Pitter. Patter.
The sound of rain falling.
Karina hadn’t been feeling well for days. Her fever remained high, her head throbbed with constant headaches, and she had no appetite.
“Ah…. I’m dying.”
Roselyn had been stopping by to check on her and help, but it had been two days since her last visit. She seemed busy.
To— Tok.
A sudden knock on the door snapped her out of her daze. Too weak to get up, she slumped further into the couch.
Moments later, a familiar voice came from behind the door.
“Karina, it’s me.”
“….!”
She froze, instantly recognizing the voice. Summoning her remaining strength, Karina shot up and stumbled to the door. She opened it hesitantly.
“Professor…?”
Standing there was Professor Vanitas. Despite the pouring rain outside, he was completely dry.
“I heard from Roselyn,” he said.
“You…. didn’t have to come here,” she replied, her voice hoarse.
“Take this.”
He handed her a bag filled with medicine for her fever and reheatable food.
“Ah….”
“For following my instructions,” he added. “Now, may I come in? The rain isn’t letting up.”
“I haven’t cleaned…. My place is a mess.”
“Why do you think I’m here?”
“Ah.”
Karina hesitated. She didn’t want him to see her living conditions, but with the rain pouring outside, she felt like she had no other choice.
“Okay….” Karina stepped aside, letting him in.
Vanitas walked in and glanced around the cluttered living room. He didn’t seem bothered with the mess at all.
Instead, he set the bag of medicine and food on the nearest table.
“You really didn’t have to come,” Karina said, closing the door behind him.
“Do you always talk this much when you’re sick?”
“….No.”
“Good. Then sit down and rest.” He turned and surveyed the room. “I’ll handle this.”
“Wait, Professor, you don’t need to—”
“Do you want to get better or not?”
“….”
Karina sighed and sank back onto the couch, too tired to argue. She watched as he started tidying up, stacking papers and clearing stray items from the floor.
Her thoughts were hazy. Normally, she wouldn’t have let him clean, much less even let him inside.
After all, he was technically her boss.
“You’re still studying even while sick,” Vanitas said, organizing the scattered papers. “Honestly, just take a break.”
“I need to at least keep up….”
Without looking at her, Vanitas responded
“People die every day, Karina. Sometimes from things they don’t even realize are serious until it’s too late. Take every sickness seriously, no matter how small it seems. You never know.”
“….”
Karina blinked, caught off guard by his words. She remained silent, unsure of how to respond.
As Vanitas cleaned, he wiped down the cluttered surfaces and noticed a photograph propped near the mirror.
The photo showed a young Karina, holding hands with her mother, smiling brightly.
“Hm?”
It caught his attention. He knew Karina’s mother had passed away long ago, so he didn’t bring it up. But one person was noticeably absent from the picture.
He grew curious.
“Are you not close with your father?” Vanitas asked casually.
Karina looked over, realizing what he was referring to. “Ah… no, I didn’t grow up with him.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
As he continued tidying, he asked again, “How’s your father? Is he doing well these days?”
Karina hesitated for a moment before answering, “He’s stabilized, but…. he’s still in a coma.”
“I see….”
He realized he shouldn’t have asked. It wasn’t something he’d expected to hear.
Karina noticed the slight shift in his expression and flashed him a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry, Professor…. I’ve been taking care of myself for as long as I can remember…. I’m used to it.”
Vanitas didn’t respond. He simply nodded. Karina closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep shortly after.
When she woke up, the room was quiet, and the professor was gone. Her eyes landed on the table, where something unexpected caught her attention.
“Nnh?”
A bowl of soup sat neatly on the table. Beneath it, a magic circuit kept it warm, using a simple ignition formula. Beside the soup were several packets of medicine, arranged in order.
Then, there was a note.
“….”
She picked it up and scanned. The handwriting was impeccable as always.
[Karina,
∎ Take the white pill first with water. Wait thirty minutes, then take the blue capsule. Repeat every six hours.
∎ The soup is kept warm with magic. Eat it slowly. If you can’t finish it now, it will still be warm later.
∎ Rest. No studying. Focus on recovering.]
“….”
Karina’s lips curled into a soft smile. For someone as cold and distant as the professor, these small gestures of care felt unexpectedly comforting.
***
On a night where thick clouds obscured the moonlight, the relentless rain poured down.
Through the downpour, a car rolled smoothly along the road. Its headlights illuminated the path ahead, revealing an open passageway. A passageway that was supposed to be closed.
The Feramon Passage.
Owned by the Astrea family, it had been part of a business venture long abandoned.
Due to its discreet location and favorable geography, it became a hidden route often used by the Gambino Family, leading to an arrangement between them and the Astreas.
