The World Is Mine For The Taking

Chapter 1437: Intermission 7: Each Of Their Love Lives (2)

Raymond’s POV

It still felt weird.

No matter how many times I walked around the academy now, part of me still couldn’t fully process how much everything had changed. Sometimes I would catch myself staring at random things for way longer than necessary because my brain was still comparing the current academy to the old one.

And honestly, the difference was ridiculous.

When I went back to my dormitory, I had this strange feeling sitting in my chest the whole time. The room I was staying in now was way too big compared to the tiny room I used to have back when the academy system hadn’t changed yet and I was still part of the Bronze Dormitory.

Back then, you could immediately tell what class someone belonged to just by looking at where they lived. Bronze students basically got treated like an afterthought. The rooms were small, the furniture looked old enough to collapse if you breathed too hard near it, and the atmosphere always felt kind of depressing.

Now though?

This place honestly looked like something meant for nobles.

Even the bed felt absurdly soft.

When I first laid down on it earlier, I actually stared at the ceiling for a while because it genuinely didn’t feel real. My body kept sinking into the mattress every time I moved, and for a second I almost thought, "Damn, if I stay here too long, I might never stand up again."

Not exactly the mindset of a future magic knight.

Still, it wasn’t like I hated any of this.

Honestly, I thought most of the changes were good.

The discrimination against the lower classes had basically disappeared now. Nobody laughed at you anymore just because you came from the Bronze Class. Back then, people would openly mock bronze students without even trying to hide it. Some higher-ranked students acted like being born into a stronger family automatically made them royalty or something.

It was annoying as hell.

Now, that kind of atmosphere was mostly gone.

People still cared about talent, obviously. This was still the academy, after all. Strength mattered here more than almost anything else. But at least now it didn’t feel like people were looking down on you just because of the dormitory you came from.

And honestly?

That part felt nice.

At the same time though, I still couldn’t help feeling like the academy went a little overboard with all these changes. It almost felt too luxurious now. Like somebody with way too much money suddenly decided, "You know what this place needs? More expensive everything."

Still, I wasn’t exactly going to complain about sleeping in a good room.

Especially when I used to sleep in a place where the mattress felt like it was personally trying to ruin my back.

Compared to that, this was heaven.

If I kept studying properly and trained hard enough, maybe I could actually reach the level needed to become a magic knight someday.

Just thinking about it made me feel motivated for a second.

After lying on the bed for a while longer, I eventually let out a sigh and sat up. As comfortable as the bed was, staying there too long only made me feel restless. My thoughts kept spinning around in circles, and the silence inside the room somehow made everything louder inside my head.

So instead of continuing to stare at the ceiling like a depressed philosopher, I got up from the bed.

I left my room and stepped into the hallway.

That was when I saw Duncan leaving.

The atmosphere around him felt weirdly heavy. But not as heavy as before.

Apparently, he and Estelle had broken up.

I didn’t know the exact reason why. Nobody seemed to know the details yet, and honestly, the academy spread rumors faster than magic traveled anyway. Half the time people barely even knew what they were talking about.

Still, one thing was clear.

The two of them weren’t together anymore.

And the moment I realized that, feelings I had been trying to suppress for a long time started surfacing again.

I still liked Estelle.

Honestly, I probably never stopped.

Part of me wanted to approach her now. A selfish part of me even wondered if maybe this could become my chance somehow.

But every time I thought about actually confessing to her, something inside me stopped me.

It wasn’t even entirely because I was scared of rejection.

Well... maybe a little.

Okay, maybe more than a little.

Still, that wasn’t the main issue.

The truth was that recently, my feelings had started becoming confusing.

Because even though I still loved Estelle, another person had somehow started slipping into my thoughts too.

And honestly, that realization alone made me feel guilty.

At the same time, Estelle herself didn’t really seem interested in being in any official relationship right now anyway. At least, that was the impression I got whenever I saw her lately. She seemed distant in a way that made it hard to approach her casually.

So in the end, I kept my feelings to myself.

Still...

I couldn’t deny that part of me wished things could somehow work out between us someday. I wanted to be in a situation where Estelle could genuinely fall in love with me too.

Even if that thought felt kind of unrealistic.

I then looked away from Duncan and then continued on my own way.

***

Later, I left the academy grounds and headed toward a nearby cafeteria.

It was a small place mostly visited by adventurers, workers, and students who didn’t want to spend too much money on food. The cafeteria itself wasn’t anything special. If someone asked me to describe it honestly, I’d probably say it looked like the kind of place where chairs occasionally threatened to collapse beneath exhausted adventurers.

But somehow, the place still had its own charm.

Mostly because the food was cheap.

And near the academy.

That combination alone basically guaranteed customers.

The taste of the food was pretty mediocre too, if I was being honest. Not bad enough to complain about, but definitely not good enough to brag about either. It was just... normal food. The kind you could eat regularly without really getting tired of it.

At least, that was how I felt.

When I entered the cafeteria, I immediately spotted the woman near the counter preparing food.

And honestly, by now, I already understood why I kept coming back here so often.

At first, I thought it was just because the cafeteria was convenient.

But that wasn’t really true anymore.

The real reason was standing right in front of me.

It wasn’t that I didn’t love Estelle anymore.

I still did.

But recently, my feelings had gotten messy in a way I didn’t know how to deal with.

Because somehow, I had started becoming attracted to this woman too.

"Oh, you’re here! Do you want the usual?"

"Y-Yeah."

I could already feel heat rising to my face while answering her.

Seriously, this was embarrassing.

Compared to Estelle, this woman honestly wasn’t the type most people would immediately call beautiful.

She had freckles scattered across her face and maroon-colored hair that she usually tied back loosely while working. Her chest wasn’t particularly big either, and she didn’t have the kind of appearance that made every guy in the room instantly stare at her.

But somehow...

I still kept looking at her anyway.

A lot more than I probably should have.

I had also heard rumors about her from the regular customers around here.

Apparently, she constantly switched between relationships with different men. Most of those relationships barely lasted longer than a week or two before she moved on to someone else.

Honestly, hearing that always left this bitter feeling in my chest.

Even though I knew I technically had no right to feel that way.

She wasn’t my girlfriend.

Hell, we barely even knew each other properly.

But part of me still selfishly wished she belonged to nobody else.

That nobody had touched her before.

I knew it was unfair to think like that.

But emotions weren’t exactly logical.

While I was quietly staring at her again, another worker from deeper inside the cafeteria suddenly called out.

"Monica!"

"Yes, I’m coming!"

Her name echoed through the cafeteria once more.

Monica.

At this point, it was a name I had heard so many times that it had already engraved itself deeply into my head without me even realizing when it happened.