Chapter 15
Episode 15
The greenhouse quickly grew as noisy as a marketplace.
The male students were busy escorting their female partners, and the girls were putting on airs, saying, “Oh my, what if I get dirt on me?”
Our Group 4.
Hmm.
Calling us Group 4 is a bit much.
So Elisia and I were a little different from the others.
First, Elisia was standing there straight-backed.
As if it were only natural.
That haughty posture, as if she had no doubt that I, her partner, would come over and politely escort her as the lady she was.
In fact, everyone except me was already doing exactly that.
But.
'I don't want to go.'
If I went to the center, I'd have to take in the stares of all these people from every direction.
Why should I bother?
More than anything, I needed to knock Elisia down a peg.
It was just a hunch, but her finding me amusing felt like a dangerous signal.
Messing with the main character for karma was dangerous, sure, but still, this time it felt right.
Instead of moving, I flopped down in a very comfortable position.
Then I held up one index finger and tapped the bare ground beside me as I said,
“Come over here.”
“…….”
Silence.
The nearby students' eyes went so wide they looked ready to pop out.
“Good heavens, he’s speaking to the young lady of House Rosenberg…”
“Does he even know who he’s addressing so rudely? She’s a young lady, a young lady!”
“Is he crazy? He’s got no manners at all!”
“Does that savage really want to die that badly?”
Hector was trembling with clenched fists, almost on the verge of tears.
“I ought to cut that rude bastard down on the spot...!”
Hey.
I can hear all of that.
If you're going to think it, just think it; instead, you go and blurt nonsense out loud.
Why the hell doesn’t Elisia know what that bastard is thinking?
Watching it happen right in front of me, I really can’t tell.
But it’s fun.
I want to provoke her more.
Poke! Poke!
“Welcome.”
Elisia’s eyes widened into perfect circles.
She’d clearly suffered a brain freeze from treatment she’d never received in her life.
'She'll get angry, right? Then it'll all fall apart, right?'
I was going to get an A no matter what.
For any other class, I’d skip it, but for this one I even show up every time and get to play with the leftover patch of dirt in the corner. Total score.
But then.
“Pffft.”
Elisia’s shoulders shook, and then she walked toward me with brisk steps.
Far from getting angry, she even had a bright smile at the corners of her mouth.
The moment she stopped beside me, where I was crouching, she spoke in a low voice.
“You’re rude, aren’t you?”
“Glad you noticed. But why aren’t you offended? Normally, in a situation like this, wouldn’t the right response be to slap me and say, ‘How dare you!’?”
“Well. But if you know what you’re saying deserves a beating, why are you being rude?”
“I wonder, too.”
So this was her never-losing-a-single-word technique.
She had to be truly, really offended by now, right?
Elisia lowered her head and stared straight at me.
Her violet eyes rippled deeply.
“Come to think of it... why am I so unbothered by this? That’s odd.”
Damn.
“If it were anyone else, I’d be very offended, and even if I didn’t want to keep it in mind, it would still have stuck in my chest.”
“…….”
“But when you say it, I just... think, ‘That’s just the kind of person you are,’ I guess. Maybe that’s why?”
Ah.
She’s broken too.
Apparently there isn’t a single normal person around me.
I was confused, so I turned my gaze to the cart.
Immediately, all my worries disappeared.
'I don't care. Whatever.'
I got back to my feet and walked over to the cart.
A gleaming pitchfork.
A sturdy shovel handle.
As if spellbound, I reached out.
“Let’s get my hands on some dirt for the first time in a while.”
My eyes began to shine with the look of an expert choosing farm tools—or rather, the eyes of a priest appraising a sacred relic.
This grip.
This center of balance.
“This is a good piece. It’s in great condition, too.”
I picked up a pitchfork and gave it a flick.
Ting—!
A clear, pleasant sound.
“Pass.”
I gathered up the farm tools and went back to my spot to sit down.
By then, Elisia had followed me and was watching me with amused fascination.
I don't know. Just ignore it.
All right, time to turn this field over.
I’ll show them who the crazy farmer in this area is.
* * *
The greenhouse after class was pure chaos.
