CHAPTER 90: AND BEFORE I KNEW IT, I WAS GONE.

The morning air outside the Aetherium was crisp, cool enough to sting just a little against my skin. Belle and I walked side by side through the main courtyard, our footsteps echoing faintly off the marble tiles as the massive black gates loomed ahead, tall, engraved with the symbol of the Silver Lantern, their metal gleaming faintly with mana.

The gates were wide open as we approached, silent but imposing, revealing the academy wing sprawled before us.

White and gray buildings stretched endlessly across the horizon, their surfaces glimmering faintly with enchantments.

Tall spires rose into the misty sky, lined with floating mana conduits that hummed like a heartbeat. The place looked pristine, perfect, like someone had designed it to intimidate you just by existing.

And judging by the way the first-year students scattered the moment they noticed us, it was working.

They parted like the sea, whispering behind hands, eyes flicking between Belle, the strongest woman in the human domain, and me, the Apex of the first years.

I didn’t blame them. If I were in their place, I’d probably avoid us too.

Belle didn’t seem to notice or care. She just walked with her usual grace, the faint wind tugging at the hem of her black coat, blindfold in place as always. I kept pace beside her, hands in my pockets, pretending not to hear the whispers that followed in our wake.

Yeah. Makes sense, they’d keep their distance.

By the time we reached the main academy hall, the crowd had already thinned. The tall glass doors opened automatically, flooding the corridor with soft, white light. Inside, rows of classrooms stretched endlessly, banners of the different divisions hanging along the walls—Combat, Theory, Arcana, Alchemy. The air smelled faintly of mana and disinfectant.

Our classroom was at the far end. I pushed the door open, stepping inside beside Belle.

As always, conversations died instantly.

Belle walked straight for the stage at the front, calm and unbothered, her boots clicking against the polished floor. I didn’t follow. I turned and made my way to my spot, which a student had gifted me two weeks ago, the back corner by the window, top row. Best view in the room, and farthest from everyone else.

The seat beside mine was already occupied.

Nora.

She turned slightly as I sat down, her soft silver hair catching the light. She was smiling, the polite, knowing smile that made it impossible to tell what she was actually thinking.

Then she leaned closer, just enough for her voice to brush against my ear.

"So," she whispered, eyes still on the front, "did you enjoy your little sleepover with Belle?"

I leaned back in my chair, boots propped against the rung of the desk in front of me, and glanced toward the podium.

Belle stood there, posture perfect as ever, flipping through something on her tablet with her usual unreadable calm. Her blindfold caught the light just enough to make her look... well, unfairly composed for this early in the morning.

"Yeah," I said, answering Nora’s question with a lazy grin. "I did enjoy it. Why? You jealous?"

Nora gave me a look that could’ve melted steel. "Of course I am!" she said, practically slamming her hands on her desk. "You got to sleep next to her

, Sebastian! Do you know how many people in this academy would kill for that?"

I tilted my head. "Define sleep next to. Because technically—"

"Don’t you dare finish that sentence."

Her face went bright red, and I swear I could feel the temperature rise between us. I grinned wider. "Relax, Nora. I’m just saying her lap makes a pretty comfortable pillow."

Her jaw dropped. "You— you’re unbearable!"

"Accurate," I said cheerfully. "But undeniably charming."

Before she could respond with something violent, a familiar, sleep-deprived voice cut in from the row in front of us.

"Could you two not start flirting before I’ve even finished my morning existential crisis?"

Kent turned halfway around in his chair, his silver hair a total mess, like he’d fought a small tornado and lost.

His tie was missing, his uniform jacket only half-buttoned, and the bags under his silver eyes looked so bad I was starting to think they’d become a permanent feature.

"You look like death," I said. "Again. Trust me, I would know."

He rubbed at his face. "Didn’t sleep. Spent the night watching anime. Then my room caught on fire."

Nora giggled behind her hand. "That sounds... relaxing."

"Oh, yeah. Real spa vibes," Kent said dryly. "Nothing like watching your furniture burst into flames to lull you to sleep."

I leaned back, crossing my arms behind my head. "You know, I got punched through a wall last night, and I still managed a decent nap."

Kent blinked. "Wait. You got punched through a wall... and your takeaway was, ’yeah, let’s just sleep on the person who punched me’?"

