Correcting the Villainess of the Academy - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Reunion (4)

“Wow…!”

“Is that the person from the Baek family…?”

“The real person looks even more…”

As soon as Seoyeon’s greeting ended, exclamations of admiration and friendly cheers burst out from various parts of the crowd.

Even compared to the principal, the response was certainly no less enthusiastic.

Such an enthusiastic response alone was enough to realize Seoyeon’s standing in Cradle.

“Hehe. Thank you, juniors. I’m so flattered by your welcome that I don’t know what to do with myself…”

Amidst the support for her, Seoyeon continued her welcoming speech with her characteristic elegant smile.

It was a smile I had sorely missed, one I hadn’t seen in far too long.

Seoyeon, whom I had not seen for two years, was even more dazzling than the last time I saw her.
T h i s w a s co pi e d fro m k i n g m t l . or g

Her exceptional appearance and dignified air almost felt sublime.

However, Seoyeon’s eyes no longer looked towards me.

“…”

The young lady of the Paechun Baek family.

Born with peerless beauty, she possessed skills far surpassing active soldiers and veteran hunters.

She had been so cherished by the head of the Baek family that she hadn’t shown herself in social circles until her enrollment in Cradle, where her exceptional qualities were finally revealed to the world.

Despite her nobility, she mingled with the students of Cradle without discrimination, eventually becoming last year’s victor.

But how could I have known that person was you?

Only today did I finally understand why Seoyeon never revealed her background to me.

A nobody from the frontier.

The young lady of the Baek family, amongst the most noble of noble families…

We were never meant to be together.

“…”

My mind was filled with chaos and agitation. The surrounding noise faded away as if becoming distant. I was sinking into an endless abyss of thoughts.

I am still dreaming of two years ago.

The noisy sounds of gunfire.
T h is wa s c o pie d fr om k i n g m t l . o r g

The scent of death brought with the pungent smoke.

The holes in the barricades.

The body of the dead security captain, eyes wide open.

The horrific appearance of demons, indistinguishable between beast and human.

The tombstones of my mother and friends in the ruined garden of our home.

And each morpheme of the cold, icy words spat out by Seoyeon,

Along with the faint scent of forget-me-nots left in the dawn’s hospital room.

T h i s w a s c o p i e d f r om kingm t l . o r g
All of it remains as vivid as if it happened yesterday.

A hole was drilled into my heart that day, and on windy nights, I lie awake all night, groaning in pain.

But unlike me, Seoyeon was merely smiling pleasantly.

As if she had escaped from a long nightmare…

“…Ah?”

“…”

“Hyunah?”

“…”

“Hyun~~ah?”

“…”

“…Huh?”

The moment I realized something was repeatedly sweeping in front of my eyes, I was abruptly pulled out of the depths.

As I aimlessly shifted my gaze, I saw Yena puffing her cheeks in irritation, waving her hand impatiently.

“Phew, you finally responded. Were you falling asleep or something…?”

“…I guess I was just tired.”

I barely managed to open my mouth to apologize. With that, Yena ceased her gesturing. Her cheeks deflated back to their original size.

“Who falls asleep during an entrance ceremony? You must’ve been really tired. Did you even hear what I just said?”

“…Sorry. What did you say?”

“About Senior Seoyeon. Doesn’t she seem so cool?”

“…Yeah. I think so too.”

“She’s like a princess straight out of a fairy tale. Both her beauty and personality… She treats even students from remote regions like us fairly and kindly. You wouldn’t believe how much my friends were talking about the senior.”

Pleased that I had finally come back to my senses, Yena resumed her lengthy chatter.

However, upon hearing what Yena mentioned next,

I felt as though several heavy stones had suddenly been dropped on my heart.

“Can you imagine how happy her fiancé must be? It seems Senior Seoyeon really likes her fiancé. She gets so happy just talking about him.”

“What…?”

