The next morning.
Rita left the dorm looking a little different than usual.
She had taken off the glasses she always wore and let down the braids in her hair, letting it fall smoothly around her shoulders.
It wasn’t a drastic change, but it transformed her appearance significantly.
The reaction from the male classmates she passed in the dorm courtyard was proof of that.
“Hey, who’s that? Anyone know her?”
“Was someone like that living in our dorm?”
“I’ve got no idea.”
“Go talk to her.”
“What?”
“Ask her name, at least.”
“Why don’t you do it?”
“Man, that’s kind of intimidating.”
Rita passed by them with a wry smile.
I figured this might happen… but I’ve been invited to a gathering of noble upperclassmen today, so it can’t be helped. I kept it minimal anyway.
Her destination was the First Magic Department Hall.
Specifically, the fourth-floor lounge where Stephanie’s gathering was being held.
Usually a spacious and empty area used for department events or small performances, the lounge with its three walls of large glass windows had been transformed today into a bright and elegant tearoom, thanks to Stephanie’s taste and attention to detail.
Antique leather sofas, tables covered with white lace cloths, and newly added floral curtains…
The whole setting evoked the feeling of a spring garden.
Looking at the potted plants and flowers that had been brought in whole, Rita couldn’t help but sigh in amazement, wondering who had carried such heavy things all the way up to the fourth floor.
While adjusting the blue ribbon tie on her dress at the entrance of the lounge, she was approached by today’s host, Stephanie.
“You made it. I’m so glad you actually came.”
“Thank you for inviting me, senior.”
“This way. Come on in.”
As they walked inside, Stephanie gave Rita a once-over from head to toe, then nodded with clear satisfaction.
“Just as I thought. My eyes weren’t wrong. You look way prettier without the glasses. Why don’t you go around like this more often? It’s such a waste to hide that face. Do you have bad eyesight or something?”
“No, actually, the glasses don’t have any prescription. I wear them on purpose.”
“Non-prescription glasses? Why?”
“To avoid unwanted attention. I came to the academy just to focus on studying.”
“What’s so bad about attention? If you’re pretty, that’s a good thing.”
That difference in opinion came from their backgrounds. Stephanie was born into nobility, while Rita was not.
In the world of nobles, drawing attention meant gaining power, and being noticed often translated directly into influence.
“I already told our club members I’d picked a new member. So go ahead and say hi comfortably.”
“Huh? I thought I was just here to observe today…”
“We can talk about that later. Everyone’s waiting.”
As Rita walked into the lounge at Stephanie’s side, all eyes immediately turned toward her.
The members of Professor Winslet’s fan club were, unsurprisingly, all female students, all of noble birth, and mostly in their third or fourth year.
Rita felt like she had been dragged into a debutante ball she had never signed up for.
Stephanie, like a crocodile trainer tossing meat to her animals, shoved Rita forward in front of the girls and in no time, Rita was bombarded with a barrage of questions more vicious than any pack of crocodiles.
The noble young ladies were polite, but their gazes were strict and evaluative.
Within five minutes, Rita felt completely drained.
Her mental fatigue peaked when one of the noble seniors asked her,
“Your name is Rita Ridge, right? Where is the Ridge family’s estate again? I have such a poor memory…”
Normally, that would be a question meant to filter out court nobles without land. But in this case, they had picked the wrong target entirely.
As Rita froze up, unable to answer, Stephanie stepped in.
“Rita isn’t a noble.”
Those few words instantly froze the atmosphere solid.
“Ah… is that so?”
“That’s unexpected. Isn’t this the first time a commoner has joined our club?”
Stephanie frowned slightly.
“But she’s pretty. Isn’t that enough?”
With that, the tension quickly melted away.
If the group’s leader, Stephanie, declared she was acceptable, no one could object.
“Well, if Stephanie says so, then I guess it’s fine.”
“She’s right. At a place of learning, there are no nobility or commoners. That’s the academy’s principle, after all.”
Just like flipping a switch, the noble girls changed their attitudes in an instant.
However, the gazes of the upperclassmen toward Rita turned cold, and she was almost entirely excluded from the conversation that followed.
To Rita, that was actually a relief.
After all, her main reason for coming here was to gather information about Professor Winslet. So simply listening with her ears open served that goal better than trying to join in.
Whether it was due to the club’s nature as a fan club or simply Stephanie’s tastes as host, the girls’ conversations revolved almost entirely around topics related to Professor Winslet.
“Stephanie, did you change your perfume?”
“Hmm, did you notice?”
“Yes. If I had to guess… is it bergamot and white rose?”
