Chapter 11

Judith glanced at Rodesha and fortunately, she didn’t seem upset. However, her orange eyes were trembling, indicating she was quite flustered.

I should drive him away.

Judith made up her mind.

“Why did you come here all of a sudden?”

“Because you were here.”

Judith was momentarily speechless at that nonchalant reply. She blinked and then asked, just in case, because of a sudden thought.

“…Did you come here to fulfill my request to have lunch together?”

She really couldn’t believe it, but Chase shrugged his shoulders lightly.

“Even if it’s annoying, I can’t help it. You begged so much.”

“I didn’t beg.”

Judith was surprised as she spoke. She hadn’t expected Chase to grant her request.

He had suddenly told her not to love him, so she naturally thought he was refusing. But to think he was actually going to fulfill her request.

Then Chase casually remarked,

“Liar. You looked like you were about to cry when I refused.”

Judith almost asked, “When did I?” but held back. It seemed like it would only lead to a pointless argument.

Meanwhile, Chase had turned his body completely toward Judith.

There’s a saying that even a dog shouldn’t be disturbed while eating, but Chase treated her even worse than a dog.

He stared at Judith so persistently that it was bothersome.

Just as Judith was about to say something, Chase propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand, asking,

“But why haven’t you been coming to the cafeteria? Did you skip meals?”

It sounded like concern at first glance, but Chase would never say such a thing to her. Judith pondered and then said,

“Did you keep waiting for me to keep the promise?”

“Why would I wait for you? Don’t flatter yourself.”

“…”

Judith couldn’t say anything. To hear Chase say she was flattering herself was absurd.

Judith opened a packet of strawberry jam and spread it evenly on her bread with a knife.

“Then how did you know I wasn’t coming?”

Chase remained silent. He just stared intently at Judith and then turned his gaze to her plate.

He examined the bread with strawberry jam, the steaming soup, and the grape juice thoroughly before tilting his head.

“Is this a snack?”

“It’s lunch.”

Chase looked shocked.

“This little piece of bread is lunch?”

“Yes.”

Judith replied simply and took a bite of the bread. It wasn’t particularly delicious, but it wasn’t bad either. It was just decent.

As she chewed, Chase, who had been watching her eat, suddenly took her grape juice from the plate without asking for permission.

Her throat was dry from the big bite of bread, and he took her drink away.

She was now in the terrible situation of having to eat dry bread without juice.

Wasn’t this as cruel as torture?

Judith was seriously contemplating the character of her fiancé.

Contrary to her assumption that he took it to drink himself, Chase unwrapped the juice, inserted the straw, and gently placed it back on Judith’s tray.

As if that had been his intention all along.

Why is he doing this?

Judith swallowed the bread in her mouth and said,

“Chase, did you eat something wrong today?”

“Unlike you, I had a hearty meal with meat and salad, so you don’t need to worry.”

She wasn’t worried, though. He really was the king of delusions.

Judith gulped down the grape juice. Her chest, which had felt tight as if she had indigestion because of Chase, finally felt relieved.

But because of Chase, who was looking at her with a satisfied expression, she felt suffocated again.

As she chewed on the bread again, a plausible reason came to mind.

Perhaps Chase was trying to make their relationship known everywhere to block other girls from approaching him.

To make it seem like there wasn’t even a gap for them to squeeze through.

Even now, there were quite a few students glancing between Chase and Judith with surprised eyes and whispering.

Right in front of her, Rodesha, who also had eyes wide like a startled rabbit, quickly pretended to eat her soup when Judith’s eyes met hers.

Only then did Judith recall that Rodesha was one of the group who had come to see Chase that day.

She wondered if Rodesha also admired Chase. If so, she worried that she might be shocked by the situation unfolding before her.

Meanwhile, Chase brought a napkin and gently placed it next to Judith’s tray.

Feeling like she would get indigestion if she left things as they were, Judith finally confronted Chase.

