In high school, students were always simple-minded. When a young, pretty student teacher arrived, they would cheer, and if she had a nice personality, she’d become an instant star.

Stella Academy’s elite students were no different. After all, it was also a gathering place for teenagers.

However, unlike high school, most professors here were at least in their forties, so the chance for a popular professor was slim. Professors like Professor Raidin of New Moon Studies and Professor Valenteina, the wand specialist, were known for their good looks and were relatively popular, but such cases were rare, leaving students’ thirst unquenched.

“She’s seriously beautiful…”

“Hey, but she looks like she could be younger than us.”

“And she sounds like it too.”

“But she’s a professor, right?”

Now, imagine what would happen if a young, stunning professor arrived at the academy.

‘Young’ might be an understatement—‘childlike’ would be more fitting. The name of this petite, white-haired girl on stage was “Professor Scarlet,” an oddly eerie name that didn’t suit her youthful appearance.

The sight of two hundred students gathered in a massive auditorium, all staring up at the tiny girl on stage, was somewhat surreal.

‘…Why is she here?’

Baek Yuseol, feeling uneasy, instinctively moved to the back. Although he knew it would be impossible to escape her gaze now that their eyes had met, he withdrew on instinct.

“What’s wrong?” Aizel asked, looking worried.

“Nothing…”

When she followed him, Baek Yuseol pulled her to hide behind him.

Aizel, with her unique destiny, might catch Scarlet’s attention as someone who fervently sought a “fated love.” Even though he knew hiding a few steps away would make no difference, he couldn’t help it.

Baek Yuseol carefully checked his tracking glasses for any information on Scarlet. There was hardly anything concrete recorded about her.

The Witch Queen. As the name suggested, she was a legendary figure.

In the world of *Aether World Online*, she existed as a sort of “Deus Ex Machina”—recognized by both players and readers, but never involved in the main episodes.

On rare occasions when irreversible incidents occurred in the game, special beings like Scarlet would appear.

For instance, say “a major encounter with an unstoppable dark mage” happened in the first-year episode. Normally, in a typical game, such a situation would end in a “game over” with the player restarting from their last save. However, *Aether World Online* would sometimes deploy a “Deus Ex Machina.”

So instead of an inevitable defeat, something like “the Witch Queen began hunting the unstoppable dark mage” would bring the episode back on track.

Even though the game had countless bad ending scenarios, nobody knew why a Deus Ex Machina would interfere at certain times.

The fact that she, who hid from the world, had appeared in reality meant… something was seriously wrong with the world’s destiny.

Moreover, for her to arrive at Stella Academy, at the position of a “professor” in a main episode setting?

‘This is…’

For the first time, Baek Yuseol realized his mistake. He had been vaguely aware of the countless incidents resulting from the changes he’d made to the future but hadn’t grasped the extent.

But Scarlet’s appearance made it clear.

‘This world has twisted drastically.’

It had diverged far from the original storyline.

Scarlet’s arrival wasn’t a coincidence. It was the inevitable result of all the actions he’d taken.

He gazed into the empty air, not at his tracking glasses’ screen, but literally into the void… or perhaps, somewhere beyond the sky.

He was waiting for a response.

At last, a message appeared.

> [The Constellatio Project would like to send you a message.]

A response came from the very existence that had brought him into this world.

But then…

> [Error! Error! Error! Error!]
> [Unknown error encountered: Code _003s&]

It felt as if a needle had pierced his brain, and incomprehensible characters filled the air.

“Ugh…!”

“Are you alright? Oh my, what’s happening…?”

When Baek Yuseol collapsed to his knees, Aizel hurried to support him.

Leaning on her arm, Baek Yuseol struggled to keep his darkening vision steady as he forced himself to read the message floating in the air.

> [You lack sufficient “Narrative Power” to receive a proper message.]

As expected, his questions were not easily answered. Reeling from the pain, he looked back up at Scarlet.

“Hello, everyone~ I’m Professor Scarlet, here to teach the Dark Magic Defense course~! I’m not a noble, so I don’t have a title. I hope that won’t be an issue?” she announced cheerfully.

Cheers of “No!” erupted from the male students in the crowd.

But Baek Yuseol winced as a sharp pain buzzed in his ears.

> [The Blessing of Yeonhongchun Samwol blocks “Witch’s Allure.”]

‘…What’s going on now?’

Sensing something suspicious, he looked around at the other students.

‘Is this… enchantment?’

To use a mind-affecting spell, especially one capable of enchanting multiple people, was challenging, and enchanting mages was even harder.