“Oh, is this news to you, Hyun? Really, you seem uninterested in such things. If it weren’t for me, who would have told you about this…?”

“…”

T h i s w a s co pi e d fr o m k i n g mtl . o r g
“But you know what’s really interesting? No one knows who the fiancé is…! I heard it’s a secret engagement arranged by the family…”

I started to feel suffocated, and my vision narrowed. An uncontrollable throbbing pain surged from the scar on my face.

“It was like this. Since the fiancé wasn’t being revealed, some people started claiming they were the one. But then, after hearing that, Senior Seoyeon practically beat them half to death in a duel… requesting… eventually they were expelled from Cradle…”
T h i s wa s c op i e d f r om k i n g m t l . o r g

It felt as though a massive serpent was continuously constricting me. Yena kept muttering something beside me, but I couldn’t make out her words.

“…They even said she destroyed their entire family… But that can’t be true for someone like her… It must be a ridiculous rumor…”

I struggled with all my might to suppress the rising nausea but it was to no avail.

Eventually, I found myself running out of Hwayangkwan.

***
T h i s wa s c o p i e d f rom k i ngm t l . o rg

“Hehe, shall we end the boring stories here? We don’t have much time to laugh and get to know each other. The academic schedule starts tomorrow, so I hope you all just relax and enjoy today. Once again, I sincerely welcome you to Cradle.”

-Clap, clap, clap!-

As the welcoming speech concluded, applause poured out from all directions.

Seoyeon, smiling brightly, waved her hand here and there before stepping down from the podium and leaving Hwayangkwan. The other second-year students followed suit, streaming out of the door.

The welcome party today was entirely for the new students. Long, movable tables were arranged all around the hall, followed by trolleys laden with food and drinks rolling into Hwayangkwan.

True to her words, the new students gathered in small groups, sitting down to introduce themselves and share stories with one another.

“Her voice was really amazing… I want to hear it again…”

A group of students huddled around a table, and one of the girls whispered softly. Her blonde hair shimmered as she moved, and her emerald eyes sparkled under the chandelier’s light.

“Did you see? The particles flickering around her hair. I’ve never seen golden particles like that before in my life. How talented must she be…”

Th i s w a s cop i ed f ro m k i n g m t l. o rg
Another girl sitting beside her quietly agreed.

“It’s clear now that we’ve seen her in person. No wonder she’s considered the strongest of our generation.”

“Who would disagree? And she seems to have such a nice personality too. How can someone smile so elegantly? I just want to call her ‘sister’ at least once…”

“Tch, she seemed too open for my taste. With that kind of attitude…”

A boy at the same table suddenly joined their conversation. He had short hair and was noticeably large for a student, his muscles straining against the buttons of his uniform.

“In my opinion, Senior Yeon Minha suits the title of the strongest more…”

As the boy snorted dismissively, the two girls immediately turned to glare at him with chilly expressions.

Blonde and exotic-looking, Jin Yeseo, who had been the representative for the first-year students, sharply retorted.

“Too open? Hey, Choi Woojin. Have you lost your mind? How dare someone like you judge her. You’re not even worthy to stand in Senior’s shadow…”

“Why are you overreacting? Didn’t I speak the truth? Those who stand above should naturally display dignity rather than smiles to the new students, shouldn’t they?”

“Stand above? Hey, get a grip. Don’t you know our country is a republic? It’s bleak for the Choi family of Seongsan, always lurking at the bottom, to have an heir like you. Well, that’s why you’re always at the end…”

“This bitch is crazy… Hey, Jin Yeseo. Snap out of it. Just because you’re grouped with the five families and treated like royalty, you think you’re something? But you’re nothing compared to the reclusive Heukryeon Sashi family, still lagging behind after all these years. Is it because of your barbarian bloodline, too slow to grasp your place…”

“You son of a bitch, do you really want to go at it…”

“Stop, stop! Guys, please, just stop! How can you fight on the day of the entrance ceremony? Can’t you hold it in just for today?”

