I Choose The Heroine’s Route - Chapter 40

When I was heading towards 1-A classroom after eating from the cafeteria, I bumped into Percival – not literally, at least. When he saw me, he immediately showed an ‘almost’ flawless smile. He smiled too fast that I almost thought it’s already his automatic reaction when seeing someone. I nodded in return, and when I tried to walk past him with a quick pace, Percival keep up with me and I chose to slow down.

I guess it’s fair to walk together considering that we’re classmates and groupmates…

“Are you excited for today’s class?” He suddenly asked, and thinking about today’s Elemental Magic lesson, I nodded.

“I guess I am.” I simply said.

“I’ve actually heard some talks about it but…” As if hesitating, Percival’s voice faltered, “Does lady Aksia really have Dark Magic?” If I’m like any other person, perhaps I would also be fooled into thinking that he’s simply asking out of pure curiosity without having any other intentions. With the way he said that, it also seems like he’s just some innocent and ignorant man.

But being a liar myself have its benefits, and I’m sure au clearly heard the fact that the hesitance in Percival’s voice earlier is fake.

This person… seems to be both unconsciously and intentionally provoking people since earlier. I’m not uninformed of the fact that there’s a lot of rumors circulating in the Kingdom regarding me – one of them being what my Elemental Magic is. I’ve also already known about these rumors in advance since in the game, this is also the case.

Aksia Euridice in the game is an existence that somehow has a 50/50 reputation. 50% good, and 50% bad. A few of the nobles who know the truth of her situation in the Euridice Dukedom of course belongs to the latter, including those who hate or dislike her because of envy, unreasonable hate, Dark Magic, and more.

The other 50% then admire her for being the eldest daughter of the Euridice Duchy, admiring her wealth and power while being unaware of what’s actually happening behind that fake image, facade, and game of pretend.

When the rumors about Aksia’s Elemental Magic start spreading, it caused quite an uproar for a while, the story of the former Duke of Euridice with Dark Magic also become quite the talk of people again.

In general, Dark Magic is seen as a curse. Basically, it’s not that fully accepted in society. Although some people really recognize and admit that it is powerful, that also only gives the majority more reason to be afraid of it.

So Percival mentioning it like this so casually… means that he’s testing or provoking me.

Looking at Percival’s innocent-looking face, my expression remained cold, “You’ll eventually know later.” I calmly said.

Seeing the door classroom 1-A ahead, I quicken my pace, walking past Percival, straight inside the classroom then into my seat beside Anastasia that’s already there, sitting in silence as she read a book as usual. Deor and Franco are also already seated, but there was no problem in getting into my seat since there’s enough space.

When I was about to take a sit on the empty space, Anastasia unexpectedly looked up, meeting my eyes before nodding.

I manage to return a stiff nod before sitting down. Then, when I felt someone sat next to me, I turned my head to look.

“Good day, lady Aksia.” Anakin gave me a toothy grin. I blinked before nodding and facing in front again. I guess… he’s okay now. Seeing as how he’s acting like nothing happened earlier. Well, it’s not that unexpected to see him back considering that this Elemental Magic class is one of the important parts of A Magical Romance chapter 3.

Although the school already knows each of the student’s Elemental Magic in advance, the other students don’t, aside from popular or known nobles or royals. So when everyone saw Anastasia’s Light Magic, they were more than amazed.

– Just as I was thinking about this, a male teacher arrived, holding a measuring device, a transparent ball that’s only as big as a basketball.

“Good morning everyone! Is everyone excited for today’s Elemental Magic lesson?!” The teacher cheerfully ask before putting down the measuring device on the table, “I know all of you have already used this measuring device in advance, but I brought it with me just in case,” he paused, looking around with a smile.

“Measuring device is used to identify a person’s Elemental Magic… when you think about it, I guess the name ‘measuring’ device is inaccurate since it doesn’t really measure something. Moreover, we can’t really measure Mana or Magic, we can only do or compare this through each person with a battle or an activity. A person should also be able to feel the amount of Mana they have, and feel when they’re about to run low of it as well.” He continued.

“A Mage can not run ‘out’ of Mana, because once they do, they will be in danger. Mana is part of a Mage life source, if they run out of it, it will affect their health. This is the very reason why overusing and using Magic without much actual knowledge or experience about it have its setbacks.”

What the teacher is saying now should be one of the basic or fundamental knowledge of Mana – it’s important to know about it. Anastasia, Deor, Percival, and the others should already know it as well.

