A familiar voice called her name.
It was the blonde man who had also been transferred, standing there like he'd planned this moment down to the second. He said he knew waiting would pay off, since Leona always woke up early.
Leona didn't bother easing into it. She asked what he wanted and warned him she'd leave if he didn't have something important to say. He replied that he simply wanted to see her because he missed her.
That answer annoyed her more than anything else, and she dismissed it as pure nonsense. Then he made the mistake of commenting that she should be more polite, since she was a woman.
That was it. Leona immediately launched into an exaggerated apology so thick with sarcasm it could have cracked stone. She declared that she had committed a grave sin. How dare a woman like her speak freely, especially before the most esteemed first imperial prince, Isaiah.
The prince tried to backtrack, saying that wasn't what he meant. He asked if she was still angry. Was it because he was a prince? Was that why she was acting this way?
Leona sighed. She'd already explained this once, but since he insisted, she laid it out again, slow and unmistakable. Yes, she had been shocked to learn that her childhood friend, the boy she thought was a commoner, turned out to be royalty. But prince or street orphan, it made no difference to her. What she couldn't stand was being looked at by the empress as nothing more than a future baby-making tool.
Thinking back on it, she realized she'd been incredibly restrained. Breaking a few windows suddenly felt merciful. She really should have caused a much bigger scene.
The prince said he only wanted her by his side. That line snapped the last thread of her patience. She shouted at him to stop acting like her lover, because she hated it. Before he could say anything else, she turned away, done with the conversation.
She slammed the door behind her and let out a heavy sigh, muttering that talking was cheap and meant nothing.
That was when she noticed Rean. He was standing right in front of her, literally.
Startled, Leona demanded to know if he'd been eavesdropping. Rean calmly pointed out that having a loud lovers' quarrel right at the entrance didn't exactly count as eavesdropping. She instantly denied it was a lovers' quarrel and snapped at him to leave her alone as she walked past him.
Rean followed up by asking if she had any kind of relationship with the prince. That only poured fuel on the fire. Leona denied it immediately and made it very clear that even if there were something, which there wasn't, it was none of Rean's business.
Then he dropped a warning. He said the prince was a no-go, because he was a dangerous man.
Leona didn't buy it. She knew she'd been cold to Isaiah, but he wasn't a bad person. As kids, he'd followed her around with watery eyes, and she'd always been the one protecting him. On top of that, the prince was known for being loved by the people of the empire.
Rean disagreed without hesitation. He said the prince had simply put on a convincing act in front of her. The truth was that both the prince and his father were far more scheming than she realized. That, according to him, was why she'd been able to live so carefree.
Hearing Rean casually refer to the emperor as the prince's father made Leona seriously question his sanity. Rean didn't back down. He said the truly insane one was the prince. A man who would do anything to get what he wanted, just to possess it.
Leona glared at him and doubted there was anyone in the empire with a personality as foul as Rean's. She told him to stay out of it, since it had nothing to do with him, and walked away.
Rean let out a frustrated sigh. He'd warned her, and she hadn't listened. She didn't even realize she was walking straight into a trap. But what irritated him more than that was the feeling gnawing at him ever since he'd seen the two of them together. A tight, unpleasant sensation that refused to go away, no matter how much he tried to ignore it.
After that whole mess, Leona ended up helping a woman with her load. While carrying half the stack like it weighed nothing, Leona casually asked if the so-called freshman welcome party was real, or just another scare tactic cooked up by bored seniors.
Unfortunately, it was very real, and calling it a welcome was generous at best. The woman explained that it was closer to hazing with a fancy name. Impossible tasks, brutal training, mental stress, the full package, enough to make people question their career choices by lunchtime.
Still, she added, there was a reason behind all the suffering. That reason turned out to be pairing. The whole ordeal existed to push recruits into forming duos with juniors they clicked with.
Leona immediately thought about herself and Rean. They were already paired, and not even with a senior.
Lowering her voice, the woman added that the Central Branch was especially strange this year. Talented, yes. Stable, not so much. Leona thanked her for the warning and silently agreed. A place full of geniuses was bound to attract a matching number of lunatics.
There were five new recruits this year, including herself, the prince and Rean. That meant two more unfamiliar faces would show up at the party. Leona wasn't worried. If anyone tried to look down on her, she planned to shut that down with skill alone. Simple and clean.
The day of the welcome party arrived, and the moment Leona stepped into the grand auditorium, she realized calling it an auditorium was a lie. It was basically a stadium. Since things hadn't officially started yet, she decided to scout the competition.
One guy immediately caught her attention. Close combat type, solid build, interesting stance. Fighting him might actually be fun. So she approached him.
That was a mistake. The man reacted like she was a walking curse. Every time she moved closer, he dodged away. When she finally said it was fine and turned as if to back off, then reappeared right in front of him a split second later, fast enough to look like teleportation, the poor guy completely lost it. He yelped about a woman being there and begged her to stay away, scrambling back like a frightened puppy, convinced it was about to be eaten.
Elsewhere, the angel popped up beside Rean, visibly stressed. She whispered that a rival had appeared and asked what they should do if Leona ended up liking that guy. Rean replied through telepathy that it sounded more like the angel's type.