There's a Reason for Everything.
There's a Reason for Everything.
The airport was wrapped in silence.
Kang Han-na, the students, the other passengers, and the gathered reporters all wore dazed expressions.
"Kang Han-na."
A clear, not overly loud voice.
The tone, which stirred hearts regardless of gender, snapped everyone out of their trance. They pricked up their ears and turned toward the sound.
A tall man dressed head to toe in black, save for a pair of ridiculous glasses adorned with swirling patterns.
"Do you also wish to roll on the floor?"
"...Huh? Ah, n-no!! I don't!!"
Baek Woo-jin's voice burrowed into her mind with an uncanny clarity. Regaining her senses, Kang Han-na answered immediately.
Click-clack— Click-clack—
Even the sound of his footsteps was infused with an air of refinement.
"Oh...."
Kang Han-na looked up at Baek Woo-jin, who had approached without her noticing, and swallowed dryly.
'He's... really something else.'
Her mouth went bone-dry from the oppressive force radiating from him, even though he was merely standing still.
The aura he projected was completely different from when she had met him at the academy.
"Proceed according to the schedule."
"Haah... Understood."
Kang Han-na steadied her breathing and composed her expression.
"We're moving on."
"Yes...!!"
The students, having regained some composure, answered forcefully and followed behind Kang Han-na.
"Only Jaden stays. The rest of the professors, move along as well."
The professors, who had been standing blankly behind them, scurried after the quickly retreating students the moment Baek Woo-jin's order came.
Jaden watched the group disappear swiftly, then approached Baek Woo-jin.
His face showed a hint of exhaustion.
But his gaze as he stared at the unconscious Prince Jossi and the frozen reporters was utterly indifferent.
As if to prove it.
"If you have no particular outcome in mind, I'll handle it as I see fit."
Jaden looked down flatly at the unconscious Prince Jossi, as if it were nothing worth mentioning.
"Leave it to you."
"Yes. There won't be any major uproar."
Baek Woo-jin clapped Jaden once on the shoulder, then slowly walked in the direction the students had vanished.
The tall man gradually receded into the distance.
The reporters, having come to their senses, did not dare to raise their cameras at him.
Furthermore, the airport police who had gathered as the commotion unfolded could only hold their breath and watch his departing back.
Now alone, Jaden pulled a smartphone from his pocket and walked toward the Second Prince.
The Second Prince, inferior in every way to the First Prince Arthur, except in legitimacy of succession.
'Foolish man. If you're stupid, you'd at least benefit from having good instincts.'
Did the First Prince truly not know that Claire Vin Asen was participating in this procession?
It was information easily verified simply by checking the list submitted to the Association.
So why couldn't this idiot realize that the First Prince's inaction meant there was a valid reason to avoid meddling?
-Yes, Vice Tower Lord.
"I'm going to send a draft by mail. Deliver the content to the Royal Family exactly as written."
-It's regarding Prince Jossi. I'll draft something appropriate under the Tower Lord's name.
Jaden settled onto the edge of his suitcase and began moving his fingers.
[ Content: The Second Prince harassed a student under the protection of Claire Vin Asen. ]
One could argue that a man pressing his lips to a woman's hand was merely a noble's greeting. But what did that matter?
The saying "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" was a relic of the past.
'Power dictates the law.'
And even if his side chose not to intervene....
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
At the sound of brisk, alert footsteps, Jaden looked up.
Royal guards bearing the Royal Family crest on their chests had already surrounded the area.
Shhng—!!
The guards parted to the left and right, and a slender young man with neatly styled blonde hair stepped forward.
Thick brows and strikingly distinct features.
"It seems my younger brother has committed a discourtesy."
First Prince Arthur Philip.
He offered a slight bow of his head.
'A country I truly cannot bring myself to like.'
Jaden wanted nothing more than to return to the hotel immediately.
**
Ivory marble and red carpets covered the floor.
"I'll send tomorrow's schedule by mail. Don't leave the hotel grounds, and rest up on your own. Dismissed!"
Beneath the light of a dazzling chandelier, the students pulled their own suitcases and headed for the elevators.
"You seem to be in a good mood?"
"Ah, d-do I look... that way?"
At Yoon I-seul's question, Baek Ha-na, who was at the front of the group, ended up revealing a faint smile.
It lasted only a moment, but the smile was so dazzling it seemed to brighten everything around her.
Ding-
The doors of six elevators opened simultaneously, and the higher-ranked students gathered around Baek Ha-na and boarded one together.
"Wow, there are so many buttons."
Baek Ha-na blinked at the panel of buttons reaching up to the 20th floor. Yoon I-seul smiled gently and pressed the button for the 19th floor.
The doors closed, and the elevator ascended without a sound.
"Ha-na."
"Hm?"
"You're going to change and then go eat, right?"
"Oh, yeah. Food."
Baek Ha-na nodded at Nam Seo-hee's question.
"For dessert, there are also things like cakes and chocolate fondue."
"Chocolate fondue?"
Baek Ha-na's gaze shifted back to Yoon I-seul.
"You dip things like marshmallows into chocolate."
Gulp.
Baek Ha-na's throat visibly bobbed.
Ding-
The elevator doors opened at precisely the right moment.
"Room 1901. Right in front of us."
Unlike the other floors with dozens of guest rooms, the 19th floor had only five. The room assigned to Baek Ha-na and her group was in the best location among them.
Considering that students from other academies had already arrived and were occupying rooms, the hotel's preferential treatment was readily apparent.
