"It's finally my turn!"
A first-year student from the Noble Division stepped forward. He was the son of a wealthy merchant and had mastered Fire Swordsmanship, already reaching his second Aura Star, making him one of the outstanding talents among his peers.
As he waited for the gates to open, his excitement grew to the point where he felt like smashing them apart.
Just then, the commentator's voice echoed:
"And now, the sixth match..."
Standing behind the gates, the young man listened carefully.
"None of the participants know who they'll face until the announcement. Still, Father's assistant told me that the students would be divided according to strength so every group would be balanced, and—"
His thoughts were cut short as the commentator continued,
"...Shion Lan from the Second Year! And Esper Wells from the First Year!"
"..."
Esper, who had been eagerly awaiting the opening of the gates, found himself speechless.
When the gates finally opened, he stepped into the arena and looked at his opponents.
'They're all strong... each possessing exceptional swordsmanship or magic... but...'
Just like everyone else, his eyes settled on a single individual.
A young man with white hair and silver eyes stood calmly before them. His flawless physique and refined handsomeness carried an air of dignity and nobility, as though he existed beyond the impurities of mankind—a lone star shining brilliantly in the darkest night.
Shion Lan looked at the four of them before smiling with his usual flawless elegance.
"It seems this will be four against one."
With that declaration, he calmly walked toward the center of the arena, his sword still resting inside its sheath.
Stopping in the middle, he asked,
"Aren't you going to begin?"
The four opponents quickly regained their composure and surrounded him cautiously.
Esper was among them.
'Shion Lan... the most famous noble at the academy... and one of its strongest students. Why do I have to fight someone like him?!'
Yet he looked toward the others.
'No... there are four of us. We can defeat him!'
The audience also realized that Shion intended to fight all four opponents at once.
More surprising, however, was the hesitation visible in their eyes.
Shion decided to end things quickly.
"Very well."
"(Raindrops)... (Cutting Flames)."
Drawing his sword from its sheath with both hands, streams of Water Aura and Fire Aura flowed into the blade.
With a swift spin, he created a circular wave of water and fire around himself.
The watery thrusts intertwined with nine blazing slashes.
The audience was stunned by such a simple, precise, and lightning-fast attack.
All four opponents were blasted backward and crashed onto the ground.
Shion thought,
'Although they're strong, they don't possess Shi Yun Lan's battle instincts. Defeating them is easy.'
Everyone watched in disbelief as all four opponents had been defeated by a single strike.
None of them could stand properly.
Shion calmly explained,
"I struck the center of your chests. Standing up won't be easy."
Ten seconds passed.
None of them managed to rise.
The announcer immediately announced,
"All four contestants have fallen! The final contestant standing in this match is Shion Lan! He has qualified to compete tomorrow!"
Shion politely bowed to the audience before leaving the arena with his usual calm demeanor and graceful steps.
After returning to his waiting room, he frowned inwardly.
"I didn't defeat them because they were weak... I defeated them because they were afraid of the name Shion Lan. I want an opponent who can push me to my absolute limit... someone who will help me break through to the fourth level."
Meanwhile, the nobles could hardly contain their amazement.
"He's unbelievably strong!"
"Did you see him defeat all four with a single strike?!"
"He's so handsome!"
"He carried himself with such elegance! That's exactly how a noble should be!"
The noble stands filled with endless praise.
Among them sat Rita Lan, Shion's mother.
She struggled desperately to hide the joy bursting inside her heart.
Instead, she wore a calm, confident smile.
The nobles immediately noticed.
"She has complete confidence in her son."
"I wish I knew how she raised him."
"The Lan Family has a bright future ahead if this woman becomes its lady."
Rita maintained her graceful composure.
Behind her, the maid Marie quietly whispered,
"You're doing wonderfully, my lady."
Rita answered through clenched teeth,
"It's so hard to hold back my excitement, Marie!"
Marie hurriedly whispered back,
"Please, my lady! Young Lord Shion has worked hard for this moment. We must display the elegance of the Lan Family. Please... for Young Lord's sake."
Rita forced herself to maintain the calm expression Marie had spent so long teaching her.
Her training had consisted entirely of controlling her facial expressions—revealing only the slightest emotions naturally, never becoming overly excited regardless of the situation.
'This is impossible! I want to shout, 'That's my son!' But...'
In the end, she could only sigh softly.
Her attention shifted toward the next match.
...
After leaving the arena, Shion intended to watch the remaining battles from the nobles' balcony.
There, he noticed Pearl Jewel waiting for him with a warm smile.
Having changed into his elegant formal attire, Shion walked over and smiled.
"It seems your guild's value has risen a little, hasn't it?"
Pearl was caught off guard before regaining her composure.
"Of course. The only noble who chose to represent a merchant guild displayed extraordinary strength and skill in his very first appearance at the tournament."
The two walked together for a short while.
Shion couldn't help noticing Pearl's natural charm, capable of capturing the hearts of those around her.
Looking at her warmly, he asked,
"May I have the honor of the Jewel Family's precious gem accompanying me for a while?"
Pearl froze.
A faint blush spread across her cheeks.
She hurriedly shook her head.
"My father is here... I can't go anywhere without his permission."
Then she quickly ran away, her heartbeat racing.
"I can't be with that man too long!"
Her blue eyes were clouded with confusion as she wandered aimlessly.
Meanwhile, the winner of the seventh match was announced.
To Shion's surprise, it was Cole Leon—the student who had ranked first in this year's entrance examinations.
