“Aurora… Aurora…”
The cold and distant expression from earlier had completely vanished.
Now, Leonora was curled up in Aurora’s arms like a little kitten, softly repeating her name over and over.
Aurora could only sense that the sweet scent of the person in her arms was incredibly familiar, but no matter how close they were—almost overlapping—she still couldn’t recall the slightest memory.
Gently, Aurora tried to push the ‘little kitten’ in her arms away, but almost every inch of Leonora’s body was covered in wounds.
It seemed that if she touched her lightly, she would find a bleeding injury, and when she pulled her hand back, it was stained with fresh blood.
“C-can you let me go?”
She seemed not to hear her own words and continued lying against Aurora’s chest.
At the same time, a faint metallic scent of blood started emanating from her body.
Just as Aurora was about to speak again, the person in her arms was suddenly yanked away.
“Had enough, Leonora?”
Albert’s icy gaze landed on Leonora.
With one hand, she lifted Leonora up and forcibly separated her from Aurora.
“Bastard! Did I allow you to touch me?”
The little kitten seemed very fond of hissing; she struggled wildly in Leonora’s grasp, her tone petulant and willful.
“I’m ordering you to put me down right now!”
Albert frowned. She didn’t know who had given this girl the audacity to speak to her like that. After all, she was the academy’s Dean of Discipline.
She didn’t want to waste time bickering with this spoiled young lady—it would make her seem childish.
Holding the restless kitten, she set her down on a chair near the podium.
“From now on, you’ll sit here.”
“I won’t!”
“I want to sit with my Aurora. You rude person, get lost!”
Albert rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on from this spoiled heiress.
Before processing Leonora’s enrollment, Duke Edron had already given her a heads-up.
He told Albert that his daughter was a somewhat willful and stubborn person, with a ‘mild’ psychological disorder, so she must be treated with ‘gentle care.’
At first, Albert hadn’t paid much attention, assuming Leonora was just another spoiled heiress—there were plenty of those in the academy.
But seeing her in person today, she finally understood why Leonora hadn’t come along earlier.
Is this ‘somewhat’ willful and stubborn? Is this a ‘mild’ psychological disorder?
This was clearly like taking in a little emperor.
Still, discipline had to be maintained; otherwise, what was the dignity of the academy?
“Listen, young lady. I don’t care how pampered you are at home, but here, you must strictly obey the school rules. No…”
Albert was about to deliver a long lecture when she noticed the girl in front of her had already disappeared.
From beside her came Leonora’s voice—part petulant, part coaxing.
She turned and saw the girl had already returned to Aurora’s embrace.
“Aurora, come back to me. I promise I won’t hit or scold you anymore! I won’t hurt myself again…”
“Aurora, what’s with that look? Don’t you remember me?”
The barrage of questions caused Aurora’s mind to momentarily freeze.
According to what Leonora said, they should have met before—but where?
Aurora could not recall ever knowing a duke’s daughter.
But now was not the time to dwell on this.
The classmates nearby watched as if watching a drama, and some had even started eating popcorn they seemed to have procured from somewhere.
“Miss, shall we continue this after class?”
“I don’t want to!”
“Let’s go somewhere else to talk!”
Leonora grabbed Aurora’s wrist, intent on dragging her out of the classroom.
“Hey, wait…”
Aurora hurriedly tried to resist, but Leonora ignored her words.
She pulled Aurora’s hand, disregarding the scowl on Albert’s face.
Just as they reached the door, it suddenly slammed shut with a heavy thud.
“Leonora…”
A cold voice came from behind.
Aurora turned and met Albert’s now frightening blue eyes.
Albert’s patience had reached its limit. This blatant disregard for others reminded her of someone she despised—Beatrice.
Beatrice often acted similarly, doing her own thing without caring about others, no matter the consequences.
“Leonora, I think I must teach you a lesson.”
As she spoke, a blue crack suddenly appeared above Leonora’s head.
“What are you doing?”
Leonora didn’t look scared. For some unknown reason, she suddenly drew the magic rod at her waist and pointed it at Albert.
“Hmph.”
Before Leonora could make a move, the crack above her head rapidly expanded and lunged toward her.
“Damn it! What is that?!”
She controlled the magic rod, trying to fire two fireballs at the crack.
But once the fireballs entered the crack, they vanished without a trace—no ripple, no effect.
The crack surged toward Leonora, seemingly intent on swallowing her and Aurora together.
“Get out of the way!”
At the last moment, she pushed Aurora aside and was swallowed whole.
Even though Aurora knew there was probably nothing dangerous inside the crack, her heart clenched tightly seeing Leonora disappear into it.
Albert looked down from the podium and said calmly, “Self-study for the rest of this period.”
“I have some matters to discuss with that new student alone.”
With that, she strode straight into the crack.
Aurora’s heart tightened with worry. She feared Albert might harm her.
This fear arose for unknown reasons—after all, she shouldn’t even know her.
Instinctively, Aurora stepped forward, trying to follow into the space.
But as soon as she approached the crack, it completely sealed shut—no trace left.
She was at a loss until a pink-haired girl came to her side and softly said, “Please return to your seat first. Don’t worry; Dean Albert won’t harm that student.”
Hearing this, Aurora’s tension eased a bit.
“There’s also…”
Just as Aurora was about to sit down, the pink-haired girl spoke again.
“I remember you’re Teacher Eisenberg’s maid, right?”
“I heard from Dean Albert that Teacher Eisenberg resigned. Why didn’t you leave with him?”
“Eh? M-maid?”
Aurora was even more confused. Since when had she become a maid?
“Eh? Isn’t it maid?”
“C-could it be?!”
The girl seemed to realize something and covered her mouth in surprise, then tried to act nonchalant.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you two had this kind of relationship.”
Blushing, the pink-haired girl returned to her seat.
“What kind of relationship?”
Aurora, still dazed, sat back down.
But deep inside, she felt increasingly uneasy.
“It feels like… I’m missing a part of my memory.”
She muttered to herself.
“Why didn’t you leave with him” – Mistake