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During the subsequent holiday, Tom confined himself to his small room, barely leaving except to eat. He reread his textbooks, which he had already memorized, over and over. Occasionally, he would carefully pick up the cufflinks, his fingers tracing the intricate patterns on them.

He wouldn't harbor any expectations, but besides himself, who else would know about this? No one but him knew how beautiful that night was. Even knowing it was impossible, he couldn't stop himself from greedily reliving it in his mind.

Knock knock

Tom got up and opened the window, taking the letter from the school's public owl. He then weighed the money bag that came with it, which contained his scholarship funds for the year. "Thank you..." he said, casually placing some bird feed on the windowsill. Tom unfolded the letter and scanned the textbooks he would need for the year. He sighed, grabbed his wand, and left the orphanage.

Standing at the entrance of the dilapidated pub with a look of disgust, Tom took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and pushed open the grimy door. Wizards! They're wizards, aren't they? Why can't they even be bothered to cast a cleaning spell?!

Puffing out his cheeks, Tom shot a subtle glare at the dozing owner and quickened his pace towards the courtyard. Damn this dump! Who in their right mind would put the entrance to Diagon Alley in a place like this!

After selecting the required textbooks at the second-hand bookstore, Tom was about to leave when his ears twitched. He followed someone a few years older than him, as he seemed to have heard the name Abou.

"Mom~ Is what you said true? That the heir of the House of Malfoy will host a grand wedding banquet for the little princess of the House of Greengrass after graduation? Merlin's beard, that will surely break many witches' hearts~ Our house has quite a few admirers of Malfoy..."

Tom stood frozen, his hand on his chest. He could be sure he wasn't injured, but his heart... felt dead, as if it would never beat again. It was like an empty box, devoid of anything, dark, hollow, and silent.

He didn't know how he got back to the orphanage. Tom sat on the hard bed, staring unblinkingly at the cufflinks in his palm. He wanted to use all his strength to smash them against the wall, but all he could manage was a slight tremor; he couldn't even perform such a simple action.

"Ha!! Damn you, Abraxas! You started this by provoking me!" Tom clutched his eyes in pain and collapsed onto the bed. "Damn it... I..." For the first time, he understood his own powerlessness. Tom had to admit that he was lost in that intoxicating scent, lost in that warm embrace...

'Everyone I like meets misfortune, so I don't like you... but my heart isn't with me...'

"Tom Riddle, it's time to wake up..."

Indulging his weakness, he endured the difficult night. The next morning, Tom meticulously tidied his attire. Even though he was still down on his luck, the pride ingrained in his bones wouldn't allow him to lower his noble head.

Trusting others only led to betrayal. Since that was the case, from now on, he would not give anyone the chance to betray him again. That person's appearance was just an accident, and such an accident would not happen again.

He boarded the train to Hogwarts alone, sat in a compartment alone, and took a carriage to the Great Hall alone. As usual, Tom sat at the end of the long table with a faint smile, chatting casually with the 'followers' around him.