Chapter 27

༺ The First Letter (27) ༻

Recently, Seria’s day seemed both bright and dark.

There has never been a time in her life when light and darkness were so clear. Until then, her daily life had been gray all day long.

It was a dull gray day. Swinging her sword, eating, and attending lectures. She was just living a day that was no different from the previous one while thinking only about the sword.

But these days it’s different. It’s because ‘light’ gradually appeared in her daily life.

A warm feeling, the memories of that time slowly seeped into her heart.

It was a change she didn’t notice at first, like water drops slowly eroding a rock.

From a certain moment, she began looking forward to spending time with a certain man. Just as a tamed beast waits for its companion, with whom it wishes to communicate.

Humans, too, were no different from animals in their behavioral principles. They pursue bliss and avoid pain. It was the same for Seria.

Lately, she’s been happy when she’s together with Ian. At other times, she was mostly sad.

Thousands of people mocked and despised her. It would have been better if it was over with just that much, but the swear words against her mother and the sneaky bullying were steadily gnawing at her mind.

No matter how much she didn’t care about other people’s opinions, this was unavoidable. Even Seria, whom no one believed in since birth, was still a human being, a social animal, so she always harbored solitude and a desire for recognition in a corner of her heart.

She thought she had already got used to being bullied, due to the jealousy of others, but in fact she was arrogant.

Even if an atmosphere of mockery and bullying had been created in earnest, an unimaginable level of criticism and harassment began, touching her family was a taboo that was broken.

Even though they knew how much it would hurt her.

Before anyone could question such an atmosphere, numerous students had already become entangled. Humans were social animals, justifying themselves for work done in groups was natural to them.

Along with that, it was also because Seria had recently lost a lot of pride in her skills.

Until then, Seria had rarely failed. She suffered a painful defeat every time she faced her step-sister, the opponent she always wanted to win against, but in other circumstances, her talent and hard work always triumphed.

But how was she these days?

She was defeated without landing a single blow on Senior Ian. In the match next week, she had her sword flung away by Senior Ian at the last moment.

Besides, not long ago, she made a fatal mistake by not heeding Senior Ian’s advice. She was glad that senior Ian showed skills that exceeded her expectations, as otherwise she would still be grueling with guilt.

It was inevitable for her self-esteem to be broken. And what took its place was a feeling of admiration and respect for Ian.

Senior Ian was not only kind, but his skills were also specialized for real life combat. In fact, she believed that if she fought him again, she would make a series of mistakes and would be defeated.

Above all, senior Ian was Seria’s only ‘friend’.

Seria was still just learning what a ‘friend’ was, but it seemed clear that it had shed light on her life.

She was happy to be with Senior Ian.

When he smiles casually, or he worries about her pale complexion, her heart pounds without even realizing it.

If he accidentally touches her hand, her face becomes hot, and when she suddenly notices the distance between them, she fidgets in surprise.

She also made a lot of mistakes, but Ian did not blame or curse her.

He’s been the only person who smiles at her lately. So Seria felt Ian was more special.

Seria praised her former self for having the courage to ask Senior Ian to teach her. If it wasn’t for that, the relationship they have now wouldn’t exist.

What would have happened if she didn’t do that? Seria got goosebumps just at the mere thought of it. Her life would not have even seen a glimpse of the sun. She would have spent her days in misery amidst the ridicule and criticism of so many people.

Just by having Ian stay by her side, those who bullied her kept their mouths shut and didn’t say anything.

Seria felt like she was in another world when she stood next to him. It was a lot of fun, so Ian became even more important.

‘Friendship’ was such a thrilling and good feeling. Seria thought so, secretly thinking of Senior Ian at night and smiling softly.

However, if there is light, there must also be shadow that contrast with it and those now feel even darker.

Some, in particular, who realized that her weakness was talking about her mother, maliciously took advantage of it.

“Come to think of it, where on earth is the mother of that sleazy bitch from?”

“How could I know? She might be a whore from the streets, or she might have been an ambitious maid who tried to raise her status. Well, there is no way a prestigious noble family could have given birth to a woman like her.”

Either way, it was a vain fantasy. Giggles were heard.

Seria’s eyes became sharp at the taunt that crossed the line. She grunted, grinding her teeth, glaring at the gang of men.

The gang was sitting on the bench, grinning as they watched Seria pass by. They sucked the fresh fruit juice from the cup as if saying to her, ‘What will you do?’Expplôre uptodate stories at no/vel//bin(.)com

“Prestigious noble family or not. Women like that who do not understand their own place should be thrown away.”

“By the way, her mother is a whore, isn’t it? So the father could be a different person altogether, right? After all, she was a woman who lay in bed with whoever she could.”

“That’s the downside of being a bastard.”

On the way to the knight’s training ground, Seria had been walking along the path she always traveled through. Even so, Seria, who had been sensitive recently, could hardly stand the ensuing insults.

Seria, who was shaking with her hands tightly clasped, moved towards them with a murderous look.

She couldn’t use violence anyway. The use of violence will not result in immediate expulsion, but she was a lady. If an illegitimate heir had a conflict and made enemies with the nobles, it was obvious that the main family would berate her.