“Exactly right.”
“It’s elegant and fresh. Just like the way this lounge is decorated.”
“And it’s also a scent Professor Winslet once complimented.”
“Oh, I remember now! Isn’t that the perfume he mentioned in an interview last month?”
“That’s the one. After that interview, it got so popular that it took a whole month after I reserved it for it to finally arrive.”
“Wow, I’m jealous. I didn’t even manage to get a reservation. I read in the interview that a woman was so enamored with the scent, she almost drank the perfume by mistake?”
“Really? That’s a funny story, but isn’t it a bit exaggerated?”
“There were even eyewitnesses who claimed they saw that woman.”
To top it off, Stephanie said she had brought several bottles just for her club members and gave one to each of them as a gift.
Rita, feeling like she was sitting on a bed of nails, tried to decline. But in the end, she was forced to take one into her hands.
The conversation continued.
“By the way, I heard Professor Winslet hasn’t been well lately.”
“That’s right. Because of that, his classes have been canceled.”
“I heard he hasn’t left the house for days. Shouldn’t we at least visit him?”
“I actually tried, but I was turned away at the door. Some servant came out and said visits weren’t allowed and asked me to leave.”
Annoyance tinged Stephanie’s voice.
“I’m sure Professor Winslet is refusing visitors out of consideration for those who might come to see him.”
“That’s true. If it’s something like the flu, it could be contagious.”
“We should pray for his speedy recovery.”
“Yeah, that’s probably best.”
“Oh, that reminds me….I know a story that might have something to do with Professor Winslet’s condition. It’s a bit ominous, though. I’m not sure if I should say it…”
“It’s fine. Go ahead.”
“You know Professor Winslet is the eldest son of the Count’s family, right? My mother’s family has long been close with the House of Winslet.”
“And?”
“My mother told me that when she was young, she heard something from my grandmother: the men of the Winslet family are born with a strange illness.”
Rita perked up her ears.
Now she had a story to share with Jacqueline and Shannon once she got back to the dormitory.
***
Around the same time.
While Rita was in the fourth-floor lounge of the Magic Department Hall, worrying that stress might give her acid reflux, Jacqueline was standing in front of Shannon’s room, waiting for her to come out.
“Shannon, are you ready yet? How much longer?”
“Almost done. Just need to put on my socks…”
Thud.
A crashing sound came from inside the room.
After a short moment, Shannon opened the door with messy bedhead hair.
Still rubbing her eyes, she looked like she hadn’t fully woken up.
Shannon, who usually slept in until lunchtime on weekends, looked especially groggy this morning.
“Shall we go now?”
“Yeah… But Jacqueline, what on earth are you wearing?”
“Hehe, this? Let’s just say it’s an essential item for investigative work.”
Jacqueline had a checkered hunting cap on her head and a magnifying glass in her hand.
She was imitating a detective.
“I even bought a matching hat for you. Want to wear it too?”
“…No, I’m good.”
Their destination, as written on the note Luke Rousseau had given them, was the Porter-Cavendish Hall.
Tucked away in a far corner of the magic department campus, the building was old and inconvenient to access, making it an unpopular multipurpose hall among the students.
After walking briskly for about ten minutes, the two arrived at their destination, only to be left speechless by the sight of the gloomy, gray stone building that looked even more desolate than expected.
“This is the place, right?”
“Probably.”
Maybe because it was the weekend, there wasn’t a single person around the multipurpose hall, and the silence was so thick they could almost hear their own breathing.
Despite it being morning, not a single bird could be heard. Only the irregular creaking of old window frames echoed each time the wind blew.
Jacqueline was relieved Shannon had come with her.
It might have been a little scary if she’d come alone.
“Let’s head in for now.”
“Did the note from Luke say the second floor?”
“Let me check again… Room 201.”
“Don’t tell me the front door is locked?”
Jacqueline, holding the magnifying glass in her hand, began inspecting the entrance.
Ignoring her, Shannon simply turned the doorknob.
Click.
The knob turned smoothly.
A long hallway greeted the two from just inside the main entrance.
Shannon peeked inside and frowned.
Porter-Cavendish Hall didn’t have many windows.
The hallway was quite dim.
It gave off the kind of atmosphere where something might leap out from the shadows at any moment.
“…Let’s go in.”
“M-Mhmm.”
As they stepped inside, a cool, damp air clung to the backs of their necks.
Jacqueline who had been walking in quick little steps suddenly came to a halt and grabbed Shannon’s arm.
“Jacqueline, what is it?”
“Th-Th-There. Look over there. Someone’s watching us from the end of the hallway!”
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