Trembling No More
Jeong Hayeon wore an expression of utter shock. “He… he actually beat him? Nam Doyun really won?”
Cha Jiyun nodded. To that man, something like this was nothing at all. It was merely a fraction of the power he had chosen to reveal on the surface. Just how immense was the strength he kept hidden in the abyss?
Elvin looked at Nam Doyun and let out a hollow laugh. ‘That guy’s completely insane.’
Ever since the sword duel between Radeon and Nam Doyun, Elvin had taken an interest in the latter. It was the first time he had witnessed such monstrous talent for swordsmanship. He had wanted to take him on as a disciple. But he knew that openly showing his interest would only burden the boy, so he had been following him from a distance, waiting for the right moment.
Then, by chance, he witnessed the match between Nam Doyun and Kane. The rules had been absurdly unfair—Nam Doyun had to endure Kane’s illusions for ten whole minutes to win. Even so, Elvin had felt strangely certain that Nam Doyun would prevail.
Before becoming a professor, Elvin had been a knight who distinguished himself on countless battlefields. He had faced all manner of magic, including illusion spells more times than he could count.
‘At first, it was fine.’
Kane’s opening illusions had been high-level spells. Even at Elphon Academy, where only the elite gathered, few would have been able to dispel them. Yet Nam Doyun had endured them without so much as a flinch. That alone had been impressive enough—his talent wasn’t limited to the sword; his ability to handle magic was equally extraordinary. He would have been more than useful on the front lines.
‘But later… Kane cast an illusion with genuine killing intent.’
At first, Kane had used only light illusions. Gradually, however, their intensity had risen until the final spell carried the clear intent to kill. That was when Elvin had stepped in. No matter how talented Nam Doyun was, surviving that spell had seemed impossible. It was the kind of magic that could easily end a life.
Nam Doyun was far too valuable to die here.
‘But the boy stopped me.’
Despite Elvin’s intervention, Nam Doyun had insisted on continuing the match as if he hadn’t noticed the danger. At the time, Elvin had thought it was arrogance. A student shouldn’t have been able to withstand such an illusion.
‘No… I was the arrogant one.’
Nam Doyun had endured even that final, lethal illusion without difficulty. To him, it had been no more than children’s play.
‘Just what is this kid?’
Elvin stared at Nam Doyun, who was simply smiling faintly. ‘How far does his talent truly reach?’
Swordsmanship, resistance to magic… what other gifts did he possess? Elvin’s curiosity grew. He grinned as he watched the boy, then turned his gaze toward Son In-hyeok.
“Professor?”
“…Yes.”
Son In-hyeok’s face was stiff. Even if both parties had agreed to the match, Kane’s final attacks had far exceeded the level of a simple duel. As the supervising teacher, Son In-hyeok had done nothing to stop them.
“There will be a formal inquiry regarding this incident. I assume you agree?”
“…Yes.”
Son In-hyeok answered with a vacant expression. He had given Kane permission, but he had never imagined the boy would unleash such dangerous illusions. He had thought one round would suffice—something that could be smoothed over. Son In-hyeok ground his teeth and glared at Kane.
At that moment, he felt a tug on his clothes. Frowning, he looked down to find Nam Doyun standing there.
“…What is it?”
Son In-hyeok’s voice was sharp. His mood was already foul enough without this.
“You owe me what you promised.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“The heirloom of the Gilaid family. You said you’d hand it over if I won.”
“Ugh… ugh…”
Son In-hyeok’s hands trembled with rage.
****
The sky had taken on the hues of sunset.
“……”
I glanced sideways. Jeong Hayeon sat beside me on a park bench. The reason we were here was simple: the person she was supposed to meet today. I had forced my way along, thinking she shouldn’t face him alone.
In the distance, a man approached. Kane.
The meeting had been arranged for a straightforward reason. Kane had said he wanted to apologize in person for everything he had done. Jeong Hayeon had agreed that facing him might help her overcome the trauma of being stalked. Trauma wasn’t something you could run from; sometimes confronting it was the only way to find a thread of resolution.
Jeong Hayeon fidgeted with her fingers as she watched Kane draw closer. She was still deeply uneasy. After all, she had been stalked for eight years.
“Hey.”
I looked at her.
“…Yeah.”
Her reply was weak.
“The one who stalked you was that bastard. So why are you the one shaking?”
“……”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Why are you trembling like you’re the guilty one?”
