The Return Of The Exiled Villain

”Azure Dragon Class?! That’s dope! But... why those names?” Ronan asked with an excited yet confused expression.

”Our headmistress firmly believes in the existence of those Divine Creatures. Even though they vanished thousands of years ago, she still holds on to the hope of finding one.”

He gave a brief pause before continuing.

”She also thinks no class should have more resources than the others, so she created an equal class system. As for why you’re all grouped this way, each of us will be overseeing the class we’re assigned.”

”Oh!” Ronan nodded.

”For example, the reason Gray, Cassandra, and Maelis are in the Phoenix Class is that they are the strongest of you guys; therefore, they will be directly overseen by the Student Council President.”

’...But I still don’t understand why Gray was chosen for the Phoenix Class,’ he added inwardly. Truthfully, they were the strongest among all of them.

However...

The Phoenix Class was a classroom made solely of girls, so Henrich didn’t really know why Seraph had put Gray in the Phoenix Class!

”Strongest? Are you sure about that?” Leon asked lightly.

”I’m sure. I fully believe in the capabilities of our president, your Highness,” his eyes sharpened coldly, causing Leon to scoff slighly.

Ignoring Leon’s scoff, he continued:

”I’ll be overseeing the Azure Dragon Class, Sarah has the Black Turtle Class, and Zach’s in charge of the White Tiger Class.”

He clasped his hands.

”That being said, you will now follow your representative to your class.”

At these words, everyone nodded before approaching their own representative, meaning that Gray was now with Maelis, Cassandra, and Seraph.

His sister, his second love, and his first love.

”Brother~”

Taking the opportunity that Lyra wasn’t nearby anymore, Maelis directly started clinging to Gray, pressing his right arm between her breasts.

”How lucky we are to be in the same class~” she purred excitedly.

Before Gray could respond, a faint sneer cut through the air. Seraph turned her head, her eyes narrowing as she glanced at Maelis.

”You haven’t changed a bit... still clinging to your brother like you did when you were kids,” Seraph remarked coldly, looking at her with a mocking look.

Maelis smirked at her words, not backing down.

”I could say the same about you. But, did you forget? He chose me over you. He did break up with you after all~”

At those words, Seraph remained surprisingly calm.

”Do you think I don’t know what your family ordered Gray to do?” She simply uttered those words, and that was enough for Maelis to shut up.

She scoffed lightly before pressing closer to Gray.

At the same time, Seraph glanced at Gray lightly.

’She still loves me, huh? But also hates me... that’s conflicting,’ he sighed inwardly.

[Do you know her?]

Jasmine curiously asked.

Gray nodded lightly.

’She was my first ever love. And one of the few people that I truly loved. Back then, I was forced to break up with her because I needed to ruin my own reputation so that her family, the Royal Family, wouldn’t target my family.’

[So... why didn’t she greet her brother?]

’That’s obvious. He’s the Crown Prince, and Seraph, as the Elder Princess, probably has ideas for usurping the throne. Besides, people in the royal family aren’t usually friendly with each other.’

Jasmine nodded in understanding.

Meanwhile, Cassandra walked aside them, having the same calm expression as ever, as if she didn’t care about anything at all.

Seeing this, Gray decided to tell her that now, he wouldn’t lose his memory anymore and that he had resolved the issue.

It was quite a bad lie, but it was more than enough for someone like Cassandra.

However, Maelis was on his right side, so he couldn’t exactly tell her.

’I’ll tell her later.’

”We’re here.”

After what felt like forever, they reached the door of the so-called Phoenix Class, where the emblem of a Phoenix was etched prominently on the wood.

Without any hesitation, Seraph pushed the door open, and the three of them followed right behind.

But as they stepped into the room, all of them froze, eyes widening. Even Cassandra looked taken aback.

The room was filled with beautiful girls.

Every single student inside was female...

”...Is that... a guy?!”

”It really is a guy!”

”And it’s such a handsome one!”

The girls in the class were instantly in an uproar, all eyes on Gray.

Seraph, noticing their reaction, turned to him and added with a smirk, ”I forgot to mention, but the Phoenix Class consists only of girls.”

That late warning caused Gray’s expression to twitch slighly.

