Opening his eyes, Glass Sano found himself staring at a familiar ceiling. For a moment, confusion filled his mind.
As he slowly realized where he was, he recognized the room.
He had returned to the Sano mansion.
"Where... am I...?"
The door opened, and his elder sister, Beliza Sano, entered the room with a maid.
"Prepare the medicine for my—"
Beliza stopped mid-sentence.
Her eyes widened when she saw her younger brother awake.
"Glass! You're awake!"
She immediately ran toward him with her arms open, intending to hug him.
But Glass showed no reaction.
"..."
He simply stared at her as he always did.
However, something about his gaze was different.
Beliza stopped in her tracks.
"Glass...?"
She looked at him nervously.
"What happened to you?"
"Hmm...?"
Glass's gaze was no longer cold.
It was sharp.
Filled with hatred and rage.
Then, a new voice echoed inside his mind.
"Lower your gaze, little boy! You haven't gotten rid of the effects of Yossi Sano yet!"
"...?"
Glass didn't understand what the voice meant.
But as his memories returned, he quickly realized where he was—and whose identity he was carrying.
The realization made him nauseous.
He suddenly vomited.
"Glass!!!"
Beliza rushed toward him.
"What are you doing?! Summon the head of the family! Now!"
The maid immediately ran out of the room.
Beliza sat beside her brother and supported him.
"Glass! Are you here?! Can you hear me?!"
"Aaaahhhghhh..."
Glass's face had lost all its color.
He wiped his mouth and slowly looked at her.
"Beli...za?"
At that moment, the head of the Sano family, Brad Sano, entered the room.
"What happened to Glass?!"
Beliza quickly explained everything, including his strange gaze and sudden vomiting.
Brad approached his son.
"How do you feel?"
Glass took a moment before answering.
"I think I'm... not well.
I think it's because of Yossi Sano!"
Beliza interrupted furiously.
"He wanted to possess Glass, and even after he died, he still wanted to destroy him!"
Glass, still influenced by the remnants of Yossi's past life, lowered his gaze.
"He isn't here anymore... so don't mention him again."
The moment the words left his mouth, Glass regretted them.
He couldn't help remembering the miserable life Yossi had lived.
Then another voice appeared in the room.
"Don't let him affect you, little Glass."
Cold air gathered in front of them.
The frost condensed into the shape of a human figure before transforming into Kaine Sano.
"I told little Glass to experience Yossi's life so that he could preserve the heritage. Otherwise, it would fall into Yossi's hands again, and the guardian spirit would be able to return in the future."
Brad understood the reasoning, but he still looked worried.
"If I remember correctly, experiencing someone else's memories carries the danger of becoming influenced by the owner of those memories."
His expression became serious.
"Doesn't that mean Yossi could—"
"Am I a joke to you?"
Kaine's voice immediately silenced him.
"Don't you see me standing here?! Does the title of the Tyrant mean nothing anymore?!"
Brad immediately stepped back and bowed.
"I didn't mean that, Great Ancestor! But I thought this method of using the heritage had been abandoned a long time ago because of its dangers."
Kaine looked at him with disdain.
"I thought the academy would produce impressive heroes."
He shook his head.
"But what I see is meaningless."
His expression darkened as he remembered the past.
"In my time, we thought of establishing the academy to renew our bloodline. Yet now I see that the new blood is pitiful."
He pointed toward Glass.
"When I helped him, I was shocked by the weakness of his mental state and spirit. He only lived through those memories for a short time, yet he has already been affected."
Beliza bowed slightly before defending her brother.
"But no one could handle a spirit as powerful as that! And—"
"Really, little girl?"
Kaine's indifferent voice stopped her.
"I saw Glass's memories."
His eyes shifted toward Glass.
"And I noticed someone interesting."
Glass had now regained most of his consciousness.
Kaine stared at him.
"Shion Lan."
"..."
Nobody in the room spoke.
Those words remained engraved in their minds, creating a new question.
What about Shion Lan?
Kaine noticed their reactions and continued.
"I saw the battle between you and that spirit, Shiu Won Lan. I saw Shion defeat him."
He paused.
"But do you know what is important about that battle?"
Nobody answered.
Kaine continued before anyone could speak.
"I have learned very little about spirits, but even I could see what happened."
His eyes narrowed.
"Shion experienced the entire life of his guardian spirit. Because of that, he was able to use the power of his art without permission from Shiu Won Lan."
With those words, another misunderstanding about Shion was born.
Glass thought about it for a moment.
"If we're talking about that... I think I heard something about Shion's cold demeanor during the exam."
Another layer of misunderstanding was added.
And this time, nobody noticed it.
After some time, Glass stood up and walked through the mansion.
"About the final exams..."
Brad answered proudly.
"The top three ranked students have the right to pass the exam."
Glass nodded.
At that moment, Marin Sano appeared and ran toward him.
"Glass! Are you okay?!"
Glass smiled warmly.
Marin suddenly stopped.
Her face turned red.
The cold, handsome appearance of her fiancé caught her completely off guard.
'It's too... hot...!'
"Ahmmm!"
Brad coughed deliberately, bringing her back to reality.
He looked toward her.
"Are there any visitors today?"
Marin regained her composure and answered with a flushed face.
"We received visitors from the Flair, Night, and Jura families today. Besides the heads of the second-rank noble families, several important third-rank nobles came as well."
"Did Shion come?"
Glass asked.
There was no immediate answer.
His expression became frustrated.
"Don't tell me he didn't visit me."
Marin smiled weakly.
"It's not that he didn't visit."
She hesitated.
"Actually... he can't even return home."
"Huh?"
Glass didn't understand.
His uncle shook his head as he remembered what had happened.
