I Enrolled as the Villain

Lucia walked behind Kael in silence.

The soft sound of their footsteps echoed through the corridor, one after the other. A healer followed a short distance back, though the glow from their spell had already begun to fade. Most of the pain had dulled. But something else lingered.

Her hand still tingled from when he pulled her up.

Not from the magic. And not even from the pain.

It was the way he held it steadily, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

She looked down at her palm once.

So that's what it feels like… when he chooses to act.

The thought came and settled, quiet and unfamiliar. Like finding an old room in a house you thought you knew.

He had stood there, unmoving not as a symbol of judgment, not as a tyrant, not even as the Mythrigan bearer.

Just Kael.

And for a brief moment, she hadn't known what to do.

Not with the quiet.

Not with the way it made her feel.

Not with the memory of who he used to be.

The corridor stretched on, lined with students. His back remained ahead, steady and unshaken.

Lucia didn't try to catch up. She simply walked behind him, with slow, uncertain steps.

Still feeling the weight of something she didn't have a name for.

———

As the metal door slid open, I expected the corridor to be empty, with walls of white marble.

Instead, it was filled with students lined up on each side, their pins proudly attached to their chests.

One of the students the one who mocked Arthur earlier stepped forward from the line and stood directly in front of me.

Then he bowed. Not out of rank, but out of respect.

Other students soon followed.

As I looked at each of them, I couldn't help but feel a tug in my heart.

I've just now shifted the story in a massive way. The House of Valery, which once antagonized Arthur and did vile things for its own advantage—maybe with this, they will follow my lead toward something greater.

My hand reached out to the male student with grey eyes and rested on his shoulder.

I opened my left eye.

The Mythrigan flared to life, its light cutting through the corridor like judgment made manifest.

"I'm not here to inspire you," I said. "I'm here to end what should've ended long ago."

As I walked past the students, they slowly raised their heads, eyes drawn to my back. Tall and unshaken with Lucia walking silently behind me.

———

Ruin.

That's all I was. Even with the so-called Ancient Blood of Valeheart, I couldn't even stand on my own against the blood enemies of my House.

I thought today would just be another day of punishment, of mocking and harassment.

But something was different.

I squinted at the one person walking back to the arena doors—without sweat, without struggle—as if this were just a walk in the park, even against Lucia, the Beast of the Elite Class.

Bright flames. Piercing wind. Ice and metal. And vanishing spells that shouldn't exist.

The kind of magic you read about in myths.

The kind of control no one our age should even dream of.

I should've felt jealous.

I didn't.

I felt small.

Not because he beat her.

But because he did it for me.

Kael Valery. The cruelest and most despicable human I have ever met.

The one who was the cause of my suffering at this academy.

And yet—

Why now?

Why look at me with that eye?

Why did he choose to act? That eye… I could feel it. Not cold arrogance, but something more human. No—how could I even think that?

I squeezed the railing of the arena. My hand burned, turning red.

Why risk shame?

Why challenge Lucia in front of everyone? Why take my place?

There was no benefit. No applause. No order.

Just… choice.

He chose to stand there.

As if he remembered what it meant to protect. To defy injustice. To act when no one else would.

And that Eye… that terrible Eye.

He could've destroyed her. He didn't.

He could've let me fall. He didn't.

People whisper that Kael changed a few days ago.

They say trauma broke him. That he went silent.

That something inside him… snapped.

But when I saw him extend his hand to her.The same girl who tried to humiliate me—and she took it…

I began to question.

What kind of person does that?

What kind of person wins a fight and still reaches back?

"…."

I should've hated him.

I wanted to.

But when he stood there…between me and Lucia

I didn't see the tyrant who once made my life hell.

I saw something else. Something I don't have words for yet.

But just because he offered a hand… doesn't mean I have to take it right away.

Forgiveness isn't that cheap.

———

As the tension faded, the air buzzed with hushed voices whispers traveling faster than flame.

"He just used fire, ice, and wind… in one fight?"

"No affinities. No chants. Just—appeared out of thin air."

"That's impossible. Even two elemental affinities is rare."

"I heard even Selene Dais only has three."

"Wait," someone leaned in. "There's a rumor from within House Valery… a training chamber recording. Supposedly, it shows Kael using lightning."

"What? You mean a leak?"

"Not official. Just whispers from the branch families. Said the footage was restricted, but someone saw it."

"If it's true… that means he's used all five base elements."

"That's not just rare. That's system-breaking."

"No. That's political."

Voices dropped lower, more cautious.

"Did the Mythrigan Eye always do that?"

"They said it was a visual relic. A divine lens. But this this isn't just seeing."

"It commands. Or worse… rewrites."

"Still," another said quietly, "that moment during the duel… when Lucia's spell disappeared without impact… that wasn't an element."

