Chapter 63

Chapter 63. The Entrance Ceremony

After we entered through the main gate.

“Wow!”

Manuel’s mouth fell open as he looked at the broad grounds and buildings visible through the window.

‘This is no joke.’

Even to me, who had seen enormous university buildings in my previous life, this Royal Academy seemed quite astonishing.

There were beautifully arranged maze gardens, a wide training ground, facilities hidden behind walls, buildings that appeared to be five stories or higher, and even a tower of dozens of floors standing at the center.

Compared to the buildings in the capital, where structures taller than five floors were almost nonexistent, it was only natural to be even more amazed.

“I heard that magic-type ability users had put in considerable effort, but I did not know it would be to this extent.”

“I have even heard that an Archmage was invited when they built the central tower.”

At Manuel and the butler’s words, I looked toward the towering structure in the distance.

A circular high-rise tower, like the ones I had seen in my previous life, stood there under the name of a tower.

No matter how I looked at it, it was a building that rose far too high to fit this world.

An Archmage, huh....... Was that referring to one of the Heroes from the Great War?

While I was thinking of the Heroes from the age of the Great War, the carriage passed various facilities and arrived in front of a large building.

It was a massive marble structure whose exterior resembled a temple.

However, this was not a religious building, but the academy’s central auditorium, where this new-student entrance ceremony would be held.

It was used for large-scale events, and everyone who had entered the academy was now heading toward this building.

The carriage stopped, and after the butler stepped down, I was the first to get out.

The surrounding gazes gathered all at once.

“It is the ducal house of Gresia.”

“I heard their second son is enrolling this time.”

“Then is the person who just got out the second young master?”

“I do not think so. I heard the second young master was not physically awakened. That one looks like a physical ability user or a knight.”

“Then who is he?”

Even without deliberately gathering mana around my ears, I could hear the surrounding whispers clearly.

As expected of one of the kingdom’s famous ducal houses, there was no one who did not know them.

On top of that, everyone knew about Manuel’s enrollment, but no one knew that I would be enrolling.

I had heard that discrimination between legitimate and illegitimate children was worse in the capital, and the reality I felt as soon as I entered the academy naturally made a bitter smile form on my lips.

‘There is no need to attract attention from the very beginning for no reason.’

I quietly shifted my position behind the butler standing beside the carriage door.

It made me look as though I were waiting for Manuel, who would get out next. The butler looked satisfied with my appearance, and the gazes of the people left me and returned to the carriage.

Then Manuel stepped out of the carriage.

“It is Young Master Manuel!”

“He is the second young master, right?”

The people began to murmur.

He was not the heir of the ducal house, but he was still the duke’s second son, and his mother, the Duchess, was from a renowned marquess’s house. In that sense, it was only natural for people’s gazes to gather on him like this.

‘It must have been no joke when Brother Simon entered.’

If the second son drew this much attention, I could easily imagine what it must have been like when the heir of the ducal house arrived.

As Manuel stepped down from the carriage, sounds of admiration rose from among the murmuring crowd.

The sight of Manuel descending from the carriage was not much different from a prince appearing in a romance comic.

His splendid attire, restrained smile, proper movements, and every other detail made it obvious that he was a high-ranking noble, even without the background of the ducal house.

The education of a ducal house was impressive after all.

Even the pathetic Manuel could look like this. I almost wanted to applaud him loudly in my heart.

Manuel looked around, then glanced at me and slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

‘Good grief, he looks pleased.’

Even if the packaging changed, Manuel was still Manuel.

“Then let us go in.”

Once the carriage departed, Manuel composed his expression again and walked toward the auditorium.

I followed behind him, and the butler followed behind me.

The people who had been looking at Manuel seemed curious about my identity as I followed him, but at the next sound that rang out, everyone turned their heads.

Manuel and I, who had been heading toward the auditorium, did the same.

“Her Highness Princess Aisha de Carlos’s carriage! Everyone, pay respect to the authority of the royal family and bow your heads!”

For the first time in this world, I saw a scene like the traffic from my previous life splitting to the left and right before coming to a stop.

The carriages that had been following behind us split to either side of the road and hastily stopped.

Then a splendid carriage approached through the center.

A man in court attire sitting beside the coachman was shouting the same words again and again at the top of his lungs.

The people hurriedly moved aside and lowered themselves.

Commoners knelt on both knees and bowed, while the nobles stood on both sides of the road and lowered their heads.

I also lowered my head with them.

I was an illegitimate son, but since I had awakened, I did not have to prostrate myself like the commoners.

This discriminatory treatment, so different from my previous life, left me feeling deeply uneasy, but the fact that I did not have to get dirt on my knees was not bad.

However, all I felt at the moment was anxiety.

I should have left a little earlier or a little later. To run into her at exactly this moment.

As I waited with my head lowered, I heard the carriage come to a stop, followed by the sound of people getting out.

“Princess Aisha de Carlos is passing by! Everyone, show proper respect!”

That voice rang out once again.

Originally, the first king who founded the academy had issued a royal decree stating that once one enrolled in the academy, whether royal or noble, everyone was equally a student of the academy.

It was an order given for the sake of education, and to unite the kingdom as one. However, as time passed, I had heard that even within the academy, the power structure had become complicated.

