The handsome young guy sitting near the window flipped through his book.

His pink lips twitched a little at the sound of the turning pages.

His thick silvery hair caught the sunlight beaming in through the window, which made it gleam brightly.

His jewel-like eyes caught my attention. They sparkled through his round glasses like stars in an azure cast sky.

It was a breathtaking sight.

I spaced out, just staring at the wonder before me.

***

Throughout my entire 17 years of life, I have never once believed in love at first sight. So, it was very strange to me that I fell so easily and so hard for a guy that I knew so little about. I didn’t even know what he was like or where he lived or anything.

However, that’s all behind me now. I shouldn’t be getting myself involved with upper classmen like Noah anyhow. Or… that’s what I thought until I saw him again.

I still remember that day as if it were just yesterday. It had been one whole week since I started going to the academy.

At the time, I was just an ordinary freshman struggling to adapt to a new environment and a busy schedule. I didn’t really think about nor care for meeting someone special or anything like that.

In fact, I thought I was always going to be like that.

During those days, I would spend some of my free time making extra sure that I put the books that I had borrowed from the library back in their original place. The strict librarian would have been super annoyed with me had I put them back incorrectly.

Even the sound of my footsteps at that time could not have been any more elegant either. My then home-economics teacher once said that I had the walk of a noblewoman.

That most elegant sound of my footsteps came to an abrupt halt as I stopped mid-stride. For no special reason, I looked over my shoulder and, At that moment, my breath was taken away from me.

My mouth fell open, almost as if someone had grabbed my jaw from underneath and yanked it down.

I couldn’t help it. The face of the guy standing next to me was just too radiant.

He was tall with a solid build. If it wasn’t for that, I’d probably be led to believe that he was actually a woman. His face was that gorgeous.

Was he… a guy? Even a human being, in fact? Not a sculpture that escaped from some shrine? Has there ever been a sculpture painted in such a way?

His long silvery hair was tidy and sparkled like diamonds.

His golden eyes were as deep as a vast lake. His nose was high and Stoic, as is often seen on the busts of those powerful men from Ancient Rome. Also, his skin was as white as freshly fallen snow that had accumulated overnight.

Wow, so handsome…

That student’s desk was located near the window, where the bright sunlight always beamed in during the morning. Every strand of his gentle hair caught the sun in a way that gave it the appearance of swirling fog amid the light.

It was enough to mercilessly shake the heart of an innocent new schoolgirl from the countryside like myself.

I lowered my eyes to his uniform, where I saw his year and name stitched in white over his blue name patch.

He was a sophomoric student named Noah Yurielle.

He’s that well known guy who’s been a magical genius since before he even started going to this school.

Come to think of it, when I came to take the entrance exam, I caught a glimpse of his grades posted on the wall in the hallway.

His name was posted in the slot next to the label that read “#1.”

How about that? That person was him. Who would have known that he would be such a handsome young man like this?

I was unaware of how impolite I was being by staring at him like that, but I was so engrossed in admiring his face that I didn’t have the slightest thought of remorse.

I stood there like that as the guy tried to pass by beside me. I was so absorbed in his face that I neglected to step to the side, and he eventually ended up having to squeeze by between me and the bookshelf.

He checked out a book, and as he walked off with his hair waving gently behind him, I followed him with my eyes until he was out of sight.

It wasn’t until that moment that I realized that my heart had been racing that entire time.

That was the historical day that marked the beginning of the longest crush I’ve ever had on someone in my entire life.

***

It’s been nearly two years since that day, and I’m still crazy about him.

Noah Yurielle… One grade level above me and a skilful magician…

I wouldn’t consider what I felt for him to be devoted love exactly, but it was definitely something sincere. It’s got to the point where I’m completely infatuated with him.

“If that’s the case, then just tell him how you feel.”

Ah, this again. Like that idea hadn’t crossed my mind. If I had such courage, I would have already told him.

Feeling pathetic from hearing Dora’s remark, I buried my face in my hands and let out a prolonged sigh.

“Exactly how in the world am I supposed to tell him how I feel…?”

I’m just the ordinary daughter of a count, but him… He’s the son of a prestigious and high-ranking marquis. Such a gap in status was not something that even being born with magical powers could close.

“Everyone says that. Just confess your innermost feelings then get dumped later,” Dora said with a giggle.

She said this a little too easily. It was only just a month ago that her boyfriend, a classmate, broke up with her. She ran off in tears and threw herself onto her bed when she got back to her dorm room.

“I don’t want to get dumped…”

I was on the verge of tears, and I turned again to look through the window in the hallway that gave a clear view of the inside of the classroom.

