Path of the Extra

They had both left early, thinking the academy grounds would be empty at this hour, but it wasn't.

Far from it.

It wasn't that the first-year students were still asleep—in fact, it was the opposite.

The academy grounds were bustling with activity, filled with students who seemed eager for the first day.

At least, they had been until Azriel and Celestina stepped out.

Apparently, the excitement for the first day was contagious.

'I wish I could relate.'

Azriel thought, shaking his head.

"Shall we go?"

Celestina nodded again, and both of them put on their signature smiles as they walked ahead, ignoring the eyes of the students watching them.

'Dammit, have these people never seen a prince and princess together? Wait, do they even know who I am...?'

Before he could delve further into his thoughts, Celestina interrupted with a question.

"By the way, Azriel, what class are you in?"

"HCS-1."

"I see, same as me. If it's fine with you, shall we go together?"

Azriel kept his smile as he nodded.

"It would be my pleasure."

Walking side by side, neither of them spoke.

Yet, it wasn't awkward.

It felt... comfortable.

As long as they ignored the whispers from the nearby students.

"Hey, that's Princess Celestina Frost, right?"

"Yeah... I saw she's ranked third."

"Wow, she's absolutely stunning!"

"Some no-name beat her for second place, apparently, but the apex this year is Azriel Crimson."

"That guy walking next to her... is he Azriel Crimson?"

"I don't know... but he's certainly handsome."

"If it is him, does that mean the rumors about him are true?"

The whispers continued, with students assuming Celestina and Azriel couldn't hear them.

But, of course, they could.

It's just that addressing them would only create more rumors.

'Wouldn't rumors start if they discover I'm Azriel, walking next to her?'

Azriel glanced at Celestina, who kept walking, eyes fixed ahead.

'I guess she doesn't care about such rumors...'

"Can I ask you a question?"

Celestina suddenly spoke again, halting Azriel's thoughts.

His smile grew slightly.

"Of course."

"...Back at the banquet, about our engagement... did you mean what you said?"

Azriel looked at her as they continued walking.

"I said a lot of things about our engagement. You'll have to be more specific, Princess Celestina."

Celestina turned to him, narrowing her eyes, the smile on her face disappearing.

"You know what I mean... about our last moment together when you..."

"When I told you that we should get engaged once we truly love each other, and then your face turned red in embarrassment, and you ran away?"

Azriel finished her sentence, a teasing smile playing on his lips.

Celestina looked ahead again, avoiding his gaze.

"I wasn't embarrassed, nor did I run away... You just caught me off guard, that's all."

Azriel nodded.

"What do you think?"

Celestina furrowed her brows.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think I lied about what I said, or not?"

"That..."

Celestina hesitated, shaking her head.

"I don't know. I don't really know you well enough to say if you were messing with me or not."

Azriel hummed softly, his tone gentler.

"Then how about you find out for yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"Take the time to truly know me and understand the kind of person I am. Only then will you discern whether my words were truth or lie."

This time, it was Celestina's turn to smile, a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Is this your attempt at befriending me, Azriel?"

Azriel chuckled.

"I was never the social type, so in a way... I guess it is."

"Oh..."

Celestina looked ahead.

"I guess we can be friends..."

"Then I'll be looking forward to our future together, Celestina."

"...Mm, me too."

*****

After a light chat, Azriel and Celestina walked together to their classroom. When they arrived, the room was already more than half full, just like the academy grounds outside.

The moment they stepped inside, the classroom fell silent.

All eyes turned toward them.

'Azriel is right—it's really too early for all of this.'

Celestina thought, resisting the urge to sigh.

Ignoring the stares and whispers, the two walked toward the seats on the left side, near the front. Azriel chose a seat by the window, and Celestina sat next to him.

They had taken their time and chosen a longer route to the classroom, chatting along the way.

As a result, class was about to start soon.

Celestina knew there probably wouldn't be any lessons today—just introductions and an overview of what to expect at the academy.

'I wonder what Azriel th—'

Celestina's thoughts came to an abrupt halt as she turned to where Azriel was supposed to be sitting.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

Azriel was lying on his desk, head resting on his folded arms... asleep.

