Picking a Fight (1)
I returned to the dorm and started reading the books.
“…”
Just as Eline had said, the first book she gave me was incredibly difficult. That must have been why the other books she shared with me felt noticeably easier to read.
I could physically feel the weight of Eline’s study methods, which she had refined countless times. And the more I felt it, the more grateful I became, realizing how much consideration she had shown me by carving out time for me.
Of course, that only made my guilt grow larger.
‘Don’t waver.’
Eline’s voice echoed in my ears.
Had she noticed how anxious I was?
It was her way of encouraging me to hold my head high, but the more she did, the smaller and more pathetic I felt.
‘Now that I think about it…’
I had almost never done anything for myself.
At some point I had grown so exhausted that I became numb to other people’s gazes and interest. But back when I was born and growing up, I had been painfully aware of how others saw me.
Because I had been neglected by my family, I reacted sensitively to even the smallest scraps of attention they gave me and moved accordingly.
In the end, the reason I even came to this academy was purely because of my father’s greed.
‘…’
To someone like me, Eline had shown me a path forward.
‘Want to try climbing up to the Alpha class?’ ‘You can do it.’
…
“Yeah.”
I’ll do it, Eline.
I don’t want to disappoint you.
I want to stand beside you again with my head held high, look you properly in the eyes, and talk to you.
Even if that ending turns out to be tragic.
I’m ready to accept it anyway.
After all, from the moment I was born…
…
I shook the dark thoughts from my head.
I slowly continued reading the book.
My head still throbbed, but I didn’t want to stop.
The road ahead was still long.
Still, I would keep going.
That night, the light in my room stayed on for a very long time.
After making that promise with Eline and swearing an oath to myself, I started opening books and reading far more often. The things that had once seemed impossibly difficult gradually began to feel familiar.
My friends reacted in very different ways to the sight of me actually studying.
“…What the hell? Is this guy for real?”
When Ross heard the news from Edgar and came to the library during lunch, he stared at me with a look of pure horror.
“What?”
“No, uh… um… Are you actually studying right now?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking?”
Ross quietly smacked his own forehead.
When I lifted my head, his face was a chaotic mix of betrayal and some indescribable emotion.
“…Damn. So this is how a person changes, huh.”
When I thought about it, this whole situation had started because of this guy in the first place.
“Ross.”
“What?”
“…Never mind.”
Complicated feelings swirled inside me.
Should I resent him, or…
Never mind. Let’s not think about pointless things.
“Man, I can’t even stop a guy who says he’s going to study.”
Ross grumbled with clear regret until the very end before Edgar dragged him away. Only then could I focus on the book again.
Edgar didn’t seem particularly bothered by it.
And Kain, every time we ran into each other, would only ask, “So how far have you gotten?” showing interest solely in the romantic side of things.
And then—
“Smart choice.”
Valrod gave the most positive reaction to my decision.
“The water’s already been spilled. If you want to clean it up properly, this is the right move.”
“You think so?”
“Obviously. You know what students say first whenever your name comes up, right?”
“That I’m a Beta?”
Valrod nodded.
“Whether you like it or not, you’re going to be gossip fodder. And if you’re a Beta, the conversation definitely won’t be kind.”
“I don’t really care about the trash-talk behind my back.”
“The problem is that Eline gets dragged into it too.”
I stopped reading and looked up.
Valrod spoke in a dry, matter-of-fact tone.
“The rumors will never stop. Eline won’t be an exception, and because it’s you, they’ll probably talk about her even more.”
“…”
“So you have to prove it yourself. That you have the ability to stand by her side.”
There was real weight behind Valrod’s words.
In the end, whether someone was kind, had good character, or anything else, the first thing people at the academy looked at was their rank.
The difference between Alpha and Beta changed how people viewed someone right from the start.
“Are people still picking fights with you these days?”
“Not exactly picking fights, but I do feel a lot of stares.”
So far, no one had directly started trouble with me.
But I often saw people openly staring or snickering when they looked at me.
To them, I was probably just entertaining gossip.
“Anyway, if you need any help, just say the word.”
“Thanks, Valrod.”
He let out a short laugh and stood up.
“Though I’m not sure there’s much I can help with. Your girlfriend is an incredibly impressive person, after all.”
Just as Valrod said, every evening Eline would always be sitting beside me. Even though she was simply there, her presence was overwhelming.
“Eline.”
“Yeah?”
