Chapter 12

As Adrelo sat in his seat, trying to distract himself from thoughts of Celine Velarien, the door to the classroom suddenly swung open. The sound was enough to break his train of thought, and he glanced up along with the rest of the students.

Standing at the doorway was none other than Celine herself. She had left earlier for a brief errand, but now she was back, her sharp gaze scanning the room briefly before settling on her seat.

As she walked past Adrelo's row, a faint but deliberate sneer tugged at her lips. She didn’t even try to mask it.

Adrelo stiffened, his mind racing. Wait... why does she look like she knows something?

He avoided her gaze, pretending to scribble in his notebook. It felt like she was staring holes into him as she passed by, but thankfully, she took her seat without a word.

But the uneasy feeling didn’t fade.

Moments later, as the professor assigned group work, the seating arrangement required students to form teams with those nearby. Adrelo glanced at the group forming beside him and nearly choked when he realized that Celine's group was just two steps away from his.

She wasn’t looking at him anymore, thankfully, but her presence was too overwhelming to ignore.

Adrelo sighed inwardly and turned his focus to his assigned groupmates, including Milo and Gareth.

The exercise was simple:

Analyze and discuss how to counter a theoretical attack using advanced spell formations. Milo and Gareth immediately began brainstorming ideas, leaving Adrelo free to nod along and contribute the occasional vague comment.

But his focus wavered as hushed voices reached his ears from the group beside him.

“That Adrelo… I don’t understand why he even bothers showing up to these classes,” one of Celine’s teammates muttered, loud enough for him to hear.

“Don’t waste your breath. He’s hopeless,” another added with a chuckle.

Adrelo’s jaw clenched, but he forced himself to keep his head down.

And then—

“Shh,” Celine’s voice cut through the whispers like a knife.

The sharpness in her tone was enough to make her teammates go quiet. Adrelo glanced up out of instinct, but quickly averted his gaze when he saw Celine looking directly at him.

Her expression was unreadable, but her piercing eyes seemed to hold a silent warning.

Adrelo’s heart raced. Did she suspect something? Did she already think he was up to no good?

He forced himself to look calm, offering a faint smirk in an attempt to appear unbothered.

Celine narrowed her eyes slightly before turning back to her group, her voice dropping to an inaudible murmur.

Adrelo exhaled slowly, realizing he’d been holding his breath.

****

As the class ended, Adrelo gathered his belongings quickly, eager to leave before anything else could go wrong. But as he stepped into the corridor, he collided with someone.

“Watch where you’re—” Adrelo began, but his words died in his throat when he realized who it was.

The second prince, Luxecio Azekian Geovri Breneille, was standing before him, his expression as calm and gentle as ever.

“Ah, my apologies,” Luxecio said smoothly, bowing his head slightly.

Adrelo froze. Why is he apologizing? It was my fault!

“N-no, it’s fine!” Adrelo stammered, stepping back hurriedly. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Luxecio tilted his head slightly, studying Adrelo with a curious expression.

“You’re… Adrelo, correct?” he asked.

Adrelo’s blood ran cold. Why does he know my name?

Before Adrelo could respond, Luxecio’s lips curved into a faint smile.

“Interesting,” the prince murmured to himself before brushing past Adrelo and continuing down the corridor.

Adrelo stood rooted to the spot, his heart pounding in his chest.

What does he mean by that?

To make matters worse, when Adrelo turned around, he saw Celine standing at the end of the corridor, her sharp eyes trained on him.

Great. Just great.

****

Adrelo darted down the corridor, wanting to put as much distance as possible between himself and both Celine and the second prince. His thoughts raced, panic swirling as he tried to make sense of the encounter.

Why does the second prince know my name? What does he want from me? And why was Celine glaring at me like that? Did she overhear something? No, calm down, Adrelo. Focus. Just lay low and avoid everyone.

As he rounded a corner, he collided with someone—again.

"Ow!"

Adrelo stumbled back and blinked. A petite figure was sprawled on the floor, clutching a pile of books and parchments that had scattered everywhere.

“I-I’m so sorry!” the boy stammered, scrambling to gather his belongings.

Adrelo froze, recognizing the timid boy from earlier.

The boy looked up briefly, and Adrelo was once again struck by how cute he looked—his round glasses slipping down his nose, his cheeks flushed from embarrassment.

Adrelo crouched down to help him pick up the scattered papers.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” Adrelo said, trying to sound reassuring.

But the moment the boy realized who he was speaking to, his expression shifted from flustered to downright terrified.

“You’re… you’re Adrelo!” the boy squeaked, nearly dropping the papers again. He immediately ducked his head, avoiding eye contact.

Adrelo sighed inwardly. Of course. My reputation precedes me.

“Relax,” Adrelo said, handing him a stack of papers. “I’m not going to eat you.”

The boy hesitated but slowly accepted the papers. “T-thank you…” he murmured, clutching them tightly to his chest.

