The Villain in a Romance Fantasy Novel

After probing Mel for answers, Cassian got a pretty good image of his current standing.

He estimated that he was currently in the first term of his last year at the academy, right before encountering Abella, the Second Prince and other "capture targets". In other words, he had five years to avoid his humiliating death at the Second Prince's hands.

"Thank you."

The academy's cafeteria was spacious and quite luxurious, probably much larger than his apartment building; not to mention, the food looked very appetising – grilled seasoned chicken with side dishes of mashed potatoes and broccoli. This is the kind of food that only people with high wages could afford back in Korea.

Cassian walked away from the counter in a light mood, searching for an empty seat in the packed cafeteria.

He wanted to sit alone. It's not like he had any friends here. After two minutes, his eyes landed on a perfect spot in front of the window, a small table with four chairs.

Placing the heavy tray on the wooden table, he started giddily munching the grilled chicken, when somebody disturbed him.

"Enjoying your meal?"

Cassian glared at the person like his greatest enemy. The person in question, Mel, simply grinned.

"Can I sit here?" Mel asked, sitting in front of Cassian anyways.

"This chicken is so good," Cassian murmured as he stuffed the mashed potato and chicken in his mouth simultaneously.

Mel agreed with him. "I know, right, I heard they imported some foreign spices."

"Really? Must be expensive," Cassian replied.

"Mhm. You know, Cassian, you really are different from the rumors."

Cassian stopped eating. "Rumors?"

"As expected, you don't even know what's going on," Mel sighed. "People say you're an ice Prince or whatnot."

"Even though I'm the real Prince," he murmured.

"What?"

Mel returned a smile. "Oh, nothing. You are quite a friendly person, I see. When I saw you before, you'd sit alone in a corner wearing a face that screamed 'Fuck off.'"

"Haha, really?" Cassian laughed nervously.

'Did I act too different from the original Cassian?'

'But it wouldn't be good to suddenly be cold to the only friend I've made so far, huh?'

"I guess I decided to turn over a new leaf."

Mel chuckled, "Figures. Who'd want to spend their last year in school like a hermit?"

"Ah! You're a commoner, right?"

A moment later, he covered his mouth. "Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

Cassian smiled lightly, "It's alright. Why?"

"Don't you know the new student? She's a commoner too, I think?"

Cassian looked at Mel curiously, wondering if he was talking about Abella.

Abella enrolled, strangely, in the Royal Academy of Magic only now, sponsored by the government. Later, it was revealed that she was the Saint anointed by the Mother Goddess  to save the kingdom.

'But she wasn't a commoner.'

Abella's family was poor, but they were not commoners.

Cassian replied, looking straight at Mel's eyes. "No, she's a baroness."

Mel looked surprised, then excited. "Oh? How are you so sure? Are you interested in her? This morning I tried to see her, boy was she pretty!"

"...was what I heard." Cassian added.

"Oh, don't be so secretive with me! Won't you share something at least?"

Cassian smiled and returned his focus to the food, to the chagrin of Mel, who failed to get anything out of him.

•••

When they finished eating, it was already noon.

Mel parted with Cassian saying he needed to do something, so Cassian returned to the dorms alone to savour the short one-hour break between lunch and lessons.

Nobody else returned to the dorms, so he enjoyed relative peace in the large building.

Cassian explored his room – although only his side, since he didn't want to invade the other guy's privacy. He disappointingly did not — or had not — gain any of the original Cassian's memories, so he hoped to at least familiarise with the new situation.

"To think this is for students."

He marveled at the room's size, which resembled a family apartment than student dormitories.

He touched various objects on his study desk, which was neat and tidy, yet hosting many books.

"The Expanded Theorem of Mana Control."

"Academy Guide for Advanced Magic Studies."

"Relation Between Physical Strength, Mana Level and Magic Proficiency: A Through Study."

These were all books on magic and mana.

"Wow, this guy is really absorbed in his studies, huh," he said in amusement.

Cassian, a commoner orphan, was only able to enter the aristocrat-dominated Royal Academy of Magic due to his crazy capability in magic. Even at his current age, 17, he was already covered by various magic institutions. He became a mage with no effort straight after graduation.

Later on, he became the Royal Magic Bureau's most senior archmage at the very young age of 21. However, he reached that level through unorthodox, even illegal methods, all to win Abella's love.

Of course, this Cassian wasn't going to do that.

"I don't even need to be an archmage."

"Wait, can I even use magic?"

Cassian panicked. If he couldn't use magic, how would he survive in the academy, let alone this world!?

Surprisingly, his body moved on its own again.  A glow emanated from his hand, which seemed to branch out to the books on the table. In a second, they all flew out.

"Wow. So I can use magic."

However, in the next second, they all fell down, making a mess in the table which Cassian had to begrudgingly clean up.

"Becoming a mage is practically decided, huh. Whether I become an archmage or not... At least I won't take the same path as the original Cassian."

He decided to work hard towards becoming a good mage.

"Magic" in this world is how you channel and use your "mana". Therefore, this world relies partly on magic tools, made by mages who are limited in number and are expensive. While everybody is born with mana and receives basic magic training, not everybody can become a mage, and the levels of mana among people aren't equal either.

Since Cassian's mana reserve is large — classifying as Level 4, the highest —, he uses a lot of magic devices, which are more convenient than regular devices.. He even constructed some on his own, despite it being illegal to construct magic devices without being a mage.

Shuffling through Cassian's belongings, he found a watch and a lighter, all magic devices. Beside them, there was a pack of cigarettes.

"Looks like he had some bad habits, too."

Ga Si-an never liked smoking, so the current Cassian didn't have any craving for it, either.

"I guess I'll throw that away later."

He decided to put on the watch since it looked cool. 

"It's already this time? I better hurry."

Again, his body moved on its own, grabbing the necessities for class before heading out the dormitory.

•••

Irritatingly, the first lesson was Mathematics.

While not bad at the subject, Cassian still hated it nonetheless. Judging from the notebook he brought, it seems that the original guy was no different.

'He blatantly called the teacher 'nagging bitch'.'

He almost giggled in class reading that.

Lightly chuckling in the hallway, Cassian failed to notice the gazes of other students at him, especially the girls who looked dreamily at him. 

He spotted Mel, who was staring at him with a vaguely disgusted expression.

"Cassian!"

"Mel." Cassian greeted with a slight smile.

"Bastard guys like you can attract girls at one glance, it's unfair!"

"Huh?" 

Mel shook his head. "Oh well. What's your next lesson?"

"Uh... Language."

Mel's face brightened. "Oh! Me too! Haha."

At that moment, Cassian suddenly bumped another person.

"Sorry!"

He reached his hand out to the girl who had fallen to the floor, clutching her left foot.

"Are you alright?"

He noticed that the girl had dark pink hair, and froze.

'Abella?'