Chapter 1
The new semester at Rossfield.
A crowd of students had gathered in front of the large wooden bulletin board.
Sonnet pushed her way through them, swinging her arms as she squeezed between bodies.
“What the—?”
The students she shoved aside shot her annoyed looks.
But Sonnet ignored their stares and kept moving straight toward the board.
The first day of a new semester, the start of something new. It was also the day report cards were posted.
For 500 years, Rossfield had trained experts in every field. To push students to improve, the school used a simple, almost cruel method.
They posted everyone’s grades publicly.
Names filled the board in long rows.
Sonnet swallowed hard. No matter how much she tried to steady herself, her heart pounded and her palms grew damp.
She forced herself to look up at the very top.
Please. Just this once, let my name be there.
With desperate hope, she checked the first spot.
[Aiden Rossfield]
The excitement in her eyes faded in an instant.
A burning anger quickly replaced it.
‘I thought this time I’d finally be first!’
She had studied longer than before. She reviewed every wrong answer and every confusing point more than a hundred times. She read her major textbooks until she was sick of them.
And yet her result was the same as last time.
Second place.
Her eyes were bloodshot as if tears might spill at any moment. Her small fists trembled.
Aiden Rossfield. A transfer student who had appeared out of nowhere three months ago. From the moment he arrived, he took first place—and has kept it ever since.
Before he came, Sonnet had never once lost the top spot.
Of course, being within the top five still qualified her for the Rossfield Archives Research Institute.
But the scholarship was the problem.
Second place received only half of what first place did. And Rossfield’s tuition was enormous, even half of it.
Her first semester’s tuition had been far beyond what she imagined. She had needed her grandmother’s help.
Her grandmother had used her life savings to cover Sonnet’s first tuition and living expenses. After that, Sonnet fought desperately to keep first place so she could earn a full scholarship and ease her grandmother’s burden.
Four months ago, her grandmother passed away before she could see Sonnet graduate.
Right before she closed her eyes, Sonnet made a promise.
She would graduate as valedictorian of Rossfield and defeat the nobles who had looked down on her grandmother. She would become the first commoner to graduate at the top.
Her grandmother had once been accepted to Rossfield as well, but she had been pushed down in ranking by nobles and lacked the money to finish.
Sonnet thought all she had to do was study hard to keep that promise.
But there were many required expenses—ancient temple expeditions, research materials, data fees, and exam fees. Recently, the cost of textbooks and even food had risen sharply.
Most students at this school did not worry about money.
Rossfield was prestigious. Many nobles with wealth and power attended.
Her classmates did not even consider Sonnet a friend. They stuck to their own circles and openly called her low-class.
For a mere commoner to attend Rossfield was already impressive. But being in first place had been Sonnet’s personal rebellion against them—and her pride.
Since her admission, first place had always been hers. The others disliked it but had no choice but to accept it.
But once she fell to second, whispers began.
Loud enough for her to hear.
“She studies that much and still only gets second. Of course she can’t beat Aiden.”
“Well, that’s why she’s just a commoner.”
Aiden was among the group saying those things. He smiled as if he agreed.
Every time, Sonnet confronted them.
“You’re mocking me? None of you can even reach the tip of my ranking.”
Sometimes one of them would get angry and lunge at her, and Aiden would step in as if to stop it.
“Isn’t she right?”
That annoyed her even more. It sounded like he was mocking her, like it didn’t matter to him at all.
Just thinking about it made her fists shake.
‘How do I take back first place?’
She had observed Aiden carefully for some time. Strangely, he did not study hard.
Instead, he was interested in horse-lance matches and war.
Horse-lance matches were a sport where riders galloped on horseback and used long lances to strike a ball into a goal.
According to the girls who admired him, when he played, he looked like a god of war leading the battlefield.
Sonnet nearly felt sick hearing that.
Still, he always performed well in those matches and was naturally popular.
In class, he appeared calm and upright as he read books.
But they were not lecture books.
He read collections of weapons and military strategy texts—violent and intense materials related to war.
Usually, students like that pretend not to study in front of others and then secretly cram at night.
‘I can’t exactly break into the boys’ dorm and interfere.’
For her promise, for money, for pride, she had to reclaim first place.
She glared at Aiden Rossfield’s name at the top of the board.
Just then, a sharp voice rang out nearby.
“Hailey’s grades dropped a lot.”
“She’s dating these days.”
Dating. Sonnet’s ears perked up.
To her, dating had always been something foolish rich kids did. A waste of time when they were paying so much to attend a prestigious school.
The girls kept talking excitedly.
“Kased started seeing someone too. He dropped ten places.”
Sonnet quickly searched for their names.
207th. 381st.
Far from the top.
‘So dating lowers your grades?’
It made sense. Instead of studying and reviewing, they wasted time fooling around.
While she was thinking, a loud cheer erupted.
“Waaah!”
Everyone looked around for the source.
It wasn’t far.
A large banner hung from the top of the main school building.
[Selene! Until I die, until my bones break and disappear, I love you!]
Then a tense male voice echoed through the air.
“Selene! You walked past me three times! I think that means you’re interested! Go out with me!”
Snickers and murmurs spread.
“What’s Selene going to do? Can she even stay at school after this?”
“I heard she’s transferring. With that weirdo confessing like that, how could she not?”
“That’s not a confession. That’s an attack.”
The boy shouting was named Petro. At Rossfield, he was known as someone people avoided.
Sometimes he spoke too loudly out of excitement, then became so quiet in class no one could hear him. He couldn’t even greet people properly and showed a strange obsession with things he liked.
Everyone looked fed up. They worried about Selene and cursed Petro.
Sonnet replayed the words in her mind.
“…That’s not a confession. That’s an attack.”
A confession attack.
Her eyes suddenly lit up.
At Rossfield, Sonnet herself was considered strange. Her reputation was not much better than Petro’s.
She cared about nothing but studying.
What if she made a burdensome confession to Aiden?
First, he would feel uncomfortable. A girl with a bad reputation suddenly confessing would be annoying and distracting.
A smile slowly formed on her lips.
No one at this school liked her anyway. If someone like her confessed, a normal person might get fed up and transfer to another school.
If Aiden transferred like she imagined…
Then Sonnet would reclaim first place.