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

Chase shook his head as if he had thought of something and then chuckled.

He stared at Judith with his bright red eyes and leisurely tapped the table with his index finger.

“Why? Are you afraid you’ll fall for me if I keep being nice to you?”

It was an arrogantly sounding remark that could be considered obnoxious. Judith muttered sarcastically in response.

“That’s not entirely wrong.”

Thud.

At that moment, Chase’s chair, which had been tilted back, fell over completely.

Startled, Judith stopped eating and looked at Chase, whose ears were turning red through his silver hair.

“You, you. I told you not to like me. So why…?”

Judith spoke to calm Chase, who seemed utterly shocked.

“Calm down. I don’t like you at all yet.”

“Ah, yet? Does that mean…?”

Chase, looking as if he had seen a ghost, turned white and showed no intention of getting up from the floor.

The murmuring of the students who saw Chase fall grew louder, and even Rodesha had her mouth agape, almost dropping her jaw.

Judith hurriedly approached Chase, who looked like his soul had left his body.

And just as she was about to grab his arm to help him up.

“Why are you suddenly touching me!”

Chase dodged her touch quickly as if avoiding an incoming arrow.

Judith froze in the act of reaching out. But only for a moment, as she soon found it absurd.

“Can’t I touch you?”

Looking down at the blushing Chase, Judith continued.

“You hugged my shoulder so casually. Even at our first meeting.”

“…That time!”

Judith approached Chase, who was gaping like a goldfish, and grabbed his arm.

“Excuse me.”

With effort, Judith managed to pull Chase, who was bigger than her, to his feet. She dragged him, stiff as a rock, back to his seat.

She didn’t know why she had to go through such trouble in the middle of a meal.

After sitting down, it took a while for Chase to come to his senses. Then he glared fiercely at the students who were watching.

“Is this a spectacle?”

It was indeed a spectacle. A very interesting one.

Chase, the main cause of the entertaining scene, sat with his legs crossed, glaring at the students, and those who met his eyes flinched and looked away.

A suffocating silence descended over the bustling space.

Suffocating silence.

Chase, who had caused this commotion with just a word, sat there shamelessly.

Judith thought she should eat quickly and leave.

Even the atmosphere around her had become uncomfortable. Though they pretended not to look, subtle glances were directed at Judith.

Judith shoved the bread into her mouth, ready to risk indigestion.

But then, Rodesha, who seemed hesitant, spoke up.

“Aren’t you two… in an arranged engagement?”

“We are.”

Chase, glancing at Judith with her mouth full of bread, answered for her.

It would have been nice if he had stopped there, but Chase added another careless remark.

“But it might not be for long. She might fall for me.”

Chase stared at Judith intently, as if waiting to see her reaction.

But Judith, not wanting to give him the reaction he wanted, just smiled.

“That’s right. So be careful.”

Judith anticipated Chase’s response. He would probably smirk and arrogantly say, “Do you think you won’t fall for me just because I’m careful?”

But unexpectedly, Chase just opened his mouth slightly at her smiling face and said nothing.

Judith, who had expected another uproar, felt a bit awkward.

At that moment, Chase looked over his shoulder as if he had spotted someone.

He frowned and spoke.

“Meeting again?”

His face looked displeased. Suddenly, Judith felt a chill run down her spine.

No way.

She thought.

“Judith?”

It was Axel.

He had spotted her with Chase and began looking back and forth between the two.

A sudden sensation of her insides churning swept over Judith.

How to forget an unrequited love: avoid seeing them as much as possible.

That clumsy plan had failed miserably, and very quickly at that.

* * *

The truth was, Rodesha Roziena’s approach to Judith was quite intentional.

She usually felt deeply ashamed of always being second in accounting.

Of course, her grades were objectively excellent, but by the standards of the Roziena family, they were far from sufficient.

Graduation was just around the corner. She was determined to escape the position of second place and seize the top spot at least once.

Firmly resolved, she soon devised a plan and put it into action.