"Can I sit?"
Elion’s brain short-circuited.
"Uh—"His mouth opened. Noise came out. Words did not.
"S-sure," he finally managed, forcing calm into his voice even as panic thundered through his chest.
He turned to Aria.
She was frozen stiff, eyes wide, mouth slightly open.
For a moment, Elion genuinely feared the two girls might start fighting right there in the middle of mana theory.
But Aria breathed out slowly, forced her expression neutral, and scooted over.
Just enough.
"Thank you..."
Mira slipped into the seat beside Elion and even shifted closer, shoulders nearly touching. The faint scent of her perfume brushed against him, warm and sweet.
The entire class witnessed it.
No way. No way. NO WAY.
Everyone’s thoughts aligned.
Romance scandals were not rare in their year.
But this?
The first year’s academy halls would explode the second class ended.
Professor George cleared his throat loudly.
Ahem.
Everyone jolted, snapping their eyes back forward.
"Moving on..."
George continued his lecture, but not a single student was actually listening anymore. Not one.
All their attention remained fixed on the last row, on Elion, Aria, and Mira.
A trio far too close for comfort.
They all pretended to take notes, pretended to follow the lesson, but every rustle, every side glance, every whisper was directed at them.
And the three of them sat there quietly, trying (and failing) to pretend nothing strange was happening.
Two girls. One boy. A week of Mira’s absence. The sudden closeness.
This was hot news.
The moment class ended, the academy rumor mill would erupt.
Elion sat frozen, Mira’s perfume, soft, floral, way too familiar, reaching him instantly as she settled beside him.
Her thigh brushed his for a moment before she shifted, but even then she remained close enough that he could feel the warmth of her body.
Aria stiffened on his left.
She didn’t say a word. Didn’t glare. Didn’t show anything but a light smile.
But Elion could feel the subtle pressure of her mana, simmering under her skin in the way only someone who’d spent hours by her side would notice.
Oh, gods... this is bad.
Mira tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, face flushed but expression cool, almost nonchalant, except for the tiny tremor in her fingers as she set down her notebook.
She didn’t even look at William.
Didn’t spare him a second glance.
The poor guy looked like someone had slapped him with a frozen tuna.
Professor George resumed the lecture, pretending absolutely nothing was wrong. Judging by the lack of note-taking, the class strongly disagreed.
Elion swallowed, forcing himself to focus, only for Mira to lean slightly toward him once again.
"...Good morning," she whispered, her voice soft but unmistakably warm.
Aria turned a slow, deadly calm look toward Mira.
Mira met the gaze with a confident, knowing smile, then inched even closer to Elion, her presence practically glued to his side.
No, no, no—don’t smile like that, woman, people are going to think—!
Well... everyone already was thinking.
Elion used every ounce of willpower not to lean away like a startled cat.
He scribbled something on his notebook and subtly angled it toward her:
"Are you feeling better?"
Mira glanced down, lips curling in a tiny, private smirk.
She wrote back underneath:
"Better. Though I still feel it when I walk sometimes."
Elion nearly choked on his own breath.
Aria noticed. Her eyebrow twitched.
Mira didn’t stop.
With the faintest blush, she added:
"You didn’t need to worry. I... liked it."
Elion snapped his notebook shut so fast it nearly tore in half.
The scratching of quills and the professor’s voice died as heads turned, everyone trying to see what had just happened.
He slowly, slowly lowered the notebook onto the desk, resisting the urge to spontaneously ascend to a higher plane of existence.
Aria leaned in, whispering under her breath, low enough for only him to hear:
"...We’re talking later."
Chills ran down his spine. The good kind? The terrifying kind? He honestly didn’t know.
The rest of the class somehow felt both eternal and over in five minutes.
The moment Professor George dismissed the class, the entire lecture theatre exploded with chatter.
But before anyone could rush toward them—
Mira leaned closer to Elion, her hair brushing his shoulder as she spoke quietly:
"I... heard about your fight with William."
Elion stiffened.
Aria’s ears perked sharply, eyes narrowing.
Mira continued, her voice soft yet trembling with something vulnerable:
"Was it because of me...?"
The question hung in the air like a dropped glass, and every nearby student went silent.
Aria froze. Elion blinked. Several people stopped mid-step, blatantly eavesdropping.
Then...
SNAP!
Everyone jumped.
Aria had snapped her quill clean in half.
Ink dripped onto her notes, her fingers clenched white around the broken pieces. Her expression was still calm, but the aura around her was anything but.
Cold. Sharp. Dangerous.
Elion swallowed.
"Mira," he whispered back, "the fight wasn’t your fault. William started it."
Mira looked down, her lashes trembling. "But people are saying he confronted you... Because he was jealous, because he saw you leaving my room."
Aria’s jaw tightened so hard he could hear the faint grind of teeth.
Mira continued, oblivious or pretending to be: "You didn’t come see me, so I thought maybe—"
"Maybe he forgot?" Aria cut in sweetly, voice slicing like a blade despite the smile. She didn’t know exactly what was going on here, but she didn’t like it.
Mira blinked at her, calm but unamused. "No. I thought maybe he was avoiding me."
Aria’s fingers twitched.
Elion raised both hands defensively. "I wasn’t avoiding you. I actually... was worried about you."
Mira’s cheeks warmed, "Y-You were. But I thought..."
"You thought that just because I was a bit harsh, that maybe I still resented you for before?" Elion chuckled, "Don’t worry, after what I did to you, I can say we are now even?"
"O-Okay..." Mira nodded with a weak smile/ grin she was barely holding back.