Just like that, a month passed. And finally, the day everyone had been eagerly waiting for had arrived.

The sharp, rapid clicking of impatient boots echoed down the corridor, charging straight toward a specific classroom. The students loitering in the halls could only watch as a girl with a fiery high ponytail aggressively shoved her way through the crowd.

"Move aside! I’m in a hurry!" "Get out of the way!"

Sera harshly shoved past a dull-looking boy, not even breaking her stride.

As she passed, whispers immediately broke out among the bystanders.

"Look at her running again. You’d think she’s rushing to see her prince off to war." "Well, what do you expect? She is the woman of the genius."

Sera didn’t slow down, but she shot a lethal glare over her shoulder. The two gossiping girls instantly flinched, their faces draining of color as they scrambled away into a side hallway.

Cowards. Only brave enough to talk trash behind my back, She scoffed as shook the thought away. Never mind them. I have to get there first. I have to reach Lucian before Elira does!

Since classes were already over, the classroom was empty.

BANG!

Sera shoved the heavy doors open. Her eyes immediately locked onto the very last bench.

Lucian occupied his usual corner, his chin resting near his chest in a heavy, leaden silence. His shoulders lacked the subtle rise and fall of normal sleep. Sera stopped dead in her tracks. Tucked into the narrow space beside him was Elira. A strand of Elira’s hair caught on Lucian’s collar as she leaned her full weight against his shoulder, her eyes half-closed in a relaxed posture that gave Sera the sudden, petty urge to clear her throat as loudly as possible.

Defeated once again, Sera puffed her cheeks into an angry pout.

Before she could stomp over and complain, a pale hand gently rested on her shoulder.

"It’s okay, Sera," Aria said softly, her gaze lingering on Lucian "Sometimes we arrive second."

She lightly tapped Sera’s back before walking past her, clutching her books tightly. She set them down on the desk and looked at Elira with an anxious, hopeful gaze.

"Did it work?"

Elira lifted her head from his shoulder and gave a reassuring nod with a faint smile.

"Yawwwn..."

Stretching his arms high, Lucian finally stirred, letting out another groggy yawn. Sera quickly hurried over to the desk to join them.

He blinked a few times and looked at the three girls staring at him as he made a slightly confused face.

"Hmm... this again?" he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You three still don’t believe what I told you, do you? Don’t think Cassian’s little sleeping potion was actually enough to force me into a slumber."

"But it happened because of me..." Aria mumbled, her gaze dropping to the floor in guilt. "And I couldn’t do anything to stop it."

Lucian stood up from his seat and gently pulled Aria into a warm hug.

"Come on, Aria. Don’t be like that."

Watching them, Sera clenched her fist, fumbling for the right words to help.

"Y-Yeah, Aria, don’t worry about it! I mean, if it was any normal student, the potion would have knocked them out instantly. But Lucian isn’t normal, you know that right?

She threw a quick, obvious wink at Elira, silently begging her to play along and agree.

Elira, however, just opened her mouth and delivered her usual blunt reality check.

"Yes, Aria. Besides, this was bound to happen eventually, Even if half the girls in the academy think you’re an absolute bitch now for breaking off your engagement with Cassian... at least you won’t have to suffocate yourself pretending anymore."

Sera stared at her, a vein visibly popping on her forehead.

Why can’t this bitch ever say anything positive?!

Lucian released her from the hug... and looked right into her eyes.

"You know Elira’s harsh words are true, Look—"

She cut him off. "Even so.. Cassian wanted to throw that potion at me. If you hadn’t stepped in between—"

"Shussshh..."

He hushed her gently. "Leave the worrying for now. We have a lot to read, don’t we? Tomorrow is our Arcane exam. If you put your mind under so much stress, you’ll end up scoring even lower than Sera..."

"H-Hey! How mean!!" Sera pointed an angry finger at him.

Aria gave a soft, small nod. "Yes, you are right... I will keep trying." Beside her, Elira’s lips curved into a smile.

With the heavy tension finally melting away into their usual bickering, the four of them pulled out their heavy textbooks. Because no matter how crazy their lives got, the nightmare of the academy exams spared absolutely no one.

..

..

.

The next day arrived, and the entire atmosphere of Astraviel Academy had completely flipped on its head.

It wasn’t just their home turf anymore. Overnight, the grand gates had opened to welcome the first-year batches from the rest of the Top Four Academies of the world. The sprawling eastern guest wings and the massive central courtyards were now entirely jam-packed with foreign uniforms, heavy luggage, and rival professors silently sizing each other up.

The territorial posturing in the hallways was thick enough to choke on. There were the stuck-up nobles from Silvercrest Academy, the battle-crazed brutes from Blood-Oak Institute, and the creepy, silent kids from Black-Mire Academy staring holes into everyone’s backs.

And then, there were the undisputed titans — The Sovereign Monolith.

Walking past the main courtyard earlier that morning, Lucian had caught a brief glimpse of their pristine white and gold uniforms. And standing right in the center of their elite vanguard, soaking up all the attention, was a very familiar, highly irritating face.

His Step brother Adrian.

Lucian simply smiled, pulled his gaze away, and kept walking.

This is actually great. Finally, maybe I can teach him a little lesson without his mama watching over him.

Though there was absolutely no time for family reunions or petty rivalries today. The real battlefield wasn’t the courtyard — it was the Grand Hall.

Right now, the huge wooden doors of the hall were locked tight. Inside, almost 300 of the finest first-year prodigies from all five academies were crammed together, seated at perfectly aligned desks.

An eerie silence hung over the room. The only sound echoing through the cold air was the frantic, aggressive scribbling of quills and the occasional, muffled groan of a student whose brain was completely frying under the pressure.

The Arcane Theory exam was nightmarish torture. It was designed to break them.

Sitting in the back row, Lucian mindlessly spun his pen, his eyes scanning the impossibly complex runic equations on the paper. Even Sera, sitting a few rows ahead of him, looked like she was about to bite a chunk out of her own wooden desk in pure frustration.

Hours dragged on like rotting corpses.

BONGGG!

As the brass gong echoed across the hall, the 300 students released a tired, unified sigh. The booming sound vibrated through the ceiling.

"Quills down! Anyone still writing gets an immediate zero," Professor Kael’s flat, unforgiving voice boomed from the front podium.

The exams were finally over, yet the students remained tense as they slumped in their chairs. Everyone knew what was at stake.

In exactly one week, the combined results would be posted on the main academy board. And those scores weren’t just for showing off to your parents. Out of these 300 elite students, those results would separate the weak from the strong. Only the top-ranked students would earn a place in the upcoming Grand Tournament expedition.

Massaging his cramped wrist, Lucian lazily pushed his chair back and stood up.

I think I did pretty well, still whatever happens, happens. At least I get one solid week of peace before the real bloodbath starts.

Though unfortunately for him, that one week of so-called peace flew by in the blink of an eye.

And now the crowd crushing against the academy board as the morning carried the same desperate mix of hope and dread that only exam results could summon.