“How long until we arrive?”
“There’s still a six-hour journey ahead, Miss Ana,” the driver replied.
Anastasia Gambino, the daughter of Vincenzo Gambino, and heir to the Gambino Crime Family.
Having completed her extra studies in The Sanctis Theocracy, she was now returning to Aetherion to begin her third year at the Silver University Tower.
“Is that so?” Anastasia leaned back in her seat. “Wake me when we’re there.”
“Yes, Miss Ana.”
Anastasia closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep soon after.
A while later, she woke to find the car had stopped. The rain was still pouring heavily.
“What’s going on?” Anastasia asked, sitting up.
“There’s something blocking the road up ahead,” said the man in the front passenger seat. “Stay in the car, Miss Ana. I’ll check it out.”
He stepped out, and moments later….
Bang! Bang——!
Gunshots echoed through the rain, and the man collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
“….!”
Before anyone in the car could react, several figures emerged.
The driver and remaining security personnel quickly stepped out in high alert.
“Miss Ana, stay inside!”
Anastasia sighed, leaning back in her seat, unimpressed. “This again.”
Every time she returned home, something like this happened. Even when using the supposedly discreet passageway, they had been ambushed the moment they exited it.
Honestly, it was exhausting. Sometimes, she thought it would’ve been better to stay in Theocracy.
Anastasia squinted her eyes through the rain pouring down the front window, trying to get a better look at the attackers.
“Hm?”
A group of armed men with a variety of weapons. Meanwhile, her own guards had little more than a few magic rifles.
“They’re going to die.”
Exhaustion washed over her. Another pointless encounter. Another set of meaningless deaths.
Anastasia leaned back and waited, but something felt off. A familiar scent reached her nose, and her eyes narrowed.
“An ignition formula.”
Her stigmata, 「Immortal Flame」, reacted subtly, confirming her suspicion. This was the advantage of having one’s stigmata hidden.
A hidden trump card.
“Sigh.”
With a sigh, she stepped out of the car, rain pouring down her coat.
“Miss, return to the car!” one of her guards shouted.
“Shut it,” Anastasia coldly said.
She walked forward and swept her gaze over her guards and the armed attackers alike. Her expression darkened as realization hit her.
“Traitors.”
The men exchanged glances, feigning ignorance.
“Miss?” one of the guards asked nervously.
“How much?” Anastasia asked. “How much did they pay you? Or have you been working with them all along?”
“Miss, I don’t know what you’re—”
“That,” she interrupted, pointing to the car behind her.
Mana faintly from her hand.
The guards and attackers turned to look at the car in confusion.
It was then.
Boom———!
The car exploded into a bright thunderous blaze. The shockwave sent the men stumbling backward.
“Care to explain that?” Anastasia asked. “Moreover, it’s been…. what? Minutes? None of you even bothered killing each other?”
“….”
***
The next day.
“That concludes our weekly club report.”
Astrid, Charlotte, Ezra, Cassandra, Sophia, and the rest of the club members stood in silence, waiting for Professor Vanitas’s evaluation.
Vanitas sat with his legs crossed, casually flipping through the documents they had presented as he finalized his thoughts.
After a moment, he set them down and looked at them.
“It’s progress,” he began. “But you’ve backtracked compared to last week. Your thesis lacks sustainability now.”
“Ah….” Astrid muttered as she fidgeted nervously.
The others exchanged uneasy glances, unsure how to respond.
“Page twenty,” Vanitas said, picking up the papers again. “It contradicts your argument on page six. How do you plan to justify that?”
“Uh….” Cassandra hesitated. “We thought—”
“You thought wrong,” Vanitas interrupted. “It’s sloppy. Your data doesn’t support the conclusions you’re drawing. Fix it.”
The group flinched under his criticism. However, Astrid nodded in understanding. To her, it was valid criticism, and she was already thinking of ways to improve.
But then, a sneer broke the silence.
“We’ve worked hard on this,” said one of the newer members, a young man Astrid had recruited.
He wasn’t one of Vanitas’s students, and neither were the other five members. To them, Vanitas was an unfamiliar professor. All they knew were the rumors about him from the past.
“How can you just tear it apart like that? Do you even know what you’re talking about, Professor?”
“….”
The room fell silent. Everyone froze, staring at him in disbelief.
Vanitas looked at him with a blank expression.
‘This again, huh?’
It wasn’t the first time his work or words had been dismissed. Several other professors had done the same—trying to undermine him because of his past.
Another member hesitated before chiming in.
“Astrid…. I’ve had my doubts. You didn’t tell us Professor Vanitas would be our moderator.”