Choi Woojin and Jin Yeseo glared murderously at each other, hurling insults. They were about to reflexively reach for their particle manipulators when a good-natured looking boy intervened to calm them down.

“…Sigh.”

“…Tsk.”

As the boy suddenly stepped in, breaking the tension, they both reluctantly sat back down, turning their heads away to ignore each other.

“…Phew…”

“…You did well, Seunghun.”

The boy finally let out a sigh of relief and sat down. Another girl at his side gently took his hand and offered words of comfort.

“It’s okay. It happens all the time… Thank you, Yeowool…”

Ryu Seunghun returned a friendly smile at Moon Yeowool’s words, causing her cheeks to blush slightly.

They were all children of the country’s leading magical families. The original five families, along with the 22 prestigious families, were commonly referred to as the Magical Twenty-Seven Families.

Although not officially a ruling class, the Magical Twenty-Seven Families effectively controlled the country.

T hi s wa s copi ed fr o m ki n gm t l . or g
They owned private armies and numerous corporations, amassing vast wealth like black holes sucking in everything around them.

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They wielded significant influence over the political and military spheres, and some even sent their members directly into the administration.

These families were also interconnected through various rights and multiple marriages. The people here had known each other from a young age, frequently gathering and becoming familiar faces to one another. They were particularly close, being of similar ages.

Ryu Seunghun and Moon Yeowool were even engaged to each other.

But relationships among people could not always be harmonious. Sometimes, closeness led to greater conflicts.

From this perspective, Jin Yeseo and Choi Woojin were not very compatible. They had always bickered, often resorting to duels as a matter of course.

And breaking up their fights was always the responsibility of Ryu Seunghun, stuck in the middle.

“…Hey, look at that guy. What’s with his face… Pfft…”

While surveying the surroundings, Choi Woojin suddenly burst into laughter, pointing at a new student wearing the same badge as them.

The student appeared normal in stature but wore a white, smooth mask covering the upper half of his face, which indeed was laughable.

“Ah, it’s a freak show. I thought it was something else…”

Moon Yeowool dismissed the sight indifferently. “Freak show” was Cradle’s slang for students who behaved eccentrically.

Cradle was never short of peculiar students each year. Some wore strange mechanical devices on one arm, donned witch hats straight out of fairy tales, or remained imposingly silent even when spoken to, craving attention.

Most of them were magicians from obscure families trying to catch the eye of prestigious houses or headhunters, or first-generation magicians who had spontaneously awakened their powers.

Though she did not show it, especially in front of her fiancé Seunghun, Moon Yeowool also thought such students muddied the water and did not particularly like them. She had secretly hoped Yeon Minha was better.

“Shouldn’t Cradle cancel the admission of such types? This is supposed to be the top academy.”

Choi Woojin said, his face full of mockery.

“Our brother said it used to be teeming with them. Doesn’t it ever get old? If you want to stand out, it should be through ability. It’s always those types who lack skill and end up dropping out.”

Th i s wa s co pi e d fr o m k i n g mt l . or g
The masked student had been staring intently at the podium where Seoyeon had stood until he suddenly turned and quickly exited Hwayangkwan.

Behind him, a female student who seemed to be part of his group floundered in place, looking bewildered.

“…What was that? Is he really that odd…?”

Moon Yeowool muttered to herself after observing the scene. Then, as if recalling something, she turned to Seunghun and asked,

“Right. So, Seunghun, which senior do you prefer?”

“I’d say I prefer Senior Seoyeon over Senior Yeon Minha… Senior Yeon Minha is a bit scary, you know… Ha ha…”

“…Tch.”

Seunghun awkwardly laughed in response to Yeowool’s question. Displeased with his answer, Yeowool turned away from him and puffed her cheeks slightly.

Jin Yeseo, who had been watching Seoyeon leave, remarked,

“I wonder how happy that person’s fiancé must be?”

End of Chapter