"The hottest topic lately would probably be that mysterious golden-haired beauty who vanished that day."

Celicia spoke casually, her gaze drifting toward Muen’s face—which had gone stiff for a moment.

"Hm? You don’t look so good. Are you feeling unwell?"

"N... No, I’m fine."

Muen snapped back to his senses and forced a smile.

"Didn’t I just say it? I’m in perfect shape. Eating well, sleeping well."

"You should still be more mindful of your body."

Celicia flicked the toothpick in her hand straight into the trash can and continued.

"Back to what I was saying—though I never saw that so-called golden-haired beauty in person, from what Veil and the others described, she was an absolute bombshell. The kind that’d stop traffic just walking through the Academy."

"Was... was she really that over-the-top?"

Muen wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Could she really be prettier than you, Celicia?"

"I wouldn’t say I’m particularly beautiful."

Celicia gave her silver hair a casual flip. Under the sunlight filtering in through the window, it glowed with a faint, hazy brilliance, making her features appear all the more stunning.

"Maybe the situation at the time amplified the desire to protect her, but if even a girl like Veil said that, then there’s no way her beauty was fake. According to Veil, if she hadn’t been taken hostage, the students wouldn’t have pulled themselves together so quickly after the sudden chaos."

"Haha, I see. Sounds like that beauty actually helped out quite a bit."

"She did. But exactly because she stood out so much at the time, once the students who were so fixated on her realized she was nowhere to be found, it caused quite a stir."

Celicia added matter-of-factly:

"They say the Academic Office was nearly stormed the next day."

"A-And then? Did they find her?"

"Of course not. The staff combed through every student record in the Academy and couldn’t find anyone by that description."

"Oh, really?"

Muen widened his eyes, then clenched his fist and declared with conviction:

"Then it has to be the enemy’s scheme! Those bastards from the Love Cult definitely made up some beautiful hostage to stir up outrage among the students—so they could harvest magic energy from their attacks!"

He couldn’t help bursting out in righteous anger.

"Those bastards are despicable! Exploiting people’s sense of justice and compassion like that! If I’d been there, I would’ve smashed all their stupid heads in!"

"Hmm, well... the professors gave a similar explanation afterward."

Celicia nodded in agreement—though she quietly skipped over Muen’s over-the-top threats.

"The professors really said that?"

Muen let out a sigh of relief.

If even the professors were saying that, then no matter how hormonal the students might’ve been, chances were they wouldn’t dig into it much further.

The storm would soon pass.

Of course, Muen wasn’t actually afraid of them investigating. A person who didn’t exist couldn’t be found no matter how deep they dug.

What he really feared... was if one or two of them, out of boredom or uncanny cleverness, started connecting the dots—like how that woman’s face, while feminized, still resembled his by a solid thirty to forty percent.

So Muen could only pray that the matter would die down as soon as possible.

"Still... I do have one question."

"Mm? What kind of question?"

Feeling that things might not be as bad as he feared, Muen’s mood suddenly lifted.

"I might be able to help you think it through."

"It’s nothing major, but if you’re willing to help, that’s even better."

Celicia rested her elbow on her pale thigh, fingers interlaced under her chin. She leaned forward slightly, her cold gaze locking onto Muen’s as she asked, word for word:

"Back then... why did those cultists deliberately single you out—Muen Campbell—using that golden-haired beauty?"

"......"

Her voice was calm, utterly devoid of emotion—but the moment the question landed, Muen’s smile froze again.

Celicia didn’t seem to notice his change in expression and pressed on:

"Could it be that, in the eyes of those cultists, that golden-haired beauty was someone important to you? Someone you’d step forward for, even at great risk?"

"......"

"What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

Her tone remained expressionless, but her gaze carried subtle meaning.

"Didn’t you just say you’d help me think it through?"

"Well... m-maybe..."

Muen gave a strained laugh, trying to dodge her piercing stare while desperately scraping his brain for an excuse.

But he knew—something like "she’s my cousin" wouldn’t fly with Celicia.

If she really wanted to dig, she could trace his family tree back eighteen generations.

And with her level of perception, too many lies would definitely expose inconsistencies.

So at times like this, the only option was to play dumb!

"I-I have no idea either. Maybe the cultists just thought I was a really kind person who’d fall for any random pretty face they made up."

Muen attempted to explain:

"Whether she was real or fake, that golden-haired beauty has nothing to do with me!"

"But then why did they call out your name specifically? As if they knew you well. Did you ever do something to provoke the True Love Cult?"

Celicia closed in step by step.

