CHAPTER 65 - ACT 1 (2)

“Shit,” Soren muttered as he inspected the letter on his desk.

Stamped on the back of the envelope was something he had been desperately hoping he would never see.

The Arden seal.

That meant the letter he was currently holding was one sent by the current head of the household, Sofia Arden.

It was someone that Soren couldn’t help but dislike.

Although he had never met her, he had seen the letter that the original Soren had received right after Freya’s death, making it impossible to feel any positive feelings towards the woman.

Riiippp

Soren roughly tore open the seal and pulled out its contents, tossing the envelope in the trash.

“Let’s just see for now.”

He felt annoyed that he was receiving a letter from Sofia, but he didn’t throw it away or take any rash action.

After all, there could be something important written in the letter, and if not, he could just ignore it.

Or that’s what he thought.

“This bitch…?”

Those words, born from emotions that were not his own, spilt from his mouth without thought as he read the contents.

– To Soren, It’s nice to hear that you have stopped playing around. I trust the academy keeps you suitably occupied, and that you are applying yourself with the diligence required to reflect well upon our family name—

The letter began with typical formalities, as expected of a countess, but Soren wasn’t stupid; he could feel every word dripping with condescension.

‘There it is again…’

He clicked his tongue as he read the line about him playing around.

Soren desperately wanted to tear apart the letter right there and then, but restrained his burning emotions, as there would be no benefit in letting his emotions take over at the moment.

As Soren’s eyes continued down the page, his lips slowly pursed into a thin line as he blinked with annoyance.

When he finally reached the bottom of the page, he tossed it onto his desk and leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Are you kidding me?”

The contents of the letter were, quite possibly, the worst thing that Soren could hear right now.

– You will, of course, return home at the commencement of the summer recess, for there are matters of significance that require your attention. I should not have to remind you that absence at such a time would reflect poorly on both your priorities and your regard for this family.

Sofia Arden was telling him that the moment summer break begins, Soren has to return home immediately.

‘This messes up everything.’

His original plan for the break had been to gain experience as an adventurer by signing up with the guild and exploring a few low-level dungeons, but with one letter, that entire plan had been overturned.

“What could be so important?”

Soren was unsure, given his status as a near-disowned child, but he was fully aware it was impossible to refuse.

He once again lamented his status as he crumpled the letter and tossed it into his inventory.

‘Let’s just focus on the final exam for now.’

Even though the practical exam was scheduled for the following Monday, Soren still had to tackle the writing section over the course of this week.

Soren rubbed his eyes for a few moments, grabbed a book from his inventory and opened it.

It was time to study.

* ••✦ ♡ ✦•••

Scratch scratch

Soren worked his way through the paper before him at a fast pace.

“...”

Scribble

– Draw the magic circle for the spell [Aqua].

“...”

Tap tap

“...”

The questions on the exam itself were easy for Soren, who had already memorised every textbook they made use of in the first semester.

Although there were a few questions that Soren was unsure of, given their multifaceted answers, any questions that had definitive answers were ones that Soren could complete with ease, letting him make his way through the paper at a rapid rate.

In the end, Soren finished most of his papers long before the test ended, giving him time for some much-needed rest.

As he sat there, face down on his desk, waiting for the exam to end, he thought back to the letter he had received only a few days ago.

‘I don’t get why she would call me back.’

His younger sister, Alice Arden, had already been granted the status of heir, and Soren himself had entered the academy quietly; in any other situation where the family head held clear contempt for their oldest child, this would be a dream situation.

‘Yet she’s the one who asked first.’

Soren couldn’t help but hold some anxiety as to what may happen at his return.

Not only did he have no memories of Soren’s family besides Freya whatsoever, but there were only negatives in returning to such a seemingly hostile place.

‘I should tell everyone later.’

He already knew that Louise had plans to return home; she had even invited him, saying it would be fun.

However, given his original plans, he had already decided against it.

As for everyone else, Soren had no idea what their plans were.

Given their statuses, it would be unlikely that any of them except Lilliana would stay at Stellaris Academy throughout the break, and the only commoner amongst them, Felix, would likely just use the break as an opportunity to mess around, but Soren still felt he should ask nonetheless.

“Pens down, hands up. Someone will come around to collect your papers now. If I see a single student still writing after I finish talking, then you will immediately fail this paper.”

With the gruff, older man’s words, everyone's hands were raised and their pens laid onto the desk.

Soren held in a slight smirk at all the groaning students around him and waited for his paper to be collected before standing up and leaving the lecture hall when given permission.

– Free at last!

– I wanna die…

A multitude of conversations took place as students squeezed their way out of the exam halls.

It was as Soren was making his way out of the building that someone suddenly grabbed his arm, almost causing him to fall backwards.

“Whoa!”

He felt his heart leap out of his chest for a moment as he turned towards the perpetrator of the jumpscare.

“Hi.”

Standing there with a more exhausted expression than usual was Amelia.

“That gave me a fright,” Soren muttered as he breathed in and out a couple of times to calm his beating heart.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine, how did you manage?”

“Alright, I think.”

“You think?”

“Some of it didn’t make any sense. What about you?”

“Same as always.”

“You’re unfair,” Amelia said, causing a slight smirk to appear on Soren’s face.

As their banter continued, their group slowly grew, first with Felix, then Esper, and finally Louise.

Although Soren had spotted Alex and Olivia, he didn’t say anything, not wanting to mess up the vibe they had going between them.

“Should we get something to eat then?” Soren asked everyone, receiving a positive response in return.

* ••✦ ♡ ✦•••

“So what’s everyone plan for the break?” Asked Soren as they took their seats in the cafeteria.

“I’m going home. I need to train more.” Answered Louise, who was fiddling with the rapier at her waist.

“Dunno,” Felix said as he shrugged his shoulders.

“I think my dad wants me to come see him. Ugh, he’s probably going to grill me again.” Esper said with a pained groan.

“Papa says I have to go see him.”

With everyone's responses matching Soren’s guesses, he nodded, only to have the question thrown back at him.

“What about you, Cutie?”

In response, Soren took the crumpled letter from his inventory and placed it on the table with an awkward smile before opening his mouth.

“I was called home. I got told there was something important, but I’ll try to wrap it up quickly since I’ve got other things I need to do.”

“Oh…”

Everyone at the table understood that Soren’s relationship with his family was strained, but only one person knew the severity of the situation.

Louise looked at Soren anxiously, but Soren simply smiled in response.

“It’ll be fine, the worst that can happen is I get disowned, right?” He said half-jokingly.

Then Soren rolled his eyes for a moment before thinking to himself that it actually might not be such a bad outcome.

“What about Professor Roseblood?”

“She’ll probably just stay here, so don’t try hitting on her, Felix,” Soren said as he glared at the human trash, causing a sigh to escape Felix.

“Anyways! Enough about the break! What’s going on with the practical?”

“Ah, right.”

Although their written exams were over, they still had one last hurdle to cross before they could even think about enjoying their break.

“There hasn’t been any news, right?”

“Nope! None at all!”

“I won’t be of help here… They change the exam every year, sorry.”

“...I guess all we can do is hope that it goes well.”

Soren smiled bitterly at Felix’s optimistic words.

‘If only…’

————「❤︎」————