"Who is the girl who is screaming at Lord Arthur?" Asked a noble girl who had orange hair to another girl beside her.
"You did not know? The girl is also quite famous. She is Selina Hua who is ranked second. Just like Lord Arthur, she also has an S class mana amount. I heard both of them are rivals," answered another girl who was also a noble.
"You mean Lady Number 2 is her?"
"Yes."
'If you want to whisper, can you lower your voice? I can hear it clearly,' thought Selina, who has her forehead twitching in annoyance.
'It's all because of Rosenfeld,' Selina turned her focus back to Arthur.
"Arthur, can you not provoke Lina? It was bad enough that she is always behind you, but you always come and teasing her 'Lady Number 2'?" Alexa that just arrived reprimands Arthur.
*Prick! Prick!*
Selina felt two invisible arrows attacked her from the results of Alexa's words.
'Can you not adding the last part to your sentence, Alexa?' Selina wept in her heart.
"Well… she is not as elegant as you are, my lady," said Arthur while kissing the back of Alexa's hand.
Alexa's face immediately turned red. Then Alexa tried to cover her red face by covering her face with both hands and hiding behind Selina. Selina looked at Arthur flatly.
"What?" Arthur asked as his smiling face disappear and turn into a flat face just like Selina's expression right now.
"Oh, nothing," Selina replied expressionlessly.
"Were you staring at me this entire time? How repulsive," Arthur mocked Selina.
"Kuh!" Selina choked on her spit.
"W-Who is staring at you this entire time?" Exclaimed Selina in a high voice. Her fair face becomes red in anger and shame.
"Let's go, Alex! We better not make this narcissistic's head bigger than it should be." Selina pulled Alexa to go back to their classroom.
After the figures Selina and Alexa disappeared from the view of Daniel, he approached Arthur.
"Why do you always have to provoke Selina like that? If you keep this up, she will hate you." Daniel asked Arthur. His face showed a concerned expression.
"I'm glad to see her angry face. She never failed to amaze me. What's more, she's the only girl who isn't captivated by my appearance," Arthur explained to Daniel.
"…"
Daniel only fell silent after hearing Arthur's reason. He knew there was another reason behind Arthur's behavior towards Selina that was different from the other girls. But he decided not to think about it anymore.
.
.
.
.
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Meanwhile, on Selina and Alexa's side, the two of them are walking back to the Class 1's room.
"Why do you always have to fight with Arthur, Lina?" Alexa asked after a short pause.
"But he is the one who always provoking me, Alex…" Selina sulked.
"I know you're a person whose thoughts are mature Lina. You usually won't be provoked by such provocation, but for some reason, you always lose your mind and end up being provoked by Arthur. Don't you think it was because you fell for Arthur?" Alexa teases Selina.
"No way! I can't be in love with a playboy, especially with that Rosenfeld!" Selina shook her head hard.
'Right. That can't be happening,' thought Selina, trying to convince herself.
"Haah… up to you." Alexa sighed then shrugged resignedly.
It is almost a year since Selina attending Seraphium Royal Academy. There is no other change in herself except she is always number 2 when it comes to everything that they learned in the academy. That Arthur Fotia Rosenfeld always comes first in the exam. The first time they have an exam to determine the rank of everyone in Class 1, that Arthur comes first and Selina in second place.
That time Selina still not feeling threatened to become a top scorer and get a letter of recommendation from the school to the 10th division of Blue Lyre, because she thought she was not working hard enough. The second time, it was the same then Selina's competitive nature kicked in. She studied hard and training her mana to follow the path more smoothly, her best friend Alexa even said she is forcing herself too hard but she still did it.
The result? It was the same, she is in second even with all of her hard work. Since almost all students in Seraphium Royal Academy know about Arthur, inevitably they also know about her failure to beat Arthur in exams. Afterward, she got some new nicknames from all students of Seraphium Royal Academy like 'Lady Number 2,' 'Second Place Lady', or simply 'Number 2'.
Time passes and next September is Selina's second year at Seraphium Royal Academy. It also meant that the time for the Signum Ceremony was getting closer.
"Hmm... I can't wait for our Signum Ceremony later. I wonder what element I have an affinity for?" Alexa said after they arrived in Class 1's room.
"Un! I'm also impatient," Selina said, her eyes sparkling at the mention of Signum Ceremony.
By talking about the Signum Ceremony that will be held one day before they enter school as the second year makes Selina forget about her frustration with Arthur about the incident earlier.
"Good morning!" said Jackson, who had just entered the room.
"Morning!" Selina and Alexa replied to Jackson.
"Hey, have you seen the exam results on the notice board? I haven't seen it yet," said Jackson, who pulled one of the chairs to sit near Selina and Alexa.
Alexa nodded her head and said, "Yes, we've seen it."
"So how did it go?" Jackson asked again.
"I was ranked fifth, while for Selina as usual," answered Alexa.
"You can't beat Arthur again?"
*Sigh*
Selina sighed then answered Jackson's question for her, "Yes."
"Don't be discouraged, Selina. Second place isn't bad either. You even defeated Daniel who was a Crown Prince. Isn't that something to be proud of?"
"What are you talking about? Why say my name?" Daniel asked he had just entered the room with Arthur and Christian.
"We were talking about the results of the test yesterday and Selina who managed to defeat you."
Daniel just nodded his head in understanding.
"What about your exam results?"
"Arthur as usual was ranked first, Daniel was ranked third, and I was ranked fourth. Different from you, you are ranked eighth this time," Christian answered Jackson's question.
"Wait! What? Am I dropped in rank? "
Daniel nodded again, "Yes, you dropped in rank."
"Oh no! My mother will kill me for sure this time," Jackson shouted while pulling his hair.