The Butterfly That Swallowed the Fog - Chapter 3
Ellex Davenport’s eyes were a striking blue-gray, as if a single drop of gray had been stirred into the depths of deep ocean water.
Some called them dreamy, others said they resembled the clouds of dawn, but to Tilia they revealed nothing beyond a hazy detachment.
Those enigmatic eyes widened faintly, then fixed sharply on her.
Just three strides. From the time Tilia passed the next lamppost to the one after that.
A soft breeze still carrying the chill of late spring brushed against Ellex’s golden hair before drifting toward her.
Her raven-black locks swayed like willow branches, exposing the pale curves of her cheek and neck.
It was the moment she realized the air in the crowded space had shifted.
“Kyaaah, Ellex!”
A hoarse scream sliced through the air.
His opponent, already cornered, had seized the chance to strike at the vital point.
Was he truly distracted? Tension tightened Ellex’s face as he staggered back.
No way.
Tilia’s chest churned wildly as she watched him from afar.
No way. It’s working?
She gazed at Ellex desperately parrying the attack with bright, hopeful eyes.
Yet hope felt meaningless.
The one who had seemed on the verge of being pushed back suddenly accelerated, dismantling his opponent with swift, strategic precision.
It was the speed of someone who had proven just moments ago that this was no mere game.
The muscular man opposite him collapsed without a single effective defense.
Against overwhelming skill, even a greatsword or a desperate challenge meant nothing.
“Wow, I saw that?”
Even Judy, who had grown up watching countless sparring matches, let out a gasp of admiration.
“With that kind of skill, he’d probably top the knight academy! He really is a genius, isn’t he.”
But while everyone else marveled at his talent, Tilia’s expression remained cold once more.
Hmph. I expected better.
“Let’s go, Judy. The library will be crowded after the match ends.”
“Oh, okay!”
She turned her back on the roaring field without a second glance and walked toward the library.
***
“As expected, it’s Ellex.”
Silky red hair tossed over one shoulder, Cecilia Clayton approached his side.
The crowd that had gathered around the victor parted naturally at her appearance.
“You were pretending to be careless on purpose, weren’t you?”
She flashed a dazzling smile that showed every tooth and handed him a snowy white handkerchief.
“Even so, it’s been a while since you warmed up instead of going all out. You really fought with everything?”
Yet the meticulously folded white handkerchief simply floated in midair, untouched by any hand.
“Anyway, you have to realize your own limits.”
With natural grace, Cecilia lowered the hand that had been holding the handkerchief and turned her head toward the direction where Ellex’s gaze remained fixed.
“What are you looking at?”
After catching his breath, his eyes followed the path to the library entrance.
During exam season, more people than usual were heading that way.
“You weren’t even heading to the library, why are you staring there?”
Curious, Cecilia turned her eyes back to him.
But he had already turned his back and was walking far away.
***
In the central-western part of the continent, the Archasis Kingdom bordered the North Sea to the west and the Ontaroa Kingdom to the south.
Throughout the continent, it was a nation that had produced countless outstanding scholars.
Every genius who influenced the entire continent had graduated from the same academy: the Archasis Royal Academy.
It was the ultimate elite breeding ground, the repository of knowledge and the pinnacle of teaching methods on the continent.
Graduates of the coming-of-age ceremony, royal academies accepted applicants from even foreign royalty, and those who failed received no leniency.
“Tilia, what if I… can’t graduate?”
Yet passing the notoriously difficult entrance exam did not guarantee graduation.
“What if I fail and have to stay an extra year?!”
After completing four years of required courses, one had to pass both the written and oral exams with the minimum score to earn the diploma.
“Rhetoric is the scariest subject. I had a nightmare about getting an F on the exam yesterday.”
It was no rare sight for senior students to dream of receiving failure notices.
“It’s okay. Dreams are just dreams.”
Climbing the library stairs, Tilia patted Judy’s shoulder to comfort her as she bit her lips.