“…Well…”
“You have nothing to feel guilty about. You’re in the right. There’s no reason for you to sit here shaking like a criminal.”
“……”
She stared at me blankly for a long moment.
“I get why you’re scared, though.”
“……”
“You must have been terrified all those years. It’s still in your body.”
I pointed at her trembling hands. Jeong Hayeon quickly hid them behind her back.
“…You don’t want anyone to see, huh?”
“…Yeah.”
“If it was that bad, why didn’t you tell your parents or your brother? They would have taken care of it right away.”
“……I didn’t want to make them worry.”
“…Huh?”
“If they found out I was being stalked, they’d be so worried. I didn’t want to burden them.”
“……”
“So don’t tell anyone about this either, okay?”
“…Is that really the only reason?”
“……”
Jeong Hayeon met my eyes in silence, then bit her lip hard.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”
“……My brother.”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Yeah?”
“…I told him I’d catch up to him soon. If he finds out about this, what would he think of me?”
“What do you mean?”
“…I said I’d surpass him. If he learns I can’t even deal with one stalker, how will he see me? He’ll just think of me as his helpless little sister who needs protecting.”
“……”
“So you really can’t tell anyone. The moment this gets out, I’ll know it was you.”
“……”
I watched her for a long time.
“…W-what? Why are you staring at me like that?”
“I just didn’t realize you had that kind of reason.”
To Jeong Hayeon, her brother was both an idol and a rival. She wanted his recognition and to stand on equal footing with him. Being seen only as a little sister who needed protection was the last thing she wanted. I hadn’t considered that.
“So you can’t tell your family about anything hard, no matter what?”
“…Pretty much.”
“…Then tell me.”
“…What?”
Jeong Hayeon blinked in confusion.
“I’ll listen.”
“L-listen?”
“Yeah.”
“Pfft—”
She burst out laughing, then continued.
“What, are you some kind of god? You think you can solve everything for me?”
“Of course… I probably can’t solve everything.”
“Then there’s no point in telling you.”
“No. There is.”
“Huh?”
“Even if I can’t fix it all, I can stay by your side, share the pain, and help you figure out a way forward.”
“……”
She looked at me without speaking.
“Maybe we still won’t solve it. But even that much might mean something, right? Just talking to someone can make you feel lighter.”
“Why… why would you go that far for me?”
“……”
I met her gaze in silence.
“…That’s—”
Before I could finish, Kane had reached us. Jeong Hayeon’s hands began to tremble again. I gently took one in mine.
“…Y-you crazy bastard. What are you doing?”
Her face flushed bright red.
“I told you before. In front of a guy like him, you have to show clearly that you already have someone. That’s the only way he’ll give up.”
“…R-really? That’s the only reason?”
“Of course.”
“…Th-then fine. I believe you.”
This time, Jeong Hayeon squeezed my hand tightly.
Kane stared silently at our joined hands.
“Hayeon-ah… So you really are dating him.”
“…Yeah. So stop now.”
“…I’m truly sorry. I’m sorry for stalking you all this time just because I wanted you to notice my feelings.”
As he spoke, Kane shot me a glare full of resentment. I smirked. I had sent the Kayen family footage of Kane using forbidden family magic and threatened to leak it. Naturally, they had rushed to apologize. If word spread that the youngest son of the Kayen family had used prohibited magic, their reputation would be ruined.
So I had made my demands: Kane was to stop following Jeong Hayeon, and he was to apologize properly. The family head had likely given the order directly. Kane had no choice but to obey.
“I’ll apologize again. I’m really sorry.”
Kane bowed his head more than a hundred times. Behind him stood a watcher dispatched by the Kayen family. Once the apology was finished, Kane turned and walked away.
I looked at Jeong Hayeon, who was still holding my hand.
“Your hand’s not shaking anymore.”
“…H-huh?”
“The trembling stopped.”
Surprisingly, her shaking had completely ceased.
“Y-you crazy bastard. Why are you still holding it?”
She yanked her hand away.
“You’re the one who kept holding on.”
“W-what nonsense! You were the one holding on the whole time!”
Her face turned the color of a ripe tomato.
“Fine. Let’s just say that.”
“What…? Say that? It was obviously you who kept holding on, not me!”
“Ah, yes. Let’s go with that.”
“…Hey! I’m telling you, I wasn’t the one holding on!”
Jeong Hayeon’s voice rose into a shout.