Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Yes. The House of Seymour once discussed marriage with the House of Montes. Thinking about it, he realized the two of them had nearly been engaged, and everyone knew that Lady Deborah had set her sights on Pilav a very long time ago.

He’d already known all this from hearing rumors, but thinking on it now he found his mood souring. While Isidor was overcome with a complicated emotion that he couldn’t quite describe, noisy chatter could be heard from the opposite end of the corridor.

Three beautifully dressed ladies were approaching him.

“Oh my, Lord Isidor!” A lady with her hair neatly arranged into a bun greeted him loudly as if she’d come across him by coincidence. Another fluttered her fan softly, averting her gaze shyly. They moved smoothly in sync, surrounding Isidor.

“How can I help you?” he asked with his usual kind smile.

“We’re been wondering if your club will be accepting any new members this year.”

“I think it will be difficult for Epsilon to expand this year,” Isidor answered in the negative politely, taking a step back. Lady Siron had just tried to press her body against his arm. Her perfume was so strong it made him feel sick. She’s being so obvious about it. How unsightly.

Lady Siron ignored the glares being sent at her by the other ladies and continued her side of the conversation enthusiastically. “I’m so disappointed. I’ve been looking forward to joining your club, and I’ve already refused invitations from three others.”

Isidor waved his index finger subtly, having no desire to waste his breath answering her.

“Oh my!” Lady Siron’s hair net suddenly came loose, sending her neat bun into a messy disarray. She blushed with embarrassment, not wanting Isidor, of all people, to see her in such a disheveled state.

Isidor eyed Miguel, who bit back a sigh, but retrieved the object from the floor. “Lady Siron, you dropped your hairnet.”

“I know that.” She snatched it from Miguel coldly and hurried away.

“She’s your friend, right? Shouldn’t you go with her?” Isidor asked. The two other ladies followed reluctantly. They weren’t actually very close friends with Lady Siron but had a feeling they should go regardless.

“My lord. You can’t abuse your magic like that,” Miguel grumbled as soon as they were gone.

Isidor often sent handkerchiefs flying, tugged hair pins loose, or snipped necklaces with his magic when he wanted to escape from the noble ladies crowding him. He was one of the greatest swordsmen in the empire, so nobody ever suspected that he had magical tricks hidden away up his sleeve.

“I’ve got plenty of talent. So what if I abuse it a little?”

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to hear you say that.”

“Come to think of it, I have everything I could possibly need. Why should I rely on my looks alone? Wouldn’t you agree?” Isidor asked.

“You only failed once. Don’t you think you’re changing strategies too quickly?”

“What do you mean, failed? I haven’t even gotten started showing her my charm yet.”

Miguel fell silent.

“The more backup plans I have, the better, right?” Isidor mumbled seriously, rubbing his shapely chin in thought. The bored expression he usually wore had vanished some time ago.

* * *

“Social clubs...”

Walking through the academy grounds, I groaned when I saw the posters promoting all the various social clubs.

Another obstacle. The reason I was concerned was simple—these clubs weren’t like clubs in college, where one could simply choose the ones they liked best. The very reason Pangea Academy existed was to facilitate making alliances and it was with this in mind that these clubs had come into being.

Once a young noble or noblewoman drew near their debut and started showing promise in the various fields of study, the social clubs would search them out. It’s almost mandatory to join one. The clubs were such a long-standing tradition that anyone who didn’t join one was regarded as eccentric, resulting in considerable disadvantages in high society after graduation. If someone has no group supporting them, they naturally get left out.

In fact, Duke Seymour had already informed Deborah that she needed to join a club. The club one belonged to greatly affected one’s standing in high society after the Academy, so joining a prestigious club was very important to every noble in attendance.

It was the members of each club that determined the club’s level of prestige, and nobles utilized all the connections available to them to get into a club operated by an imperial family member or a high-ranking member of the aristocracy.

In the novel, Deborah joined a club called Omicron, which had a long history and had been around ever since the Academy was founded. Mia would be joining too soon enough. It was a hotbed for all sorts of drama.

The club was divided into a fraternity for the boys and a sorority for female members. Within Omicron’s sorority, Deborah had bullied the female protagonist with a passion—before her misdeeds eventually caught up to her.