"Hey," I said, shrugging. "Forgiveness builds character."

"Or brain damage," Kent said.

"Same difference."

Nora snorted, covering her mouth. "You’re ridiculous."

"I prefer ’endearing,’" I said, grinning.

Kent gave me a flat stare. "You’d flirt with a reflection if it complimented you back."

"Already have," I said without hesitation. "We had a good run."

That earned me a real laugh from both of them. Nora leaned forward, shoulders shaking, while Kent just ran a hand through his hair and sighed like dealing with me physically pained him.

"You two are unbelievable," he muttered.

"You say that like it’s a bad thing," I said, smirking.

Kent gestured vaguely at us. "It is when you’re trying to pretend to be a serious institution of learning and not the opening act of a romantic comedy."

"Correction," Nora said, straightening up. "We’d be the good kind of romantic comedy."

"Yeah," I added. "The one where the lead’s unreasonably handsome and the supporting cast just has to deal with it."

Kent groaned. "And humble, too. How could I forget?"

I grinned wider. "You couldn’t if you tried."

For a moment, the classroom actually felt... light. Students trickled in one by one, whispering to each other as the sunlight poured through the massive arched windows.

Most of them gave Belle a respectful nod or bow before sitting down; no one dared to address her casually. She wasn’t just our combat instructor; she was General Belle Ardent, Vice Principal of Aetherium, rumored to be able to take on SSS-rank acsendants alone and win.

And yet, to me and Nora, she was just... Belle.

Then her voice sliced clean through the chatter. "Sebastian. Nora. Kent. If you’re quite done disturbing the peace..."

The entire room went silent.

"Yes, Belle," I said automatically, because at this point it was muscle memory.

Several students turned to stare at me like I’d just spat on the royal crest. One even whispered, "He called her Belle?" like I’d committed treason.

These background bastards were acting like they didn’t know that I lived with her.

Belle didn’t even look at me, but I caught it, the tiniest, almost imperceptible twitch at the corner of her lips. Not quite a smile, but close enough.

I leaned toward Nora, lowering my voice. "See that? She likes me more."

"Keep talking," Nora murmured, "and she’ll like you less in about five seconds."

"Wouldn’t be the first time," I said, smirking.

Kent half-turned in his seat again. "I give you two until mid-semester before she throws you off the roof for character development."

I laughed. "Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t land on my feet."

"Bold of you to assume she’d let you land at all."

That sent Nora into another fit of laughter, her head dropping to her desk as she tried to muffle it. I couldn’t help chuckling too. It was stupid, pointless morning banter, but in a place like this, surrounded by pressure and competition, it felt... good.

For a second, it almost felt like home.

Then Belle clapped her hands once, the sound sharp enough to cut through steel. "All right, quiet down. Let’s begin."

The room fell instantly silent again.

I sat up straight, grin still tugging at the corner of my mouth.

Yeah. Same old morning in the academy.

Belle’s voice carried easily across the room, sharp, clear, and just commanding enough to make everyone sit up straighter.

"Today," she began, "we’ll be reviewing mana synchronization thresholds and their correlation with core expansion. Pay attention. I won’t repeat myself."

Chairs creaked as students scrambled to open their notebooks. Kent groaned quietly and tried to look alive. Nora straightened like she’d just been called to a royal audience.

Me?

Yeah, I tuned out after ’Today’.

My head dropped to my folded arms, the desk cool against my cheek. The drone of Belle’s voice blended with the soft scratch of quills, the faint hum of mana crystals lining the ceiling.

I wasn’t tired, not really. Just... bored.

I’d heard all this before, half of it from Belle herself during private lessons. She was brilliant, sure, but when she got into lecture mode, it was like listening to an angel explain quantum physics underwater.

"—core resonance instability increases exponentially past the E-rank threshold," she continued somewhere in the background.

I yawned. Loudly.

Someone in front of me hissed, "You’re insane."

Maybe. Probably.

The corners of my lips twitched into a faint smile as the world started to blur around the edges. Belle’s words turned to white noise. The classroom faded, the sunlight, the murmurs, even Nora’s occasional side-eye.

And before I knew it, I was gone.

Out cold.

Head on the desk, halfway through a lecture on mana theory, while the Vice Principal herself was teaching.

Classic me.