A Ray of Sunlight and a Sudden Crisis

Igleia Academy.

This academy, grandly named after the continent, was established with the cooperation of all existing nations and the guarantee of the Holy Kingdom, serving as an inviolable sanctuary.

Regardless of origin or social status, it was a place of learning and socializing for nobles, and a cradle of knowledge and a path to success for commoners.

Amidst the bustling energy of the academy, Ensi alone savored a moment of leisure.

‘The sun is nice.’

The intense sunlight compared to the temperature brought peace to his mind.

He was quite satisfied with the fact that his dependence on medicinal herbs had decreased thanks to the strong rays.

“Ensi!”

Ensi, who was lying on the grass and tapping his foot to a rhythm of his own, closed his eyes and pretended not to hear the voice calling out to him desperately.

“Ensius!”

He quickly covered his face with his outer coat so the other person couldn’t identify him, but unfortunately, his attempt ended in failure.

“You’re the only person who would be wearing that many layers in this weather, Ensi.”

The ignored voice sounded from right beside him, and at the same time, the coat hiding Ensi was snatched away by a ruthless hand.

Swallowing a sigh at the sorrow of being so easily identified, Ensi squinted his eyes against the sunlight filtering through his eyelids.

“What is it?”

“You know what it is. Titania declared an emergency.”

“Oh, I see. But why does that matter?”

“What do you mean why? You have to join us as a member of the Romance Club.”

“Lily. I’ve said it repeatedly, I’m going to be a ghost member.”

Lily, who had heard Ensi’s consistent argument until she was sick of it, merely snorted.

Ghost member? As long as she was the president, such a role was unacceptable.

“Stop talking nonsense and let’s go quickly. Titania’s situation is really urgent.”

‘She might get confined if things go wrong.’

Ensi sighed at the words whispered in a serious voice and sat up.

Lily smiled inwardly as she watched Ensi grumble while signaling his intention to come along.

Seeing him act so soft toward those he had opened his heart to made her feel strangely proud.

It was a feeling she had because she knew she was also within the line Ensi had drawn.

In any case, she led him toward the club room, fearing he might back out at the last minute.

“It feels like just yesterday she was rejoicing about successfully getting on the Northern Grand Duke’s route.”

Since Ensi had purposely been lying in a deserted spot to enjoy the sun, there were still no people around.

Thanks to that, he spoke without hesitation.

“Sigh… we underestimated the mage’s obsession. Titania says the mage has gone crazy. We should have expected the mage to switch to a villain role the moment she chose the Northern Grand Duke, but it was a mistake.”

Lily glanced at Ensi, then let out a deep sigh and pressed her throbbing forehead.

“Is the mage switching to a villain role just a hunch?”

“There’s no precise evidence. But the guy is a lunatic who turned his pet into a taxidermy specimen just because he only wanted to see it while it was young and beautiful.”

Ensi nodded calmly at Lily’s addition that there was no harm in being careful.

Besides, since Titania’s story was based on a dark, angst-filled theme, even a simple intuition was hard to ignore.

“I’m here.”

The two arrived at the club room quickly using a shortcut.

Lily, habitually scanning the surroundings, carefully opened the door and stepped inside.

Immediately, thick, wavy pink hair caught their eyes.

“–Lily!”

“Titania.”

The owner of the hair, who had been sitting on the sofa, jumped up at the familiar voice and rushed toward Lily with red-rimmed eyes.

“Uwahhh–! Lily! What do I do? At this rate, I’m going to end up stuffed like Cerbero!”

“It’s okay, we’ll be able to resolve it this time too. So calm down, okay?”

“Actually, wouldn’t being stuffed be a peaceful death? Since the opponent is a skilled mage, he’d probably send you off without pain.”

“Luke.”

At the inappropriate remark, Lily glared at him with sharp eyes.

Faced with her piercing gaze, Luke shrugged and set down the teacup he was holding.

“I think I’m entitled to say that as someone who was destined to die because I couldn’t endure torture.”

“But you’ve already avoided that fate.”

“Exactly. So Titania can avoid hers too.”

When Luke ended his words as a form of consolation, Lily couldn’t say anything more.

Titania, the party involved, didn’t care about Luke’s words and just buried her face in Lily’s chest.

Ensi, who had already stepped aside when Titania rushed toward Lily, took a seat opposite Luke.

The act of placing an empty cup in front of himself and pouring tea was as natural as flowing water.

