Chapter 18

And wasn’t it fortunate that it wasn’t a confession in the first place? Chase always said not to love him.

Judith couldn’t understand why he seemed disappointed.

Perhaps Chase, despite saying he didn’t want love, secretly craved people’s affection.

Judith cautiously spoke.

“It’s a long story, so to put it briefly… Professor Karel wants to have a three-way meeting with you.”

“With me? Why?”

“Because you’re my fiancé.”

The hand that was ruffling his hair stopped. Chase spoke with a somewhat dazed expression.

“I didn’t hear that. Say it again.”

“Because you’re my fiancé.”

As if he hadn’t heard, Chase asked again after a moment of silence.

“What did you just say…”

“If you don’t want to, it’s okay.”

The reason Chase pretended not to hear and asked again was obvious. He found the meeting with Professor Karel bothersome.

He didn’t want to attend, and she couldn’t force him.

Judith had tried her best, and since Chase refused, she now had an excuse to present to Professor Karel.

Wasn’t it better this way?

Having finished her business, she was about to leave the hallway with a light heart when a barely audible voice stopped her.

“It’s not that I don’t want to. Ahem.”

After clearing his throat for a moment, Chase spoke clearly.

“Because I’m your fiancé, Professor Karel wants to meet us together?”

“Yes. Although I don’t know the detailed reason…”

As Judith trailed off, Chase readily agreed.

“Alright, fine.”

“Really?”

“When and where should I go?”

To agree so easily. It wasn’t with just any professor but Professor Karel, so he couldn’t have been pleased about it.

It was unexpected that he didn’t demand anything in return and agreed to the request, but it was fortunate for Judith.

* * *

The meeting with Professor Karel was held in the most famous luxurious restaurant in the capital.

When Judith first learned of the location, she was taken aback.

Professor Karel had mentioned it as if it were nothing, but she had heard it was a place always fully booked, difficult to visit even with money.

To the surprised Judith, he reassured her, saying that for a professor at the academy, reserving the top restaurant in the capital was no big deal.

But naturally, Judith wasn’t convinced.

She cautiously stepped inside, pushing open the massive door that was overwhelming just to look at.

Upon entering, Judith was slightly intimidated by the elegant interior decoration and atmosphere.

Of course, the Fedelian mansion was more magnificent than this, but it was comfortable there because there was no need to maintain formalities.

However, this place was filled with gentlemen and ladies of etiquette and dignity. She felt out of place.

Judith glanced at her partner, Chase. He, too, was dressed impeccably from head to toe today.

But unlike his formal attire, his stance was casual, with one leg bent.

Seeing his calm face, Judith felt a bit more at ease.

Though not as dressed up as Chase, Judith had also put some effort into her appearance today.

The dress, a gift from Madame Fedelian, given with joy at the news of her engagement, was being worn today…

It was her first time wearing something so fine, and she felt very awkward.

Judith fidgeted with the hem of her dress. Then Chase extended his arm and briefly said,

“Escort.”

“…Thank you.”

Judith blinked and gently placed her hand on his arm.

But perhaps she shouldn’t have.

As they were guided to their reserved seats, they saw Professor Karel already seated.

Just as she was about to greet him, he twitched his eyebrows upon seeing her hand on Chase’s arm.

“Going all out, aren’t we.”

“Pardon?”

Startled, Judith withdrew her hand. However, Professor Karel’s stern expression showed no sign of easing. He openly displayed his displeasure, crossing his arms.

Soon, Professor Karel directed a hostile gaze at Chase.

“Are you Judith’s fiancé?”

“Yes, I am Cha…”

Chase’s attitude was more polite than expected, which was reassuring, but Professor Karel cut him off and said,

“I know your name, of course. Cancel the engagement.”

“Pardon?”

“Not even if I’m buried in dirt.”

Chase looked bewildered. And so did Judith.

“Professor?”

Professor Karel looked at Judith. Unlike when he gazed at Chase, there was a hint of warmth in his gray eyes.