Are they insulting her mother? They wouldn’t even care. His father, who is the head of the household, would not have lost his characteristic cold voice, even while being completely ill.

‘Forget that woman, Seria. She is no longer alive.’

But at least she had to say something. Seria’s mind was seething with rage. When her blood rushed to the top of her head, she staggered her way towards them.

Meanwhile, they let out a small exclamation of surprise. She should have realized then.

Today, Seria seemed fragile. This must have been a side of her that she had been hiding. Dignified and prideful on the outside, but beneath that shell lies someone weak.

Seria, even so, smiled faintly. My eyes, that were looking elsewhere, slowly turned to Seria.

“So, I must have been angry since they cursed my mother. Now, it’s fine. Because there is Senior Ian.......”

‘It’s fine,’ I didn’t say anything for a moment, because that short sentence felt like a blade was lodged in my chest.

A human being who is fine doesn’t cry. He doesn’t gasp for breath. He doesn’t shed tears, nor does he not even try to wipe them off with his sleeve.

Of course, he doesn’t pretend to be strong, nor does he force himself to smile. So how can you say you’re okay?

So many questions lingered in my mouth, and in the end, only one word was barely spat out.

“......It’s not fine.”

Then, Seria, as if a little flustered, widened her still drenched eyes. And then she smiled faintly.

“It’s really fine, Senior Ian. Anyway I.......”

“Not you.”

My words cut off Seria’s words. Seria’s bewildered gaze turned to me. Seeing the tears left in her eyes, I felt a surge of emotion.

My hand was fiddling with the sword hanging from my waist. How could I stand it?

The answer was obvious.

A raging heat blew out, scratching my throat.

“It’s not fine.”

At the end of those words, my body shot up. This was before Seria could even reply. My eyes dimmed deeply.

After leaving the forest and entering the academy grounds, there were many passersby. I grabbed one at random and asked where they were.

Thean of the Southern Kingdoms, I had to find that guy.

Since he was such a conspicuous guy, it wasn’t difficult to find out where he was. Even when people passing by looked at me with bewildered eyes, they meekly presented the information they knew to my intimidating gaze.

He was grinning with his gang in an empty lot behind a certain lecture building.

Next to him sat a handsome man. He doesn’t appear to be from the Southern Kingdoms, but I thought he was probably a guy who hangs out with Thean.

“Hey, that bastard couldn’t avoid even elementary magic and fell.......”

“Hey, that must have been spectacular? Of course, you spilled the juice too, didn’t you?”

“Of course! For a bastard, it must have been such an expensive bath water that she couldn’t even dream of it.”

As I listened to their giggles, my breath subsided, and I trudged towards them. Thean’s gang, combined with the group of aristocrats, were about seven people.

It was a smaller number than the lackies he usually brought with him. It made sense though, since they each have their own schedules, it’s worth taking the chance. It was fortunate for me.

At my sudden appearance, Thean’s giggling gang paid attention to me at once. Thean looked bewildered, then smiled and got up.

Then he tapped my shoulder with his elbow and patted it. It was a Southern Kingdom greeting.

“What’s the academy’s rising hero doing here?”

“Seria.”

‘Ummm,’ said Thean, gently avoiding my gaze and swallowing a sigh. It was a name he knew quite well, as it was the name of the person he was bullying.

“From now on, don’t touch Seria.”

“Well, that’s it. It’s not a difficult request between us.......”

Thean lowered the tail of his tongue as if hesitating. His eyes scanned the gang. They watched me and Thean’s conversation with interest.

In particular, the man who knocked down Seria with dig magic showed more explicit interest. He got up and slowly came out and walked towards Thean.

Thean looked into their eyes, then looked at me and smiled.

“......But, we can’t do that with just your word, can we?”

My brow narrowed slightly. Then, instead of Thean, the one who took over was a man with a charming face. He said to me with a smirk.

“Yes, if you were a noble, you ought to know that, right? After all, a request must go both ways... You must be aware of it.”

I was silent for a moment, then declared in a low voice.

“You will not touch Seria in the future.”

Upon hearing my solemn tone, the man’s face turned red. Then he giggled in anticipation and opened his mouth.

“What the hell gives you so much confidence... eh?!”

“Ahh,” my fists slammed into the man’s face. With the sound of a drum being hit, the man’s facial skin sank deeper as wrinkles formed around the area of impact in an instant.

Blood splattered, and white teeth shards shattered, reflecting the sparkling sunlight. A clean blow without an ounce of hesitation.

So, let alone Thean, even the person who was punched in the face could not respond. Thean’s astonished gaze turned to me, as the aristocrat rolled in the ground with a messed up face after just one punch.

There was a loud bang, and the man rolled on the ground over and over again. It was a dramatic hit. The power of my fist, which struck like lightning, was not at a level that a man who seemed to be a wizard could handle.

Everyone’s eyes, unable to understand the current situation, turned to me. There was only a faint question in their eyes.

I smirked at them just like how Thean and that noble smirked at me.

“If you don’t want to get punched by me, you should get your act together.”

Those words signaled the start of another battle.