walked inside.
The moment he stepped in, the sight before him surprised him once again.
High ceilings, shining marble floors, giant screens, and holographic announcement boards…
It felt more like a futuristic research center than a school.
As Aethron searched for his classroom, he carefully observed his surroundings.
After about five minutes of searching, he finally found his classroom.
The class code was displayed on a digital sign above the door.
Aethron took a deep breath and stepped inside.
However, the classroom layout was nothing like the traditional high school setup he was used to.
The desks were not arranged in straight rows.
Instead, the room followed a university-style lecture hall design. The seats were arranged in a semi-circular, tiered formation facing a wide presentation area in the center.
Each seat had a personal touchscreen panel in front of it.
Aethron paused for a moment and looked around.
"Is this really a high school…?" he thought.
spotted a familiar figure.
A chubby boy who looked like he was almost sinking into his seat…
It was Darian.
Aethron decided to go sit beside him.
Just as he was about to walk over, Darian noticed him.
He suddenly stood up.
Without hesitation, he walked toward the back of the classroom.
As he left, he spoke in a low voice.
"I'm sorry, Aethron… but I can't make the same mistake again."
His voice was trembling.
Although Darian wasn't particularly outstanding academically, he was far superior to Aethron in emotional intelligence.
He knew very well that Lilveth hadn't acted that way because she liked the seat.
She had acted that way because of who was sitting next to her.
Because it was Aethron.
Yet, he didn't blame Aethron.
He believed it was entirely his own carelessness.
"After all," he thought,
"what guy would sit so close to someone that extraordinary?"
It was like silently declaring war.
And he wasn't brave enough to fight it.
Aethron remained frozen in place.
He stared at Darian's back in confusion.
He couldn't fully understand what had just happened.
Aethron let out a soft sigh in helplessness.
He decided not to think about it anymore.
"Let it go for now…" he thought.
Quietly, he sat down in the seat where Darian had been sitting before and took a deep breath.
Then, he waited for the class to begin.
Although he had left home late in the morning, his luck had been pretty good today. There was no traffic, and he didn't have to wait for the metro at all.
Moreover, it was the first day of school.
Because of that, classes would start thirty minutes later than usual.
The school administration wanted to give students some time to get to know each other.
The classroom slowly began to fill up.
Students entered in groups, and empty seats were occupied one by one.
Sitting in the back row, Darian watched the scene with satisfaction, feeling that his decision had been absolutely right.
"Good thing I moved," he thought.
Because almost every girl who entered the classroom froze the moment she saw Aethron.
Their gazes shifted toward him, cheeks flushed, and hearts raced.
And most of them—consciously or unconsciously—chose seats close to his.
The male students, on the other hand, looked at Aethron with slight hostility.
Jealousy was clearly in the air.
Yet, they couldn't help but admit that the girls had good reason.
"I mean… they're not wrong," some of them thought.
And in the middle of all this, our dense Aethron didn't notice anything at all.
To him, this kind of attention had always been… normal.
Almost all the female students were looking at Aethron with passion.
Yet strangely, none of them dared to speak to him.
It was as if there was an invisible boundary around him.
Minutes passed like that.
Then, the classroom door opened.
A woman stepped inside.
Her long golden hair flowed down her back. Her bright red eyes were captivating at first glance. Her face was devilishly beautiful; her gaze carried both danger and elegance.
She was about 1.80 meters tall. Her tall, proportionate figure resembled that of a model. Her black stockings and elegant outfit gave her a serious yet striking presence.
One thing was certain:
She was in no way inferior to Lilveth.
The male students unconsciously took a deep breath.
The woman appeared to be in her early thirties.
That maturity only made her even more attractive.
She walked to the front of the classroom, picked up the chalk, and wrote her name on the board.
"Lyra Moonshine"
The moment the name appeared, silence fell over the room.
When the students—and Aethron—saw the surname, they were all shocked.
The Moonshine Family…
One of the most powerful families in the world.
Their wealth was measured in trillions.
They had influence in countless fields—technology, fashion, beauty, media, mining, medicine, fuel, and research.
There was almost no industry they didn't touch.
For someone from such a powerful family to be a teacher here…
Lyra Moonshine began speaking with a beautiful yet cold expression.
"From today onward, I am your homeroom teacher," she said in a clear, firm voice.
"I don't tolerate noise in my class. I won't repeat myself. Do not talk while I'm teaching."
Her bright red eyes scanned the entire classroom as if searching for something.
Anyone her gaze landed on felt as if they were frozen in place.
The pressure made it hard to even breathe.
And then…
Her eyes stopped on Aethron.
At that moment, a small but genuine smile appeared on her face.
It lasted only a second.
But Aethron noticed it clearly.
She quickly returned to her serious expression.
"Anyone whose average of three exams falls below B- will be expelled from this class."
A murmur rose in the room, but it quickly died down.
Lyra narrowed her eyes and spoke again.
"Do you understand?"
Her tone left no room for argument.
All the students shouted loudly at the same time.
"Yes!"
Lyra nodded with a satisfied expression.
"Good," she said.
After a brief pause, she continued.
"Normally, we should be having geography class at this hour. However, since today is the first day, I don't plan to hold a lesson."
Hearing this, the students were almost ready to jump in happiness.
Some of their faces were already lighting up.
But at that moment, Lyra opened her mouth once again.
And poured cold water over their excitement.
"Instead, I will ask you questions to evaluate your knowledge."
An instant silence fell over the classroom.
"Do we have an agreement?"
Lyra spoke in a cold, authoritative tone.
A brief silence filled the classroom.
Then, the students shouted in fear all at once.
"Yes!"
Lyra nodded, seemingly satisfied with the response.
Without wasting any time, she asked her first question.
"Now listen carefully."
"What is the name of the largest continent known so far?"
"And what is its surface area?"
The moment she finished speaking, the atmosphere in the classroom grew heavy.
Many students began nervously flipping through their notes.
Some simply stared blankly at the board.
Lyra frowned slightly as she looked around the classroom.
"No one knows?" she asked.
Inside, she coldly thought:
"Is the human race really a bunch of idiots…"
But what she truly cared about wasn't the class.
Her gaze slowly moved and finally stopped on Aethron.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"Aethron," she said gently.
"Do you know the answer?"
Aethron was surprised that she knew his name.
However, he didn't think too much about it.
He calmly stood up and spoke.
"The largest continent known so far is called Eldranor," he said clearly.
"Its surface area is estimated to be larger than fifteen billion light-years."
When he finished speaking, deep silence filled the classroom.
Everyone stared at him in shock.
Lyra's smile widened slightly.
She looked at Aethron sincerely and smiled warmly.
"Good," she said with satisfaction.
After that, Lyra began asking the class question after question.
Continents, dimensions, star systems, unexplored regions…
The questions became more and more difficult.
Yet every time, the person who gave the clearest and most accurate answers was Aethron.
At first, a few students tried to participate, but they soon gave up.
When the lesson ended, the class felt as if they had just finished a marathon.
As soon as the bell rang, almost all the students rushed out of the classroom.
The corridor quickly filled with noise and movement.
Aethron picked up his bag and was about to leave as well.
He had just headed toward the door when he heard a voice behind him.
"Aethron… could you spare me five minutes?"
It was Lyra's voice.
But this time, her tone was different.
Not cold and authoritative…
Instead, it was surprisingly gentle and warm.
Aethron paused.
Slowly, he turned around.