And of course, with Aksia’s memory, I also know it.

“Following this rule… a Mage can also live far longer than ordinary humans because of Mana. Depending on the way they use Mana, and the amount of it that they have, they can live up to 110 plus years while an ordinary human can live an average life span of 80 to 100 years old at most.” When it comes to the life span of humans without Magic here, it’s almost the same as my world before.

The only difference is that people here are more active and give more care about their health and lifestyle.

“I said all of this just to give everyone a brief overview, some of you might already know while some might not… but for now, we’ll proceed with Elemental Magic.” The male teacher then walked up the stairs placed in between the seats where we’re sitting.

– and I watch him stop in the middle part, looking around as I already expected. It didn’t surprise me anymore when he looked in our direction.

“Miss Clovis, may you join me in front?” Anastasia stood up without saying anything, following the male teacher to the front.

“Aside from the Basic and Advance Magic that there is, Elemental Magic is like… a new set of skills that’s only exclusive to the person who has them, and the skills a Mage with an Elemental Magic can also be divided into the level of basic and advance.” the teacher grabbed the measuring device, bringing it in front of Anastasia, “Although I already know what your Elemental Magic is, will you allow us to demonstrate it in front of your classmates?”

One of the things I don’t like in Royal Academy is that… you can not hide what your Elemental Magic is.

There are ways to really hide, ways that only a few probably know and are illegal. It also has some serious consequences, but that aside, if you’re going to learn it, then you’ll have no choice but to reveal it in front it everyone. I guess hiding it is really hard especially when you’re a noble.

Anastasia nodded, and I watched her raise her left hand until it makes contact with the measuring device.

– And a blinding light bursts from the transparent ball, seemingly swallowing the whole classroom.

Some exclaimed, a few gasp, and having been prepared for this already, I had my eyes closed the very moment Anastasia touched the measuring device. Time seems to pass slowly, until after a few seconds, the blinding light started weakening until it finally stopped being blinding and what remained is the ball of light inside the measuring device.

“Without a doubt, that’s… Light Magic?”

“It really is Light Magic!”

Just like in the game, there was an uproar. The students started chattering and whispering amongst each other, all astonished, shocked, and amazed which was made quite obviously based on all of their expressions and actions.

“That girl really has Light Magic?” I heard Percival who’s sitting in front of us speak, seemingly stunned.

Not minding all their reactions, I looked in front, closely observing Anastasia’s expression… which remained as cold as usual.

“As most of you might have already known, Light Magic is one of the rarest and powerful Elemental Magic there is, one that is said to be theoretically connected to the God of Creation themselves.” The teacher said with a smile before putting down the measuring device on the table with the ball of Light still inside.

“Thank you for the wonderful demonstration, Miss Clovis, you may sit back down.” Without any changes in her expression, Anastasia walks back to her seat, sitting beside me once again. Although I already know what would happen next, I couldn’t help but still feel nervous. Just then, the teacher started looking around again.

– And this time, his eyes met mine.

“How about we ask lady Euridice next to show us an Elemental Magic that she knows? May I invite you here in front?” He said, smiling. I’ve already heard this dialogue before, but I still silently cursed on my mind. With stiff movements, I stood up.

In the otome game, aside from chapter 3 focusing on Anastasia’s Light Magic, its second or sub-focus is Aksia or the villainess Dark Magic. As said before, the school already knows in advance what the students Elemental Magic are, so calling Aksia out right after Anastasia shows his Light Magic in front of everyone… only means that it’s on purpose.

Finally standing in front of everyone, I stared at the teacher standing just 3 steps away from me for a while. This teacher… called me right after Anastasia even with the knowledge that I have Dark Magic.

First, he hates me, Aksia Euridice, or second, he hates Dark Magic. Either way, I’m not the type of person who will just let go of such an obvious humiliation.

“Lady Euridice does know a basic or advance Magic regarding Elemental Magic, is that right?” The teacher asked, still smiling, and I looked away before nodding.

As for why I didn’t refuse when he called me in front… I can’t. The teacher called me knowing I wouldn’t be able to refuse since doing that would make the other students still talk about me. So instead of them making more nonsense rumors about me, it’s better to just stick with an existing one, this way, I’m still following the game’s original plot, giving me the advantage of knowing the future.

Thinking like this, I raised my right hand with my palm open, and without uttering a single word or sound, a 5ft tall black fire lit up on my palm.