Chapter 80: Realization
On the second floor of the dormitory, William unlocked the door to Room No. 8 using the key the old man had given him.
As the door opened, a simple room of around twenty-five square meters appeared before them. It contained only a single bunk bed and a table with two chairs placed against one side of the room.
There was also a bathroom connected to the room, but there was no kitchen area.
The floor was paved with gray stone, and a few strands of sunlight filtered into the room through the closed window.
Walking over to the window, William opened it first, allowing the fresh air to flow inside before finally taking a proper look at the room.
All the rooms in the Basic Dormitory looked exactly the same. As such, although he hadn’t lived in Room No. 8 in the original timeline, he still felt a hint of nostalgia when he looked around.
For a brief moment, he even seemed to see himself, Liam, and a few of his other friends fooling around in the room or fighting over a piece of pastry.
’At least not every memory I have of this academy is a bad one.’
"It’s actually much better than I expected," Liam’s voice pulled William out of his thoughts as he looked around the room in surprise.
He had originally thought that the room would be very cramped since it belonged to the lowest-grade dormitory.
But honestly, compared to what he had imagined, it was dozens of times better.
"It’s fine from our perspective, but in the eyes of noble kids who are used to living in rooms equipped with every possible facility, there’s practically no difference between this place and a storage room."
"Tch." Liam clicked his tongue and placed his backpack on the lower bunk.
"My room back home wasn’t much bigger than this one, so I don’t have any problem living here."
As he spoke, Liam looked around before frowning slightly.
"Though we definitely need to buy some daily necessities like bedsheets, toothbrushes, soap, and a few other things."
William nodded at Liam’s words and tossed a silver coin toward him.
"Since you are going to buy things for yourself anyway, get the same things for me as well. While you are out, I will clean the room."
William rubbed his finger across the tabletop, and it immediately came away covered in a layer of dust.
Liam caught the silver coin and thought for a moment before nodding.
"Do you have any specific preferences regarding the things you need?"
William shook his head before tossing his backpack onto the upper bunk.
"As long as they can be used, that’s more than enough."
"Alright. I will be back within an hour at most," Liam said before leaving the room.
William looked around once more, and after making sure Liam had already gone, he closed the door and took a deep breath.
Suddenly, a green glow appeared around his hand as he controlled the wind elemental energy.
A few gentle gusts of wind suddenly swept through the room, flowing toward the open window.
Along with the breeze, most of the dust and the stale smell that had accumulated in the closed room were blown outside.
In just a few seconds, the room was completely clean, and William sat down with a relaxed expression.
"If Liam knew I sent him out to do the chores while I simply waved my hand here, I wonder what kind of expression he’d make."
He chuckled before slumping onto the bed.
But suddenly, he thought of something and immediately sat back up.
"Logically speaking, Vivian should have already sensed that I have arrived at the academy. Then why hasn’t she come to see me yet?"
William rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
’Is she busy with something?’
Just then, he suddenly remembered something, and his expression froze.
"Wait a second... It’s July, so there should be a Moon Eclipse in a few days."
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, his expression became serious.
On the fifteenth of every July, the Vermilion Realm experienced a Moon Eclipse.
Vivian was a vampire, and William remembered that a few days before every Moon Eclipse, all vampires would gradually become more irritable.
Their bloodlust would increase considerably during this period, and there was a very high possibility that those with weak willpower would completely lose their minds.
’Is she avoiding me because she is afraid she might hurt me?’
As that thought entered his mind, William couldn’t help rubbing his forehead.
"She is... trying too hard."
Those were the only words he could think of to describe the situation.
He had long since noticed that Vivian’s behavior was completely different from what he remembered from the original timeline.
From the way she spoke to the way she acted, everything about her was far more restrained than before.
’It’s good that she is trying to change, but too much restraint can be just as bad as too little.’
Previously, William had always believed that Vivian was acting this way because she was angry with him over everything that had happened.
But now, he finally realized that she wasn’t angry at all.
She was afraid.
Afraid that if she acted the way she used to, everything would once again end in tragedy, just like it did in the original timeline.
Vivian was one of the most talented individuals William had ever seen in the original timeline.
Not only did she possess Transcendent Grade Aether Affinity, but even her vampire bloodline was of the highest grade among vampires.
For someone like her, the Moon Eclipse would only make her slightly more irritable. Other than that, it wouldn’t affect her much.
Yet even then, she still refused to come see him because she was afraid she might unintentionally do something while in an irritated mood.
’Things can’t go on like this. I definitely need to have a proper talk with her.’
William sighed before looking out through the window.
The place where Vivian lived within the academy was somewhat special and without her permission or presence, he couldn’t enter it on his own.
As such, even though he wanted to see her, the only thing he could do was wait for her to come looking for him.
’Let’s just hope her irritation becomes strong enough that she can’t stay cooped up in her room until the Moon Eclipse and comes to see me before then.’
William thought inwardly and was just about to lie down again.
But just then, someone knocked on the door.
"Hmm?"
William raised an eyebrow because Liam only left a few minutes ago, so it shouldn’t be him.
He stood up from the bed and walked toward the door.
As soon as he opened it, two people with cold expressions appeared before him.
William looked at the uniforms they were wearing and immediately understood who they were.
’They are here earlier than I expected.’