Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Is He Really Arma Cruise? (3)
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-Bang! Bang! Bang!
What jolted me awake was a thunderous knocking, like someone chopping wood with an axe.
“What… what is it?!”
Even accounting for winter, the faint blue light outside the window meant it was nearly dawn.
I hurriedly threw on a robe, checked my gun, and opened the door.
“Sunbae!”
“What’s going on? At this hour of the morning… come in, first off.”
“Huh? It’s dawn right now?”
“You’re still half-asleep… I’m cold… hurry up and come in…”
What kind of nerve was this, barging in at the crack of dawn like that?
Shirley grinned mischievously like a cheeky kid and slipped right into my room.
“I’ll… go splash some water on my face…”
“Take your time~”
“……Yeah.”
What could I say? Seeing her perched on the guest chair, kicking her feet idly, it was so absurd it woke me right up.
Shirley looked like she had something up her sleeve, but I couldn’t quite figure out what.
-Whoosh…
I quickly washed up and changed into clothes from the dressing room. The moment I stepped out, Shirley grabbed my coat like she’d been waiting and draped it over my shoulders.
“What’s with you? Did you do something you need to apologize for?”
“Apologize? Do you always see me that way? I’m disappointed, sunbae.”
“Then what the hell—”
“Come on, come on, no more pointless bickering. Let’s go.”
“This is ridiculous…”
Even if I dug in my heels and refused, Shirley was more than capable of dragging me out.
I chose to preserve my pride rather than get hauled along by her.
“I’m really getting anxious… You didn’t actually cause some kind of trouble, did you?”
“Jeez, have I ever lied to you?”
Shirley shut my room door behind me and shot back accusingly instead.
Watching her like that, I thought to myself:
‘She’s lost her mind.’
Maybe she’d snuck some booze without Dylan knowing back at the dorm yesterday.
In any case, prodded along by Shirley, I left the dorm in a daze early that morning—and grew even more baffled at the sight of familiar faces waiting for me.
“Judith? And Theodore and Arthur too… What brings you all here at this hour?”
“What else? We’re just here to grab breakfast together.”
“Breakfast? You mean like, dorm breakfast right now?”
“Quit dawdling and let’s go.”
“No, wait a second—”
They’d all shown up in a group just to eat breakfast together?
Flustered, I followed the four of them meekly to the dining hall as they insisted.
‘My stomach’s not even empty yet. What on earth is going on? Oh… come to think of it, I’ve been skipping meals the past few days. Lost my appetite, huh?’
I let out a sigh as I stared at the tomato soup served for breakfast.
Were they really just here for breakfast? The moment the staff brought the utensils, the four of them portioned out food from the large serving platters onto their plates.
“Thinking about it, we haven’t really talked properly since the storm hit.”
“Guess that’s what happens when you don’t head to the annex much.”
-Clink, clink.
I mirrored Judith’s elegant eating as I watched her, spoon in hand.
Every time I saw Judith, it was nothing short of amazing.
She’d just rolled out of bed same as me—how did she manage to eat so gracefully?
“Breakfast tastes especially good today.”
“It does.”
Judith had her own routine: vegetables first, then the egg dish.
I didn’t have a strict order like her, but after all our years eating together, I’d picked up similar habits—aside from portion sizes, that is.
“Theodore, Arthur. You came all this way in the cold?”
“I don’t feel the cold much. Arthur doesn’t either.”
“……”
It felt like a bit of a non sequitur, but at least they hadn’t been dragged here against their will.
Thinking back on Theodore’s words, the guy didn’t wear much even in this winter besides the black robe of Thorn Crown Class.
Come to think of it, when we first met, he’d been in late summer wearing just a jacket.
He seemed above things like seasons altogether—not like someone rooted to the earth.
Arthur, on the other hand, was muscular and physical, so it wasn’t too strange that he didn’t mind the cold.
“It’s been a while since we all ate together like this.”
Shirley said as she poured milk generously over her oatmeal.
As a spear practitioner, she trained in a different hall from the swordsmen, so coordinating breakfast like this required advance planning.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve been neglectful. She’s a senior now—I should invite her over more often.’
I finished emptying my plate along with Judith, who hadn’t quite wrapped up yet.
-Clack.
Only after she set down her utensils and folded the napkin on her lap did I consider my meal done.
“Oh, forgot I’m on tool shed duty today.”
“Whoops. Go on ahead.”
“Sorry, Arma. Arthur! Come with me. Same training anyway, right?”
“Yeah.”
Finishing so early turned out to be a blessing.
