Drawing Manga in a Romance Fantasy – Chapter 142

“Don’t you think Professor Rupert looks more handsome every time you see him?”

As the female students finished their art history lecture, they began to gossip while watching Rupert leave.

“Honestly, compared to the Third Prince or Adrian, he might be a bit lacking, but he’s still charming.”

Recently, the number of female students showing affection for Rupert at the academy had significantly increased.

In truth, Rupert himself didn’t pay much attention to his looks, but regardless, his face was undoubtedly good-looking.

However, unlike the sculpted Edric or the gentle Adrian, when he had a blank expression, he appeared quite cold, which had previously deterred women from approaching him.

But since his house, Somerset, had been elevated to a marquisate recently, his popularity began to surge.

He was not only young but also belonged to a powerful family, and with his outstanding abilities and decent looks, he had captured the hearts of women.

Of course, in terms of sheer popularity, Edric, the Third Prince, or Adrian, the Prince of Sylvania, were higher.

Those were men of noble birth who were like unattainable grapes, while for some reason, Rupert seemed to be within reach, contributing to his rising popularity.

“Professor, eat this when you’re feeling peckish.”

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

And among those female students, bold ones frequently expressed their affections toward Rupert lately.

There were two people who viewed this with displeasure.

“Then, Isabella, would you come out and interpret this formula?”

“Um… are you talking about me?”

“Is there another student named Isabella?”

Isabella, who was attending a basic understanding of magic class, walked up to the blackboard with a contemplative expression.

‘What on earth is this?’

The formulas densely written on the board were something she couldn’t comprehend at all.

She had attended class diligently and thought she had a certain talent for magic, but no matter how she looked at this formula, it was impossible to understand.

“This is a simple formula for calculating the constants of coordinates when fixing the coordinates of magic! You should be able to handle this easily if you want to apply magic transformations in practice!”

“… Yes.”

“If you’re a student in the Magic Department of the Imperial Academy, you should be able to do at least this. Lately, some students seem to be distracted by other things and are neglecting their studies, which is their primary duty!”

Pow!

The voice of Jenia explaining the formula to Isabella grew louder and eventually turned into fury.

After venting her frustration for a while, Jenia suddenly conjured flames in her hands and said in a low voice,

“As an associate professor at the academy, I absolutely cannot allow this!”

“… Yes!”

Isabella responded reflexively without realizing it.

‘Killing intent? I definitely felt killing intent…’

For some reason, she had a near-prophetic feeling that if her response had been even slightly delayed, something bad might have occurred.

*

“I had feelings for him first! I recognized it from the very beginning!”

Every time Jenia saw female students expressing affection for Rupert lately, she struggled to keep her anger in check.

Initially, they had looked down on him because he was a young professor and acted arrogantly, and now they were shamelessly showing their affections, which annoyed her.

“Jenia, during the dining engagement with Professor Rupert today, make sure to bring up the card discussion…”

“Master! Today is a really important occasion!”

“No, I mean, no matter how much Professor Rupert asks, I can’t just give him an Ultimate Rare card…”

Yustaf stammered at the high-pitched voice of his disciple Jenia.

‘She used to be such a gentle girl…’

Jenia had returned from her vacation assignment completely transformed.

First of all, she had physically changed significantly; the image of the former girl had vanished, and she had now fully morphed into a lady.

Furthermore, unlike before when she had been anxious and nervous as if she didn’t belong, now she confidently expressed her opinions as her student, making Yustaf proud, yet he also missed how she used to be.

“It’s the first day I’ve made plans alone with Professor Rupert; I can’t ruin the atmosphere by just talking about cards!”

Just cards, you say?

Yustaf felt incredibly disappointed by his disciple’s words, not realizing how much humiliation his master must have faced for not having an Ultimate Rare card.

“You still don’t understand men.”

“Excuse me?”

Yustaf couldn’t understand why Jenia was so fidgety about her upcoming meal with Rupert.

‘Unless Rupert is a eunuch, there’s no way he wouldn’t have feelings for Jenia.’

His assessment was not biased just because she was his disciple.

In fact, he had seen countless times how male students would turn their heads like magnets every time Jenia walked by.

The visceral allure radiating from her curvy figure was something any vigorous young man couldn’t help but be drawn to.

“First of all, you need to change your outfit.”

“My clothes?”

