I, The Villainess, Will Seduce All The Heroines Instead-Chapter 19: First Day of Class

After that whole very preventable misunderstanding, Verena finally managed to escape the rabid chihuahua—er, Sera. But not without having to carefully manage Beatrice's scrambled thoughts on the matter.

This was exhausting. It felt like babysitting a bunch of toddlers.

Actually, no. That was unfair to toddlers.

It didn't help that nearly everyone in this world had the emotional intelligence of a typical romance novel protagonist.

Nobody here seemed capable of differentiating desire, platonic affection, and actual love.

Maybe she was just too old for this nonsense. Being mentally 27 years old, she had seen enough to know when people were being downright delusional. 

Shaking off her irritation, she made her way to class with Beatrice.

Their first subject was Zodiac Weaving.

It was a mixed class, meaning students from different departments were present. Among them were familiar faces: Evelyn was there, but... so was Anastasia..

That was just great.

Their instructor, Pelia Muriasia, a stern-looking woman with a head full of silver hair, clapped her hands to get their attention. "Zodiac Weaving is the fundamental art of aligning oneself with the celestial forces that govern our world. Each of you was born under a unique constellation, influencing your abilities. However, mastery comes not from birthright, but from understanding the cosmic cycles and wielding them to your advantage."

Verena resisted the urge to sigh. If only she could weave her way out of her current situation.

"Lady Verena!"

She flinched, snapping out of her thoughts as she hastily stood up. "Y-Yes, Lady Pelia?"

Lady Pelia arched a perfectly sculpted brow. "I've been explaining the core principles of Celestial Flux Modulation, yet you seem rather... adrift. Care to enlighten the class on how one's Rotational Influence interacts with their Natal Affinity during an Ascendant Convergence?"

The reason she hadn't been paying attention was simple.

She already knew this world's magic system inside and out.

Sure, some details were blurry, but back in her teenage years, she had been an absolute lore goblin.

The kind of nerd who memorized the geography of Game of Thrones, dissected fantasy novels like an academic thesis, and could recite the power systems of ten different franchises in her sleep.

Murmurs rippled through the classroom.

"Typical noble arrogance. Thinks she's too good to listen."

"I heard she only got in because of her family's connections."

"She's an Ophiuchus, right? No wonder. That house has no place here."

"Wait, is she dumb? I thought she was supposed to be scary."

Great, more slander.

How embarrassing.

The stares of pity burned into her from her friends, especially from Evelyn.

This instantly triggered her nerd mode. There was no looking down on her. She always disliked sympathy.

"Ah, of course, Lady Pelia. You must be referring to the phenomenon of Celestial Reverberation. The interaction between a mage's Natal Affinity and the shifting cosmic alignments, which causes periodic fluctuations in magical potency."

The murmurs halted, the crowd processing this unexpected outcome.

"Simply put," she continued, "this is why a Leo-affiliated weaver might find their fire spells flaring stronger during the Month of the Lion, while a Cancer mage experiences a surge in water manipulation when the Moon is in ascendancy. However! If we consider the Rotational Influence of secondary signs, particularly those within a Conjunction state—" she hand gestured around "—we can see how the intersecting leyline flows create harmonic resonance, which amplifies or dampens magical output based on overlapping zodiacal connection. Hence, the reason why casters can experience both reinforcement and instability within the same lunar cycle."

Silence.

Some students blinked. Others stared like she'd just spoken an ancient forbidden language. One unfortunate soul looked like they were about to cry.

"Huh, well then..." Professor Pelia coughed. "Good."

That's right. Who's the dumb noble lady now?

By the time lunch rolled around, Verena was done.

Astromancy was absolutely draining. Forbidden Magic Theory was just a death row for her braincells. Combat class didn't go as well as she had also thought.

Especially when she still had no idea how her Ophiuchus abilities actually worked.

Back in her old life, her only goal was to graduate. Unfortunately, she was back in school, struggling all over again. What kind of karmic joke is this?

She sighed as she stepped out of the lecture hall, only to realize she was walking right alongside Anastasia.

"U-Uh, hey?"

"Hmph," Anastasia barely spared her a glance before turning her nose up.

Even if you're an asshole to me, you're still my idol...

Before she could wallow in her one-sided admiration, Beatrice caught up, beaming. "Hey! Let's get lunch, shall we?"

"Yeah, sure," Verena mumbled, grateful for the distraction.

But as they arrived at the lunch hall, a loud commotion pulled their attention.

A crowd had formed around some kind of altercation, their whispers buzzing with tension. Even Beatrice gasped in surprise.

At the center of the chaos stood a tall, brown haired woman with green eyes. Flanking her were multiple lackeys, both looking smug as they loomed over a trembling girl.

"Evelyn?!"

The poor girl was drenched - food and water dripping from her clothes. Her usually warm, honey-colored eyes were wide with humiliation.

"You embarrassed the group earlier!" the blonde snapped. "How could you even get into this academy, let alone have the audacity to seduce Duke Raphael, when you're just a nobody?!"

[System Notification!]

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

[Affection Event Detected!]

[Pairing: Evelyn & Norvan]

[Event Duration: 2 Day]

[Warning: Affection points are dropping! If no interference occurs, affinity will plummet further!]

[Risk Level: Dangerous]