Chapter 32

With his face flushed, Basin was at a loss for words as Axel spoke to him in a gentle tone.

“It’s okay. I’m not blaming you for spreading the rumor.”

“…Uh, what?”

Basin asked back with a bewildered face.

“What do you mean…?”

“You just saw it. We weren’t fighting.”

Though he was speaking to Basin, Axel’s gaze was directed at Judith.

“I’m the one persistently clinging to Judith, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spread false rumors.”

“Oh, got it!”

Basin replied, looking pale.

Seeing him flee the library as if running away, it seemed he wouldn’t dare speak about Axel again.

Bang.

Still dumbfounded by the sudden situation, Judith was staring at the firmly closed library door.

Axel spoke, as if wrapping up the situation.

“Judith, anyway, I understand your intention. I won’t bother you any longer, so rest assured.”

“….”

“I’ll return to the main house alone.”

He forced a smile, trying to appear fine. Watching him, she still felt a prickling sensation in her heart, along with a strange sense of guilt.

But Judith only nodded silently.

* * *

For Rodein Roziena, the world was always simple and easy.

A genius who understood ten things when taught one. That was the phrase that described Rodein.

He solved problems that others found difficult with ease, and even before entering the academy, the scholars assigned by his family were left speechless, saying there was nothing more to teach him.

So, seducing a mere commoner was nothing.

Applying theory to practice. That was Rodein’s specialty. Especially, Rodein was adept at using any learned formula for any problem.

However, Judith showed no particular interest in him.

No, she was not only uninterested but also suspicious and questioned his intention to join the remedial class.

She even interrogated him about why he, the top student, wanted to attend the remedial class.

Though he managed to make some excuses, he realized she wasn’t an easy target.

Reluctantly, Rodein decided to seek help from his only sister to thoroughly target Judith.

He opened the door to the study room without knocking.

Since it was a holiday, the room was empty. Rodesha, who had been writing notes at a large desk by herself, looked up sharply at the sound of footsteps.

Upon seeing Rodein, her brow furrowed.

“Can I ask you something, sister?”

“…You come in suddenly without even a greeting and start talking? How rude.”

Ignoring his sister’s incredulous look, Rodein sat down across from her.

“Anyway, isn’t it better for you if I just get to the point and leave quickly?”

“If only you couldn’t talk, you wouldn’t be so annoying.”

Rodesha mumbled in disbelief.

Thinking that studying was out of the question now that Rodein had come, she sighed and put down the pen she was holding.

She asked, unable to hide her displeasure.

“So why are you here?”

Despite asking, Rodesha expected that he had come to deliver some important message from the family.

But her guess was way off.

“Tell me what that commoner likes and dislikes.”

“What?”

“The more specific, the better. Or if she has any hobbies, when her birthday is, what she does after class, things like that.”

Rodesha’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. She looked at her brother in disbelief.

Rodein frowned, feeling unpleasant about his sister’s peculiar gaze.

“Sister, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because you’re doing something strange, so I have to look at you strangely.”

Rodesha swallowed dryly, her throat parched.

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden? Is that what you’re curious about? Did you come to the room just for that?”

“Yes.”

Rodein’s questions might have sounded like he was interested in Judith. But knowing Rodein’s disdain for commoners, it was unlikely he liked Judith.

Then why was he asking such questions?

Rodesha, who had been silent for a moment as if pondering something, opened her mouth just in case.

“Don’t tell me you still haven’t given up on that absurd plan?”

The ridiculous plan where he said he would seduce Judith.

She wondered if he hadn’t abandoned that bizarre plan and was asking these strange questions because of it.

However, Rodein, as if there was nothing wrong with it, crossed his arms nonchalantly.

“Why would I give up on that plan?”

“You really…”

Have you lost your mind? 

She was about to give him a hard time, but Rodein quickly interrupted her.

“Among the feasible plans I’ve come up with, that method is the most efficient, so there’s no reason not to do it.”

What kind of plans had he made that he was so confident it was the most efficient?

Rodesha had always acknowledged Rodein’s brilliant mind, but this time she was just dumbfounded.

Was Rodein seeing several moves ahead that I couldn’t understand? Was that why he was so confident?

If that were the case, she’d be relieved. Rodesha was on the verge of experiencing second-hand embarrassment from his antics.

Whatever it was, she hoped it wouldn’t affect her and that he would embarrass himself alone.

Rodesha sincerely hoped so in her heart.

“What do you plan to achieve by seducing Judith in the first place?”

“Sister, do I have to explain everything to you? It’s really annoying.”

Even as he shook his head, Rodesha answered obediently.

“I’m going to seduce that commoner and make her fall in love with me.”

“….”

“Once she’s in love, she’ll be thinking about me all day, neglecting her studies. Then, you’ll naturally take the top spot.”

Although she had anticipated it, hearing the answer left her too speechless to even chuckle.

Or maybe it was because Rodein had always succeeded that he couldn’t even consider the possibility of failure.

His orange eyes were filled with confidence.

Rodesha opened her mouth, feeling that his appearance was extremely annoying.

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, just answer me once. I won’t bother you anymore.”

“Really, I don’t know. I don’t know what Judith likes.”

At Rodesha’s answer, Rodein arrogantly shook his head.

“Sister, don’t you have any observational skills?”

“It’s not that. Judith isn’t an easy person. She doesn’t seem to be lacking.”

In fact, Rodesha had once tried to approach Judith intentionally.

At that time, Rodesha secretly observed Judith, trying to find out what she liked and disliked, but soon gave up.

Judith always attended her classes punctually and returned to the dormitory just as punctually.

However, Rodein spoke dismissively.

“She’s not that tough.”

“You’re going to get in trouble.”

She tried to warn him, but Rodein didn’t listen. He leaned back in his chair, busy saying what he wanted to say.

“By the way, sister, what did you think of my strategy at the cafeteria today?”

Rodesha, recalling for a moment, furrowed her brows.

“Oh, you mean the strategy that made me want to die from anger?”

She remembered Rodein’s absurd actions, like feeding her pudding with feigned kindness.

Doing things he’d never done before, by the end of the meal, she felt like everything she’d eaten was stuck.

“If you’re going to be nice, be nice to Judith, not me. It’s creepy.”

“Tsk, sister, you really don’t know anything.”

Rodesha arrogantly spoke as if he were teaching her a lesson.

“We’ve only just gotten to know each other, so showing interest too soon would be too easy.”

“You already did, didn’t you?”

Claiming to admire her, begging to be accepted into the accounting remedial class, he had made a complete fool of himself.

Recalling that, Rodesha felt a chill run down her spine.

But Rodein wiggled his finger.

“That was just a liking as a person, what I’m talking about now is romantic interest. To develop such feelings, I need to at least pretend to be close to you to stay around.”

Rodesha thought Rodein was really going overboard. It seemed Judith had sparked something like a competitive spirit in him.

His relentless nature was kicking in at this moment…

“Judith has a fiancé too. Do you think Chase will leave you alone?”

Her brother, who had spent his life studying in his room, would surely be blown away with a mere gesture from Chase. Yet Rodein shrugged, undeterred.

“If I remove that bothersome commoner from the side, he’ll probably be grateful to me. They aren’t truly in love and engaged, right?”

Rodesha, at a loss for words, watched as Rodein pulled a notebook from beside him and placed it in front of her.

“Anyway, you understand, right? To do this, you need to help me.”

He opened a blank page and placed it in front of Rodesha.

“Even small things are fine, just write down what that commoner’s daily routine is like.”

In Rodein’s eyes, there was a burning determination to seduce that commoner no matter what.