Lucien looked at the unstable, fierce flames flickering before him.
"Lacking in both control and mana efficiency."
He said it calmly to the exhausted looking Aria.
Her eyes carried sadness and deep fatigue.
'It was the last of my mana...'
"But it's enough."
Aria looked up, surprise and relief flashing across her face.
Lucien noted the completion time.
[6:30 PM]
"You are the worst of this year's batch.. barely able to enroll."
Her relief quickly shattered, replaced by quiet bitterness.
"You lack both knowledge and Mana pool compared to even other commoners."Lucien spoke plainly.
Aria trembled slightly,yet she could not refute his words. Because every word was true...and more than anything, she felt no humiliation, no malice in his voice.
"This afternoon you started from scratch especially for the fire spell...yet you were able to learn this much in a single afternoon."
Aria looked up, dazed, meeting eyes that seemed to truly acknowledge her.
"You are talented."
"W-what?.."
Aria was shocked, a noble that too a duke's son was calling her talented.
Lucien looked at her tired face and the dark circles beneath her eyes...
"But perhaps you are taking the wrong approach."
"..."
Aria lowered her head slightly.
She knew it too...she is confused too, but has no one to guide her...No way to learn more after the fall of her house...No time to practice or increases her mana pool, struggling to make ends meet, all alone.
"Sigh~"
She heard Lucien exhale softly...
When she looked up again, she saw it, almost imperceptible, a trace of gentleness and faint affection in his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"P-pardon…?"
"What is your routine?"
"A-ah… I attend classes. After that, I practice magic spells until I run out of mana… and then I try to c-catch up with what's taught in lectures… until 2 AM…"
"Catch up, is it? You don't understand most of it, do you?"
"…Yes."
Her head lowered again in shame. She barely understood the basics, let alone the advanced lectures, except for Lucien's classes.
"There's no point in training until your mana is exhausted."
"B-but isn't that how mana grows…?"
"Yes. But only when the body is allowed proper rest."
"…."
"Skip it."
"W-what…?"
"And stop trying to catch up with those lectures, From now on. Leave them be for a while..."
"…."
"Go to the library. Second floor,right side, third row from the stairs. You'll find an old book titled Magic Structure Analysis."
Lucien spoke plainly.
"Spend all your time mastering that. Until then, skip everything else… and sleep before midnight."
After finishing, he offered no explanation and waited for no response.
The training ground grew quiet after Lucien's footsteps faded into the distance.
Aria remained standing where she was, fingers still trembling slightly from exhaustion or perhaps from something else entirely.
"…Sleep before midnight…" she murmured softly.
No teacher had ever said that to her before.
Most only told her to work harder.
Try harder.
Endure more.
Yet he had told her to stop.
Her gaze lowered to her hands, faint scorch marks still lingering on her fingertips.
He didn't even explain why…
And yet, strangely… she didn't feel confused.
She felt… guided.
Her chest tightened as she recalled his expression...calm, indifferent as always, yet beneath it, barely visible, was something warm.
A gentleness so faint she almost believed she imagined it.
A duke's son… showing concern for someone like me…
Her lips pressed together.
No ridicule.
No impatience.
No hidden contempt.
Only quiet acknowledgement.
And…was it fondness?
The thought startled her.
She shook her head quickly, cheeks warming.
No… that can't be right…
Still, his sigh echoed in her mind, not annoyed, not disappointed, but tired… almost worried.
Why?
Why would someone like him care?
Her thoughts drifted unwillingly to the past.
To the day everything had nearly gone wrong.
The sound of hooves.
The noble's smirking face as she was falling.
The sudden shove that sent her stumbling into the road.
She remembered the terror freezing her body as the carriage rushed toward her and then Lucien stepped out of the carriage.
The noble's protests silenced by nothing more than Lucien's cold gaze.
The imprints of his hands on the noble's swollen face.
He had asked if she was okay...
Reminded her that she would be late for the entrance ceremony.
And left without turning back.
As if protecting her was… natural.
Aria hugged her arms lightly.
Was he… acquainted with Father?
Her fallen house still carried enemies, that much she knew.
But Lucien had never treated her like the daughter of a disgraced noble.
Nor like an inconvenience.
If anything…
He treated her as though she were simply a student.
No,as someone worth correcting.
Worth guiding.
"…Maybe… he wasn't Father's enemy," she whispered.
The thought settled quietly in her heart.
She glanced toward the academy building, where the library stood.
Second floor.
Right side.
Third row from the stairs.
He had spoken with such certainty.
As if he already knew what she needed.
Aria hesitated only a moment longer before taking a slow breath.
"…I'll try it."
Even if he hadn't explained.
Even if she didn't understand.
For some reason… she believed him.
And for the first time in a long while, the path ahead didn't feel completely dark and she didn't feel alone...lonely.
Clutching her worn bag closer, Aria turned toward the library,carrying with her a faint, unfamiliar warmth.
Hope.