—Tap tap tap tap tap!

Her teeth ground against each other while her feet continued to tap against the stone floor. 

Her left hand rested on the armrest of the bench. 

Shifting her position, she leaned forward, clasping her hands together. 

Her long and straight auburn hair fell forward, covering the corners of her visage. 

"Tch! Is this going to be alright?"

The lone girl mumbled to herself. 

She was nervous, so nervous, it was certainly evident in the way she fidgeted at every turn. 

The seeping rays of sunlight landed on her, but her inner turmoil overshadowed the light heat from the sunlight. 

"Hey... you waiting for someone else?" 

A voice called out to her. 

Lifting her head, her eyes fell on the really beautiful girl standing infront of her. 

The girl moved, gesturing to empty spot beside her. 

At this, the beautiful girl sat down. 

The girl that had just say down looked at her and noticed her fidgeting finger. 

She asked, "Are you alright?" 

After a brief moment, the girl clasped her hands together—yet again. 

She hadn't noticed her own nervous fidgeting. 

She replied, "It's nothing. I..."

"Let me guess, are you scared you'll get bullied?" 

"Eh?!" she frowned, "W-What made you come to that conclusion senior sister?"

"Senior sister? That's quite the ambiguous title." 

"Well... you have the pin," she pointed at the small golden sun on the lapel of her crisp white suit. 

"...so you must at the very least be a second year." 

The other girl chuckled lightly, "Astute observation. But you haven't told me why you're looking so down." 

"Ah! It's because... I don't think I'm fit to be here, amongst all these nobles, and—I'm not even that great with magic, and I just awakened recentl—"

"Hey. Stop," she placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"If it's alright, may I ask you how the professor's here are?" 

At these words, the girl paused, and then opened her mouth to reply, "The professor's of the mage class are quite alright, but I don't think we share the same professors." 

Her words felt heavy, although it was not her intention. 

The words were supposed to hint at the colour of the girl's uniform which was neither white, nor black. 

White was the colour of the mage class, and black was the colour of the martial class, however the girl was wearing a chalk-beige suit, one unfamiliar on the grounds of Nexarion. 

The specific colour was that of the Manakai class. 

Yes. 

"What's your name?" 

The elder girl asked, extending her hand. 

"Nichole Avery." 

The other girl unclasped her own hands and shook the girl's. 

The hand was firm, but soft, surprisingly soft, just like her voice. 

"We'll be seeing each other more." 

With these words, she got up, yawning lightly. 

"...ahh! See you later, senior." 

"Oh please, call me Daniela." 

_________________________

"Wow! Pretty boy, are you down for her?" 

"I was merely spectating her," Finn shrugged her off. 

"Quite the roundabout way of saying, 'I'm spying on her'." 

She said with a smirk plastered to her face. 

Finn hissed, "You...!"

"Calm down pretty boy," she leaned in, looking at the girl Finn was glancing at. 

There she was, clad in a beige suit, standing out even when she was alone. 

'That's her... How come I can't remember much about her, there are way too many gaps in my memories.' 

Finn was not spying on the girl out of curiosity, but because he wanted to remember. 

Ever since he had gotten his memories, he couldn't make out everything. 

But he figured out that by seeing someone, he could unlock parts of his memories. 

Only fault with this plan was, it was not exactly very effective. 

For one, he couldn't remember anything about Jack, nor about the Princess with black hair. 

Same went for Nichole, whom he couldn't remember much about, even after seeing her.  

"So, who are you?" 

The girl continued to pester him despite him not paying much heed to her antics. 

He took a step back, standing back into the shadow of the tree before answering. 

"Isn't it rude to not introduce oneself before asking for a name?" 

He made a snarky comment, expecting the girl to back down. 

However contrary to his expectations, the girl bowed down, and said, "My name is Aileen Seqia, the first daughter of Viscount Seqia." 

At these words, Finn's eyes trembled. 

The name sounded eerily familiar, yet he couldn't make it out. 

Knowing it would be quite ungentlemanly of him to leave the girl be, he replied. 

"Finn Zen Tenebrion." 

At this, she got up and pulling her long brown hair which had fallen to the front. 

"So, Finn, fancy that girl?" 

"It's not what you think it is." 

Finn replied, striding off in the opposite direction. 

"Ho. Care to enlighten me on what—hey where are you going?!" 

Seeing how Finn had already left, she chased after the boy. 

"Slow down, where are you going?" 

"Eh? Why are you following me?" 

"No reason. You seem fun, and that girl back there, you know her?" 

"Nope. I do not. You do?" 

"Of course I do. I'm not just some spoiled brat, I heard she had awakened an amazing talent." 

At her words Finn winced. 

He then peeked at her over his shoulder, asking, "Where did you hear that? Aren't information about talent really hidden from the public?" 

Placing a hand on her chest, she said, "Walk into dark alleyways at night, you'll find out." 

"Eah?" 

Finn eyes flattened at her words. 

"N-Not like that!!" 

_________________________

The noise around him faded as the girl before him handed him a small back cube with rounded edges. 

She did not say anything and simply placed it on his open palm. 

"What's this...?"

Jack asked, his words down to barely a whisper. 

"I think you know what it is, Mister Thorne." 

He did know what it was, but he found it difficult to acknowledge the fact. 

It was his research, the years of research his elder brother had sabotaged. 

The memories and traumatic experiences he had lived through came back rushing in, but he did so little to react to it. 

The time of living in solitude number his senses to some extent. 

Unlike how Wyge had expected the man to react, he took it coldly. 

"Thanks... I'll put it to good use." 

He spoke softly, arching his head. 

Wyge felt the something off about the situation, her instincts going off as if she were in the presence of something dangerous. 

But she brushed it off, knowing it was most likely due to the man's memories of bitter days leaking out through his aura. 

"Um... Mister Thorne, if you had a chance to strike back those who had wronged you, would you take it?" 

—Ho! I like her! 

The familiar voice of The Count rang in his head. 

"Not really. I dropped those thoughts a long-time ago."

"Is that so?" 

Holding up the black cube, he asked, "May I ask you where you found this?" 

"The Junkyard," she said. 

"..."

Her face remained expressionless throughout the entire conversation. 

Truth be told, she had expected him to react more, however, he was calm and calculated, something she had not expected. 

Contrary to having looked like someone who could be persuaded through simply words, similar to how Shia had gotten him to join Nexarion, he seemed to be a well calculated man. 

—Ring ring ring ring! 

Brushing off the long overcoat let loosly around his shoulder, he reached into the left pocket of his jacket and drew the ringing device; a white smartphone. 

It was a random number, but he could already guess who it was. 

Swiping across the blue screen, he answered the call. 

—Where are you!!?

The loud sound of the principal bursted at him from the other side, prompting him to hold it away from his ears at one point. 

"Miss Shia, calm down." 

—Calm down my ass! Come up here right now. 

—Beep! 

"Hah... It seems like she's no longer interested." 

Jack looked at the empty spot where Wyge had been standing before. 

—Good! I was starting to think this life of mine was going to be just as boring as my previous one!

_________________________