"N-No! Absolutely not! They picked me because... because..."

Sweat broke out on Muen’s forehead—until suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him. He declared with solemnity:

"They must’ve been after my devastating good looks!"

"Good looks?"

Celicia raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

"That Love Cult is basically a male love cult, right? And I’m... arguably one of the most handsome men in the Academy. Isn’t it only natural they’d set their sights on me?"

In order to avoid being seen as some degenerate crossdresser in front of Celicia, Muen decided to sacrifice a bit of his pride elsewhere.

"They ‘set their sights’ on you?"

Celicia studied him carefully for a few seconds—long enough to make Muen’s scalp tingle—before she reluctantly nodded.

"Maybe. In terms of looks, you’re not bad. It’s not impossible they’d take a liking to someone like you."

"Right?"

"But..."

Celicia touched her chin thoughtfully.

"In that case, you’d better be careful."

"Careful?"

Muen blinked in confusion. "Careful of what?"

Surely there aren’t still guys in this school lusting after my body, right?

"Well, I don’t know much about that ‘seme’ or ‘uke’ stuff, but Veil once mentioned something to me."

Celicia said it with a straight face:

"—In a lot of stories like this, a person’s preferences start changing after being lusted after, then subjected to... relentless pursuit. So if you end up liking men too, then I think..."

She paused.

"The Duke of Campbell will be heartbroken."

"...No way! I’ve always liked women!"

Muen froze for a moment, then practically burst into tears.

"Don’t confuse fiction with reality! And maybe you should fire Veil already! Her bizarre ideas are starting to influence you!"

"Really?"

"Very much so!"

"Heh..."

Just as Muen was stewing in embarrassment, he caught a rare sight—Celicia’s lips curling ever so slightly.

Like melting snow giving way to a spring tide, even the radiant midday sunlight seemed to pale in comparison to that faint smile.

"Feeling a bit better?"

"Huh?"

"You were rolling around on the bed just now. I figured you’ve had no one to talk to these past few days, and it was starting to get to you. So..."

Celicia tilted her head, choosing her words carefully.

"I thought I’d cheer you up. With a joke."

"A... joke?"

Muen blinked in surprise.

Celicia... tells jokes?

And the reason... was to help him shake off the gloom of being stuck in the infirmary all this time?

How unexpected.

But a warmth quietly bloomed in Muen’s chest.

"Thanks, Celicia."

He said earnestly.

"I do feel a lot better now."

"That’s good."

"But can we change the subject?"

Muen couldn’t help but flash a pained smile.

"That kind of joke is bad for the heart."

The way Celicia had looked just now—so serious—it almost made him think she’d found him out.

But in hindsight, she hadn’t really been that serious. She always just... looked like that.

Still.

Precisely because she was always so frozen over, even the slightest thaw felt deeply moving.

It made people want to get closer. To wonder—after trudging through endless snow and ice—what kind of blazing warmth might lie buried at her core.

"I guess I’m not great at telling jokes. But since you asked, I’ll switch topics."

She straightened up, pale legs gracefully crossed in a new direction.

That faint smile still lingered on her lips, making Muen wonder just what new subject she’d bring up this time, now that she was in such a gentle mood.

"So—"

Celicia’s smile vanished. She asked seriously:

"Why were you completely naked back then?"

"......"

...

...

"It’s getting late, so I’ll be going."

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Celicia stood up to leave.

If she didn’t head back now, Veil—still buried in paperwork on her behalf—might actually cry.

"Take... take care."

And Muen, at this point, didn’t even have the strength to get up and see her off. They’d only chatted for a bit, yet he already felt like a salted fish collapsing in bed.

"Oh right, someone asked me to pass along a message."

"Hmm?"

The salted fish turned his dead-fish eyes toward her.

"Who?"

"Classmate Rayne."

"Rayne?!"

Muen jolted upright.

"He’s okay?"

"He’s fine. But because he was in close contact with the cultists, he has to take a temporary leave for a full physical and mental evaluation, plus a monitoring period," Celicia explained.

"That’s a relief."

Muen exhaled.

For someone like Rayne—who came dangerously close to corruption—that was probably the best possible outcome.

"So what did he want to say?"

"He said—"

Celicia paused to recall, then repeated Rayne’s words exactly, one by one:

‘I saw everything, Muen. You were really cool.’

"He really said that?"

Celicia couldn’t mimic Rayne’s tone, but just from those simple words, Muen could feel the earnest emotion behind them—the heartfelt admiration of that honest, hulking classmate.