Someone else added, barely audible. “I heard somewhere he’s unqualified….”
Charlotte, standing near the back, remained silent. Her eyes flicked to Vanitas, but she didn’t speak.
“Are you questioning my decision, Arnold? Jasmine? The rest of you?” Astrid asked, looking at the other members.
“We’re not doubting you, Astrid, but you can’t expect us to take criticism from someone with a…. reputation like his.”
Arnold gestured toward Vanitas.
“How do we even know he’s qualified?”
“Reputation?” Astrid repeated, raising her voice. “Do you mean baseless rumors? Are you really judging a professor without firsthand knowledge?”
Jasmine chimed in hesitantly, “But, Astrid… you didn’t tell us he’d be our moderator. You just sprung it on us.”
“Because it shouldn’t matter!” Astrid snapped. “If you can’t handle constructive criticism, how do you expect to improve?”
Arnold sneered. “Constructive? He dismissed weeks of work in seconds. That’s not constructive. That’s plain disrespectful.”
Cassandra stepped forward. “It is constructive. Professor Vanitas has been in this University Tower long enough to know what works and what doesn’t. His criticisms might sting, but they’re always valid.”
“Easy for you to say,” Arnold shot back. “You’re his student. Of course, you’d defend him.”
“It’s not about favoritism,” Cassandra argued. “If you’d actually listen to what he’s saying, you’d realize he’s pointing out real flaws we need to fix.”
“Right, right.” Ezra nodded in agreement.
Jasmine shifted uncomfortably. “I just…. I don’t know. Maybe we could’ve had someone else moderate. Someone with a cleaner record.”
“That’s enough,” Astrid said. She turned to Jasmine. “You joined this club knowing the work would be hard. Did you think I’d let you coast through without real guidance?”
“….”
Jasmine flinched but didn’t respond.
“Professor Vanitas,” Arnold said. “Do you even know what you’re talking about? Or are you just here to tear us down?”
Vanitas finally looked up.
“If you doubt me, that’s fine,” he said. “But don’t let your personal opinions cloud your judgment. If you don’t want my input, say so now, and I’ll leave.”
He let out a soft sigh and stood, brushing off his coat.
“Discuss amongst yourselves first,” he continued. “I have no intention of wasting my time on students who don’t respect their professor.”
Without waiting for a response, Vanitas turned and walked toward the door. Just as his hand reached the doorknob, he paused.
“…?”
He felt a gentle tug on the back of his coat.
Turning around, he found Astrid gripping the hem of his coat with her head lowered.
“Professor, I’m sorry about this. Don’t listen to them. They don’t understand your value yet. I’ll talk to them.”
Vanitas’s eyes softened slightly. He didn’t respond immediately, and simply looked at her.
A distant memory surfaced in his mind.
Not as Vanitas Astrea.
But as Chae Eun-woo.
——Senior, who’s your favorite character? If you’re asking for mine, it’s probably Soliette Dominique. Ah, she’s so hot.
The voice of his eager junior who had just joined the company the previous year.
‘My favorite character, huh?’
Several characters stood out, but only one truly caught his attention.
‘Probably Astrid.’
——Astrid, huh? I thought you’d prefer older women.
‘She’s 28 in mine.’
——Wait, what? Damn. She managed to live that long in your playthrough? You must’ve beaten her brother, huh?
‘Yeah.’
——But why Astrid? She’s pretty, sure, but she’s got such a strong personality. Most players don’t like her.
The answer was plain and simple. He didn’t even need to rack his thoughts.
‘She reminds me of someone I knew in the past.’
Vanitas was snapped out of his thoughts by Astrid’s voice shortly after.
“Don’t leave….”
He studied her for a moment longer before pulling his coat gently from her grasp.
“I’ll leave you to it,” he said, turning the doorknob.
Without another glance, he walked out of the room. He may have been the adult, but there was no point in wasting words on people unwilling to listen.
After leaving, he stopped by a vending machine, popped open a soda, and took a sip. Moments later, he heard a hesitant voice behind him.
“Hey, uhm….”
Turning around, he saw Charlotte standing there with an uneasy look.
“What do you need?” he asked.
Charlotte hesitated before speaking. “Sorry I didn’t defend you back there….”
“It’s fine,” he said. “I understand where you’re coming from.
Considering her connection to the original Vanitas, he knew it might’ve been difficult for her to defend him, given the past.
Reaching out, he gently placed a hand on her head.
“Don’t worry about it. Come on, I’ll treat you to dinner tonight.”
“Ah?” Charlotte blinked in surprise.
“To reward you for your efforts. You’ve been working hard on the vineyard.”
After a moment of hesitation, Charlotte nodded. “…Okay.”