Still, at least on the surface, the royal decree was generally observed. Otherwise, there was no way royals, nobles, and commoners could take the same classes together.

However, this was still before enrollment, and everyone had no choice but to bow their heads before the princess’s procession.

For that reason, I could feel people passing in front of me while I kept my head lowered.

If I scattered mana around me, I would be able to tell well enough who was passing by, but in a place swarming with royals, nobles, and knights, there was no way such an action would go unnoticed.

So I could only keep praying in my heart.

‘Pass by. Pass by. Please just pass by. Do not speak to me, do not act like you know me, and just pass by.’

However, the footsteps passing by came to a perfect stop in front of me.

‘Damn it!’

“Lord Alex?”

A young girl’s voice I had heard not long ago came from directly in front of me.

“It is you, right? Raise your head.”

I was finished. I was definitely finished. Everyone had their heads lowered, but I could clearly feel that all their gazes were directed here.

I wanted to run away immediately, but I could not dare disobey the princess’s words.

I carefully raised my head.

“Lord Alex! How fortunate. I was worried I would have to enter the entrance ceremony without anyone I knew, but let us go in together.”

The princess, still a little girl, was speaking to me with sparkling eyes.

Behind her, I could see the royal knights, as well as the royal butler and maids I had seen at the royal palace. Beside the princess, Katrine was looking at me with an apologetic expression.

And then there was the princess, looking at me with an innocent expression. However, the corners of her eyes were curved in a strangely subtle way.

It was intentional. It was definitely intentional.

She had not spoken to me because she did not know any better. She had done it on purpose.

She had seemed ambiguous even when I first met her, but this young princess was clearly a fox far beyond her age.

“Everyone, raise your heads. We will now become fellow students, so from this point on, I will not accept this kind of etiquette.”

The princess spoke loudly to everyone.

Everyone raised their heads. Then they looked at me and the princess, as if question marks were floating above all their heads.

I had been completely caught. My peaceful academy life was now over.

No, for a princess to ask someone like an illegitimate son to accompany her meant that, at this rate, I would be plunged straight into the rough currents of capital politics.

“Come along.”

At the princess’s words, I turned to the side with a troubled expression.

The corners of Manuel’s eyes were twitching, and the butler also looked awkward.

“Ah, you must be Young Master Manuel, correct? This is our first meeting.”

At the princess’s words, Manuel hurriedly offered his greeting.

It was the moment when the excellent education of the ducal house collapsed in an instant.

“Why do you not come with us as well, Young Master? I have heard a great deal from Young Master Alex.”

I had not said a single word about him.......

In any case, Manuel’s expression brightened again at the princess’s words, and our group headed toward the auditorium together with the princess’s party.

Ugh, the gazes were stinging. It felt as though I were being pierced by sharp blades.

At this rate, I was certain to become the academy’s most famous star on the day of the entrance ceremony.

‘Damn it. Suicide. That is the only option.’

I could not live my academy life like this.

I had never killed myself before, and the pain of death was dreadful, but I could not be battered by these worldly currents.

I resolved to kill myself at night after the entrance ceremony ended.

With Manuel and the princess’s conversation in the background beside me, I entered the entrance ceremony hall.

At that moment, a message appeared before my eyes.

[You have enrolled in the academy. A new ‘save point’ has been set.]

What?!

---

It was an entrance ceremony that was strangely similar to the ones I had experienced in my previous life, yet different.

A large hall that strongly resembled a temple was packed with countless people.

Lights that looked like magic lamps hung from the ceiling, illuminating the hall, while famous paintings and sculptures displayed on the walls in every direction elevated the hall’s dignity.

Several long tables stretched through the center of the hall, and new students of all kinds were seated on both sides of them.

They ranged from young girls to young men, from a princess to commoners.

At the back of the hall, the people who had come with the students, namely family members and attendants, were gathered together.

I was also seated at one of the long tables with the new students.

If I had my way, I would have sat in a corner where no one would notice me, but right now, I was seated at the table directly in front of the people who appeared to be teachers.

Naturally, that was because of the princess sitting beside me.

On top of that, it was also because of the teacher I knew, who was waving at the princess and me from the front.

The princess’s aunt, Katrine, who had been working as a mercenary until not long ago, was seated with the other teachers and waving at us.

GRIND.

The princess and her aunt were setting me up as a pair.

On top of that, even the ability that had been helping me had struck me squarely in the back of the head.

A ‘save point’ had been set simply because I had enrolled in the academy.

It was the first time a ‘save point’ had been created without my dying since Awakening Day.

Including Awakening Day, it was the second time in my life.

It seemed possible that this ability, which revived me at a ‘save point’ after death, was different from what I had thought it was.

Until just moments ago, I had only thought that it was another ability of mine similar to an ‘inherited ability,’ and that the reason a ‘save point’ had been created on Awakening Day was because my inherited ability had interfered.

However, the ‘save point’ that had just been created had been formed without any relation to an ability. Instead of an ability, it had occurred through a specific event: enrollment in the academy.

‘Does it occur through events or triggers? And death is a kind of event too?’

Nothing was certain yet, but this result, which differed from what I had previously thought, deepened my contemplation.