And so Muen smiled, genuinely happy for him.

"That’s good. When he comes back to school, maybe we can become real friends."

"......"

Having delivered the message, Celicia turned to go—but as she glanced back at the smiling Muen, she couldn’t help but recall Rayne’s blushing, bear-like face when he’d asked her to say it.

Somehow, she felt...

"Muen Campbell."

"Hm?"

"I don’t have the right to dictate who you like or who likes you, but—"

Celicia turned around, her tone serious as she gave a final warning.

"The Duke of Campbell really would be heartbroken."

Muen: ???

...

...

"Haah... I’m exhausted."

After Celicia left, Muen slumped into the bed completely.

He felt like his soul had been drained.

"But... I didn’t hate it."

Staring up at the pristine white ceiling, Muen couldn’t help but smile faintly.

After all, he’d gotten to see a slightly different side of Celicia.

"I’ll just nap for a bit."

He closed his eyes to rest and recharge.

Because once he was discharged tomorrow... he probably wouldn’t get to enjoy this kind of peace again.

"Oh my, did I come at the wrong time?"

Just as he closed his eyes, a familiar voice rang out.

A fragrant scent tickled his nose, sending his imagination spinning.

"Senior Anna?"

He opened his eyes—and sure enough, there was that familiar, sultry figure outlined perfectly by her form-fitting uniform.

"Did I wake you, junior?"

"No, I just lay down."

Muen blinked, surprised.

"But Senior... don’t you usually have class in the morning? Or work in the library? What brings you here?"

"No classes today. The library’s closed for now."

Anna walked into the room, carrying a bag of fruit. She smiled at Muen, her eyes gently curved, the tear mole at the corner of her eye adding a touch of alluring charm.

“Today just so happens to be the day visitors are allowed, so I rushed right over to see you, junior. But...”

She glanced at the apples already neatly placed beside Muen’s bed and raised her eyebrows in mild surprise.

“Even though I came as soon as I got the news, someone still beat me here. You’re more popular than I thought, junior.”

“That was Celicia.”

Muen didn’t hide it. “She just got the news early and came by in her capacity as Student Council President.”

“I see...”

Anna set down the bag of fruit and smiled again.

“Then, would junior like an apple?”

“No need, I just had—”

Muen reflexively began to decline. But just then, he caught Anna’s glance—subtle but unmistakable—toward the trash bin.

Danger!

That one word flashed across his mind like a red warning sign.

Can’t answer like that!

Realizing instantly, Muen switched gears:

“Yes, of course I want one. I love apples!”

“Fufufu~ I didn’t know you liked apples that much, junior.”

Anna sat in the still-warm chair Celicia had just left, her smile bright.

“But since you asked, I’ll gladly oblige.”

She began peeling the apple.

Her technique wasn’t as refined as Celicia’s sword-like precision, but Anna was meticulous. The peel came off thin as paper, nearly translucent under the light.

It was as if she refused to waste even a single sliver of fruit.

“Here you go, junior.”

She handed over the whole apple—uncut, unshared.

“Eh? You’re not having any?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“But it’s just fruit... it won’t fill you up...”

“Muen~”

Anna gave him a playful glare and pouted:

“You can’t just waste a girl’s heartfelt effort like that, you know.”

“......”

Muen looked at the apple in his hand—the biggest, roundest one, obviously chosen with care.

He couldn’t help twitching at the corner of his mouth.

He had a strong feeling this wasn’t just about “heartfelt effort.”

With no other option, he began eating the whole apple.

Meanwhile, Anna rested her cheek in her hand and simply watched him in silence.

After a while, Muen started to feel uneasy and asked:

“Senior, is there something on my face?”

“Nope.”

“Then... what are you looking at?”

“I’m looking at a pervert.”

“...Huh? A what?”

Muen froze.

“Isn’t junior a pervert?”

Anna giggled behind her hand.

“Stripping completely naked in front of the whole school? Even I have to respect that level of perversion.”

“I wasn’t! That’s only because you—”

“Because of me?”

Anna raised an eyebrow, amused.

“Junior, that’s a bit irresponsible, don’t you think? I might have told you to take off your clothes, but that was because of the potion, remember?”

She tapped her pale chin thoughtfully.

“I never told you to streak naked in front of every student.”

“......”

No rebuttal possible.

Muen drooped his head and ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) gnawed at the apple in shame.

Looks like the “pervert” label wasn’t coming off anytime soon.

“But... you were really cool.”

“...Huh?”

Muen looked up, startled—only to see Anna watching him with quiet sincerity.