“The scent is especially good today.”

“I couldn’t find satisfactory tea leaves within the academy, so I asked my older brother. I’ll share some if you want.”

“That would be great.”

“Is this really the time to be leisurely evaluating tea leaves?”

Just as Lily’s sigh-filled reprimand ended, the firmly closed door opened once more.

Everyone in the club room stopped talking as if by agreement and looked toward the door.

“Um… I heard it was an emergency, so I came.”

“–Oh, it’s just you, Donovan. Welcome. Come in quickly.”

Lily welcomed him warmly at the voice that clearly revealed his timid personality.

Only after receiving her hospitality did Donovan open the door wide and step inside.

“I’m here too.”

“Cyril? Isn’t this the busy period where you’re working on the Paladin? How did you get here?”

Lily’s eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Cyril appearing from behind Donovan.

Cyril chuckled softly at Lily’s expressive face.

“Titania is a fellow reincarnator in the reverse harem genre. How could I ignore her?”

Lily wore a proud smile as all the club members gathered in one place despite the meeting being arranged so suddenly.

At times like this, she felt that while their expressions might be a bit rough, their hearts for one another were sincere.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s discuss how Titania can overcome this crisis.”

‘But seriously.’

Lily, who often experienced the proverb about too many sailors steering the ship into a mountain, added solemnly.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why the mage changed his course. Why is this angst genre so difficult?”

“I don’t know much either… I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.”

Even at Lily’s solemn words, Luke and Donovan looked troubled.

Perhaps it was because they had lived lives not deeply connected to romance in both their past and present lives.

Since the two had always expressed difficulty with Titania and Cyril’s affairs, everyone understood their reaction.

“The reason the mage changed his course is simple. He judged that he could no longer have Titania through conventional methods.”

“Exactly. That’s the core of it. A mage’s love is both coercive and violent. You can tell just by looking at his attempts to force a brand on Titania or feed her heat-inducing drugs while pursuing her, right?”

Titania nodded her head vigorously in agreement with Lily and Cyril’s analysis.

“So? How are we going to stop a mage like that?”

“That is–”

“How can we decide on a way to protect Titania against an unknown threat when we don’t even know what method the mage will use to target her?”

Luke poured out negative opinions before Lily could even finish her sentence.

Since he was the type to look at failure more carefully than success, this was like a habit for him.

“Luke, I’ve said this repeatedly, but looking only at the negative side is not a good habit.”

“This is one of the decisive factors that allowed me to avoid the original work.”

Luke responded with an indifferent face even at Cyril’s disapproval.

Donovan looked back and forth between the two, who were radiating a sharp atmosphere as if they might clash at any moment, not knowing what to do.

Ensi watched the situation, where the recommendation to focus on the problem didn’t even last ten minutes, and then turned his head toward the window.

‘It seems like there’s never a quiet day in this gathering.’

He tuned out the bickering and took in the scenery unfolding beyond the glass.

Red flower petals fluttering in the wind, cotton-candy-like clouds decorating the blue sky.

“–Ensi?”

Ensi, who was engraving the sight of spring’s arrival into his mind, turned his head leisurely at Lily’s call.

He saw Lily looking at him with a puzzled expression and Titania, who was still in her arms with red-rimmed eyes.

Staring at the two who radiated an atmosphere contrary to the outside world, he spoke, following a sudden impulse.

“Herdin has a history of kidnapping criminals and experimenting on them.”

When Ensi, who had only been listening to the numerous sounds as if detached from reality, opened his mouth, the voices that filled the club room vanished in an instant.

“Among them, was there really not a single innocent person?”

“–Ensi!”

Titania’s complexion, which had been a mix of anxiety and nervousness, changed miraculously at Ensi’s few words.

Expressing relief and clear joy, she scurried over to Ensi, crouched in front of him, and grabbed both his hands.

“I have some materials I’ve prepared separately, so I’ll hand them over to you. After that, you can leave it to the Northern Grand Duke, Sirius.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll do that.”

Since Sirius seemed to love Titania in a fairly ‘normal’ way, he would probably try to eliminate his romantic rival on his own if given a proper excuse.

Ensi tapped Titania’s forehead, who was looking up at him with watery eyes, just hard enough not to hurt.

“So stop crying. Your eyes will swell.”

“Mhm–”

Titania wiped away the tears that had formed without her knowing and nodded her head diligently.

Ensi stroked the hair of Titania, who had stopped crying in an instant.