'You're kidding...'

She didn't dare look around at the other students, who were likely watching them closely.

Even if they hadn't yet figured out exactly who he was, they must have an idea based on his proximity to her.

But still...

'Doesn't he care?'

Celestina found herself unable to understand him.

His thoughts, expressions, and actions were unpredictable.

She had no clear idea of what kind of person he truly was.

'...to understand the type of person you are.'

Those words he had spoken earlier lingered in her mind.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't interested.

Besides, she genuinely wanted to be friends with him.

Celestina furrowed her brows slightly.

'Does he perhaps not get enough sleep?'

Thinking back to earlier, when she met him at the elevator, his eyes had been closed, and he had looked tired until she called out to him.

'...Does he maybe get nightmares from his time in the Void Realm?'

She was intensely curious about what had happened there, but she knew better than to ask.

They weren't close enough to discuss something so personal.

Deciding to let him sleep a little longer, Celestina began to feel bad if his fatigue was truly due to his time in the Void Realm.

"Woah! We made it in time!"

"Ugh! Didn't I tell you not to oversleep?!"

"Hehe, sorry!"

"Don't 'hehe' me!"

Suddenly, the quiet classroom was disrupted by a loud commotion at the door.

Like everyone else, Celestina turned to see two students standing there, talking to each other.

One was a boy with blonde hair and sky-blue eyes, while the other was a girl with black hair and green eyes.

Celestina furrowed her brows.

It wasn't that they were particularly loud—it was just that their voices echoed through the room, which had been silent due to her presence.

Noticing the odd atmosphere, both students quickly fell silent, their expressions turning pale as they realized they had drawn everyone's attention.

"S-sorry..."

The boy stammered, apologizing meekly, while the girl glared at him, clearly embarrassed.

They walked to the open seats in the middle of the classroom, near the front, right next to Celestina and Azriel, doing their best to ignore the curious stares from their classmates.

"Yo, Lumine, how have you been?"

Celestina turned her head toward Azriel, who was apparently awake again, though his eyes still looked a bit sleepy.

Startled, the embarrassed duo turned toward Azriel, with the boy looking relieved.

"Ah! Azriel, I've been good, thanks!"

Celestina studied the boy curiously.

'So, he's Lumine Versille, huh?'

The boy, who had apparently taken second place from her.

Celestina had never aimed for first place to begin with—at least not after the banquet.

Seeing Azriel's performance made it clear there was too little time to catch up and become the apex.

She was content with second place, but even that had been taken from her by the boy who seemed to be friendly with Azriel.

'I can see what Azriel meant about being taken advantage of.'

Lumine seemed genuinely kind—almost too kind.

Meanwhile, the girl next to him looked extremely surprised, her eyes shifting between Azriel and Lumine, though she still appeared guarded.

'So, she's probably the one protecting him from being used, huh?'

"Oh, by the way, Azriel, this is Yelena, my childhood friend."

The girl, Yelena, flinched slightly at being mentioned suddenly but gave a polite nod toward Azriel.

"My name is Yelena, ranked sixth. I hope we can help and take care of each other during our time here!"

Azriel chuckled, while Celestina smiled, amused by Yelena's nervousness.

"As Lumine said, my name is Azriel. It's nice to meet you, Yelena. And there's no need to be overly formal with me. I hope we can be friends, just like I am with Lumine."

'And here I thought he didn't care about connecting with more people.'

At least that was her impression, but it seemed she was wrong.

Not that she blamed Azriel, considering both of them were among the top students in the academy.

Not wanting to be left out, Celestina gave a polite smile to the two of them.

"My name is Celestina Frost, a friend of Azriel. I hope I can be friends with both of you as well."

"...!"

After introducing themselves, some more students entered the classroom.

The four of them continued chatting about trivial things until, suddenly, they all fell silent, leaving the rest of the students in the room who had been listening intently confused.

Their heads turned toward the door where a pale woman with striking blue hair and eyes that shimmered like the ocean stood, looking as if she were about to fall over any moment.

Instructor Ranni had arrived.