Chapter 25: The Rumors That Refuse to Die.

Amelia was worried about Sarju’s poor condition, but since he insisted on going to the academy with her, she decided to proceed as planned.

Once they arrived, Julius would be there. She could leave it to him.

Upon reaching the academy, she parted ways with Sarju. Instead of heading to the classroom, she went straight to the staff room.

Julius had apparently explained everything in advance: she was exempt from attending regular classes for the time being and could use the self-study room freely.

It seemed Amelia was the only first-year taking the exam.

Encouraged with a “Do your best,” she nodded firmly.

She headed directly to the self-study room and concentrated on studying until it was time.

The practice problems Marie had taught her for the exam turned out to be surprisingly easy to solve, which left her a little bewildered.

The content she had studied under tutors and through self-study before entering the academy had apparently been far more advanced than she realized.

Even so, she was still nowhere near Sarju’s level.

Her ultimate goal wasn’t merely passing into the Special Class A—it was to catch up to Sarju.

She needed to broaden and deepen her knowledge even further.

Since afternoon classes seemed to have ended, she decided to borrow specialized books rather than reference materials and headed to the library.

When she left the self-study room, someone emerged from the adjacent room as well.

It was an upperclassman she didn’t recognize, but the other person gave a light bow, so Amelia returned it.

This might have been the first time she exchanged greetings with a regular student since enrolling.

For a fleeting moment, she dared to hope that perhaps she could reclaim some semblance of normal daily life.

But then she felt an unfriendly gaze on her back and stopped walking.

Turning around, she had a bad premonition that this would become troublesome.

She considered simply walking away, but the other person called out first.

“Um…”

Called to a halt, Amelia slowly turned.

The one who had spoken—clenching both hands tightly and looking desperate—was a strikingly lovely young lady.

Glossy chestnut hair falling to her shoulders, emerald-green eyes.

Amelia recognized her.

This was the girl who had been with Lease when they encountered him at the library.

If memory served, her name was Seira, from the Viscount Caria family.

Classes had only just ended; plenty of students were still milling about.

Amelia hadn’t expected her to call out in such a public place.

“Yes? Is there something I can help you with?”

When Amelia answered with visible confusion, Seira spoke as though steeling herself.

“…Please let Lease go.”

Her opening words were direct to the point of bluntness.

“Let him go?”

Amelia tilted her head, puzzled.

“I understand you can’t forgive us. We’re prepared to make any amends necessary. So please… stop tormenting Lease any further…”

Her eyes were filled with desperation; her voice trembled with forced courage.

Could it be that she wasn’t Lease’s accomplice after all—perhaps she genuinely believed the lies Lease had spread, just like everyone else?

Even Amelia entertained the possibility for a moment.

But no—she had appeared alongside Lease twice now. There was no way she was completely ignorant.

Perhaps after learning that Sarju and Julius had taken Amelia’s side over the Emira incident, she realized their position had become disadvantageous.

“Who might you be?”

“…”

Amelia had only heard her name from others; the girl had never introduced herself directly.

When she asked, Seira’s face crumpled as though she were about to cry.

It almost looked as if Amelia were the one bullying her.

“…I’m sorry.”

Before Seira could burst into tears, Amelia apologized first.

“I truly don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you to tell me.”

But Seira completely rejected Amelia’s words.

“That can’t be true. Lease said he sent you a letter of apology. He told me he properly explained everything about us and that he would keep apologizing until you forgave him.”

The surrounding students began to murmur.

If she didn’t deny it here, everything would slide backward.

Raising her voice, Amelia declared,

“The only thing I’ve heard are certain rumors circulating in the academy. Lease himself has told me absolutely nothing.”

“Liar. Then why did you run away from him? He was troubled because you wouldn’t even talk things out.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

She tried to stay calm, yet her voice trembled.

Everything that had happened since enrollment flashed through her mind one by one; tears threatened to spill.

“Why would I want to meet—let alone talk things out—with someone who spread those horrible rumors about me while I was away? I don’t need Lease anymore. I want to break off the engagement too.”

But the engagement between Amelia and Lease had been arranged between their houses.

It couldn’t be dissolved simply because Amelia disliked it, or because Lease had fallen for someone else.

“Amelia.”

As though he had been waiting for the perfect moment, Lease rushed over and positioned himself protectively in front of Seira.

“Please stop this. It’s my fault that I couldn’t love you. But Seira is innocent.”

“…Lease, I’m sorry. This is all because of me.”

Right in front of Amelia, Lease and Seira gently drew close to each other.

They must have rehearsed this in advance.

“What are you talking about? I don’t need Lease’s love.”

“But you do need earth magic, don’t you? That’s why Count Renis paid an enormous sum to the Marquis Therma house to ‘buy’ me.”

“How awful. Tying Lease down with money like that.”

Seira clung tightly to Lease, directing accusatory eyes at Amelia.

It was a well-known story: the Renis Count family had once produced outstanding earth magic users, but that talent was lost due to the previous head’s marriage choice.

Someone muttered that the Renis house had used money to tear apart a loving couple, and the murmur quickly spread through the crowd.

Unable to respond, Amelia bit her lip.

It was true that her father was fixated on earth magic.

It was also true that he had paid a vast sum to the Marquis Therma house for this engagement.

But such arrangements were commonplace in noble society.

In fact, it had been the other side that leveraged the engagement to request financial support.

Faced with Amelia’s silence, Seira smiled triumphantly.

At that exact moment—

“…What are you going to do? If this keeps up, all the rumors we carefully spread will go to waste.”

The voice reached Amelia’s ears, and she involuntarily looked up.

But the Seira right in front of her looked equally bewildered, glancing around in confusion.

A short distance away stood another Seira.

This one was sitting on Lease’s lap, rubbing herself sweetly against his chest.

At the sight of the pair, gasps of shock rose from the surrounding students.

(This is…)

Amelia thought it might be Julius’s reproduction magic.

But this wasn’t a mere projection—it was so vivid she had mistaken it for a second real Seira.

“Before that girl enrolled, we did a thorough job spreading rumors to isolate her completely. So why are those two taking her side?”

The other Seira spoke with pure venom; nothing remained of the delicate, lovely maiden’s image.

“As long as I can live with Lease, I don’t care if it’s not an official marriage. In fact, I’ll be his de facto wife, and that girl can just handle all the tedious territory business. The Renis Count family seems pretty wealthy anyway.”

As she laughed, the real Seira’s face drained of color.

“N-no… I never said anything like that…”

While the illusory Lease kissed her, he added,

“You’re right. They’re desperate to acquire earth magic no matter what, so we just need to corner Amelia even more until she’s begging us.”