Do I Need a Reason?
Darkness lingered, thick and heavy, when a faint light slipped in through the cracks. Let me lay things out clearly.
I had been in the middle of sparring, feet slipping at the worst possible moment. It was a rookie mistake, the kind that made me want to kick myself.
Because of it, I ended up slamming my head straight into the path I had been so carefully dodging to protect Lie.
Thinking about her strength and speed… probably my skull would have been in pieces right then.
…Still, I wasn’t an infant. I could check that later.
I turned my head just enough to see, praying I was still breathing.
“H-he woke up?! Lucian! Can you hear me? Lucian!”
The voice beside me told me I was alive.
Thank goodness I wasn’t dead. No, I couldn’t die here. Not when the tower I had built would be wasted.
“Lucian? If you can hear me, say something. Please tell me you’re all right.”
My head still rang like a bell, but nothing else felt broken.
I hoped the side of my skull hadn’t sunk in like a crater.
I opened my mouth to answer when a thought struck me.
I had nearly cracked my head open. A small revenge would be fine, right?
“…Who are you?”
“Huh?”
“Who… and Lucian? Who’s Lucian?”
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about. Theodore’s second son! You’re Theo!”
I gave her the blankest stare I could manage. I had no idea what she meant. Theodore? The name Lucian?
This was amnesia, wasn’t it?
“Ah, no! Please, please say it’s not true. You… you don’t remember? Neither do I?”
“I’m sorry, but I have no idea who you are. My head hurts so much…”
Lie beside me suddenly looked like the world had ended.
She had probably thought the same. Hitting someone’s head with such raw power—if the memory remained, it was a miracle.
The moment I realized she had recognized what she had done, I thought it was time to end it properly.
“…Ugh… sniffling…”
Wait. Just a second. Wait. Lie? This wasn’t happening. It absolutely wasn’t.
I hadn’t planned on this, but her tears made me want to smack myself harder.
I couldn’t even say “It was a prank!” at this point!
“No. Sniffling… let me go. Please… please come back… we only just reached each other… please…”
“Lie, over here?”
I called her name carefully. She snapped her head up, tears still streaming.
Stunned, as if struck by lightning, she sat staring at me. I forced a smile, then began the nonsense I hoped would fix this.
“So… at first you didn’t remember, then it all came back? Anyway, I’m fine now…”
“You bastard!!”
Slam.
The entire world spun.
With my throat locked, I shook my head, the ringing in my skull growing worse.
I couldn’t wrap my own head or I’d only make her angrier.
So I just muttered that it was my own fault and waited until her grip loosened.
Finally, after nearly five minutes of headbanging, Lie released my throat.
If she had held on even a second longer, I would have suffocated or passed out from exhaustion.
Either way, I would have been dead.
“You bad woman… you had to pull this prank at a time like this?!”
“It wasn’t a prank. My head really hurts—I don’t remember anything until just now.”
“Shut up! Close that mouth! You have no idea how shocked I was!”
Anger had stripped away her usual politeness. She was a mess.
I was about to get choked again, so I decided to speak first.
“Listen. Who told you to smash someone’s head? You’re just as guilty, aren’t you?”
Mutual fault, yet she kept acting like I was the only one in the wrong.
I deliberately furrowed my brows and rubbed my head in frustration.
No bandages, no blood. My scalp was untouched.
Lie muttered that she had somehow dodged the attack perfectly before it even touched her neck.
It had been an absurdly sudden moment, and she had managed it. I wondered if geniuses existed.
I had imagined the worst possible ending, so this was basically a happy one. I had no complaints.
“That said… I heard something pretty emotional earlier.”
“…”
The awkward silence made Lie stare at me with eyes like daggers.
It felt like a curse or a fox spirit. I wanted to lock my mouth shut before I died.
“You lost me.”
“Huh?”
“Last time you asked why I kept chasing after my rival.”
I had definitely said that. And Lie had ignored it completely.
When I nodded, she looked away for a moment, then slowly spoke again.
“Then we can stay by each other’s side.”
“…What?”
“I didn’t do all that for you to be my rival. I just wanted to walk the same path as Lucian. But people only praised me, and you were always in the background.”
“Wait, wait. I don’t understand what you’re saying at all.”
