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Violet's First Words - Episode 3

* * *

Brilliant sunlight streamed through ‌‌the Academy's corridors.
The youngest in imperial history, the sole Sword Master among Academy students.
Ash leaned against the hallway with a languid expression.
The sunlight made his silver hair gleam dazzlingly.
Soon the door opened, and a petite girl approached Ash.
She had large eyes and voluminous orange hair tied in twin tails.
"Ash! I confirmed at the administrative office that Colbera is coming in today. I even peeked at the Training Ground reservation schedule."
"My ears will fall off. No matter how many times I teach him, that voice refuses to learn."
Ash began ‌‌‌walking slowly.
Marin trotted ‌‌‌‌after him, chattering away.
"Come on, do I look like someone who can stay calm? When I think about what that lowly professor Colbera tried to do to me, I still get chills! You remember, don't you, Ash?"
"I've already heard you curse Colbera several times."
"That's because I only saw him a few times running errands for my advisor. But then he assumed 'you must be interested in me too' and smirked. And then he dragged me out without any regard for propriety and—get this!" ‌‌‌
Marin continued obliviously.
"He forced me to sit across from him at a café and asked, 'You're not ‌‌‌like that pretty girl who's into rich ‌‌‌men, are you?' What kind of question is that! No matter how much I ‌‌think about it, ‌‌‌‌I'm furious."
"The part where he looked at you with lecherous eyes?"
"All of it, including that! I'm sure whoever that woman he insulted is, she must be living a righteous and upstanding life. That's why she's being disrespected by trash like Colbera."
"A brilliant analysis."
"Hehe, thank you."
"You should realize I was being sarcastic. You can close your mouth now."
Marin flinched at those words.
"But still...."
"Whoever insults my subordinate will be hanged, beaten, and humiliated threefold as punishment. If you wag your tongue any further, I'll consider it ‌‌mockery of your master."
"Yes, thank you. I've never been good at knowing when to ‌‌‌keep quiet."
"Tsk, you pestered and badgered your way into the Academy following me, yet you learn nothing."
"I may not learn ‌‌‌anything else, but I'm learning costume studies well. The Academy is a cesspool of corruption, but it's the only place in the world where you can major in the history of fashion. If you'd left me behind, I would have died of heartbreak."
"Fortunately, you're alive and well."
"But there's a rumor that Colbera is a distant relative of ‌‌‌the Headmaster. He got in through connections."
"Is that so? He looked rather impoverished."
"A poor relative, I suppose. Anyway, I heard his skills are abysmal. If he loses to you, ‌he might be so embarrassed he'll faint to death."
Ash opened the Training Ground door. After glancing down for a moment, he spoke.
"It seems someone has ‌‌‌‌already knocked him unconscious."
Ash's handsome brow furrowed faintly at the ‌‌sight before me.
The Training Ground that the Academy took ‌‌pride in had an exceptionally high ceiling.
Deliberately constructed by opening up two floors, the Training Ground had protruding railings positioned above so ‌that matches and training sessions could be observed.
Ash stood quietly at the railing, gazing down below.
"Pfft, what is that?"
The state of Colbera sprawled out on the Training Ground floor was nothing short of a disaster. A patch of baldness ran down the center of his head like a road had been carved through it.
Seeing Marin struggling to suppress her laughter, Ash brought a finger to her lips with a soft "shh."
"Didn't you say she was ‌‌‌‌a vixen earlier?"
Ash ‌‌‌whispered the question.
"Yes... the woman who cursed at Colbera."
"I'm not sure about vixen, but she certainly looks proper for a woman."
"Do ‌‌‌you know who that woman is?"
Marin whispered her question.
"One of ‌‌the only remotely interesting elements in ‌‌this pathetic Academy."
"I feel like I've seen her somewhere, but her name..."
"Her name suits her well too. Violet Everdin."
Fortunately, they were accustomed to conversing through lip movements and whispers. Thanks to that, neither Violet nor Colbera had yet noticed their presence.
Violet stared down at Colbera sprawled on the floor as if unconscious, then nudged him with the ‌‌tip of her shoe.
She looked at him with disdain, then pulled something from her pocket.
Violet tossed a white envelope onto Colbera's face with a sharp slap.
"Since you've taught me so little as my ‌‌‌‌instructor, ‌‌‌this letter of withdrawal is all ‌‌I have to offer in return."
Naturally, there was no response from Colbera. ‌‌‌‌
"Of course, you're ‌unconscious so you won't hear my words. I hope we never meet again."
Violet straightened ‌her collar, then turned and left the Training Ground with the sound of her footsteps echoing.
"Wow, it's like watching 'The Young Lady of Rosiness.' That refreshing female protagonist who punishes villains. It's exhilarating."
Marin spoke in a daze.
"The Young Lady of Rosiness? Why resort to comparing her to such an unremarkable work?"
"Come on, you like it too. That novel means something special to us, doesn't it?"
"Hush, enough."
Ash spoke.
As Violet turned to leave, she ‌seemed to sense a presence and looked up at Ash.
When their eyes met, Violet's face flushed red and she lowered her gaze.
"Oh, I remember who that lady is now. Isn't she the ‌less attractive Everdin?"
"Who said that?"
Ash pulled away from the railing.
"They say her younger sister is so beautiful she's called the Academy's goddess, but the older sister ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌is gloomy and always wears the same clothes. How can someone live wearing ‌‌‌the same outfit every day?"
"Your tongue is too long."
"But still." ‌‌‌
"In my eyes, the ‌‌older sister looks far better than the younger one."
"This is the first time I've heard Ash say something like that. Ash, where are you going?" ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
"When your eyes meet someone's, you should greet them."
A subtle smile played at the corners of Ash's lips.
He turned his back and began walking toward the Garden, where Violet was presumably crossing through.

