Chapter 80: The Academy Returns

After a long week of vacation, most of the students returned to the Arcane Academy, eager and ready to join their classes again. There were still a few students unsatisfied with coming back so soon, deciding to skip a few lectures. But since the Arcane Academy is a strict institute, their absence would directly lead to a decline in their academic grades.

It does not mean the academy would never grant them a leave of absence outside of the standard vacations. If they bring official permission from the principal by giving an appropriate excuse, there might be a chance to get some time off. Many senior students get that permission because they want to train in seclusion. There are various things where even the academy cannot help the students; they have to find their own shortcomings and improve themselves out in the real world.

Today, as the morning sun dawned, the students stirred awake from their sleep and headed straight to the academy after getting ready.

An unknown thrill set into everyone’s mind. They were now going to learn further and deeper magic concepts than before. In the past months, since it was only the start of the academy year, what they learned were just the basics that most students were already aware of. But knowing the basics and actually understanding them to the very core was a whole different story. It is still quite difficult to understand some concepts even if you are familiar with them on the surface.

Making their way to their designated rooms, Class A was mostly filled with a flood of students. Everyone sat in their usual seats with their friends, discussing what they did during the vacation break. Through the door of the classroom, a boy with navy blue hair and a girl with golden hair entered while talking cheerfully with each other. They looked closer than before as they passed through the rows to sit in the front seats.

They were none other than Edwin and Sarah, the children of the nation’s SS-rankers. Students immediately turned to stare at them, whispering hot gossip.

“Hey, it seems the ‘Leonhart’ and ‘Solaris’ families will definitely make an alliance. Look at both of them, they already look like a couple just ready to get married.”

“Ughh… Don’t say that. My broken heart will shatter into millions of pieces if my goddess marries someone else.”

“Haha, look at your face before calling the goddess yours. She will never be yours, even in your wildest dreams, even if she didn’t have someone like Prince Edwin around.”

“Shut up, and don’t call him ‘prince’. It is prohibited to use noble language inside the academy.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

As the whispers remained constant, a lone figure stepped inside the class, attracting everyone’s attention. He had pitch-black messy hair and sharp crimson eyes, calmly stepping into the room. But what attracted everyone’s stare was his outfit—he was wearing a thick turtleneck t-shirt under his academy coat in such hot weather.

Alden ignored everyone and headed straight to the back rows to take his seat.

“Hey, is he nuts? Does he not feel the heat in such hot weather?”

“Alas, it seems he must have come here drunk in the morning. Shall we complain to the professor?”

“No, let’s forget it. Just ignore him. Why would we waste our time caring about such a disgrace to his family?”

After sitting down, Alden could easily hear the whispers about his peculiar taste in clothing.

‘Well, it seems they have finally matured enough to ignore me rather than meddling in my business.’

He looked around the classroom, watching the rest of the students entering.

‘Damn, it feels hot. I am sweating a lot.’

Just as he was complaining to himself, the final student arrived. Her steps were light, and her long silver hair flowed beautifully along with her movements. Her lavender eyes swept through the whole class until they finally settled on him. A bright, genuine smile curled up on her lips. She started heading straight toward him, ignoring the students around her as if they did not exist.

Everyone looked at her, feeling stunned. Not because she looked different than a week ago, but because she was genuinely smiling in front of everyone without hiding it!

She was famous for her cold, ruthless attitude. No one had ever heard of her smiling for someone.

They watched her reach Alden and sit beside him comfortably, acting as if she owned the seat.

“Wait a second, why is the ‘Ice Princess’ giving him a smile? Are my eyes working right? Am I trapped in some kind of illusion?”

“Nah bro, she really did smile. How can the untouchable princess smile at someone like him?”

“Hey, I also heard a rumor that he kissed some other girl from a different class! Damn, he is a scumbag. We should do something about it.”

“Do you want to get in trouble? Don’t you know who he is sitting beside? If she can smile for him, then she surely can do a lot more. Let’s not get entangled with them. It seems the whole hierarchy of the academy is changing rapidly.”

“Sigh… When will I get the love of my goddess? Ouch! Hey, don’t hit me.”

“I told you she is not yours!”

As the students bickered around the class, Alden sat there stiffly, looking straight toward the front board, ignoring the constant gaze from beside him. Suddenly, he felt a light poke on his hand, which he tried to ignore. But the poking continued until he finally turned to face her.

A small, teasing smile curled up on Alicia’s lips as she leaned closer to him, whispering softly.

“Did you have a good sleep yesterday?”

Alden stared at her, having a strong urge to pinch her nose, but he held himself back and maintained his patience because they were in class.

“Of course. Thanks to you, I had a sweet, peaceful rest.”

She folded her arms and nodded as if accepting a well-known fact.

“Yeah, you should be.”

Her gaze suddenly drifted toward his turtleneck t-shirt covering his neck and throat, and a look of disappointment appeared on her face.

“Why did you wear that?”

Alden’s face turned red while glaring daggers at her as she tried to play innocent.

“It is all because of you. If you hadn’t bitten me like a hungry cat, I wouldn’t have needed to wear this.”

“Hmm, lie. When did I bite you?”

Alden narrowed his eyes. He leaned toward her and tugged down the edge of the t-shirt collar near his neck, revealing the several hickeys marking his skin.

A satisfied smile appeared on her lips as she looked back into his eyes.

“Oh, are you talking about this? This is not a bite. It is just proof of my love.”

“Proof? My foot. You convinced me that it would just be a kiss on the cheek, but you got greedy.”

A bold smile appeared on her lips as her intense eyes stared right back at him.

“Nope, I am not greedy. Do you really want to know what happens when I actually become greedy?”

Alden looked at her, wanting to retort, but noticing that their hushed conversation was attracting unwanted attention from the nearby desks, he quickly stopped talking, ignored her, and turned away.

“Tch! You are such a dense guy, Alden. You should just accept what I give you, unless you want it from someone other than me.”

Her eyes sharpened as she tried to analyze his face.

Alden couldn’t help but feel a little threatened by her bold words.

‘Damn, is she my boss or something? Girls these days are becoming more and more possessive.’

Her expression changed instantly. She leaned in even closer and whispered in his ear with a soft, seductive tone.

“Tell me, do you not like it when I bite your skin? Would you refuse me if I tried again?”

Alden’s body went still, unable to move as she gently placed her hand on his. They were so close to each other that he could feel her warm breath on his skin. He couldn’t formulate a reply. On one hand, he wanted to nod and say he didn’t like it. But on the other side, he couldn’t reject her advances. Even if he refused to say it out loud, he liked her stepping closer to him, and he liked her taking control. But of course, he wouldn’t just let her do as she wished so easily.

He leaned toward her instead, making her eyes widen slightly in surprise, though her smile still remained.

“But let’s change the position. Next time, it will be my turn to take the lead.”

Her smile widened, and she stifled a soft giggle while placing a hand over her mouth.

“Hehe… Well, let’s see who takes control over who.”

Alden looked at her, narrowed his eyes playfully, raised his hand, and squeezed her nose lightly, making her squirm before he pulled back immediately.

“You little devil. You are becoming more and more of a baddie day by day.”

Alicia smiled as she raised her eyes to meet his.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

Alden met her eyes in silence, pulled back, and wore a satisfied smile.

“Think whatever you want.”

This Chapter Definitely desvera an Inspirational Capsule to inspire me.