Path of the Extra

"When did the two of you get here?"

Hearing Celestina's question, Azriel offered her a small smile before answering.

"Only a few hours ago. Since we arrived so early and weren't really tired, we decided to attend our classes as well."

Celestina nodded in understanding but soon directed her attention to Jasmine, who stood stiffly in the elevator, looking the other way.

The air around her practically screamed, Don't talk to me. Her expression was as cold as ice.

Celestina blinked, taking in Jasmine's frosty demeanor. It wasn't unfamiliar—but seeing Jasmine in her full "Crimson Princess" mode still made her pause. Quietly, Celestina moved closer to Azriel and whispered.

"Why is she acting like that?"

Azriel leaned slightly toward her, their proximity close enough for her subtle scent to reach his nose. In a low voice, he whispered back,

"She's mad at me because I wouldn't let her sleep with the little girl who's peacefully sleeping in my bed right now."

Celestina stared at him for a moment, blinking as if she'd misheard. Then, her eyes widened with incredulity.

"W-what... l-little girl? A little girl in your b-bed?"

Azriel's smile widened, amusement flickering in his crimson eyes. But before he could respond, Jasmine's cold voice cut through the air.

"Azriel, stop teasing Celestina."

Her expression turned even frostier.

"Of course, I'm mad. You're trying to keep Iryndra all to yourself!"

At her words, Azriel frowned, his previous amusement vanishing.

"You and Mother have been spoiling her nonstop. I brought her here, so she's mine to spoil."

"Huh? She's not some pet for you to keep. Stop being so possessive—that's my job. I'm the future queen, and she's my little sister. It's my right to spoil her... and you."

Jasmine shot him a disgruntled look, but Azriel didn't back down.

"Finders keepers."

"Listen to your elders, little brother."

Before their argument could escalate, Celestina suddenly stepped in, planting herself in front of Jasmine and gripping her shoulders. Her expression was a mix of shock and disbelief.

"Wait, wait! What do you mean by little sister!?"

The two turned toward Celestina, blinking in unison. Then, as if wordlessly communicating, Jasmine and Azriel exchanged a glance. A second later, Azriel nodded slightly, a small smile playing on his lips.

Jasmine faced Celestina and spoke in a steady voice.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Iryndra is the newest member of the Crimson Clan. We adopted her. She's a princess now—a child Azriel met in the Void Realm. Due to... circumstances, he couldn't bring her back before. But recently, we returned to the Void Realm, and this time, Azriel brought her home."

Celestina processed Jasmine's words, her wide grey eyes darting between the two. Finally, she focused on Azriel, who gave a small nod to confirm the story.

Though it was clear Jasmine wasn't keen on sharing too many details, Celestina respected her restraint. That didn't mean her curiosity about the newest princess of the Crimson Clan didn't grow tenfold.

After a moment, Celestina stepped back and hesitantly asked,

"Can I meet her?"

Despite their earlier squabble, Jasmine glanced at Azriel, silently seeking his opinion.

Azriel scratched his nose, looking away.

"Actually, I'd prefer it if you met her. Maybe even became friends with her. She's been alone for a long time... and she is too smart to play with kids her age."

At his unexpected admission, both Jasmine and Celestina seemed slightly surprised. But their expressions quickly softened, and a moment later, Celestina smiled brightly.

"I'd love to be her friend! I'll meet her after class!"

At her cheerful response, an idea lit up Jasmine's face.

"Ah, Celestina! Let's have a sleepover! We haven't done that in years!"

Celestina's eyes widened.

"That's an amazing idea!"

Azriel's face darkened. His instincts screamed trouble as he eyed their excited expressions.

"Wait. Whose room are you two planning to use for this... sleepover?"

The two girls exchanged a look, then turned to Azriel with identical expressions that seemed to say, Isn't it obvious?

"Little brother, you're the Apex of the first years. Your room is the best."

"What? You're the Apex of the second years! Your room is just the same as mine!"

At his words, Jasmine's expression instantly shifted. Her head dipped, her shoulders sagging. Slowly, she approached Azriel, delicately gripping his academy uniform. Then she looked up at him with an expression so pitiful it made his heart freeze.

"Azriel... can you do me this favor... please?"

"Ugh..."

Azriel felt like he'd been stabbed in the chest.

This... This was manipulation. Plain and simple.

Would it work on him? Normally, no. But when he glanced at Jasmine's pleading crimson eyes and then at Celestina's silently begging grey ones, he hesitated.

'...I guess it's fine. They just want to have fun for once... Iryndra will be happy too.'

Clicking his tongue, Azriel looked away from them, scratching his hair furiously.

"Fine! Do whatever you want. Seriously, if you were going to pull this stunt, why even argue with me in the first place?"

Their faces lit up instantly, their smiles as radiant as the sun.

Azriel sighed, grumbling to himself.

'Seriously, what's the difference between using my room and hers?'

Despite his annoyance, Jasmine giggled happily.

And this damn lift still hadn't reached the bottom floor.

