The two of them were already seated at the low table when the bedroom door finally opened.
Luna stepped out with the entire blanket still wrapped around her body like a makeshift cloak, only her face and bare feet visible.
She stopped dead the moment her eyes landed on Aveline.
Rex looked up from his plate and watched Luna's eyes narrow into thin slits.
Isn't that the black-haired bitch from last night…? Luna thought, her eyebrows knitting together in suspicion.
Aveline met the stare without flinching. She calmly speared a piece of crimson boar bacon with her fork and took a slow bite, chewing while she looked right back at the girl in the blanket.
'This bitch… having the privilege of being A-Class and eating his food every single day…' Aveline thought, scoffing internally, a sly smirk curling the corner of her lips as she adjusted her posture. 'Wait. Ohohoho. Too bad, she isn't getting pampered like me. (⌐■-■).'
A small, unmistakable smirk curved Aveline's lips. Luna saw it. Something in her expression immediately darkened.
Rex set his fork down with a quiet clink. "Why are you two just staring at each other? The food's gonna get cold. Eat."
Luna opened her mouth. "N—"
"Yes, Rex!" Aveline cut in brightly, already reaching for another piece of bacon.
Rex glanced at her, sighed, and reached over to give the top of her head a short, absent-minded pat before going back to his own plate.
Aveline's eyes flicked sideways toward Luna the moment his hand left her hair.
She covered her mouth with the back of her hand, hiding a victorious little giggle as she shot Luna a triumphant side-eye. 'Bitch... playing hard to get. Ohohoho.'
That was the absolute breaking point. Luna abandoned all pretense of playing it cool, throwing off her blanket as she practically sprinted over to the table and slammed herself into the chair opposite them.
"Yeah. Eat. Sorry," Luna gritted out through clenched teeth, immediately stabbing her fork into the food.
Then she shot Aveline a glare sharp enough to cut glass.
Rex watched the silent war happening across the table and let out a quiet exhausted breath. 'The fuck are they doing… glaring at each other like that. I swear, I will never understand girls.'
Despite the silent war waging across the wooden tabletop, the food didn't last long.
Luna took her first bite of the eggs and crispy boar bacon, and her eyes instantly widened in genuine shock. "Woah... Rex, this... this is amazing!" she gasped, her previous anger melting into pure delight.
Aveline, not about to be outdone in complimenting the cook, swallowed her food and leaned back with a smug grin of her own. "It definitely tastes amazing," Aveline chimed in, throwing a mischievous spark into her eyes as she glanced at Luna. "Though... I think I liked last night's 'flavor' even better." She let the words hang just long enough, then grinned.
Rex looked at her with a completely flat expression and slowly shook his head in pure disappointment. 'Of course… ᄒᴥᄒ.'
Once the plates were cleared, Rex stacked them up and headed toward the small kitchen sink to wash up.
…
…
Before he could even turn on the tap, Aveline popped up right beside him, gently nudging his elbow. "Hey… at least let me wash the dishes."
He looked at her for a second, then stepped aside with a small nod. "sure."
Aveline took his place in front of the sink like she had done this a thousand times.
Rex left her there and started cleaning the rest of the living room— stacking the empty liquor bottles, wiping down the coffee table, straightening the cushions that still smelled faintly of last night.
He was halfway through gathering the six bottles when he noticed Luna sitting on the couch, still wrapped in the blanket, staring daggers at him.
"Hey... what were you two actually doing last night?" she demanded, her tone dropping into a low, interrogation-style murmur.
Rex blinked, cradling six empty bottles of booze and wine in his arms, and let out a flat sigh. "None of your concern."
Luna froze, her expression instantly dimming as if she'd just been slapped.
Seeing her drop the aggressive act so quickly hit a weird chord in Rex. 'Great. Now I feel like the bad guy.'
With that, Rex exhaled slowly, opting to give her a harmless mix of truth and deflection just to keep the peace. "Look, there was a reason for it, alright? Go take a shower and get dressed. Don't tell me you're planning on skipping our classes again today."
As if a light switch had been flipped, Luna lit up instantly, her posture snapping straight as a bright nod escaped her. "Understood! But you better tell me the whole story later!" she called out over her shoulder, scurrying off toward the bathroom.
Rex just nodded back.
***
The rest of the morning passed in a steady, comfortable blur… maybe.
Cleaning up turned out to take twice as long because, as it turned out, Aveline had absolutely zero idea how to properly wash a dish.
Watching her delicately struggle with a sponge while trying not to splash water onto her clothes was painful. 'Man... nobles.' Rex thought. 'Of course she doesn't know how basic chores work.'
Eventually he stepped in to finish the job himself while she watched with wide, curious eyes.
By the time Rex wiped down the last plate, Luna emerged from the shower, hurried into her bedroom, and reappeared a few minutes later fully decked out in her crisp A-Class academy uniform.
She looked almost respectable for once.
Rex dried his hands, checked the time on his phone, and nodded toward the door.
"Let's go."
***
The three of them left the dorm complex together, stepping out into the cool morning air of the academy grounds.
Rex set a casual, steady pace down the cobblestone path, while Luna was surprisingly well-behaved for once— no unhinged comments, no sudden antics, just walking peacefully beside them with her hands tucked behind her back.
Aveline, on the other hand walked on Rex's other side, looking noticeably lighter and more relaxed than yesterday.
The heavy, anxious air that usually hung over her seemed to have vanished, likely because she had finally made up her mind to end things with her abusive asshole of a boyfriend once and for all.