I saw him on the opposite side of the glass. He was sitting at his desk reading his book.

He’s so handsome.

Just then, a pretty girl with lovely pinkish hair approached him as she let out what was probably the cutest little giggle anyone has ever heard.

“Noah, you’re here early.”

Noah looked up at her upon hearing his name.

At that moment, I felt my shoulders suddenly become weak.

“It’s Flora,” Dora whispered into my ear.

Flora Ivy… She was both my beloved Noah’s childhood friend and the second reason as to why I haven’t confessed my love to him yet in these past two years.

I guess it’s like they say, birds of a feather flock together. Flora was every bit as amazing of a person as Noah was.

She was unbelievably friendly, beautiful, intelligent, and gifted with incredible talent. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. In every possible way, she was perfect. A goddess.

Her thick, yet gentle wavy pink hair, her cute sky-blue eyes… Compared to her, I was nothing.

Did I even stand a chance against a female such as her? Would my beloved Noah even notice me?

Feeling dissatisfied with myself, I put my head down and fiddled with my inferior and commonplace yellow hair.

While Flora was talking to Noah in an affectionate tone, she suddenly glanced in my direction.

“Oh, Kate’s here too.” Flora put on a warm smile and waved over at Dora and me.

I forced a smile and opened the door to the classroom which we were using as the room for our after-school club meeting.

“Hello everyone.”

“Hi. You must be feeling so exhausted from preparing for the exams. Did you do the assigned readings in the book yet?” Flora said as she smiled pleasantly and patted me gently on the back.

I didn’t answer her and instead held up the book and smiled.

“Hi,” Noah said as he saw me, albeit slightly delayed. I hesitated in front of him and just nodded without uttering a single word.

I let out a very light sigh and took my seat. As soon as I sat down, I looked over at Noah, but in an indiscreet way so that no one would take notice.

Seeing his cloud-like silvery hair again made my heart beat faster and faster.

But then a heavy thought came crashing down onto my daydream; I’m just another club member… Just another student at this school. That’s all I am in his eyes, and I imagine that’s all I’ll ever be.

I should be thankful he at least thought of me as a sincere and hard-working student.

No, I take that back. I should be thankful if he was at least aware of my very existence.

If it weren’t for this club, I probably would never have been able to get the chance to even talk to him.

Perhaps there are dozens of other girls just like me at this academy.

They all act like they know him because they’re in the same club. I’m sure Noah thinks of me as being no different from the rest of them.

“Okay, okay!” Flora took out a thick book and slammed it on the desk in order to get everyone’s attention.

“So then, would anyone like to share any comments?”

I half-heartedly opened my book.

I actually had no interest in the reading club. In fact, the only reason why I joined this club in the first place was just because Noah was in it. I would even go as far as to say that, except Flora, there is not even one person who shows up to these club meetings out of an interest in literature.

Noah joined the club because Flora had asked him to. I joined the club because Noah had joined it. Ah, the lovely domino effect.

“We’ll start with Kate.”

I quickly fixed my eyes on my book upon hearing Flora’s words.

“Oh… Okay.”

It was a book on classical literature with a pitch-black cover and an author whose name was impressive yet difficult to pronounce.

Besides, I didn’t really have the time nor the motivation to read because of the upcoming exams. However, I wanted to impress Noah, so I was able to cram in some reading before I came.

I lifted up the heavy book with my hand and glanced at Noah before opening my mouth.

“I thought the main character’s love seemed a bit shallow.”

“Oh, is that right?”

Flora’s eyes sparkled. It seemed that this new observation was intriguing to her.

That comment gave me some encouragement. But no matter how much I prepared, it was always hard for me to speak in front of the upper classmen.

“Whenever you like someone, it’s impossible to tear your eyes away from that person, you know. You tend to keep your eyes on them. It’s like… like that, you know.” I started off confident, but for whatever reason, I ran out of steam the more I went on.

When I opened my mouth again to wrap up what I was saying, I felt someone’s gaze on me. In fact, a pair of gold-tinted eyes were staring directly at me.

“…!”

I quickly tipped my head down. Ah, I hope to god he didn’t see the look on my face.

He was just probably concentrating on what I was saying about the book, but still, my heart seemed to sink in that instant.

“Yeah, I guess I can see where you’re coming from. Thank you, Kate.” Flora put on a friendly smile. Fortunately for me, it didn’t seem like she was able to see through my act.

Those golden eyes were still staring at me through those glasses. I firmly shut my eyes and bit my lower lip so hard that I was able to taste blood.

