Chapter 3.3

Ophelia had considered asking her directly, but she held back. If she wasn’t careful, it might look like she was picking a fight with the woman who had stolen Cedric from her. 

But today, Young Lady Somerset seemed different. She approached Ophelia with a determined expression, as if ready to confront her. 

Seeing Young Lady Somerset glaring at her and drawing closer, Ophelia swallowed nervously. But then, Young Lady Somerset suddenly turned on her heel. 

The moment Cedric came into view, her entire demeanor changed. 

As if she had never been angry, she greeted Cedric with a bright smile and approached him. 

“Cedric, I have plenty of free time today. Shall we spend it together…?” 

“Sorry, I’m busy today.” 

Cedric declined her offer, his gaze shifting toward Ophelia as he spoke. 

His expression, which Ophelia had expected to be indifferent, was different from usual. 

It was almost as if Cedric was more concerned about Ophelia than Young Lady Somerset. His eyes seemed to say.

Don’t misunderstand my relationship with her.

The young ladies nearby, apparently sharing Ophelia’s thoughts, exchanged puzzled glances as they looked back and forth between her and Young Lady Somerset. 

Surely not… could it be…?

Her heart trembled. The atmosphere around her seemed to shift subtly, and Ophelia hurriedly left the area. She could feel the weight of stares on her back, but she pretended not to notice and made her way to the laboratory.

However, Cedric’s gaze from earlier lingered in her mind, circling endlessly.

What was that? Why did he make that face all of a sudden? It’s making things even more awkward.

Ophelia tried to shake off the memory of Cedric’s expression, but it wasn’t easy. Why was it bothering her so much? Was he acting differently toward her on purpose to hide his secret rendezvous?

As she walked, lost in thought about Cedric, Ophelia accidentally bumped into someone. She hadn’t been paying attention to where she was going.

“Ack!”

Losing her balance, Ophelia stumbled and landed hard on her backside.

“Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine.”

She held up her hand to reassure the person who approached her, but in truth, she wasn’t fine at all.

The oversized glasses that had been covering her face had fallen to the ground and cracked. Flustered, Ophelia fumbled around on the floor. The man she had bumped into quickly picked up the glasses and handed them to her.

“Oh no. Are you okay? I’ll replace the glasses for you.”

“No, it’s alright. It was my fault too.”

When she put on her cracked glasses and looked at the man, she realized she had never seen him before at the academy.

His features were unremarkable, with a plain face and common brown hair. He was the kind of person you’d see anywhere. If he hadn’t been wearing a school uniform, she wouldn’t have thought he was a fellow academy student.

It seemed he was as inconspicuous as Ophelia herself, which was probably why she hadn’t noticed him before.

Since she wasn’t seriously hurt, Ophelia decided to quickly resolve the situation and leave. But just as she was about to go, the man spoke.

“The brightest star in the night sky has fallen into your eyes, my lady. Why have you been hiding behind those glasses all this time?”

“What? What are you talking about…?”

It was the first time anyone had complimented her appearance. Not being particularly immune to such remarks, Ophelia found herself cringing and unable to listen to him any further.

“You’re so beautiful. Why cover your face? It’s a waste.”

Why does he keep saying such strange things? Does he think all women enjoy hearing this kind of nonsense?

She didn’t want to continue the conversation. What kind of person says such cheesy things? Whatever he was eating, it must have been fueling his ridiculous words. Feeling nauseated, she decided it was best to leave as soon as possible.

“Another time, maybe… Ugh!”

Her muscles must have been strained, as she couldn’t stand up properly. The man approached and helped her up.

“Take my hand. I’ll assist you to wherever you’re headed.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be okay in a little while. I have class soon anyway.”

Thinking she would recover in a few minutes, Ophelia tried to decline his offer.

“I can’t just leave when you’ve been hurt because of me. For you, my lady, I’d even pluck the stars from the sky.”

What does helping me walk have to do with stars from the sky?

Realizing that arguing would only lead to more nauseating remarks, Ophelia reluctantly accepted his help and headed to the infirmary. After all, it wouldn’t hurt to get checked out, just in case.

As Ophelia leaned on the man’s arm and walked, there were people watching them from a distance. Those onlookers exchanged knowing smiles and meaningful glances.

* * *

“Ophelia, is it true?”

As soon as class ended, Nina rushed over and grabbed Ophelia’s arm with a look of urgency.

What’s going on? Could it be that Nina heard about the love potion?

If someone like Nina, who usually paid little attention to gossip, had caught wind of it, it likely meant the rumor had spread to most of the academy. How had it spread so quickly?

As Ophelia stared at Nina, lost in thought, Nina said something completely unexpected.

“Ophelia, do you have a boyfriend?”

“What are you talking about?”

Startled by the sudden question, Ophelia tilted her head in confusion.

“Before class, you were seen walking arm-in-arm with your lover across the campus! Why didn’t you tell me you had someone?”

“What? Me? That’s impossible. I still have a fiancé—why would I cheat? Who told you such nonsense?”

Unable to stay calm, Ophelia stammered as she spoke.

“What? Oh, it’s not true?”

“Absolutely not.”

When Ophelia adamantly denied it, Nina’s face took on a puzzled expression. Then, as if questioning.

What’s the rumor I heard, then?

She looked at Ophelia with curiosity.

“With a fiancé, there’s no way I’d engage in behavior that draws attention.”

“Well, that’s true. You hate standing out.”

Nina nodded in understanding and continued speaking.

“Then what’s this rumor about? Why do they say you were linking arms with someone?”

“I bumped into a male student earlier and fell. He helped me to the infirmary.”

“Oh, now that you mention it, your glasses are cracked.”

Nina’s eyes widened as she belatedly noticed the crack in Ophelia’s glasses.

“They fell to the ground when I bumped into him.”

All that had happened was that she received his help and went to the infirmary. How had such a rumor spread? The whole incident had lasted no more than 15 minutes, and yet there was already talk of her having a lover. How could this make sense?

“Could the rumor have started during the short time he was helping you?”

“That seems to be the case.”

But why? Why would such an absurd story spread? It was clear that someone had intentionally started the rumor with malicious intent.

“Do you know who spread the rumor?”

“How would I know?”

As Nina pondered for a moment, she suddenly remembered something and spoke up.

“Oh. They were talking loudly on purpose, as if they wanted to be overheard.”

“Who?”

“Lady Grafton’s group. They kept talking about you.”

They were close associates of Young Lady Somerset. So, it was highly likely that the culprit behind the rumor was Young Lady Somerset. Considering the malicious glances she had been sending Ophelia recently; it wasn’t surprising to suspect her.

However, if Young Lady Somerset was indeed the culprit, it raised questions. Although they had been rivals over Cedric, wasn’t Young Lady Somerset now the victor? Since she was doing well with Cedric, there was no reason for her to continue tearing Ophelia down.

Shouldn’t she stop paying attention to her by now?