Sure, they were on the top floor, but why did it always take so long? No one else even used it!

"Hehehe, little brother, you love me so much," Jasmine teased, sticking her tongue out playfully.

Azriel shot her an exasperated look.

"Stop that. You're the future queen, right? Seriously... Ugh, whatever. Do what you want."

'Guess I'll find somewhere else to stay for the night...'

As for just taking Jasmine's room? That wasn't an option. Azriel was an honorable, selfless prince.

He wouldn't stoop so low as to take a girl's room.

Finally, the elevator doors slid open, and Azriel let out a sigh of relief. He let the two princesses go first, walking ahead as he made sure to stay several meters behind them.

He really wasn't in the mood to talk to them anymore.

With a dark expression and thoughts focused on whose room he could steal, Azriel walked to his classroom.

*****

When Azriel entered the classroom, Celestina was beside him.

Why had Celestina not been in the classroom earlier? She'd wanted to ask what snacks Iryndra liked and had sought Azriel's opinion on it. Over the past few days, Jasmine had somehow managed to make Iryndra a chocolate addict like herself, so Azriel had simply told Celestina to buy some chocolate ice cream if she was really set on it.

As the two entered the room, Azriel felt every pair of eyes turn toward him. Naturally. He was once again the talk of the month. It almost seemed as though the world had nothing better to do than follow the lives of every child of the great clans.

Azriel ignored them, taking his seat as Celestina, as usual, sat next to him.

He could see Lumine and Yelena wanted to speak with him as they sat to his right, but they didn't have the chance. In the next moment, their history instructor walked in.

Instructor Cedric.

The man had long, disheveled dark hair and noticeable bags under his eyes. For some reason, he wore a white lab coat. His irritated expression made it clear he wasn't in the best of moods. He walked in front of the class, writing on the board as everyone fell silent, their attention already on him.

Despite his unkempt appearance, his presence was... overwhelming. Like most instructors at the academy, he was talented and strong in his own right.

Instructor Cedric circled the words on the board with a marker, then turned around to face the class with a look of annoyance.

"Now, which one of you braindeads can tell me about this?" he asked, his voice gruff, as he pointed to the words:

The Great Reversal.

At Cedric's question, a few cadets glared at him, but none dared voice their complaints.

After a few seconds of silence, a cadet, shorter than average with blue hair and green eyes, shot his hand up.

"Yes, you there, smurf. Tell me everything you know about the Great Reversal."

The cadet blinked, taken aback at being called "smurf," but quickly composed himself, aware of all the eyes now directed at him.

"Uhm... the Great Reversal is the term we use for when the continents started to come together again, 150 years ago. And... the people who survived that time, along with events like the Crack, were all part of the first Void Generation."

Hearing the explanation, Cedric's dark eyes fixed on him, and his voice dropped to a low growl.

"Is that all you know?"

The boy's face paled slightly, and he hesitated before nodding.

"Y-yes..."

Cedric clicked his tongue.

"Try reading a book or using the internet. It's free. Your knowledge is akin to that of a toddler if that's all you can explain."

At his words, the boy shrank back, his head bowed, not daring to look at the cadets who now pitied him.

Cedric's gaze swept over the others.

"So, anyone else want to give a miserable shot? Surely you can't do worse than the smurf?"

His words sent a chill through the cadets, and no one moved to raise their hand.

Azriel glanced at Celestina, and he saw that even she was reluctant to speak up. It was clear that Instructor Cedric didn't care about status, and no one wanted to risk being belittled.

Then, suddenly, Cedric's voice boomed across the classroom.

"At least someone has more guts than you wimps. Cadet Yelena, ranked sixth, right? Come on, stand up and give it a shot."

"A-ah? Y-yes...!"

Everyone turned their attention to Yelena, who had a nervous expression as she stood up. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, before her expression shifted, her eyes growing more confident.

"The Great Reversal refers to the period in 1999 when the continents—Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America—began to shift and return to their positions from 65 million years ago, similar to the late Cretaceous period. The only difference is that India is still attached to Asia. Earthquakes, once mild and infrequent, became almost daily occurrences. Entire mountain ranges rose in mere weeks, and massive canyons opened up, swallowing villages and entire ecosystems. The land itself began to reshape. Oceans grew larger, swallowing coastlines. There were volcanic eruptions and extreme weather patterns—things we had never experienced before. The exact cause of this change is still unknown, but the Great Reversal was the first of many events, like the Crack in the Sky, which released what we now know as mana into the air, altering even more of our world. The mysterious appearance of the Void Dungeon also followed..."

Yelena stopped, catching her breath. She was about to continue but hesitated when she noticed everyone staring at her, their expressions bewildered.

"E-eh? W-was I wrong...?"

Her face turned pale as she looked weakly at Instructor Cedric, who quickly snapped out of it and shook his head, grumbling as he scratched the back of his head.

"No, Cadet Yelena, that was good enough. You may sit down now... at least someone here knows how to read books."