Male Lead, Don’t Push, Pull!

I pouted my lips to show my displeasure, and Aunt Darlene gave a small laugh.

“My little Vivian is all grown up. And now we’re giving her dating advice.”

“It’s not dating advice.”

“Of course, it is.”

Somehow my excuse didn’t work at all. I let the air out of my cheeks and stomped on the floor.

Even then, these older sisters seemed to see it as a cat throwing a tantrum.

Where I am now is the room I’d spent the most time in since I entered the Academy.

It’s the kitchen in the east wing.

It was only two years ago that I discovered this secret, perfect spot.

‘I want to go home.’

At the time, I was exhausted and terribly homesick from my ongoing studies.

Studying ancient languages wasn’t bad. I was talented, and my professors and friends were kind. I just wanted to go home so badly.

The Academy of Arene had a total of eight grades, but it did not guarantee graduation for those who lacked personal achievement.

Because of this, I always had to feel anxious that I might fall behind.

Kyle, who was the closest to me here, had progressed at a frighteningly fast pace.

He had already defeated a lesser monster, a slime, and had knocked out an orc in his first year of school.

Not long after he continued his sword training, he began to defeat upperclassmen, and a few years later he began to awaken his aura.

And just five years after he entered the school, he succeeded in infusing aura into his sword and rose to the ranks of a sword expert.

This was a remarkable achievement in half the time, considering that even swordsmen who were generally considered talented required at least ten years of training to imbue their swords with auras.

Kyle’s sword had a very clear blue color.

Normally, it was said to have a cloudy appearance in its early stages, with no discernible color.

Because of this, people gossiped that he would soon reach the level of a Sword Master.

The problem was it also set Kyle up for an early graduation.

A Sword Expert was good enough to serve as an Imperial Knight, so Kyle could leave the Academy early if he wanted to.

But not me.

I still had three more years of study ahead of me.

What if Kyle graduated before me?

I still had a long way to go to graduate.

I was ranked at the top of my class in the Ancient Languages department, and I wasn’t a bad student, but I couldn’t help but feel nervous with a genius like Kyle by my side.

In a way, it was because of Kyle that I was admitted to the Academy, but the thought of being on my own was terrifying.

I was walking lethargically that day, feeling depressed and unmotivated to study.

But then I started to smell something sweet. It was similar to the smell of my favorite chef’s cookies back home.

I followed it like a fool and found myself in the kitchen of the academy, a place I had never paid much attention to before.

‘Oh, no. Why are you crying, student? Do you want some cake?’

I was saved by meeting the friendly kitchen staff.

As I later heard from Kyle, he had no intention of graduating without me.

‘I’m graduating with you.’

He even scolded me for worrying about something like that. But I was really scared back then.

I knew how anxious I was, even imagining myself staying at the academy alone and not graduating until I die!

“Suddenly, I remember when Vivian first came here.”

“You were so young then. When did you get so big?”

“Oh, I’m eighteen already,” I said with a pout, and Margaret tugged at my cheeks as if to prove my point.

“Yeah. The little one.”

“Ouch.”

“Time flies.”

I couldn’t admit to them that I was a kid, but I did agree that time flies.

Kyle’s nineteenth birthday is fast approaching. And that also meant that the beginning of the original story was approaching.

In the original story, Kyle was crowned a crown prince the year he turned nineteen.

It remained to be seen if the future would be similar, but I couldn’t help but be excited.

From what we’d seen of Kyle at the Academy, he’s more than capable of becoming a crown prince and eventually an emperor.

A male lead is a male lead, after all.

“Speaking of which, is the festival already next week?”

“Is it going to be crowded near the tower again this year?”

“They’ve been blocking it off for years, so we can’t go in anymore.”

“Huh, I remember once when I tried to sneak in and got caught by the manager and got in trouble.”

“Have you ever been in there?”

“It’s called the Tower of Love, in case you were wondering.”

As I was thinking about something else, I suddenly heard the kitchen staff talking to each other. I naturally joined the conversation.

“What kind of tower? Where do you go in?”

“Oh, come on, Vivian. Don’t you know the Tower of Love?”

“The Tower of Love? What’s that?”

The name was intriguing.

Darlene laughed softly as I strained my ears to focus.

“You know the tallest tower in the academy, at the west end?”

“Of course.”

The Tower of Truth, built by the Archmage Helinoa himself.

He used it as his laboratory and quarters, and it was considered holy ground by the Ministry of Magic.

“But if it’s the Tower of Truth, why do you call it the Tower of Love?”

“There’s another story behind it.”

Darlene seized the moment.

“Once upon a time, when Helinoa wasn’t the Archmage, there was a girl in the village that he liked.”

The story went like this.

Helinoa, a native of Arene, had a crush on a girl named Angela who lived next door.

She was the prettiest girl in the village and very popular. So Helinoa confessed to her that he wanted her to marry him when he became the greatest wizard in history.

“And she said yes?”

“Yes. Because she liked Helinoa, too.”

And so Helinoa set out to become an Archmage.

But when he returned to the village with all his wisdom in tow, Angela was already another man’s woman.

Her father sold Angela to the town’s richest man to pay off his debts. Helinoa visited her, confessed his love, and offered to rescue her, but Angela refused.

‘My father’s debt forced me to marry him… but he’s not a bad man,’ she said, ‘and he’s kind to me. And we already have a child, I’m sorry.’

Heartbroken, Helinoa built a high tower at the place where he could best see Angela’s house.

To keep her in sight, even if only from a distance, and to mourn the love that could not be.

It was now called the Tower of Truth.

“But even after he entered the tower, Helinoa could not forget Angela, so he made a very special invention.”

“A special invention?”

“Yes. It’s called….”

I was about to get into the fun part of the story when suddenly Margaret tapped me on the arm.

I looked up to see what was wrong, and she smirked evilly.

“Vivian, your boyfriend candidate is here.”

Huh?

Who is here?

I turned my head in the direction Margaret was gesturing.

“Good morning. Hi, Vivian.”

I spotted a head of mauve hair approaching, greeting me warmly.

The first to greet the visitor was Darlene.

“Oh, my, have you come to visit us, Daniel?”

“Yes. Can I join you?”

“Of course. Would you like some tea?”

“Black tea, please, thank you.”

I wasn’t the only student who came in and out of the kitchen like it was a restaurant.

This is where the kids, who are in the middle of growing up, find themselves when they’re looking for a snack.

Of course, I had to drag Daniel here. I had also brought Kyle to the kitchen.

But since then, Kyle has rarely been here because he’s not a big fan of snacks.

When he was a kid, he ate puddings and cookies and everything, but I guess his tastes changed as he got older.

I waved to Daniel as he greeted the kitchen staff and then whispered to Margaret, “Unni, are you going to keep talking nonsense? Who’s my boyfriend candidate?”

“Right. I was talking about your friend, not you.”

“Unni!”

While Margaret and I were arguing, Daniel came over and sat down next to me.

There were plenty of seats elsewhere, yet he chose to sit next to me!

The seat next to me was originally reserved for Daniel…. but still, why now?

Daniel smiled brightly and asked, “Can I sit here?”

“Oh, yeah.”

I answered because I couldn’t say no.

But Daniel, you were already sitting next to me. Why are you asking me after you’ve already sat down?