The noble young lords called the Empire’s future were a pathetic sight.
The result of all that talk about chivalry was that they did the digging for the ladies instead.
Their expensive shirts were caked in dirt, and their neatly combed hair had turned into a mess.
“Where am I... Who am I...”
“My fingernails... they’re full of dirt...”
Everyone was staring blankly into space with expressions like their souls had fled.
Looking at that horrific scene, Viscountess Müller nodded as if very satisfied.
“Good. If you think of herbs only as potion ingredients, you’ll never understand their essence. Sweat and effort, and through them, breathing with the earth. That is where herbology begins.”
She adjusted the brim of her hat and grinned.
“This semester, steel yourselves.”
I snorted inwardly.
'All talk and no work—aren't you just slacking off?'
No lectures.
All practical work, all the time.
The professor just watches.
'She's a total freeloader.'
It was clearly the author's 'hands-off genius professor' setup to make the character look cool.
“Then I'll see you next week.”
Once the freeloader professor swept out, her leather apron fluttering, the students finally let out sighs of relief.
Tap, tap.
I brushed the dirt off my trouser cuffs.
It felt refreshing to use my body after so long, but now I’m getting hungry.
That was when it happened.
Elisia, who was standing beside me, turned her head toward me.
“We’ll be seeing each other often from now on, Cassian del Farne.”
Ugh, seriously.
“...Could you please call me by something shorter?”
“Pardon?”
“Hearing my full name gives me chills every time. It sounds like someone is demanding I pay up a debt.”
“All right. Cassian.”
That wasn’t what I meant by acting familiar.
But Elisia only covered her mouth with her fan and laughed.
I slowly looked around.
At first, of course, the chivalrous young lords had been showing off and saying they’d do it instead, but after Viscountess Müller’s 'I guess you're not scared of me?', even the young ladies joined in the plowing.
So the young ladies’ dress hems were caked with dirt too.
They’d been stumbling and rolling around because they didn’t know how to plow.
By contrast, Elisia beside me was just as sparkling as she had been before class.
Not a single strand of hair was out of place, and there wasn’t a speck of dust on her dress hem.
Of course.
Because I’d done that earlier.
'Don't touch it. You'll ruin the field.'
'What? But I should help too...'
'No. Angle is everything in plowing. If an untrained person meddles, the golden ratio of ridge and furrow will be ruined. Just watch from the side.'
Then I said that and did everything myself, beating the drum and the janggu all alone.
Perhaps sensing my gaze, Elisia curved her eyes and said,
“Surprisingly, those billowing pants aren’t all that cumbersome when you’re working hard, are they? They even looked comfortable.”
“Yeah. Well.”
What was with the sudden compliment?
“Thanks to you, I was able to enjoy myself comfortably. And the way you looked while sweating was quite impressive and cool.”
Ugh.
I grimaced in disgust.
There it was again. That aristocratic lip-service culture.
That barbaric romance where a knight will even risk his life for a woman, rolling around in the mud and making a fool of himself, and the lady waves her handkerchief and says, 'Oh my, how brave!'
My life and my pride are both equally precious.
Of course, since those two share first place, when they clash, a disaster like me mouthing off to Hector does happen.
That barbaric romance requires giving up both your life and your pride, so I reject it outright.
“Enough. Save the compliments.”
“I’m serious.”
“I did it for my own sake. I was excited because it was my first chance in a while to touch dirt legally. I wasn’t trying to impress the young lady.”
“…….”
“So you don’t need to look like you owe me something.”
I said it offhandedly while taking off my dirt-stained gloves.
Elisia stared at me for a moment.
Her violet eyes glimmered strangely. Ominously.
“You’re very honest.”
“I’m always honest.”
“Pffft!”
Suddenly, she burst out laughing.
The way she laughed brightly, her shoulders shaking, glowed unrealistically against the dirt-covered students around her.
I asked with a sullen expression,
“What exactly is so funny?”
“I wonder. I went and laughed again, didn’t I?”
Elisia shook her head, wiping away the tears at the corners of her eyes.
“When I’m with you, I keep forgetting my composure. It’s strange.”
“…….”
The surrounding students were clearly flustered.
