Reincarnated as the Only Male in an All-Girls Magic Academy!-Chapter 21: Don’t Look Over Here!

Everything was quiet. The lights in the dorm were dim, the windows open to let in the cool breeze of the night, and the air was thick with the scent of rain that hadn't yet fallen.

The only sound was the soft ticking of the clock on his desk, and with every tick, he was getting closer to a very important moment.

Just two hours from now, the evolution of his Mental Sea—an event that could change the entire way he used the Loom—would be complete!

He sat cross-legged on the bed, staring down at the silver plate of food in front of him. It was steaming, delicious-smelling, and arranged beautifully.

Braised meat with sticky sauce, golden roasted potatoes, and a few strangely glowing fruits that tasted like a cross between a peach and lightning.

But his appetite hadn't caught up yet, because his mind was still racing at a hundred miles per hour.

Mental Sea Evolution. Those words alone were enough to make him sweat.

He hadn't chosen the evolution path with some deep, well-researched understanding.

No, he had done the unthinkable for someone like him. He had chosen a path based on the name!

That's right. No research. No confirmed results. Just a cool-sounding name. It sounded amazing, sure. Powerful. Beautiful. Mystical.

But the scientist inside him was screaming. He had spent hours digging through the academy library, going through dozens of memory orbs, and yet not a single mention of high-tier unique Mental Sea evolutions.

It was like people either didn't survive them or didn't want to talk about them.

So when the Evolution Forge presented him with these options, the choice was obvious.

Still, he had accepted the risk. If he wanted to stand a chance against Mirabella, he couldn't play it safe. He had to go big, or he was going to go splat.

With that thought, he finally picked up his fork and began eating. He chewed slowly, letting the warm, savory taste relax his nerves.

Every bite helped pull his thoughts back to the present. The meat was soft and tender, probably from some magically raised beast, and the potatoes had just the right crunch.

After a few more bites, the tension in his shoulders started to ease.

Then the bathroom door clicked open.

Ren didn't look up at first, too focused on the caramel-glazed vegetable in his mouth.

But the moment he caught movement from the corner of his eye, his gaze shifted slowly, instinctively, and the fork froze halfway to his mouth.

Lia had stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel that clung to her form like it had no shame.

Her long black hair was soaked, sending water droplets cascading down her neck and shoulders.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the steam, and her usually playful green eyes were half-lidded with sleepiness.

And then, like it was the most normal thing in the world, she walked across the room, sat on her bed, crossed her legs... and stared at him.

Hard.

Ren blinked. He kept chewing, expression unreadable, but his eyes, those brilliant silver eyes locked onto hers and didn't let go.

He wasn't afraid of eye contact. He didn't just look at her. He studied her, with such intensity that it felt like being dissected under a microscope made of moonlight.

His gaze followed the line of her collarbone, the twitch of her fingers, the tension in her jaw. It wasn't pervy. It was precise.

Like he was analyzing the movement of a rare creature in its natural habitat.

Lia's cheeks turned red.

No, first it was her neck. A soft blush crept upward like it was afraid of being caught, then spread across her face like wildfire.

She looked away quickly, biting her lip. Her heart fluttered, and she suddenly became painfully aware of the fact that they were both inside a room... alone.

And they were both the opposite gender. And the door was locked!

Meanwhile, Ren was still calmly eating. But now, the corner of his lips curled slightly in amusement.

She was trying to play it cool, but her body betrayed her every second. Her breathing had changed. Her fingers were clenched slightly in the bedsheet.

Her posture had straightened without her noticing. All telltale signs of awareness. She was aware of his presence. Curious about it. Cautiously excited.

And maybe a little embarrassed, considering the last time he had seen her in all her full, voluptuous, bouncy glory.

Now she was glowing from a hot bath, wrapped in a towel, and blushing like a maiden in a romance novel.

'Cute,' Ren thought absently, his eyes softening just a little.

She really was beautiful. Her features were delicate but fierce—eyes full of fire and emotion, lips slightly parted as if she was about to say something but couldn't find the words.

She didn't have the elegant upbringing of Mirabella Von Frostweave, but she had something else.

A rawness. A natural kind of charm that didn't need silk dresses or jeweled tiaras. Just wet hair and a simple towel were enough to make any man's heartbeat stumble.

And it didn't hurt that Ren wasn't blind.

He was currently a teenager. A rational, intelligent one, yes. But a very aware, very healthy male teenager. And the girl in front of him was drop-dead gorgeous.

He finished the last bite of his food, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and calmly placed the plate aside.

The silence between them stretched longer. The tension? Tangible. Heavy. But it wasn't awkward. It was electric.

Still staring at her, Ren made a mental note.

'Increased pupil dilation. Slight trembling in the fingers. Breath rate rising by approximately 11%. Most likely indicators of emotional excitement mixed with mild anxiety. Classic case of—'

He stood up.

Lia stiffened like someone had poured ice down her back.

He walked across the room in slow, confident steps. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes never left hers.

When he stopped in front of her, she was still sitting at the edge of her bed, frozen like a statue.

She tilted her head up slightly, eyes wide, lips parted, confused and curious and very aware of how close he was.

Then, without a word, Ren reached out and slowly, gently, brushed his fingers along the side of her neck.

Lia's breath hitched sharply. Her entire body tensed.

His fingers were warm. Light. His touch wasn't bold, but it wasn't shy either. It was deliberate. Studying. Sensing.

Ren's gaze didn't waver. His thoughts raced, but not from panic. From curiosity. He was observing the flush of heat in her skin.

The way her pulse quickened beneath his fingertips. The way her body reacted not just emotionally, but biologically. He was... fascinated.

"Fascinating," he murmured under his breath, almost to himself.

