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In her previous life, Shani had once overheard Vivianne and her maid talking about the Cursed Prince.

As a child, he had been known as a prodigy. Because of that, the king had granted him permission to perform Beast Resonance at the age of fifteen, three years earlier than the standard age.

But whether it was because his body wasn’t mature enough or for some other unknown reason, instead of regulating his beast energy into the artificial egg, he ended up absorbing his partner’s energy instead.

According to the rumors, the royal family was determined to restore their reputation by pairing the prince with another partner.

Unfortunately, that decision only backfired. Every partner assigned to the prince suffered the same fate.

In the end, the royal family announced that the problem existed because the prince was still underage. They claimed everything would return to normal once he reached adulthood.

”The royal family is really doomed because of the Cursed Prince. Yvonne Larrlyng’s beast energy rank dropped from C-Rank to D-Rank after the royal family chose her as his partner.”

”That happened earlier this year, right? Royal family insisted the Cursed Prince would recover once he became an adult, but it was just some shit talk.”

”I heard that too. They said she was so embarrassed that she didn’t even want to enroll at Grand Academy.”

”Who’s willing to become the Cursed Prince’s partner after that? Everyone in our class is either C-Rank or D-Rank. Nobody wants to ruin their own future, right?”

The students gossiped enthusiastically, no longer bothering to lower their voices since the person they were talking about had already left the classroom.

Walking slowly while listening to her classmates, Shani reached the doorway.

She couldn’t help wondering who would be unlucky enough to become Jeryon’s partner.

There were an even number of students in their class, so everyone would eventually be paired with someone.

She turned her head toward the hallway. There stood Jeryon, leaning against the wall beside the classroom door.

Stiffly, Shani glanced back into the classroom, where her classmates were still chatting loudly.

’Be quiet! Jeryon can hear everything you’re saying!’ she screamed inwardly.

When she looked back again, she found Jeryon looking directly at her. By reflex, Shani smiled.

In the very next instant, she hurried past him and walked away.

’Why did I smile?! What kind of person smiles at someone who’s being insulted?!’ Her thoughts spiraled out of control.

Without paying attention, she bumped into a girl who had just stepped out of Class 4.

Shani didn’t fall, though it took her a moment to regain her balance.

The Class 4 student, however, stumbled backward and was caught by a male classmate walking behind her.

The girl glanced briefly at Shani’s silver hair before blurting out instinctively, ”Miss Vivianne, I’m so sorry for bumping into you!”

Hearing those words, Shani snapped her head toward the girl. ’Nora...’

She clenched both fists, forcing herself to suppress the sudden surge of anger.

A few seconds later, she took a deep breath. ”I’m sorry. I bumped into you.”

Without waiting for a reply, she walked away.

When Nora heard the unfamiliar voice, she sighed in relief. The boy behind her helped her stand upright.

”She must be from Class 5. How rude,” the boy said.

”No, it was my fault for not watching where I was going,” Nora replied gently, softly rubbing the boy’s arm.

The boy immediately blushed.

”You’re too kind, Nora. Girls who are this kind always end up getting taken advantage of. But don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

Shani only caught part of their conversation, but she could already imagine Nora’s usual act. ’What a fake innocent.’

She quickly put the unpleasant encounter out of her mind.

Outside Class 1, she spotted Kiran standing there like a lost puppy waiting for its owner.

The moment their eyes met, Kiran rushed toward her excitedly.

”Come on! Let’s go to the cafeteria. I’m starving,” she said, hugging Shani’s arm like an overjoyed puppy.

Shani couldn’t resist patting Kiran’s curly hair.

They ate lunch together before returning to the dormitory.

Claiming she was lonely, Kiran spent the rest of the afternoon in Shani’s room. Shani didn’t mind. She was actually interested in hearing Kiran talk about her classmates.

”Oh, right! There’s another girl in my class with silver hair like yours, Shani.” Kiran tried to remember. ”But she’s sooo arrogant.”

Seeing Kiran’s exaggerated expression, Shani laughed. She couldn’t agree more. Vivianne was the very definition of arrogance.

”A lot of people want to become her partner because she’s B-Rank and has the Night Panther gene. If only her personality matched her rank and gene,” Kiran added in a gossipy tone.

Shani nodded. ”If only.”

”Oh, right. Have you found a partner yet?” Shani asked, changing the subject.

Kiran answered shyly, ”Three people have already asked me to be their partner, but I still don’t know who to choose.”

Shani was genuinely surprised. It turned out her friend was actually pretty popular.

”I’m a B-Rank Frost Lynx beastman, by the way,” Kiran added, making everything click.

”So you weren’t actually raised by the Blackwood family, were you?” Shani asked, realizing Frost Lynx was the Blackwood House’s beast gene.

Kiran nodded. ”My mother and I lived with my dad’s family in Lunarion.”

”Your father is an avian beastman?!”

Shani immediately brightened, feeling as though she’d met someone from her hometown in a distant land.

Kiran nodded. ”My father is a...”

Drrring! Drrring!

Her smartwatch suddenly rang, interrupting her sentence.

She checked the caller ID. ”Oh, it’s my uncle. I asked him to help me decide which partner I should choose.”

”You should answer it,” Shani said.

Kira nodded before saying goodbye.

She knew the conversation would probably take a while and wouldn’t be very interesting for Shani.

After Kira left, Shani returned to reading her e-book, hoping to learn more about beast genes so she wouldn’t be completely clueless about her future partner.

The next day, the first official class for the first-year students began. The Art of Resonance.

Without wasting any time, the instructor immediately told the students to find their partners.

...