Chapter 1.1 – Last Provocation

Chloe took a short, deep breath and pulled the door open. The doorbell rang with a clear sound. Since there were still two weeks left in the break, the tea shops around the academy were rather quiet. Chloe looked around. Not far away, she spotted Dante sitting.

Under the sunlight, his handsome blond hair shimmered, and his deeply set blue eyes caught her attention. His long golden eyelashes moved up and down, hiding and revealing his jewel-like eyes in turn. Sitting leisurely by the window, reading, he looked like a painting. Chloe swallowed dryly and strode toward him.

“You’re here?”

His blue eyes softened gently, just as they always did when he saw Chloe. He gestured toward the counter, and a server approached their table with the menu. Chloe pulled out her chair and sat down.

“I got dumped.”

It was the server who was flustered by Chloe’s sudden statement. Chloe gave the server an awkward smile and accepted the menu. Tap. That was the sound of Dante closing the book he’d been reading.

“Really?”

Unlike the server’s wide-eyed surprise, Dante looked unconcerned.

“How many times has it been now?”

“…The fifth.”

Chloe mumbled her answer, and the server, not knowing what to do, smiled awkwardly. To break the awkwardness, Dante quickly ordered drinks and a few desserts. Only after the server took the order and went to the kitchen did he speak slowly.

“What was the reason this time?”

“He said I’m… too obsessive.”

“Again?”

At his question, Chloe’s face puffed up. Dante pressed her pouting lips down with his finger.

“They all say the same thing.”

“…Yeah.”

Chloe replied in a sulky voice, lowering her head. Dante watched her lowered eyes for a while before speaking.

“No matter how I think about it, you don’t seem like that.”

He sounded puzzled. Chloe glanced up.

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’re so indifferent, I’d think the other person would be the one desperate and clinging.”

Chloe was a bit stung by his blunt words, but she masked her reaction as she’d done many times before. She deliberately lifted her chin.

“You just don’t know. I’m really good at obsessing, you know?”

“Sure, sure, I get it.”

Dante laughed softly. Chloe finally sighed and began to talk about all sorts of things. With their last semester in the academy’s advanced class approaching, most of their conversation revolved around graduation. But since they’d grown up together since childhood, they freely shared personal stories too. Like how her older brother, who married last year, hardly writes letters, or her older sister, who hasn’t even inherited a title yet, is already talking about expanding her business.

As they chatted, the server returned with a tray. Dante pushed a hot chocolate topped with whipped cream toward Chloe.

“Drink. You’ll want something sweet.”

“Thanks.”

Chloe smiled bashfully and lifted her mug. Colorful desserts began to fill the table one by one. Chocolate-covered éclairs, bite-sized macarons, crunchy biscotti with nuts, and apple pie dusted generously with cinnamon sugar… all Chloe’s favorites.

“Why did you order so much? I won’t be able to finish it all.”

“If there’s any left, take it to the dorm and share it with Chacha.”

“Who knows when she’ll come out of the lab.”

Dante silently smiled at Chloe’s grumbling and placed a piece of apple pie on her plate. The thinly sliced apples, curled like rose petals, glistened appetizingly. Chloe picked up her fork and glanced at Dante. All he had in front of him was a cup of light coffee.

“Dante, do you really like that? Not even adding sugar?”

“And you, eating sweets and drinking something sweet too?”

“When I’m down, I need to eat at least this much to feel better.”

Chloe replied matter-of-factly. Dante stared at her, more precisely at her small, mumbling lips.

“…What?”

Noticing where his gaze landed, Chloe tensed a little and asked. Dante smiled at her wide eyes.

“It’s on your lips.”

When Dante handed her a napkin, Chloe finally wiped off the cinnamon sugar stuck to her lips. 

‘Why did he have to stare at my lips…?’ 

Embarrassed, her cheeks flushed red. Just as she was about to put the napkin down on the table—

“…You must have liked him a lot.”

“Huh?”

“Judging by how down you are.”

Dante said, resting his chin on his hand. Chloe’s eyes wavered a little.

“Ah… yeah. I guess so.”

She answered quickly and picked up an éclair filled with custard cream. Dante made a strange face for a moment but smiled as if nothing was wrong when Chloe looked up at him.

“Then I guess I’ll have to cheer you up today too.”

