Chapter 60
After returning to the house in Southdoll and changing into loose-fitting clothes, Monica took a book from her bag.
The book was neither a spellbook nor a mathematics book. It was a romance novel.
──In other words, you like this Cyril-sama fellow, and you got jealous of the young noblewoman rumored to be his fiancée.
Clifford's observation clicked startlingly into place.
Then it certainly made sense why she couldn't be happy about Cyril's engagement.
Clifford was surely right. Monica was in love with Cyril.
...But this was just like a math problem.
When Monica faced a difficult math problem, she couldn't be satisfied if someone merely told her the answer.
Even if she knew the answer was surely correct, she couldn't say she truly understood it unless she checked the intermediate steps herself and arrived at the answer.
It was the same in romance. Even if Clifford merely told her the answer, Monica couldn't accept it.
Thinking that she had to verify the process herself before arriving at that answer, Monica reached for a romance novel.
Just as she opened a mathematics book when she got stuck on a problem, picking up a romance novel to understand romance was perfectly natural for Monica.
Thus, after the unveiling of Lana's robe, Monica stopped by the library alone and, after agonizing over it, swallowed her embarrassment and asked the librarian:
"Could you recommend the most straightforward romance novel for a beginner?"
The librarian's fond look, as though she were seeing something heartwarming, was a little hard to bear.
Thus, Monica began reading the book the librarian had chosen for her in the carriage—and promptly got carsick.
Monica flopped onto her bed, opened the book at its bookmark, and read the romance novel with a grim expression, as though she were confronting a difficult mathematics book.
"...Hmm."
Previously, when Monica had been helping Glenn study, he had said this after reading a spellbook:
'I understand what's written, but I don't understand what it means!'
That was exactly Monica's current state of mind.
She understood what was written, but couldn't understand at all the part about "why, how, and what led to it."
(...I wonder if Ike, a romance expert, would understand right away.)
But this problem, of all things, was one she hesitated to ask anyone about. Simply put, it was embarrassing. Yes, embarrassing.
(...Falling in love with someone isn't embarrassing, so why does it feel so embarrassing...?)
The instant Clifford pointed out that she was in love with Cyril, Monica's cheeks had indeed flushed with embarrassment, and her mind had gone blank. Her heart had pounded as fast as though she had sprinted with all her might.
They called it lovesickness for good reason. And, inconveniently, this sickness had no surefire cure.
"There is no medicine for lovesickness or fools" was something Claudia had said during their student days. Since she came from the 〈Family of the Wise〉, it was surely true.
Once the heroine of the story realized she was in love, she somehow ended up with a man who loved her back. Monica reread the novel over and over to determine exactly when they had fallen in love with each other, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it.
In the end, Monica finished the novel without understanding a single thing, sighed, and closed it.
(What do I want in the first place...?)
Monica was content with being able to work with Cyril as she did now. If he praised her once in a while, that alone made her happy. What more could she possibly want?
She had infiltrated Serendia Academy under a false identity, revealed who she truly was, and was still able to remain connected to the people dear to her.
That alone made her happy enough to cry. Asking for anything more would be too greedy.
(...Besides, if things continue like this, I won't be able to act normally, and I'm sure I'll cause trouble even in our joint research...)
What Monica feared most was causing Cyril trouble because of her. And Monica's love would certainly cause trouble for many people.
Thinking about it made a heavy weight settle deep in her chest.
(...Then it would surely be best to hide these feelings so that Cyril-sama never notices them.)
Monica rolled over and closed her eyes, leaving the romance novel tossed beside her pillow.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Monica, the soup's ready. Do you think you can eat some?"
When Isaac knocked and opened the door, Monica was curled up asleep on her bed.
Isaac approached the bedside without making a sound, then noticed a book beside her pillow.
Its cover was unlike those of the mathematics and spellbooks Monica favored: it was a romance novel.
(Did Miss Collet lend it to her? Or...?)
Isaac brushed the hair away from Monica's cheek, then gently touched her pale cheek with his fingertips, his touch as delicate as if he were touching a precious treasure.
"This is troubling..."
Once, kissing her cheek had been easy. Now, however, he found himself hesitating.
"...You're precious to me."
The 〈Star-Seer Witch〉 had prophesied that Isaac would one day lose half the world reflected in his eyes.
"...I don't want to lose you."
For someone living a double life as Felix Arc Ridill, Duke of Erin, and Isaac Walker, apprentice to 〈Silent Witch〉, this place where he spent time with Monica was as good as half his world.
If the 〈Star-Seer Witch〉's prophecy was as Isaac expected... then what he would lose was Monica.
The mere thought of something happening to Monica sent a chill down Isaac's spine.
──Please, please, don't take anything else away from me.
He mouthed the words, then smiled darkly, displaying a cringing meekness utterly unlike him.
Because he knew. Praying alone could never make anything come true.
So, to protect this gentle time, Isaac decided to take action himself.
To brush away every spark that might fall on him and Monica.
Isaac pulled the blanket back over Monica, then left the room without making a sound.
When he went downstairs, he called out to Nero, who was sulking while wedged in a gap between the shelves.
"Nero, I was thinking of roasting a bird for you tonight."
Nero, whose tail had been swishing in the gap between the cupboard shelves, deftly turned around inside the cramped cupboard to face Isaac.
He then looked up at Isaac with a gaze that plainly said he found Isaac suspicious.
"You're plotting something, aren't you?"
"I am. So, could you lend me your strength?"
Isaac crouched in front of the shelf and brought himself level with Nero's eyes.
Nero's golden eyes gleamed ominously, and he gave a sharp hiss.
"You foolish human. To think you'd try to win over the great me with mere bird meat—your arrogance is beyond..."
"I was thinking of roasting an entire bird. Three kinds of sauce. And maybe I'll go all out and make the side dishes meat, too. If you'd like, I can add a rabbit pie."
"All right. Tell me the details."
"I'm glad we came to an understanding so quickly."
Thus, Isaac Walker, apprentice to 〈Silent Witch〉, succeeded in winning over Worgan's black dragon with meat dishes.
Nero never learned that Isaac, who had been prepared to secretly buy an entire cow or pig, wondered whether it was really all right for things to be this easy.