[3rd Person POV]

The clanking sound of heels against the polished marble floor echoed through the hallways.

A beautiful, bespectacled, young lady with shining brown hair tied into a single braid that laid over her left shoulder was making her way through the hallways of the academy, her steps bated in anticipation.

Despite her calm and composed expression, there was little she could do to hide the excitement in her eyes.

In her entire career of being an instructor and an assistant to her uncle, Viscount Edward von Lars, this practical magic class was easily the class she was most excited about.

Fufufu~ I can't believe I get to finally meet and even teach the magic geniuses of the century~!!! Uncle must be rolling around in frustration now for not being able to be in their first class because of an urgent meeting~

She giggled inwardly while still maintaining her elegant, graceful appearance. After all, she needed to maintain the image of a strict, capable, and elegant appearance as an instructor in this royal academy.

But this had almost broken her outward appearance multiple times. She was too excited to meet both of the great magus Lawliela's greatest disciples at once!!!

As her admirer, this was a dream come true second to only meeting her!!!

The sound of her footsteps became faster and faster as she began to increase her pace. And when she arrived, they entered the massive training grounds and found her class already there in their training uniforms.

She swept her gaze across her students and caused some to flinch and straighten up when they met gazes.

But the moment she met gazes with the platinum-haired Goddess and the crimson-haired prodigy, she almost failed to contain her excitement and leaped towards them in a moment of joy.

Her lips curled into a smile as the eyes behind her spectacle narrowed.

"Good morning. Let us start our lesson for today."

Alterisa's eyes widened as she stared at Ninya von Lars walking towards the center of the training grounds.

Was she... such a serious person? The last time Alterosa saw her, which was when she first arrived in the academy, she seemed more... cheerful.

She was looking at Alexus with excitement... Oh, could it be this is how she is normally, and that's how she is when she's in front of her idol?

Ninya von Lars wasn't a main character in the otome game "Lovely Happenings". She wasn't even a relevant supporting character such as Ellie despite her beauty. She was simply the assistant instructor of the heroine's practical magic training class who substituted for her uncle a few times when he was busy with something else.

What a shame... Such a beauty could easily be one of the fan favorites, especially for those who were into cool, bespectacled, onee-san. I mean... I am.

Inwardly, Alterisa was extremely excited for this class.

The class itself wasn't that exciting, since knowledge about magic had been... "extensively" taught by Laweliela since she was young. An experience that had led to many sleepless nights and mana exhaustion. She didn't know how she would've gone through it if not for the cute Valerie-chan's support.

But in this class, she could play with magic with her friends~

Training with Valerie-chan had always been the highlight of her magic training. And now, she could learn magic with all her best friends! It'll definitely be fun~!!!

And also...

Guhehehe... Guhehehehe~ Maybe I can also "teach" them how to control their mana better~ And to do that... I can touch their hands legally!!!

Alterisa giggled inwardly. It has been quite a while since she could deepen her friendship with her best friends through "skinship", so she was looking forward to this class very much.

"Now then. Before we proceed. I would like to ask all of you a question. What do you think is the most important aspect of magic?"

"Yes! Is it the accuracy in which we create the magic circle?"

"Unfortunately, that is incorrect. Anyone else?"

"Yes! Is it... the power of the spell?"

"Unfortunately, that is also incorrect."

Ninya shook her head and turned her gaze towards Valerie.

"What do you think, Lady Valerie?"

"Yes! It's "control"! Mom- I mean, mother always stresses the importance of controlling our mana and magic spells!"

Fufufu~ What a smart girl~ Good job, Valerie-chan~

"That is correct."

Valerie-chan turned to Alterisa with a brilliant smile and she smiled back at her, admiring how adorable she looks right now.

"As Lady Valerie had said, the most important aspect in magic is control. Without proper control of your own mana and spell, then no amount of innate talent, affinity, and mana pool could bring out your full potential as a mage. Thus, your very first lesson in practical magic training today is mana control!"

Ninya then began explaining their task for the day.

"Conjure a spell of any element you have an affinity with or the one you are most confident with and hold it for at least 5 minutes. If it ever fizzles or fails, then you will restart. Begin!!!"

""Y-Yes!""

In response to her commanding voice, everyone began to conjure various basic spells and tried maintaining it as long as possible.

Some created a fireball in between their hands. Some levitated several pieces of rocks they've conjured from the basic Earth spell, Earth Bullet. And some created a small ball of water or a small whirlwind, and tried to maintain their spells.

But despite their efforts, many struggled.

Although they've learned the basics of casting a spell, and some even managed to learn multiple spells of their element, increasing their power, and improving their understanding of magic through books and tomes that were in possession of their noble household, only a few learned how to circulate their mana effectively and fluidly.

After all, improving ones' control over mana wasn't an easy task. They'd need to train constantly, everyday, and be disciplined. And even then, it would take time for them to feel the difference.

That's why, most were discouraged or became too lazy to improve their control over mana. Not to mention, they can't show off the results like they would learning new spells or increasing the firepower of the spells they already know.

Thus, almost everyone in the class failed to hold and maintain their spells for more than a few seconds.

Including Aria.

What the f***?! Why can't I do this?! It should be easy! Come on, you dumb spell! Just stay for a minute!!!

The ball of brilliant golden light that appeared in between his hands only lasted for a few seconds before disappearing, causing her to be flashed again and again every time she tried.

And when she tried the same thing with her fire, earth, and wind element, the results only differed by a few seconds.

