Chapter 3.2

It seemed unfathomable that all this would become a reality. I studied diligently to get accepted at this academy. I was no genius, but my test results ranked me as being in the top ten. I was even on the honor roll.

It was my dream to graduate at the top of my class and secure a job at the Tower of Magic.

I really did like Noah, but I would never give up such a promising future for something that was at most a schoolgirl crush. Anyway, I would never even think about interfering in someone’s relationship, no matter how much I liked the guy.

“This is so crazy.”

I pulled at my hair and threw myself face-first onto my bed.

I lay down and counted to ten in my head, after which the shock from the fact that I could be expelled from the academy began to subside.

I sat up on my bed and looked over at the sickening book, at which point another wave of depression took its hold over me. From everything going on right now, how could I not shirk inwardly at the images of Noah and Flora passionately kissing each other on their soft lips?

Noah, the guy I adored so much, was intimately in love with Flora. I was certain that they did all kinds of things whenever they were alone together in the classroom, the dormitories, or anywhere else.

Tears began falling down from my face.

I was so sad. For as much as I liked Noah over these long two years, to have that book show me that I would be almost completely irrelevant in his life was just too much for me to handle. I was to be nothing more than an extra for a few insignificant pages of his life, just watching with jealous eyes the love that he so deeply shared with the beautiful and perfect, Flora.

It was upsetting, to say the least, but at least I got the clear and simple truth upfront. I’ll just give up on Noah and be done with it.

“Hick…”

Yet, he’s been in my heart for a whole two years; that kind of feeling doesn’t just disappear so easily.

“Hick, euh, hmph…”

I was unaware that my tears were flowing down my face. It wasn’t a love that burned with a fiery passion or one that led to a special relationship. Even from the very beginning, I thought it was just a hopeless feeling in my heart that would never lead to anything. However, casting away these special emotions towards him that I’ve been carrying with me all this time felt really painful to me as if one of my body parts was being ripped off.

“Just forget him. It’s over,” Dora suddenly said from her bed in a dismissive tone while clicking her tongue.

I rubbed my teary eyes and cried out at her through my sobbing.

“Hmph, shut your mouth, hick…”

The next day, my swollen eyes from having cried all throughout the night were the least of my concerns, for I had to take my exams in this condition.

My mind buzzed with white noise which made me feel dizzy and I saw all kinds of shapes in a variety of different colors appear and disappear before me. I felt so out of it that I wasn’t even sure what I had written on my exams throughout that whole time.

There was no way I was going to achieve a great score in this state.

Haha, I failed.

***

“Kate, you’ve always been one of the top ten students in your class. So, why all of the sudden is it that you’ve now fallen to the bottom third?”

The teacher had a serious expression on her face as she readjusted her glasses.

I had a sour face as I gnawed on my lower lip and bent my head down. My hair that had once been tidy now flowed freely down again. The teacher continued, “It wasn’t like this exam had been at all exceptionally difficult. There were many students who were even able to raise their GPA with this exam. The only exception was you, Kate.”

“I…” I mumbled as I rolled my eyes.

The Book of Prophecy reflected in my eyes. I was rejected by the guy I liked and also faced expulsion from the academy.

If I kept babbling on, she’d likely write me a permission slip to the nurse’s office.

I hesitated for a moment before eventually opening my mouth to speak.

“It’s nothing. I just haven’t been feeling well lately. I’ll get my grades back up on the next exam.”

“Is that right? Would you like to go to the nurse’s office?”

“Nah, that’s okay.”

“Oh, well that’s good to hear. But don’t push yourself too hard. Enjoy your break.”

The teacher took off her glasses and wiped them clean with the hem of her clothes.

I let out a light sigh and trudged out of the main office.

“Ranked 22nd…”

I crumpled up the report card that I had in my hand. This was the first time ever that I’ve received a grade like that since being accepted at the academy.

“Eeuuuhhhh.”

I suddenly felt the overwhelming feeling that I’ve been intentionally wronged.

Why did this have to happen to me out of all people?

Even my grades had to suffer because of that damn book. I mean, what the hell?

Had I not picked up that book from the library, then none of this might have happened.