"It was the worst announcement concerning the champions since the establishment of the academy."
"What?!"
Glass wanted someone to explain what had happened while he was unconscious.
...
Earlier...
Director Tim Ayr floated above the academy arena, holding several papers in the air.
"While wandering through the academy corridors, I found a suspicious place."
The papers floated higher.
"And I found these."
Everyone looked up.
Their expressions immediately changed.
The papers contained records of their bets.
Betting was strictly forbidden within the academy.
It didn't matter if two students made a harmless bet over something trivial.
This was different.
A huge amount of money had been involved.
Noble students had organized the bets.
The total value had reached eight million golden coins.
"..."
Tim's gaze swept across the entire arena.
Everyone lowered their heads.
The noble families were especially nervous.
The students weren't the only ones involved.
Their elders were involved as well.
Tim's eyes stopped on Solan Neumann.
Unlike everyone else, she didn't lower her gaze.
She simply looked at him without concern.
'I am Solan. I have nothing to be afraid of.'
Tim's voice suddenly appeared inside her mind.
"If you keep looking at me like that, Sol Hart, I'll expose your identity."
"!!!"
Solan froze.
She hadn't expected the director to know.
Tim continued.
"Sol appeared, then Solan appeared. Solan disappeared, then Sol appeared again."
His voice became colder.
"Not once. Not twice. Do you think I'm blind?"
Solan immediately lowered her head.
'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
He knows everything!
Will he tell the king?!'
Tim wasn't in the mood to tolerate anyone challenging him.
His eyes then moved toward Crown Princess Jina Joul.
She was deliberately looking in another direction.
"..."
"..."
Tim knew that Jina had bet one million golden coins on Shion using another name.
So he sent a message to King Jord Joul.
Jord placed his hand on Jina's head.
"We will talk about this in the palace."
"I... okay..."
Jina lowered her head.
Finally, Tim's eyes landed on the academy's champion.
"Shion Lan."
Shion looked at him.
Tim began.
"What do you say about the bets?"
"..."
Shion found himself in a very, very bad situation.
But he had to answer.
"According to the academy rules, it's... forbidden."
He continued carefully.
"According to noble tradition, it's... frowned upon.
And according to the kingdom's laws?
It's—"
"So we agree that betting is forbidden."
"Ah... yes."
Shion gave up.
"Now, how should I deal with you?"
Under the gaze of everyone in the arena, Shion sighed.
"The punishment should be according to the rules."
He paused.
"I will spend my vacation in the academy."
Shion remembered exactly what that punishment meant.
He would spend his entire vacation working in the academy, performing the lowest-ranking jobs from the moment he woke up until he went to sleep.
And it would continue for months, until the beginning of the next year.
For a noble, such punishment was humiliating.
But for Shion, it was even worse.
He was the head of his family.
Shi Yun Lan suddenly spoke with complete indifference.
"When I come back, I find you doing something as shameful as betting."
He clicked his tongue.
"Bastard."
Shion wanted to slap his companion.
But there was nothing he could do.
Shi Yun Lan was right.
'I'll kick him out later.'
Shion smiled faintly to himself.
Then the head of the Jura family stepped forward.
"Master Ayr, can you... let this one go?"
Sweat ran down his back as he faced the director.
"Let it go?"
Tim's expression became colder.
"My rules aren't so easy to break."
The head of the Torano family immediately joined in.
"Master... we're celebrating the championship and our new champion, Shion Lan. We shouldn't make this too difficult."
Both family heads knew exactly how many of their people had participated in the bets.
If the punishment were carried out, their families would become a laughingstock throughout the kingdom.
Tim didn't care.
But then he noticed the king's tense expression.
His daughter was involved too.
Tim sighed deeply.
"Well..."
He paused.
"We'll let it go this time."
The arena erupted.
"For real?!"
"Thank you, Director!"
"You're the best!"
The nobles and commoners alike celebrated.
Shion was about to release a sigh of relief.
But the world had other plans.
Tim continued.
"If you want to escape your punishment, pay your bets to Shion."
The arena went silent.
"...Huh?!"
Tim smiled.
"Shion will take the punishment on behalf of all of you."
"HUH?!"
Shion's expression froze.
Everyone else looked equally shocked.
The director continued.
"Shion Lan is different. He is the head of a noble house, the champion of the year, and a talented student who reached the fourth level during his second year."
His expression became serious.
"All of this makes him more responsible for his actions.
So I have no choice but to put the responsibility on him."
Rita Lan tried to speak.
"Shion—"
But Shion stopped her with a glance.
The nobles, meanwhile, began discussing what to do.
The total amount had reached eight million golden coins.
One after another, the heads of the Six Great Families announced:
"We're out."
The remaining families followed.
"We're out!"
But the commoners couldn't bear the loss.
So they accepted the punishment alongside Shion.
"We're done!"
Another shout suddenly rang through the arena.
Nell Stroman threw her engagement ring at Kin Light.
Kin stared at it in confusion.
"That's..."
Nobody dared to comment.
Tim looked toward the commentator.
The commentator immediately understood the director's glare.
He raised his voice.
"Now, let us celebrate the first-place champion of the academy!
Shion Lan!"
The arena erupted in applause.
"And the second-place champion!
Glass Sano!"
Brad walked away.
"And the third-place champion!
Kin Light!"
The applause continued.
But so did the murmurs.
"The punished champion..."
"The absorbed..."
"And the split..."
The words weren't easy on Shion's ears.
He lowered his head and thought bitterly.
'I've finally cleared my name from being known as a scumbag.
Now I've become the first head of a noble house to be punished by the academy.'
Shi Yun Lan's voice came from beside him.
"You're making history by becoming a trash."
"..."
Shion couldn't say anything anymore.