CHAPTER 28
The next morning, while I was in the middle of getting ready, the butler spoke.
“Professor Rusfell has arrived.”
“…Already?”
I hadn’t even had breakfast yet.
“Shall I tell him to come back later?”
“No, it’s fine. Take him to the study.”
I hurried to the study, only to find Rusfell already flipping through the project plan.
“…You’re early.”
“Better to finish quickly, right?”
Just yesterday, didn’t he say, “Better to finish so I can leave quickly”?
“Did you eat?”
“Not yet.”
He answered indifferently as he flipped through the papers.
“This part here—I thought about it overnight. Instead of letting it pass through water, what if we make it absorb it?”
“…You thought about it overnight?”
“Yes.”
“You mean you didn’t sleep?”
“Is that important? Focus, please.”
I snatched the papers from him.
“It is important, that’s why I’m asking. Did you sleep?”
“I did.”
“How much?”
“…”
“Professor Rusfell. How much sleep?”
“A couple of hours.”
“So less than thirty minutes, basically.”
Rusfell looked at me, shocked.
“H-How did you…”
You always lie and say you slept two hours even when you only closed your eyes for a minute. This isn’t my first time being fooled—it’s obvious.
“You realize your face is paler than these papers? And your dark circles are insane?”
“…”
Rusfell touched his face.
His already gaunt face looked even more sunken overnight.
‘It’s great that he’s motivated. But why does he have to burn himself out? Does he want to die from overwork? He’s even weaker than before!’
When Rusfell gets obsessed with something, he stops caring about his health.
He’s been found on the brink of starvation in his lab more than once.
He nearly died because he forgot to eat. How is that even possible?
I realized this couldn’t go on, so I started following him around.
He got so irritated, he almost threw a fireball at me.
Even the day before we died with the Demon King, I scolded him.
Eat on time. Get at least a little sunlight every day. Sleep at least six hours.
‘But nothing’s changed. It’s exhausting…’
This time, I’ll fix that damn habit for good.
With firm resolve, I glared at Rusfell.
“Professor Rusfell, do you think I’m a joke?”
“What? When did I ever…”
“I’m wondering if you think so little of me that our promise means nothing to you.”
“Promise?”
“We made a promise yesterday. Don’t tell me you forgot?”
“Wha—oh!”
Rusfell clamped his mouth shut with a look of realization.
“Answer me. Did you forget?”
“N-No… Yes.”
“Because you were thinking about the plan?”
“…I’m sorry.”
I tossed the documents onto the desk. Then pointed at the study door with my chin, but Rusfell just blinked.
“Let’s go eat. Then I’ll lend you a bedroom so you can rest. We’ll finish the plan after that.”
“I’m not really thinking straight right now. I’ll eat later, I promise.”
“Refuse, and go home.”
“…But you need my help.”
“You insisted on helping, despite me saying I didn’t need it. Frankly, I could do just fine without you.”
Rusfell looked stunned, his eyes widening.
“You choose: Eat, rest, then finish the plan with a clear head—or refuse and go home.”
Rusfell looked at me with a complicated expression, then avoided my gaze and mumbled:
“I… have a bit of a picky palate.”
I nearly laughed.
I know better than anyone how ridiculously picky an eater he is—and how embarrassed he is about it.
I’ve seen it firsthand.
“That’s why you look like that. Eating vegetables won’t turn you into a cow, so eat properly. You need stamina if you want to keep doing your precious magic experiments.”
“…”
“Am I wrong?”
“It’s not that… It just feels weird.”
“What does?”
“I don’t know…”
“You’re being dramatic. You’re eating, right?”
Rusfell seemed to think for a moment, then slowly nodded.
We ate together, and I shoved him into the guest room to rest.
“Sleep.”
“…Okay.”
To my surprise, he didn’t resist and went in quietly. He woke up around noon.
We grabbed sandwiches for lunch and got to finishing the plan.
Luckily, there wasn’t much left, so we finished quickly.
That is, until Rusfell started acting weird.
He was cooperative at first—proposing ideas actively.
But then he got too comfortable, and even started explaining every single magic formula that would be inscribed on the device.
And when I didn’t understand something…
“What? How can you not know this? Your Grace, did you fall from a tree as a child?”
“….”
Sigh. He’s doing that thing again…
Back when I was still Adela, Rusfell tried so hard to teach me magic.
I had zero interest and couldn’t understand a thing, but he wouldn’t let up.