Typically, a caster would need to cast the spell on a single target after thorough preparation to have any chance of success. Without a blessing like Yeonhongchun Samwol’s, it would have been nearly impossible for Scarlet to pull off this kind of mass enchantment.

The effect wasn’t particularly strong, though. Aizel was frowning and shaking her head slightly, seemingly annoyed by the intrusive thoughts entering her mind.

It appeared that the spell only left students with a heightened sense of admiration for Scarlet. While that was harmless, Baek Yuseol was aware that he could unleash a similar effect by activating his own blessing—though he chose never to use it.

He knew how much Flowerlight had suffered from her ability and had no desire to exploit it for personal gain.

“Hm…”

Scarlet’s eyes gleamed as she noticed that some students hadn’t succumbed to her allure.

Her enchantment didn’t depend solely on one’s level of magical prowess. The effectiveness was determined by one’s “mental strength.”

“It seems Stella has a lot of students with solid mental fortitude?”

With a mysterious smile, she took out her wand.

“Well then, now that introductions are over, shall we begin the class?”

Some students looked disappointed that she was already moving on to class without more conversation, but no one dared interrupt.

“Here we go~!”

With a cute sound effect, Scarlet waved her heart-shaped wand. A magic circle, glowing with cheerful colors like red, yellow, and orange, appeared in midair.

“I’m here to teach you all about ways to defend against dark magic. But as you know, the best defense is to know as much as possible about your opponent.”

The lively colors in the magic circle began to swirl, eventually turning into a dull gray.

“Starting today, I’ll be sharing my encounters with countless dark magic spells throughout my life, giving you all a chance to become familiar with them. Sound exciting?”

The male students cheered again, and Baek Yuseol plugged his ears.

‘Too loud…’

Despite himself, he felt curious and, in some ways, eager.

Why had Scarlet come to Stella to teach? And how would her classes unfold?

“Aizel.”

“Yes? Y-yes?”

Aizel, who was clutching her hair in frustration, looked up at him, her expression softening.

“Don’t let yourself feel any affection for that woman. Not even a tiny bit. Never.”

“…Alright.”

Without asking why, Aizel nodded solemnly. She sensed there must be a reason.

“Oh, and… I have something else to tell you later.”

“What is it…?”

“It’s about your father.”

Aizel’s eyes widened, and Baek Yuseol knew it was finally time. She’d likely made some progress in her own investigations.

It was time for her to start learning about her past and the consequences of her father’s actions.

“But,” he added.

“…?”

“I’m not going to tell you.”

“Then… who will…?”

“Princess Hong Biyeon. She’s learned something about your father.”

“Oh…”

Initially, Hong Biyeon had asked Baek Yuseol to pass along information about Aizel’s father, as she seemed reluctant to speak about it herself.

Perhaps it was too awkward, or maybe revealing her family’s disgrace filled her with disgust.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter.

Baek Yuseol had known about Aizel’s secret for some time but hadn’t said anything. Partly because it hadn’t been the right time, but also because revealing it could complicate things.

The ideal outcome was for Hong Biyeon to confess it to Aizel herself, even if that was practically impossible.

In his gaming days, many players had attempted to orchestrate that scenario, but not one had succeeded.

‘Most ended up choosing self-sacrifice.’

Hong Biyeon had bitten her own tongue to the end rather than reveal the truth to Aizel, her intense, defiant gaze lingering even in death. Even as a mere game character, her final moments had left players unsettled.

‘Such an unlikable character.’

The Adolet family itself was rotten to the core. Though Baek Yuseol had never cared much for the story, learning more about the Adolet family recently left him disgusted.

‘A vile and repugnant family…’

Seeing how a pure girl could fall and become the main villain in the story’s

 final arc, he understood.

His top priority was to gather the Twelve Guardians to prevent the world’s destruction, but his second goal was…

The purge and renewal of the Adolet family.

And establishing Hong Biyeon as queen.

If there was one thing he wanted to do before he died, it was that.

For that, it was essential for Hong Biyeon to be the one to reveal Aizel’s secret.

They were as incompatible as oil and water, yet together, they would create a powerful synergy.

“Alright, enough chatter! Let’s focus!”

As the students began to murmur, Scarlet clapped her hands, drawing attention back to her, smiling brightly.

“Since I’ve given you enough theory, why don’t we try some practical training? Who wants to come up and defend against the dark magic spell I’m about to cast?”

Several students eagerly raised their hands, but Scarlet didn’t even glance their way. It was as if she had already chosen the student she wanted.

“You, in the back. The pretty-looking boy. Baek Yuseol, was it? Why don’t you come up and give it a try?”

 

 

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TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars and likes of the translation - it inspires me and gives me the strength to write more. Thank you~!