“I’m not quite understanding the situation. So calling Chase was for…”

“To cancel your engagement. It’s only been decided verbally, not formally, so it should be easy to cancel with mutual consent.”

Professor Karel explained in a seemingly kind tone, but it still didn’t make sense.

She had heard he had been keeping an eye on her since she was a freshman, but that didn’t justify such involvement.

“No matter how much you’re Judith’s major professor, you don’t have the authority to unilaterally cancel an engagement.”

Chase spoke in a calm tone, but his eyes were blazing.

Judith was a bit surprised that Chase knew Professor Karel was her major professor.

Chase was staring seriously at Professor Karel, who raised one eyebrow skeptically.

“Unilaterally?”

Professor Karel scoffed.

“Chase, you should speak correctly. You have to graduate first to get engaged or whatever, don’t you?”

As he said this, Professor Karel pulled out a bundle of white papers from his pocket.

With a golden hawk emblem on the back, it was a Prussian Academy report card, something Judith was very familiar with.

The color drained from Chase’s face for a moment.

Professor Karel looked over the report card and clicked his tongue.

“Well, I expected it, but I didn’t think it would be this disastrous. Lack of attendance and grades crawling like worms on the ground. No, beyond crawling, they’re about to dig in.”

With each sharp word from Professor Karel, Chase’s shoulders shrank.

“I’ve never seen such poor scores in my 14 years as a professor at Prussian Academy.”

How bad could it be?

Judith looked at the paper in Professor Karel’s hand with curious eyes.

Noticing her gaze, Professor Karel handed over Chase’s report card as if showing off.

Judith’s golden eyes widened as she received the white paper.

“Are these scores?”

She had no intention of mocking him. But for Judith, these were numbers she had never seen before.

So she asked if these were normal scores on a report card without errors.

Whoosh-.

In the blink of an eye, Chase swiftly snatched the report card back. Holding it with trembling hands, lips tightly shut, he looked truly embarrassed and frustrated.

Judith felt sorry, thinking she had been rude.

“Sorry, I was just curious.”

But Chase’s face turned even redder at her words. With eyes blazing, he retorted to Professor Karel.

“No matter if you’re a professor, isn’t it an invasion of privacy to expose my report card like this?”

“Hmm, generally, yes. But isn’t Judith your fiancée?”

Professor Karel’s offhand comment left Chase flustered, even stuttering.

“E-even if she’s my fiancée, there’s no need for her to know my grades…”

Ignoring Chase, Professor Karel looked at Judith.

“He’s failing.”

“Pardon?”

“If things continue like this, Chase Cardandy won’t meet the graduation requirements.”

Judith was left speechless.

To graduate from the academy, two essential conditions had to be met. The first was class attendance, and the second was exam grades.

For attendance, attending about 10% of the total classes was enough, and as long as you didn’t submit a blank paper, exam grades were usually not a problem.

It was very easy to meet the conditions, so failing students were quite rare. But Chase was on the verge of failing.

Professor Karel continued.

“As I said earlier, it’s not just the exam scores. He also lacks attendance. Of course, if he attends without fail from now on, it won’t be a problem…”

Judith muttered unknowingly.

“Just how much did he skip…”

Watching Judith in a daze, Professor Karel pointed at Chase with his finger.

“Let me tell you something interesting. Actually, his minor is accounting.”

“Accounting? But I’ve never seen him…”

“Of course. He skipped class every time.”

The situation was serious. After the major, the subject with the most class days was the minor, yet she had never seen him.

Perhaps noticing her puzzled expression, Chase offered an explanation.

“I didn’t expect this either. I’ve been substituting attendance and exam scores with bonus points from winning martial arts tournaments, so I thought it would be possible this time too.”

It was surprising that he hadn’t failed until the fourth year, but it seemed Chase had been barely avoiding failure by utilizing the bonus point system.

However, this year, the tournament was canceled due to internal renovations, preventing Chase from obtaining bonus points.