A Butterfly Through the Mist - Chapter 3

Ilex Davenport’s eyes were a blue-gray, like a drop of gray mixed into the clear blue of seawater. Some described them as dreamy, others as reminiscent of dawn’s clouds, but to Tilia, they evoked nothing but a dullness.

Those peculiar eyes dilated slightly, locking onto Tilia. It took only three steps. The brief time it took for her to move from one tree trunk to the next along the avenue.

The cool breeze of late spring brushed past Ilex’s blond hair and then blew toward Tilia. Her jet-black hair swayed like willow branches, revealing her pale cheeks and neck.

It was the moment when the air, thick with heat, shifted subtly.

“Kyaah, Ilex!”

A sharp scream pierced the air.

The opponent, who had been cornered, seized the opportunity and struck at Ilex’s weak spot. He must have truly let his guard down, for a look of tension flickered across Ilex’s face as he stumbled backward.

No way.

Tilia’s heart began to pound as she watched, still staring indifferently in that direction.

Was it possible her prayers were about to be answered?

She looked at Ilex with gleaming eyes as he hurried to block the incoming attack.

But it was a fruitless hope.

What seemed like a momentary falter was quickly revealed to be a part of his strategy, as Ilex swiftly turned the tables on his opponent. As if to prove that he had merely been toying with him, his movements became noticeably faster. The man on the other side, clearly muscular, collapsed helplessly.

Before Ilex’s overwhelming skill, the large sword and all the brute strength behind it were utterly meaningless.

“Wow, did you see that?”

Even Judy, who had grown up watching countless duels, let out a gasp of admiration.

“With that kind of skill, he could easily be top of the class at any knight academy! I guess a genius really is a genius.”

While everyone marveled at his prowess, Tilia’s expression turned sour once again.

Tch. I had such high hopes.

“Let’s go, Judy. The library will fill up once the duel is over.”

“Ah, right!”

Without sparing another glance toward the grand sports field, where cheers erupted, Tilia turned her back and headed straight for the library.

***

“As expected of Ilex.”

Cecilia Clayton, with her glossy red hair swept to one side, approached Ilex. At her arrival, the crowd surrounding the victor parted as if it were the natural order.

“You were just pretending to let your guard down, weren’t you?” she said, smiling so broadly that her dimples deepened, as she offered him a white handkerchief.

“But what’s this? It seems like you were actually serious this time, not just warming up for fun.”

The delicately embroidered white handkerchief remained untouched, suspended in mid-air, without anyone accepting it.

“As always, you do things your own way.”

Cecilia, lowering the handkerchief gracefully, turned to follow Ilex’s gaze.

“What are you looking at?”

He was staring, still catching his breath, toward the path leading to the library. With exams approaching, more people than usual were headed in that direction.

“You never even go near the library. Why are you staring over there?”

Puzzled, Cecilia glanced back at Ilex, but he had already turned and was walking away without a word.

***

The Kingdom of Arkansis, located in the central-western part of the continent, bordered the North Sea to the west and the Kingdom of Ontaroa to the south. It had long been known for producing brilliant scholars. Many of the geniuses who influenced the entire continent shared one thing in common: they had all graduated from an academy within Arkansis.

The Royal Academy of Arkansis.

It was an elite institution, the pinnacle of knowledge and teaching methods across the continent. The academy’s entrance exam was open only to those who had completed their coming-of-age ceremony, and it was notorious for sending rejection letters even to the royal families of other nations.

“Tilia, what if I can’t graduate?”

But passing the notoriously difficult entrance exam didn’t guarantee everyone would graduate.

“What if I fail and have to stay here for another year?”

To graduate, students had to complete all required courses over four years and pass both the first and second graduation exams.

“I’m most scared of rhetoric. I even had a nightmare last night where I got an F.”

It wasn’t unusual for graduating students to have nightmares about failing their exams.

“Don’t worry. Dreams are the opposite of reality,” Tilia said, shrugging her shoulders at Judy, who was gnawing on her lip as they climbed the library steps.

“I’m sure you’ll pass. Stop stressing.”