“This part here…”
Whenever I got stuck while studying, I would ask her.
“I keep messing up the formula, but I can’t figure out where I went wrong.”
Her eyes slowly scanned over my formula and the problem as if tracing every line.
“The connection here is wrong. It needs to link downward, not upward.”
After I had struggled for twenty minutes, she gave a clear answer in less than three.
And sometimes, when I secretly glanced at what she was solving—
‘Whoa.’
She was writing down incredibly complex formulas that I couldn’t understand at all.
Even though our majors were different, I couldn’t believe I understood so little.
‘We’re using the same language, right?’
It was clearly the same imperial script I used, yet none of it made sense to me.
“…Why?”
Noticing my gaze, Eline glanced over.
“Ah, sorry. I was just really curious.”
Had I disturbed her?
When I quickly looked away, she quietly set down her quill.
“Lutes, shall we take a short break?”
She probably wasn’t tired at all. I could tell she was being considerate for my sake.
“…Yeah.”
A few minutes of rest.
This time to cool my overheated head was truly comfortable.
And now it felt natural—Eline casually reached under the table and took my hand. In the quiet silence, feeling each other’s warmth in that brief moment, neither of us spoke anymore. We had grown used to it.
We simply expressed our feelings through the faint movements of our fingers.
I liked this warmth we shared in our languid, comfortable rest.
‘It tickles.’
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
In the middle of the silence, Eline spoke.
“Has anyone been approaching you lately?”
It was a rather sudden question.
Approaching me?
“No?”
Even as I said it, one person suddenly came to mind.
Lui.
A few days ago she had come to me asking to speak with Eline, but I had turned her down.
Was she talking about her?
But that had been too long ago, and since then we had only passed each other in the hallway with no other contact. It didn’t seem worth bringing up.
“…I see.”
Eline sounded relieved, yet she squeezed my hand tightly.
“What about anyone doing strange things to you?”
It seemed she had heard the rumors circulating about us after all.
She didn’t care about herself, but she was worried I might get hurt.
I was grateful.
“It’s fine. There hasn’t been anything yet.”
Of course, there were occasional times when someone would bump into me on purpose—or maybe not—on the way somewhere, or block my path. But there hadn’t been any major conflicts.
I didn’t want to worry her over such trivial things.
“If anything does happen, tell me.”
“Why? So you can scold them?”
I asked in a deliberately light, joking tone.
Of course I would never actually tell her, but imagining Eline getting angry and scolding someone made me smile.
‘…Eline getting angry, huh.’
How would she even do it?
As I was having that amusing thought, Eline slowly turned her head from where she had been leaning against the chair. Her expression was blank, but there was something chilling in her face as she looked at me.
“I won’t scold them.”
“Really?”
It was only natural.
Eline wasn’t the type to get emotional, and she wasn’t someone who would show it over just a few words…
“I’ll make sure they can’t walk for a while.”
“Huh?”
The terrifying statement made me turn my head instinctively. Eline simply stared straight at me.
It was a joke, right? Saying she’d make someone unable to walk…
‘Could she… actually do it?’
Suddenly, a memory from the past came to mind.
The look on her face and the way she had acted toward Veron the first time we ate together.
Thinking back on it now, it really had been a terrifying expression.
No. It must be a joke.
“Lutes.”
“…What?”
Eline spoke without even blinking.
“It’s not a joke.”
…
Scary.
Yeah, of course Eline wouldn’t joke about something like that.
“…Okay.”
She released my hand, straightened her posture, and returned to her usual relaxed expression as if nothing had happened. She picked up her quill again.
“Shall we start again?”
Yes, ma’am.
I nodded vigorously inside my head and opened the book as calmly as I could.
And then I quietly prayed.
‘Please, no one come near me.’
Not for me—for your own sakes.
“Haa.”
By the time I finished the quota Eline had set for me, my head felt like it had gone beyond overheating. I could practically feel the heat radiating from it.
“Good work.”
“No, it’s only natural.”
Even after studying nonstop, Eline showed no change in expression.
I always thought this, but she really was amazing.
‘…Does Eline’s head even get hot?’
Maybe it was because her hair was silver, but it somehow felt like her head would be cool too.
Drip—
The light that had been pouring down above her head went out.
“It’s over.”
The library lights turning off meant they would be closing soon.
We packed our things and stood up.
The weekend was in two days.
