Chapter 42

Judith, feeling a bit foolish about the situation, tried to suppress her laughter and asked.

“Why are you walking towards me if you’re asking if I’m a ghost?”

As soon as he heard her voice, Chase stopped dead in his tracks. Then he quickly took a few steps back.

“You’re not a ghost, you’re really Judith?!”

What was it about approaching when he thought I was a ghost, but running away once he realized I was a person?

I can’t make sense of his actions at all.

But then, she noticed a potion shelf just a few steps behind Chase.

If he moved back any further, he might push the shelf and break the potions.

Feeling anxious, Judith quickly ran towards Chase.

“Careful!”

Fortunately, Chase seemed startled by her sudden approach and froze in place.

Thanks to that, Judith was able to easily grab his arm and pull him to a safe spot.

“There was a shelf behind you. There are a lot of dangerous chemicals here, so you have to be careful. Especially the bottles with skull markings—never touch them.”

“…Thanks.”

Chase briefly looked down at Judith’s hand holding his arm and then let out a deep sigh.

He then began to explain why he asked if she was a ghost.

“Well, you see… There’s a rumor that this lab is haunted. I didn’t believe it, but—”

He rubbed his face a few times and continued.

“The professors scared me so much before I started cleaning that I ended up mistaking you for a ghost.”

“But why were you more frightened when you found out I was a person?”

“…Because I didn’t think you’d come here.”

Saying that, Chase leaned closer, perhaps struggling to see Judith’s face clearly.

It seemed he didn’t realize how close he was because it was so dark inside.

Judith, her cheeks slightly reddening, contemplated stepping back, but Chase suddenly asked a question.

“So why did you come here? How did you know I was here?”

“Well…”

Judith scratched her cheek awkwardly as she replied.

“You missed accounting class today, so I found out. I heard everything from Professor Karel. About why you’re on probation…”

Judith hesitated for a moment before hastily apologizing.

“I’m sorry. If I hadn’t asked you to let me join the swordsmanship club, none of this would have happened.”

Chase gave a sheepish smile and replied.

“No, I already had a lot of demerits piled up, so it was bound to happen. It wasn’t because of you.”

Seeing Chase taking full responsibility instead of blaming her made Judith feel even more apologetic.

“You could have just refused my request back then. I didn’t know it would cause such trouble…”

But Chase shook his head firmly.

“I don’t regret it. I had a lot of fun doing swordsmanship club activities with you.”

“…”

Chase had gone through a lot of trouble teaching Judith, who was uncoordinated and had poor stamina.

No matter how many demonstrations he gave, Judith struggled to follow.

Yet he was kindly packaging those times as enjoyable.

Judith was a bit surprised by Chase’s considerate nature.

Then, he asked.

“What about you?”

“Huh?”

“Did you not enjoy it?”

Chase hesitated, as if he was seeking approval, and his demeanor seemed a bit pitiful and cute. Judith found herself responding without thinking.

“…No, I enjoyed it too.”

Trying to shake off the awkward atmosphere, Judith cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“Ahem, so I’ll help you with the cleaning.”

“I don’t need help, I’m fine on my own…”

“Chase, it’s not about helping. I should be doing this with you.”

Seeing Judith’s firm stance, Chase seemed to have no reason to refuse anymore.

He watched as Judith picked up cleaning tools and then grabbed a broom himself.

The two of them began cleaning without further conversation.

The alchemy lab was quite large, so they had to work diligently to finish cleaning in time.

When Chase was wiping the dusty floor with a wet cloth, Judith suddenly spoke.

“…Come to think of it, Chase, why did you decide to go through with an arranged engagement?”

Chase blinked, as if surprised by the unexpected question. Judith looked at him intently.

Was it too random of a question?

But now that they were quite close, it seemed like a conversation they could have…

In fact, since their engagement, they hadn’t had many deep conversations outside of study-related topics.

But since they were going to get married, it would be good to know more about each other.

And more than anything, it was something she had been very curious about for a long time.

No matter how much she thought about it, it didn’t make sense that Chase, who told her not to love him, would voluntarily want an engagement.

He must have been forced into it. 

But why with a commoner like me?

Chase seemed to reminisce for a moment before speaking.

“I just followed my father’s orders.”

“Oh…”

So it was a command from his parents. But why would his parents want to engage a noble like him to a commoner like me?

And why did Chase comply with that order?

Could it be that he listens to his parents’ words even if he doesn’t listen to his professors?

“You’re more filial than you seem.”

When she remarked, surprised by his unexpected side, Chase chuckled as if he heard something amusing.

“Filial? I was just trying to avoid trouble before graduation.”

After a brief pause, he added.

“Actually, I’m an illegitimate child.”

Judith, who had been diligently wiping a shelf, stopped. She subtly glanced at Chase, but his expression remained unchanged.

He was picking up papers scattered on the floor with a nonchalant face.

But he must have been pretending to be indifferent. Judith bit her tongue, feeling she had touched a sensitive topic.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake…”

“It’s okay. It’s not a big deal.”

Chase shrugged.

“Anyway, to explain further… I was supposed to live as if I didn’t exist, but I turned out to have a talent for swordsmanship, which became a problem.”

“…”

“My father thought I might threaten my brother’s position as heir. So he wanted me to marry a commoner woman.”

Chase’s voice was consistently calm, as if he were talking about someone else’s affairs.

Judith, unsure of what to say, pondered for a while before murmuring.

“You must have been upset because of your father.”

“Not really? I already knew what kind of person he was for a long time.”

“…I see.”

Judith felt that any clumsy consolation wouldn’t help him at all. So she didn’t add anything more.

She just hoped that Chase felt a little relieved after sharing his personal story.

So Chase was also forced into the engagement by the will of adults, just like Judith had been with Madame Fedelian.

If so, he must not have been very happy about the engagement either.

At that moment, Chase cleared his throat and spoke again.

“But if I had to be engaged anyway, I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to do it with you.”

“…Huh?”

Was Chase trying to put it nicely to avoid hurting my feelings with his answer?

I didn’t particularly want the engagement either, so I’m really okay.

Seeing Judith’s skeptical expression, Chase hurriedly added.

“Really. …And you’ve helped me a lot to graduate.”

“Well, that’s true.”

In the end, running the remedial class and helping Chase study seemed to have been a good choice.

Just knowing that her actions, which she did without much thought, greatly helped him made Judith feel quite proud.

Then Chase, looking a bit tentative, spoke again.

“Then can I ask something I’m curious about? Why did you get engaged to me?”

“…Me?”

“Well, I heard you chose me among many engagement candidates.”

Come to think of it, unlike Chase, who had no choice in the matter, Judith did choose him.

Being pointed out about that fact made her feel a bit embarrassed, and Judith scratched her cheek with her finger.