* * *
Hilde, who was fifteen at the time, must have also been an Alpha.
As Anakin’s expression immediately hardened, Hilde spoke to him indifferently.
“That’s why I warned you. I used the Crown Prince as an example, but it’s best not to get too deeply involved with the Imperial Family.”
“…”
“You used to be so naive, but now you know how to make that kind of expression.”
Hilde abruptly approached, putting his face close to Anakin’s, and lifted Anakin’s face with one hand. Anakin instinctively pushed him away.
“Stop playing around!”
“How did you end up here? Setting foot on the land of Pasadian…”
“I came to take the exam. Didn’t you also come here for that purpose, Young Master?”
“…You came to take the exam?”
Hilde, who had been relaxed until now, looked slightly surprised.
He had thought that even if Anakin was interested in magic, he would seek out another school, but he never imagined he would come to Pasadian.
“I want to become a mage of Pasadian. I thought it was cool, regardless of the rumors.”
When Anakin spoke, Hilde pondered something and then opened his mouth.
“You certainly had talent… enough for even me to acknowledge. Still, I thought you’d go somewhere else.”
“Haha… That’s too high praise. I’m not that great. Why did you choose Pasadian, Young Master?”
Thanks to the original novel, he knew that a descendant of a Ducal family would pass the Pasadian exam.
But Anakin never dreamed that person would be Hilde.
“It’s where only the truly talented gather. It’s different from the common riff-raff.”
That was certainly a very Hilde-like statement.
Come to think of it, Pasadian and Hilde seemed to suit each other…
“Pfft. You haven’t changed at all, Young Master.”
As Anakin laughed, reminiscing about the past, Hilde wore a bewildered expression.
“Huh. You’re the one who’s changed a lot. Still, I’m glad your cheerful personality is the same.”
The conversation with Hilde was enjoyable.
If he had felt unapproachable and prickly in the past, now, perhaps because they hadn’t met in a long time, the feeling of warmth and welcome was stronger.
Hilde and Anakin talked about all the things they hadn’t been able to say, oblivious to the passage of time.
Then Anakin, looking at the clock hanging in the room, spoke with a regretful face.
“Hmm… The exam is in an hour. Shall we talk about the details after the exam?”
“Let’s go together.”
“With you, Young Master? The people we saw in the lounge earlier…”
“They were just hangers-on who followed me around on their own. I had no intention of going with them anyway.”
Hilde suggested it, seemingly without a single shred of attachment to them.
“If you put it that way, wouldn’t I be more of a nuisance?”
As Anakin sat on the sofa and stared at him with a puzzled expression, Hilde suddenly leaned toward him after a brief silence.
As Hilde grinned, Anakin’s pupils widened in surprise, and Hilde spoke in a playful tone.
“You’re the one I chose because I wanted to.”
“…”
Anakin just blinked his eyelashes because of Hilde, who spoke as if it were obvious.
Perhaps it was because he was entering adolescence, but there was a subtle sensuality emanating from Hilde.
“I don’t know what to do with myself, having been chosen.”
“Stop with the unnecessary polite language. In the School, power is everything anyway.”
“…Then, can I call you Hilde?”
“Suit yourself.”
He moved back and tossed the words out indifferently.
The day has come when I call Hilde, who is two years older, by his first name.
Truly, one never knows what the world has in store.
Well, considering I was friends with Leo, it wasn’t that strange.
“Hey, Hilde.”
Anakin, thinking of something, called his name and smiled broadly.
Hilde’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
As he looked down at Anakin, Anakin folded his eyes and smiled prettily, and said again.
“Hilde?”
“…Why are you calling me?”
Hilde soon cupped Anakin’s small face.
Anakin’s soft, unblemished baby fluff kept tickling Hilde’s hand.
“How is Lillian doing? I haven’t seen her since the banquet.”
Bright and confident Lillian.
Naturally, he became curious about her well-being after meeting Hilde.
“Hmm… I heard she’s going into the Aunigelus School. That’s what was written in the letter she sent without permission.”
“You two kept in touch.”
“It was one-sided contact. She was always asking about you.”
“I see…”
He had completely cut off contact with the outside world after returning to the mansion.
He thought that Lillian’s letter might have been mixed in with the messages he received at that time.
“I should go see her sometime. But… can you let go of this?”
