Her butler looked at Victoria’s expression, noticing the faint flush spreading across her cheeks.

"Ms... have you perhaps taken a liking to that man? Even I’m surprised he managed to win, but perhaps this was simply a fraudulent showing from Jameson over there," he said, trying his best to make Cassien’s victory sound unbearably lucky. "Yes, that has to be it. Jameson is just a fraud."

"Shush, Adam," Victoria spoke, her voice calm but sharp. "We’re leaving now. It’s time for the student council to start planning for the future."

The week had only just begun, and Cassien was already dealing devastating blows to someone’s reputation.

While walking out, he took the gazes of everyone around him, but didn’t bother looking back for even a second.

He had successfully ruined Jameson Sparrow’s reputation, and now the next sequence of events had officially been set into motion, so long as no one interfered.

But for all he knew, anyone participating in the [Transmigration Games] could alter that future at any moment, creating something entirely unknown.

’Unfortunate,’ Cassien thought while taking his first steps outside. ’I expected him to be more troublesome.’

Rain began pouring from above, the droplets growing heavier and falling faster with each passing second.

Cassien opened both arms outward, his palms aimed directly toward the dark clouds swallowing the sky.

’That shot, though...’

He replayed the final moment in his mind.

’My aim was off.’

Cassien lowered his gaze to the pistol in his hand because he had never intended to hit the [Third-Rate Villain] in the side.

He wanted Jameson dead.

He wanted to see that creature collapse motionless, so he would never have to worry about the aftermath waiting later in the story.

But he couldn’t have killed him there.

Not now.

Not in front of everyone.

Otherwise, Cassien would have ended up imprisoned and likely subjected to treatment far worse than death.

While continuing to walk forward, the distant noises from the arena slowly faded behind him, all the students remaining frozen in the same positions after the fight had ended.

Each one thought the exact same thing.

’Who exactly is that man?’

Cassien turned a corner, pulling his cloak over his head to shield himself from the increasingly aggressive rain.

The darker the clouds grew overhead, the brighter the lamp posts lining the academy’s concrete pathways became.

Cassien checked the clock attached to his wrist accessory, which displayed the time as already 11:00 AM.

Time had moved faster than expected.

Though even now, he remained slightly tense, considering the [Transmigration Games] had officially begun.

Everyone who had once crowded the academy grounds had now disappeared, either returning to their dormitories or heading back inside the academy itself.

No one even bothered approaching the outside activity board, where missions could be claimed in exchange for money.

At Nosguard Academy, getting admitted was only half the battle.

Students still had tuition fees to pay.

This was never an issue for nobles, since their families usually covered all expenses.

But for commoners and extras, things were different.

They had to earn their own money through academy-sanctioned quests.

Dangerous ones.

The school took no responsibility if students died completing them.

It was entirely the student’s own choice.

For now, however, Cassien had no interest in wasting time on side quests.

His eyes were focused on meeting the protagonist.

At this exact point in the novel, Ren Castor was supposed to be sitting alone in the cafeteria.

That was also where Jameson and two of his allies had originally cornered and bullied him senselessly, forcing Cassien to step in and publicly humiliate them while defending the protagonist.

Which meant the cafeteria was exactly where Cassien was heading now.

Drop.

Drop.

The rain continued to pour from above, with no sign of the clouds clearing anytime soon.

He took a slight curved turn onto a narrow, hidden pathway just behind his dormitory building, a place where almost no one ever walked.

Step.

Step.

As he continued forward, the cold air slipped beneath his cloak while rainwater dripped from the trees aligned beside the concrete and grass path.

Then—

Something stopped him.

A figure entirely covered in a black cloak stepped out from behind one of the trees, as though they had been waiting there specifically for him.

Cassien stopped moving.

A small smile formed on his lips.

"It seems someone’s been following me. Curious about the fight I just had, if I had to assume?"

The hood slowly fell back, revealing the figure’s identity.

A girl.

"You may be correct," she said, her voice calm and smooth.

"But there was something else I wished to discuss."

She glanced upward toward the rain.

"Especially while the weather conveniently blocks outside noise."

A magic circle suddenly formed beneath her feet.

In the next instant, a translucent barrier expanded outward and encapsulated both of them.

The rain no longer touched either of them.

Neither did the sound.

Cassien glanced downward.

Another magic circle had already been inscribed beneath his own feet.

"Did you know I’d stop in this exact position?" he asked, amused. "That’s a little insane."

A faint smile tugged at her lips.

"You don’t say?"

Then she slowly approached him.

"Now that I’m taking a closer look at you," she murmured, studying his face. "It feels like I’ve seen you somewhere before."

Her brows narrowed slightly.

"I just can’t figure out where."

Cassien slowly raised both hands in mock surrender.

A harmless smile spread across his face.

"It truly wounds me," he whispered. "That my own fiancée doesn’t even recognize my face."

Then he tilted his head slightly.

"But enough of that."

His eyes locked onto hers.

"Tell me."

A small pause followed.

"What was it you wanted..."

His smile widened.

"Aiysha Moon?"