“But what if it’s a premonition? What if my nightmare comes true?”

Tilia looked at Judy with a sympathetic smile. “If it does? Then you’ll just have to stay another year.”

“Aaaah!” Judy tugged at her hair, letting out a scream. “No! I’ve suffered through this for four years already! Do I really have to do it all over again?”

“I’ll share my notes on the theology questions that are likely to come up.”

“But you’re going to end up covering the whole syllabus like last time!”

“Studying more is good. The questions can come from anywhere in the syllabus, you know.”

Judy, pouting, allowed herself to be pulled along by Tilia when suddenly, a raspy voice called out from the top of the stairs.

“Tilia Ambrose!”

Turning her head, she saw a man rushing toward her—Gregory Myers, the eldest son of the Myers family.

“T-Tilia, about what I said back in the lecture hall… I thought you might have misunderstood…”

Gregory’s breathless mumbling drew a confused look from Judy, who glanced up at her friend, silently asking for an explanation.

“What misunderstanding?”

Unlike Judy, however, Tilia remained calm as she stared at Gregory. “Are you saying I misunderstood when you called me an easy woman to bed, or when you said there’d be no consequences even if you forced yourself on me?”

“…What?” Judy’s face went pale as she turned to Gregory, wide-eyed. “What did you say…?”

“W-what are you talking about? I never said anything like that!” Gregory yelled, veins bulging in his neck as if trying to dispel the shocked looks on Judy’s and the bystanders’ faces.

Then, suddenly, he changed his tone, casting a wary glance at Tilia. “Is that all you heard? Did you only misunderstand that part?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it a misunderstanding, but there’s something else I saw and heard.”

“What else…?”

“I saw you fawning over Ilex Davenport like your tongue was about to fall off from licking his boots.”

Tilia added in a sweet, calm voice that contradicted her biting words, “Oh, and there’s more. I also saw you groveling over the gift he threw at you, licking his shoes in gratitude.”

Someone nearby let out a snicker at Tilia’s words.

This little…

Hearing laughter at his expense, Gregory’s thick neck flushed an angry red.

He had been relieved, thinking Tilia had only overheard part of the conversation, but she hadn’t held back in mocking him. The anxiety he had felt all week, fearing she might report his plans to the academy, had all but vanished. Now, all he cared about was putting this girl in her place.

“Tilia Ambrose.”

If she hadn’t overheard his entire scheme, there was no need to worry about her.

“Do you think you’ll even be able to look me in the eye after you graduate from this academy?”

More than anything, Gregory had a card he couldn’t lose with.

“You’re the poor daughter of a baron who’ll have to find a job to make ends meet, while I’m the rightful heir to an earldom. Surely, you don’t believe Arkansis’s social scene will operate the same way as this academy? You don’t actually think the academy’s rules will apply out there, do you?”

His card was status.

True to its long-standing traditions, the Royal Academy had its own unique code. Within its walls, all students, regardless of rank, were to be treated equally. It was an idealistic principle.

But it was just that—a rule.

“Know your place, Lady Ambrose.”

It was a dream removed from the real world’s rules.

“When you graduate, you’d better think carefully about how you behave. Do you even realize how I’ll treat you in the real world if you keep acting like this?”

Gregory sneered, looking down at her with the smug face of someone who had already decided to crush her spirit completely.

“Aren’t you even afraid of how I’ll treat you when you enter society?”

“Sure. After I graduate, that might happen.”

But his opponent was Tilia Ambrose.

Tilia, known for her sharp tongue and fearless attitude, was not someone to be easily intimidated.

“But don’t you think graduation is still a long way off? What do you think? Will you even make it to the second round of exams this time?”

“You…!”

“I appreciate your advice, but I’ll think about what happens after graduation later. It feels a bit pointless to worry about something that far in the future. Unless, of course, you’re talking about expulsion?”

Her final comment struck a nerve.

Gregory’s face, already flushed with anger, turned a deep shade of crimson as if it were about to burst. His father had warned him that if he failed again, there wouldn’t be another chance.