Without any warning, Aethron suddenly felt a strong sense of danger.
His heart tightened for a brief moment.
Without even having time to think, he instinctively raised his right hand.
At that exact moment…
A violent impact struck his palm from the side.
BOOM!
A loud explosion echoed through the area.
The ball was moving so fast that Aethron felt as if his entire arm was about to be torn off. Pain spread through his arm, reaching deep into his bones.
At the point of impact, the ball practically exploded.
Only a few torn fragments remained.
The ball had come from the football field.
When Aethron looked up, he immediately recognized the person who had kicked it.
It was the silver-haired boy…
The one who had been rejected by Lilveth on the shuttle.
The boy quickly walked over with three people beside him.
He put on a fake expression of regret.
"I'm sorry," he said in an artificial tone.
"I lost control by accident."
His words sounded innocent.
But there was not even a trace of sincerity in his eyes.
Inside, his thoughts were completely different.
"Impossible…" he thought.
"I only used a tiny fraction of my power…"
"How can a human react to that?"
"How can he withstand it so easily?"
He couldn't understand it at all.
When he saw that Aethron was still standing, had not lost his balance, and that even his unbelievably handsome face remained completely unshaken, his frustration only grew stronger.
In fact…
He became even more unhappy.
Jealousy and anger slowly began to gnaw at his heart.
While gently rubbing his right hand, Aethron spoke in a calm voice.
"It's fine," he said casually.
"Just be more careful next time."
There was no anger in his tone.
No accusation.
It was as if he hadn't just taken a blow that could have torn his arm apart.
Then, without even looking at the silver-haired boy, he turned around.
Completely ignoring him, Aethron walked toward a quieter and more secluded area.
This behavior stunned the silver-haired boy for a moment.
After such a powerful attack, Aethron should have been scared, angry, or at least reacted somehow.
But instead…
He acted like nothing had happened.
That indifference ignited the boy's anger even more.
His heartbeat accelerated.
His breathing grew heavy.
His eyes suddenly flashed blood-red.
A dark aura rippled around him.
His left hand began to deform unnaturally.
His fingers stretched, bones cracked, and within seconds, it transformed into a terrifying wolf-like claw.
Just as he was about to lose control…
One of the three people behind him quickly stepped forward.
He spoke in a quiet but firm voice.
"Lord Leon, please calm down."
His voice trembled, yet it was filled with respect.
"Don't forget where we are."
"This is a school."
"It's not worth getting angry over a mere lump of flesh."
As he spoke, he nervously glanced around.
He was afraid someone might notice.
The other two nodded in agreement.
"Please…" they whispered.
Leon's claw slowly returned to its normal form.
But the rage in his eyes…
Had not faded yet.
Meanwhile, Aethron continued walking calmly, completely unaware of everything that had just happened behind him.
Lyra, who was still within the seventh-dimensional pocket space with Lilveth, had clearly sensed and witnessed everything that was happening outside.
To her, time, space, and reality were almost transparent.
The murderous intent aimed at Aethron…
Leon's suppressed rage…
The dark fluctuations in the environment…
All of it had entered her perception.
On the face of her colossal serpent form, an almost imperceptibly small smile appeared.
It was so faint that no ordinary being could ever notice it.
It was as if…
Everything was unfolding exactly as she wanted.
At that moment, Lilveth finally decided to voice the question that had been troubling her for a long time.
She hesitated briefly.
Then, with a serious expression, she spoke.
"Lady Lyra…"
"How is it that you can exist on Planet No.3896315000, which has an eleventh-dimensional space-time structure?"
Curiosity filled her voice.
After a short pause, she continued.
"When my mother spoke about you, she said that even your weakest avatar was on the same level as her own."
"That means… you are at least a thirteenth-dimensional being."
Lilveth's eyes narrowed slightly.
She truly didn't understand.
"Why would a being like you be interested in an eleventh-dimensional structure?" she asked.
"And more importantly…"
"Why hasn't this planet collapsed yet?"
There was both respect and deep confusion in her tone.
Because the mere existence of such a high-level being…
Should normally be enough to instantly destroy a world.
Lyra smiled faintly in her colossal serpent form.
That smile carried both wisdom and mystery.
Then, she began to speak in a calm voice.
"This body," she said slowly,
"is nothing more than a flawed clone of even my weakest avatar."
"At this moment, my existence is limited to only the seventh dimension."
"That is why I can still remain here, on this planet."
Her eyes shimmered faintly.
"Leave aside my true self…"
"Even my weakest avatar being here would have already shattered these lower-dimensional galaxies."
"Time would collapse."
"Space would tear apart."
"Reality itself wouldn't endure."
She paused for a moment.
As if she were only revealing a small fraction of the truth.
"And know this," she continued,
"the thing that interests me is not this planet."
"This world is nothing more than a stage to me."
"A temporary shell."
"What truly interests me…"
Her voice lowered slightly.
"…is another being."
Her gaze seemed to lock onto an invisible point.
Lilveth understood immediately.
Those words could only mean one thing.
Aethron.
Although Lilveth was deeply attracted to Aethron's incomparable beauty and natural charm, she knew very well that for a being like Lyra—one who existed even before time and space—appearance alone could never be enough.
Such a being…
Would never stay for a face.
For a body.
For a mere human.
She understood that.
That was why, even though she could roughly guess the answer, she couldn't help but ask.
She took a deep breath and spoke seriously.
"Lady Lyra…"
"What truly makes Aethron special?"