***

“I’m sure everyone needs time to prepare for the upcoming exams, so there won’t be any club meetings starting from next week. Good luck on your tests, everyone!”

“Thanks, you too.”

Flora saw me out as I left the classroom, hugging the thick book against my chest.

I closed the door behind me and turned to take a look inside the classroom again.

Noah had a rare smile on his face as he looked at Flora. It was hard for me to watch.

I wondered what they could be talking about.

“They’re a good match.”

I caught myself thinking aloud. I didn’t know why I said that.

I knew my place. I never once expected to feel like this. Yet, I couldn’t help but be jealous of her.

“It might be better if I were out of the picture entirely.”

Should I just quit the club?

I grumbled miserably as I turned and walked off.

For some reason, Noah seemed to be on my mind a lot more than usual today.

I trudged along, gradually losing strength the more I kept walking.

All of a sudden, I was feeling very depressed.

***

“I’m returning this.”

“Write down the title of the book and put it back in its proper place,” the librarian said in a cold voice as she wiped the dust off of some random book.

My already depressed mood hit rock bottom upon hearing her shrill tone.

“Yes ma’am…” I said with a resigned sigh. I was doing that a lot today – sighing. I probably lost several years of my life with each one.

No, I need to pull it together. There are two weeks remaining before the exams begin. I need to focus on studying. It’ll be okay as long as I get a grip on myself. I just have to stop thinking about Noah and only concentrate on preparing for my exams instead.

I clenched my hands into fists and made a promise with myself to execute that plan. As I was on my way out of the library, a certain book caught my attention.

“That’s strange… There’s no title.”

I narrowed my eyes in curiosity and walked up to the bookshelf.

What could such a gaudy-looking book be about?

The books in the library at the academy are generally all scholarly and literary works.

Very are rarely their popular novels available as they are almost always checked out. Is this one new?

“Excuse me, is this…”

I opened my mouth as I grabbed the red-covered book, but the librarian seemed too distracted wiping off the dust that had settled on a large encyclopedia that she didn’t even hear me.

I gave up on trying to get her attention and just took a seat at a nearby desk.

I flipped open the book to a page and skimmed through it, softly murmuring the words to myself.

“Oh.”

It’s a bit erotic.

Why on earth would the school have a book like this available to students?

I whistled as I leafed through the pages. No matter where I turned to in the book, there were scenes of kissing. In fact, I’d say that was the case for every scene.

I got to wondering just what led up to the two characters doing something like that in the classroom, so I flipped to the beginning of the novel.

I skimmed through a little more until my eyes came to an abrupt stop.

My face gradually became petrified at what I was looking at.

***

It was very clear that the book was a romance novel taking place at a school.

There was an angelic female lead character who was both smart and beautiful. The other main character was the guy she loved, a cool and handsome young man. Their love was to be interrupted by the antagonists in the story, but they would reaffirm their feelings for each other in the end, and so on and so forth.

That’s as far as I needed to read to know that this was probably going to be a painfully unoriginal love story. However, if it were merely that, I wouldn’t be so intrigued by it like I was.

If there was one thing strange about this book, it was that the two main characters from the story really existed at this academy.

The lead character from this untitled book sounded unmistakably like Flora.

This went without saying, since Flora Ivy had always been a perfect human being.

Her love interest, the handsome young male character, was obviously none other than the man of my dreams, Noah.

Needless to say, this was obviously a cruel joke being played on me by somebody who had far too much time on their hands. This wasn’t funny at all to me. Imagining the person you like involved with another girl in such a way was not something that evoked laughter.

However, what really got me down was the fact that I played a part in this story too.

Katelin Blair, the lacklustre antagonist who, despite being expelled from the academy by harassing the flawless and beautiful Flora out of jealousy, maintained a fruitless infatuation with the stunningly handsome Noah.

On top of that, the main antagonist seemed detached and didn’t even really play a big part in the story. She appeared in what, maybe a couple of dozen pages. In fact, the role was comparable to that of an annoying fly who wouldn’t get out of the faces of the other two, much more important, characters.

I was in a foul mood.

From my secret feelings that I felt for Noah to the background and personalities of the two main characters that are strikingly similar to that of Flora and Noah, this whole story seemed to be too much of an accurate portrayal of my current situation. It actually creped me out a bit. I didn’t know why; I mean, this did seem to be a pretty standard and cliché romance novel.

“… I’m not crazy.” I scowled and crumpled up the page.

Just what kind of sick sexually perverse pervert would write such a book? No doubt it was the work of some twisted student who had way too much time on their hands. To top it off, they made me the lowly and expendable bad guy.