Chapter 44

“……What?”

“Do I need to be merciful to those who spread rumors about me?”

“……”

Cedric was taken aback. It didn’t sound like something Axel would say.

What was it about Judith that caused Axel to change so much?

“Do you really want to keep Judith by your side, even if you have to go that far? That’s just greed.”

“Greed?”

“Yes.”

Axel seemed shocked by Cedric’s words. He pressed his lips together and began to ponder.

Time passed like that. Axel seemed to have finished thinking and finally spoke.

“I don’t want anything else. I’m not asking Judith to work as my assistant, nor to stay friends like before.”

“……”

“I’m just asking her to stay by my side. Is that greed?”

“You……”

That was precisely greed. 

But it seemed Axel didn’t even realize what he was doing.

Well, perhaps it couldn’t be helped, given that he had lived a life where getting what he wanted was natural.

The moonlight shone down on the terrace where they were talking, casting a deep shadow behind Axel.

For some reason, that shadow seemed particularly chilling today, causing Cedric to hesitate before speaking again.

“Fine, all right. But do you think it’s possible to win back Judith’s heart now?”

At that moment, a cold smile flickered in Axel’s eyes.

“……That’s why, Cedric, I actually need your help.”

“My help?”

“Yes.”

Cedric felt an ominous feeling. His heart pounded irregularly as he cautiously asked.

“What is it?”

He asked just in case, but Cedric had no intention of supporting his opinion or granting his request.

He still believed Axel needed to distance himself from Judith.

But after hearing Axel’s next words, Cedric couldn’t even react.

All he could manage after a long pause was to say:

“……You’re crazy.”

* * *

The next day, Cedric wandered the campus, recalling his conversation with Axel. He felt extremely troubled.

‘I never imagined his obsession with Judith would be so intense…’

It wasn’t a feeling that could be explained by simply saying she was a cherished childhood friend.

Axel was clearly deeply infatuated with Judith in some way. Although he refused to admit it.

At that moment, a student caught his eye as he walked.

Rodein Roziena.

A junior he often met in the remedial class. He was someone who always stuck close to Judith, to the point where Cedric suspected he might like her.

However, he had stopped attending the remedial class recently.

Cedric had been curious about what was going on, and he never expected to run into him here.

To clear his complicated mind from the conversation with Axel, Cedric slowly approached him.

“Hello, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Hello, Senior Cedric.”

Rodein bowed his head in greeting.

Cedric raised a hand to acknowledge the greeting and then scrutinized his complexion, which seemed much more haggard than the last time he saw him.

Their families had some interaction, so even if they weren’t close, they had been aware of each other’s existence for a long time.

But he swore he had never seen him looking so unwell before.

“Why do you look like that? I noticed you haven’t been showing up to the remedial class lately. Are you sick?”

“……”

For some reason, Rodein’s expression became even more sullen. Cedric, trying to lighten the gloomy mood, joked.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you answering? Or did Judith reject you or something?”

But as soon as he said that, Rodein flinched, and tears began to well up in his eyes.

He had only said it because he remembered how Rodein always clung to Judith like a puppy, but to see him react so seriously, 

Could it be—?

“……Did you really get rejected?”

It was like catching a mouse while backing away. Rodein still said nothing.

It seemed he really confessed to Judith and got rejected. Or he found himself in a similar situation.

If he had been too embarrassed to attend the remedial class because of that, everything made sense.

But at the same time, Cedric was puzzled.

What was it about Judith? What was it about that commoner girl that made everyone so interested in her?

Axel and this guy, everyone around him lately seemed incomprehensible. Cedric, feeling a headache coming on, ruffled his hair.

At that moment, Rodein, who had been biting his lip, wiped his tears and asked.

“Why do you think I like Senior Judith? I don’t like her.”

“Make some sense.”

Cedric snorted at Rodein’s belated denial.

“You’re just pretending because you’re embarrassed, right? But what can you do? I’ve already figured you out.”

“I’m not pretending, I really don’t like her. How could I have feelings for a commoner?”

Despite Rodein’s desperate words, Cedric just shrugged his shoulders. He recited Rodein’s usual behavior.

“Yeah, right. You always light up when you see Judith, and your attitude shifts drastically depending on whether she pays attention to you.”

“That’s—”

“You act like a puppy desperate for its owner’s affection. What do you mean you don’t like her?”

Rodein’s shoulders flinched at Cedric’s words.

“That was… an act. I had a reason to pretend to like her.”

Cedric’s expression turned even more incredulous.

“Do you have any other excuse? Why would you act like that?”

When Rodein finally closed his mouth, seemingly out of things to say, Cedric clicked his tongue softly.

Poor guy.

Cedric placed a hand on Rodein’s shoulder and patted it a few times to encourage him.

“Anyway, cheer up. Looking at the results, it’s probably for the best.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You never had a chance with Judith anyway.”

“……?”

Rodein’s eyes filled with questions about Cedric. Having stopped crying, he looked up at Cedric and asked.

“Why are you so sure?”

Cedric twisted his lips for a moment before answering straightforwardly.

Now that he knew Axel’s feelings were firm, he needed to keep any clingers at bay.

“……Because your rival is someone you can’t beat, even if you come back from the dead.”

Cedric didn’t elaborate further and left it at that.

When the bell rang shortly after, he stretched.

“Oh, it’s already this late. I have class, so I need to go. Take care.”

With that, Cedric quickly left. Left alone, Rodein stood there, lost in deep thought.

Do I like Judith?

No, there’s no way I could like her. She’s just a commoner with nothing special except for being good at studying…

Sure, she’s kind of pretty and cute, and she seems quite smart, but just for those reasons, there’s no way I could like her, right?

But…

If Judith really meant nothing to me, my heart wouldn’t have hurt so much from the moment she rejected me.

And I wouldn’t have been struggling with thoughts of Judith all this time.

As soon as he realized this, Rodein’s chest began to ache painfully. Tears welled up in his eyes again.

So that’s what it was. That’s why.

He had unknowingly given his heart to Judith, which was why her every action felt so disappointing and painful.

Having finally realized his feelings, Rodein let out a hollow sigh.

“Ha.”

He tried closing his eyes tightly, unwilling to accept reality, but once he acknowledged his feelings, thoughts of Judith, which he had been trying hard to suppress, began swirling in his mind.

At this moment, he missed Judith terribly. At the same time, he couldn’t bear the thought that his last memory of her was such a miserable one.

Would she take me back if I apologized? 

Having just realized his feelings, he was now faced with the situation of having to give up.

As Rodein wiped his face and let out a pained sigh, Cedric’s words from earlier flashed through his mind.

‘……Because your rival is someone you can’t beat, even if you come back from the dead.’

What did he mean by that?

A rival he couldn’t beat, even if he came back from the dead, wasn’t something common.

Rodein pondered the people who came to mind.

It was certainly not Chase. If Chase were the rival, Cedric wouldn’t have hesitated to reveal his identity.

Then… was he talking about Axel, Judith’s childhood friend? But could such a perfect student council president really…?

However, if it was someone who could have a significant influence on Judith and also knew Cedric, it fit perfectly.

Having stopped crying, Rodein turned his head in the direction Cedric had disappeared.

He felt a sudden urge to chase after him and ask.