"Other than his unmatched appearance…"
"What makes him so important?"
The curiosity in her voice was impossible to suppress.
Lyra, however, simply smiled faintly in response.
A teasing glint appeared in her eyes.
"I don't know," she said casually.
"Maybe I got tired of being lonely."
"And I'm just looking for a handsome guy."
"Is that so strange?"
Her tone was completely playful.
But…
The joke felt fake.
Lilveth almost rolled her eyes when she heard it.
"Seriously…" she thought.
It was painfully obvious that Lyra wasn't telling the truth.
She wasn't even trying to hide it.
There was a much greater secret behind this.
Lilveth silently thought,
"I should probably tell my mother about this…"
...
The pain in Aethron's right hand disappeared completely after a few minutes.
He had always healed quite quickly since childhood.
Small injuries, bruises, or aches never lasted long for him.
So he didn't think much about what had just happened.
He glanced at his hand for a moment, shrugged, and continued on his way.
Then he went to his classroom for the next lesson.
This time, the teacher was nothing like Lyra.
He wasn't mysterious or eye-catching.
He was a middle-aged, ordinary-looking man with glasses.
He was the history teacher.
His voice was calm, and his explanations were clear, but not particularly exciting.
To be honest, like most students, Aethron would have preferred a beautiful and charismatic teacher like Lyra.
But he didn't have the courage to say that out loud.
The rest of the day passed much more peacefully than he had expected.
No new incidents happened.
No problems arose.
Classes ended one after another.
With each bell, time seemed to fly by without him noticing.
And finally…
School was over.
Aethron slung his bag over his shoulder and walked outside.
Dozens of buses were waiting in front of the school.
All of them looked the same—extremely luxurious.
Shiny windows, comfortable seats, modern designs…
They looked more like VIP transport vehicles than school shuttles.
As usual, Aethron randomly boarded one of them.
He sat down in the quietest-looking seat.
A few more students got on after him.
And then…
Lilveth entered.
Without even looking around, she immediately spotted Aethron.
Her eyes lit up slightly.
Without hesitation, she walked over and sat beside him with a happy expression.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Lilveth had been captivated by Aethron from the very first moment she saw him.
His handsomeness, calm demeanor, and natural charm had already touched her heart.
But after learning that even a supreme and cosmic being like Lyra was interested in him, her feelings grew even stronger.
In her eyes, Aethron was no longer just an ordinary student.
He was special.
Very special…
However, Lilveth had a problem.
Since childhood, she had been used to looking down on almost everyone.
She was powerful.
She was noble.
She came from an extraordinary family.
People were usually afraid to approach her.
They hesitated to speak with her.
And because of that, she had rarely formed genuine connections.
Now…
For the first time in her life, she didn't know how to talk to someone she truly cared about.
Whenever she was beside Aethron, words got stuck in her throat.
"What if I say something wrong…?"
"What if he finds me unpleasant…?"
"What if he hates me…?"
These thoughts kept spinning in her mind.
She was terrified that a single wrong word might make Aethron distance himself from her.
So…
She said nothing.
Throughout the bus ride, the two of them sat side by side.
They were physically close.
Yet emotionally…
There was still a gap between them.
An awkward, heavy, and shy silence filled the journey.
After a long silence, Lilveth finally gathered her courage.
Her heart was pounding.
Her palms were slightly sweaty.
She took a deep breath and spoke.
"Aethron…"
"What's your favorite color?"
The moment the words left her mouth, her face turned bright red.
She blushed all the way to her ears.
For a moment, she couldn't even lift her head.
Inside, she scolded herself harshly.
"Idiot…"
"Idiot, Lilveth…"
"Is this really the best conversation starter you could come up with?"
"Couldn't you think of something better?"
Her chest tightened.
She felt incredibly embarrassed for asking such a simple question.
She was afraid of what Aethron might think of her.
"He probably thinks I'm childish…" she thought.
And yet…
She couldn't take her eyes off him.
She waited nervously for his answer.
At first, Aethron found the question a little strange.
But he didn't find it childish or silly.
On the contrary…
He found it quite adorable.
The fact that Lilveth had gathered so much courage just to ask such a simple question felt sincere and genuine to him.
He thought for a brief moment.
Then, a smile appeared on his face—so captivating that it felt as if it could shatter entire universes.
His eyes shimmered slightly.
He spoke in a calm yet warm voice.
"My favorite color… is midnight blue."
He sounded as if he truly loved that color.
"It feels like the darkest yet most peaceful part of the sky."
Then he tilted his head slightly and looked at Lilveth.
His smile was still there.
"And what about you?" he asked gently.
Those words struck straight into Lilveth's heart.
That smile…
That voice…
That gaze…
Her heart suddenly began to race out of control.
Still unable to overcome her embarrassment, Lilveth replied with her face completely red.
Yet her voice revealed how happy she truly was.
"R-Red…" she said softly.
"My favorite color… is red."
As she spoke, the corner of her lips unconsciously curved upward.
Her eyes were shining.
Her heart felt as if it might burst out of her chest.
The cold, distant, and proud Lilveth that everyone knew was nowhere to be seen.
The girl sitting here now…
Was shy, excited, and incredibly adorable.
If anyone who knew her well saw her like this…
They probably wouldn't believe their eyes.
In fact, they would most likely think:
"Has Lilveth's soul been possessed?"
Because this behavior…
Didn't suit her at all.
And yet…
Beside Aethron, even this side of her was perfect.