Chapter 11: Aria Velmora

After the group moved some distance away from Asher,

One of the boys spoke up, his voice filled with irritation. "How dare he talk like that? Who does he think he is, speaking to the Princess in that manner? Even if he’s an Astrean, he isn’t even the heir—and yet look at his attitude."

Before he could continue, Celestine cut him off, her voice calm but firm.

"There’s no need to worry about him," she said, her expression turning serious. "He has no value beyond his mana control. Nothing more."

"He lacks ambition."

"It’s useless to befriend him," one of the girls added.

Celestine then turned her gaze toward Aria.

"What are you thinking about, Aria?"

Aria, who had been lost in thought, replied simply, "Nothing."

Aria POV

Since childhood, I have possessed the ability to sense the emotions of others.

I cannot tell whether someone is lying or speaking the truth—but I can always feel what they truly feel.

And nobles...

They are the worst.

They smile and congratulate you, yet inside, they burn with jealousy.

Snakes—waiting for the right moment to strike.

As I grew older... and more beautiful...

Most of my so-called friends were no different. Their words were sweet, but their hearts were filled with envy.

As for boys—

I don’t even like thinking about it.

Lust.

Nothing more.

Of course, not everyone was like that... but even those who weren’t still approached me with hidden motives—greed, ambition, desire

.

I understood these emotions were natural.

Yet...

It was exhausting—hearing their words while knowing the truth behind them.

But when I entered the Academy—

I noticed him.

Asher.

He had no such emotions.

No lust.

No jealousy.

No sadness.

His heart was either calm... or simply happy.

It was strange.

No—

It was unnatural.

It felt as if he wasn’t even human.

When the professor called him an idiot, he didn’t get angry.

For a brief moment, there was nothing—

And then...

He was genuinely amused.

Does he have something wrong with him?

I don’t know.

So I started observing him.

Days passed.

Five days.

Yet nothing changed.

He attended classes, either sleeping or staring out the window.

Sometimes, he would laugh out of nowhere—

For no reason at all.

Perhaps that was the reason for his extraordinary mana control.

A mind free of negativity...

A mind at peace.

But then—

On Saturday, after classes ended—

I saw him in the garden.

He took out a strange device—a laptop—and something else... headphones... from his subspace.

Then he began playing a game.

And for the first time—

I saw something different.

Anger.

Excitemen

t.

Even sadness.

His emotions... were real.

Clear.

Unhidden.

I was confused.

At first, I thought he couldn’t feel anything.

But now...

I didn’t understand him at all.

And the moment he stopped playing—

His emotions vanished again.

Returning to that same tranquil state.

Then it began to rain.

Students rushed indoors.

But he remained.

Standing under the rain—

Smiling like an idiot, without a care in the world.

Unable to understand him any longer, I walked toward him.

"Why are you always so happy?" I asked.

He looked at me, confused.

Then answered—

"Because I’m alive... and I have nothing to worry about."

Asher’s POV

Yeah...

Standing in the rain like this feels good.

No need to worry about getting sick.

Having a body that doesn’t fall ill... really is convenient.

Then I noticed Aria walking toward me.

What does she want?

Girls are trouble. Nothing more.

I still remember my past life.

When I first started college—far from home—

I kept to myself.

Go to class.

Come back to my rented room

.

Play games with friends.

That was enough.

As for talking to girls

?

No thanks.

I preferred peace.

Besides... I wasn’t exactly good-looking. No one approached me anyway.

Just like that, one semester passed without any trouble.

Well... almost.

There were plenty of fights in college over girls.

Those were fun to watch.

Then one night—

I was eating dinner in my room when someone knocked on the door.

I opened it—

And found a girl standing there

.

With two policemen.

That was the first time I interacted with a girl after joining college.

And the next thing I knew—

I was being interrogated.

Without even understanding what was going on.

They checked my balcony

.

Searched my room.

Still didn’t explain anything.

But eventually...

I figured it out.

Some idiot in the building had thrown a water balloon at a girl—

And she called the police.

(Author: A real incident)

...Anyway.

Back to the present.

Aria stood in front of me and asked why I was always so happy.

What kind of question is that?

Still...

I answered honestly.

"I’m alive. I have enough money to live without worrying about anything. Why wouldn’t I be happy?"

After that, I left for the cafeteria, had dinner, and returned to my room.

As usual, I cultivated for six hours—

Then went to sleep.

No worries.

No stress.

There were no classes the next day.

The next morning—

I woke up and had breakfast.

After that, I went to the training ground and booked a private room.

I set the difficulty to Gold level—

And trained for three hours.

Then I headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

After eating, I returned to my room and played games until evening.

Later, I took a walk in the garden.

Cultivated for some time—

Until dinner.

After eating, I went to bed early.

Because tomorrow—

The one-week deadline ends

.

And I can challenge Rank 10

.

Once I defeat him...

I won’t have to worry about attending classes anymore.