Chapter 102: Sudden Kiss Attack

The scent of dawn tickled my nose.
As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw the still-dark surroundings.

‘What time is it?’

When I tried to sit up, I felt something tightening around me.
Sure enough, Iris was holding me tightly in her arms.

She must have been in a deep sleep, as she was making soft, rhythmic breathing sounds.
On the opposite bed, Hania was also asleep.
She slept in a perfectly upright posture, even wearing a neatly placed silk sleeping cap.
She was the epitome of a peaceful sleeper.

My girlfriend looks amazing even when she sleeps.

‘Now that I think about it…’

My contract relationship with Hania is nearing its end, isn’t it?
Thinking that, I quietly twisted my body.

After being trapped in Iris’s embrace multiple times,
I’ve developed a technique to escape from her grasp.

Successfully slipping out of Iris’s hold, I quietly left the room.
As I stretched my body, which had gone stiff from being held so tightly, I realized—this was our lodging.

‘I was knocked out for quite a while.’

It seemed that exhaustion had built up without me realizing it.
Before coming here, I had been training almost every day.
My body must have taken the chance to completely rest.

‘More importantly, where’s the room I’m actually supposed to stay in?’

Since Iris dragged me here on a whim, I had no idea where I was originally meant to be.

‘Oh well.’

It’s already dawn anyway.
The sun will be rising soon.

Actually, this works out perfectly.
At this hour, it’s about time to check on that person.

‘Good thing my body woke up out of habit.’

I decided to turn this into a morning training session with a run.

As I stepped outside, I felt the crisp chill of autumn air.
It was refreshing.
I felt like I could take on the day with full energy.

I started running at a steady pace.

In the sacred grounds of the great hero Wolfram, there stood a cathedral dedicated to him and the gods.

As I approached the cathedral, I spotted students of divine studies who had already woken up early.
Besides students from Zeryon Academy, there were also many from other academies.

None of them seemed to find my presence strange.
After all, many ordinary students also came for morning prayers.

However, today’s morning prayer was different from usual.

Two figures, escorted by guards, began walking toward the cathedral.
The gathered students murmured in admiration, clasping their hands in prayer.

These two figures were regarded as symbols of the Holy Church.

The noble saintess.
Saint Narea of Acrede.

The holy son.
Saint Eden of Sirmiel.

The very symbols of the Holy Church were entering the cathedral together.

Among them, my eyes landed on the saintess, Narea of Acrede.

Her pure white platinum hair.
Her eyes, so radiant they seemed transparent.
Her petite figure, slightly smaller than the average woman, held a benevolent smile.

I let out a quiet sigh of admiration as I looked at her.

‘Even now, she hides that monstrous thing so well.’

Her concealment skills never fail to impress me.

Inside that white dress, something was surely screaming.
But she had no choice.

As a saintess, what was required of her was nobility.
However, what she possessed was far from noble—a symbol of lust.
She had no choice but to hide it.

She feared that the believers would look at her instead of God.

At that moment, my eyes met Sirmiel’s.
As always, he greeted me with a gentle smile before stepping into the cathedral.

I followed inside, watching as the students crowded in.

The small cathedral was packed with people eager to catch a glimpse of the saintess and the holy son.
The two of them stood before the statue of the benevolent goddess, who bestowed her blessings upon Wolfram’s monument, and began their prayers.

Under their prayers, the cathedral was instantly filled with sacred blessings.

But my eyes quietly scanned the surroundings.

Previously, during this international individual tournament, someone’s death had been mentioned.

The main event of Act 4, Chapter 2.
The incident that would bring Lucas’s name to the world.

Lucas, who was mentally shaken after killing Nikita with his own hands.
This was the incident that would serve as his turning point.

【 Act 4, Chapter 3 – The Saintess’s Assassination 】

Preventing the saintess’s assassination—that was the primary objective of this episode.

And within this place was the very culprit plotting her death.
I had come here today to see their face for myself.

My gaze landed on someone standing in the background.
It was the cardinal.

I stared at him for a moment before turning away.
It wasn’t time yet.

The saintess’s assassination was set to take place right after the main tournament concluded.

‘Zeryon Academy may have deviated from the main storyline, but the other academies are progressing as they should.’

With Lucas absent, Zeryon Academy had diverged significantly from the original timeline.
However, the other academies continued their events as usual.

That meant there was no reason for the saintess’s assassination schedule to change.

Once the assassination attempt occurred, the Holy Church would be thrown into complete chaos.
And that was a necessary step.

It would serve as the stage for bringing Duke Robliaju, who had made a pact with the Arch-demon, into the spotlight.
To pull him into the scenario, the saintess’s assassination event needed to happen.

‘Now that I’ve confirmed the event will proceed, that’s enough for today.’

As I stepped out of the cathedral, I ran into someone with whom I shared quite a few connections.

“…Hanon Airei.”

The one who quietly called my name was Eve, the Unyielding Azure Flame.

I had seen her quite often lately—even just yesterday.

“Eve, good morning. Are you here for morning prayers?”

I smiled, but she only gave a brief glance toward the cathedral.

“Something like that.”

Her gaze toward me held suspicion.

Did I really seem like someone who would attend morning prayers?
Unfortunately, she was right.

