Chapter 47
Just a recap of the previous chapter.
Vita Shamal considers Carlisle her rival.
So, after giving it some thought, she sends him a text to distract him from studying for his exams...
***
Ding-
The text had arrived quite a while ago.
‘Could it be a reply…?’
Even as she feels a little hopeful,
she deliberately doesn't check it right away. Sometimes, stopping at anticipation can be enjoyable too.
Carlisle often contacted Bianca Shamal. He usually left about five texts a day.
The reason he didn't call was that he was busy too, and he didn't want to put unnecessary pressure on the other person.
Carlisle knew how bothersome excessive contact could be. He had plenty of experience, after all—he'd been obsessively pursued quite a lot, as they say.
‘Especially calls.’
Even unwanted missed calls could feel burdensome and make you lose interest in someone in all sorts of ways. And if he called and the other person didn't get back to him, he felt that would bother him too.
To be honest, he was only now beginning to understand the perspective of some of the women he'd dated in the past. Carlisle found that both funny and helpless.
Lately, he'd deliberately been favoring texts. He didn't want to put pressure on her, but he did want to stay in touch.
Bianca, at all hours.
He was always wanting to see the girl who played hard to get while still giving him an opening.
As expected, he thought she was playing hard to get.
‘Though it is cute.’
Carlisle had only just realized that when you miss someone, you want to contact them. Thanks to Bianca Shamal.
The popular cocktail bar Miliore was quite hectic today as well.
“Someone serve table seven!”
“One double mojito, one Blue Hawaii, and two peach crushes!”
There wasn't a moment to catch his breath. Carlisle filled cocktail glasses with dazzlingly deft hands. The clink of ice, the sweet fruit aromas blooming through the air, and the bitter scent of alcohol were all familiar by now.
“Your cocktails are ready.”
And he served them too.
In the middle of all that, Carlisle was also losing even more time politely turning down various requests from customers.
Such as asking for his number or asking him to take a picture with them.
Yet throughout it all, there was only one thing on Carlisle's mind.
‘...I wonder if she replied?’
Bianca had been replying more often lately, after all.
Before, there had been many days when she wouldn't reply no matter how many he sent.
“Take a break, Carlisle.”
“Thank you, manager.”
Only after the manager gave him permission did Carlisle sink his tired body into a chair. Sitting alone in the break room, he took out his phone with a faint sense of anticipation.
And there was a text from Bianca Shamal!
He'd hoped for one, but he also hadn't expected it—she had texted him this morning, after all.
[I'm busy today, so no contacting me or sending nonsense.]
But she had replied, so he couldn't have been more grateful.
Really, he was.
As far as Carlisle was concerned, he was far from the one in control of this relationship—he was very much the one at her mercy.
His throat felt inexplicably dry, so Carlisle drank a cocktail filled with cold ice. As the cool, sweet cocktail slid down his throat, he felt himself calm down.
Tap-
And finally, he checked the text.
The first photo was, well, more ordinary than he'd expected.
Actually, it wasn't ordinary at all.
The smile in the photo was enough to beguile any man. But the very next photo left Carlisle's mind completely blank.
Quite literally, he was left speechless. Thinking he might have seen it wrong, he rubbed his dry face, but the photo was still there.
What was this, exactly?
‘Didn't she tell me not to contact her…?’
What on earth was she thinking?
He couldn't make heads or tails of what went on in this girl's head.
She was wearing a loose T-shirt. But she'd caught and tugged it up slightly with one hand, making the deep cleavage clearly visible. In short, it was a photo that seemed to openly seduce a man.
Her pretty, tiny face wore a solemn expression utterly at odds with the pose.
Carlisle had no idea what intention she had in sending it, either.
There was absolutely no context.
Even so, he first stared blankly, then found it absurd, and finally let out a quiet laugh.
In a way, he felt a little angry.
‘What am I supposed to do with this shameless girl?’
She was too alluring and cute. Carlisle resolved that he absolutely had to meet Bianca Shamal after work.
‘Though exams are next week…’
He'd intended to study after his shift,
but there was no way he could endure it when the girl he liked did something like this.
Worried someone might see, Carlisle immediately put away his phone. He didn't want anyone to see that photo, even by accident. He had to be the only one who saw it.
