Elena was sitting at one of the library tables, slowly flipping through one of the old books from the advanced magic section.
She looked focused, her eyes scanning each line like she was searching for something specific.
"Laaa~..."
The atmosphere was calm, almost silent. The golden light of the late afternoon filtered through the tall stained-glass windows, casting warm reflections between the shelves.
"Laa la..."
The only problem was the constant noise that just wouldn't stop. If it were birds, maybe it'd be fine. But since the sound was coming from none other than Lyra, who wouldn't stop humming, it was starting to get really annoying.
"Laaa~"
Elena let out a heavy sigh and turned her face toward her friend.
"Don't you have anything better to do right now?"
"Well, classes are over for today, so I'm... relaxing."
"...While getting in my way."
"Hmph...? I'm just helping you concentrate better. Music stimulates the brain."
'Ahh... how did I ever put up with this kind of environment?'
Elena felt grateful to have another chance after getting a second life. But most of the time, she wanted to give up when she remembered all the obstacles she'd have to go through again.
Lyra was lightly swinging her feet, looking completely unaware of the annoyance she was causing. Elena tried to ignore it, but...
"Ahn... about your boyfriend... I heard he talked to that white-haired guy."
Elena's brow furrowed immediately. She looked genuinely annoyed at the joke.
Lyra raised her hands in surrender like she knew she messed up.
"That idiot's not mine."
"Sorry... still getting over it, huh."
"Haaah... there's no way I'd ever be with that bastard..."
Marry someone like Tharion? Just thinking about it made Elena's stomach twist. It was the kind of thing that made her want to give up on this life right then and there.
"If you hate him that much, why don't you ask your family to call it off?"
Elena closed the book and sighed internally.
Any noble hearing that would think Lyra was crazy, but Elena had known her for a long time. Lyra's family, House Merilane, wasn't like the other noble families. Unlike them, Lyra wasn't tied to alliances formed through political marriages.
Being from a merchant bloodline, the magical items from the Merilane family were desired all over the continent. The fact they did business with noble houses was enough to secure powerful alliances. They didn't need to sell off their daughters for them.
"I don't have the same privileges you do."
"Urgh... having to marry someone you don't even like because of your family must suck. Glad I'm not you."
"Thanks for the support."
Elena replied with a sarcastic smile.
"And it looks like Tharion's kinda pissed that you went looking for Kaen yesterday. And that you've been kinda close to him lately..."
"..."
"Hey... who said I went looking for him yesterday?"
Lyra gave a smug smile, that look she always had when she knew more than she let on.
"You've got no reason to be chasing after commoners, right? And guess who's the only one you've been talking to lately?"
Elena frowned. It was so annoying how Lyra could sound so confident even when she was clearly jumping to conclusions.
She always saw things the wrong way. She kept thinking that Elena getting closer to Kaen had some hidden meaning. Like the slightest bit of kindness was already a sign of something deeper.
'This girl doesn't get anything...'
Elena thought, quietly scoffing.
She was already on her second life in that world, with a mind carrying more than twenty years of experience. Stuff like secret crushes and teenage drama didn't make sense to her anymore.
If she liked someone, she'd say it. No hints, no games.
And of course, she hated the way Tharion acted. Like the world revolved around him, like she owed him something, like she had any obligation to return his pathetic feelings.
'He's shameless even with that...'
Tharion never even tried to hide his obsession.
Running from him in her past life had been hard, a real nightmare. And that was just one of the reasons Elena didn't feel proud of her bloodline anymore.
A father willing to push his own daughter into a forced marriage just to maintain political alliances? How could she not hate something like that?
She was lost in those thoughts when Lyra spoke again:
"But it looks like Kaen didn't really care... from what I heard, he just accepted what Tharion said. Too bad. I wanted to see a fight between them..."
Kaen's lack of interest in something that didn't involve him wasn't surprising to Elena, but...
'A fight...?'
Elena stayed quiet. A part of her was already thinking of ways to get rid of Tharion for good. The problem was that Kaen... was also unpredictable. Another ticking time bomb.
She remembered a confrontation she saw in her past life. Kaen and Tharion faced each other, and the result had been humiliating for Tharion. Even with all his influence, he was no match for Kaen in a direct duel.
The shame of losing to a commoner made things spiral out of control.
Elena had used those moments to break free from the grip of House Velast, proving that Tharion was a walking disaster.
"You said you won't have anything with him? Then how are you going to avoid it?"
"How?"
Elena knew she had two choices. Let things play out naturally, so her family would eventually see that Tharion wasn't a good match to unite the two houses. Or simply force things to move faster.
And Elena knew that waiting for everything to happen slowly again would be awful.
She stood up, clearly more determined, and looked at Lyra with resolve in her eyes.
"I'm just going to make things move faster this time."
===
Three days had passed since Kaen absorbed the energy of the Vyralis Core.
Compared to before, his body felt way better. At first, it was like he had been completely drained. Like a puppet without a soul.
But now, even though he was far from his best, at least he could attend classes without that weird chill constantly running through his body.
Fortunately, Professor Aeryn's class didn't have anything special that day.
She stood at the podium, excitedly explaining the connection between mana flow channels and the internal branches of energy in the body. Kaen compared it to "the genetic dance of chromosomes during mitosis," as if everyone there was some kind of expert in magical biology.
All he wanted was to close his eyes and sleep until next week. But he knew the next alchemy class was in two days.
Feeling lazy now could be a problem.
He still wasn't sure what he'd do. But he had to be ready.
The one big problem was:
'I don't have any mana left in my internal core...'
He had used up almost all his mana injecting it into the Vyralis Core to extract every bit of energy from the crystal. Since the process drove him to collapse, he was now completely drained.
The most he could do now was a weak barrier or a small repulsion — not much help in a real fight.
And right now, all he wanted was to test his powers again after fully absorbing the core.
Yenne and her family might not know yet, since the item was still being tested and hadn't been released commercially. But the Vyralis Core was valuable. If absorbed properly, it could bring great results for lower-class mages.
Kaen was still a Class 2 mage, and since he wasn't a tank type, he had probably improved a lot.
He compared the crystal's benefits to gaining XP to level up. The higher the user's level, the less XP they gained. And Kaen, in the current system, was way down there.
"..."
Time passed, and Aeryn, who had been talking about mana channel fusions and comparing them to cellular structures, finally finished the class.
The students started leaving one by one. Kaen waited until the noise died down before walking out.
But, unlike what he expected, something stopped him. Or rather... someone.
"Kaen..."
'Damn it...'
He already recognized that voice and knew exactly who it was.
"~Yeah?"
He turned around and saw a short figure. Her reddish-brown hair fell loosely over her shoulders, paired with a sharp stare that clearly said: 'Don't bother running.'
"Do you have a second?"
"Actually, I'm really busy right now, so—"
She gave him a crooked smile. The kind of smile that said everything without needing to say a word.
"That's not really an option anymore..."
Aeryn calmly stepped closer, hands behind her back, with a sharp look that didn't match the relaxed posture. Like a jaguar smiling.
Kaen sighed internally.
'Goodbye, afternoon break...'