Chapter 1: First Day At The Academy

Celeste’s POV:

The new semester at Aethelgard Institute was starting today.

It was still early, so I was the only person inside the Diplomacy Department’s small lecture hall.

Sunlight streamed through the window, casting tree shadows across one side of the long table, making me zone out for a second.

Aethelgard was the place I’d dreamed of.

Now I was here, but it still felt like I hadn’t woken up from the dream.

I felt a mix of excitement and nerves.

I need to keep reminding myself:

Right now, I’m Lyra, not Celeste.

The real Lyra Holst—my employer’s daughter, who was supposed to be here—only came back from a party right before dawn, dead drunk.

I was long used to it.

Over the past five years, I couldn’t count how many classes I’d covered for her, how many assignments I’d finished, or how many top grades I’d earned in her name.

Meanwhile, I left high school with a transcript that couldn’t be any worse because of all my own missed classes and exams.

It didn’t matter.

As an orphan, good grades were useless to me anyway.

At least helping Lyra was a way to repay my employers—Mr. and Mrs. Holst—for their kindness.

They were good to me.

At home, I didn’t have to do chores all day like the other maids.

My only job was to take care of Lyra, study with her, and take her tests.

After all, we were the same age and looked almost identical in height and appearance.

Now that we were at Aethelgard, I didn’t need to get a part-time job like the other students. I just had to manage Lyra’s daily life.

For a lowly Omega like me, I was honestly much luckier than most.

This was the first day of class.

Classmates walked in twos and threes, some old friends, some strangers.

Everyone was excited, greeting each other and chatting.

I sat quietly in the middle of the back row.

My wolf, Iris, scratched at her fluffy ears with a paw, looking a bit impatient.

Aren’t you going to go socialize with them?

“I don’t want to. “

Why?

“This isn’t high school anymore. Maybe I can try cutting back on fake socializing.”

But you still need to build connections for Lyra, right?

I hesitated for a second.

“True...”

Then go.

The legs I had just started to lift settled back down into the seat.

“Maybe tomorrow. Let me just enjoy my first day here.”

The Diplomacy Department at Aethelgard really wasn’t a place for ordinary people.

Most of the students were girls—more specifically, daughters of wealthy families.

Their clothes and shoes were all expensive brands, and they wore proud, dismissive smiles on their faces.

The dynamic became clear pretty fast.

Most of them only gathered to chat with people they already knew or those dressed like them.

I didn’t join in, not because of my status, but simply because I didn’t want to.

I didn’t have anything to worry about anyway.

My clothes and makeup today were a perfect match for Lyra’s style.

Her clothes, her hairstyle—none of it was cheap.

I could turn into Lyra through makeup in just ten minutes, and I had mastered her tone of voice and expressions long ago.

Over the past five years, I knew these tricks inside out.

Five years of taking her classes and exams, without a single mistake.

Just then, someone ran in from outside the classroom, keeping her voice down in excited surprise as she called out to her friends.

“Huge news! Talon Asgard is coming here for class later!”

The girls in the room immediately stirred.

“Oh my god, I’ve been waiting so long for this.”

“If it weren’t for him, who would even come to study at Aethelgard?”

“Even if he only audits classes once in a while, just that is lucky enough.”

The mood shifted instantly. The girls scrambled.

“Don’t sit here, everyone. Keep this seat open.”

“No, he should sit by me.”

“He’s sitting next to me.”

...

They noisily cleared out the seats on both sides of the aisle, hoping they’d be lucky enough to get Talon Asgard.

Meanwhile, I sat in the middle of the back row, quietly watching it all while writing down herbal knowledge from memory in my notebook for later.

Was Talon Asgard really that charming?

Wasn’t he just the Alpha’s favorite son?

So many girls were willing to face tough coursework and strict rules just to enroll at Aethelgard Institute, all for a chance to get close to him.

Even Lyra came here because of him.

So in a way, I was here because of him too.

And because I acted as Lyra’s shadow, the Holsts had me enrolled in the Medical Department—the exact major I wanted most.

Pretty lucky, right?

As long as I kept my head down and worked hard, I’d get a good outcome.

As for those rich girls, they were none of my business.

Three minutes before class started, the professor walked in.

Two young men followed right behind him.

One was tall with broad shoulders and long legs, wearing a black training uniform and tactical boots.

Medium-length chestnut hair framed his face, with a strand of bangs falling down to slightly cover his golden-yellow eyes, temporarily veiling their eagle-sharp edge.

He had a high-bridged nose and thin lips.

His features were remarkably refined, yet carried a coldness that kept people from getting close.

The pressure of his Alpha lineage was genuinely striking.

The other man was half a head shorter and dressed the same, but the lines around his eyes and brows were a bit softer, lacking the sharp intensity of the taller one.

At a glance, he looked much easier to talk to.

The moment the three of them stepped inside, everyone went quiet.

All the chattering girls opened their eyes wide.

Some tilted their heads and others rested their chins on their hands, pretending to focus, but their eyes held a hungry gleam—sitting in the back row, I didn’t even need to look to know.

The entire lecture hall sank into an almost stiflingly intense atmosphere.

“These two are students from the Advanced Command Class,” the professor introduced. “They will be auditing a few courses here at the Diplomacy Department, including today’s lecture.”

No need to guess—the tall guy was clearly Talon Asgard, the one all the girls had been waiting for.

He nodded at the professor and strode toward us.

He became the absolute center of attention in the room, with almost every girl’s head turning to follow his movement.

The seat battle from earlier was about to show its winner.

Talon walked past row after row without slowing down.

The girls behind him let out soft sighs.

My wolf, Iris, stood up and gave alert sneezes.

What a fun show. Why aren’t you watching?

I chuckled silently in my mind.

“I need to hurry. I have to memorize these plant properties before class starts.”

But you’re supposed to help Lyra hit on him.

I paused for half a second.