Chapter 11
Young Master Nesferos buried his head into his arms, which were resting on the desk, after turning his gaze toward Iberia. Iberia quietly observed his silver hair for a moment before averting her eyes to focus on memorizing the irregular conjugations of the ancient language.
When the professor entered the room shortly after, Iberia hurriedly closed her book. Young Master Nesferos remained slumped over.
She had no way of knowing whether he studied or not, but at least he always seemed to pay attention in class. Today, however, was different.
Iberia jotted down what the professor was saying in her notes while occasionally glancing toward Young Master Nesferos.
Until the very end of the lecture, the Young Master didn’t lift his head even once.
As she organized the lecture notes, Iberia cast a quick glance in his direction. The other students who had stayed behind, hoping to speak to the Young Master, eventually gave up and left. Now, only the two of them remained in the lecture hall.
A cautious voice echoed through the empty space.
“Young Master.”
There was no response.
Iberia swallowed hard and stepped closer before calling out to him again.
“Young Master Nesferos, class is over.”
Still, there was no reply. Iberia squeezed her eyes shut.
If he doesn’t answer this time, I’ll just leave.
Gathering her courage, Iberia called out to him one last time, this time a little louder.
“Young Master!”
“Huh? What?”
Ruffling his hair, he finally raised his upper body. Though his voice was slightly hoarse, it didn’t sound groggy. Young Master Nesferos had impeccable timing, as always.
Iberia bit her lip briefly before releasing it. His gaze followed the movement of her lips before returning to her eyes.
“I was just letting you know that class is over.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. Don’t answer that.”
As always, his words lacked context, and his questions came out of nowhere.
Before Iberia could even think of a response, Young Master Nesferos dismissed the topic entirely.
Haphazardly gathering his books, he strode out of the lecture hall with his long legs.
Still mulling over his question, Iberia collected her own books and notes before stepping outside.
“……Ah.”
Right in front of the lecture hall door, Young Master Nesferos was leaning against the wall at an angle.
Focused on her notebook, Iberia nearly bumped into him and flinched in surprise.
Meeting her wide, startled eyes, the Young Master touched his cheek and tilted his head slightly.
“Do you know any students at the academy who enjoy gossiping about others? Whether it’s about me or…….”
For once, his sentence trailed off.
In truth, most students at the academy were deeply interested in anything related to Young Master Nesferos. Even her friend Cynthia was immensely curious about him.
Because of that, Iberia couldn’t give him a clear answer.
Young Master Nesferos took a step closer to her.
“Never mind, don’t think about it. It’s fine.”
“I’m sorry.”
His voice, sounding unusually gentle, made Iberia’s gaze wander aimlessly.
He spoke again.
“Take breaks when you need to, alright?”
“……I’ll try.”
Iberia hadn’t been able to answer his earlier question properly, so she cautiously gave a positive response while watching his expression.
She didn’t particularly like the Young Master’s advice, which didn’t feel like advice at all, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Iberia bit her lip lightly.
***
The mental exhaustion was overwhelming. Iberia repeatedly ran her fingers through her hair.
Reaching instinctively toward the side of her desk, she realized she had already consumed her last potion after dinner. Sighing, Iberia drank some water she had set aside.
Beyond the curtain she had installed to block out the light, she could hear Cynthia’s steady breathing.
Without a word, Iberia dimmed the brightness of her desk lamp.
After rubbing her face with her hands, she tightly closed her eyes before reopening them and turning her gaze back to her book.
There wasn’t much time left until the exam.
She desperately wanted to surpass Young Master Nesferos.
Even though she knew how difficult it would be, she wanted to win. For the first time, Iberia had found someone who ignited her competitive spirit. Even if it was practically impossible, she couldn’t help but try.
The light from her desk lamp and the moon were the only sources of illumination as the night wore on.
Eventually, the sky outside began to brighten.
She had intended to catch some sleep, but in the end, it wasn’t until dawn that she managed to finish studying the material she had planned to review.
Iberia pressed her fingers gently over her eyelids.
Since attending the academy, this was the first time she had reduced her sleep to this extent.
When time was physically insufficient, the first thing to be cut was sleep. The next was meal times.
With her well-trained mental fortitude, Iberia barely managed to endure the morning classes.
Feeling the need for fresh air to clear her mind, Iberia headed toward the walking path she often visited with Cynthia after lunch. Of course, she brought along her ever-present book and notebook.
Finding a spot with just the right amount of sunlight, Iberia sat down and lowered her gaze to the book she had brought.
“Why don’t I understand this?”
Rubbing her forehead, she closed her eyes tightly and swept her hair back.
Normally, she was a positive person. On any other day, she would have thought it was good to discover what she didn’t know in advance and moved on.
But now, Iberia couldn’t hide her growing anxiety.