Religion and I didn’t mix.

The real issue was that Eve was also someone who had nothing to do with faith.
The only thing she believed in was herself, not a god.

For her to be here meant she had sensed some kind of ominous presence.

‘The Unyielding Azure Flame also carries the power to vanquish evil, after all.’

She must have unconsciously sensed the same unsettling aura surrounding the saintess.

“I see.”

For some reason, Eve’s stare was particularly piercing today.

So, as I was about to quickly step away, Eve suddenly called out to me.

“Wait.”

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at her. She frowned slightly.

“You… do you have some connection to the Holy Church?”

“No. Not at all.”

I had absolutely nothing to do with them.

Even though my answer was the truth, Eve simply furrowed her brows without saying much.

Yeah, she wasn’t buying it.

“Well then, I’ll be off. I need to get ready for the morning.”

Even as I walked away, I could feel her gaze lingering on my back.
But I left without looking back.

* * *

After returning to the dormitory and heading to my original room, I changed into the Zeryon Academy uniform.

Not only was it made of high-quality material, but it was also enchanted with restoration magic.
It wasn’t bad as combat attire either.

Outside, things were already getting noisy.

That was to be expected—dignitaries from all over the world had gathered to watch the International Individual Tournament.

By now, the preliminary results had likely been announced worldwide.

With the elimination of the First Prince, Ergo Parazon, the world must have been in an uproar.

Of course, the reason for his elimination was simple—he broke the rules.

No one was doubting his actual skill.

‘So they’re planning to announce Parazon’s Sword after the tournament, huh.’

If they revealed it now, it would just get overshadowed by the tournament’s prestige.
So instead, he had quietly returned to his homeland.

I just hoped he had properly apologized to Seron.

As I opened the door—

“Ughhh!”

—someone standing right in front of it got hit on the head as it swung open.

I hadn’t expected anyone to be there, so I was caught off guard as well.

I quickly checked to see who it was—

And there stood a familiar face.

Seron Parmia.

She was clutching her forehead, a small bump already forming.

“Seron?”

When did she memorize where my room was?

As I called her name, Seron slowly rubbed her forehead.

“Ugh, you should check if someone’s in front of the door before opening it!”

“Maybe I couldn’t see you because you’re too short.”

“We’re practically the same height. What are you even talking about?”

Hearing that, I smiled.

Seron flinched slightly, then bit her lip.

She knew very well exactly how much taller I actually was.

But she soon released her lip and glanced around.

Most students were still busy preparing for the morning.
And the ones who woke up early had mostly gone to morning prayers.

All the dorm rooms were shut, with no signs of movement.

After confirming that, Seron let out a small breath.

I looked at her questioningly, and she suddenly beckoned me with her finger.

“Hey, Prince Sweet Potato, come closer.”

“What?”

“It’s about Prince Ergo. I have something to tell you.”

So she went to see him after all.

Well, at least he kept his promise.

‘Is she mad at him for what he did because of her?’

Considering it was Seron, that wouldn’t be surprising.

So, I obediently leaned in to listen.

Soon after, I felt a warm sensation on my cheek for some reason.

It was a feeling I had never experienced before, so for a moment, I couldn’t process what was happening.

As I slowly turned my head, there was Seron, just as she pulled her lips away from my cheek.

Her face was flushed bright red, her fingers clutching the collar of her clothes tightly as she trembled.

She looked like she was about to die from embarrassment.

I stared at her, completely dumbfounded.

Then, despite her trembling lips, she somehow managed to pout.

“I-I-I t-t-told you before, didn’t I? That I’d k-k-kiss you one day!”

“You.”

Seron was practically shaking all over.

If she was going to be this embarrassed, she shouldn’t have done it in the first place.

Even I was starting to feel embarrassed just watching her.

“N-Next time, I’ll do something even more intense! So just keep tempting me like that!”

She shouted at the top of her lungs and then sprinted off on her short legs.

She wobbled as she ran—it was almost penguin-like.

My hand instinctively went to my cheek.

And before I knew it, I let out a small laugh.

I had no idea what that laugh even meant.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hanon was completely unaware.

That at the very moment Seron had ambushed him with a kiss—

“Uh, um…”

“……”

—two women had witnessed the whole scene.

Sharin Sazaris.

And Isabel Luna.

Sharin’s gaze slowly shifted toward Isabel.

She was staring at Hanon with calm, unreadable eyes.

Even Sharin couldn’t tell what Isabel was feeling this time.

No, actually—

Lately, Isabel’s emotions had been growing more and more unpredictable.

Especially when it came to Hanon, something about her seemed… off.

At first, their relationship had been the absolute worst.

But after everything that had happened, it had become something too complex to define.

One thing was certain—Isabel was mentally relying on Hanon far more than anyone would have expected.

Sharin knew exactly when that shift had escalated dramatically—after the boycott incident.

“Rin.”

“Yeah, Bel?”

“I’m going to win this tournament.”

With those words, Isabel turned and walked away.

Sharin quietly watched her go, letting out a sigh.

Then, with a complicated expression, she scratched her head.

Sure, Isabel was one problem…

But for some reason, even she felt uneasy after witnessing Seron’s sudden move.

And that feeling was deeply unpleasant.