Chapter 100
Chapter 100
Clunk, clatter-clatter.
The inside of Lucius's carriage, racing along on the morning breeze, was every bit as luxurious as Rosenberg's.
"Ha."
A derisive laugh slipped from between Lucius's neat lips, as if he couldn't believe it.
"What a relief."
He let out a sigh of relief and sank deeply into the plush leather backrest.
From the conversation they'd just had in the Farne mansion's parlor, it was clear now.
There was no sticky love triangle between Cassian and Saintess Lily, nor any tender romance between a man and a woman, despite the idle gossips' chatter.
"This is really ridiculous."
Lucius couldn't stop laughing in disbelief.
Then there was only one answer.
He had done that insane thing for Saintess Lily, who wasn't even his beloved.
The unprecedented incident that had unfolded at the academy gate last night.
The terrifying scheme that had not only provoked the Church, the empire's state religion, but also forced a cardinal to his knees and even wrung an apology from the Pope.
Ordinary nobles would carefully weigh the gains and losses whenever their family's fate and their own lives were on the line.
Yet Cassian de Farne had stepped into the fray for a saintess who had nothing to do with him.
'The more I look at him, the more extraordinary he is.'
The moment Lucius understood what had happened the previous night, he'd felt a sense of urgency to act before Cassian and the saintess's relationship became public, so he'd rushed over this morning.
But after seeing Cassian's easygoing attitude in person, he was so embarrassed at having made such a fuss on a hunch that he could hardly stand it.
"Still, that's a relief."
Deep affection colored Lucius's blue eyes.
"Sophia is going to be so happy she'll faint."
They're blood siblings. Not just siblings, but twins who had shared breath since inside their mother's womb.
Lucius was convinced that no one knew better than he did the picky tastes of his sickly younger sister Sophia, who was dull to the world's stimulation.
A man who wasn't arrogant, yet possessed overwhelming skill.
A dependable man who grumbled about being bothered, but would take responsibility to the very end for anyone who entered his boundaries, even if the world were to collapse.
'This coming Saturday, huh.'
Imagining the meal they had coming up this weekend, Lucius lifted the corners of his mouth with exquisite elegance.
* * *
As soon as I set down the fried rice, Lily's eyes sparkled like jewels.
"Wow!"
Her exclamation was delightfully bright.
I roughly peeled off the apron and scratched the back of my head, a little embarrassed.
"Sorry it's fried rice again today. I've been feeding you nothing but this since last night."
I'm busy as hell.
Strictly speaking, I should stop myself from saying the nasty truth that the reason I'm this busy is because of Lily right in front of me.
The woman in front of me is a 40-billion-won customer, after all.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll really cook something much tastier and make it properly for you."
"No, this is super, super delicious too! Thank you, I'll eat it gratefully!"
And after saying that so spiritedly,
Lily, who was about to pick up her spoon, flinched and started sneaking cautious glances at me.
Jolt, jolt.
I can see an illusion of her pink hair drooping like puppy ears.
"You want me to feed you?"
"Hehe, that's not allowed, huh? Sorry. I'll eat it myself right away..."
Just as Lily hurriedly reached for the spoon with her hand,
I let out a long sigh and, half a beat faster than Lily, grabbed that spoon with a snap.
"Ah."
This is the problem.
When she acts so timidly yet honestly and kindly, I can't bring myself to draw a firm line and say, 'Eat it yourself.'
It really feels like I'm raising either a dog that blindly follows its owner or some immature kid.
"I'll do it for you just today."
I scooped up a big spoonful of fried rice and blew on it.
Maybe because I put it in the thermal lunchbox right after making it, it was still warm.
Nice.
"Hehe. Yes!"
Lily's face brightened in an instant.
She was pretty cute, opening her mouth wide and eating like a sparrow.
Munch, munch.
As I casually wiped the grease from the corner of Lily's mouth with a tissue while she chewed and swallowed until her cheeks puffed out, I said quietly,
"Listen while you eat."
"Mm."
Instead of answering, she gave a big nod.
Wouldn't it be rude to think 'what a polite, good kid' about a proper twenty-year-old adult?
"Once you're done, I have to go see Professor Iris."
Lily's eyebrows drooped slightly.
That probably means, 'Why do you need to see the professor?'
"Yes. Yesterday at the academy's main gate, while I was asking her to mediate the situation, she demanded that I take magic tutoring from her. Something about giving me close, intensive instruction or whatever."
I slid a glass of water over to Lily and reminded her.
