Lilian paced back and forth inside her room and, feeling very anxious.
She also heard the announcement an hour ago, and she couldn’t help but feel like this was all her fault.
Last night, Ethan looked at her with a calm gaze when he bid his goodbye.
The young lady thought that the handsome young man was disappointed in her for letting her brother join them for dinner.
She was indeed quite guilty since she had other intentions for inviting her brother, wanting him to charm Luna with his looks and charisma. However, it didn’t work, and things turned ugly, which resulted in her brother challenging Ethan to a duel.
But Ethan rejected the duel and left her brother fuming in anger.
Because of this, Cedric talked to the Headmaster and used the incident to pressure not only Ethan but all the other academies who were causing havoc in Nightfall Academy.
Nero thought that this was a good move to put an end to all the headaches he had been facing the past few days.
However, there was a condition for him to agree to Cedric’s proposal. Regardless of the outcome of the duel, the members of Brynhildr Academy would still enter the Legacy Gate.
Cedric agreed to this condition since the grudge was between Ethan and him.
Also, he didn’t want to have a complete falling out with Luna by involving the members of her academy in their conflict.
“This is not good,” Lilian thought. “I must go and explain that this wasn’t my idea.”
Lilian knew that she could not convince her brother to cancel the duel because Cedric would lose face if she did.
Because of this, she decided to personally apologize to Ethan and Luna for the problem that she had caused them.
At the end of the day, Ethan was still the one who saved her from the Fireball that could have given her serious injuries.
After making herself look presentable, Lilian left her villa and headed towards the temporary residence of the members of Brynhildr Academy.
There, she met Luna, but Ethan was nowhere to be seen.
Just as she expected, Luna treated her coldly, and there was even a tinge of anger in her usually gentle eyes.
Lilian could understand why the angelic beauty was now treating her as an enemy, but she still wanted to tell her that she was sorry for what had happened during their dinner.
“It was my fault,” Lilian said. “I shouldn’t have invited my brother. I am very sorry for what has happened.”
“If you want to apologize, then you should have convinced your brother to stop this duel,” Luna replied coldly.
“… I also want to do that, but I can’t.” Lilian shook her head helplessly. “The one who made the announcement is the Headmaster. It cannot be undone. He won’t agree to take it back because it will make him lose face in front of everyone.”
Luna could tell that Lilian was truly sorry for what had happened.
However, she couldn’t find it in her heart to forgive the young lady so easily. Especially since the one who challenged her boyfriend was Lilian’s older brother.
Lilian’s two subordinates were glaring at Luna and wanted to speak out. However, they held their ground.
Their Mistress had told them that they were not allowed to say anything, or else, they would be replaced as her subordinates.
“Can I at least apologize to Ethan?” Lilian asked. “I know that I am at fault, but I still want to ask for his forgiveness.”
“He’s not here,” Luna replied. “I don’t know where he is, but he is currently strolling around the academy to get some fresh air.”
“Thank you.” Lilian stood up. “I will look for him and apologize. Once again, I am very sorry for what has happened. I will do my best to compensate you for the trouble I have caused.”
Lilian then left the residence in order to look for Ethan. Truth be told, this was the first time that she had lowered herself to someone.
If her parents were to see her right now, they would be shocked. Their proud daughter actually apologized to a Baron’s daughter and was even trying her best to appease a mere Commoner.
“Mistress, I think it is best to forget them,” one of Lilian’s subordinates, who was unable to hold back her feelings, said. “You shouldn’t lower yourself to their standing. They are not worthy.”
“That’s right, Mistress,” the other subordinate commented. “Regardless of what you say, it is very obvious that they hate you right now. It will be best if you wait until that Commoner is beaten by your brother. Let him lose a bit of his arrogance so that he will be more calm when you talk to him.”
Lilian pondered for a bit but still shook her head.
For some reason, she had a feeling that Ethan wasn’t someone simple.
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As someone of her standing, she had seen many handsome and talented young men. However, there was something about Ethan that attracted her to him.
It was not only his good looks and charisma. There was something on a deeper level.
‘Did I really fall in love with him?’ Lilian asked herself. ‘No. I don’t think that this feeling is love.’
Lilian liked Ethan, and she even had a very good impression of him. But she was certain that her feelings for him weren’t that of love.
Even so, she couldn’t deny the fact that she was very attracted to him.