His voice was playful but as kind as ever. Chloe smiled along with him.

“Isn’t it just because you’re bored?”

“Did you see the performance I mentioned before? I heard it’s ending soon.”

Dante didn’t deny her words and instead asked. Chloe shook her head.

“No, I haven’t. I was going to see it with Pierre tomorrow, but I broke up with him.”

“Then let’s go together today.”

Dante said as if it were the most natural thing. Chloe’s face brightened.

“Really?”

“I wanted to see it too. You were looking forward to Senior Maude coming, right?”

Dante’s eyes softened. The same gentle face as always.

Does he know that seeing that smile makes her heart flutter? Does he know she’s liked him for a long time? Chloe smiled at Dante and popped a macaron into her mouth. It tasted overly sweet.

* * *

So, it was all because of Chacha. Well, maybe not ‘all,’ but it was certainly true that Chacha’s advice played a big part in creating this situation.

Before the last break, Chloe confided her long-standing crush to her dorm roommate, Chacha. Even though they were roommates, Chacha hardly ever came to the dorm, so Chloe spent more than half the month in a single room. Anyway, it was consulting with sleep-deprived Chacha that started all the trouble.

“Try dating someone.”

Chacha’s advice was ridiculous from the start. Wearing her usual thick glasses and with her green hair tied back, she yawned lazily. Chloe sighed at the sight.

“How am I supposed to date anyone? I told you, it’s a one-sided crush. You should sleep if you’re that tired.”

“No, please, keep talking to me. I have to meet Professor Rozen in an hour.”

Chacha slapped her own cheeks to wake herself up. Chloe poured strong coffee into Chacha’s cup and asked,

“Can’t you make a potion to keep you awake?”

“I could, but Professor Rosen told me not to. If I make it, I’ll just keep working and die young.”

Chacha brought the cup to her lips, then quickly put it down, saying it was too hot. The skin under her eyes was dark behind the thick glasses.

Chacha was such a research fanatic that once she entered the lab, she might not come out for three days, sometimes even two months. She hadn’t even graduated yet, but she’d already created more than twenty potions in the academy’s lab. Among them was a hair-loss cure that many researchers had failed to make, and the headmaster, suffering from baldness, reportedly cried tears of joy when his hair grew back after taking it.

Professor Rosen, who was used to pushing students to their limits, worked Chacha hard because she had a natural talent for potion-making. And Chacha, moved by Rosen’s generosity with lab materials, made all sorts of potions without proper sleep. She even declared she’d join Rosen’s lab after graduation.

The strict Professor Rosen, who didn’t even let Chacha sleep properly, was moved by her words and eagerly awaited her graduation. If not for an unexpected delay, ‘genius potion-maker’ Chacha would already be an official researcher at Rosen’s lab.

“Then sleep a little. You’ll make a big mistake if you keep this up.”

Chloe said worriedly. Despite her nickname, Chacha made frequent mistakes due to chronic sleep deprivation. She’d go to the wrong classroom, trip over nothing, forget her textbooks, or mix up professors’ names.

Her biggest mistake was submitting a hobby potion instead of the one she made for her graduation project. Because of that, Chacha, who was supposed to graduate before Chloe, had to delay, and Professor Rosen finally started caring about students’ sleep and health. Of course, Chacha still spent most days holed up in the lab, even without assignments.

“No. If I sleep now, I won’t wake up. Please, just keep talking to me. You think Dante only sees you as a friend, right?”

Chacha put down her coffee and shook her head. Her eyes were still sleepy, but her words were clear.

“Yeah. And you advised me to try dating someone else.”

“I’m really sane right now. So, meet someone other than him.”

“Are you sure you’re sane?”

Chloe asked skeptically. Why meet someone else when she liked someone already? But Chacha slurped her coffee and looked up.

“You said you can’t figure him out. He’s nice to you but nice to everyone, smiles at everyone. That’s why you’re confused.”

Chacha remembered Chloe’s complaints perfectly. Chloe finally looked at Chacha’s drowsy eyes seriously.

“So… you mean I should provoke him?”

“My friend’s friend’s friend’s friend was in exactly that situation.”

‘Isn’t that basically a stranger?’ 

Chloe almost said, but kept quiet and waited for Chacha to continue.