They had expected that Yilu wouldn’t just sit there and let them mock her.
They knew Yilu’s temper; in fact, her previous disciplinary action had been deliberately orchestrated by them.
What they hadn’t expected was how much Yilu truly cared about graduating from the Academy.
Since that incident, she hadn’t given them another chance to trick her into making such a mistake.
However, this current counterattack left the noble lady feeling slightly disappointed.
Facing the stone flying through the air, the noble lady turned and used her closed fan to forcefully swat it away.
“Lady Yilu, I really wasn’t wrong about you.
Your posture is exactly like that of a clawless cat.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You are just as useless as your brother, who vanished after committing treason.”
“You!”
Yilu’s eyes were bloodshot, and she could no longer contain her fury.
She pressed one hand down, preparing to chant magic.
Seeing Yilu like this, the noble lady’s expression remained unchanged, though she was secretly delighted.
‘Yes, this is how it should be.
As long as you dare to strike, you will have to leave the Academy forever, and the Starting Bud Family will never be able to hold their heads up again.’
But before the magic could coalesce in Yilu’s hand, a wail of pain rang out from the side.
“Who was it?
Who threw that stone!”
The argument between the two parties hadn’t caught Lyr’s attention.
Instead, the moment he looked up, a pebble flew straight and true, striking him right in the forehead.
The impact nearly dazed him.
Covering his forehead, where a small bump was already forming, with one hand and holding the pebble in the other, Lyr stepped between the two groups.
His sudden intrusion caused both sides to freeze in surprise.
Lyr looked at the situation.
As someone who had spent time at the Academy before, it only took him a moment to realize what was happening.
School bullying?
Lyr looked left and right.
With both sides at each other’s throats, it looked like a fight could break out at any second.
When his gaze landed on Yilu, Lyr tilted his head and recognized her immediately.
That long, silver-white hair was easy to remember under the moonlight.
Lyr didn’t immediately mention their meeting that night.
Instead, he reached out and pointed at both sides.
“Hey, fighting isn’t allowed within the Academy.”
Even though he had graduated some time ago, Lyr still clearly remembered that rule.
In fact, it was a universal rule in almost any academy, not just this one.
“I didn’t do anything.
If you have any questions, you can ask Lady Yilu,” the noble lady said, waving her hand and acting as if it had nothing to do with her.
She glanced at Yilu, whose anger had yet to fade, and then simply walked away.
Watching them leave, Yilu’s chest continued to heave.
It wasn’t until she exhaled a long breath that she managed to calm down.
At first, she had intended to just endure it, but that woman’s final words had truly enraged her.
Lyr didn’t know exactly what had transpired, but with his intervention, the matter seemed to have passed.
‘Why do I really feel like a teacher?
I hate this feeling.’
He didn’t even know if he counted as a real teacher yet, but he certainly felt like a meddling old man.
After all, only teachers bothered to manage these sorts of things.
Walking toward Yilu, Lyr saw her eyes closed as she regulated her breathing, looking as though she were trying very hard to control her emotions.
Lyr placed his hands on his hips and said, “Miss, you took my cloak and still haven’t returned it.
I didn’t expect us to meet again so soon.”
He already knew Yilu’s name, but this title was easier for Lyr to remember, as it was the reason they had any connection at all.
Yilu opened her eyes and looked at Lyr.
Recalling the events of that night, her impression of the man was neither good nor bad.
After hesitating for a moment, Yilu spoke.
“Thank you for intervening just now.”
If Lyr hadn’t stepped in, the now-calm Yilu wasn’t sure if she actually would have used magic.
If she had, she might have truly been expelled from the Academy.
As children of the Starting Bud Family, she and her brother couldn’t bring any more shame to their name.
“So you do know how to say thank you,” Lyr remarked.
“If you had this attitude that night, I would have thought you were a very interesting lady.”
“I don’t know what the conflict is between you two, so I won’t judge.
But you and those two ladies don’t seem to get along very well.”
As he spoke, Lyr didn’t forget to look behind him.
The two noble ladies had already walked far away.
No matter how he looked at it, the one from before seemed like the leader of a small clique, while Yilu was a total loner.
The corner of Yilu’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.
If it weren’t for the current circumstances, she would never have spoken to someone like Lyr.
In her eyes, his way of speaking — as if they were already close — was casual and flippant.
Yet, whether it was the way he addressed her or his assessment of her relationship with those two noble ladies, Lyr wasn’t wrong.
“Your cloak is at my home.
If we have the chance to meet again, I will return it to you.”
Having no intention of continuing to bicker with Lyr, Yilu picked up a suitcase in one hand and a small bag in the other, preparing to leave.
But just as she passed Lyr, the sharp sound of leather tearing rang out.
The entire suitcase slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The previous commotion had already drawn many eyes to the spot, and this new noise caused even more people to stop and watch.
However, no one dared to approach; they simply whispered among themselves as they walked around her.
A noble lady carrying her own luggage without a single servant to help, only to have such a thing happen — it was beyond embarrassing.
Especially since Yilu had just been in a confrontation with others.
Lyr, who had been about to walk away, saw everything clearly.
Based on their two encounters, he had assumed Yilu was a strong-willed loner who didn’t care about what others thought.
After all, she was brave enough to go out alone at night to hunt monsters.
He figured she wouldn’t care about the judgmental gazes of other noble children.
As he watched, Yilu set down her small bag and leaned over to try and pick up the large, heavy suitcase.
Her hair fell forward, and Lyr noticed that the tips of Yilu’s ears had already turned bright red.
The contrast gave Lyr pause.
It seemed Yilu didn’t actually disregard the gazes of others; she simply didn’t show it on the surface.
She was well aware of her own embarrassment and the awkwardness of the situation, feeling it deeply.
But other than cleaning up the mess herself, there was nothing else she could do.
It was as if… she were an abandoned cat, covered in filth and clearly facing many hardships, yet still pretending that nothing mattered.
Sometimes, such a creature even gives up on hissing, knowing that doing so serves no purpose at all.
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