A/N: Guys, I think I made some sort of mistake because my priv levels got deleted and all the chapters got released as non-priv chapters. So now for the next two days I'm only gonna upload priv chapters until I catch back up

For a few seconds after Solane's teasing question, Alectra Nekros just stared.

The elegant, composed, ever-graceful Alectra. The same Alectra who once delivered a graduation speech so poetic it made half the instructors cry.

Her face twitched. Once. Twice.

Then—

"WHY?!"

Her hands shot forward like lightning, gripping Solane by the shoulders. The sudden motion made the other students nearby jump back in alarm.

Solane blinked. "...Oh no."

"Why, why, WHY did he turn out like this?!" Alectra shook her, voice cracking between outrage and despair. "What ungodly, abyss-born, chaos-loving entity possessed my little brother between birth and breakfast!?"

Solane's laughter immediately started bubbling out, but Alectra wasn't finished.

"I raised him better than this! I trained him! I taught him to be humble, polite, socially functional!" She gestured dramatically toward the stage below, where Sebastian was basking in the applause of utter confusion.

"And look at him now! He's... he's smirking like a supervillain giving his origin speech!"

She clutched her head, pacing in tiny circles before grabbing Solane again."I told him to say something modest! Something like 'I'm honored to be here!' or 'I'll do my best!' Not...not, whatever that performance was! 'You're the foundation I step on?!' Who says that?!"

Solane was biting her lip so hard trying not to laugh that it looked painful.

Alectra threw her hands skyward. "Is this karma? Did I anger a god? Did I forget to sacrifice a goat of good manners at birth?! What cursed cosmic event spawned this menace wearing my family name?!"

"Maybe—" Solane started, barely containing herself, "maybe the goat sacrificed you instead?"

"SOLANE!"

That broke her. Solane burst into a snicker fit so violent she nearly doubled over, clutching the railing for support.

Alectra slumped forward, dragging a hand down her face. "I failed him… I failed as his sister, as his mentor, as his moral compass…"

Solane, wiping a tear of laughter, finally managed to say, voice dripping with mock sympathy, "Oh, Alectra, you poor soul. You didn't raise a brother… you accidentally created a natural disaster with good hair."

Alectra groaned into her hands. "Please tell me I can adopt myself into another family before the press finds out we share DNA."

Solane patted her shoulder gently, pity filling her tone."Sorry, love. You can't outrun genetics."

Alectra looked like she might actually cry.

Down below, Sebastian was still standing tall and proud on stage, oblivious to his sister's existential breakdown.

Before Solane could deliver another teasing jab, a familiar voice drifted from behind them.

"...Should I even ask why it sounds like someone's having a midlife crisis at nineteen?"

They both turned.

Rentt Ardent, Alectra's long-suffering boyfriend, strolled toward them tall, broad-shouldered, carrying the distinct energy of a man who had accepted chaos as part of his daily routine. His dark jacket hung loose, and his silver-rimmed badge gleamed faintly in the auditorium lights.

Alectra's head snapped toward him with the desperate eyes of someone seeking salvation.

"Rentt," she breathed, clutching his sleeve like a drowning woman grasping driftwood. "Tell me honestly. Am I… a failure of a sister?"

Rentt blinked. "...What?"

"She's spiraling again," Solane said cheerfully, sipping her drink.

"I failed him!" Alectra wailed, dramatic as ever. "Sebastian just turned the orientation speech into a masterclass in villainy! He insulted everyone! Even the instructors looked like they needed therapy!"

Rentt sighed, placing a comforting hand on her head and gently patting it. "Alectra, sweetheart… it's not your fault."

"Really?" she asked, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

Rentt's expression turned distant as he tried to think of something comforting to say. "It's not that you failed as a sister, it's that he's just… he's…"

He paused. His lips parted, but no words came. His eyebrows scrunched in visible pain as his brain attempted to find an adjective polite enough for public use.

"He's…"

Solane leaned in. "Go on."

Rentt exhaled sharply through his nose. "…He's a cosmic anomaly wearing a uniform, that's what he is."

Solane nearly choked.

"He's like... like if arrogance and talent had a lovechild and then abandoned it to be raised by a mirror!" Rentt continued, now in full rant mode. "And you think this is new? No! This is the same guy who ignored me when I was lying in the infirmary after Belle obliterated me in our duel two months ago!"

"Oh, I remember that!" Solane said with a bright smile. "Sebastian told me that you flew across the arena like a meteor with feelings."

"I did!" Rentt said, pointing at her. "And you know what he said when I woke up two days later? He looked at me, smiled, and went, 'Wow, you lasted longer than I expected.' Then just walked away!"

Alectra covered her mouth in horror. "He didn't."

"He did. I nearly threw the pillow at him, but the nurse said I wasn't allowed to move!"

Alectra covered her face again. "Why… why does he exist like this? How did this happen? I used to read him bedtime stories about heroes and kindness, and he turned into, into that!"

Solane was laughing so hard now she had to brace herself against the railing again. "You're dating his sister, and he still treated you like background scenery."

Alectra groaned, dragging both hands down her face. "He's hopeless… utterly hopeless…"

Rentt wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "Don't blame yourself, my dear. He was born this way. Probably looked in the mirror as a baby and said, 'Perfect.'"

Solane wheezed. "Oh, that's exactly what he'd do."

Alectra peeked through her fingers, voice muffled with despair. "I love him, but sometimes I wish I could ship him off to a monastery and make him meditate until he remembers basic humility."

Rentt chuckled. "If you did, he'd probably end up teaching the monks how to 'properly appreciate greatness.'"

Solane gave a mock toast with her cup. "To the siblings of narcissists and the lovers who survive them."

Alectra groaned. "I need stronger tea."

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