Before Adrelo could say anything else, the boy bowed quickly and scampered off, leaving Adrelo standing there, baffled.

He chuckled softly to himself. Why is everyone so scared of me?

****

Adrelo sighed, slumping into his seat as the math professor strode into the room.

As usual, the class erupted in groans and complaints.

“Ugh, not another math lesson…”

“I barely understood the last one.”

“Why do we even need this? We’re learning magic, not… numbers!”

Adrelo raised an eyebrow at the protests. He hadn’t been in this world long, but he was beginning to piece together that math was a universal struggle—at least for the students here.

Except, he noticed, for two people.

Celine Velarien sat with her usual poised composure, her pink hair catching the sunlight as she prepared her materials without complaint.

Beside her, the green-haired boy—whose name Adrelo vaguely remembered as Lucien Fernhart—seemed similarly unaffected, though his quiet demeanor made it harder to tell.

Adrelo tapped his pen against the desk, trying to blend into the background as the professor began to speak.

****

“Today,” the professor said with a stern smile, “we’ll be having a little… test.”

The groans doubled in intensity.

“Not a test!”

“I’m doomed…”

“This is going to ruin my average!”

Adrelo glanced around at the despairing faces, noting how even some of the more confident students seemed unnerved.

The professor handed out the papers, and Adrelo blinked at the equations and problems before him.

…This is basic algebra.

For a moment, he thought it might be a joke. The problems were no more challenging than the kind he had breezed through back in middle school in his previous life.

I guess math's a universal problem, he thought dryly. A faint smirk tugging at his lips.

He quickly picked up his pen and began working through the questions. Within minutes, he was done.

Adrelo glanced up, realizing no one else had finished. Some students were still staring at their papers like they were written in an alien language.

Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Adrelo placed his pen down quietly and rested his head on the desk, pretending to think.

The whispers began almost immediately.

“Look at Adrelo. He probably gave up.”

“Did he even try? He’s just going to fail like always.”

“Why is he even in this academy?”

Adrelo just ignored the whisperings and  kept his head down.

****

The next day, the atmosphere in the classroom was tense as the professor returned with the graded exams.

“Well,” the professor began, looking unusually pleased. “I must say, the results were… unexpected.”

The students exchanged nervous glances, most of them dreading their scores.

“First,” the professor continued, “let me congratulate the one student who achieved a perfect score.”

The room went silent.

“Adrelo Le Ven Dierre.”

The silence turned into stunned murmurs.

“…Adrelo?”

“Did he say Adrelo?”

“That’s impossible!”

Adrelo sat frozen in his seat, unsure how to react. Wait… what?

Celine and Lucien both turned to look at him, their expressions curious and intrigued.

The professor held up Adrelo’s test paper.

“Not only did he solve every problem correctly, but his methods were clear and precise. It was as if he’d been doing these problems for years.”

One student in the back shot up from their seat.

“He must have cheated! There’s no way he could’ve done that on his own!”

The professor’s gaze hardened.

“I made those problems myself, and no one else had access to them. Furthermore, I watched Adrelo as he worked. He finished early and didn’t consult anyone.”

The room erupted into whispers again.

“But he’s always been talentless…”

“How did he manage that?”

“Is he hiding something?”

Adrelo shifted uncomfortably, feeling the weight of everyone’s stares. He had only done what came naturally, but now it seemed like he had painted a giant target on his back.

As the class ended, students continued to shoot him curious glances. Some whispered, others openly stared.

Celine approached him as he packed up his things. “That was impressive,” she said, her tone neutral but her gaze sharp.

“Where did you learn to solve problems like that?”

Adrelo hesitated. “I… just studied, I guess.”

Celine didn’t look convinced but nodded anyway. “Hmm. Interesting.” She turned and walked away, leaving Adrelo to breathe a sigh of relief.

Lucien, passing by, gave Adrelo a small nod, the faintest hint of a smile on his usually stoic face.

Adrelo frowned as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

I just wanted to stay under the radar… but now I’ve gone and made myself even more noticeable.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel a small sense of satisfaction. For once, the name “Adrelo” wasn’t being spoken with disdain.

The hallways of the academy were bustling with students as Adrelo made his way to his next class. He tried to keep his head down, but the whispers followed him like a shadow.

"Did you hear? Adrelo got a perfect score in the math exam!"

"That can’t be true. Maybe it was just luck."

"Luck? That was the hardest test this semester! Even I barely passed!"

Adrelo groaned inwardly. This is why I should’ve just answered slower.

But it wasn’t just the gossip that was bothering him—it was the glances from two specific individuals.

****

Celine Velarien, with her pink hair glowing like a banner, had been shooting him subtle looks all morning. She didn’t seem hostile, but her sharp gaze made Adrelo’s skin crawl. She was clearly trying to figure him out, and he didn’t like the attention one bit.

