The rest of the questions weren't so bad; there were a few that had me stumped, though, for example, questions on mana technology and rift creature biology, which I left empty.
It really ticked me off, honestly. Going from being ranked first nationally to leaving questions empty, I felt like heading straight to a library to study the entire curriculum in one sitting.
'Haa...' I sighed inwardly.
I then slipped my answer sheet into the small box to my left.
My vision blurred, and I found myself back in the hall.
'I think I'm going to be sick.' I covered my mouth, feeling intense motion sickness.
Looking around, I saw two other figures in the hall. I recognised both of them.
'Well, well, would you look at this.'
It was Liam and... Elise.
To be more specific, Elise Rendal. The only daughter of Count Rendal, the one who hosts the Academy Exams every year in his territory. But more importantly, Liam's love interest and his fiancée before the regression.
She stood still, leaning against a wall, her eyes closed as if the exam was nothing to her.
On the other hand, Liam looked like a fucking idiot.
He kept stealing glances at her before looking away.
'Oh, my god.' I resisted the urge to facepalm.
Elise seemed to notice his gaze, but just ignored it as if she was used to it anyway.
Which made sense, she was beautiful. She had long brown hair that was tied neatly in a ponytail, and a soft yet intimidating face. Even though she was standing still, she seemed to exude elegance, like she was a princess, which she basically was. The Rendal County is one of the richest noble families in this world.
I smiled and walked straight up to her.
'Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this.'
"Nice to meet you, Lady Elise," I spoke formally, bowing slightly.
"...Who are you?" She asked me outright.
It didn't bother me; in fact, my smile grew wider because I felt an intense gaze to my side.
'Watch the master at work, you dumbass.'
"My name is Cassian, my lady, and I come with a message."
"Speak."
"You see my friend over there." I pointed at Liam.
Liam's eyes widened, confusion plastered all over his face.
Elise, however, showed no reaction. Her face was as blank as ever. "What about him?"
"He said he wanted to speak to you, but he's nervous, you see."
"He's never been much good with the ladies."
"..."
"..."
Liam began sprinting toward us. His face was hilarious.
"I-I don't know what he is talking about!" Liam exclaimed. "I don't even know him!"
"Oh my gosh, I try to help you, and you treat me this way," I spoke as dramatically as I could. "Is this all our friendship was?" I placed my hand on my chest to seem like I was hurt.
"Fuck off!" The panic on his face was truly a comedy for the ages.
"pfft." A soft laugh came.
Both mine and Liam's eyes widened as we gazed at Elise.
She was smiling.
I smiled. "My lady, it seems you have quite a profound comedic taste."
"Of course I do." She replied firmly, the smile gone as quickly as it came.
I looked at Liam, who seemed to be in a daze after seeing Elise laugh, likely having some flashback or something.
"Okay, I admit it, I don't know him." I conceded.
"I knew that," Elise replied.
Liam snapped out of his daze and glared at me.
"Wow, chill out, dude, it was just a joke."
"...Okay," He decided to let it go.
"Also, I technically helped you out. Next time, try not to look at her so obviously, man, girls prefer more mysterious guys like me."
Liam gave me a dumbfounded look as if he couldn't believe I'd just said that out loud, and Elise's expression remained the same, unbothered.
A wave of noise interrupted our interaction.
All the other applicants were now exiting the exam rooms and returning to the hall.
"Looks like we finished first," Liam said.
"Looks like it," I replied.
"I wasn't talking to you." He spoke.
I shook my head. "So cold, bro... so cold."
"Don't call me bro!" He exclaimed
"Oh, do you prefer, dude?"
"You-!"
-Congratulations On Completing The Exam.
The voice from the intercom interrupted Liam.
-The Rankings Will Appear On The Leaderboard Shortly.
'Leaderboard?'
I suddenly noticed a massive leaderboard at the end of the hall.
'Why does shit keep appearing?! I swear that wasn't there before.'
I seemed to be the only one surprised by this, as everyone was just staring at the board, waiting for the rankings to appear.
And before long... it did.
The leaderboard read:
[1: Liam Veld]
[2: Elise Rendal]
[3: Ryan Wermont]
[4: Emma Hale]
[5: Cassian]
[6: Lucien Farre]
[7: Nira Caldress]
[8: Lena Caldren]
[9: Bram Holt]
[10: Felix Harven]
[11: Seris Dunmore]
I forgot to mention it, but I only put my name on the form instead of with the Thorne. Honestly, I hated the name, and I felt uncomfortable being referred to as 'Your Highness.'
I knew no one would recognise me anyway. Besides the golden eyes, I had no physical traits that resembled the Thorne Royal Family. All of them had black hair, whereas I had blonde hair, and my face resembled my deceased mother's.
Since my eyes were now grey, I was truly unrelated to the Thorne name.
Anyway, as I was analysing the leaderboard, I heard a whisper from my side.
"...Cassian?"
It was Liam.
He had confusion plastered all over his face.
I smiled. "You called me?"
Liam's head snapped in my direction.
"What? You said my name."
His eyes widened. "Y-you're Cassian?"
"Yeah, that's my name." I put out my prosthetic hand to shake. "Nice to meet you... Liam."
He flinched at me saying his name.
'Well, I never intended to hide the fact I knew he regressed anyway.'
'Besides, I need his help to take them down.'
And his first place had confirmed the fact that he had regressed.
'Fucking cheater, you knew the questions.' It pissed me off a bit.
He seemed to steel himself quickly. His expression changed, turning serious as he shook my prosthetic hand.
"Let's meet after the exam." He spoke in a cold tone.
'Now that's more like it.' I smiled.
"You gonna confess your feelings toward me?"
"H-huh?" His expression faltered.
"I'm sorry, I like women."
His eyes burned with anger as he grit his teeth.
I turned to Elise. "Lady Elise, it turns out he wasn't staring at you but me instead."
"N-no don't believe him!" His voice became shaky, clearly because of Elise.
"Oh, so you were staring at her."
I swear his face was red with anger.
The scene was quite funny; however, Elise, on the other hand, didn't react.
She simply stared at the leaderboard, her expression unreadable.
It was then that I remembered it.
'Oh, right, she really cared about getting first.'
You see, since Elise's family hosts the Academy Entrance Exam annually, she was able to witness them from a young age and without a doubt was sure to place first, but despite that, she came... second.
And originally, she did place first, but since our cheating bastard of a protagonist used his knowledge to place first despite not deserving it... Elise had now betrayed the expectations of everyone in The Rendal County.
Although her family would say it was fine and that second place was good, Elise was always the type to blame herself whenever she failed, and this failure, to her, was... massive.