…Beep…
The path from the residential wing to the main academic building took a little over ten minutes.
The morning air still carried a faint chill, and the enchanted street lamps that lined the walkways were just beginning to dim as the sun climbed higher.
Etc etc.
…..
Yep let's skip… ***After about ten minutes of navigating through the bustling crowd of morning students, they reached the towering arches of the main academic building.***
They entered the academic building through the wide wood doors and started down the hallway.
And yep, almost immediately the whispers started.
"Hey... is it actually true that he molested Hana Emberlyn during their fight?" a guy from C-Class muttered, leaning toward his friend.
"Duuuuuureeeeeeeeeed, it's totally true! I heard it from a guy who was sitting in the front row!" the other replied eagerly.
Front row…? There's only 7 A-Class student…
An exhausted, soul-tired sigh slipped from Rex's lips.
As the days went by, the rumors circulating around this campus were getting progressively more unhinged.
First, they claimed Rex won the duel by kissing the fire prodigy romantically mid-fight, and now he was suddenly a full-blown predator? A molestater? He literally just survived an arena-wide inferno.
Aveline glanced up at him, catching the deep frown on his face as the whispers echoed off the high ceilings.
"Oh, right... your duel with Hana is still a massive topic everywhere," she admitted softly, tilting her head. "Is it really true though? that you won even though you're completely manaless? A-and... did you actually kiss her?"
"I won because I survived," Rex clarified dryly, shaking his head. "She detonated the entire arena with high-tier magic, and there was no way I could tank that raw force without… whatever bs I could use as a shield. So I did a gamble, shoved myself at her and it worked— a barrier manifested around her. That's all. No kissing involved."
Aveline listened intently, letting out a small, relieved laugh as she nodded. "I see... rumors really do get twisted around here, don't they?"
They kept walking down the corridor until Luna suddenly paused near a wide staircase, clapping her hands together as she remembered something.
"Ah, right! I need to head over to the faculty office to clear up my unexcused absence from yesterday before my parents loses their mind," she said, taking a step backward down the hall.
Before turning around, she pointed a strict finger at the two of them. "Hey. Don't do anything weird while I'm not looking!"
"Yeah, yeah, run along," Aveline replied smoothly before Rex could even open his mouth.
With Luna gone, they continued down the main hallway until Aveline's footsteps gradually slowed down.
Rex stopped a few paces ahead and turned around to look at her. "What's wrong?"
She raised a hand, pointing up toward the grand arched walkway of the second-floor balcony overlooking the courtyard. "His classroom is right over there."
Rex squinted up at the banner hanging beside the classroom door. B-Class.
"Wait, 'his'?" Rex paused, giving her his signature flat side-eye. "ᄒᴥᄒ. What do you mean, 'his'?"
"Didn't I tell you earlier" she leaned in. "that I'm going to break up with him?" She whispered surprisingly steady despite the slight tremor in her hands.
Rex's eyes widened slightly. "What the fuck? Right now? Isn't that a little too fast?"
"Pfft, the faster it's done, the better," she huffed playfully.
Without giving him a chance to object, she reached out, wrapping both of her arms firmly around Rex's right arm, pulling herself close as she began pulling him with her toward the B-Class hallway.
Rex sighed but didn't pull away. "So that's why you kept telling me to come with you earlier. I thought I was just here to escort you to your own classroom."
Aveline shook her head and poked her tongue out at him playfully. "Well, you were so super wrong! Bleeeh."
Within seconds, they arrived at the open double doors of the B-Class lecture hall.
Aveline stopped right at the doorway, still tightly clinging to Rex's arm, and the moment the students inside noticed her presence, the ambient chatter inside the room died almost immediately.
"Wait, isn't that Aveline from the B-class next door?" one student whispered, nudging his desk mate.
"Why is she standing at our door?" another asked, leaning over the aisle.
Then, a guy near the front row caught sight of the guy standing beside her, and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "Yo, FUCK AVELINE, is that Rex Knox?!"
"WHAT?! The manaless guy from A-Class who beat Hana?!"
"Ayo! Why is Aveline holding onto that manaless guy so intimately, though?! Is this a scandal?! SUSSY!!!"
The hallway erupted into an aggressive wave of murmurs and pointed fingers, but neither of them paid them any attention.
'Now, now… let's see who's the one sticking out here.'
Rex's eyes drifted past the crowd of onlookers, scanning the rows of desks until they locked onto a figure sitting in the far corner by the window.
'This guy.'
He had dark, ash-brown hair styled in neat, deliberate layers with sweeping bangs, framing a pair of cold, striking blue eyes that were currently staring straight at them.
His build was broad enough through the shoulders to make the pristine Vahard Academy uniform look slightly tailored specifically for him, balancing a sharp, combat-trained physique with an unmistakable air of high-born nobility.
Attached to his lapel was a polished silver family crest, resting just above a dangerously expensive enchanted watch on his left wrist.
Everything about his posture, from his straight spine to the immaculate arrangement of his textbooks, practically screamed rigid perfectionism.
Definitely a perfectionist, Rex thought as he stares at this definitely annoying person.
Though, for one moment, that guy gaze dropped briefly to Aveline's hand wrapped around Rex's arm.
For the first time, the perfect expression on his face shifted.
Barely.
His jaw tightened.
Then he looked back into Aveline's eyes.
Aveline took a deep, shaky breath, letting go of Rex's arm as she took one bold step into the classroom, and raised her voice so the entire room could hear.
"Lucien Valcrest!!"