Judith dashed off toward the training grounds, with Arthur following behind.
“Theo~ Stick around and help me out a sec.”
“Understood.”
“Sunbae, no detours—straight back to your room! I’ll come get you when semester starts.”
“I’m serious, you don’t need to come…”
Shirley dodged my plea with a playful grin, then bolted off with Theodore tucked under her arm.
Whether she knew it or not, she had this habit of shielding me like that whenever something came up—my junior protecting her sunbae.
That tiny kid had grown into such a reliable young woman…
Suddenly left alone, I huddled into my collar against the knife-sharp winter wind and hurried back to my room.
‘I ended up eating way too much without thinking. Almost as much as Judith?’
The unplanned overeating nagged at me.
I’d never eaten that much for breakfast in my life.
‘Oh yeah, there was something I wanted to ask Theodore.’
Too stuffed to sit right after eating, I stopped by my room, jotted a note about having business with him on a scrap of paper, and rang the bell at the entrance hall.
“You called?”
“Hello. I have a favor to ask.”
I handed the servant a letter I’d even sealed with wax.
He accepted it politely with his gloved hand and vanished swiftly.
I could’ve gone to Thorn Crown House’s dorm myself, but Aegis Academy wasn’t exactly set up for casual visits between different majors.
With such distinct specializations—and everyone being from prominent noble houses—this odd custom had taken root.
“So, what to do until Theodore shows up.”
Wandering outside aimlessly wasn’t feasible in this weather.
I borrowed a few books from the library and returned to my room.
But the moment I sat at my desk and flipped open one of the randomly grabbed books—
‘Wait… could I really eat as much as Judith?’
…And…
.
.
.
Time flew by in an instant, and before I knew it, night had fallen outside.
I snapped out of it only after finishing the last page, having immersed myself in the books to an unnatural degree.
They weren’t even that great, but today my focus was razor-sharp.
‘This is just escapism, isn’t it.’
Truth was, my head was a total mess.
It had been three days since that guardian angel’s warning—not quite a warning.
Would it come after me directly?
Or the people around me?
As these fruitless thoughts swirled, a knock came from the door.
“Theodore. Come on in.”
It was evening by the time he arrived—the Theodore I’d summoned via servant.
Theodore White.
The unloved scion of House White, dubbed the devil’s child for accurately predicting one grim death after another.
I knew Theodore White knew everything.
“What’s this about? I only found the letter late, so I just got here.”
“Oh, nothing major. Just a favor I wanted to ask.”
“A favor?”
Everything was in that head of his.
With Theodore alone—no need for wagers on lives—I could uncover the truth easily.
“You know I’ve been asking for the same thing for a while. That [Theodore Special] or whatever you call it.”
Theodore muttered something about my tone.
Oops, too hasty maybe.
I softened my voice, reminding myself of my original goal in summoning him.
‘Theodore White knows everything.’
That was the key.
Uncover the truth.
Decide how to fight back—
“You’ve figured out why I asked you to make it, haven’t you?”
“Because of your chronic illness…”
“No, you know. A genius like you wouldn’t miss something that simple.”
“…Arma Cruise?”
I remembered everything I’d hidden in my desk.
Unlock the drawer, pull out the diary, feel around the bottom—there’s the double-hidden vial.
The liquid inside the clear vial still gleamed a dangerous purple.
“Drink it.”
“…Pardon?”
“Drink it, and remember everything.”
“What the hell.”
“I know it’s a lot to ask. But please, just this once—”
Theodore’s eyes went rigid.
I’d already noticed he went out of his way to grant my requests.
Fragments of memory lingering in his head compelled him to act that way.
The reason he yielded again and again to my whims—even after I’d killed him multiple times—was simply his idealized image of one man: Arma Cruise.
“Stop it.”
-Thud.
Theodore blocked me as I lunged with the vial in hand.
Why? Why was he being so stubborn today of all days?
“You know everything. Please, I’m begging you.”
“What are you?”
“Arma Cruise.”
“What happened to Arma Cruise?”
“He’s right here.”
I pointed finger-guns at Theodore’s left eye.
The last day Arma Cruise shot Theodore White in the eye.
The day he’d promised Shirley no more repeating mistakes—then took a bullet to the head and forgot it all.
“Come on, spill it. Tell me everything so Arma Cruise can remember it all.”
From the moment I pointed at his eye like firing a gun, Theodore went strangely compliant.
I brought the vial to his lips.
Docile beyond belief, Theodore obediently swallowed the purple solution I offered.
Was this okay?
No… there was no reason it shouldn’t be…