"This should be Magic Training Room 8…" Vaan muttered as he stood in front of a room with 8 written on the door.
"What is he doing here?"
"Is he here to cause trouble?"
"Heh, are you crazy? Even he wouldn't be able to get out scot-free if he create trouble here."
"Is he perhaps here for Magic Practice?"
"Heh, don't joke around, when has he ever been serious about magic?"
"You are right…"
This place was full of mages who had just come out of the Magic Training Room or were waiting to go in, and the moment these mages' eyes fell on him, they started commenting.
Vaan, of course, could hear all these comments.
Since he had come to this world, he had only talked to his mother, his 5 'friends', Gabel, Aldric, and other servants, and obviously, no matter what the servants thought about him, none dared to voice their thoughts out.
But unlike servants who were scared of him, or his 'friends' who he can use his family influence to silence, these mages weren't scared of him.
Rather, they clearly looked down on him.
The Shame of the Family.
Honestly, none of the mages thought of him as a part of the Vesta Family even though the head of the family was his biological mother.
They didn't care if Vaan could hear them or not, they continued to pass comments.
Obviously, Vaan was annoyed.
He wanted to lash out in anger, however, he knew he couldn't cause trouble here. Not inside the Family grounds.
The previous Vaan had already caused enough trouble for his mother, he wouldn't add to the injury.
In the end, Vaan decided to ignore all these people and fed Mana to his cute Fire Spirit while he waited for the room to open.
He was 15 minutes earlier since he didn't wish to waste any time, the other mages seemed to have similar ideas in their minds as well, some even come here an hour before their allocated time and simply sit cross-legged and revised the Magic Theory they needed to experiment on today.
15 minutes passed by, however, the Training Magic Room didn't open. Vaan decided to wait for 5 more minutes but again, the person inside didn't come out.
With a frown on his face, Vaan stood up and walked toward the Magic Training Room,
"Hey, your time is u-"
"I am extremely sorry! I was so invested in my experiment that I forgot about the time! Please forgive me!"
Before Vaan could say anything, the door opened up and Vaan's eyes fell on a red-haired girl bowing her head in front of him, apologizing desperately.
"You…"
Vaan's expression changed as he glanced at the woman in front of him.
New streams of information rushed into Vaan's mind and this time, his brows scrunched up in pain, the memories were too big, the little fairy observed the entire situation with curious eyes, as the for red-haired girl, she still had her head down.
A few moments later, when the pain Vaan felt finally subsided, he glanced at the girl in front of him again.
And once again, he cursed the previous Vaan in his head.
"Elara…"
Vaan called out in a careful voice.
This girl was Elara Flameheart. An exceptional magical prodigy and Astra's only pupil.
According to Astra, Elara was a mage whose Magical Talent was no less than her own.
This statement caused a wave of chaos all over the Vesta City since Astra herself was a rare genius; naturally, many eyes fell on Elara, eyes full of expectations and curiosity.
And how did the 'exceptional prodigy' react to those gazes?
She became a 4th Circle Mage at the age of 19.
In an Age where most mages barely know about the basics, an age where even the mages of the esteemed Vesta Family barely reach 2nd Circle, she had already formed her 4th Circle.
Even Astra herself only became a 4th Circle Mage when she was 20, so just going by that, Elara's talent was even better than Astra's.
However,
That was not all.
Other than being Magical Prodigy, and his mother's pupil, this girl was also Vaan's Fiancé.
Yes, a Fiancé whom the previous Vaan treated so poorly that the current Vaan wanted nothing more than slap the previous Vaan till all his teeth fall out.
Elara genuinely cared for Vaan.
Often giving out the money she had saved up for her magic research to Vaan, who had lost his money while betting with his 'friends'
Sneaking out and going against her Mentor, Astra's words to inform Vaan how his mother was planning to punish him and get him out of the troublesome situation.
Stepping up and accepting the punishment in Vaan's stead even though it was entirely his mistake.
There were even cases where she didn't even know what the matter was but she still stepped up and took all the blame.
Elara did all these things with a smile on her face, not wanting anything in return,
But even after all that…
The way Vaan treated her was worse than a servant.
Although a prodigy, Elara wasn't a Vesta, because of this, other mages of the Vesta family looked down on her and bullied her, because of this, Elara grew up to be timid.
At the start, her relationship with Vaan wasn't bad, however, as her talent started to bloom, Vaan got jealous. The stark difference in the way his mother treated him and her, how other people were in awe of her talent while only looked down on him annoyed him and this created a wedge in their relationship.
As Vaan's grew, his personality got more and more twisted, Elara, who was timid by nature, was a perfect target for Vaan, who liked to take his frustration on the 'weak'.
Pushing her away, ordering her to do chores that are done by the servants, taking away the money she earns with her own hard work, abusing, and sometimes even going as far as hitting her.
Honestly, it was surprising that Elara endured all of that without any resistance, especially knowing that she, a 4th Circle Mage, was far stronger than Vaan.
The previous Vaan didn't deserve someone like Elara, who still cared for him even after everything he did to her.
'Why do the jerks like this bastard get caring girls like her?'
Vaan couldn't help but curse in his mind.
