“Tsk, tsk. How touching.”
Leo had approached at some point, leading a Storm Wyvern that appeared rather restless, its wings beating against the ground uneasily.
Conrad and Hermann followed closely behind him.
Leo’s expression was sour; he had clearly run into trouble while attempting to establish a connection with his beast.
“But really, Princess, are you sure that little pet-stroking trick of yours actually counts as beast taming? Or are you just playing house?”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough for the surrounding students to hear. Quite a few curious glances shifted toward them.
Villanelle’s expression darkened. “First, Professor Hiram said the focus is on understanding and trust. Second, this has nothing to do with you.”
“Understanding and trust?” Leo sneered, pointing his short wand at Ignis. “Toward a Black Dragon? Do you know how many cases are recorded in the Academy Library’s *History of Dangerous Creature Taming* about tamers being turned upon by ‘docile’ magical beasts?
“Their very nature is violent and suspicious! You think it’s docile now only because it hasn’t grown up yet, or—” He paused meaningfully. “—it’s waiting for a better opportunity.”
“Stop spewing trash, Falkenberg. Your breath is stinking up the place.” Villanelle slowly stood up, shielding Ignis as her face grew cold. “Are you questioning the academy’s evaluation procedures?”
Leo let out a cold laugh as if he had just heard a joke.
“Evaluation? It only passed because someone exploited a loophole. My father always said that certain hidden dangers should be eradicated at the root. Otherwise, it’s being irresponsible to yourself and everyone around you.”
Behind him, Conrad’s hand shifted as he gripped his staff, appearing nonchalant.
Ignis looked up sharply, his gaze instantly locking onto the scrawny boy who looked like he was up to no good.
Just now, he had sensed a wisp of provocative Mana leak from the tip of the boy’s staff, faintly pointing in his direction.
However, it wasn’t aimed at him, but rather… a small clump of sand not far from his side.
Stirred by that chaotic Mana, the sand vibrated slightly. Several Fire Beetles hidden within were startled and took flight. One of them, seemingly dazed, flew straight toward Ignis’s face.
Fire Beetles were only the size of a fingernail and weren’t much of a threat on their own, but their instinctive reaction when startled was to spit out a small burst of high-temperature sparks for self-defense.
“Watch out!” a girl nearby cried out.
Hearing the shout, Villanelle turned her head. When she saw a cluster of sparks flying straight for Ignis’s eyes, her heart nearly stopped.
But it was too late to dive in and intervene.
A cold light of success flashed in Leo’s eyes.
If the Black Dragon instinctively breathed fire or lashed out due to the disturbance—even if it didn’t cause any real damage—it would be enough to confirm its danger. All its previous “docile” behavior would be called into question.
However…
Ignis reacted quickly.
He neither breathed fire nor growled. Just as the sparks were about to touch him, he tilted his head with a precision that would leave any expert in awe, letting the sparks fly past. Then, he raised his right claw and swiped accurately.
Ignis opened his paw to reveal a Fire Beetle struggling frantically, its six legs kicking uselessly in the air. He studied the tiny insect, his vertical pupils filled with a hint of curiosity.
‘Can this little thing spit sparks? If I brought one while surviving in the wild, could I start a fire whenever I wanted?’
The surroundings fell silent.
The scream and the Black Dragon’s rage that Leo had expected never happened. The Black Dragon Hatchling had neutralized the “accident” with a level of finesse that belied its size, looking entirely unbothered.
Villanelle breathed a long sigh of relief, her legs feeling a bit weak. Then, a surge of intense anger rose in her chest. She snatched up her staff which had been leaning against a stone pillar.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Leo quickly masked his shock, pulling his two lackeys in front of him with an innocent look. “It’s perfectly normal for Fire Beetles to fly around the Taming Grounds. It seems your partner has quick reflexes. You were lucky.”
Conrad and Hermann raised their staves in unison, their faces full of wariness.
The atmosphere on both sides became instantly tense.
“What happened here?”
Professor Hiram’s voice rang out. She had walked over at some point, her sharp gaze sweeping over the scene.
“Professor, it was just a small accident,” Leo answered first. “Villanelle’s dragon has quick reflexes, so it didn’t cause any trouble. It is indeed very… docile.”
He sounded a bit strained when he said the last word.
“You know perfectly well whether it was an accident or not,” Villanelle huffed, her ice-blue eyes seemingly covered in a layer of frost.
Hiram’s gaze swept over Leo’s trio and Villanelle’s tense face, finally meeting the gaze of the calm Ignis on the ground for a moment.
She didn’t press further, merely nodding. “Accidents are inevitable. Control your Mana fluctuations and do not affect the small creatures on the grounds. Now, continue your practice.”
Glancing at Villanelle and Ignis once more, Professor Hiram said in a flat tone, “Your synchronization is good, and the stability is high. Keep it up.”
With that, she turned to the other students.
Leo’s expression shifted between anger and frustration. Ultimately, he didn’t say anything more. Leading the dull-eyed Storm Wyvern, he and his two sidekicks departed.
The tension in Villanelle’s face relaxed slightly. She knelt down, set her staff on the ground, and gently picked up Ignis, patting his back softly.
“Are you okay?”
Ignis rubbed against her slender neck, indicating he was fine. To him, the accident just now wasn’t even worth calling an interlude.
He was more interested in the fact that, as the distance closed, he had sensed a faint, familiar aura from Leo. it was extremely thin—so thin that he hadn’t noticed it when Leo was provoking them before class.
But Ignis remembered it now.
This aura seemed somewhat similar to certain fragments from his dream last night. Of course, it could have just been an illusion.
This discovery sent him into deep thought.
One was a chaotic dream of unknown meaning, and the other was an overbearing noble brat. Was there any possible connection between the two?
Even now, he still hadn’t figured out what that dream last night meant.
Ignis snapped back to reality and casually tossed the Fire Beetle he had been playing with. The insect scurried away tremulously, dug a hole in the sand, and crawled inside.
The second half of the lesson passed relatively peacefully. Villanelle and Ignis’s emotional synchronization was very successful, but Leo wasn’t so lucky.
He tried to force a Mana connection several times, but each time he was pushed back by the Storm Wyvern’s violent reaction, causing him to curse in a rage.
When the bell rang for the end of class, Villanelle picked up Ignis and left quickly, ignoring Leo’s cold gaze in the distance.
The weather was getting colder, but today was a sunny day with perfect sunlight.
Villanelle’s fingers brushed against the metal collar on Ignis’s neck as she said softly, “You saw what happened just now. Be even more careful from now on. Not just around that golden-haired hyena, but potentially around others as well.”
He nodded.
‘A very apt metaphor. Spin that golden retriever, brother. Love from the Twilight Tower.’
Ignis shifted his gaze toward the academy scenery.
The meticulously pruned greenery, the ribbons hung for the upcoming Winter Veil, the domes rising one after another…
The connection between that dream and the aura on Leo made him suddenly feel that the small space he and Villanelle occupied was perhaps even more fragile than he had imagined.