Morning came far too early.
Elara blinked against the sunlight streaming through the dorm window, her face half-squished against the pillow. The faint scent of Sylv's rose-scented tea filled the room, signaling the royal roommate-next-door had once again decided Elara needed proper hydration before facing the horrors of the academy.
She groaned and flopped an arm over her face.
"Up you go," Sylv chirped cheerfully from the door. "We have exactly thirty-five minutes before Runic Applications begins. And if you dare skip breakfast, I'll drag you there myself."
Elara mumbled something that might have been agreement and rolled out of bed, her hair a wild mess. Lyria, already dressed and brushing her long violet locks, gave her an amused look.
"You really do attract a lot of attention, you know," she said casually.
Elara blinked. "I just woke up."
"Exactly," Lyria said with a grin.
The First Practical
Runic Applications was taught in a stone-walled workshop that reeked of old chalk, ink, and a touch of ozone. Today's task was simple: build a water purification setup using elemental and vector runes. The instructor, a wiry older man named Professor Dermin, explained the theory in a droning monotone, pointing at a half-finished diagram on the board.
Elara almost screamed.
It was wrong. All wrong.
"The gravity vector is pointed upward," she muttered under her breath.
"Shhh," Sylv hissed, smirking. "Breathe."
Around her, classmates were diligently copying the flawed diagram. A few were already sketching their own versions of the rune circle. Elara forced herself to take a deep breath, but her hand twitched. Her skin practically itched with the desire to correct everything.
She held out for ten whole minutes.
Then someone added a purity rune upside down.
"Nope," Elara said aloud, stepping forward.
"Miss... Eril?" Professor Dermin squinted at her. "Do you have a better idea?"
Elara blinked, panicking for a moment. "I mean... just a small adjustment. The vector rune here is inverted, so unless you want the water to shoot into the ceiling..."
Snickers echoed around the room. The professor frowned but gestured for her to show her version. Elara picked up a piece of chalk and swiftly drew a corrected version. As she did, she muttered just loud enough for those near her to hear: "Add a pressure buffer here... redirect flow here... reinforce with binding."
Gasps followed. Some students nodded, impressed. A few stared, slack-jawed.
Sylv, behind her, applauded softly.
"Well done, Miss Eril," Dermin said, blinking. "Where did you learn that?"
"Books," Elara said vaguely.
From the front row, a voice snorted. "Or she's memorized someone else's work."
A tall boy with perfectly combed hair and a look that screamed "born superior" leaned back in his chair. Cerin. His uniform was pristine. His smirk wasn't.
"Oh look, it's Lord Superiority Complex," Sylv whispered.
Elara ignored him.
Mostly.
Lunch, Fanservice, and Unwanted Attention
Lunch was both a blessing and a curse. The academy cafeteria was enormous, packed with rows of long tables and bustling with students. Elara barely had time to grab a tray before a group of her newfound "admirers" swarmed.
"Elara! Sit with us!"
"I made you sweetberry bread!"
"Would you like some imported juice?"
She ended up sandwiched between a noble girl offering delicacies from her estate and a boy reciting a poem titled Your Radiant Mind. Lyria nearly choked from laughter two seats down, and Sylv watched the scene unfold with a hand on her cheek like she was viewing an opera.
"You really have no idea what kind of effect you have on people, do you?" Sylv said as they escaped outside after lunch.
"I'm just trying to be polite," Elara groaned. "And not go mad."
"Well, it's polite in a dangerously enchanting way," Lyria said, poking her playfully.
Afternoon Class – Mechanical Theory
Lyria parted ways after lunch, heading to her own electives. Elara and Sylv entered Mechanical Theory to find diagrams of mana-powered devices projected via runes on the wall. The instructor, Professor Tallwick, wore goggles on his forehead and spoke with the kind of confidence only someone completely wrong could.
"This artifact—believed to originate from a forgotten civilization—uses an inefficient triple-core rotation method. Clearly the inventor didn't understand pressure harmonics."
Elara stared.
That was my first attempt at a pressure harmonics core, she thought.
It got worse.
Slide after slide showed inventions she'd created: misinterpreted, misused, or plainly misunderstood. No one knew they were hers, save Sylv.
Elara's jaw tightened. Her hands curled into fists.
Then, Tallwick said, "The so-called resonance regulator is purely ornamental."
Okay, now it's personal.
She raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss... Eril?"
Sylv snickered quietly behind her, whispering just loud enough for Elara to hear, "He still thinks that's your name. Adorable."
"I think the resonance regulator functions as a balancing node. If you calculate the mana flow distribution, its placement would stabilize the outer runes. Without it, you'd get oscillation that destabilizes the whole matrix."
Tallwick blinked. "I... suppose that's one interpretation."
The class murmured.
Cerin's voice piped up. "That sounds awfully detailed. Almost like she made it herself."
Elara forced a smile. "Or I just actually studied."
Half the room clapped.
After Class: Decompression and Speculation
As the day ended, Elara found herself walking alongside Sylv down the Academy's garden path. The orange glow of sunset cast warm hues across the stone walkways. Students still lingered, some chatting, others heading back to dorms.
"So," Sylv began, "our dear Cerin seems a bit obsessed."
Elara groaned. "He thinks I'm cheating. Or lying. Or both."
"He's probably just another admirer," Lyria chimed in, appearing behind them with a lollipop.
Elara stared at her. "What?"
"You know," Lyria said, waving the candy like a wand. "Super mean guys? Always the first to fall for the girl they secretly admire."
"That's ridiculous," Elara said quickly, face heating up.
Sylv tilted her head. "Mmm... I'm not saying she's right. But I'm not saying she's wrong either."
Elara buried her face in her hands. "Why is everything complicated?"
"Because you're too nice and too pretty for your own good," Lyria said with a wink.
"And brilliant," Sylv added.
"Stop," Elara groaned. "I'm a socially anxious gremlin in a girl suit."
The two girls laughed. Loudly.
Evening Calm
Back in her room, Elara finally collapsed onto her bed, still fully dressed. Her mind swam with mana diagrams, classroom whispers, and the constant mental gymnastics of hiding her identity while trying not to snap.
She rolled over and stared at the ceiling.
"Second day of class... survived."
A pause.
"Barely."
And somewhere, in a quiet room not far from hers, Cerin sat alone, replaying Elara's answers in his mind. Scribbling notes. Drawing conclusions.