She glanced around and bit her lips in frustration.

How could these mobs hold their spells longer than her?! Wasn't what she's doing already impressive enough?! No one in her hometown could do even a fraction of what she can!

She was the heroine! She was a genius and an extremely talented young girl who possesses the light element! She was supposed to cast amazing spells that could attack and heal people like the heroine in the game!!!

And when her gaze fell upon the "villainesses" of the otome game, her eyes widened even more.

Evelyn, Noir, Illya, and Valerie, all four of them were emanating an impressive aura as they closed their eyes.

A beautiful crystal of ice floated in mid air between Evelyn's hands as snow fell around her and dissipated upon touching the ground.

Beside her, Noir also had a small whirlwind in between her hands as a gentle breeze blew on her hair and uniform.

Crimson fiery flames raged from around Valerie as four spears of flames floated all around her. While numerous spikes and spears of stone similarly rotated around Illya as she concentrated on maintaining her spell.

Each and one of them displayed skills beyond what Aria had seen them show in the Otome Game. All of them could barely hold on to it for a minute in the game. But now, they're casting more powerful spells and maintaining it as easy as they would breathing!

Not the shock she experienced when seeing them was nothing like the shock she experienced after seeing the main villainess of Lovely Happenings.

No... No way... This is a lie, right...? Alterisa should be dumb... She has no talent with magic... So why...? How...? How is she doing that?!

Standing in silence with a perfectly spherical ball of water on one hand and a rotating sphere of complex magic circles made of ice on the other, Alterisa emanated a powerful magical aura as she closed her eyes.

Her long, flowing, platinum hair blew softly, as if a gentle breeze caressed her divine, delicate form ever so tenderly. Water droplets and small crystals of ice floated around her, like sparkling stars in the night sky.

Seeing Alterisa's figure, Ninya's eyes widened in shock before her expression brightened into a wide smile.

Despite emanating such a powerful, or even monstrous, magical aura, there was no spike in her aura!

Keeping the ball of water perfectly spherical and maintaining the shape of such complex magical circles absolutely perfectly would've been much more difficult than casting an intermediate, or even an advance ranked spell.

But she was completely calm and still, like the ever still Moon Touched Lake. She was controlling every single bit of her powerful magic perfectly.

Even among the greatest teachers in this academy, or even amongst the royal court magicians, she had never seen anyone with such a delicate and fine control of such a powerful magic aside from Lawliela von Magus, the greatest Grand Archmage in history.

Amazing... I can't believe I could see such a thing from anyone aside from Lawliela-sama!!!

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

[Alterisa's POV]

"That's enough!"

Ah, is it over? That was... short.

Well, I guess I'm used to doing this for hours at a time, so five minutes didn't feel like anything.

I took a deep breath and breathed out, dissipating my aura before opening my eyes.

Eh... What happened? Why is everyone looking at me like that?

Did I do something strange?

I looked around and everyone was looking at me with a mix of shock and awe.

...What? I know I'm beautiful, but can you please stop looking at me like I'm a rare animal in the zoo?

"Alterisa-sama~ Good work~ You were wonderful~"

"Ah, Evelyn~ Thank you. You did extremely well too. I can feel your amazing magic presence from here."

"Fufufu~ Thank you very much~"

"Alterisa-sama~ Good work~"

"Noir, you did well too~

"Hehe~ Thank you, but not as amazing as you, Alterisa-sama~ I can't believe you maintained such an amazing spell so perfectly for the entire class~!"

Eh...?

T-The entire class...? W-What do you mean?

"The entire... class?"

"Yes~! I've been watching you all this time since I've finished my task~! Instructor Ninya had given those who had completed their five minutes free time, and I wanted to talk to you. But I was mesmerized instead by your figure~"

IT'S REALLY BEEN THE ENTIRE CLASS?!?!?! THAT'S LIKE TWO HOURS!!!

"As expected of Alterisa-sama. You are amazing~!"

"Hehe~ Of course~! Risa-chan and I usually had to do it much longer than this!"

"Amazing... Alterisa-sama..."

Illya, Valerie-chan, and a slightly exhausted Ellie also came along with Celine, who was crossing her arms and looking at me with suspicion.

"...It is impressive, but did you forget the time and did it that long by mistake?"

Guh! H-How did you know, C-Celine?

I-Is this the power of the tsundere?

I smiled awkwardly and nodded.

"Yes... I didn't realize it had been that long. Perhaps all of Lawliela-sama's training has made it difficult for me to tell time while I'm in that state."

"As expected..."

Celine smiled helplessly.

I then looked around and saw a lot of my classmates already panting hard. Seems like only a few managed to complete their five minutes.

And that doesn't seem to include the heroine...

She's... kicking the ground and clenching her fists right now in frustration.

Hah... What do you think would've happened...? Magic isn't only natural talent, you know?

The heroine must've believed that she could do as well as the original heroine without practicing since she had naturally incredible talent.

But she must've forgotten that the original heroine is supposed to be an incredibly hard worker!

It might not seem like it because the otome game would only focus on the dating scenes, but whenever she had free time, the heroine would always spend it on studying and training so she could maintain her scholarship and become a royal court magician in the future to give her mother a better life!!!

But... judging by her personality, she must've skipped the dialogues that wasn't related to the capture target.

If not, she would've known that the heroine would "stay up late and study hard and spend her weekends training her magic".

Hah... Why can't the heroine be a good girl...? If she's like the real heroine, then I'd definitely befriend her...







AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please vote and comment your thoughts~!