“I knew you hated the overwhelming attention on you. So I chose the rival who was closest to being the best option. Love is too risky… but we can be rivals instead.”
I still couldn’t follow her.
She kept talking, refusing to stop.
Frustrated, I lightly flicked her hand. Lie gave me a faint smile.
“I like you. I’ve always liked you, Lucian. Since we were kids—even if it was just to motivate me. In that situation where everything felt cursed, you never gave up. And even when you knew you couldn’t reach me, you kept chasing the top without giving up.”
I knew her gaze wasn’t ordinary. Intelligence and awareness were obvious.
I had always assumed it was rivalry or something similar.
I never imagined it could be affection, let alone love.
Still confused, Lie carefully extended her hand.
She took mine and started telling her story.
She had been an ordinary girl who never stood out in any way.
A powerful family, a perfect home, and the fact that she was average had always hurt.
Everyone only told her she was fine and never treated her harshly.
From the family and servants’ perspective, they worried she would be hurt.
But to Lie, that was just indifference. She had thought someone should have strongly motivated her.
“Then I met you, Lucian. Someone as ordinary as me.”
“No need to say ‘ordinary’ at all.”
“Whatever. We were both ordinary, but you were still you.”
“…”
“The day we first met, I lost to you. I still remember your mocking expression, your voice, every word you said. It was so annoying. So I worked harder. To beat you.”
She had grown like crazy while I slept. The little girl who couldn’t even beat a sword genius had become strong enough to fight an official knight evenly.
That’s when I realized: she had talent, but I didn’t. Since I had given her a gift, it was now my turn to help. So I trained harder.
But the rumors said something else. I wasn’t disappointed that I couldn’t use sword or magic. I had simply done things beautifully.
“That’s…”
“It’s too much. At least give me a chance to repay you. What if I just walked away?”
Lie had started beside me, but now she was closer than ever.
Her face was so near I could see the fine hairs on her skin.
It wasn’t bashful. It wasn’t shy. I knew exactly what was happening.
Except that it was Lie, the girl who seemed completely wrong for me.
“Hey. Sorry, I still don’t understand…”
“You don’t need to understand. Do you need a reason to like someone? Something rational?”
Her hair, like molten gold, suddenly came crashing down.
No reason. No rationality.
It made sense. Of course.
Emotions hit and awakened you, and now you want reasons attached?
Some liked the way someone slept. Others liked the sight of effort.
There were countless reasons, and only a few would make sense.
And decisively, I couldn’t deny that I felt something for this woman.
“So you want to hide our relationship and pretend we’re rivals?”
“Yes. Does that burden you too?”
“Not that. Just know that if I get hit in the head again, I’ll lose my memory.”
Lie laughed softly at my words.
Her gently curved eyes and lifted corners were so pretty I almost forgot to breathe.
Was this really happening? What was I doing with this woman?
Before I could think, her face was already inches from mine.
Warm breath. Sparkling eyes. Lips that looked incredibly soft.
A sudden, unquenchable thirst burned through me.
My throat was dry. I wanted water. But the thirst that needed to be quenched right now was only here.
Tock.
Our lips met.
I felt like I had been struck by lightning and yanked her wrist.
Because of that, the girl sitting beside me crashed into me.
I held Lie easily, and it was the first kiss in a long time.
For the person who had fallen for a strange man, it was the first kiss of their life.
“Ugh…”
At nineteen, an adult in name only, I still knew almost nothing about the world.
It was fortunate that I could finally learn a little from her.
I parted my lips and slipped my tongue inside.
Lie’s body trembled.
But I felt no resistance. She relaxed completely, as if giving me everything I wanted.
‘Should I go further?’
This wasn’t my family’s home. It wasn’t Lie’s.
Minerva Academy was the kingdom’s official educational institution.
Even if love was allowed, this kind of shamelessness was not.
A kiss was one thing, but what came next could be something I couldn’t take responsibility for.
In both my previous life and this one, touching a woman without permission was still a serious crime.
“Hey…”
I tried to pull back for the sake of my last shred of conscience.
But Lie held both my hands tightly and stared at me with wide, pleading eyes.
She was saying not to run now. She had shown courage first, so I should too.
It couldn’t be helped. If anyone saw us, it would be a disaster.
It could ruin the future of the Theodore family’s daughter.
I was pulled under her spell once more.