Time had been turned back just a few minutes.
Hugo du Bernard came to the academy today as usual.
He didn’t hold any hope of doing well on the exams— he just wanted to join the excitement and see exactly how low he’d rank on the list.
Before he left, his old, irresponsible dad had clapped him on the shoulder and laughed at him, saying that with his dumb brain, it would be a blessing from his ancestors if he didn’t end up dead last.
On the other hand, his stepmother, Lady Louise, was much gentler.
She comforted Hugo, saying it didn’t matter if he did poorly— if he felt sad at night, the whole family could go to the Continental Hotel for the new “hotpot” and heal his wounded heart with good food.
When his dad heard that, he almost drooled and insisted they had to go.
“Hotpot is a specialty of the capital—you can’t miss it!”
Hugo couldn’t be bothered to deal with those two vulgar people anymore.
Ever since his father, Albert du Bernard, had latched onto the new Minister of Finance, Viscount Bernard, the entire Bernard family had turned their fortunes around.
With a single stroke of the pen, the Viscount arranged a position in the Ministry of Finance for his dad, who knew nothing except fighting and farming.
Although his official work level was basically zero, who could deny that he’d been a local lord his whole life and knew all the ins and outs of grassroots bureaucracy?
Now he served as a special advisor to the Ministry of Finance, responsible for training “rural affairs officers” and offering advice on local reforms.
His embarrassing dad had also come to his senses—since he’d already grabbed onto a powerful backer, what was face worth?
He simply dismissed the servants who kept up appearances, gave up the expensive apartment in the Upper City, and moved the whole family to the Old City District, which was undergoing renovation.
As his dad put it, now that they’d made it, why keep kissing the asses of those capital nobles who looked down on him and pretend everything was fine?
The Lower City had a lower cost of living, a freer atmosphere, and it was originally the Laval family’s territory.
Living there had all the advantages except for slightly worse conditions for now.
For Hugo, this was a huge blessing. Living in the Lower City made it easy for him to sneak out every night, transform into a Kamen Rider, and fight for justice in the shadows of the city.
He had already earned quite a reputation among the citizens.
People wondered who that mysterious knight with the grasshopper mask really was—he was gradually becoming a new urban legend in the capital.
Hugo felt incredibly proud of this. Eliminating demons and upholding justice—that was true knighthood!
Unlike the sword-bearing nobles he’d seen back on his territory, who were nothing but scum who oppressed their people and committed every evil.
He even felt that the noble children in the capital, tamed by the King’s authority, were relatively decent by comparison.
Even though they still did plenty of shady things, Hugo still remembered vividly how cruelly the local nobles treated their people in places beyond the King’s gaze.
Behind the casual word “cruelty” lay countless, endless sufferings.
The reason his family had fled to the capital was because their conflicts with other nobles had reached a point where reconciliation was impossible.
As a noble himself, Hugo recognized Allen’s revolutionary ideas more than anyone else.
One day, the people’s rage would burn the entire kingdom to ashes, and under the mountains of corpses, there would be no victors.
He firmly believed that only Allen, only the “Dawn’s Children,” could save this rotten kingdom.
Hugo started from the very bottom of the announcement board and worked his way up.
It took him a long time, and his eyes were nearly blurred, but he couldn’t find his name.
He couldn’t help wondering if the academy had forgotten to include him.
Until his gaze drifted to the top twenty names on the list, where a familiar name stood out.
He froze, rubbed his eyes to confirm he wasn’t mistaken, then continued looking.
Then he saw the name at the top—Allen de Laval.
His glaring score nearly left the second place far behind.
And Miss Marianne Duran’s name was ranked tenth.
For a special admission student from a commoner background, that was already an eye-catching achievement that made everyone take notice.
Hugo was stunned at first, then burst into ecstasy.
That’s my bro!
The effect of cramming for the exams was incredible!
In the St. Nora Sigil Academy’s exams, the weight of the cultural subjects—“Seven Liberal Arts”—was far higher than practical combat.
So many sword-bearing noble children might get full marks in combat, but their overall rankings wouldn’t be very high.
But this time, Hugo had gritted his teeth and seriously taken the cultural exams.
Even though it was rough going, combined with his near-perfect combat score, he actually managed to rank in the top tier for the first time ever.
He was excitedly thinking about how he’d use this report card to slap his dad’s face when he suddenly sensed a familiar aura—that of a strong person.
He turned around and saw Allen approaching from not far away.
He wanted to rush over and say hi, share the joy, but found that Allen was accompanied by a stunning platinum-blonde girl.
Her aura was unique—as if she were born to be the center of the world, impossible to look away from at first glance. Even Hugo was momentarily distracted.
He quickly shook his head to clear the thoughts, muttering to himself:
Is my bro… dating now?
Where did he pick up a beauty at this level?
Hugo took a closer look. Wait, isn’t that Livia von Stern?