“I need to focus.”
She furrowed her brow and lightly slapped her cheeks with both hands.
Being the top student at the academy—wouldn’t it be enough to simply ace all the exams?
Of course, the exams were notoriously difficult, and she had never scored perfectly in any subject. Still, wouldn’t it be possible if she studied perfectly?
Iberia worked hard to steel her resolve.
At that moment, a familiar yet unfamiliar presence spoke to her.
“It’s been a while.”
The voice carried a moderate weight, as if they had run into each other by chance.
Hurriedly standing up, Iberia bowed her head in greeting, her gaze naturally dropping to the ground.
Her stiffened muscles screamed in protest.
Worried that her voice might tremble, Iberia steadied herself. Thankfully, the words that came out sounded composed.
“Greetings to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Don’t greet me like that. This is the academy, after all.”
Iberia responded by bowing her head slightly deeper.
The Crown Prince scanned her briefly before crossing his arms and speaking.
“You don’t have to push yourself too hard.”
“Yes.”
“It won’t be of any use to your future anyway.”
She didn’t know what he meant by that, but Iberia simply bowed her head even deeper.
When uncertain about how to respond, the safest action was to remain neutral.
Whatever the Crown Prince said, it had little impact on her current circumstances.
They had no connection, and he was merely a stranger commenting on her situation.
Even if he had investigated her background and knew her current situation, he wouldn’t understand her state of mind.
Motivations and context could only be fully known by the person involved.
Iberia thought briefly about this.
“You’re not listening, are you?”
The Crown Prince smiled with narrowed eyes.
At this moment, Iberia’s face was turned away from him, so she couldn’t tell whether he had said it because he had guessed her thoughts or simply as a passing remark.
Iberia frowned slightly before crafting a calm tone.
“That’s not true.”
“You’ll understand what I mean later……. Anyway, I look forward to seeing how you’ll do.”
The Crown Prince removed his glove and extended his hand for a handshake.
Iberia hesitated for a moment, then took a small breath and grasped his hand.
As soon as their hands touched, the Crown Prince’s expression subtly changed.
It was a change Iberia, who kept her gaze lowered, didn’t notice.
After releasing her hand and stepping away, the Crown Prince left.
Iberia held her trembling hand with the other.
Both in the past and now, his hand was warm.
***
Iberia didn’t spare her body.
It only caused concern for those around her.
Sitting on a bench along the walking path after lunch, Cynthia, holding a drink in one hand, looked toward where Iberia sat.
Already pale by nature, Iberia’s face had grown even paler, to the point where, if compared, a sheet of paper would seem darker.
Cynthia had practically kidnapped her to force her to rest, yet Iberia had still managed to bring study materials with her.
Cynthia couldn’t figure out where that tiny notebook had come from, considering she hadn’t given Iberia any time to grab anything before dragging her away.
For a brief moment, Cynthia debated whether to snatch the notebook away but instead decided to speak to Iberia.
“You’re pushing yourself way too hard this time.”
“Yeah…….”
“If you keep this up, you’re going to collapse.”
“Mm…….”
Iberia’s eyes scanned the sheet where she had organized formulas.
Although she had memorized the main formulas, she still hadn’t perfectly learned the secondary ones.
To be honest, as the exam drew closer, her anxiety only grew.
She knew that comparing herself to others would only eat away at her, yet she couldn’t stop comparing herself to Young Master Nesferos.
More, more effort was needed.
If she didn’t want her efforts to betray her, she had to keep going.
By now, she felt that she needed good results just to justify the sleep she had sacrificed.
It was a ruthlessly result-oriented mindset, but it was the conclusion Iberia had reached.
To avoid unnecessary thoughts, she pushed herself even harder.
Iberia bit her lip again.
Perhaps she had developed a resistance to potions, as she kept feeling sleepy.
Letting out a small sigh, Iberia stood up.
To shake off her drowsiness, she decided to walk while studying.
But just as she took her first step, the world spun around her.
Iberia lowered her head abruptly.
Her hand, clutching the sheet of paper, trembled violently.
Though the weather was warm, cold sweat drenched her body.
Sensing something was wrong, Cynthia quickly stood up in alarm.
“Iberia!”
It was as if someone had distorted the sound waves, leaving only a dull buzzing in her ears.
Her head felt submerged in icy water.
Her eyes felt cold.
Her vision turned white, then black.
And then, Iberia’s body collapsed in an instant.
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VeeQuo
It’s kinda slow but this is an interesting story, mostly because of how unreliable a narrator Iberia is. I really should’ve let this build up some chapters, but I’m so curious about her (lost?) memory and whatever happened in the past, feels like a big open secret that these three know but aren’t talking about. Like Iberia give yourself (and us) a break I beg 😩