Chapter 52

“Why did you deliberately hide it? Were you worried I might feel guilty or something?”

Chase, muttering to himself as if tormented by something, still showed no sign of guilt.

But what had been bothering me for a while now was—why is his face so red?

If you looked only at his face, it seemed oddly out of place, as though he were shy or something…

Thinking that was an absurd assumption, Hannah scolded him sharply.

“So, if you’re human, you should feel some guilt towards Judith!”

It was then. Chase nodded deeply at Hannah’s words and said,

“Hmm, listening to you, I think I’ve done something terrible to Judith. I should apologize right away.”

“……Huh? Apologize?”

Hannah was momentarily dumbfounded by the unexpected reaction.

* * *

Judith, who had been watching Axel sleep for a long time, finally managed to leave the recovery room.

She hadn’t exchanged many words with him, yet she felt as if all her energy had been drained.

As Judith walked weakly towards the women’s dormitory, an unexpected scene unfolded before her eyes.

“……Am I dreaming?”

She voiced her thoughts aloud, which she had initially only thought to herself in disbelief.

And for good reason—people who shouldn’t be there were standing in front of her.

Chase and Rodein.

Why were those two boys standing in front of the women’s dormitory, and with her roommate Hannah, no less?

Judith stopped in her tracks, watching them bicker from a distance.

At that moment, Hannah, who turned her head, noticed Judith and approached with an awkward smile.

“Judith!”

Judith clutched her head, which felt like it had been pierced by cold ice, and barely managed to speak.

“What is going on here?”

“Well, you see.”

The story Hannah told was as follows:

Chase and Rodein had come to the dormitory to meet Judith.

But since Judith was returning home late today, they were waiting with Hannah while chatting.

But why had Chase and Rodein gone out of their way to look for Judith?

Truthfully, Judith found Rodein a bit uncomfortable and had been intentionally avoiding looking in his direction.

She knew Rodein had been staring at her, but she pretended not to notice.

It was quite awkward.

Judith decided to talk to Chase first, as he seemed the less awkward option.

“Chase, what brings you here so late? If you had something to say, you could have said it during class earlier.”

Chase hesitated for a moment and then suddenly held out something in his hand.

It was a box wrapped in luxurious golden paper. It seemed he wouldn’t stop holding it out until she took it, so Judith accepted it.

“I meant to come earlier, but the line was longer than expected. You helped me with punishment cleaning last time, so this is a token of gratitude. And…”

Chase trailed off, turning his head. She could see his ears turning red beneath his silver hair.

Then he scratched his head, hesitated for a long time, and finally spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

Judith tilted her head at the unexpected apology.

“Suddenly?”

“I said something harsh to you in the past. I wanted to apologize for that.”

“Harsh words?”

Judith tried to recall her memories with Chase but couldn’t think of anything specific.

“You don’t have to pretend. I’ve finally realized how awful my behavior towards you has been.”

Looking into his earnest eyes, Judith felt as though her relationship with Chase had reverted to how it used to be.

As if they were back in the days when no matter how much she denied it, he would delude himself into thinking she liked him…

What on earth led him to such a misunderstanding again?

At that moment, Judith noticed Hannah looking at them anxiously.

She felt like she understood the situation instantly.

“……Well, okay. I’ll gratefully accept the gift.”

After accepting the gift, Judith reluctantly turned to the other person.

As soon as their eyes met, Rodein softly called her name.

“Senior Judith.”

With eyes that seemed to glisten with moisture, he was earnestly calling out to her.

Just as she found Rodein uncomfortable, he probably felt the same about her.

Why then did Rodein come looking for me?

Did he come to put a commoner who had been rude to him in his place?

But that didn’t seem right, as Rodein appeared very humble in Judith’s eyes. He seemed like a puppy lying flat on the floor, belly down.

After hesitating for a while, Rodein sought permission from Hannah and Chase.

“Could you give us a moment alone?”

“What? Why should I—”

“Alright.”

Hannah nodded. She gestured to Rodein as if saying, “Good luck!” and dragged Chase away.

Chase tried to resist, but seeing that Judith didn’t stop them, he had no choice but to be dragged along.

Soon, an awkward silence settled between the two.

Then Rodein suddenly held something out to Judith. It was the same gift she had received from Chase earlier.

“These are cookies. I bought them to express my apology, even if it’s just a small gesture.”

As Judith blinked at the golden wrapping, Rodein flinched and added,

“I didn’t expect Senior Chase to bring the same gift. I’m sorry for the overlap.”

“No, thank you.”

It wasn’t polite to refuse a gift, so she accepted what he offered.

Rodein’s expression brightened a little upon seeing that.

Judith, rolling her eyes, finally spoke first.

“But didn’t Rodesha deliver it? The summary notes.”

No matter how she thought about it, that seemed to be the only reason Rodein would come, so she had to ask.

But Rodein, unexpectedly, looked hurt and lowered his gaze.

“Actually, I have something to say about that.”

“What is it?”

“……Well.”

After hesitating for a moment, he closed his eyes tightly and spoke rapidly.

“It’s really embarrassing to say this, but I initially approached you with impure intentions…!”

He continued, looking at Judith with puppy-like eyes.

“Because I heard from my sister, a member of the Roziena family, that she never came first because of you. I wanted to help her in some small way, so I ended up having bad thoughts.”

After finishing his confession, Rodein hung his head low. Meanwhile, Judith’s eyes widened as she listened to his true feelings.

So it wasn’t about the summary notes. It was for Rodesha.

She still felt it was despicable to deceive her, but she found his concern for his sister touching.

“So I initially wanted to hinder you, but as we spent more time together, I began to respect you as a person…”

Rodein glanced at her cautiously and then concluded his speech.

“And eventually… I started to like you romantically.”

“What?”

Judith was startled and grimaced at his continued confession. 

Could it be that his previous confession wasn’t a lie?

“……I don’t know exactly when I started liking you, but…”

Saying that, Rodein lowered his head again, hiding his moist eyes. Judith blinked and finally asked,

“Then why didn’t you attend the supplementary class until now?”

“……Well, I was too embarrassed to face you, so I couldn’t bring myself to attend the supplementary class.”

“…….”

“I know you might be disappointed and upset with me, but if you’re okay with it, I’d like to remain good seniors and juniors… I know it might make you uncomfortable, but I had to come and say this.”

“…….”

Such sudden words.

Judith didn’t know how to react, so she fidgeted with her fingertips. But she couldn’t drag it out indefinitely.

After organizing her thoughts, she spoke.

“Well, I have a fiancé, so I can’t accept your feelings… But thank you for having the courage to come and apologize.”

Judith erased the wary look from her eyes and smiled as she continued.

“You’re Rodesha’s brother, and we’ve spent time together, so I felt uncomfortable with how things were. I’m glad we had the chance to clear things up.”

In truth, it would be a lie to say she hadn’t developed any feelings during their time together.

Rodein had always been earnest in her classes, made the atmosphere pleasant, and made her laugh.

Although she had been reluctant to keep him close because she couldn’t discern his true intentions, his honest confession quickly dispelled any lingering awkwardness.