“…”
Then Hilde pressed both cheeks with two fingers, making them puff out.
“Ugh. Let go. It hurts.”
Hilde, who had been silently watching the frowning Anakin, finally took his hand away from his chin. He hadn’t squeezed very hard, but a red handprint remained.
“A handprint…”
Anakin looked at his chin with the handprint, staring into the mirror opposite him.
“…Your skin is sensitive.”
“It tends to be.”
The skin that instantly reddened with just a little touch was unusually delicate.
“I’ll have to be careful.”
With those words, Anakin felt an inexplicable chill from Hilde as he pulled up the corner of his mouth.
Was that the face of someone who intended to be careful?
“…Hilde, that expression is scary.”
As Anakin frowned, Hilde caressed the chin where he had left a handprint and said.
“Time is up. Let’s go now.”
The magnificent Pasadian main building in the center of the great city of Trica.
A larger-than-expected number of applicants had gathered in the wide space that resembled a training hall.
The exam to select disciples for the Pasadian School was scheduled to be held right here, where talented individuals from all over the continent had gathered.
Mantis, a boy with chestnut-brown hair and freckles. He swallowed hard as he looked around the vast examination hall.
Noble aristocrats, hardened mercenaries, talented commoners, and even lowly slaves.
Boys and girls aged 14 to 18, regardless of status, had flocked here to seize the opportunity.
It seemed there were about 1,000 people, and only 10 of them would become provisional disciples. The probability was truly minuscule.
Mantis, born the son of an ordinary tenant farmer, had never been to a place with so many people.
Because of this, he even felt a delusion that all the applicants except himself looked strong and relaxed.
As Mantis was taking a deep breath out of nervousness, an unfamiliar voice came from behind.
“What? Mantis, you came too?”
That insolent voice…
Mantis looked back, thinking, ‘Surely not.’
What he saw was the second son of Baron Greg and his sister’s fiancé… Dorman.
Did this guy really come to take the Pasadian exam too?
That slick bastard was a piece of trash who used his noble status to intimidate his sister and force an engagement.
This guy was the very reason Mantis wanted to enter Pasadian and succeed.
Because he didn’t want his sister to marry that bastard…
Mantis’s goal was to become a formal disciple of the Pasadian School, a place that didn’t discriminate based on status, to put that guy in his place and break off the engagement.
“Dorman…”
“Surely you didn’t come seriously. Did you just come to watch for fun? Khaha!”
“Shut up…”
Mantis glared at him fiercely, as if he were about to throw a punch, but Dorman spoke as if even that was amusing.
“I’m only letting you get away with being presumptuous, you low-born commoner, for Silvia’s sake. There’s a limit to that, though. Because your sister begged me not to touch you.”
‘Grinding sound.’
When his sister Silvia’s story came up, Mantis immediately radiated killing intent.
Mantis clenched his fists with all his might at Dorman’s expression, who was enjoying the situation and provoking him.
Revenge was a priority over immediate personal feelings.
Surprisingly, Mantis quickly calmed down and slowly suppressed his anger.
Based on years of experience, nothing good would come from being swayed by that guy’s provocation.
“Anyway, even if I become a disciple, I won’t abandon Silvia. I’ll keep her as a concubine, so don’t worry too much. Her face is perfectly to my liking, after all. A simpleton like you, well, you’ll be rejected right away. Cackle. Well then.”
Dorman, who spewed disgusting words until the end, disappeared into the crowd without regret.
‘I will surely avenge my sister on that guy.’
Mantis gritted his teeth and stared at the spot where he had disappeared.
Whirrrr.
And not long after, a man wearing a robe with the Pasadian School emblem drawn on it appeared on the platform.
Surprisingly, the boisterous interior immediately fell silent at his appearance, and all eyes were naturally drawn to the man.
“I am Salut, one of the Elders of the Pasadian School. I warmly welcome all of you who have come to the examination hall.”
…Should I even call that a person?
Mantis felt a shiver down his spine at the peculiar aura he emitted.
His presence was strangely negligible for a human, and his veiled face, hidden by the robe, made him feel as if he wasn’t even the same species.
That was one of the legendary continent’s powerhouses.
Such an insane, super-elite big shot was here right now.
…The chance to change his life had finally arrived.
* * *
