Her expression pinched, subtle, but definitely there.
A faint frown of disgust.
Great, Elion. Wonderful. Terrifying a vampire girl. Excellent plan. Brilliant move.
Internally, he was screaming at himself, replaying his snarky greeting like a bad joke he couldn’t pause.
Of course, he spotted the crossed swords emblem on the shoulder of her uniform instantly.
Disciplinary committee. No other reason why a second year would be on this floor.
Her face slid back into its unreadable, porcelain blankness a second later.
"You handled that well for a first year," she said coolly, stepping in front of him.
Her tone flipped instantly into a flat and official demeanour.
"However, fighting on the academy grounds is not allowed. More so since I witnessed the entire thing."
The courtyard erupted into frantic murmurs.
"He was attacked first!"
"It was six on one—!"
"William even used a spell!"
Celeste paid absolutely no attention.
Not even a twitch of her eyebrow.
"Names."
She pointed first at the five bruised cronies struggling to stand, then at William, who was blinking blearily as water dripped from his hair.
"Yours, and theirs. Or they can do it themselves. Whichever you prefer."
Hmmm. Elion regarded her features for a second longer, and she spoke.
"Elion Nova," he answered smoothly. "The oaf in the pond is William Dawncrest. The other five are Jared, Marcus, Ronan, Trevor, and Felix."
A sheet of paper appeared elegantly in her hand as if summoned from thin air. Her pen scratched rapidly as she wrote.
"And your classes?"
"All Class 1. Professor George’s class."
She nodded once, crisp and economical, jotting it down before lifting her eyes to him again, faintly intimidating.
"Expect a summons to the DC soon."
She turned her attention to the five groaning boys, confirmed their names without wasting a breath, then moved to William, who was trying to stand but mostly looked like a furious, waterlogged cat.
Her expression did not change even once.
And then, without a word, she turned, stepped back, and glided up toward the balcony with the terrifying grace of someone who absolutely could snap a neck without blinking.
A girl with long pink hair was waiting there, leaning forward with way too much interest.
Elion’s eyes barely registered the vibrant head of pink hair.
His gaze was fully drawn to the large pair of melons floating on her chest.
Wow! Definitely the largest pair I have ever seen.
A single slight movement of her body, and...
Jiggle...jiggle...
To his surprise, she gave Elion a more than excited wave, her gigantic breasts swaying like oversized pendulums beneath her uniform.
After that, he watched as the small vampire girl and monster tits walked off over the balcony.
Then he looked back at the scene he had created.
He looked at the sizeable audience who were giving him shocked looks, and he gave William one last look.
William’s glare was so venomous it could have curdled water, then Elion turned away as the crowd instinctively parted for him.
But before he could escape entirely, he spotted her.
Is that...Aria?
Her eyes were wide, shock carved into every part of her expression. She stared at him as if she couldn’t recognize the person she was looking at.
He smiled...
And he walked toward her.
She didn’t even realize he was coming toward her, didn’t even move, until he was standing right in front of her.
"E-Elion! You—!"
He didn’t answer.
He simply reached out, gently but firmly grabbed her wrist, and pulled her out of the crowd, away from the noise, without a single word.
...
High above the courtyard, Celeste walked on the balcony beside Liora, her expression perfectly blank...
Though the tension in her shoulders betrayed the shock she refused to show.
Liora, on the other hand, was anything but composed.
"H–he just, Celeste, did you, did you SEE that!?" Liora sputtered, looking over the railing, pink hair swaying, her big melons swinging with each step. "He folded all six of them like laundry! Twice!"
Celeste dusted off her skirt with a slow, deliberate motion. "I saw."
"You saw? That’s all you have to say!?"
Celeste did not respond.
She simply turned her gaze back to the courtyard, watching the last remnants of the crowd scatter now that the spectacle had ended.
Below, Elion walked away with a little blue-haired girl clinging to him.
Liora side-eyed her. "...Are you seriously going to report this?"
"I am," Celeste replied coolly.
Liora frowned. "But... you saw what happened. He didn’t start it. The Dawncrest kid and his meatheads did."
"I know."
"Then why—"
"For another reason."
Liora blinked.
"...Another reason?"
Celeste didn’t elaborate.
She simply stared into the distance, eyes narrowed faintly, as if contemplating something.
Liora leaned closer, curiosity practically radiating off her.
Then her eyes widened.
"Wait. Don’t tell me!"
Celeste’s gaze shifted toward her with chilling slowness.
Liora gasped dramatically, hand covering her mouth. "So you do have a type, Celeste! Oh my gods, you like the pretty boy, don’t yo—"
Celeste’s expression darkened with such lethal intensity that Liora nearly tripped backward off her own feet.
"I—I was only joking!" Liora blurted, hands raised in surrender.
Jeez... don’t look at me like you’re planning to kill me in my sleep.
Celeste exhaled sharply, dismissing the accusation entirely. "I intend to recommend his name for the first-year’s disciplinary committee slot."
Liora froze.