You at the End of Eternity

Chapter 2

As Lynette Aterne ran a hand over her face and calculated just how much longer her stay had been extended, the carriage slowly came to a stop.

The moment she stepped out, her expression had already gone blank once more.

Wearing a polite, social smile out of obligation, Lynette approached the tall figure waiting for her. Standing before the man wearing the insignia of a Magic Tower researcher, she met his pale green eyes and spoke.

“Hello. I’m Lynette Aterne, the person assigned to guide you during this dispatch.”

She had been certain he would be surprised.

Perhaps, after seeing her, he might even decide to turn back.

After all, they had not parted on good terms. And more than anything, he could not possibly have known that Lynette would be the one to meet him.

Yet Carlisle Preston betrayed her expectations beautifully.

A strange smile spread across his face as he held out his hand.

“It’s a pleasure. I’m Carlisle Preston. You’re just as beautiful as I heard.”

Wearing a flawless smile, Carlisle looked exactly the same as he had during their Academy days.

Those naturally pale features of his.

Light blond hair, emerald-colored eyes, a tall frame that seemed slightly lean, yet carried an untouchable aura the closer one stood to him.

Rather than handsome, beautiful suited him far better.

Lynette slowly looked him over.

She had loved that appearance.

The slightly long hair brushing against his neck, the way the corners of his eyes softened when he smiled, the straight line of his nose, the full lips beneath it, and even the blind devotion in the way he acted as though she were the only person in the world.

All of it.

She had loved him.

Lynette twisted her lips into a smile.

‘You lunatic.’

Swallowing those words inwardly, Lynette Aterne silently stared at the hand extended toward her before eventually turning away and walking ahead.

Behind her, accompanied by the sound of footsteps following after, she heard a quiet snicker of laughter.

But she did not look back.

Throughout the carriage ride to the residence prepared for him, Lynette remained silent.

As the scenery outside the window gradually became more familiar, an uneasy feeling settled over her.

It felt as though continuing to work alongside Carlisle Preston from now on would not be easy.

In truth, she wanted to avoid him.

After breaking up with him, Lynette had not been alright at all.

Because she had been left with nothing.

Terrified that the Duke of Aterne might destroy Carlisle as well, she had pushed him away. She was even the one who secretly connected him to House Clifford so he could continue receiving support without the duke finding out.

The hardest moment of all had been when she told him they should break up.

Because she thought persuading him would be difficult.

But surprisingly, Carlisle had not tried to stop her.

Considering he had even resolved to leave Ortia together with her, she had believed making him give up would be the hardest part.

Yet Carlisle accepted the breakup far too easily and left her behind without resistance.

As though he had wanted things to end this way from the beginning.

As though every moment he had acted blindly devoted to her—like she was the only person in his world—had never existed at all.

From that day onward, there was nothing Lynette could do except obsess over leaving Ortia.

If she failed, she would be married off like property into a family far worse than the marriage proposals she had received before entering the Academy.

She had to leave this country before that happened.

But Carlisle was different.

Rather than falling apart, he flourished even more under the sponsorship of House Clifford instead of House Aterne.

And as a result, she now found herself facing him again—this time as a Magic Tower researcher while she served as the crown prince’s aide.

To make matters worse, Elaine had even assigned Carlisle’s residence directly beside Lynette’s.

“Wouldn’t this be more convenient? You’ll be working together often from now on, after all.”

Recalling Elaine’s words, Lynette Aterne swallowed a faint sigh and turned her gaze toward Carlisle Preston.

As though he had been waiting for her to look at him, his eyes were fixed solely on her.

Those pale green eyes had already darkened deeply.

The moment she looked into them—eyes that seemed to hold an entire forest within—the sharp words she had been suppressing slipped from her lips.

“Why did it have to be you?”

Rather than being offended by the thorny tone in her voice, Carlisle smiled as though amused.

Lynette’s expression crumpled instantly.

Carlisle had always enjoyed moments like this, when she let her true feelings show.

Especially when they were raw and unrefined.

He’s still insane.

The memory of the first time she met Carlisle surfaced over those summer-forest eyes.

“You’re second place? Nice to meet you.”

After standing beside her on the platform to receive their awards, he had greeted Lynette warmly as they stepped down together.

But Lynette had disliked Carlisle from the very beginning.

Even though she knew rationally that her own shortcomings were to blame, the resentment and anger she felt had all been directed toward Carlisle—the one who had taken first place.

Though Lynette Aterne had mastered the art of acting like a noble lady admired by all, whenever she was alone with Carlisle Preston, she would cast that mask aside completely.

Unexpectedly, Carlisle liked that side of her.

Even if people accused her of being improper for a duke’s daughter or called her two-faced, he only smiled brightly at the version of her that lacked any elegance.

Looking at him, Lynette had often thought he was a lunatic she would never understand.

“What a shame. I ended up defeating such a noble duke’s daughter.”

It was Carlisle who constantly spoke to Lynette as she ignored him endlessly.

And whenever she dismissed him, he deliberately kept provoking her.

Carlisle—the commoner who placed first while being sponsored by a ducal house—and Lynette, the duke’s precious daughter who ranked second, were paired together and became the center of attention everywhere they went.

At some point, Lynette even began to find comfort in Carlisle, the one person before whom she could completely reveal her true feelings.

Because even after seeing her real self, he remained unfazed.

And that frightened her.

She hated the idea of opening her heart to someone more than death itself.

Pretending not to care, pretending she had been raised with love and privilege, constantly wrapping herself in masks and polished appearances—it was becoming harder and harder to endure.

And Carlisle, the one who caused that change, made her uncomfortable.

Soon enough, she was given a chance to push him away.

Because Carlisle himself made the proposal first.

“Do you want to beat me that badly, Lynette Aterne?”

“Carlisle Preston. Just because you’re slightly better at studying than I am, you think you’re something special? Stop talking to me and get out of my life.”

“If you beat me, I’ll disappear from your life forever. But if you lose to me again… I don’t think that’ll happen. So? Are you confident this time?”

“If I take first place, you’ll disappear?”

“Yeah. Forever from your side. Then first place at the Royal Academy will finally belong to you.”

That year, Lynette failed to defeat Carlisle.

And throughout her entire time at the Academy, she remained second place.

In exchange, Lynette had to give more and more of herself to Carlisle.

“How about we study together? I could help you, you know. Why are you trying to work with an idiot like Louis Napier? I thought you were smart. Guess I was wrong.”

“And stop hanging around that b*stard Napier. He’s the type who’d stab you in the back.”

Contrary to what she had expected—that studying together would only distract her—Carlisle turned out to be an incredibly diligent student.

Whenever they sat across from each other in the reading room, the scratching sound of pen against paper and the soft rustle of turning pages would endlessly continue.

And whenever those sounds suddenly stopped, Lynette would look up.

Every single time, his eyes were already on her.

Unlike the sharpness hidden in his words, his gaze held only her with blind devotion.

Before she realized it, Lynette found herself constantly chasing after Carlisle.

And eventually, she had him.

The very first thing in her life that had ever truly belonged to her.

Carlisle Preston was.

Lynette Aterne squeezed her eyes shut tightly, as though trying to force herself to stop thinking any further.

She did not want to remember anymore.

Even with her eyes closed, she could still feel his gaze on her.

And soon, Carlisle Preston’s voice reached her ears.

“Lynette, have you finally decided to acknowledge me again?”