Right.
If their eyesight isn't broken, they’d be able to tell that Elisia wasn’t uncomfortable being with me—she was enjoying it.
I could feel that too, which is why the emergency light in my head was going off like crazy.
It felt strange.
The saintess was smiling, the villainess was smiling, and the genius professor was smiling too.
What am I, some clown named Chunsik from a traveling troupe?
Why the hell does everyone start grinning like idiots whenever they see me?
They’ll get attached, damn it.
I cleared my throat and changed the subject.
“But there’s something I’m curious about.”
“Go on.”
“Why are you taking a freshman class? Retaking it?”
Elisia wasn’t a freshman.
So why was she sitting in Intro to Herbology, a class for first-year newbies?
Did she maybe fail so badly she got an F?
If that was the case, I’d have to mercilessly tease her. I was loading up a round of mockery when...
Elisia shrugged.
“It’s academy regulations. Because of the senior-junior mentoring program, we’re required to attend a few classes from the lower years.”
“Mentoring?”
“Yes. It’s a system where upperclassmen observe lowerclassmen’s classes and help out. Well, it’s mostly just a formality.”
Mockery launch failed.
'Ah.'
I saw right through it immediately.
'The author wanted to keep the characters’ age gap, but also needed to gather the leads in one place, so they threw together this half-baked setup.'
What absurd convenience.
Elisia snapped her fan shut and looked at me.
“By the way, you made such an effort for me, but do you really not want anything more from me?”
“I said, nothing.”
“Really?”
“I didn’t do it out of chivalry or anything. I just did it because I wanted to play in the dirt. I’m grateful you didn’t interfere with my hobby.”
I could hear whispers around us.
“That lunatic is rejecting the Rosenberg young lady’s favor?”
“He’s insane. He can’t possibly not know what the title of duke means, can he?”
“He might not. Judging by the way he acts.”
I do know.
Do you think I don't? Damn it.
Hector was shooting beams from his eyes over in the corner.
'How dare he spurn the young lady's kindness?!'
Let’s just ignore him.
He’d been acting like that all day anyway.
Elisia seemed to quite like my refusal.
She nodded and responded coolly.
“All right. Then let’s leave the reward hanging.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean I’ll leave it as a debt. If anything comes to mind, tell me anytime. If it’s something I can arrange under my name, anything at all.”
“Ah, sure. Well...”
Though I’d never actually say anything.
The only thing I’d ask is for her to get Hector out of my face, and there’s no way she’d grant that, right?
I nodded absentmindedly.
Elisia smiled as if satisfied and turned around.
“Then I'll see you next week, Cassian.”
“Take care.”
I cheerfully ignored Hector's glare and headed for the greenhouse exit.
I'm hungry.
I need to get home and eat quickly.
*
*
*
*
Inside the carriage on the way home.
Elisia was smiling brightly as she looked out the window.
For some reason, the scenery outside the window was beautiful today. Of course, it was the same scenery she'd always seen.
“Oh my, miss. Looks like something good happened to you again today.”
The personal maid sharing the carriage looked at her with a warm smile.
“Do I?”
“Yes. You haven’t been smiling much lately, so I was worried, but these days you seem to smile often, and that really puts my mind at ease.”
“Is that so?”
Is that so.
Maybe that was true.
Recently, she had felt much lighter in spirit, and even a quick scan of her memory made it obvious that she had been laughing more often.
“It must be because His Highness the Crown Prince treats you well.”
“Huh?”
She hesitated for a moment, but soon smiled gently.
“Well, yes.”
Though the maid had been with her since childhood, she didn’t want to expose her shame to anyone.
“So it really is true that a woman becomes more beautiful when she’s in love.”
To the maid’s idle chatter, Elisia could never say, 'Maybe it's not because of His Highness the Crown Prince.'
'He was cool.'
He wasn’t even a man in a uniform or armor.
I never once imagined the day would come when I’d watch a man wielding farm tools, look at his jawline, and think he was cool.
'That outfit somehow stopped looking ridiculous at some point.'
Elisia was awakening to the astonishingly unique charm of masculinity that keeps even a speck of dirt from touching you.