The aloof, ice-cold Valkyrie from the Triumphal Procession was practically a different person from the one in front of him.
The former was a true war goddess, impossible to look directly at.
The latter, though still cool, had a hint of mortal softness in her brows, and occasionally a trace of girlish tenderness flickered in those blue eyes.
The contrast was so great that he didn’t recognize her at first.
He hadn’t watched the duel, and hadn’t paid much attention to the follow-up news. He only heard that they had tied and later joined forces to defeat a terrifying monster.
Hugo regretted that a little. If he’d been there, wouldn’t he have had a chance to show off?
But seeing the intimate look between them now, the loose screw in Hugo’s head finally clicked into place.
Oh, the beating was a sign of affection, a form of love—so after fighting, they finally understood each other’s hearts.
Indeed, they had to fight to become friends. After the duel… they patched things up instantly?
Hugo, a warm-hearted citizen and gossip enthusiast, immediately decided to sneak up and eavesdrop.
That’s when he heard that baffling conversation.
“If you leave, I won’t live alone.”
Wow, that’s intense?
They looked like they cared about each other, yet somehow ended up arguing for no reason.
The atmosphere was just like his parents’ daily routine—fights and then snuggles. It was unbearable.
What a mushy couple. Thank goodness they’re not my parents, or I’d be disgusted.
As the tension between them hit rock bottom, as if they were about to draw swords and attack each other, Hugo stepped up decisively.
“Yo, lovebirds having a fight? As a couple, you quarrel in bed and make up in bed. Isn’t there something you can do when you get back to lie down and talk it out?”
The moment he spoke, Livia immediately let go of Allen’s hand. The gloom on Allen’s face instantly switched to a smile that hid all emotions.
Then both of their gazes, as if looking at an idiot, pinned themselves on Hugo.
“Hey, why isn’t anyone talking?”
Hugo felt like he’d done a good deed, but now he was being stared at like a rare species. He felt a little awkward.
“Where did this idiot come from?” Allen lowered his voice, speaking to the air.
“He was here just now,” Livia said flatly, not turning her head.
“Then why didn’t you warn me?”
“I’m used to ignoring him. I forgot that you’re now his new focus.”
“Sigh, Hugo is okay, isn’t he? Isn’t that too harsh?”
“… I have nothing in common with an idiot.”
“That’s true.”
The two of them, like a couple in sync, performed a little comedy right in front of him, leaving Hugo dumbfounded.
Wait, you two are so close—what was that earlier, the whole tense scene where it looked like you’d spill blood in the next second?
Were you playing me?
“How did you do on the exam?”
Allen didn’t want to keep arguing about “family matters” with Livia in front of Hugo, who had a big mouth, so he decisively changed the subject, trying to shut him up.
“Oh!”
As soon as the topic came up, Hugo forgot the weird atmosphere from before. He excitedly leaned in, puffing out his chest proudly.
“I did amazing this time! Allen, I think I’m actually a genius!”
Allen looked him up and down, a new kind of understanding in his eyes.
“If you’re a genius, then ⑨ is a genius too. So, what was your cultural score?”
Hugo confidently reported a number.
Allen and Livia exchanged glances, seeing identical shock in each other’s eyes.
Allen sighed softly, looking at Hugo with a hint of pity: “Sure enough, you’re an idiot. That score—even if you added everything together, it wouldn’t beat my single subject.”
Livia wore a look of someone used to it: “Still, he actually took the test. In the past, after a year or two of enrollment, his cultural score was still zero.”
“This time, I at least taught him.” Allen suddenly thought of something and turned to Livia. “I get it now. You didn’t take the exam because it’s top-level scheming. You knew that whoever got first place would get pestered by him. Sigh, you’re too cunning.”
The corner of Livia’s mouth twitched slightly.
“… Right, so I’m the idiot who scored zero. I’m honored to be the fiancée of a top student like you.”
“Hey, I don’t want to be top student at all. I didn’t expect them to be this weak! And please stop with the fiancée joke—it hurts my stomach!”
Hugo felt like he was about to crack. He stood there like a prop for their flirting, a reference point for their romance.
He grew dissatisfied and muttered, “Hey, hey, at least give me some praise! I actually studied hard!”
Allen turned around and clapped him on the shoulder, giving a very perfunctory thumbs up: “You’re great. Keep it up.”
“You can do it!” Livia looked at him like a child needing encouragement, with gentle eyes.
At that moment, Hugo felt a wave of sorrow.
Who would have thought that these two together were even more annoying than his parents combined!
“I’m not an idiot! You two are the idiot couple! Damn it! Goodbye!”
Unable to stand their shameless lovey-dovey display, Hugo decided to stop meddling in their affairs.
He had thought they had some deep hatred, but it turned out they were just showing off their love here!
Thinking about going home and seeing his old couple being all lovey-dovey, Hugo felt the world was full of malice toward him.
He decided to go find his little fans and share the joy of his good ranking.