"So Lily still can't push herself, so you need to stay here and rest comfortably. And don't leave this lab under any circumstances. Got it?"
"Yes!"
* * *
In front of Professor Iris's private research lab.
Knock, knock.
I gave a light knock.
Heavy footsteps sounded from inside, and then a familiar voice drifted through the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's me."
The moment I answered,
Bang.
Instead of telling me to come in, the owner of the room flung the door wide open herself.
Today too, she was wearing that dreary suit.
Even so, behind her glasses, there was a strange vitality in her glinting red eyes.
"I thought maybe you'd forgotten."
Leaning against the doorframe, Iris tossed out a complaint laced with humor, smiling.
"No way. It's a promise."
"Is that so?"
Her bright red eyes slowly swept me from head to toe before meeting my gaze.
"I'm glad."
There was somehow a barb in those last words.
Man, that really catches you off guard.
If I blurted out something nasty here like, 'That's too much. I was busy too. What, did you become my superior and start being this strict?' it'd be a total pain.
In situations like this, it's best to just brush it off.
I smoothly changed the subject.
"Could I ask for a cup of tea? Water's fine too."
"Please wait a moment, then."
Okay.
That worked.
*
A little while later.
"Here you go."
"Thank you."
After the professor set two teacups on the table, she sat down on the sofa too.
As soon as I saw Professor Iris, that same thought I'd always had rose up again.
'Just who is it?'
Who on earth stole a dress from this beautiful woman?
No matter how many times I see it, that neat suit covering every inch of her pisses me off.
On the first day, I was honestly itching to wipe out the knight order, and I was oddly happy about it.
Ah. I feel like wiping out the knight order.
......Fuck.
Let's stop with the shitty nonsense.
I feel like such an idiot.
"So, what exactly is this close-up lesson you said you wanted to give me today?"
If possible, I'd like to get this wrapped up in three clicks.
She lifted the teacup on the table and smiled languidly.
"Everything about you, from start to finish."
"Yes."
"I need to know it all. Perfectly."
"Huh?"
Huh?
That sounds kind of lewd, doesn't it?
You need to know everything about me, from start to finish? Perfectly?
......What?
I scratched the back of my neck.
Is she teasing me, seriously?
I should probably pretend not to understand and correct her.
"Even so, that's way too vague, Professor. By saying you need to know about me, what exactly do you mean...?"
"Exactly what I said."
She brought the teacup to her lips and cut me off in a voice that was languid to the point of being seductive.
"I want to spend time understanding everything, all the way down to your most intimate, deepest depths."
The answer that came back was even more absurd.
My most intimate, deepest depths?
There was no way around it — that was way past the line.
I'm not some frog in an anatomy class.
I set down the tea I'd been drinking on the table and shot back a serious direct hit.
"Hey, Professor."
"Yes."
"By any chance, do you know that right now it sounds like you're trying to seduce me into some kind of secret relationship?"
Flinch.
The master's hand, which had been about to drink her tea, froze in midair.
"......"
For a moment, it seemed like the air inside the research lab had frozen.
The teacher, still holding her teacup, blinked twice slowly.
I could see her eyes tremble faintly behind her glasses.
Only after hearing my blunt interpretation did she finally seem to realize how dangerous her wording had been toward a twenty-year-old male student.
"Did I hear that wrong?"
When I asked again, she finally set the teacup back down.
Then she pushed up her glasses with her index finger and let out a cough, as if trying to regain her composure.
"Ahem. Your imagination."
"......"
"......"
"I see once again just how creative and indecent your imagination is, Cassian."
She snapped coldly, crossing her arms tightly.
No, that's a bit much.
You're saying I was being creatively indecent?
"Then I noticed that the professor's white nape had turned oddly red."
"What I meant by that intimate and deep point was, of course, your mana circuit and innate mana constitution."
"Ah, yes. I see."
"As I shamelessly kept a straight face and brushed it off like it was nothing, Professor Iris's eyebrows twitched slightly."
"For a joke between a student and professor, that's getting rather close to the line."
"I'm your teacher. I wouldn't say something like that to you."
"Isn't the pursuit of truth supposed to be a precarious tightrope walk anyway?"
"Then you should've kept your mouth shut."
She let out a small huff of disbelief.
"But soon enough, her eyes returned to those of a stern scholar and researcher."
"Enough with the jokes."
"Understood."
"When you physically shattered the dungeon's phase barrier during the Legion Tour."
Iris looked up at me with her bright red eyes.
"Today, I'm going to take apart, piece by piece, the body that withstood that lethal level of mana load."