Suddenly, a realization came to her mind, which shocked her to her very core.
‘… Can it be?’ Lilian bit her lip. ‘Is my Origin Magic perhaps reacting to him?’
That was the only explanation that she could think of right now.
Her attraction to Ethan wasn’t a romantic one. But if her Origin Magic was reacting to him… then it could only mean one thing.
‘It is still not confirmed.’ Lilian took a few deep breaths in order to calm herself. ‘I need to conduct some experiments first.’
Lilian patted her chest as she strengthened her resolve. The next time she opened her eyes, a tinge of determination could be seen in them.
“Let’s go to the Library first,” Lilian stated. “Ethan mentioned that he liked to read books. Maybe he is there.”
The young lady didn’t even bother to wait for her subordinates’ reply and simply headed to the Library on her own.
The two young ladies glanced at each other before sighing at the same time. They then followed behind their Mistress while cursing the handsome young man, who was the source of this mess.
—————————
While Lilian was heading to the Library, her target was taking a stroll through the Garden of Nightfall Academy.
There were still a few hours before his duel with Cedric started, so he still had plenty of time to put his plan into action.
The handsome young man confidently approached a patch of flowers, where several Fairies were chatting with each other.
“Hey! You! What are you doing here?!” one of the Fairies who sensed Ethan’s presence immediately took off into the air and confronted him. “This place is off limits!”
“That’s right!” another Fairy commented. “You must be one of those troublemakers who have recently arrived in the academy. If you know what’s good for you, you’d better scram, or else!”
“Go away!”
“We don’t like you!”
“Scram!”
Nearly a dozen fairies surrounded Ethan, and all of them were glaring at him.
For the past few days, several students from the academies that had been invited to Nightfall Academy had gone to the garden and even attacked the Fairies using their paralyzing spells.
Naturally, the Fairies retaliated and sent the troublemakers to the infirmary.
Since then, no other students had dared to mess with them.
However, the trauma that the fairies experienced was still fresh in their minds, so they immediately confronted the intruder who had come into their sanctuary.
Ethan smiled and was about to take something out of his storage ring, but he stopped when he saw that the Fairies were already channeling their magic to attack him.
Seeing that one wrong move could potentially trigger them to attack him, he quickly decided to talk to them in a calm and gentle manner.
“I have candies,” Ethan said.
The Fairies’ ears all perked up after hearing his words, but they still didn’t lower their guards.
“I have chocolates,” Ethan added.
The Fairies glanced at each other. They were still doing their best to look intimidating, but the notion of sweets was making them hesitate.
“I also have macarons,” Ethan stated. “I came here to give an offering to the beautiful and powerful Fairies of Nightfall Academy. You see, I am very good friends with the Fairies in my academy, and I give them bags of candies weekly as a token of my friendship.”
“Y-You have bags of candies?” a purple-haired fairy asked.
“I do,” Ethan replied. “I’ll give each and every one of you one bag of candies as a sign of friendship.”
“Hmm… you’re not that bad for a Human,” a blonde-haired fairy stopped channeling her magic power to attack Ethan. “At least you know how to appease our kind. But one bag of candy isn’t enough.”
“Then, I will give all of you two bags of candies.” Ethan smiled.
“T-Three bags!” a red-haired Fairy raised three fingers.
Ethan nodded. “Okay.”
He then took out several bags of candies and handed them to the Fairies, who immediately snatched them away as if they were afraid that Ethan would take them back.
After eating a piece of candy, all the Fairies looked at Ethan in a new light and even started to talk to him in a casual manner.
“You’re quite handsome for a Human.”
“Your hair is long and beautiful.”
“Do you have more candies? We have plenty of sisters here in the garden.”
Ethan nodded. “I still have more candies in me, but I am here to trade them for something.”
“A trade?” the purple-haired Fairy asked. “What do you want to trade for your candies?”
The smile on Ethan’s face widened after seeing the Fairies’ curious gazes.
Since he needed to absorb magical power for the upcoming duel, Ethan decided to ask the Fairies for help.
Although he had the option to kiss Emma to absorb her Magic Power, Ethan wasn’t too comfortable doing that.
Because of this, he decided to ask the ever helpful Fairies, who would give him the power he needed.
He planned to show Cedric, as well as those who would watch his duel, a different kind of magic.
A magic that would make the Second Year Wizard understand that challenging Ethan was the worst mistake he had made in his entire life.