Click.
When she held the card to the door, it unlocked with the same mechanism as the dormitory doors.
"Whoa...."
Baek Ha-na, having opened the door and stepped into the foyer, voiced her admiration.
The entryway was so spacious that even if all four of them stood side by side, they couldn't fill it up.
Click.
While Baek Ha-na stood marveling, Yoon I-seul used her shadow to flip every light switch in the room.
"Wow... y-you can see everything outside...!!"
Seeing the wall that was entirely glass, Baek Ha-na hastily removed her shoes and ventured deeper into the room.
Slide.
"......."
"I'll carry it."
Nam Seo-hee scowled at the shadow that had latched onto the suitcase Baek Ha-na left behind, but soon relaxed her face and nodded.
"It doesn't seem like the time for you and me to be fighting."
"...Regrettably."
Glaring at Yoon I-seul's back as she approached Baek Ha-na, Nam Seo-hee agreed with Na Ju-hee's words.
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Ding-
The elevator doors opened, and Baek Ha-na's group, each having changed into comfortable attire, stepped out.
"So the entire 5th floor is a restaurant...."
"There must be a lot of food, then."
Gulp.
Baek Ha-na's throat bobbed sharply once more.
"Ha-na, window seats are best, right?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah."
"Let's go."
"Ah, su-sure."
Baek Ha-na tilted her head at Nam Seo-hee's unusually assertive behavior and followed her inside.
"Hey, Baek Ha-na."
"......?"
Following Nam Seo-hee further in, Baek Ha-na heard a voice too familiar to ignore and quickly turned her head in its direction.
"Idni?"
"Yo~"
Idni, wearing a fluffy hoodie pulled low, approached with a grin.
"H-how did you get here?"
"What do you mean, how? Flew in by plane. More importantly, come this way. We've already got a table."
"Huh? Uh, but...."
As Baek Ha-na glanced backward, Idni shrugged her shoulders.
"You too, Senior. And Red Brute."
"Br-Brute...?"
"If you don't like it, don't come. Come on, come on, come on."
Leaving no room to protest, Idni hurried Baek Ha-na and Nam Seo-hee deeper into the restaurant.
"Good evening."
"Ah, hello."
"Good evening to you."
There, they found two friends and a prospective junior occupying the prime window seats as if they had reserved the entire section.
"Did you come to cheer me on?"
"You could say it's part of the reason."
Maria rose to her feet, taking a sip from the champagne glass in her hand.
"We can talk while we eat, so how about we go get some food first?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah!!"
"I've already scouted out all the spots with things my Ha-na would like."
"Maria......."
"Ufufu~"
As Baek Ha-na, who was taller than her, threw herself into an embrace, Maria cast an extremely provocative smile over her shoulder at Yoon I-seul and Na Ju-hee as she passed them.
·
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·
"Thanks for coming."
"What are you talking about? That's just what friends do."
Baek Ha-na smiled back at Maria, who grinned flippantly as usual.
"More importantly... a lot must have happened while you were preparing."
As Maria's gaze drifted toward Yoon I-seul and Na Ju-hee, seated across from them, Baek Ha-na briefly recounted the events that had occurred inside the Rift.
"...So it's basically just bait to train—mpf."
Crunch.
"Grrk?!"
A sudden, sharp pain shot up through her foot, causing Idni's whole body to tremble and cutting off the end of her sentence.
"So you've grown quite close."
"Yeah. The first meeting wasn't exactly great, but Senior and Ju-hee are both good friends."
"I see. If you say so, Ha-na, then it must be true."
Maria covered her mouth and smiled with her eyes.
It was an expression Baek Ha-na saw often, so she paid it little mind. She leaned in close to whisper near Maria's ear.
"But, Ppiyaki...?"
"She came toge—"
Maria stopped mid-sentence and closed her mouth.
"Hm? Oh, don't mind us. Please, continue your conversation."
Jaden, who had paused by the opposite seat, offered a benevolent smile and took a chair.
Woong—!!
A wide blue curtain unfurled.
Maria watched Baek Ha-na staring intently beyond the blue barrier and laughed inwardly.
The person sitting across from Jaden was none other than Baek Woo-jin.
'That's....'
As she recalled the incident at the airport, Baek Ha-na's fingers fidgeted happily. Then her gaze snagged on something white draped over the pocket of Baek Woo-jin's suit jacket.
A pristine white cloth.
At a glance, it might look like a handkerchief, but Baek Ha-na recognized it immediately.
'...A glasses cloth.'
The first gift she had ever chosen for him with her own hands.
Just as a soft smile was about to spread across Baek Ha-na's lips.
"Everything else on him is designer, so what's with that handkerchief?"
Na Ju-hee, having developed an interest in Baek Woo-jin after today's events, scanned his attire and frowned.
"The color doesn't match at all... and it doesn't even have a pattern...."
There was no malicious intent.
Na Ju-hee had simply voiced her honest observation.
Scrape.
The sound of a chair sliding back. Baek Ha-na rose from her seat and quickly left the area.
"...What's with her?"
Tilting her head at the sight of a stiff-faced Baek Ha-na leaving when she'd been smiling moments before, Na Ju-hee looked puzzled.
Just then, Maria, who had been clearing her utensils and rising from her seat, spoke with a strangely unpleasant smile.
"Everything has a reason, my dear."
"What...?"
Na Ju-hee narrowed one eye at Maria for her sudden, out-of-the-blue comment.