Chapter 33

Rodein thought that, above all else, securing time to spend with that commoner was important.

Of course, they met every time in the remedial class, but there were too many pesky distractions, leaving no room to try anything.

Rodein thought of the obstacles that hindered his plans beside Judith.

In fact, the biggest obstacle was undoubtedly Chase Cardandy.

Although they were betrothed verbally, they hadn’t officially held a ceremony, yet he acted as if they were already married.

Rodein quickly pondered.

What could Chase Cardandy’s true intentions be?

Even though he claimed to have no interest in Judith, he was always concerned about her every move.

Could it be that Judith was absolutely necessary as his betrothed?

Rodein had heard that since Judith became his fiancée, the number of students bothering Chase had significantly decreased.

So, he might be showing a friendly demeanor with his fiancée for appearances.

So maybe he should just focus on pulling Judith down from the top position in accounting.

Arriving at the library with quick steps, Rodein soon wore a gentle smile.

According to what his sister told him, Judith should be participating in club activities here by now.

“I’m here to observe the reading club.”

At the sudden sound of a soft voice, the librarian, who was surrounded by a mountain of books and busily scribbling something, looked up.

His straw-like hair parted, revealing eyes shadowed with dark circles.

The librarian, looking obviously tired, stared intently at Rodein.

“Observation? It’s not even the club fair period right now, is it?”

During the club fair period, held at the beginning of each semester, one could observe other departments.

Students could visit clubs they were interested in, directly seeing and experiencing the activities.

But it wasn’t the club fair period, as the librarian said. However, Rodein shamelessly opened his mouth.

“I’m interested in the reading club.”

To be precise, he was interested in someone belonging to the reading club.

“I was originally in the mysterious herbs club, but it really doesn’t suit my personality.”

Rodein slumped his shoulders and murmured gloomily.

“Herbs are living things too, right? It pains me to think that they die because of me.”

Of course, Rodein had never thought that. He just found it annoying that dirt got on his hands every time he pulled out herbs.

However, the librarian seemed to find the drooping Rodein pitiful and sighed.

“Well, what should we do? It’s not the observation period, and the application period for clubs has already ended.”

“I have permission from the club head. They saw how much I was struggling.”

Catching the wavering in the librarian’s eyes, Rodein drove the nail in.

“Sometimes I even hear hallucinations. The painful screams of uprooted herbs…”

With a face turning pale, Rodein shouted, “I think I hear them now!” Startled, the librarian looked around.

After confirming that there were no herbs or even a trace of human presence, the librarian breathed a sigh of relief.

“First, calm down. Hmm, you can’t keep participating in a club that doesn’t suit you.”

In the end, the librarian let Rodein into the library.

“Go on in. Everyone should be deeply engrossed in their books, so try to keep quiet.”

The librarian, seeing Rodein in his neatly worn uniform and gentle eyes, couldn’t imagine he had skipped out on his club time.

Rodein, hiding his dark intentions, thanked the librarian and bowed before entering the library.

But that day, Rodein couldn’t meet Judith.

He wandered around the library several times, but there wasn’t even a shadow of her pink hair.

The students gave him strange looks as he wandered around without reading any books.

Where on earth had that woman gone? Could she have skipped out on her club time like me?

Though he wasn’t sure why, Rodein bit his lip in frustration at the thought that his first attempt had gone awry.

* * *

The break time was already over.

Judith had to return to the library, but she didn’t want to. She was afraid she might run into Axel Fedelian again.

With nowhere else to go, Judith wandered outside for a long time.

Her only friend, Hannah, would be in the cooking club by now, so even if she returned to the dormitory, she wouldn’t be able to meet her.

Hannah was probably having fun kneading cookie dough by now.

The fact that she had nowhere to go and no one to welcome her made Judith feel down.

Unintentionally, Judith compared herself to Axel. Before he even sought out anyone, he was always surrounded by people.

Truly, the difference between them was like heaven and earth.

Avoiding the scorching sunlight, Judith walked aimlessly.

She heard the sound of nameless birds chirping high in the sky.

The well-maintained garden was beautiful and fresh, brimming with green vitality, but nothing caught Judith’s eye.

She was bored. Despite having decided to skip her duties, there was nothing to do.

Skipping?

As soon as she thought of that word, Judith’s steps halted. She thought of one person closely related to it.

It was Chase.

What would Chase be doing by now? Could he be skipping club time just like he used to skip classes?

If so…

Could he possibly spend time with me?

After briefly contemplating where Chase might be, Judith quickly moved her legs.

She decided to first check the underground training arena. Chase usually spent his time there, so he was probably there this time too.

Even if it turned out to be a pointless trip, it didn’t matter. After all, she had plenty of time.

* * *

Judith tried to press her eye against the narrow gap in the door to look inside.

From the moment she descended the stairs, the unusually loud shouts hurt her eardrums, and the underground training arena was in the midst of swordsmanship training.

Everyone seemed very busy with physical training and sparring.

In that case, Chase might not be here.

She hadn’t expected that a swordsmanship major like him would also participate in the swordsmanship club, so Judith was about to turn back.

Then she suddenly noticed a familiar silver hair fluttering in a corner of the arena.

At first, she thought she had mistaken bright blonde for silver, but upon rubbing her eyes and looking again, it was indeed a familiar physique and appearance.

Moreover, the swordsmanship club students were cheering loudly for him as he stepped forward into the center.

“Wowwwww—.”

Judith couldn’t help but be surprised.

How much did he love swords to the point of majoring in swordsmanship and even joining the swordsmanship club?

Watching him wield his sword in the middle of the crowd, she thought it was very much like him.

Judith paused to watch him for a moment.

Last time, when she watched him like this, he noticed her gaze and came out on his own.

But today, there were too many people and it was too noisy, so it seemed difficult.

At that moment, Chase, who was extending his arm and thrusting his sword forward, suddenly stopped.

Then he turned his head towards her. His jewel-like red eyes met her gaze.

Did Chase have eyes on the back of his head?

She knew that people training in swordsmanship were sensitive to energy, but noticing her presence from this distance with just a glance was amazing.

From Chase’s perspective, he could only see Judith’s golden eyes at best, yet it was impressive.

Watching his red eyes gradually expand as they focused on her, Judith blinked her eyes, still pressed against the door gap.

Even though he noticed her presence, she thought it would be impossible for him to step away in such a busy situation.

So, after waving her hand to greet him, she was about to leave when it happened.

Suddenly, Chase seemed to announce something to the students around him, then put down his sword and hurriedly ran towards Judith. There was not a hint of hesitation in his actions.

Judith watched as Chase came closer and closer.

His silver hair fluttered with each stride, his flushed face, and the sweat running down his sharp jawline.

“Judith, did you come to see me?”

A familiar déjà vu.

Feeling a sense of unexpected joy, a smile was about to form on her lips when Chase lightly added.

“Or did Professor Karel ask you to come find me again?”

Chase said this while raising his eyebrows as if teasing her.

Seeing that expression, she suddenly recalled the day he mistakenly thought she had come to confess to him.

At the same time, Judith felt a bit wronged. She hadn’t intended to deceive him back then, yet he misunderstood on his own.

She wondered how she should answer. Today, she had indeed come to see Chase.

However, in this situation, her lips wouldn’t easily admit it.