Within the first week after the accident that severely affected Rotsard, the entire Academy was bustling with rumors.
Despite the event itself being already hard to believe, it became exaggerated even more, and the theories of what happened behind the scenes for it to happen were getting out of hand.
Somehow, a good chunk of the students were convinced that Rotsard Vallhall went crazy about being rejected by Amelia Edemsworth and tried to attack her, but suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the peasant student, Justin.
Others seemed to assume that Rotsard had full control the whole time, and the accident was just a way to scare Amelia into surrendering herself to him, but his plans were foiled by Justin.
The most favorable opinion about Rotsard was that he actually lost control since he was simply incompetent, and then he displayed intellectual incompetence on top of that by getting in over his head and challenging Justin for a duel over Amelia, only to get put back in his place.
All of those rumors only gained relevance when it was revealed that in two months, a representative of the Vallhall family would visit the Royal Academy to investigate the situation.
The time frame didn't make any sense, so everyone agreed that Vallhalls were sending someone to bury the whole situation and, most likely, let the situation blow over naturally without making it a big deal.
With only one exception, all students who passed by a hallway leading to an abandoned wing of the Royal Academy would whisper to each other in hushed voices and snicker.
That Rotsard Vallhall holed himself up in one of the classrooms there, clearly too ashamed to return to his dormitory room.
No one besides his maid and his fiancee, who didn't know any better than to stick to such a worthless scum, would check up on him.
Some students even doubted whether Rotsard would even show up to lectures again or just give up, waiting for the two months to pass and leave the Royal Academy together with the representative of his family.
Others even wondered whether he was actually alive.
After all, the chill coming from the hallway alone was enough to make one's teeth chatter. There was no way someone like Rotsard would be able to handle it.
But then again, that line of thought was countered by someone claiming that the cold coming out of the hallway was just for show, and Rotsard was living cozily in a warm classroom turned into a luxurious bedroom.
Everyone already knew that Rotsard bleached his hair to keep up appearances, so another attempt at trickery wouldn't be surprising coming from him.
The thing about the hair was that the symbol of the Vallhall family was the legendary Grand White Wolf Fae living in the Far North, the coldest place in the world.
Real members of the Vallhall family prided themselves about their fair hair, beastly eyes, and extreme cold tolerance.
…but Rotsard's actual hair was dark brown…
That alone wouldn't even be a problem for the Vallhall family, though... if only Rotsard acted appropriately for a noble, that is.
More negative rumors arose as someone from the faculty let it slip during one of the lectures that the planned reconstruction of the abandoned wing of the Academy had to be delayed indefinitely because of Rotsard seizing one of the classrooms and turning the whole section into a fridge!
Truly.
He was a scum amongst scums.
That's why, there was no one paying attention when a hooded figure slipped into the hallway of the abandoned wing and stopped in front of the frosted door to one of the classrooms.
The figure raised their hand, muttering something under their breath that turned visible from the cold…
…and then upon their common, several magic circles appeared floating out of the door…!
The tip of the hooded stranger's finger began to glow the same color as the magic circles, and they began using it to change some of the symbols inscribed within them.
The hooded figure was quite meticulous, and it took them a lot of time to implement all the changes… whatever changes they were implementing…
They were done with it only shortly before sunrise, and barely missed the Academy's staff starting the day early.
That was when the hooded stranger waved his hand for the last time and walked away in a hurry while the magic circles floated back to and merged with the door.
The moment they did, the severity of the cold increased several-fold, causing ice crystals to grow on the frosted door and freezing the moisture that gathered on the windows on the opposite side of the hallway.
After that, another week passed, and the rumors about Rotsard passing away gained traction as the severe cold coming from the hallway leading to the abandoned wing he seized was lowering the temperature of the entire building and even the surroundings outside.
The faculty, clearly already bought off by the Vallhall family, didn't just barge in and check what was going on, and instead put up magic barriers to confine the cold.
Even more gossip was fueled by the fact that Rotsard's foolish fiancee stopped visiting him.
Her explanation was that it got so cold that Rotsard asked her to stay away because she could end up hurt, but everyone had their own opinion about the truth she was concealing.
But then after exactly one month after the incident…
"S-student Vallhall…! I… didn't expect to see you today."
The teacher in charge of the first lecture of the day let out a shocked voice at the sight of a student who walked in at the last moment, causing everyone in the classroom to start murmuring feverishly amongst each other.
Rotsard looked just as miserable as they remembered him, that is, before he was covered in blood.
With bleached-blond hair that he didn't even bother to refresh, so dark roots were far too obvious, with the baggy uniform hanging on his skinny frame akin to a scarecrow…
And with a permanent I'm-better-than-you expression in his beastly yellow eyes.
"My health improved enough for me to start attending lectures again."
"I see. That's good, take your seat."
Rotasrd responded with a barely noticeable nod, sounding indifferent - almost disrespectful - but instead of getting admonished, he was simply encouraged by the teacher.
"..."
The bleached-blond-haired boy turned to the side only to stop in place.
The seat he wanted to take, the one in the front row close to the door, was already taken.
The whole three rows were already full.
"Please take YOUR seat, student Vallhall."
"..."
Foreseeing that the trouble child approached one of his classmates with a clear intention of kicking them out of their spot, the teacher straightened his back and declared, clearly making Rotsard flinch at being seen through.
"!!!"
Rotsard did walk past the front row, but not without glaring at the unfortunate classmate taking the spot with his beastly yellow eyes, causing the poor soul to start trembling.
Even so, the next minute, Rotsard already sank into his chair, in the spot that was perfect for stealing creepy glances at Amelia Edemsworth, who fidgeted in unease because of that fact.
…only that Rotsard spent the entire lecture focused solely on the teacher, diligently taking notes…
It was obviously some sort of trick…
Was he just ogling her from the corner of his eye?
Did he have a hidden mirror that he used to peek up Amelia's skirt?
Nothing was beneath that scum, after all!