“You’re wrapped in that robe, which is why Rupert hasn’t succumbed yet.”

“But this robe was given to me directly by you…”

The robe Jenia wore every day was the first gift Yustaf had ever given her when he accepted her as his disciple.

Because of this, she cherished it as much as Rupert’s books.

“While I appreciate that you treasure the gift I gave, isn’t this the time for competition?”

Having heard from Jenia who her competitors were, Yustaf was fired up.

‘The Imperial Family and the House of Duke Bluewell… I ought to pull some strings for my disciple.’

Though he didn’t possess the authority of the Imperial Family or the Duke’s House, Yustaf had things they couldn’t offer.

One word from him, the continent’s top magician beyond the Empire, would prompt all the mages, including the Mage Tower head, to cooperate and assist.

“Cancel all afternoon lectures!”

“Wha? But suddenly….”

“Sometimes, a surprise break is a gift for students, so it’s fine!”

His plan was to take Jenia to the best clothing store in the capital.

‘This master will surely make you a victor.’

Of course, 99.9% of it was out of affection for his disciple, but there was a tiny bit of him that wondered if Jenia did well with Rupert, maybe he could get a card or two.

*

“Um… Welcome, Jenia.”

“Am I too late?”

“No, I just arrived.”

On the second floor of a high-end restaurant that not just anyone could reserve, Rupert, who had arrived first, was flustered when he saw Jenia arriving a bit late.

“Ah, is my outfit too flashy?”

“No, it suits you very well.”

Rupert couldn’t help but be surprised because Jenia was wearing a red dress.

The dress, with a deep neckline and exposed shoulders, showcased Jenia’s body contours attractively.

– Now this is a kick.

Jenia felt shy wearing the revealing dress for the first time but had no choice but to wear it due to her master’s strong recommendation.

She was so nervous to see the shop staff and people on the street staring at her in awe that her expression froze.

‘Does Rupert like this?’

Overcoming her embarrassment, Jenia looked up to gauge Rupert’s reaction.

Seeing Rupert gaze at her intently somehow gave her confidence.

Until then, she couldn’t believe Yustaf’s boastful claims before coming here, but seeing Rupert’s reaction, she started to think maybe it was genuinely good advice.

However,

‘Wow! This is totally a Fire Witch look?!’

Although the current Jenia’s appearance resembled the Fire Witch from the original work due to her sudden growth, there was one thing she felt was lacking.

That was because the robe she wore was too typical of a magician, lacking the insane vibe of the crazed witch from the original.

She had always wanted to see the depiction of the memorable antagonist from the original story at least once.

The moment Jenia came out resembling that original character, Rupert’s attention was inadvertently drawn to her.

“Isn’t it unusually hot lately?”

And taking that gaze as a signal that her and Yustaf’s strategy had worked, Jenia unleashed her secondary strategy.

‘You must use your advantages!’

Though it was a bit embarrassing to think about, she drew her arms around one of the areas she had confidently labeled as her strengths, using her hands to fan herself gently.

Yustaf was confident that this alone would be the end.

“Indeed, although it has become a bit cool at night recently, isn’t it hot while the sun is still up?”

“Um?”

“My younger sister has also recently become completely absorbed in Elza and is making toys to play ‘Ice Kingdom’ for her…”

Although it was good that Rupert reacted to Jenia’s comment, the problem was that his response was different from what she had expected.

“Jenia, you should really listen to Yustaf! Do you know how much I suffer these days because he doesn’t listen to me at all?”

“Y-Yes…”

As Rupert began to complain about how much trouble he was having with his younger sister Aida lately for not listening, the conclusion turned into admonishing Jenia to listen well to her master.

‘What’s this! Why is he treating me like a child?’

Although Yustaf and Jenia’s plan was not bad,

If it were a man seeing Jenia for the first time, the chances of him being seduced would be pretty high.

However,

‘Yustaf, you’re still a child, but you need to educate him on how to imitate adults.’

Rupert failed to consider that he had seen Jenia in her original form first.

In Rupert’s mind, Jenia was still that small, delicate girl who had been hiding behind her master Yustaf.

To make a comparison, to Rupert, Jenia was still just a slightly older Sena.

But what Rupert didn’t know was that Jenia had been physically stunted due to her distinct Dragonians lineage.

In reality, she was far older than Rupert.