“...”
Time seemed to freeze for Vivian at that moment.
She stood silently at the door, her ice-blue eyes fixed on the scene of girls fluttering around in the center of the classroom.
A clear, unfamiliar twinge of pain radiated from where her heart was.
It wasn't intense, but it was exceptionally distinct, like a fine needle of ice unexpectedly piercing her softest spot.
Even as her reason screamed reminders at her:
Your relationship ended long ago. The moment the dissolution papers were signed in black and white, amidst the pitying or mocking gazes of the crowd, a clear line had been drawn.
He is free now. He has the right to accept anyone's advances, the right to be surrounded by anyone he chooses.
You have no standing, much less the right, to feel even a shred of discomfort over this.
And yet...
The sharp ache in her chest and a surge of cold fury swept through her limbs like an uncontrollable arctic tide.
Even the pure and powerful ice magic within her seemed to sense its master's turbulent emotions, beginning to leak uncontrollably from her body.
With her as the center, the temperature of the air began to drop quietly.
A few students near the door who had been chatting instinctively shivered. They rubbed their arms in confusion before turning their heads stiffly, as if sensing something—
“!!”
When they saw the ice-blue figure standing at the door, the noise in the back of the classroom vanished at an alarming speed, as if someone had pressed a mute button.
That silence spread toward the front of the classroom like a drop of ink in water.
One, two, three... more and more students stopped what they were doing and fell silent. With gazes filled with shock, awe, and confusion, they all turned toward the door.
The girls who had been chirping around Greg finally noticed the eerie change in atmosphere. Their voices grew smaller and smaller until they fell completely silent, looking toward the door with a hint of unease.
When they saw Vivian standing there silently, her ice-blue eyes calmly scanning the room, they instinctively held their breath and even shrunk back a little.
The classroom, which had been as rowdy as a marketplace moments ago, was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
“...Um, President?”
One girl on the outer edge mustered her courage, took a small step back, and asked cautiously, her voice trembling slightly from nerves:
“May I ask... did you come here for something?”
This question seemed to snap Vivian out of her trance.
Her eyelashes fluttered as she realized she had been unconsciously radiating a cold aura. She immediately forced herself to focus, suppressing the restless mana within her.
The chill permeating the air quickly receded.
She didn't answer the girl's question immediately.
Instead, she lowered her head slightly, her long ice-blue hair falling to hide the flash of complex emotion in her eyes.
Her gaze rested on the tips of her polished leather shoes for a brief moment.
Then, as if making a firm decision, she looked up again.
“I am looking for the Temporary Disciplinary Committee member, Greg Sass. I have some questions for him.”
She placed a slight emphasis on the title 'Disciplinary Committee member,' as if stressing official business or drawing a clear line between them.
Once she spoke, no further words were needed.
The girls standing between Vivian and Greg scrambled to the sides, clearing a direct path through the crowded room to Greg's seat.
No one dared to block the Student Council President's way at a time like this, let alone speculate on the emotions that might be churning beneath her calm exterior.
At the end of the path, Greg stood there, a look of relief on his face from finally being freed from the circle of girls.
However, that relief was quickly replaced by confusion.
Vivian? Why was she here?
“Could it be... because I missed the Student Council's morning patrol for no reason, so she's here to hold me accountable?”
This was the first and most logical guess that flashed through Greg's mind.
After all, he still held the title of a Disciplinary Committee member, and Vivian was a famously meticulous Student Council President. It was perfectly normal for her to come for him over such a matter.
His brain began to rapidly organize potential excuses.
However, as Vivian began to walk toward him, step by step through the cleared path, Greg began to notice something unusual.
Vivian's pace was steady, and her back was straight, carrying the elegant poise innate to royalty.
But her gaze wasn't as sharp as usual; it was somewhat... drifting?
At the very least, she didn't look like she was there to scold him.
While Greg was still confused, Vivian soon arrived in front of him.
She looked up, her ice-blue eyes finally focusing on Greg's face as she met his gaze.
Her lips moved slightly as if she wanted to say something, but the sound seemed stuck in her throat.
Those soft, pink lips merely parted and closed soundlessly. Then, under the gaze of Greg and everyone else, she seemed to suddenly lose her courage and lowered her head again.
Her long, silver-white eyelashes cast faint shadows on her pale cheeks.
The air in the classroom grew even more stagnant due to Vivian's proximity and silence.
All the observing students, boys and girls alike, stared with wide eyes and bated breath, their gazes darting back and forth between Vivian and Greg.
The girls exchanged looks, their eyes filled with a suspicious sense that something was off.
The boys were even more shocked. They watched as this President, who was usually like a remote snow lotus on an icy peak, actually took the initiative to come to this classroom and stand before Greg with such an... indescribable gaze and posture.
A subtle atmosphere called ambiguity began to permeate the silent classroom.
“.......”
Greg was starting to feel his scalp tingle from the atmosphere as well.
Is this right...? This can't be right...!
Why does this feel like... the prelude to a scene from a college drama in his past life, where a girl stops a guy in public to confess?!
Greg was startled by his own absurd association. He quietly swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing.
He felt a bit of sweat starting to form on his back.
This moment of silence felt like it was being stretched infinitely long.
The classroom was so quiet that one could hear the rustle of wind through the leaves outside and the slightly heavy breathing of some who were overly nervous.
Everyone's hearts were in their throats as they stared intently at this former engaged couple—now a Disciplinary Committee member and the Student Council President—waiting for the words that were about to be spoken, whatever they might be.
Vivian's hands tightened at her sides, her neatly trimmed nails nearly digging into her palms.
She took a deep breath, as if using every ounce of her strength, and looked up again, her ice-blue eyes swirling with incredibly complex emotions.
“You—”
However, at the very moment everyone's curiosity was piqued to the maximum—
“Buzz—!”
On the front wall of the classroom, the bronze magic loudspeaker usually used for academy announcements suddenly vibrated without warning, emitting a faint hum.
Immediately after, a booming voice, amplified by magic, rang through the silent classroom and even reached every corner of the academy:
“Announcement! Second-year student Greg Sass, second-year student Greg Sass, please take note!”
“Your esteemed Headmistress has just personally poured two cups of top-tier Moonlight Forest Morning Dew Mead from the Elf Kingdom in her top-floor office of the Headmistress's Tower!”
“Will student Greg Sass please head to the Headmistress's office as soon as possible!”
The broadcast echoed in the empty classroom, every word as clear as if it were being hammered into everyone's hearts.
“...”
“...”
“............”
The entire classroom fell into a silence even more profound than before.
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