Capítulo 658: Chapter 658 – Taming the Fifth Year: Distance

The end-of-semester exams had arrived… But time hadn’t passed without important events.

Three months.

Ninety days where Larissa and Liora had tried everything they could think of to make Ren approach Luna again.

Messages through Mayo… Ignored.

Attempts at casual hallway conversations… Avoided with spatial jumps that left only air where she’d been seconds before.

“Don’t say that, there’s no way you’re an obstacle,” Liora had said after her first conversation with Ren following the ‘Luna situation’. Her expression had been somber, worried in a way Ren rarely saw in her. “Give me a few days. Surely she just needs to… process some things.”

The words had carried hope. Conviction that this was temporary, just a matter of time and the right approach.

When Liora finally returned, it wasn’t with good news.

“She distanced herself from me too,” she’d admitted, sitting heavily in a chair in Ren’s room. “I asked her what was happening. I told her we could help. And she just… just looked at me and said she couldn’t explain it right now.”

The hurt in Liora’s voice had been real.

Because Luna never shut them out. Not like this. Not completely.

Larissa had gotten similar results.

“It’s strange,” the princess had said, her brows furrowed, analyzing the situation as if it were a noble protocol problem she could solve with sufficient study. “Luna normally would ask us for help. She always has. When she had problems with her father, when her family’s pressure became too much… she always let us in.”

But not this time.

This time, Luna had built big walls.

And the most disconcerting thing of all was that she formally requested a private room from the academy administration.

Platinum students had that right. They always had. A privilege of their rank, their status, their proven excellence.

But Luna, Liora, and Ren had never exercised it. They’d preferred staying together with their groups, maintaining that connection forged during years of studying, training, and surviving together.

The bond that had seemed unbreakable.

Until now.

The request was approved immediately. Of course it was. Luna Starweaver, heir of one of the kingdom’s oldest houses, Platinum-rank student with an almost perfect record.

Who would dare refuse her?

Luna had moved out.

The days became weeks.

And the weeks became a month.

Her new room was far enough away to avoid them as much as possible.

‘She wants to be alone. I shouldn’t try anymore…’

But Liora and Larissa had insisted, so… Ren had tried again.

He’d walked to her new door one night. Had stood outside for almost five minutes, trying to gather the courage to knock. His hand had risen and fallen three times before he finally committed.

Finally, he did it.

Three soft knocks.

The sound seemed too loud in the quiet hallway.

“Luna, it’s me. I just want to talk. Please.”

Silence.

But he could feel her mana on the other side. Agitated, like always when he was near. A whirlpool of emotions he couldn’t completely decipher but that hurt just to perceive.

“Luna…”

His voice came out softer than intended. Almost pleading.

Nothing.

No response. No acknowledgment. Just that churning mana and the solid barrier of a closed door between them.

In the end, he’d left.

Because what else could he do?

Force his way in? Demand she speak to him? That wasn’t respect. That wasn’t friendship. That was something else entirely, something he refused to become.

♢♢♢♢

Taro found him that night in the library, surrounded by books he wasn’t really reading. Just staring at pages without processing the words, his mind somewhere else completely.

“Brother,” Taro sat across from him without ceremony, his expression serious. “You have to concentrate. Better give her space…”

Ren looked up, blinking as if just waking. “What?”

“Luna,” Taro clarified unnecessarily. They both knew what this was about. What it had been about for weeks. “She asked for distance, and I know it hurts. I know you want to help. But sometimes it’s better to stop worrying about what you can’t fix, right?”

Ren sank into his chair. “What if she needs help and won’t tell me because someone’s stopping her?”

It was the thought that had haunted him. Kept him awake at night. The possibility that Luna was in trouble, real trouble, and he was respecting her wishes while she suffered.

“It won’t be your fault,” Taro reminded him, leaning forward. Making sure Ren heard this. Really heard it. “She distanced herself first… You’re just respecting that. And she has Liora and Larissa if she really needs something. You’re not abandoning her. You’re just… giving her the space she asked for.”

It made sense.

Ren hated that it made sense.

Because sense didn’t make the worry disappear. Didn’t fill the Luna-shaped hole that had appeared in his daily life.

“When did you get so wise?” Ren asked, attempting lightness he didn’t feel.

“I’ve always been wise,” Taro responded with a small smile. “You just don’t pay attention because you’re too busy being a genius at everything else.”

Despite everything, Ren laughed.

It was brief. Small… But genuine.

A moment of real amusement breaking through the cloud of worry that had been suffocating him.

“Thanks.”

“That’s what brothers are for,” Taro shrugged. Then, more seriously, his expression sobering: “But really, Ren. The end-of-semester exams are close. The big ones. The ones that matter. You need to focus.”

And he was right.

Because these weren’t ordinary exams.

These were the evaluations that would determine rankings, opportunities, futures.

♢♢♢♢

During those three months, Ren also continued seeing the girls for small periods occasionally to ‘protect them’.

Aldric had kept the off hand arrangement.

And the sessions had become something different, something less formal and more… human.

One day, Seraphina arrived clearly frustrated, muttering about her history instructor who insisted she memorize genealogies that “no sane person needed to know.”

Her usual composed demeanor had cracked, revealing the exasperated teenager beneath the aristocratic training.

“Who cares that Lord Whatshisname from the fourth century was third cousin to Lady Whocaresington?” she complained, dropping onto the couch without her usual grace. Sprawling in a way that would have horrified her etiquette teacher. “How is that relevant to ANYTHING?”

Ren, who had been struggling with similar information in his classes with Arturo, couldn’t help relaxing and laughing a little. “Arturo also made me memorize the succession lines of three extinct noble houses last week. Extinct. As in, they don’t exist anymore.”

The absurdity of it hit him fresh…

“Why?” Jeannette asked, seeming genuinely confused. “What’s the point?”

“Something about ‘understanding historical patterns of alliances,'” Ren made air quotes with his fingers, mimicking Arturo’s serious tone. “It was as exciting as it sounds.”

Which was to say, not at all.

“Nobles are ridiculous,” Cassia declared. Then seemed to remember she herself was noble. Her expression shifted, becoming sheepish. “Us. We’re ridiculous.”

“We really are,” Seraphina agreed, and suddenly all three girls were laughing. The sound filling the room, genuine and unguarded.

And somehow, complaining about teachers and instructors became their recurring theme. Common ground that made the “formal sessions” feel more like… just talking with people close to his age.

People who understood the absurdity of noble education. Who shared his frustrations with memorizing useless information. Who made him feel less alone in navigating this strange world.

It was almost… nice.

In a way Ren hadn’t expected when Aldric first introduced them.

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