Chapter 53

When Judith felt a small joy at reconciling with Rodein, he broke the silence.

“If it’s not too rude to ask, may I ask you one more question?”

“……What is it?”

“Did you reject me because you have a fiancé, or is it because there’s someone else you like?”

At those words, it felt as if the blood running through her veins turned cold.

Judith was about to say no, but Rodein spoke first, as if he already knew.

“I’m sorry. When you like someone, you naturally become sensitive to their affairs, and by following you around, I naturally found out.”

……I see. 

Well, she knew what Axel liked and disliked better than anyone else.

She had already been caught by Cedric about her feelings, so she thought it was something others could notice too.

But at this point, it didn’t matter if people found out she liked Axel.

Everyone already knew she was soon to marry Chase, and she planned to completely let go of her feelings for Axel.

Then Rodein slowly continued.

“But it seems like you’re experiencing a difficult love, just like me. You’re in love with Senior Axel, yet you’re engaged to someone else……”

He looked at Judith with worried eyes and then said,

“But I hope you won’t go through the same hardships I did. I mean it.”

“……Thank you.”

His words reminded her of the fact that she had agreed to attend the summer party with Axel, and her heart grew heavy.

After seeing Rodein off, Judith looked up at the sky that was slowly turning black.

The darkness descending, much like her mood, made her heart ache.

* * *

Chase had only intended to make a simple proposal to Judith. He was sincere.

Because as he was being led away by Hannah past the dormitory wall, he suddenly had this thought.

‘I gave Judith cookies as a token of gratitude for her help, but I haven’t really compensated for my mistakes.’

He apologized after hearing the story from Hannah, but Judith’s expression seemed somewhat unsatisfied, which bothered him.

He felt an inexplicable urge to make amends in another way. Soon he came up with a good idea.

‘Since Judith likes sweet things, what if I invite her to a nice dessert shop over the weekend?’

With that, Chase turned back towards where Judith had been earlier.

From a distance, he could see Judith still talking with Rodein. Chase furrowed his brows instantly.

‘That guy, seriously……’

Starting with visiting on the same day and even bringing the same gift, everything about him was displeasing.

Chase, grumbling about how he’d never met someone so unlucky, waited quietly around the corner for their conversation to end.

He planned to approach them as soon as their talk was over.

But whether it was because the surroundings were unusually quiet that day, or because their conversation was loud.

Soon, he heard something unbelievable from Rodein, very clearly.

“But it seems like you’re experiencing a difficult love, just like me. You’re in love with Senior Axel, yet you’re engaged to someone else……”

Chase, who had more developed senses than most people, couldn’t have misheard. He stared at the two beyond the corner with surprised eyes.

To his amazement, Judith didn’t deny Rodein’s words. It was as if she was acknowledging them as truth.

Why, at that moment, did all the strength suddenly leave his body? Chase slumped down to the ground.

He didn’t care in the slightest that his uniform was getting dirty.

Even if someone passed by and saw him in such a pathetic state, surprisingly, he had no thoughts at all.

He was just dazed. His heart hurt as if it had been slashed.

‘You’re in love with Senior Axel, yet you’re engaged to someone else……’

Rodein’s voice seemed to echo again in his ears.

Then, Judith’s voice was heard again. She was saying goodbye to Rodein, telling him to meet at the next supplementary class.

Chase, coming to his senses, awkwardly stood up.

And a moment later, as Rodein walked around the corner, Chase quickly grabbed his sleeve.

Rodein looked startled, as if frightened, at the sudden grasp and turned to see who it was. Realizing it was Chase, he was about to scream in shock.

“Uh-.”

“Shh.”

But before he could, Chase’s quick hand covered his mouth.

When Rodein looked at him, asking why he was waiting here, Chase, unusually silent, spoke after a long pause.

“The conversation you just had with Judith……”

Then he swallowed hard and added,

“Tell me what it was about.”

* * *

Judith propped her chin on her palm, staring blankly at the two golden cookie boxes on her desk.

They looked identical but were gifts from different people.

She reached out, picked up the box closer to her, and unwrapped it. The room was soon filled with a sweet aroma.

Judith picked up the most appetizing-looking cookie from the box.

The pleasant sweetness lingered in her mouth until Hannah returned from her walk.

Hannah, entering the room, scrutinized Judith’s face and asked,

“Did Rodein leave?”

“Yeah.”

Judith replied simply and offered the cookies. Hannah initially refused, but upon Judith’s insistence that there were too many, she reluctantly accepted.

As Hannah nibbled on the cookie, she suddenly asked,

“Can I ask what you talked about with Rodein?”

Judith looked at Hannah. Meeting her golden eyes, Hannah laughed awkwardly, 

“I was just curious.”

Judith had a vague idea why Hannah was curious about her conversation with Rodein.

During the four years they shared a room, Hannah’s friends had visited, but Judith’s friends never came to see her.

Judith only had Hannah as someone she could call a friend, so it was natural.

So it was understandable for Hannah to be curious about unexpected visitors like today.

Of course, now that she had reconciled with Rodein and they had truly become friends, it wasn’t incorrect.

“We didn’t talk about much. Rodein apologized for a small mistake he made, and I accepted his apology.”

“Oh, really? I’m glad it ended well.”

“……I guess so.”

The conversation should have ended well, but Rodein had discovered that she had a crush on Axel.

After keeping it hidden for ten years, it was being discovered one after another recently……. It felt like she was cursed.

But unaware of Judith’s complicated situation, Hannah seemed happy with her answer. Then she exclaimed, “Ah!” and asked another question.

“By the way, why did you come back to the dorm so late today?”

At that, Judith tried to maintain a nonchalant expression and answered calmly.

“It’s nothing. I just…… went to visit Axel in the infirmary.”

The image of Axel lying quietly with his eyes closed flashed through her mind. Judith shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts.

“Oh, really? You were late because you visited him. I heard Axel hasn’t regained consciousness yet. How is he? Did he look okay?”

“Hmm……”

Judith hesitated for a moment.

How should I answer? Should I say Axel regained consciousness when I visited and we talked about various things?

But she didn’t want to go into detail about their conversation, so she decided to feign ignorance.

“Yeah. He hasn’t woken up yet. I just watched him sleep for a while and left. But they say he’ll wake up soon.”

“I see. I hope he regains consciousness soon.”

A pang of guilt pricked her conscience for lying to Hannah. Regardless, Hannah continued to chatter about other topics.

“I heard from someone that the Student Council is in a panic right now. Without Axel, all their plans are a mess.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, they say the summer party schedule might be delayed. It might end up being held in the fall instead of summer.”

Hearing that made her realize how much Axel had been doing. No wonder he fainted so helplessly this time.

Without Axel, the academy’s event planning was in disarray.

“Even if the Student Council tries to proceed without Axel, he’s the only one who understands most of the current status. So, preparations are going to be much slower.”