"Yeah," someone murmured. "It didn't fizzle or disperse. It just… vanished. Like it was never there."

"Like he erased it."

The crowd fell still again, eyes drawn back to the boy in the center of the arena.

"…What changed?" someone finally asked, voice barely a whisper. "Why now?"

Another answered with unease, "That's the part I'm afraid of."

———

Upper Deck of the Arena

High above the student seats, nestled within a shaded balcony, sat the instructors and a handful of top-ranked students—the academy's elite.

A low murmur passed between them as the dust of the duel settled.

"Should we alter the class rankings after this?" one of the instructors asked, narrowing his eyes at the scorched arena below.

A second instructor shook their head. "No. This wasn't a formal rank duel. It was a challenge. If Kael wants the ranking adjusted, he'll need to submit a request to the Administrators."

"Did he?"

"No." The answer was clipped. Almost confused.

A moment of silence passed, then a student from the top ten leaned forward, eyes still locked on Kael.

"But what was that spell?" he asked. "The fire didn't travel. No projectile. It just… appeared. Same with the ice. And the wind."

"Multiple elements," another murmured. "That's not just rare. That's unheard of."

"A wild card," someone muttered under their breath.

Her voice broke the silence like frost cracking glass.

"If the Eye has begun to move… then the rest of us are merely witnesses to inevitability."

The room stilled.

"You ask if he should be ranked. But what man can you measure, when the very laws of magic kneel at his feet?"

Her gaze lowered to the arena. To him.

"He did not burn her. He could have. He did not crush him. He chose not to. All that power… and he showed mercy."

She paused, then spoke the next words with perfect clarity.

"That is what terrifies me most."

Gasps rippled through the row. One noble student opened his mouth to respond, but she continued, voice unwavering:

"Mercy, from a blade once drawn against me. A blade I never forgot."

As Aurelia spoke, golden symbols and intricate lines slowly spread across her body, until she was fully veiled in glowing sigils—pulsing with a power that predated history.

Brand Of The Pale God.

A stunned silence. No one dared interrupt now.

"You speak of change. But I remember his hand at my throat. I remember the silence before the strike that never came."

She turned, her expression immaculate—not a hair out of place, not a word trembling.

"And now you ask me if he deserves a rank?"

She walked past the seated elite, her cloak trailing behind her like a banner from a war that never ended.

"Let him keep his mercy. Let him walk in peace. But do not mistake that peace for safety."

A breath passed. "Let us not mistake silence for insignificance."

Then, more quietly, to herself:

"That was not the strength of a boy still learning. That was the restraint of a man who has already chosen…

…But even restraint," she added,

"does not absolve the past."

———

After the duel ended, I made my way back to class.

First-Year, Elite Division.

The main lecture hall.

The moment I stepped in, I was hit by silence.

The room was huge, modern, white, and unnervingly clean.

Tiered rows rose in arcs around a central podium, like an old-world amphitheater redesigned by a tech cult.

Thin, blue-trimmed lines pulsed faintly beneath the surface of every desk, all connected to the Academy's system.

Projectors hung suspended from invisible threads above.

Despite its size, it felt… empty.

Half the seats were still unoccupied.

I didn't need to guess why.

They were probably still watching the replay of my duel with Lucia. Or whispering about the elemental display. Or theorizing what my Eye actually did.

Perfect.

It gave me breathing room.

Time to look around.

The only thing warm about this place was the floor polished hardwood, likely enchanted for heat regulation.

Everything else? Cold, white, and clinical. Like I'd walked into a temple of order where even emotions weren't welcome.

Then I spotted it.

My seat.

Farthest row. Back corner.

Right beside—

Wait.

Arthur?

You've got to be kidding me…

Right. Of course I'm still stuck next to Arthur the academy's number one disaster magnet.

He was already sitting there, hunched over, arms crossed, pretending not to notice me.

No.

I noticed him.

I sighed, dragging my feet toward the seat like I was heading into a battlefield.

Haa…

Well. Too late to complain now.

It's not like I care about the rankings.

Or the rumors.

Or the fact that someone is probably watching me from afar.

I pulled the chair out, sat down, and leaned back.

Let's just get this over with.

The chair was stiff, but not uncomfortable. The desk looked clean polished white like everything else in this place.

I rested my hand on the surface and slowly activated my Mythrigan. Just a little. Enough to scan.

That's when I saw it.

A microphone.

Tucked under the desk, behind a thin sound rune. Almost invisible to the eye.

And next to it—

A camera. Small. Embedded in the corner. Wired directly into the structure.

…What?

I didn't move or look around. I just stared at the desk like nothing was wrong.

This wasn't standard school surveillance.

This was hidden.

Meant to watch one person.

Me.

I stayed quiet.

Let them watch.