‘Now that I think about it…’
“Eline, are we going to the northern clearing this weekend too?”
Ever since we started dating, we had always taken walks together on the weekends. And the place was always the northern clearing.
“Yeah.”
She had never told me why she liked the northern clearing, but I figured it was probably because it was the least crowded and had the best natural scenery.
There was a place I wanted to show her.
“Then this time, can we go where I want to go?”
Eline paused while packing her bag and looked up.
“Where you want to go?”
Did she not like the idea?
“If it’s inconvenient, we don’t have to…”
“No.” She said firmly.
“I want to go.”
When Eline showed clear interest, I felt both relieved and nervous.
I wondered if she would like it.
“We have the same liberal arts class tomorrow… I’ll tell you then.”
“Okay.”
With that, the two of us left the library.
“See you tomorrow.”
“Lutes.”
“Yeah?”
She came closer.
And carefully—
Swish—
The pleasant scent of her shampoo washed over me, making my body freeze. Once again, I felt that soft touch against my cheek.
“That was for reading fifty pages.”
“…”
She turned around and disappeared just like that.
No matter how many times it happened, I still couldn’t get used to it.
If anything, it felt like my head was getting even hotter.
The next day—
“Did you hear? The academic schedule changed.”
“Don’t even talk about it. Suddenly practical training is next week?”
The hallway was quite noisy.
It seemed the main topic was that something big had happened, resulting in a change to the academy’s academic calendar.
‘When condensing mana…’
Of course, my head was too busy organizing what I had studied yesterday to pay much attention, so I simply brushed it off as nothing important.
‘Oh right, Edgar asked me to bring him a book later.’
Thud—
Maybe I had been walking while concentrating too hard. A pair of shoes blocking my path came into view.
Red and blue scribbled all over them. The colors were so intense they hurt my eyes.
“Ah, sorry.”
The moment I apologized and tried to turn away—
Thud—
The shoes blocked me again.
‘…Picking a fight?’
People had occasionally bumped my shoulder while passing or there had been groups of them, but this was the first time someone had blatantly blocked my way.
A bit of annoyance and irritation rose up, but then Eline’s words from yesterday suddenly came to mind.
‘I’ll make sure they can’t walk for a while.’
Yeah. Let’s just endure it. I should quietly move on.
“Excuse me, I’d like to pass—”
“Hi!”
Thump.
A bright, cheerful voice rang out.
When I slowly lifted my head, a girl was standing there.
“You’re Lutes, right?”
The morning sunlight streaming through the window beautifully illuminated the girl’s pink hair. Her face, smiling brightly, showed the purest and clearest smile imaginable.
Her appearance was so clean and innocent that my hairs stood on end instinctively.
“…Yeah. Hi.”
I barely managed to greet her. The girl clapped her hands with a smile.
“Good morning! Did I surprise you by suddenly saying hello?”
Her smiling face quickly changed to one of apology as she looked up at me.
“No, it’s fine.”
I tried to sound as calm as possible, but for some reason sweat was starting to form on my back.
“Really? That’s a relief! Do you know who I am?”
The girl pointed at herself and laughed.
I knew very well.
With such a dazzling appearance that was impossible to miss, how could I not?
“Serean…”
Serean Lugvida.
“Wow, you know me! I’m so happy… Hehe.”
She grinned brightly and looked me up and down.
“Where’s Eline? You’re not together today?”
“…No, we have different classes.”
“I see, I see. Hmm…”
She stepped closer, narrowed her eyes, and rolled her pupils as if digging through old memories.
“Ah! Now I remember—you ignored me back in first year!”
Serean pointed at me, recalling something from long ago.
“Sorry, I was a little flustered back then—”
“It’s fine!”
She laughed it off as if it were nothing.
“It doesn’t matter. Whether you ignored me or whatever, it’s all irrelevant. That kind of thing can happen. That’s not why I came anyway.”
There was no malice in her voice, but when she clenched and unclenched her fist, I felt my throat tightening slightly.
It was getting harder to breathe.
“…”
“I came because I was curious. It’s nothing much… I heard you’re dating Eline.”
The bright smile slowly faded. She rested a finger on her chin with a genuinely curious expression.
“I’m just curious… You know…”
My head started to hurt. My lungs felt like they were being squeezed.
A buzzing sound rang in my ears.
A fleeting moment passed.
Serean met my eyes and smiled.
“I wonder what kind of reaction Eline would have if I broke your arm?”