* * *

Violet had left the Training Ground and was walking through the Academy's Garden.
'My entire body is tingling.'
Today was the first time I had used the technique of shaping aura. Perhaps because of that, my strength drained away, and I sank onto a bench near ‌‌‌‌the fountain.
'That was definitely Ash Defendale watching me from the second floor of the Training Ground just now.'
In a place where high-ranking nobles were cast aside, Ash was a commoner.
Yet at ‌‌merely nineteen years old, he was a prodigy who had reached "Sword Master"—the dream of swordsmen and a great pinnacle of achievement.
'Right now, as an Academy student, he's only famous here, but once he graduates, Ash will become far more renowned....'
Even the Imperial Knight Order, the Empire's greatest knightly organization, would accept him immediately if he wished. There were countless rumors about why such a person ‌‌remained affiliated with the Academy.
The most credible rumor was that the Academy had begged him to stay ‌‌‌in name only so they could keep his graduation record, and he reluctantly agreed.
'Why of all people did Ash have to be there.'
The Ash I knew was always aloof and quiet, with an air that said 'I'm different from the likes of you.'
Yet there were surprisingly many female students who harbored feelings for him.
In truth, Ash possessed extraordinary talent beyond his swordsmanship....
"What are you doing?"
"Ah!"
I was startled out of my thoughts.
Someone had spoken to me from behind. When I ‌turned my head, Ash had already drawn ‌‌‌close enough to touch.
'That caught me off ‌‌‌‌guard. Even though it's not the first time, I still can't get used to it....'
Ash's talent, surpassing even his swordsmanship, was his face.
Silver hair like high-purity silver refined and mixed into steel, and eyes like deep, mysterious dark rubies.
'Isn't being this handsome rather dangerous?'
Anyone whose gaze fell upon Ash would momentarily stop thinking and only register the thought: 'He's beautiful.'
A power that temporarily rendered people senseless. It was a somewhat threatening talent.
"What business ‌‌‌do you have with me?"
I calmed my startled heart and asked.
"There's something I ‌‌‌want to ask you."
Ash spoke quietly.
My heart clenched tightly.
'Could it be that Ash has come to rebuke me for assaulting and verbally abusing ‌‌a professor? With the sense of duty befitting a ‌‌‌‌Sword Master....'
And on top of that, if he interrogates me about where my ‌‌‌‌sudden power came from, what am ‌‌‌‌I supposed to say?
'I can't explain one by one that my future self might be a villainess estimated to have killed over seven hundred ‌‌‌people....'
I carefully opened my mouth.
"...What do you want to ask?"
"Do you have any plans to commit murder?"
Violet nearly let out a sigh.
'Did ‌‌‌she read my mind?'

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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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