Chapter 104

The dormitory, now that the vacation had started, was incredibly quiet as most of the students had left.  

Even Hannah had returned to her family home, leaving Judith to enjoy the rare experience of having a double room all to herself.  

In fact, staying behind in the dormitory like this was a first for her.  

When she was close to Axel, she used to spend every vacation at the Fedelian estate with him.  

‘Now, I suppose I’ll never visit that estate again… And this dormitory room I’ve grown so fond of will also be gone in just a few months.’  

Hannah, too, seemed reluctant to part ways with their shared dormitory life, as she had struggled to hold back her tears during their farewell.  

‘It’s nice to return to my family’s home, but knowing this is the last time we’ll sleep in the same room makes me so sad, Judith.’  

‘I feel the same way. Promise me, even after graduation, we’ll meet often, Hannah. I’m really going to miss you.’  

Before Hannah left, Judith made her promise to visit her new home and to exchange letters frequently.  

Seeing Hannah off left Judith with a heavy heart. Thinking about how they had lived like family over the past few years made it even harder.  

During exam periods, they would stay up late, studying together under the light. On weekends, they would buy delicious food and share it.  

When Judith’s shoulders ached, Hannah would massage them for her, and Judith had often fallen asleep to the sound of Hannah reciting novels.  

‘I never imagined that I’d form such diverse and precious relationships at the academy, which I had only entered to follow Axel.’  

She had expected hostility and disdain from others, but to her surprise, there were so many warm and kind people who genuinely cared for her.  

With a deep and overwhelming sigh, Judith wrapped the scarf she had knitted with Rodesha around her neck and stepped out of the dormitory.  

Chase was already waiting outside, exhaling warm breaths into the cold air.  

“You came out early. Have you been waiting long?”  

“I just got here, too.”  

The two naturally linked arms as they began walking. The pleasant warmth spreading from where they touched made their hearts beat happily.  

“Are we just checking out the house today?”  

“Yes, I think we should carefully inspect it to see if anything’s missing. Father said we could hire people or buy furniture if we needed to.”  

Before boarding the carriage, Judith envisioned in her mind what life would be like in their new home.  

She imagined placing various flower pots on the terrace, filling the cozy living room and reception room with soft sofas and rugs.  

She thought it would be nice to have a quiet spot with a desk where she could work whenever she wanted.  

And in the yard, she wanted to create a space where Chase could train…  

Throughout the carriage ride, Judith’s heart swelled with excitement.  

Before long, they arrived in front of the house Chase had mentioned.  

As soon as Judith stepped out of the carriage, she gasped at the sight before her.  

“Wow.”  

It was hard to believe that this place, surrounded by so many trees, was near the capital. The house, standing tall among the greenery, looked quite old, as though it had been left unattended for a long time.  

Vines grew wildly along the walls, and the iron gate leading to the yard was rusted shut.  

But that wasn’t what surprised Judith.  

When Chase had described it, she had imagined a small villa, but the house was much larger than she had expected.  

Though it was old, the exterior exuded a very elegant and antique charm.  

It was large enough to be considered a small mansion. Judith, stunned, turned to Chase with wide eyes.  

“Chase, is this the right place? Are you sure we’re not at the wrong house?”  

“This is it. Why? Is something wrong?”  

“It’s not that there’s a problem… It’s just… Isn’t this house too big for the two of us?”  

After all, it was a two-story mansion for just the two of them.  

The front yard was overgrown with weeds, but the garden itself was quite spacious.  

Chase smiled faintly and said, 

“Are you worried it’ll be too much to clean? Don’t worry. We’ll hire staff to take care of it. I’ll also hire a coachman so it’ll be easier for you to go out when I’m not around.”  

Only then did Judith remember that, despite Chase’s somewhat rebellious upbringing, he was fundamentally a nobleman raised in comfort.  

She had imagined that they would tackle everything together, but perhaps their life would be more comfortable than she had thought.  

Judith even thought that living here might feel freer than when she had stayed at the Fedelian estate.  

