Chapter 8
Chapter 8
The problem she posed in the lecture hall was simple.
It was a product of rote instruction, a test of how perfectly the undergraduates had memorized the mana computation formulas.
In equation terms, it was a question that asked for 'A+B=C.'
A normal student should have added A and B as the textbook said and derived C.
But Cassian's answer was different.
He denied the very concept of 'A' and 'B.'
To put it in an analogy, it was like not assembling blocks, but melting them down into raw plastic, hardening them again, and then creating a new shape.
He split 'A' into tiny elemental units—'a1, a2, a3…'—and did the same to 'B,' then mixed those fragments however he pleased and 'found' the result called 'C.'
"It's inefficient. So inefficient, and wasteful. And yet……"
Iris stepped so close to the blackboard that her nose nearly touched it.
"Beautiful."
Though the computation speed was slow, the insight packed into the process was enough to give her goosebumps.
He hadn't solved it by mindlessly memorizing the formula.
'This is an answer that could only come from painstakingly digging into the laws of the world and the source of mana, chewing them over, tearing them apart, savoring every bit of them, and only then arriving at the result.'
A solution process steeped in pure curiosity and madness toward the unknown, like a child plucking some innocent wildflower to satisfy their curiosity.
After wrestling with the blackboard for a long while, Iris suddenly threw her head back.
"Hah!"
A laugh burst out, though it was hard to tell whether it was a scoff or delight.
"Crazy…… he solved it like this? In that short amount of time?"
Her red eyes gleamed brilliantly.
And in that instant, a powerful sense of déjà vu flashed through her mind.
This inefficient, insane-looking way of playing that others would point at and call mad, yet one that pierced straight to the essence.
I've seen this somewhere before.
"……That's what I used to do when I was little?"
Fragments of memory surfaced.
Her childhood, when she was so brilliant she had no friends.
Back then, when no one would play with her, she would sit alone in her room, floating mana in the air, breaking it down and reassembling it while giggling to herself.
Even her mentor could only understand her style of play in theory; he couldn't actually join her.
'I never imagined anyone besides me could do something like this, no, would even want to……'
A shiver ran through her.
Iris slowly brushed the writing off the blackboard with trembling fingertips.
Was touching your mirror image what this felt like?
The thrill of finding a kindred spirit who could share her wretched twenty-odd years of loneliness, perhaps even someone who understood her better than she understood herself, spread through every corner of her body.
"Hah, haha……"
A smile leaked from her lips.
Only now did she understand Cassian's behavior.
Trying to lie down and sleep during class?
Of course. Teaching low-level A+B would have been maddeningly boring.
His outfit being improper?
Since he had a free-thinking mind unbound by formality, what did clothes matter?
Talking back to her so shamelessly?
Because geniuses are arrogant by nature!
Every piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
"Cassian del Farne……"
She rolled his name around in her mouth like candy.
She looked around the inside of the lab.
No matter how much Iris von Evergarden was hailed as a genius, here she was still a relatively junior professor.
Her private lab was located near the stairway where many people passed by, in a noisy spot. It was not unusual for other professors to barge in at will.
This was the place where she could escape that situation and immerse herself in research.
The Zero Research Lab her mentor had left to her.
A space where no one at the academy could dare barge in as they pleased, a place perfect for getting away from trouble and focusing on research.
She had never once imagined that someone worthy of coming here would appear in her lifetime.
"You're making me too curious."
A greedy gleam began to bloom in her red eyes.
All the nicknames like barbarian or starving second son aimed at him were trash.
The only worthwhile catch she could lock away in her lonely lab, talk magic with all night long, and together peel back the hidden side of this boring world.
Iris pushed up her glasses and drew a big circle in red pen over the formula written on the blackboard.
Creak!
The sound of the blackboard being scraped rang out like a scream.
"Hmm."
She smiled as if pleased.
*
I leaned back comfortably against the bench backrest.
On my left, a squirrel and a rabbit were crunching on jerky.
On my right, the saint was puffing out her cheeks and munching away.
On my shoulder, a sparrow was chirping.
On this bench, with the faint smell of a trash incinerator hanging in the air,
I ended up with an involuntary healing session.
"It's delicious……"
"I made it myself, so it would be insulting to compare it to the cheap stuff they sell in stores."
"You made it yourself? You cook too?"
"Out in the countryside, self-sufficiency is basic. We make potato pancakes every day, dry sweet potatoes, roast corn."
"Potato…… pancakes?"