His fingers gently curled around Lia's neck in a soft, warm and deliberate grip.

It wasn't rough. It wasn't even forceful. Just a light grip, like he was holding a rare flower by the stem, careful not to crush the petals but curious enough to press the edges.

His thumb lightly rested against the side of her neck, where he could feel the subtle drumming of her pulse, like a trapped hummingbird's wings against glass.

Lia gasped, her eyes going wide with a mix of shock and something else, something uncertain and powerful and completely out of her control.

Her hand shot up like she meant to grab his wrist and pull him away, but halfway through, her fingers trembled, faltered, and hovered in the air.

She didn't push him. She couldn't. Her body betrayed her entirely, melting instead of resisting. And to her own horror... she leaned in closer.

Ren's silver eyes were bright with focus, not lust. Not yet. His brain was still locked in analysis mode, snapping mental pictures like a hyperactive camera.

'Elevated heartbeat. Flush creeping back up the neck. Nervous tension in the shoulders, but no defensive reaction. Dilated pupils. Fascinating. Utterly fascinating.'

He leaned closer, breath slow, as if he were trying to listen to the exact rhythm of her lungs. Their faces were now inches apart. He could feel her breath against his lips.

She closed her eyes, her lashes fluttering like fragile wings, her mind going completely blank for the first time in what felt like forever.

No clever words, no awkward internal panic, just... silence. She expected the kiss. She waited for it.

And she never got it.

When her eyes opened, expecting to see silver lashes up close—perhaps already touching hers—what she saw instead was Ren's face, turned slightly downward, his gaze glued to her shoulder with intense interest.

His mouth curled into a lazy, far-too-sexy-for-his-own-good smirk as his eyes caressed the dazzling red tattoo-like rune glowing faintly on her collarbone.

"Hmm..." he murmured, fingers drifting a little closer as he tilted his head. "Interesting reaction. Subdermal glow, rhythmic pulsation, slight temperature increase. I'd say this is your Rune, isn't it?"

Lia blinked, dazed. Her lips were still slightly parted, her breath shaky, her entire soul asking the same question: Wait. What?!

Ren continued like a museum curator inspecting an ancient relic for the first time in person.

He was completely absorbed in the way the red lines curved like dancing flames, how the symbol pulsed with soft heat that resonated slightly with the surrounding air.

He'd only ever seen images of Runes from memory orbs; blurry, half-visible, abstract diagrams.

But this? This was the real deal. Up close. Personal. And it was beautiful. Not just aesthetically, but scientifically. It was data wrapped in mystery.

Lia's face, on the other hand, was a bomb going off in slow motion.

The realization hit her all at once. Not only had she not gotten the kiss her instincts had completely braced for, but she had leaned into him like some sort of helpless, lovesick... fool!

Damn it!

Her cheeks lit up like someone had slammed a matchbox against her face. Heat rose to her ears, her jaw clenched, and her pride went into full panic mode.

"You... you jerk!" she yelled, suddenly grabbing his shirt with one hand, and then, without really thinking about how much strength she used, shoved.

What happened next was not graceful!

Ren flew backward like a ragdoll launched from a catapult, arms flailing, eyes wide.

His feet skidded, then left the ground entirely, and his entire body spun in midair before slamming head-first into the wooden post of his bed with a heavy THUNK.

Lia froze. Her mouth opened. Then snapped shut.

Oh crap.

She hadn't meant to hit him that hard. In fact, she'd only meant to push him slightly, to shock him, maybe shove him onto the floor in a flustered huff.

But she had forgotten. She had carved. He hadn't.

That meant... his bones were still normal. His body was still soft. His skull was not made for high-speed bedpost collisions!

Ren was sprawled across the floor like a dropped marionette, limbs tangled, a thin trickle of blood sliding from his forehead.

"REN!?"

Lia bolted from the bed so fast she left a puff of air behind her. Panic shot through her chest like lightning.

She reached him in a blink, cradled his head gently, and pulled him onto the bed with trembling hands.

"Are you okay?! I'm so sorry—I didn't mean—oh my god, are you bleeding?! You're bleeding! Oh no, oh no... I killed you!"

She hovered over him, voice rising, eyes wide with terror. And that was exactly the moment when Ren's eyelids fluttered open. Groggy. Confused. And staring directly up at her face... and then slightly lower.

They both froze.

Lia's eyes darted down.

The towel was gone.

Ren's pupils contracted.

Lia's soul left her body.

She blinked once. Twice. Then let out a noise halfway between a squeak and a banshee wail and vanished from the room, moving so fast it almost left a sound barrier behind her.

A second later, the bathroom door slammed shut, and her furious, embarrassed voice screamed from within, "DON'T LOOK OVER HERE!!"

Ren lay still for a moment, blinking up at the ceiling, dazed but not from the head injury anymore.

He exhaled slowly, then chuckled, quietly at first, then full-on laughing as he sat up, wiping the blood from his forehead with the back of his sleeve.

"Whoever arranged for us to share a room," he muttered with a smirk, "I owe you one."

He could still feel the lingering warmth of Lia's touch, the way her voice trembled in panic, and the sheer ridiculousness of what just happened.

He hadn't expected tonight to turn out like this. But hey, life in this world was never boring. And he wasn't going to pretend he didn't enjoy it.

Still grinning, he stood up, stretched, and cracked his neck. He was going to slowly tease her until she begged him to take her!

But fun and hormones aside... it was time. His Mental Sea's evolution had probably finished cooking in the Evolution Forge.

And if everything had gone well, the next time he meditated, he'd be using something far more advanced than before—The Chaos Mental Sea!

It was time to collect it.

And then?

Then he'd show the world and Mirabella that you didn't need to be born special to burn like a star.

All you needed was an evolution forge.