“To jump straight into that monster without hesitation... that was really cool, junior.”

“I-It wasn’t anything.”

Muen scratched his head, flustered.

“To others, I probably just looked like some lunatic pervert.”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

Anna suddenly pulled out a folded newspaper and laid it in front of him.

“What’s this...?”

Muen leaned over to look.

The photo showed a man with dazzling blond hair and a tight, muscular frame—the type girls would swoon over.

...If he had clothes on.

“The News Club?”

Seeing the paper, Muen’s expression darkened.

“They’re at it again?”

“Fufufu, don’t be mad, junior. This time they actually reported things pretty truthfully. Even the Student Council can’t fault them.”

Anna pointed at the photo. Every sensitive area was carefully pixelated, especially the very prominent black blur at his crotch.

Even though anyone could tell at a glance that it was that blond from the Academy, there was technically nothing inappropriate about the image.

Even the headline was relatively tame by their standards:

“Naked Man Leaps from Rooftop at Midnight—The Truth Behind the Incident Is...”

—Yeah, not misleading at all, right?

Muen raged silently.

But as he kept reading, he suddenly paused.

Compared to their usual clickbait, the article itself was surprisingly serious.

In fact, more than half of it was a genuine, positive portrayal of him.

Granted, it repeatedly referred to Muen as a “suspected exhibitionist” and hinted at his ambiguous ties to the Love Cult.

But still, most of the column praised his bravery—how he leapt into danger alone when everyone else hesitated.

At the end, it quoted a well-known Student Council secretary:

“I honestly can’t stand Muen Campbell, but I have to admit—when he jumped from the rooftop, he looked seriously, seriously cool.

—Also, based on my years of reading CEO Evil God Fell in Love With Me, I’m sure something spicy happened between Muen Campbell and that Rayne guy during their Naked Battle. If there’s a sequel, please DM me, thanks—”

“......”

Muen folded the paper, doing his best to pretend that last part didn’t exist.

Then he reopened it, reading the body of the article again and again.

His eyes lingered on the words “bravery” and “cool”, and he stared in silence.

“After this incident—and with the News Club’s earlier clarifications—your image among the girls has improved a lot, junior.”

“I’m still a pervert though.”

“That’s different, junior.”

“Huh?”

Muen looked up, surprised—only to see Anna’s smile and mischief vanish completely.

She gazed at him seriously, her expression lit with a soft halo of light.

“When someone sees a radiant, shining part of you, all the little flaws tend to fade into the background.

So in that moment, I think most people weren’t even thinking about your lack of clothes.

They were just amazed at your fearless leap into danger—and how incredibly cool you looked.”

“...Feels like I’m some kind of celebrity,” Muen muttered under his breath.

“Because you are.”

Anna suddenly grinned wickedly.

“You’re already the Academy’s top star. So, about that debut I mentioned before—ready to reconsider? You don’t have to be a girl idol, a boy idol works too. I even came up with the name—”

“Don’t even think about it! I’m never becoming an idol, not even if I die!”

“Fufufu~ Junior, you’re so cute when you react like that.”

Laughing, Anna took advantage of his flustered state to ruffle his golden hair into a total bird’s nest.

“So—”

“Stop putting yourself down all the time, junior.”

“You’ve worked really hard. And all that effort... it’s paying off.”

“You’re already an outstanding junior, you know?”

“Senior...”

Muen sat there stunned, not resisting as she tousled his hair.

Looking at Anna—bathed in soft, sacred light—his nose suddenly stung.

“Oh my, oh my~ Are you tearing up, junior?”

“Got sand in my eyes.”

“It’s okay to cry. Senior’s arms are warm—you can borrow them if you like.”

“I said it’s just sand!”

Muen turned away sharply, hiding his face.

Anna just smiled and let it go.

Once he’d calmed down, she pulled something from her bag.

“This is...”

Muen blinked at the book she placed before him—a magic theory fundamentals text.

“I figured...”

Anna tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and said softly:

“With your personality, you’ve probably been itching to study these past few days, haven’t you?”

“So I brought the materials.”

She tilted her head slightly, voice light.

“Wanna start class, junior?”

“...Yes!”

A sudden breeze blew through the room, pulling the pale curtains open.

Sunlight flooded in, breaking into shimmering motes of light.

Like ripples across the sea at noon.

The whole world turned hazy—except for the girl opening the book before him.

In that moment, Muen thought—

Learning a year and a month’s worth of material in just one month...

Might not be so impossible after all.

Because the one teaching him—

Was Senior Anna.