Shion smiled inwardly, silently congratulating him.
He then headed toward the nobles' balcony, where his mother was seated.
The eighth match was about to begin.
Marie immediately noticed him and bowed.
"Young Lord Lan."
Rita wanted nothing more than to hug her son.
However, realizing countless eyes were upon them, she merely turned toward him and calmly said,
"Well done, my son."
"...?"
Shion couldn't understand the sudden change in his mother's behavior.
Smiling, he asked Marie,
"Aren't there any seats?"
Rita immediately stood.
"This seat represents you. I'll sit beside you."
Shion silently apologized to his mother.
The seat actually represented the Head of the Lan Family.
Another chair was quickly brought over.
Shion sat beside his mother as they watched the next match together.
The referee announced,
"...and Sol Hart from the Third Year..."
Shion immediately focused on the arena.
His mother did the same.
Solan Neumann appeared in Sol Hart's disguise, and the crimson eyes shining brilliantly.
However...
Shion suddenly felt an ominous sense of dread.
He remembered something important.
"No way!"
He remembered the previous meeting and the spirits spread through the academy.
"I hope she didn't see me with Pearl... My life is going to become miserable!"
His mother noticed his tension and comforted him.
"She's simply jealous of you. Besides, you shouldn't have been walking around with another girl. Although Pearl is beautiful, she's only interested in business."
Shion immediately realized his mother was desperately trying not to laugh.
"You can whisper if you want."
It was as though Rita had finally been given permission.
"I've been pretending to be elegant this whole time, but I can't just watch you get into trouble with her without saying anything!"
Feeling that she had been suppressing herself for far too long, Shion decided to let her speak freely.
"So... what do you think?"
Without hesitation, she answered,
"Marry both of them!"
"!!!"
A murderous gaze suddenly pierced Shion from the arena.
Solan had already defeated all of her opponents.
Before leaving the battlefield, she gave him an icy stare.
Shion swallowed nervously.
"She's going to kill me... She's definitely going to kill me!"
He wanted to chase after her.
Unfortunately, surrounded by so many nobles, leaving now would only attract unnecessary attention.
He turned toward Marie.
"Go find Solan and tell her Mother was only joking. It's all a misunderstanding."
With a respectful bow, Marie hurried away.
Another performance followed before the tournament resumed.
The ninth and tenth matches ended with victories for third- and fourth-year students.
Then came the eleventh match.
Harry Gill entered the arena with overwhelming ferocity, unleashing technique after technique.
However, Shion remained distracted.
Marie still hadn't returned.
Halfway through Harry's match, everyone's attention suddenly shifted toward Shion's balcony.
He had no idea why.
Then...
He felt two slender arms gently wrap around him from behind.
Startled, he whispered,
"Sol...an?"
The pure spirit sat beside him and quietly said,
"I'll pretend I didn't see you this time... but on one condition."
Shion sighed.
"And what's that condition?"
"No matter how much I lean on you in front of everyone... you are not allowed to react."
"...How?"
Before he could ask anything further, Solan wrapped herself around his arm and rested her head against his shoulder.
An uproar instantly erupted throughout the arena.
Everyone completely forgot about Harry, who was crushing his opponents.
Instead, every eye focused on Shion.
Especially Crown Princess Jina Joul...
And Pearl Jewel.
Solan smiled victoriously.
"Now those two girls know exactly how this feels."
Only then did Shion realize...
She was openly claiming him before everyone.
Some people looked at him with envy for having the beauty.
Others mocked him because of being in love with a spirit.
The envious admired the romantic scene.
The mockers laughed.
"So he loves the dead?"
"I've heard of love until death... but this is something new."
"That ghost picked the wrong place to confess!"
Hearing their ridicule, Solan lowered her head in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry... I only acted like this because... because..."
"It's alright."
Shion interrupted her.
Then, to everyone's astonishment...
He gently kissed her forehead.
"You're the girl I've spent more than fifteen years with. They'll never understand that... and honestly, I don't want them to. They'd only end up envying me."
Solan looked at him shyly.
Her face turned crimson.
She lowered her head without saying another word.
In doing so, she completely missed Jina's distorted expression...
As well as the darkness that had fallen across Pearl's face.
Meanwhile, Harry finally won his match.
Only then did he realize...
No one had been watching.
Even the announcer had forgotten about him.
When Harry followed everyone's gaze, he found Shion calmly looking in his direction.
His fists trembled with anger.
Before he could say anything, a voice interrupted,
"Aren't you going to announce the winner?"
The announcer finally came back to his senses.
Clearing his throat, he declared,
"The final contestant standing is Harry Gill of the Second Year! He has qualified to compete tomorrow!"
Harry noticed that the announcer hadn't even mentioned the condition of his defeated opponents.
He realized that no one had paid attention to his match.
Furious, he shouted,
"Shion Lan! I'll be waiting for you in the elimination rounds!"
Without looking back, he stormed away.
Shion blinked in surprise at the declaration.
Solan asked softly,
"Do you want me to take care of him?"
Shion shook his head.
"There's no need. We don't even know who we'll face in the elimination rounds."
Soon afterward, the twelfth match was announced.
Among the contestants, another familiar name appeared.
"... Fiore Tai from the First Year... and Rose Gard from the First Year."
The competitors entered the arena.
Unlike Baro Ferrer's calm confidence...
Fiore radiated pure chaos.
With a fearless grin, he declared,
"Let's begin!"