A Chance Encounter Between Birds of a Feather

Two days had passed since Joseph broke off the engagement. As Brigitte walked down the hallway on her way to class in another building, she could feel people staring at her… It was incredibly awkward.

It’s like every person in this school knows what happened…

Still, she didn’t let it show on her face, throwing her shoulders back as she walked. No matter what they said or how much they laughed, she was determined not to let them get the best of her.

That was her sole wish…but the truth was, she already felt discouraged.

What in the world do I do now?

Seemingly overnight, she had tumbled from her position as the prince’s fiancée to just another discarded adolescent girl.

Suddenly, as she turned the corner of the hallway, something knocked her shoulder, and she tottered slightly. She’d bumped into a male student walking toward her. But before she could stop herself, she was already snapping at him.

“How rude! You should look where you’re walking!”

She glared at him. The boy’s face twitched, but he said nothing and simply ran away down the hall.

I have to stop acting this way! Why am I always saying such things?

Her eyes grew hot. But if she cried, she knew people would laugh at her even more. So she bit her lip and blinked back the tears.

She couldn’t remember when, exactly, Joseph had told her he liked haughty, domineering girls. To please him, she had cast aside her timid, quiet self in favor of an arrogant, cruel personality that took advantage of her position as the prince’s fiancée. Soon the unwanted nickname the Red Fairy became even more firmly attached to her.

Just now, she really had wanted to apologize.

“…Arghhh,” she sighed.

How silly is it that I can’t even speak normally anymore?

She was able to stay calmer when she was talking to one of the kind cottage servants. She knew she couldn’t go on like this, but getting rid of ingrained habits wasn’t easy.

She glanced up and noticed that sunbeams were pouring through the school windows. But even with the clear blue sky, so bright it stung her eyes, her dark mood refused to lighten. Plus, she hated to see the gaudy reflection of her made-up face in the window.

“Did you hear me, Yuri Aurealis?”

Brigitte froze at the sound of the voice ahead of her. She knew she didn’t need to hide…but she slipped behind a pillar anyway. When she timidly peeked out, she saw the backs of two familiar figures just down the hallway.

Joseph and Lisa.

The humiliation and sadness of two days earlier flooded back, and she squeezed her fists in front of her chest.

There was a boy standing in front of them, too. “Of course. I’ve been listening to you this whole time, Prince Joseph,” he said.

“…How dare you speak so rudely to royalty?”

Brigitte recognized the boy. There probably wasn’t a student in school who didn’t know his name—Yuri Aurealis. He was possibly even more famous than Joseph, the Third Prince.

The son of the Water Clan…

The House of Aurealis was a prominent dukedom, and many of its members were skilled at water magic. Their lineage was impeccable.

Brigitte had met Yuri several times, but she had never had a real conversation with him. Still, she was extremely aware of him.

Perhaps that was because so many people mentioned the House of Meidell and the House of Aurealis in the same breath. One was skilled at fire magic and the other at water magic, and serendipitously, many children were born with red hair in the one and blue hair in the other.

However, in contrast to the tiny spirit Brigitte had contracted with, Yuri had contracted with not one but two first-class spirits, despite being the duke’s fourth son. He was a genius without equal.

As was common among those with excellent magic lineage, in both the Meidell and Aurealis families, only legitimate sons or daughters who contracted with a first-class spirit were qualified to take on the family title. Rumor had it that Yuri would certainly inherit the title of duke in his family. Although his eldest brother had also contracted with a powerful spirit, Yuri was so incredibly talented that his older brother was scarcely mentioned.

Yuri had a reputation for treating everyone with cold cruelty. And sure enough, at this very moment, he was looking at Joseph and Lisa without a hint of warmth in his eyes. The rumors about the dozens of girls he’d rejected probably weren’t lies, either. Thanks to his personality and his extraordinary abilities, people called him the Frozen Blade.

People hate him just as much as they hate me…

That was probably the only thing they had in common.

Of course, in Brigitte’s case, the hatred came from contempt, while in Yuri’s case, it probably came from jealousy and desire for what he had.

Right now, Joseph seemed to be lashing out at the duke’s son.

“Then apologize to Lisa. You should be able to do that, I believe?”

“…I cannot consent to that, Your Highness.”

With his blue-black hair and foxlike yellow eyes, which were especially sharp at the moment, Yuri was stunningly attractive. He wasn’t especially tall, and his pale skin and delicate features made him look almost like a girl at first glance. Still, as Brigitte peeked out from her hiding spot, she felt overwhelmed by his power. Was it the indifference in his gaze that made her feel this way? He could cut someone in half with that look.

“I did not go out of my way to treat Baron Selmin’s daughter poorly. If I had to say one way or the other, I’d say I treat everyone the same as I treat her.”

“You’re an obnoxiously brazen person, you know that? Lisa is a close friend of mine, and I am royalty!”

“And how, exactly, does that relate to me?”

Yuri frowned, looking bored, while Joseph growled angrily.

But Brigitte already understood the situation, by and large. She let out a muffled sigh.

Joseph is angry with him for how he treated Lisa…

…How ridiculous. She wondered if Joseph would go on threatening anyone who didn’t please him. Just like he’d assumed that she’d been bullying Lisa and passed judgment on her. What in the world had happened to the kind, thoughtful Joseph she’d first met?

As she thought about all of this…her eyes met Yuri’s over Joseph’s shoulder. She froze, then frantically retracted her neck.

Did he see me?

If word got out that she was eavesdropping, it would be more than a little bad for her reputation. She tiptoed away from her hiding spot. Behind her, she could still hear Joseph yelling. A crowd seemed to be gathering.

Yuri was probably about to be publicly disgraced just like she had been. But even as the thought crossed her mind, she realized he wasn’t likely to become the butt of everyone’s jokes the way she had. No matter what Joseph said to him, he held his ground.

He’s cold and blunt and unpleasant…

She knew that.

But secretly, she was just a tiny bit impressed by his prickliness.