I’ll avoid that club. I decided swiftly. Omicron was a no-go for me if only to avoid getting involved with the female protagonist. But are there any other clubs I can join? Omicron was easy for Deborah to join because one’s house and bloodline were very important prerequisites for membership. Epsilon, Tau, and Stigma, on the other hand, which were equal in prestige to Omicron, took a person’s abilities, character, and reputation into account as well

Deborah falls flat in all three of those categories. I don’t think she’ll be able to get into any of them. Besides these four clubs, which were the most distinguished the Academy had to offer, there were a few other clubs that were not as important and were easy to get into. I was a direct descendant of the Seymour family, however, and it wouldn’t look good if I were to join a club operated by someone from a low-ranking house.

If I joined an inferior one, Duke Seymour would curse at me and accuse me of bringing shame to the family name. But that wasn’t all I had to worry about. Belonging to a menial club meant that I could be looked down on by other nobles in high society.

I’m fine with people being scared of me, but I don’t want to be snubbed. The weaker my standing grew in high society, the more persuasive Veleque’s plan to send me away to the western border would become.

Ugh. My head hurts. Thinking about all the book’s weird details gave me a headache, and I massaged my temples. I wasn’t sure any club other than Omicron would accept me, and my current situation was complicated even without that particular concern. I don’t know how to use mana. And yet my major is magic?

The very idea made me laugh. Deborah, perhaps because she was a Seymour, had an unusual degree of fascination and admiration for magic. It had been for this reason she’d insisted on studying magic at the Academy.

The rules were clear—anyone incapable of using mana could not apply for magic-related classes, but Deborah’s father was the master of the Magic Tower. And if that wasn’t already enough, Duke Seymour’s twin brother, Marquess Vert, was the president of the Academy. Thus Deborah was allowed easy entry into the major despite her fatal shortcomings.

Now if that isn’t unethical, I don’t know what is… This absurd favor had given rise to a lot of complaints from those within the Academy, and some people were often visibly displeased whenever they saw Deborah around campus.

“I’m different from you baseborn idiots,” Deborah would snap angrily whenever she felt that she was being snubbed, throwing expensive mana stones around like they were chunks of gravel. That wasn’t even the worst of it. She was sometimes known to even hit mages from lower-ranking noble families.

There was no corner of the Academy that Deborah’s infamy hadn’t reached, but the students majoring in magic probably hated her the most. I don’t want to go. My steps grew heavier as I approached the research institute. I had slowed to a glacial pace when I spotted a man surrounded by people in front of the fountain, near the clock tower.

Isi... Something, I think his name was. He was so impressively gorgeous and was tall to boot, making him easy to spot from afar. Swimming among the crocodiles, are we?

The man showed absolutely no consideration for the people around him in that he made everyone else look like hideous scaled water lizards in comparison. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought this way, since the ladies walking past all stared at him as if he were made of gold.

“So that’s Lord Isidor.”

Ah, yes. Isidor, that’s it.

“He’s even more handsome than the rumors suggested.”

“Gosh, is that a halo glowing above his head?”

People all around me were singing his praises. I agreed with them wholeheartedly, of course. You get ten out of ten points for style today. I was pretty sure he would look good in anything, but the uniform on him was a work of art.

The first time I’d seen him, he’d been wearing a white shirt that made him look very neat. But today he wore a black frock coat that emphasized his broad shoulders and slim waist—the final look was very sexy. His hair, styled up with pomade, complimented his graceful forehead and features. Coupled with the uniform, it showed off his many charms in all their glory.

I’d applaud if no one was around. I found the novel’s settings to be terrible most of the time, but at the very least, the characters were a feast for the eyes. Throwing a mental thumbs-up in his direction, Isidor’s eyes locked with mine. I promptly bit my tongue.

He didn’t notice me salivating over him, did he? I chided myself for being so vulnerable to handsome faces, but the ladies standing near me began thumping each other on the arm and making a huge fuss.

“My god. He just looked at me, didn’t he?”

“No, he smiled at me.”

So he hadn’t been looking at me after all. For a second there, I’d thought he was. Feeling relieved, I was starting to calm down when Isidor unmistakably said my name.

“Lady Deborah!”

Everyone standing around him turned to look at me in confusion, but I was just as perplexed as they were. Why does he keep talking to me?