Of course, Carlisle didn't forget to press and hold to save it, either.
As it grew close to time for him to leave, he rose from his seat, but felt something getting in the way.
“Ha-”
Carlisle wore a troubled expression and briefly pressed a hand to his head.
***
Meanwhile, unaware of any of that, Vita was studying hard.
The rasp of her pen quietly echoed through the room.
Her pink lips pressed tightly together, her amethyst eyes focused.
All of Vita's attention was fixed on her workbook.
Even though it was true that Carlisle Schultz had always beaten her,
she had always come in second.
Vita had excelled in every subject.
The secret was her fairly remarkable concentration.
Once Vita sat down, she rarely let her mind wander midway through.
Besides, she was feeling a little more pressure this time.
She knew it herself, after all.
She had been neglecting her studies lately.
Fortunately, the subjects on the first day were two relatively easy memorization subjects: history and philosophy.
Memorization subjects were easy. You just had to sit down and memorize them.
“Why do I have to memorize the accomplishments of kings?”
Even as she complained, Vita diligently committed them to memory.
This was an era in which, compared to the past, the concept of a ‘group’ had grown faint.
Royal family, nation. Words that felt so distant.
Still, Vita had seen one of them once before. In name only, the royal family still existed.
[These academy students are our future.]
She remembered finding it strange that the old man who had come to give a congratulatory speech when she entered the academy—wearing a suit—was said to be the king.
In any case, Vita studied history nonstop for several hours.
The achievements of past kings, major events by year, politics, religion, and so on.
“…Let's take a short break.”
Feeling tired, Vita stretched and decided to have a snack.
It was a handful of nuts her mother had left a few days ago. As she munched on them, Vita suddenly found herself a little curious about what Carlisle might be doing. Looking out the window, she saw that it was completely dark.
‘I wonder if he's still working…?’
Not that it was any of her business.
Back when Carlisle had helped her with that punk Nathan, it had also been quite late.
‘...Now that I think about it, a little.’
He really was impressive.
It was hard to admit it honestly.
While she was studying like this, Carlisle had always come in first despite working, too. It was frustrating for no reason, but it also made him seem all the more impressive.
And yet, on the other hand,
she felt a little sorry for him.
Vita was flustered by the feeling that had come over her for no apparent reason. She had learned a few unnecessary facts about Carlisle, and now they were making her think needless thoughts.
‘It doesn't matter to me at all whether that guy is having a hard time.’
He'd said he was a complete orphan, and that he'd supported himself and worked various jobs from a young age. And he was still working hard at his part-time job, so of course it must be difficult.
Still, Carlisle Schultz was absurdly capable, to the point of being annoying. No matter how she looked at it, it was strange for Vita to suddenly feel sorry for that Carlisle guy.
After finishing her snack, Vita absentmindedly looked at her phone.
‘Come to think of it, he must have seen the text by now…?’
A little giggle escaped her.
If she thought about it, the slight pity she'd felt just now was probably guilt.
Since she'd tried to interrupt Carlisle, Vita definitely felt a tiny prick of guilt.
Anyway, curious whether Carlisle had seen the text, Vita rolled around on her bed before opening her phone.
“Ahem…”
Right. Had she distracted him a little?
After all, Carlisle liked her. If Emily Swan sent Vita a text like that, even Vita herself would find it nearly impossible to concentrate on studying.
Ding-
Right on cue, by complete coincidence, at exactly the same time,
Carlisle's text flew in.
-I'm done with work. I'll head over there now.
After reading it, Vita shot to her feet. A question mark appeared on her face.
“What is with this guy?”
Why was he suddenly spouting nonsense?
Wasn't he studying for exams? The exam was the day after tomorrow!
Vita was dumbfounded.
-No, what? I need to study.
-Then study with me.
A reply came immediately.
Of course, Vita had absolutely no intention of doing that.
‘What is he planning this time…?!’
She was anxious, and she really had no time to spare with exams coming up.
-No. I'm not letting you in.
But it seemed she was already too late.
-I'm right outside.
Startled, Vita checked outside the window—and Carlisle really was there. He had even spotted her and was waving at her.