Chase pulled out a set of keys from his coat and approached the door. After struggling with the rusty lock, he finally managed to open it.  

With a spine-chilling creak, the door slowly opened, the scene resembling something out of a horror novel.  

“Father said it’s only been a few years since it was left unattended, but it’s already become so rundown. I’ll have to call a gardener first.”  

As he walked toward the entrance of the mansion, Chase looked around and muttered. Judith wholeheartedly agreed with his assessment.  

Thankfully, the path to the mansion’s front door was paved with stones.  

Otherwise, Chase might have had to use his sword to cut through the overgrown branches of the garden trees.  

As they passed through the garden and opened the front door, a musty smell unique to abandoned houses wafted out.  

Inside, the mansion’s antique interior and furniture covered in white cloth came into view.  

“There’s so much dust. Cleaning this place will be a lot of work.”  

While Judith agreed with Chase about the house’s age, she secretly thought the place was quite charming.  

The midday sun streamed warmly through the dusty windows, illuminating the house.  

“But the atmosphere is nice. If we renovate it, it’ll look beautiful.”  

Though filled with outdated decor that was no longer in fashion, the house’s old-fashioned charm was appealing.  

Its calm, subdued atmosphere exuded a comforting sense of peace.  

Looking out at the backyard through the window, Judith continued, 

“The garden does look a bit barren since it’s winter, but when the weather warms up, we should buy some seedlings and plant them. By summer, it’ll look so vibrant. We could even put a table and chairs out there and have meals.”  

“Sure, let’s go pick out some pretty ones together.”  

Chase smiled brightly, agreeing with whatever Judith suggested.  

“Shall we take a look around the rooms now?”  

The house had many rooms, as indicated by the number of windows visible from the outside.  

After thoroughly exploring the mansion, the two eventually returned to the first floor.  

Judith, tired from walking around for so long, plopped down on a dusty sofa without much thought.  

As soon as she sat down, a smile spread across her face.  

“Chase, sit here next to me.”  

Before she even finished her sentence, Chase quickly sat down beside her. After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously asked for her opinion.  

“So, what do you think of the house?”  

“I love it. It’s a bit big, but that just means I’ll have more space to decorate.”  

The idea of meticulously decorating every corner of the house herself was more exciting than she had expected.  

Having never had a space she could truly call her own, Judith felt immense joy at this opportunity.  

The two began discussing in detail how they would arrange the house.  

“We’ll use the entire second floor for ourselves and set up rooms for the staff on the first floor. We should prepare one or two guest rooms as well…”  

“Right. But since there’s mold and rust in some places, we’ll need to hire professionals to replace the walls and windows. The curtains are old, so we’ll throw those out too. What about the furniture?”  

Judith thought for a moment before replying, 

“There are a lot of old but usable pieces of furniture. It’d be a shame to throw everything out. They look stylish, too, so let’s keep everything except the broken ones.”  

“You’re okay with not buying new ones?”  

“Yes, there’s a work desk on the second floor that looks amazing. We’ll just need to get a new chair for it.”  

The two decided to return to the house after the renovations were complete to think more about what to fill it with.  

“So, it looks like everything will be ready around graduation. We’ll also need to move our belongings.”  

Judith sighed happily as she said this.  

“I’m already so excited to see how the house will turn out, Chase.”  

“I’m even happier because you like it.”  

Chase smiled warmly, matching her mood. Looking at his relaxed face, Judith suddenly remembered something and asked,  

“Can I ask you something?”  

“Hmm, what is it?”  

“When we visited the Roziena family’s villa before, was this the house you bragged about and said we should visit someday?”  

“Oh… You remembered.”  

Chase widened his eyes in surprise before nodding.  

“That’s right. It looks pretty rundown now, but when I was a kid, it was such a beautiful and splendid villa. There’s even a stream nearby where we used to dip our feet and go fishing.”  

“It must hold a lot of precious memories for you.”  

At Judith’s words, Chase narrowed his eyes, as if reminiscing about the past.  

“Well, yeah. After all, this villa was the one place where Mother, Father, and I could spend the most peaceful times together.”