Lucien Fernhart, on the other hand, was harder to read. The green-haired boy wasn’t openly staring, but Adrelo caught him glancing his way several times during their shared classes. His calm, observant demeanor made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Adrelo slumped into his seat for the next lesson, hoping to disappear into the background. But as the class began, he noticed that Celine had shifted her seat to the row in front of him.

Great, he thought. Now I can’t even zone out without worrying she’s going to turn around and interrogate me.

Sure enough, as soon as the professor stepped out for a brief moment, Celine turned in her seat, her piercing eyes locking onto Adrelo.

“You,” she said, her voice low but firm.

Adrelo blinked. “...Me?”

“Yes, you,” she replied, leaning slightly closer.

“I don’t know how you did it, but getting a perfect score on that test wasn’t normal.”

Adrelo felt a bead of sweat roll down his temple.

“It’s not a crime to be good at math, is it?” he muttered, trying to deflect.

Celine narrowed her eyes.

“Good at math? You’ve never been good at anything.”

Her words stung, but Adrelo forced himself to stay calm.

“Maybe I just finally decided to take my studies seriously.”

Her expression didn’t change, but there was a flicker of something in her eyes—doubt, or perhaps curiosity.

Before she could press further, the professor returned, and Celine turned back around.

Adrelo clutched his bag tightly, ready to leave the classroom as quickly as possible. But just as he stepped into the hallway, he saw Lucien Fernhart leaning casually against the wall near the door.

“Adrelo,” Lucien said softly, his tone calm but laced with intrigue.

Adrelo froze for a moment before awkwardly turning to face him.

“Uh, yes?”

Lucien studied him for a long moment, his piercing green eyes assessing.

“You surprised everyone yesterday.”

Adrelo shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, his mind racing. As Lucien’s words registered, a memory from the novel flashed through his mind.

Lucien Fernhart in the Novel

Lucien Fernhart. The green-haired supporting lead and a prodigy in the music world. His family, the Fernharts, were celebrated for their unparalleled genius in music across generations. The power that ran in their bloodline wasn’t ordinary magic—it was something far more captivating: Resonance Weaving.

Adrelo remembered reading how this unique power allowed Lucien to manipulate sound and music to influence emotions, disrupt concentration, or even bolster strength in battle. It wasn’t flashy like fire or lightning, but it was dangerous in its subtlety.

One particular scene stood out in Adrelo’s memory. Lucien had used his power to help the female lead during a tense confrontation.

She was on the brink of being kidnapped by a villain, a scene that had left Adrelo sweating even as he read it. Lucien’s intervention was brilliant and decisive, showing his loyalty and courage.

Adrelo shuddered. There were multiple villains in the novel—each more terrifying than the last—and the original Adrelo was just one of the minor ones. The thought of crossing paths with any of them made his stomach churn.

Adrelo’s gaze flickered to Lucien again, and another realization struck him. Lucien had a younger brother, two years his junior—a freshman this year.

The boy, a beautiful and delicate figure, was renowned for his angelic singing voice that could captivate anyone who heard it.

In the novel, he was nicknamed the “Hummingbird of the Fernhart” Family for his ethereal voice, a trait that gained him immense popularity among the freshmen.

Adrelo felt a pang of pity. That boy had played a significant role in the novel, too.

The female lead, enchanted by his voice and kind nature, had formed a close friendship with him. However, things took a heartbreaking turn when the boy confessed his love for his music teacher, an older yet charming man.

The female lead, who had developed feelings for him, had been devastated. That was her first heartbreak—a pivotal moment in her journey. Adrelo could still picture the scene vividly: the female lead crying quietly on a balcony before one of the male leads stumbled upon her. It had marked the beginning of another tangled romance arc in the story.

“Adrelo,” Lucien’s voice cut through his thoughts, snapping him back to reality.

“W-what?” Adrelo stammered, blinking rapidly as he tried to focus on the present.

Lucien tilted his head, his expression neutral but his gaze sharp. “You spaced out,” he said, his lips curving into a faint smile.

“What were you thinking about?”

“N-nothing!” Adrelo blurted, quickly averting his eyes.

Lucien’s smile deepened, though his eyes remained unreadable.

“Really? You looked like you were lost in some very serious thoughts.”

Adrelo coughed awkwardly, fumbling for an excuse.

“I was just… thinking about the math exam. That’s all.”

Lucien chuckled softly, the sound almost melodic. “Hmm. If you say so.”

Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away, leaving Adrelo standing there, flustered and uneasy.

As he walked to his next class, Adrelo couldn’t stop replaying the conversation in his head.

Why does he have to notice me? he thought bitterly. And why do I have to remember all these novel details now of all times?

Lucien Fernhart was dangerous, not in the obvious way, like the villains, but in how effortlessly he could read people and command attention. And if Lucien’s brother was already gaining fame among the freshmen, it was only a matter of time before the female lead entered the picture and things spiraled further.