The Strongest Brother Lost His Memory-Chapter 70

* * *

The next morning, at dawn.

Zahid was strolling through the courtyard with Fire when he ran into Theo.

He was about to give a half-hearted greeting and walk past when Theo spoke in a frosty tone.

“Student Zahid.”

Zahid instinctively rolled his eyes at the déjà vu that swept over him.

That disapproving voice... It was the same tone Yuta used when nitpicking him.

“Yes?”

“You should pay more attention in class.”

Zahid's jaw dropped in disbelief.

Theo was not the kind of assistant to care much about students.

His attitude had always been “listen if you want,” while blazing through difficult material with no regard for comprehension.

“To think the top student’s fiancé is dead last.”

Contempt flickered in Theo’s eyes.

“I simply can’t stand the sight.”

Sure, Zahid knew Theo believed in meritocracy, but this level of pettiness was... oddly refreshing.

“Starting today, if you doze off in my class, points will be deducted. If you’re at the bottom, you ought to try harder.”

Zahid groaned inwardly. Just earlier, he had run into Yuta and lost ten points for a ridiculous reason...

“From now on, sit in the front row. Take notes properly. Do your best to at least follow the top student’s footsteps.”

Theo narrowed his eyes, looking Zahid up and down as if thoroughly unimpressed.

“I’m not particularly fond of you, but since you’re still young, I suppose I’ll have to grind you down until you reach an acceptable level...”

Zahid felt a familiar wave of exhaustion settle over him.

Come to think of it, it was the same fatigue he used to feel when dealing with Count Noart and Julian back at the estate.

“I absolutely refuse to let some brainless idiot sit next to our precious, intelligent, kind, and beautiful top student...”

Theo muttered darkly under his breath.

And now, his hands—once trembling—were perfectly steady.

* * *

The Prince of Water

“That’s all for today’s lecture. I’ve also posted individual meeting times for feedback on your final assignments, so check the board. We’ll meet in the Theology Library.”

Yuta, the theology assistant, finished class ten minutes early with his usual bright smile.

“Oh, and tomorrow is the Parents’ Gathering. I’m sure you’re all excited to see your families again after so long.”

Parents’ Gathering.

The students’ eyes sparkled with anticipation at the thought of finally seeing their families.

“Rosie, who’s coming for you?”

Ray, seated beside me, asked. I answered cheerfully.

“Hmm. Probably my brother?”

“Oh... Julian Noart? You must be close. You look really excited.”

“Yeah.”

I responded brightly while packing up my books.

“He was the only one who came to find me and take care of me when I was living as an orphan. He loved and cherished me a lot.”

Even if he’d become a seventeen-year-old punk, he’d never once forgotten our promise.

“We made a vow—to be each other’s one and only, to be the most important people in each other’s lives.”

Ray gave me a soft smile and asked:

“I see. Do the two of you look alike?”

“Hmm... We both have silver hair and green eyes, but our features are really different. My brother has this really striking look. His eyes slant upward, like this.”

I spoke proudly, fondly. But then I felt someone staring at me and quickly turned to the side.

My gaze met Yuta’s as he was tidying up the lectern.

He gave a gentle smile and returned to gathering his scriptures.

Since ending the forced tea times with Theo, I hadn’t had much interaction with Yuta.

Still, his gleaming blonde hair, vivid green eyes, and soft, puppy-like features were undeniably charming.

He rarely spoke. Always smiling, he left a good impression.

According to Theo, among the assistants, he was known as “the guy who turns out to speak like a lunatic once you get close.”

He definitely had a strange way of talking back during those tea times.

But regardless, the students liked him.

When I was trying to force those meetings with Theo, he unexpectedly helped me out. So I didn’t have any bad feelings toward him.

Well... aside from how he deducted points from Zahid every chance he got.

He was even the one who took charge of the situation when Nesha tried to frame me over the magical artifact. He’d said, “An innocent child should go inside and grow up.”

‘Sure, he phrased it weirdly, but still.’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Maybe that’s why—

He was oddly easy to be around.

‘Still, he’s definitely a Temple person... I should stay cautious. You never know. Though he’s probably dying soon anyway.’

Other than that, we weren’t particularly connected.

I suppose I should be grateful that he never looked down on me for being a wretch.

Temple people usually despise wretches, so Yuta might’ve thought the same deep down—but he never showed it on the surface. freewebnøvel.coɱ

“Sounds like your brother is a good person,” Ray said kindly, and I smiled and asked,

“You said you have an older brother with a big age gap too, right? Is he coming tomorrow?”

The Lavendal Duke had two sons.

The first was already an adult. The younger was Ray, eight years his junior.

“He’ll probably come... I guess.”

Ray replied vaguely. His blue eyes cooled slightly.

He took a sip from his personal water bottle and added in an uncertain tone,

“I’m not really sure. We’re not exactly on good terms.”

I nodded slowly.

I’d heard a little about the Lavendal family situation before regression.

The Divine Beast of Water belonged to the Duke of Lavendal.

The family heir was traditionally chosen by the Divine Beast.

But in this generation, the Water Beast had chosen only one of the two sons: Ray.

It was rare for the beast to clearly follow only one person even before the official selection.

So everyone assumed the second son would be the one chosen.

The fact that Ray was a famous prodigy only solidified that belief.

“But his older brother couldn’t accept it... Ray went through a lot as a kid.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Apparently his brother even tried to poison him once. That’s why he always carries his own water bottle.”

No wonder Ray’s expression darkened when talking about his brother.

“Anyway, I hope we get to see each other’s families tomorrow,” Ray said with a smile.

“You’re the friend I’m closest with at the Academy, so I’m sure my father’s curious about you.”

“Ahaha, really? I hope he gets a good impression of me.”

I laughed awkwardly, ending the conversation.

Before regression, Ray’s closest friend had been Zahid...

But I guess that changed since we’re in different classes now.

Still, after spending nearly three months constantly by each other’s side, I could tell—there was a strange bond between them, even if they weren’t close.

I couldn’t explain it, but from what I remembered, it was because they eventually had no choice but to become allies.

They both hated the Temple, came from ducal households, and either had—or would soon have—Divine Beasts.

‘In the end, they were destined to join forces. They both know it.’

Among the Four Ducal Houses, the only people who could truly be on each other’s side were each other. Even if they didn’t like it, they had no choice but to trust one another.

Well, it wasn’t like they had compatible personalities anyway.

‘Still...’

After nodding at Ray, I propped my chin on my hand, deep in thought.

‘Zahid doesn’t have any parents attending. We’re not even in the same class, so I can’t really look after him... That’s kind of sad.’

If we were in the same class, I could’ve subtly included him with Julian.

Julian would grumble, but in the end, he’d definitely look after Zahid.

‘So maybe the Parents’ Gathering isn’t such a happy day after all.’

And then—

“Parents’ Gathering? Ugh, don’t even mention it. It was total chaos.”

Zahid had told me once before.

“The Water Divine Beast went berserk that day.”

“What? Seriously?”

“Ray barely managed to subdue it. He got pretty badly hurt himself, and the damage was massive.”

I turned to look out the window, falling deep into thought.