Chapter 37

It turned out it wasn’t such a difficult request after all.

In fact, shouldn’t it have been her, not Chase, making such a request?

Judith nodded willingly.

“Sure.”

At Judith’s affirmation, Chase approached as if he had been waiting and stood behind her.

He gently reached out and wrapped his hand around Judith’s hand, which was holding the sword.

She felt the calloused fingers on the back of her hand. With Chase’s large frame enveloping her from behind, it felt like being wrapped in a thick blanket in the dead of winter.

“This is how you do it.”

As she let her body follow Chase’s movements, her arms and legs naturally fell into position. She still couldn’t tell what was different, but she stayed still for now.

“I’ll stay still, so try swinging it as I taught you earlier.”

“Um, like this?”

Following his words, Judith swung the sword and then turned her head back to check Chase’s reaction.

There, she saw red eyes right in front of her. The proximity surprised her a bit, but she asked anyway.

“Am I doing it right?”

“…No, look forward again.”

When she returned her head to its original position, Chase calmly explained from the beginning.

“Your shoulders have too much tension. First, you need to lower your shoulders. And holding the sword like that will strain your wrist, which might hurt later.”

Even though Judith couldn’t understand after being told multiple times, Chase remained consistently patient and kind in his teaching.

But it was strange. Despite his calm and gentle voice—

“Why is your heart beating so fast?”

His heartbeat was so rapid that she could feel it against her back.

Could he be pretending to be okay on the outside while internally about to explode?

Chase flinched momentarily but then casually replied.

“It’s nothing. I was born with good blood circulation.”

“Is that why your face often turns red?”

“…You could say that.”

I see.

Judith learned something new again.

* * *

Jayden watched the couple pressed against the wall of the training hall and muttered.

“Can they not see us?”

Even though they were in the same space, it felt like a transparent wall separated them.

On this side, the smell of sweat filled the air, and rough shouts pierced the ears, but over there, a fluffy, dreamy atmosphere seemed to emanate.

Moreover, Jayden had been in the swordsmanship club for over half a year, but he had never seen Chase so passionate.

It was entirely different from when Jayden himself asked questions.

Whenever any club member sought help, Chase would usually tilt his head, giving a look that said, “Why can’t you do this?”

He never offered the kind of kindness he was showing the new member—correcting posture or explaining swordsmanship theory.

Watching them laugh together, seemingly unrelated to this side, made Jayden’s stomach churn.

But then, someone darted over and pressed down on the back of Jayden’s light brown head as he was stretching his muscles.

“Ow!”

It was Leona, a senior by one year. She scolded him sharply, ignoring his pained cry.

“Bow your head and lower your gaze. What if you make eye contact?”

“Is it bad to make eye contact?”

At his clueless and innocent question, Leona clicked her tongue.

“It’s better to pretend you didn’t see anything, even if you did. That’s the best way to stay alive. Don’t talk about what you saw today and take it to your grave.”

Her words were as grave as if she had witnessed a fierce political struggle.

Why was Senior Leona saying such things?

Though Jayden found it hard to understand, he nodded at her serious tone.

“Okay.”

As Leona patted his shoulder approvingly, a sharp shout cut through the air and reached them.

“Jayden and Leona, what are you doing sticking so close together?”

“Huh?”

“You’re not dating in the sacred training hall, are you?”

“What?”

When Jayden lifted his bowed head, he saw Chase’s face, frowning.

He was sure Chase had been far away, so how did he get here so quickly?

Seeing Jayden’s bewildered face, Chase sighed as if he were pathetic.

“Pick the right time and place. This is a public space.”

Since joining the swordsmanship club, Jayden had never once talked back to Chase.

But this time, he felt terribly wronged. So he opened his mouth without realizing it.

“We’re not the ones dating, it’s—”

Jayden couldn’t finish his sentence. Leona quickly covered his mouth.

‘Watch your words.’

Because of Leona’s silent warning, Jayden couldn’t say anything further.

He could only shout the unfinished words in his mind.

It’s not us who are dating, it’s you, Sir…!

* * *

Despite the impulsive decision to join the swordsmanship club, Judith’s relationship with Axel became quite awkward afterward.

Whenever they happened to meet in the hallway, they only exchanged formal nods without further conversation or acknowledgment.

And as the weekend approached, it seemed Axel had indeed gone back home alone.

I did speak harshly last time… Axel must have lost all affection by now.

Though her heart ached, thinking that she was smoothly distancing herself from him made it somewhat bearable.

Judith gradually began to adapt to life without Axel.

Meanwhile, the remedial class had already been held several times.

Except for Riana, everyone participated regularly and diligently completed their assignments.

So today, Judith decided to give a surprise quiz to check their academic progress.

“I’m going to give a pop quiz today.”

“What? A pop quiz?”

As soon as she spoke, Chase looked as if he had just heard the world was ending tomorrow.

In fact, not only Chase but the other students also looked bewildered by the sudden announcement of a quiz.

“You’re giving a quiz all of a sudden?”

The six students hastily pulled out books from their bags and started skimming through them.

Even Cedric frowned and mumbled the formulas he had memorized.

Was it too abrupt?

But isn’t an unexpected quiz the best way to assess one’s usual abilities?

While everyone was in chaos, only Rodein turned the pages of his book calmly.

After giving them a moment to prepare mentally, Judith began handing out the quiz papers one by one.

The students’ expressions turned solemn as they received the papers.

Watching them with satisfaction, Judith started timing the quiz. And after a while—

“Alright, time’s up.”

Surprisingly, everyone seemed to have finished within the time limit. Judith collected the papers and began grading them on the spot.

After grading all the papers, the results were better than expected.

Everyone’s scores had improved significantly compared to the test at the beginning of the remedial class.

Judith glanced at each student with a look of surprise, and her gaze stopped at one student.

Cedric Belluan.

In fact, when she first started the remedial class, she had been quite worried about what kind of mischief he might cause to disrupt the class.

However, he had been cooperative in her class as he had promised, and he even helped create a studious atmosphere for his friends.

The remarkable improvement in his quiz score today must be due to his efforts.

With things turning out this way, Judith began to feel a sense of fulfillment in running the remedial class, contrary to her initial expectations.

Do I really have a talent for teaching?

Preparing class materials and predicting potential questions wasn’t difficult, as it was something she had always done, and some students even occasionally praised her for teaching in an easy-to-understand manner.

Just as her mood was slightly lifted—

‘You might not have realized it yet, but you’ve instinctively been following the path of an assistant professor.’

For some reason, Professor Karel’s chuckling voice seemed to echo in her mind.

Judith shook her head vigorously, startled.

Anyway, after the class ended, while waiting for Rodesha to join her for lunch at the cafeteria as usual—

Chase was coming out with his bag slung over his shoulder. Seeing his beaming face, Judith spoke as if she had remembered something.

“Chase, your score has improved a lot.”

It was a sincere compliment. After all, Chase was the one whose score had improved the most in the pop quiz.

Of course, that was possible because his original score was so low…

Still, at this rate, she thought that there shouldn’t be any major issues with graduating.

Chase scratched his neck, looking a bit embarrassed, and Rodein chimed in from the side.

“Senior, I feel a bit shy saying this, but I was the one who got the highest score on the pop quiz.”