Chapter 50

I erased my presence and tried to walk without going against the flow of people.

As there were some people using this opportunity to go to the bathroom, I followed them closely as they left the lecture hall.

“Now, what should I do? It would look pretty bad if I left right now.”

There was only one way to leave the building.

That meant I would have to kill time somewhere. A place in the Royal Academy where I could kill some time…

I rushed to the roof terrace where I had first met Linda.

“Damn it, why does this happen?”

As I headed for the stairs, I bumped into two of my classmates.

They had also escaped from the gathering.

“Where are you going, Leon?”

“There’s a roof terrace up ahead. I was going to take a break over there.”

“Is that right? I didn’t know that. …Can we go with you?”

I preferred to be alone, but it seemed childish to refuse.

“Fine. But I’m just taking a short rest.”

And so I took them with me as I made my way to the roof.

The two who followed me were Baran Hollan and Suni Ebul.

Baran was from this city and had already chosen a merchant friend as a Patron.

And so there was no point in him being here.

As for Suni…

“It’s been decided that I am to return home after graduation. And then I will marry into a noble family.”

She said with downcast eyes.

“I see. Your marriage has already been decided.”

“It’s a very small town.”

I suppose the rumors had spread about her Dragon Mark.

And so negotiations for her hand in marriage were made quickly before she even arrived at the academy.

The lord typically forbade anyone from making unnecessary contact with those who had the Dragon Mark appear on them. This was out of respect for the will of the Dragon Master, before they were sent to the academy.

However, they would still have to visit the mansion to learn the minimum knowledge that was required.

In that case, it would be quite natural for them to meet by accident, and for romance to bloom.

…Maybe.

Regardless, Baran and Suni had Patron candidates.

However, I did not. And I wasn’t searching for one.

And so I was someone who shouldn’t have escaped the gathering.

I was just indulging Linda and her wishes.

The three of us reached the roof.

It was very open and spacious.

“No one is here.”

Suni said with a sigh of relief.

“The other students should be in their classrooms now. They have to do that in order to stop them from going to watch the gathering.”

I see. As he was from here, Baran knew a lot about the school.

“Alright, let’s just relax here.”

Perhaps it was a good thing to get to know my classmates a little better.

We sat down at a table and started to talk about the school, the Dragon Mark and what we thought about Dragon Masters.

Unlike Ark, we only had a general knowledge about these subjects, and so we had a lot of questions that led to other questions.

There was also meaningless gossip about the other students. But it was nice to spend time like this once in a while.

However, our gathering was interrupted by an unexpected visitor.

“Do you mind if I join you?”

“…No.”

A female student approached.

I assumed she was another person who had escaped the lecture hall, and so I consented. But Baran suddenly seemed strange.

“Are you not going to the lecture hall?”

She asked calmly. There was an air of sophistication about her. She was likely older than me.

Well, we were two boys and two girls now, I thought. Baran now seemed very troubled.

“Excuse me, but I suppose you’re not a participant in the gathering?”

“Oh? What makes you think that?”

Indeed.

I had assumed she was. Was I wrong?

“I was born and raised here.”

“…”

What was going on?

There seemed to be some hidden meaning in his words.

“You’re Lady Rosanna, aren’t you?”

He insisted. She surrendered.

“Yes. I never would have imagined that someone would recognize my face here.”

“What do you mean? Are you not a student here?”

They were supposed to have better security than that.

“I’m a third-year. But a lot happened and I was suspended.”

Her voice had completely lost the gentle calmness it had earlier.

I suppose this was her true self.

“Suspended…”

We looked at Baran for an explanation.

“It was the final gathering of last year. Her disgraceful behavior was exposed, and so the school had to suspend her. Those in the capital with sharp ears would have heard the stories.”

Upon hearing Baran’s words, Rosanna stuck out her tongue.

Apparently, she had a pretty lively personality.

“Well, it can’t be helped. The cat is out of the bag now. Yes, I’m Rosanna Hedyn. My parents lord over a small town in the north. While we are a noble family, we are outside of the Dragon Mark Limit, so the population is quite small.”

She said as she scratched her head with an open lack of concern.

While she wasn’t an intruder, she had definitely escaped class.

“In that case, should you really be skipping classes?”

“Of course, I shouldn’t. They’ll probably extend my suspension.”

Rosanna said without a hint of guilt.

“I wasn’t able to participate in the tea party because of it. This gathering as well. But I wonder if I’ll be treated like everyone else when it’s all done.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I talk to someone, the others will all gather around and say horrible things about me. Yes, they’ll drag out those old accusations in order to insult me. I can see it now.”

Indeed. The world was a cold place if you fell from grace even once.

Of course, now I was feeling rather curious about what exactly she had done.

“Baran seems to know already. But, what happened?”

“You want to know?”

“Yes. Very much.”

“Well, I have nothing to hide. And I know it couldn’t be hidden anyway. …You see, there was a certain person I was targeting during the December gathering. I had been focused exclusively on this person the whole time, and made many advances.”

Rosanna talked with a faraway look in her eyes.

“Things were going very well between us. He even said that he would visit my town once he became a Dragon Master. However, on that particular day, he was being very friendly towards a different woman. You’d mistake them for a happy couple… But what about me? What of his promise? Before I knew it, I was questioning her. And she would not back down an inch. Our argument escalated into a physical altercation.”

Wait a minute!

A physical altercation?

What the hell did she do?

“It was she who started it by pulling my hair. And so I returned the favor, and then she did it again. I had no choice. Ignoring her hair, this time, I slashed her with my nails, tore off her ribbons, and smacked her in the face several times before being restrained. As if that would calm us down! Nearby cups and plates were thrown and foreheads began to bleed. It took many more people to hold us down and drag us to separate rooms. It became quite a spectacle.”

It was complete chaos.

More than a few people had been injured in the crossfire, and the gathering had to be canceled.

This was a big enough scandal already, but Rosanna had apparently continued her reign of violence in the drawing-room.

Her sense of loss must have been great, because rumors soon spread that she cried tears of blood there, and she was given the unwanted name, ‘Blood Tears Witch.’

In spite of being branded a witch, she had no actual ability to use magic. And it was just a derogatory term for someone who thought and acted differently from others.

“Well, I was so young back then.”

Rosanna said with a weary sigh. However, it was only six months ago.

“And so I was called in by the principal…”

She continued.