Don't confiscate my identity as a human race

Upon seeing Hyperion's attitude, a slight smirk appeared on Modan's lips, but there was no trace of laughter in his eyes.

"Hyperion... No one would willingly turn their back to a filthy thing like you, but I don't mind because you have no power to fight back against me."

The contempt in his gaze, as if he had already treated Hyperion as a plaything in his hand,

"You'll come begging to me one day, it's just a matter of time. After all, you know that you can't find your father on your own… But by then, you'll have no dignity left, I promise you that."

He lowered his voice and whispered into Hyperion's ear.

His aim was to humiliate Hyperion, and now he was no longer pretending.

"…"

Hyperion clenched her fists tightly, yet bit her teeth and could not say anything.

Even if her heart was filled with anger, a deep and uncontrollable rage, she didn't want to deal with this bastard.

Moreover, she knew that if she lacked any form of power to threaten her enemies, all of her rebuttals and threats would just be a bluff.

Not only would they not scare the opponent, but it would also exhilarate them and make matters worse.

Even if Hyperion wanted to mercilessly defeat Modan and teach him a lesson through a duel, she still couldn't do it.

Modan, a gold-level registered challenger of the third-grade in Sage Academy, has already outpaced Hyperion in terms of strength. Moreover, she had to waste this precious first year without challenging the Shadow World.

The gap between her and Modan was growing ever wider.

"It seems that I was right, you don't even have the courage to resist me."

Upon seeing Hyperion's condition, Modan seemed quite satisfied. He even openly giggled, as if he was taking pleasure in it.

Modan's occasional laughter was not just an insult to her, but also a trampling on her noble identity and dignity.

"The Miss Duchess, who was once hailed as Hutton's once-in-a-century genius, now needs to resort to a second-rate lawyer to pass the entrance exam of Ichrite Academy. It's truly pathetic."

But after hearing this sentence, Hyperion seemed unable to hold it in any longer and glared fiercely at Modan.

"Oh? Did someone get angry?"

With squinted eyes, Modan knew that Hyperion had bitten the bait. The Miss Duchess could always stand other people's harsh words, but she could never bear anyone slandering her friends. He knew it all too well.

Just when he was about to continue manipulating Hyperion's emotions with words,

"Wait…"

A slightly sleepy voice drew everyone's attention.

The conversation between Modan and Hyperion had seemed to have woken Lanci up.

He was extremely drowsy and almost fell asleep during half-dozing, but the moment he heard this guy called Modan swerving him, the situation changed.

Lanci lazily turned his head, propped on his arm and stared at the two who were speaking just now.

"Modan… Student? You should check the Ichrite Academy's student rules. You shouldn't have called Hyperion a 'filthy thing'. It's written on page 35, line 13 that personal attacks on classmates constitute a violation of school rules."

His nonchalant utterance echoed in the classroom, and, due to this sudden change, the air fell silent.

Hyperion instinctively looked over to Lanci, who was still lying down, languid as ever but completely unlike his usual self.

Modan frowned at this boy, his emerald-coloured eyes radiant like a gemstone hidden in the dark.

He hadn't even noticed that the infamous black-haired, green-eyed Rule Monster was here, lying silently.

However, upon hearing Lanci's words, Modan chuckled, seeming to understand Lanci's intent to stir things up.

"So I did attack her personally, what then?"

Modan's voice was icy, as if a warning to Lanci's life spoke thusly.

Everyone knew that such empty threats under school rules would never result in any actual punishment.

Lanci's reminder was as childish and ridiculous as a kid tattling to their parents.

Upon hearing this, Lanci finally raised his head, sitting up a bit straighter.

He was fairly certain that this fellow named Modan did indeed derive considerable pleasure from taunting others verbally. The slightest provocation would set him to sniping.

Unfortunately, he was a complete ignoramus in matters of the mind.

"You know, the Hutton Kingdom has laws against insult, defamation, and offense to nobility. Although you two technically cannot fall under the third category with criminal liability before officially inheriting your noble titles, making it at most a civil dispute. However, presumably, the application by Miss Hyperion for the inheritance of the Duke's title has been submitted since the disappearance of her father, now just hung up in the tedious processing stage. If approved, her time of becoming Duchess, according to the regulations of the Hutton Kingdom, is calculated from the day of submission. By then, she can accuse you of vile personal attacks and insulting remarks against this Duchess. And with so many witnesses present, there's no escaping. Whether it's a fine or imprisonment, it depends on your attitude of admitting the mistake," Lanci said, a sense of unescapable authority underlying his even tone.

After these words fell.

The classroom, once abuzz with idle chatter, now seemed to have fallen into a frozen state.

All the students in the classroom either eavesdropped, watched in curiosity, or stared, their gaze largely turning towards the back row of the room.

Senior students coming to the classrooms of the new grades to have a casual conversation with interested newcomers was a common sight after the start of the school year.

Even if Modan's words and deeds did make quite a few students in the classroom feel a bit uncomfortable — the interaction between Marquis Modan's son and Duchess Huberian was clearly not a normal, friendly approach.

But the one Modan chose to oppress was Hyperion, a type of complicated personal feud among the nobility that few normally dared to interfere with.

No one wanted to get involved with this inauspicious Miss Duchess, and no one wanted to offend Modan, the powerful and influential leader of a senior team.

And now, the top newcomer of Sage Academy couldn't stand it anymore and was ready to face off directly against the son of the Marquis!

In fact, many people present understood that the crimes Lanci mentioned weren't that threatening, at most they could be resolved by admitting a mistake and paying a fine.

The revolting part about Lanci was—

If he really wanted to make an issue of it and won the lawsuit against Modan, making the grand Marquis's son have a criminal record during his school period, this humiliation would be etched in his memory, becoming a laughingstock among the nobility for the rest of his life.

However.

Modan Gasigus was not such an easily provoked person...

Even at this moment, Modan showed no signs of being perturbed in the least by Lanci's words, his expression completely unchanged.

After listening to Lanci's words, Modan simply smiled.

"Lucky Lanci Welfort, I know you know a bit of law and love to 'proclaim justice'. But this little cleverness is no use to me. I can even countersue you for defamation and provocation."

His eyes crinkled with mirth as he looked down from his superior position, mocking Lanci's naivety and foolishness.

As a nobleman, he clearly knew more about the crime of "insulting nobility" than Lanci.

Even if there were witnesses present, "insult" was just Lanci's subjective judgement. If it were to end up in court, Lanci wouldn't have any way to objectively prove that Modan harbored strong intentions of insult.

While Hutton Kingdom certainly had strict laws and an efficient judicial enforcement process, it was not as strictly punitive as the Holy Country in the [The Hidden Flame of Winter] Shadow World.

Some crimes have always been difficult to convict, unless you have the absolute assistance of a highly skilled lawyer.

"I insulted her? How are you going to prove that to the judge? Can you read my thoughts and intentions?" Modan asked Lanci with a quite mocking tone.

"You admitted it yourself," Lanci answered flatly.

"...?"

Lanci's words clearly left everyone in the classroom startled.

But they quickly realized —

At the very beginning, Modan did indeed ask Lanci one question — "If I personally attacked her, so what?"

It's over.

Modan was entangled in Lanci's logic!