Gara thought that once he revealed his pregnancy, Madha would reconsider and cancel his departure.

Unfortunately, the tall man still left.

That night, under the moonlight, Gara saw bitterness and hesitation filling Madha’s eyes.

"Don’t worry," Madha said softly. "I will definitely come back, Gara."

You’re the one who looks worried right now, Gara thought, but he didn’t say it out loud. He only wanted to cherish their remaining time together in peace.

The next morning, Madha left without saying goodbye. At the very least, this time he left a letter behind, one that brought tears to Gara’s eyes as he read it.

Especially the line that said:

"When I return, we will officially hold our engagement ceremony, witnessed by your noble family."

Gara could only hope that time would pass quickly and that Madha would return to him soon.

A few days later, the new academic year began. Gara and Fian returned to the academy with noticeably low spirits.

"Is Madha just on leave, or did he actually withdraw?" Revan asked when he saw Gara arrive.

Revan had gotten along well with Madha. Their conversations flowed easily, and they had been well-matched sparring partners, even though Madha had seemed to hit a slump toward the end of last semester.

Hearing Madha’s name again, Gara’s expression dimmed. He wanted to avoid the topic, didn’t want to answer. But if he didn’t explain things clearly, the questions would only keep coming.

Seeing Gara’s reaction, Revan finally realized it. Gara was Madha’s closest person. The one who knew him best and the one who was hurting the most now that he was gone.

Revan was about to retract his words, but Gara spoke first.

"He’ll finish his education here," Gara said quietly. "I just don’t know when."

In truth, Gara didn’t even know how many merits Madha would need to earn to reach the rank of baron, the lowest noble title.

Revan nodded and didn’t ask further, unwilling to press him.

When Miki and the others arrived, it was Revan who answered their questions about Madha. Gara glanced at his class monitor and gave him a grateful look.

Not long after, the new student admission ceremony and the opening ceremony for the new semester began.

Agus Soren delivered the speech, looking serious and dignified. Completely different from his indifferent demeanor inside the dimensional home.

He was presiding over the ceremony because a new headmaster had yet to be appointed.

"Why not just let your grandfather be the headmaster?" Miki whispered to Revan.

"You think my grandfather would agree?" Revan replied.

Miki immediately formed an "O" with his mouth. Everyone knew how difficult it had been just to persuade Agus Soren to become vice headmaster, let alone headmaster.

After the ceremony ended, students returned to their respective classrooms. Now that they were second-years, their classroom was no longer on the second floor, but the third.

"I thought we wouldn’t change classrooms," Miki muttered. "Just like how we didn’t change dorms."

"Probably because moving dorms requires relocating too many things," Revan explained. "With classrooms, we don’t really leave anything behind. We only gather there once a week anyway."

The others nodded in agreement.

Their dorm, once painted aqua, had been repainted blue, though its position remained the same. Still the leftmost of the three dorm towers. The rightmost tower was now occupied by this year’s freshmen.

Inside the classroom, one seat was empty. Madha’s replacement had yet to be decided.

The empty seat beside Gara was taken by Revan. Jett, who had sat next to Revan last semester, shifted over so he could still sit beside him.

Next to Jett sat Miki, and beside Miki was Xerath, a new member of Class S. He hadn’t properly gotten to know the others yet, having joined only a few weeks before the semester break.

Next to Xerath sat Lysa. The werewolf girl remained in the same seat as last year.

Meanwhile, Vania, once haughty and sharp-tongued, now sat quietly at the far right of the classroom. One empty desk separated her from Lysa.

But within ten minutes, that seat was filled.

Langga and Pere entered, followed by a familiar student.

Valeon Solantius.

A member of the Lion Clan, and the one who had once been defeated by Vania during the Class S Duel.

The other Class S students weren’t particularly surprised. Many had already suspected that he should have joined them last semester as Mona’s replacement.

Lysa and Valeon exchanged brief nods of greeting. Both came from prestigious clans in Nozama Province.

Miki, knowing that Valeon and Vania weren’t on good terms, greeted him warmly. Xerath, naturally friendly, followed suit. The other students offered short smiles. With Langga and Pere already at the front, this wasn’t the time for long conversations.

Once the room quieted down, Langga opened their second year by asking about their well-being and offering motivational words.

From his seat, Gara found Langga’s pretentious tone utterly unfamiliar. He rolled his eyes—an action Langga caught.

The young professor merely smiled faintly and didn’t make a fuss, smoothly changing the topic.

"In your second year, you won’t just sit in classrooms listening to lectures," Langga said. "All classes will now be practice-based."

He continued, "In addition, all of you will take the same courses, and no students from other classes will be joining these sessions."

Gara could already tell. This second year would leave the other classes far behind. Resources would clearly be concentrated on Class S.

He didn’t really care, but a hint of bitterness surfaced at the thought of having to train even harder this year. He missed the time when he was pregnant with the triplets, when he could laze around as much as he wanted.

His thoughts were interrupted by Langga’s next words.

"Most importantly, you won’t be evaluated only at the end of the semester or through the Class S Duel," Langga said. "Every day, instructors will award points to those with the best performance. These points will accumulate, and a ranking will be released at the end of each week."

"The top-ranked student will receive a special opportunity I can’t reveal just yet," he added. "Meanwhile, the bottom three will be forbidden from leaving the academy during the weekend and will be required to conduct independent training inside. There will also be additional special rewards at the end of the semester."

Miki panicked the moment he heard that.

In this class, he felt he was the weakest one.

If he ended up at the bottom and had to do extra training, his time to hunt for fresh gossip would be drastically reduced. He couldn’t allow that to happen.

Unlike Miki, the rest of the students felt invigorated.

They were eager to prove that among the best of the best, they were the greatest of all.

...