“Do you know the identity of this professor of ours?”

It was a topic with everyone’s vested interests. Almost the entire class changed gears as the ones sitting near the front spoke of the professor who was to enter soon.

Prince Ier shook his head.

“Unfortunately, I have not heard his name before. It is a mystery why he was chosen as our teacher. Might any of you know more?”

It was no secret that Ier was the second prince.

No matter how big the empire was, no one would want a succession feud in the middle of a war.

And the Crown Prince was just as famous as the empire itself.

Rosentea hummed and flapped open her paper fan. She covered her mouth and shook her head.

“I have made an inquiry. Ethan Kalenice is a name that comes up as an acquaintance for many people, but anything concrete about him is hard to come by.”

Rosentea’s eyes shone with a curious glint.

Their target changed, all of them looked to the back of the class, at the one person who seemed to know everything in this classroom.

When the ones at the front looked back, the others followed. In the end, most of the class found itself staring expectantly at Elara Danube.

“Lady Elara,” Rosentea said. This was the second time she had talked to her. Ever since learning that Elara was from the Danube kingdom, the weakest, most insignificant kingdom on the continent, a strange air had formed in the class.

There was a bonafide commoner in their classroom who was treated better than Elara. It was not the class system that irked the children, but the expectations of their families which had become a choke holding them from extending their hands to the girl.

Despite their curiosity, they couldn’t bring themselves to talk to her.

The current topic of conversation, though, was curious enough to even keep that sense on the back burner.

“Do you, perhaps?”

“The professor did treat her well…” Someone commented from the side. Rosentea didn’t pay it much heed.

Elara shrugged her shoulders.

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“I’ve never heard of him before. The only thing I’ve ever said to the professor is a thank you. I have no idea who he is or where he is from.”

Rosentea looked away. It was a shame, she believed that Elara would be able to tell her something.

“But…” All of them looked at the golden-haired girl again. “Whoever he is, he must be a big deal. There is no way someone who is practically a scholar in the demonic language would be allowed to roam free.”

The other seemed to agree with her words.

Murmurs and whispers filled the classroom.

That’s when the sound of a lute rang out in the classroom. A lute out of nowhere would have been quite a shocking experience, but it was just a source of annoyance for the students of Black Rose.

“Between blackboards, shadows fall, Cat-eared girl knows more than all!”

An elf, a boy with platinum hair skillfully strummed the lute and stepped ahead. A strand of hair came spinning down the top of his head.

Lute-man Luke, they had dubbed him.

“The Professor's gaze, of familiarity. Secrets shared, in mystery.”

A sigh left Rosentea and Ier.

“What is this guy saying?”

“I have no idea. Can’t you just speak normally?”

The lute rang again.

“Verse or words, penned or loose. Normality blooms, where hearts choose.”

Prince Ier regretted saying anything at all.

He turned his pained gaze to the other kid standing next to the blonde. It was a boy with green hair and a silly smile.

“He’s saying that normal is what you make of it.”

“We don’t mind that part,” Rosentea interjected. “Before that.”

“Oh, he was saying someone here seemed familiar with the professor from before we began class. She might know something. Quiz! Who do you think this someone with cat ears is?”

That child was the only friend of the Lute-man, the only friend since he was the only one who could understand him. Also, because he too, was just as insufferable.

Quiz-boy Quinton, they had dubbed him.

Thankfully, Quiz-boy was damn bad at putting up quizzes. All of their gazes turned to the only cat-eared girl in the room.

Iaso Aegean, the princess of Aegean. A lot of them had heard about the events that went down in Aegean on their way to the academy.

The change in the princess from a bashful maiden to a false delinquent was rather understandable, endearing even.

“Princess Aegean,” said Rosentea. “Do you know something?”

“I just know he’s pretty influential. He isn’t particularly strong, I guess. He said he’s weak.” Iaso couldn’t help them either.

“I believe we are stuck then,” Rosentea said.

“It is unfortunate. We can maybe ask the professor himself, or that Civil Servant who is in the academy?”

Prince Ier was quick to let go of the problem too.

It was then that an unexpected voice chimed in.

“I might know something.”

The saintess candidate, one of the people closest to god, raised her hand gracefully.

All of their attention shifted once more. This time with more anticipation than before.

“Lady Yuliana, would you please share it with us?”

The saintess candidate, Lady Yuliana Soleil, sighed in resignation. “I wished to avoid speaking since I hold no proof. Please take my words with a grain of salt.”

She could rest assured that by the next morning, anything she said would be overblown manifold. The naive saintess candidate continued, unaware of the nature of ‘public secrets.’

“My master once mentioned a curious friend… five years back, a soldier of the Freedom Alliance returned from a sudden disappearance.”

Excited, the students leaned ahead on their chairs.

“They believed him to be dead, I unfortunately never caught the name. But my master mentioned, this soldier… was stranded in the demonic lands for three years.”

They all gulped.

“Is he… him?”

“That person would have to be immensely powerful, isn’t that right?”

“To survive three years in the Demonic Realms? Powerful won’t do it justice. You would have to be a demon yourself. Even the air is poisonous in those lands.”

Whispers spread like wildfire, looming over the classroom.

Their teacher, the same one who was here every morning, was someone that powerful? That special?

The children were lit ablaze with the spark of mystery.

They all find it impossible to believe. But somewhere in their chests.

“What if…”

That thought existed.

Right then, the door of the classroom swung open, and in stepped the person they had been talking about.

“Good morning!”

With the same, friendly grin on his face that made him look like a neighbor or a child-spirited but unemployed uncle more than a professor, he raised a basket of cookies in his hands.

“I brought some more for all of you. Help yourself. There’s no reason to not eat while studying.”

At those words, all the students were united in thought.

No chance this definition of a cinnamon roll could be a monstrously powerful man.

That day, Ethan’s impression amongst the students had a huge upward spike.

He never could figure out why.