”The professor should be arriving in a few minutes, so you three can go and find a seat for yourselves.”

The three of them nodded lightly.

And immediately, Gray spotted two seats next to the place where Cassandra was going, with one being next to the window.

Without a second thought, Gray followed her, taking the seat by the window.

Maelis, seeing this, pouted softly before choosing a seat two places ahead of him, just far enough to not be directly beside him, but still within reach.

Now, they only had to wait for the professor’s arrival.

”Cass.”

He simply muttered that name, and that was enough for Cassandra to sharply turn her head towards him.

”Emryn...?” she muttered softly, only for him to hear.

He nodded lightly.

”There’s no memory issue anymore,” he lightly pinched the bridge of her nose.

When he retracted his hand, he added with a faint, teasing smile, ”Now, you can always come to me if you want.”

She nodded instantly at his words, a faint smile appearing on her face before quickly vanishing.

Rustle~

Just then, Gray felt a hand crawl to his right leg, and seeing Cassandra look forward resolutely, he wanted to laugh.

He grasped her left hand with his right hand and interlaced their fingers, causing Cassandra’s ears to flush lightly, but she tightened the grip almost instantly.

Clack, clack...

After a while, the sound of heels tapping against the floor reached them.

A moment later, a beautiful woman stepped into the classroom.

Her long black hair was tied back into a neat ponytail, and her glasses barely concealed her sharp green eyes.

As she entered, her gaze swept across the room before briefly pausing on Gray in complete surprise.

Her eyes then glanced over to Seraph, who gave her a small nod.

”Hello, students,” she began speaking.

”As you all saw earlier, we have three students from Gloria’s Academy here for the inter-exchange project.”

She paused, her eyes lighting up with enthusiasm as she continued.

”My name is Ellen, and I’ll be your professor for the rest of the semester. For now, I just have a few questions for the three of you.”

Gray, Cassandra, and Maelis all nodded in acknowledgment.

”First,” Ellen continued, tapping the table lightly in front of her, ”what are your names, and what combat style or specialty do you each have?”

Maelis was the first one to talk.

”Maelis Vireux D’Aurélion. I’m a gravity mage.”

Her words made Ellen raise an eyebrow in surprise, clearly impressed.

”A gravity mage, huh? That’s a rare affinity. Very interesting,” she said thoughtfully, before turning her gaze to Cassandra.

Noticing her gaze, Cassandra calmly spoke.

”Cassandra. I’m an Aura User, and I specialize in using a scythe.”

”Interesting... and finally, you,” she pointed towards Gray.

Immediately, all the girls in the room turned to look at him, their eyes filled with curiosity and interest.

This caused Cassandra’s hand to tighten around his.

”Gray Vireux, and I specialize in... swordsmanship.”

”Gray Vireux?!” Ellen’s eyes widened in complete shock as she stared at him. The other girls were also deeply surprised.

Gray sighed at their reaction.

His reputation was terrible.

”Oh my! I didn’t expect to meet the terrifying genius from back then!” Ellen exclaimed, her voice full of excitement.

”Seems you’ve recovered your talent since then. What a pleasant surprise!”

”No wonder Seraph chose to put you in this class!”

Gray was bewildered by her words, but not by her alone.

The girls’ eyes also didn’t show any signs of disgust or disdain, as he had expected. Instead, they practically sparkled with excitement.

’...Do they like Playboys or something?’

[It seems so...]

’Unless...’

His eyes turned to Seraph, who had a faint smile on her face.

’...It seems like someone solved the misunderstanding,’ he added inwardly.

”This is really a surprise! I’ve always wanted to teach someone like you!” Ellen continued, her excitement building up even more.

She took a few steps toward Gray, practically glowing with enthusiasm.

Bam!

”How about you become my personal disciple?” She smacked the table in front of him, looking at him with eager eyes.

Gray was taken aback by her sheer amount of excitement.

”Professor...” Seraph’s voice interrupted, cutting through Ellen’s exuberant energy.

At the sound, Ellen immediately snapped back to reality, her cheeks flushing slightly as she cleared her throat.

”Ahem... that aside, I’m really happy to have you in my class!” Ellen said, clasping her hands together in front of her.

She then turned to the board with a more composed expression.

”Now... let’s get the class started!”