Lily's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"…Why are you taking an interest in that after I basically told you not to, since I'm a country bumpkin?"
The moment I said that, she made a dazed face as if she'd been struck.
"…I wasn't interested."
"Then that's a relief. Take it."
Wow. She took the jerky without hesitation, too.
"Um, Cassian-nim."
"What do you mean, -nim. Just call me casually. We're classmates."
"Then Cassian……?"
"Call me whatever you want. Better than barbarian."
Lily gave a shy smile.
The wary girl from our first meeting was nowhere to be seen; now she was just a normal girl happily enjoying a small slice of her life.
This is dangerous.
My reason was already sounding the alarm not to get too close, but it was probably too late by now.
"Um, maybe this is rude, but……"
Then why not just not say it?
"Let's not be the kind of people who are rude to each other."
"Ah……"
Lily drooped again. If she had animal ears instead of human ones, they probably would have drooped too.
Guilt attack, two-hit combo.
But this time, I'm not falling for it.
I decisively turned my head away and stood up, dusting myself off.
"If you've eaten your fill, let's each go our separate ways now. Stay any longer and the bell'll ring."
"Ah, yes……"
"Then I'll be off."
I turned on my heel and started walking.
And the moment I was about to turn the corner.
Thud!
"Oof."
"Mm…!"
What was that grave groan?
I ran smack into someone.
The books and bundle of parchment the other person was carrying flew into the air and scattered onto the ground.
"Ah, sorry……"
As I lowered my head to apologize, I froze in place.
A familiar face came into view.
A face with features that looked thoroughly ominous and obnoxious.
"……No, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going……"
The words abruptly cut off.
And soon, wariness filled his gaze as he looked at me.
A cold, low voice.
Sharp eyes.
The legitimate heir of House Belvius, and the crown prince's closest aide.
And the second male lead from the original story, the one who had a crush on Elisia.
It was Hector.
"……"
"……"
His eyes narrowed.
He stared at my face, then flicked his eyes to my pants, and soon frowned without hiding his disgust.
"You are…… Cassian del Farne."
'This bastard looks like he identified me just by my pants.'
Why the hell is my luck so awful today?
They say when it rains, it pours, and now that I've shaken off the saint, the second male lead rolls in too.
I swallowed a deep sigh inwardly and shrugged as if it didn't bother me.
Gotta do what I gotta do.
"What difference does it make if I'm Cassian del Farne?"
"What?"
"Whether I'm Farne's barbarian, Farne's Cassian, or Farne's second son, does that make your mistake any less of a mistake? This is shared fault, plain and simple."
I even dropped the honorifics and went straight into banmal.
Because this bastard spoke to me informally first.
Only I get to insult my own family.
But the moment he said 'Farne,' the contempt on his face was unmistakable.
Hector's face turned red, then redder.
Ah.
Damn, I'm pretty crazy too.
I can't back down here.
Why is it so hard to just say, "Sorry, sir"?
If I keep going to the academy like this, I'm seriously going to cause a huge incident someday.
The man in front of me was already looking like his face was about to burst into flames.
But then it happened.
"That's enough, Hector."
Along with that low voice appeared a blond head.
It was the crown prince of this country, Louis de Leopold.
'Why in the world are these bastards at the incinerator……'
Ah.
Damn it.
This is why Lily is dangerous.
*
Is this what it feels like when your heart drops?
The tucked-away bench just around the corner.
Right now, a squirrel, a rabbit, and Saint Lily were probably enjoying a cozy snack time there.
But the crown prince had come all the way here?
The reason was obvious. He'd followed the scent of a woman, nostrils flaring.
'If she gets caught?'
The worst-case scenario played in my head in 4K high definition.
'How dare you have a secret tryst with my woman? Fine, let's see if you can end your life so cleanly. What? You're growing potatoes? I'll show you in vivid detail what it looks like when your precious potato field goes up in flames!'
"……"
A chill ran down my spine.
I would rather die than watch my precious potato field turn to ashes.
'……I'm screwed. I have to make her bolt, no matter what.'
I immediately changed tactics.
I bent my stiff neck and bowed.
Honestly, I feel like I should go beyond bowing and even drop into dogeza, but that damn rebellious streak of mine won't allow it.
And then, in a voice loud enough for Lily hiding around the corner to clearly hear, I shouted,
"Your Highness the Crown Prince! I, Cassian del Farne, have committed the blasphemy of daring to brawl in your presence. I sincerely apologize!"
It was a voice that carried clearly through the area.
There was only one purpose.