“You’ll definitely pass. Don’t worry.”
“What if my dream was a premonition?”
Seeing Judy’s anxious face, Tilia looked at her with pity.
“What’s the worst that can happen? You’ll just have to study for an extra year.”
“Aaaah!”
Judy grabbed her hair and wailed.
“No! I’ve already suffered through four years of this—why do I have to do it again?!”
“I’ll tell you the kind of question that would come up in theology.”
“But you said you’d check the entire syllabus before!”
“Studying is good, isn’t it? Besides, the questions will only come from the syllabus anyway.”
With a pained expression, Judy was pulled along by Tilia.
“Tilia Ambrose!”
A voice laced with metal echoed from the upper stairwell.
Turning her head, Tilia saw a man sprinting toward her in a panic—Gregory Myers, the eldest son of the Myers Marquis.
“T-Tilia. About what I said in the lecture… I thought you might have misunderstood, so…”
Gasping and stuttering, Gregory stood beside Tilia, but Judy’s face beside her twisted in confusion as she looked up at her friend for an explanation.
“What misunderstanding?”
Unlike Judy, Tilia simply regarded Gregory with a calm face.
“Are you saying I misunderstood you when you called me an easy woman to get, or when you said I was a woman who could be taken without consequence?”
“…”
At Tilia’s words, Judy’s face drained of all color as she stared at Gregory Myers in horror.
“What did you say…?”
“W-What nonsense are you talking about?! When did I ever say that?!”
Paying attention to Judy’s pale face and the shocked reactions of those around her, Gregory’s neck veins bulged as he shouted.
Then, suddenly changing his expression, he glanced at Tilia’s eyes.
“Did you hear only that? You misunderstood it?”
“I didn’t think it was a misunderstanding, but I did hear something else.”
“What…?”
“That you were so obsessed with following Ellex Davenport that your tongue was worn out?”
Her voice remained soft and teasing as she added, “Oh, and one more thing. I saw you groveling and licking the shoes of the thing your master threw at you.”
Her mocking words were clear enough that someone nearby let out a stifled laugh.
This bitch.
Gregory’s thick neck flushed crimson at the laughter directed right at him.
Relieved that he had only heard the back half, he had thought the matter over.
But Tilia Ambrose had continued to mock him without restraint.
The fear that she might expose his plan at the academy had long since faded.
Now he was consumed only with the thought of crushing this girl who knew nothing about the future.
“Tilia Ambrose.”
If only he had heard everything back then, perhaps he could have forgiven her.
But this woman who had apparently missed the key part of his plan had no need for mercy.
“After you graduate from this academy, do you think you’ll still be able to meet my eyes?”
Most importantly, Gregory held the winning card.
“You’re nothing but a poor baroness’s daughter who needs to earn money to get a job.
And I am the official heir to the Marquis title.
You don’t think the Archasis social circle is like the academy, do you? You don’t actually believe rules there will still apply?”
It was none other than status.
As befitted a prestigious school, the Archasis Royal Academy had its own rules.
Students were all equal regardless of rank—an ideal that existed only on paper.
“You understand the rules now, Ambrose miss.”
“Act properly and stop begging me after graduation.”
With a smug expression, Gregory looked down on her, convinced that this time he would completely break her spirit.
“If you behave like this when you step into real society, do you think I’ll treat you kindly?”
“Yes. Once you graduate, that will be the case.”
But the opponent was Tilia Ambrose.
A pretty face who had heard the evaluation that she was not a mere pet dog but a fierce one.
“But there’s still quite a bit of time left before that, isn’t there? How about it? This time, can you make it through the second round?”
“Wh-”
“I appreciate the advice, but I’ll think about the future after graduation later.
Already worrying about something so far in the future feels meaningless to me.
Ah, if it’s expulsion, that’s different?”
Her last words struck like a dagger.
Gregory’s face, already warned by his father that one more extension would mean no more chances, flushed purple with rage.