Snap-
Vita, flustered, immediately lowered the window blind.
“What the…”
She was flustered, but she had no intention of letting him in.
‘Who just shows up out of nowhere like this in the first place?’
As if she would let him in. If she just ignored him, he would leave on his own.
With that in mind, Vita chose to ignore him, but…
***
How much time had passed?
She couldn't help feeling uneasy. Autumn weather was fickle, and before she knew it, a steady drizzle had begun outside.
“I still have two chapters left.”
Her phone was strangely quiet.
‘Study. Just study. He'll leave on his own if I wait.’
Vita tried to study with her usual concentration, but she couldn't.
“Ha…”
In the end, she could only sigh.
She couldn't help worrying, after all. Raindrops kept tapping against the window.
‘Could he still not have left?’
What was he trying to pull?
She thought that, but the possibility seemed too absurd, so Vita got up from her seat.
Then she slowly, cautiously raised the window blind.
“…!”
Her body went rigid in surprise.
‘Why hasn't he left?’
Carlisle Schultz was outside, leaning against the wall and looking toward her window. Their gazes met, and Vita hurriedly lowered the blind again with a start.
Was he insane? That was the only possible explanation for him. It wasn't raining particularly hard—just a moderate drizzle.
Even so, his clothes must have been soaked through. Only then did Vita's phone vibrate weakly again.
[Let me in, Bianca.]
No matter how cold the world of competition was, and even if she had to stay on guard because Carlisle was her rival, this was enough to make even Vita's heart soften. Carlisle Schultz could be unnecessarily earnest sometimes, which made things extremely difficult.
“Why are you making me look like the only weird, bad person here?”
Vita muttered that plaintively to herself, then finally made up her mind.
-Dry yourself off and then leave.
As soon as she sent it, a reply came saying okay.
-All right, I will.
Vita didn't know it, but as Carlisle sent his reply, he smiled triumphantly. He had expected this to happen.
The sudden rain had certainly been unexpected, but it was only a drizzle to begin with, and he thought it was actually better for stirring up her sympathy.
‘She's surprisingly softhearted.’
Bianca Shamal, that was.
It was obvious just from seeing how she usually acted. He had become completely certain when she'd cried in the equipment shed.
So in the end, everything went exactly as Carlisle Schultz had predicted.
Carlisle had been certain that the other person would check on him again before long,
and he thought that if she did, her heart would soon soften and she'd let him in.
So in the end, it came to this.
Creak-
The door opened, and Carlisle came face-to-face with her—with Bianca Shamal.
“You…”
She wore an incredulous expression.
With her loosely tied, reddish-blonde hair and comfortable outfit of a loose T-shirt and shorts,
even her pursed pink lips and the glare she directed at him seemed nothing but cute to Carlisle.
So when he smiled slightly, a sharp retort came back at him.
“Are you seriously an idiot? Why on earth…”
Wasn't her expression practically asking what he was doing there?
“Because I missed you.”
So when Carlisle Schultz voiced his honest feelings, Bianca's face turned red.
Slowly, little by little.
***
Carlisle chuckled and made a request first.
“Could I have a towel?”
He really was shameless.
“Haa-”
Vita headed for the bathroom despite letting out a deep sigh.
She was annoyed for no reason, and her face felt hot.
[Because I missed you.]
“…Is he seriously insane?”
What was he saying, looking like a drowned rat?
Vita couldn't understand why Carlisle Schultz would go this far.
It made her feel as if she were the bad person for no reason, and she couldn't feel at ease seeing him soaked by the rain like that.
“Here.”
So she handed him a towel for the time being.
Neither of them felt the least bit awkward about it.
Carlisle roughly dried himself with the towel and came inside.
“Could I take a shower?”
He was acting incredibly at ease now that he'd visited several times.
It was a little absurd, but Vita's heart had already softened somewhat, so she waved a hand dismissively and ended up giving him permission.
He'd gotten rained on, and after working late at his part-time job, he probably wanted to shower.
It was convenient, anyway.
“Sure, do whatever you want.”
In any case, she could just let him wash up and send him back out. She had to study. With that thought, Vita sat back down at her desk.
Even then, she had no idea she'd just let a beast into her cage.