“Harvey.”
Just the name, without the surname.
Harvey bowed with neither humility nor arrogance, reporting his own name in a calm tone.
He had been slightly nervous earlier.
However, the way Levia had just secretly tugged on his sleeve, combined with the sudden chill that had descended upon the classroom, had washed away any lingering traces of anxiety.
With the Eldest Miss by his side, there was nothing he needed to worry about.
He only needed to do what was expected of him.
The smile on Cedric’s face did not fade, and he did not press any further.
He closed the roll book in his hand and set it aside on the podium.
“Since that is the case, let us leave this matter here for now.”
With the instructor having delivered his verdict, the gazes that had been tensely fixed on them had no choice but to retract with a hint of reluctance.
Most of the students present had yet to become Apprentice Mages, so they maintained the appropriate level of respect for a mage of a higher rank than themselves.
In the Kingdom of Rune, noble titles were not as highly sought after as a mage’s rank.
The male student who had raised the objection previously kept his head down, remaining silent, not daring to speak again.
Levia led Harvey straight to the seats by the window.
Sitting in a student’s seat and looking down, the scene before him felt somewhat different.
Beneath the high, vaulted ceiling, rows of long tables stretched out orderly, and the morning light spilled through the high arched windows, illuminating the tiny dust motes floating in the air and the blackboard behind the podium, which was covered in spell formulas.
Harvey sat down, his hands resting on the solid wood desk.
This place was not as unreachable as he had imagined in the past.
Those mages were not as mysterious or untouchable as he had once thought.
They were not much different from the servants at the Duke’s Mansion.
They would express clear dissatisfaction and rejection toward his lowly status.
Thinking of this, he felt even more relaxed.
The sounds of chair legs scraping and book pages turning drifted from all around, and the late-arriving students also settled into their seats amidst whispers.
People still cast glances this way occasionally, but in the end, they dared not be as brazen as they had been before.
Harvey scanned his surroundings, and not seeing the Princess, he let out a quiet sigh of relief in his heart.
It seems she does not attend this class.
Levia clearly noticed this as well, glancing at him from the corner of her eye with a faint, indiscernible smile on her lips.
“What are you thinking about?”
Harvey shook his head.
“Nothing.”
He paused, then added in a low voice, “I just didn’t expect that I would be able to sit here, too.”
Levia raised an eyebrow; she could naturally tell he was being insincere, but she did not call him out on it.
“Perhaps in a few days, you will find this place extremely boring.”
She said this nonchalantly, revealing her own dissatisfaction with the dullness of the lectures.
Harvey couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“Will I?”
Levia looked at him, and the faint smile on her lips faded a little.
Of course, she knew he wouldn’t.
No one understood Harvey’s obsession with magic better than she did.
It is a pity…
Levia’s expression darkened, and she did not continue the conversation.
On the podium, Cedric had already reopened his lecture notes.
“Class is starting.”
He did not speak until the entire classroom had fallen completely silent. “During yesterday’s entrance ceremony, your individual performances were uneven; it is clear that you did not put much effort into your studies over the summer vacation.”
As he said this, his gaze shifted slightly, landing in the direction where Levia was sitting.
Cedric smiled.
“Of course, there were also students who performed quite excellently, which even surprised me.”
Almost in unison, everyone looked toward that direction, only to quickly avert their eyes.
It was as if looking for even a second longer would make it appear that they cared too much.
But even though no one spoke, the subtle emotions in the air remained clearly palpable.
Envy, jealousy, resentment, and even a trace of unspoken frustration.
Nobles possessed the reserve and pride of their station; most noble children were doted upon from birth, so naturally, each of them carried a sense of arrogance.
However, when they matured slightly, they were often hit hard by reality.
The gap in academic performance, the gap in swordsmanship.
Even in terms of personal charm, there was always someone more dazzling than them, which naturally made it easy for dissatisfaction to fester.
But here, that would not happen.
After all, the one sitting there was Levia Astarea.