Among our expedition team, his behavior was jokingly called “his crazy disease,” though it wasn’t meant in a bad way.
It was his way of giving everything he had.
Of course, I never asked for it, and we almost stopped being friends over it. But still, it was his way of saying “You and I are besties ♥.”
‘Wait… When did we become besties…?’
Sure, I cried in front of him yesterday.
And he wiped my tears.
‘But that’s not enough to make us close. Rusfell isn’t even that emotional a person.’
So his sudden friendliness didn’t make sense.
‘Why’s he acting like this? Did I make him feel too comfortable?’
Until recently, all Rusfell knew about Adrian was my name and status.
So he accepted me as I was, without preconceptions.
Even when I didn’t act like the old Adrian at all, he didn’t notice—because he didn’t care about others much and didn’t know what Adrian used to be like.
That’s why I found it so easy to be around him.
And I’ll admit, I ended up treating him casually without realizing it.
Honestly, my voice always softens when I talk to him.
‘Keep your distance. He’s one of the three men most likely to discover your true identity.’
I steadied my tone—cold and dry.
“Professor Rusfell, why am I listening to the mechanism of a Fireball spell? Do I look like your student?”
“I’m explaining because the device uses solar energy in a way similar to mana flow. As the developer, you should at least understand how it works, right?”
“You’re the developer. I’m just the one who proposed the idea.”
“Still, you need the basics, or people will walk all over you. Here, sit down. I’ll explain from the beginning.”
I pressed my fingers against my stiff neck.
“Who’s going to walk over me… I’m Duke Yvrante!”
“Using your title to crush people isn’t something to brag about. So, about the Fireball mechanism—first, you absorb fire-attribute energy from the air using this formula and…”
“What do you think? It’s making more sense now, right?”
“Not at all.”
“…Did you really never fall from a tree as a kid?”
“That’s enough.”
“How can you not understand this? This is magic 101!”
“….”
You idiot! Don’t you get it?
Magic formulas aren’t written in the common tongue—they’re in the magic language!
I stood up and pointed at the door.
“Get out. Now.”
Watching Rusfell leave through the window, I asked:
“Didn’t Rusfell seem really weird today?”
The spirits, who had been secretly watching, appeared from thin air.
— He’s always been weird, but today was something else. Why bother explaining formulas to someone who doesn’t even know magic language? He got beat up for that before, remember?
— Yesterday the door was cracked open, but today it was wide open. Rusfell doesn’t usually open up this quickly. That alone is strange.
That had been bothering me too. I couldn’t figure out why his attitude had changed so suddenly.
Salamander flicked his red tongue and giggled.
— Hehehe, I know why.
“Hm? What is it?”
— He was alone this morning for a bit, remember? I secretly followed him. He was hiding something.
Salamander spat something out.
A delicate paper figurine. I knew it well.
“A paper doll?”
— That bastard made all that fuss just to pull this trick. To mess with your mind. I bet he hid one somewhere in this room, too.
“…So that’s all it was? Nothing serious?”
So Rusfell pretended to be friendly just to sneak in a paper doll?
I was weirdly unbothered. It just felt like the inevitable had come.
‘So they finally figured out I’m a hardcore stalker.’
Leonhart probably told them at the pub.
Now the three men had united to save their friend from a stalker.
Not sure what Owen’s role is yet, but Rusfell is clearly the spy—since he left a doll in my house.
‘He didn’t show up for our meeting, then suddenly insisted on helping with the plan… Yeah, it was to plant the doll.’
Though, to be fair, he did show a lot of genuine enthusiasm for the plan…
But that’s just his personality—when he’s focused, he goes all in.
“Still, who hides a paper doll in the guest room? No one even uses that room. If he were smart, he’d hide it in my bedroom.”
I clicked my tongue and clapped my hands.
“Guys! Let’s find those paper dolls! Don’t destroy them—wrap them in paper or something so Rusfell can’t spy. Got it?”
— Ah! Whoever finds one first gets called ‘Boss’ by the others!
— Sounds good!
— Move it, losers! Gnome! Don’t just stand there like a lump—start searching!
— (Nods!)
The spirits scattered in all directions. I stayed behind to finish the design sketch.
I thought I wouldn’t have time, but thanks to Rusfell’s help, I finished with time to spare.
“Hmm… Done.”
Not bad, considering I forced myself through it.
If this were homework, I’d give it a B+? Not good enough to keep, but too good to toss.
At least I met the deadline I promised Leonhart.
