Cedric Eberun had been touted as a genius of magic ever since he was young.
He had far more mana than other boys and girls his age, learned magic quickly, and his parents doted on him, certain that he would one day become a court magician.
Spoiled rotten, he grew up without a shred of empathy for others and became a thoroughly selfish person — but his talent for magic was the real deal.
The fact that his half-brother, born the same year, had no mana only fueled his pride further.
Emulating his father, who resented his incompetent son, and his mother, who despised the child of his father's mistress, he bullied his brother without restraint, eventually losing all hesitation about hurting others.
Had Cedric truly become a court magician and secured the rank of viscount, a haughty and wicked noble would have been born, causing no end of trouble for a great many people.
However, it seemed that the world did indeed have such a thing as divine judgment.
On that day, a reckoning was about to be delivered to Cedric, who had always done as he pleased.
◯ ◯ ◯ (Damn it! Damn, damn, damn! Why is this so hard?!)
Royal Academy. The day of the entrance exam.
Cedric Eberun cursed under his breath as he stared at the questions on the written exam in the lecture hall.
The spacious hall was filled with the children of nobles, all taking the test.
Today was the noble-track entrance exam at the academy.
Everyone around him was well-dressed and carried themselves with an air of refinement.
Some were upstart nobles like Cedric, while others were clearly the sons and daughters of high-ranking aristocrats with an unmistakable air of nobility.
(Shit... I'm pretty sure this question was in the reference book... Ah, damn it! I can't remember!)
The sound of pens scratching from all around only sharpened Cedric's frustration.
But no matter how anxious he grew, that wasn't going to make the questions any easier to answer.
Nearly half of the answer sheet sitting on his desk remained blank, and the clock was ticking relentlessly toward the end of the exam.
(What kind of genius of magic am I, struggling this much... It's all, every last bit of it, that good-for-nothing defect's fault! If that waste hadn't been taken in by the marquis's family, I could've focused on my studies...!)
What surfaced in Cedric's mind was the face of his half-brother... Rest.
Ever since they were children, Cedric had hurled magic at Rest at every opportunity to hurt him.
Whenever he learned a new spell, Rest was the first one he used as a test subject. Even setting that aside, whenever something upset him, he took his stress out on Rest by mistreating the boy.
In truth, while Cedric did possess talent for magic, he was not particularly strong in academic subjects like history or mathematics—anything that wasn't spellwork.
Between study sessions, he had vented his frustration by tormenting Rest. But a year ago, when Rest was taken in by House Rosemary, that routine had been ripped away from him.
Since then, he had been unable to concentrate on his studies, and now he was sitting for the entrance exam thoroughly unprepared.
(How the hell did that trash get taken in by the marquis's family? He's probably just doing menial chores over there anyway... The thought that that good-for-nothing is standing right next to Viola and Primula makes my blood boil beyond all control...!)
Cedric had once met the sisters of House Rosemary and had been smitten with them at first sight.
He envisioned a future in which he would marry one of them... or, if fortune smiled on him, both, and do whatever he wished with those flower-like beauties.
However... ever since he had lured the sisters into the forest and put them in mortal danger, he had not laid eyes on them again.
He had petitioned the marquis's family for permission to meet them as an apology, but he was rebuffed without so much as a sliver of a chance.
"As long as you enroll at the academy, you'll surely cross paths with them again. There's no need to rush."
"That's right. You are a chosen child, unlike that stray mongrel. If you show them your best side, they're bound to fall for you."
His parents said as much, but the mere thought that Rest was living right beside those precious sisters sent a simmering of irritation churning through Cedric's gut, making it impossible to focus on his studies.
Even at this very moment, sitting for the exam, the image of his brother's face drifted through his mind and the seething anger refused to subside.
"Five minutes remain until the end of the exam."
"Nh—!"
(Shit shit shit shit shit shit! SHIIIIIIIIT!)
Hearing the proctor's voice, Cedric twisted his expression and desperately tried to work through the problems.
In the end, Cedric could only properly answer about seventy percent of the exam.
Even that seventy percent was no guarantee that every answer was correct.
He had been told beforehand that the written exam's minimum passing threshold was sixty percent correct answers, and he finished the first half of the exam perched on a decidedly razor-thin margin.