An illustrious background, exceptional beauty—she seemed to be the favorite of the gods, who had bestowed everything best upon this refined young lady.
Even her magic talent was so good it was hard to accept.
If she were only beautiful, others could comfort themselves by saying it was merely an eye-catching face.
If she were only exceptionally talented, they could blame it on their “noble bloodline.”
But that extraordinary magic talent was not a brilliance that could be accumulated through status and lineage.
It was a difference from others that existed from birth.
It made it impossible for people to even harbor thoughts of competing.
Even with such talent, Levia was still the hardworking good student in the instructor’s mouth.
Not only were the young noblemen suppressed into submission.
The few noble young ladies sitting in the front rows pursed their lips tightly, unable to even muster a thought of trying to compare themselves to her.
Among everyone present, only one person reacted differently.
Harvey listened to Cedric’s unreserved praise for Levia, his expression somewhat subtle.
She didn’t slack off during the holidays and was consistently studying magic seriously.
Such a comment might be perfectly normal if applied to someone else, but coming from Levia, it always gave him an indescribable sense of dissonance.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t do it.
On the contrary, Levia had always done things very well.
Whether it was her etiquette, her knowledge, or her attainments in magic, she seemed to be born for the identity of the “Duke’s Daughter,” with hardly a flaw to be picked.
It’s just that—
Harvey couldn’t help but whisper to Levia, “Eldest Miss, is the instructor talking about you?”
If he remembered correctly.
His Eldest Miss hadn’t even stepped into the private library more than a few times all vacation.
Can she really be praised as a good student?
Are the requirements for a good student a bit too low?
As if she sensed his gaze, Levia turned her head slightly and gave him a faint look.
There was no emotion in those deep blue eyes.
Harvey read the inquiry within them—What are you trying to say?
He immediately withdrew his gaze, pretending to look at the lecture notes on the desk as if nothing had happened.
It is better to just read the book.
“Hmph.”
A dissatisfied snort came from beside him, and he pretended not to hear that, either.
On the podium, Cedric had already begun today’s lesson.
“Today, we are going to talk about the basic stable structure in low-level spell formation.”
“And—the most common types of imbalance problems that occur when casting primary spells.”
Following the instructor’s steady explanation, the classroom, which had been buzzing with noise, soon fell silent again.
It was incredibly hypnotic.
Most students were accustomed to this rhythm of instruction and naturally opened their notebooks, their minds wandering elsewhere.
Even Levia did not hold out for long, squinting her eyes from time to time.
Unlike before, someone was helping her take notes, so she naturally didn’t have to worry about missing important content.
There was a reason for choosing such a seat at the back.
The Duke’s Daughter dozing off in private was something she certainly couldn’t let others see.
Only Harvey listened with particular focus.
The knowledge he had once been forced to piece together from old, tattered books and fragmented rumors was finally unfolding before his eyes in a complete and clear manner.
Why elements caused conflicts at connection nodes, why beginners were prone to losing balance in the second stage of a spell, why a spell with a seemingly correct structure was more prone to collapse during actual casting—
Everything felt as if it had been cleared from the fog.
He listened so intently that his perception of time passing became sluggish.
It wasn’t until the bell signaling the end of class drifted from the far end of the hallway that Cedric stopped the chalk in his hand and turned to look at the students.
“That is all for today.”
The students seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief, and the classroom was instantly filled with the faint sounds of chairs being moved and books being closed.
“Oh! It’s finally over!”
“Thank you, Instructor! You worked hard! Goodbye, Instructor!”
Cedric looked at this group of grinning noble students with a helpless expression, shaking his head as he tidied his lecture notes.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he looked up toward the seats at the back of the classroom.
“Harvey.”
The voice was not loud, but it caused the classroom, which had already relaxed, to fall silent once more for a moment.
Harvey stood up in confusion, “Instructor?”
Cedric looked at him, his tone remaining gentle.
“Stay behind for a moment.”