'Hearing my voice, Lily, take the hint and run. Please. Now's your chance.'
The effect was immediate.
Because an unexpected stray shot had gone off.
"……!"
Hector, standing beside him, had his brow twitching furiously.
His face turned red in an instant, like a perfectly ripe radish.
The situation became bizarre.
Though it wasn't my intention, the moment I became the loyal noble who admitted his mistake and apologized before his lord,
Hector, in the blink of an eye, became the petty one who couldn't control his emotions even in front of his lord and ended up receiving an apology.
"W-what do you mean……"
Hector gaped in confusion.
Louis too raised his brows as if surprised.
"Hmm. I shall gladly accept your sincere apology."
"Thank you!"
I said even louder without lifting my head.
'You heard that, right? If you did, please just go. Run, hurry up.'
But then it happened.
Behind my back, from the bushes beyond the corner.
……Rustle!
A sound so clear you could tell it was a branch being stepped on from ten li away rang out.
'……Ah, seriously.'
Was she doing that on purpose?
'If you're going to run, at least do it carefully! Did you strap a tambourine to your soles? Why are you making sound effects while running away, damn it!'
Do these romance-fantasy heroines learn how to run away only from books?
Every crucial moment, she kept making that absurdly unsubtle move of practically advertising, 'I'm here~,' and it made me furious.
"……Hm?"
Louis turned his head toward the source of the sound.
His sharp red eyes swept over the bushes.
"I think I just heard something."
"……"
"Perhaps…… is there someone else around here?"
My heart felt so tight it seemed ready to burst.
'Damn it, just advertise that you're looking for the saint already. Is this bastard seriously sane?'
He's already engaged and even doing the campus-couple thing, yet he's scouring the whole campus looking for his crush?
No wonder Elisia went dark and started swinging a sword around.
But why do I and my potato patch have to get dragged into that too?
"As you know, my image is that of a starving barbarian. I'm the laughingstock of high society, so I deliberately ran off to this deserted place where no one comes."
A voluntary loner alibi, prepared for this exact moment.
Louis stared at me for a moment, then nodded as if he understood.
"I see. This place does seem……"
He cut himself off and frowned.
Then he took a white silk handkerchief from his pocket and delicately covered his nose and mouth.
"……a place where the air is a little too foul for anyone to set foot in."
Louis's gaze swept over me and the incinerator behind me before he looked away, unable to hide his disgust.
'What is it? Does it stink?'
Is it my smell?
Or is it just the incinerator smell?
This wasn't a landfill, just a spot near the incinerator, so there was a bit of a burnt smell, but it wasn't enough to be a stench.
'Must be because he's royalty. He can't even stand the smell of charcoal. So fussy……'
If anything, that was a relief.
Thanks to that sensitive nose of his, he'd want to leave here quickly.
"Then, sorry for the disturbance. Farne's second son."
What was that fused title, like Farne's barbarian and starving second son rolled into one?
Sure enough, Hector snickered beside him.
Snicker?
This bastard, seriously……
But out of my mouth came words completely opposite of how I really felt.
"Not at all. It's an honor, Your Highness."
"Good. You've worked hard, Hector. Let's go."
Louis turned away as if he had no lingering attachment.
Covering his nose with the handkerchief, he moved away faster than someone dodging trash someone left on the streets of Hongdae at dawn on a Monday.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Hector shot me a sidelong glare, then silently followed after his lord.
His eyes had the classic villain line compressed into them: 'I'll get you next time.'
'He was the one who threw the first punch, for fuck's sake.'
I could only stand there holding my breath until the backs of the two men disappeared around the corner.
And finally, once their presence had completely faded away.
"Phew……"
The breath I'd been holding burst out like a dam breaking.
The strength left my legs, and I almost collapsed onto the ground.
"I'm alive……"
Life in Seoul is seriously brutal.
When I was farming potatoes, even running into a bear felt less scary than this.
If a bear hit me, I'd at least get to meet the Lord in one go. If that man marked me, I wouldn't be able to go in peace.
"Ugh. What the hell was that just now, seriously."
I should just crush that heroine brat.
If I go back and say something like, 'Your Highness has departed,' she'll definitely panic and start rambling nonsense like, 'I'm sorry, let me make it up to you.'
While completely ignoring my wish to just be left alone and disappear.
That's not an apology; that's gaslighting, isn't it?
'Sigh. Forget it.'
I don't want to see her face anyway, so I'll just not talk to her and disappear.
I left the open ground near the incinerator behind.