Chapter 33
“Damn it, I’m late!”
It was because she had studied too late the night before. With exams only a month away, she had pushed herself.
She vaguely remembered hearing Jane, her maid, trying to wake her up earlier, but she had thought it was part of a dream.
Liette shot up from bed and threw on some clothes without even calling for her maid. She tied her messy hair into a high ponytail just as sloppily.
As soon as she arrived at school and got out of the carriage, she started running at full speed. If she hurried, she might just make it on time. Her red hair streamed behind her as she dashed.
And then—
“Ah…!”
She stumbled after tripping on a rock, losing her balance. But someone grabbed her waist, keeping her from falling.
“Careful.”
When she looked to the side, she saw someone with platinum blond hair that gleamed in the sunlight.
“Thanks, Lucas.”
“Good morning, Liette.”
He was running late too, apparently.
But he looked much more relaxed than she was, greeting her so casually.
“The teacher isn’t here yet. You can go in slowly.”
Ah, that explained it.
“Why were you standing out here anyway?”
“You weren’t in the classroom, which is rare for you. I looked out the window and saw a red-haired blur charging this way, so I came to meet you.”
Listening to Lucas, Liette realized how much their relationship had developed.
As time passed, one thing that had clearly changed—like the seasons—was her social life at school. Once someone who did everything her own way, Liette now found herself surrounded by more and more people. She had grown much closer to her classmates, especially the few other girls at the school. Her relationship with Samuel had improved too, and as for Lucas, they could now be called close friends.
The more she got to know him, the more Lucas seemed like a genuinely good person. He must have grown up in a warm and loving home—he was naturally kind, quick-witted, and often helped her with little things like this.
“Did you sleep late last night?”
“Yeah, I was studying.”
As she climbed the stairs, Liette answered and smoothed down her wind-tossed hair.
“Figured. You’re never usually late.”
Lucas shrugged his shoulders and asked,
“How’s your exam prep going?”
“Even if it’s not going well, I’ve got to make it go well. If I slip even once, Evan will take first place.”
Until now, Liette and Evan had shared the top spot in their class.
People say hard work always pays off. In the last swordsmanship test, she had scored a perfect A grade. Thanks to the extra 50 points from the dance party, she had maintained first place since then. Evan was sure to get perfect marks again unless the sky fell, so she couldn’t afford to slip up in even one subject.
“You two are seriously like monsters.”
Lucas shook his head in disbelief.
But Liette didn’t agree with that statement. Compared to Evan, she had to work several times harder just to stand on the same level. And she knew that better than anyone, which is why she never slacked off.
If anyone was a monster, it was Evan alone.
“Are you going to study in the school library again today?”
“Yeah, of course.”
During exam season, Liette practically lived in the school library.
Yesterday was no different. She studied there until it was dark and then went home to study even more, only falling asleep at dawn.
“What about you? Are you studying too?”
When Liette asked, Lucas didn’t answer right away. He stopped on the stairs, his expression strangely stiff.
“Lucas?”
“No, it’s nothing. I’ll study at home.”
He smiled again and patted Liette’s shoulder a couple of times, just like usual.
“Good luck today, Liette.”
After classes ended—
Liette, lost in reading at the library, finally lifted her head. As expected, there was no one else around.
“Guess I should head out.”
There was still a month until exams. She needed to take care of her health too. Plus, she was exhausted from staying up late yesterday and wanted to rest. She neatly tapped her book stack on the desk to organize it and packed up her things.
As soon as she stepped outside, the large clock tower came into view. Its hands were pointing to a number earlier than she expected.
“Huh…? It’s only eight?”
From the pitch-black view outside the windows, she’d assumed it was around nine. Feeling something was off, Liette pulled out her pocket watch to check the exact time.
“What the…? It is nine, after all.”
She glared at the clock tower, annoyed by her brief shock.
The clock tower was one of the public school’s iconic symbols. Its large face and tall spire could be seen from anywhere on campus. Supposedly, it was meant to constantly remind students to manage their time well.
“Not much use if they don’t maintain the thing.”
That broken clock had almost made her mistake the time.
The recent Grand Hall fire and all the other broken, aging facilities around the school came to mind too.
Just as Liette was walking away with a grumble, a black silhouette came darting from a nearby path—
Thud!
Before she could dodge, the figure crashed into her. She lost her balance and fell flat on her bottom.
Annoyed, Liette looked up at the person responsible.
“Ugh… seriously, where are your eyes?”
In front of her stood a pale-faced boy with freckles.
Even though he had shoved into her, he wasn’t even looking at her. Instead, his eyes were locked elsewhere.
“Hey, if you push someone, you should at least apologize—”
“My project! Oh no!”
The boy ignored Liette and started hopping in distress.
Only then did she notice what he was looking at—a shattered sculpture lay in pieces.
“I spent a whole month on that…”
He finally looked at Liette, eyes filled with blame.
But wait—what was with that sharp look?
“How are you going to take responsibility for this?!”
The boy shouted at her in outrage. Liette exhaled a dry laugh, stunned by his nerve.
“Why should I take responsibility? You’re the one who ran into me without looking.”
“You were just standing there in the middle of the road!”
This wasn’t someone she could reason with. He had rammed into her like a bull and knocked her over, yet he had the audacity to blame her for breaking his sculpture?
Liette no longer even wanted an apology. She figured her time was better spent getting home and recovering her peace of mind.
As she tried to walk away, the boy shouted,
“You’re Liette Meren, right? You did this because you’re afraid I’ll beat you in grades, didn’t you?!”
…Should she punch him?
Liette felt her patience fraying. But she clenched her teeth and forced herself to answer.
“I don’t even know who you are, and I don’t care about your grades.”
“Then why did you ruin my project?!”
“I told you, you’re the one who crashed into me!”
She finally raised her voice, unable to hold back. But the boy furrowed his brows, unwilling to back down.
“I saw it. Sure, I ran into you, but you purposely knocked my sculpture out of my hands with your arm.”
Unbelievable.
She turned to walk away for real this time, but his voice rang out again behind her.
“Just wait! I’m not letting this go!”
And the very next day, Liette heard about that crazy guy again.
“Did something happen yesterday with Henry Relis?”
At Lucas’s question, Liette tilted her head.
Henry Relis… Who’s that? Do I know him?
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t recall the name. Resting her chin in her hand, she asked back,
“Who’s Henry Relis?”
“The pale guy with a ton of freckles. Brown hair.”
Then she recalled the face from yesterday.
“Downturned eyes, kind of angular face?”
“Yeah.”
It matched perfectly. So that weirdo’s name was Henry Relis.
“There was something yesterday, yeah. I realized there really are some bizarre people in the world.”
When Liette admitted it, Lucas sighed.
“He’s been telling people about you.”
“…What?”
“He’s saying you ruined his project because you were scared he’d beat your grades.”
So he really wasn’t going to let it go—now he was spreading rumors that sounded like something out of a third-rate drama.
Liette’s face twisted in irritation. Lucas asked,
“What happened, exactly?”
“It was nothing. I was walking home, and he ran into me out of nowhere. Dropped the sculpture he was holding, then demanded I take responsibility. I ignored him and walked off.”
At her explanation, Lucas rubbed his temples.
“Out of everyone, it had to be him, huh?”
“What do you mean? Is he famous or something?”
“He just bumped Samuel out of fourth place. He’s obsessed with grades. He’s got too many older brothers, so unless he makes it into the top three here, there’s no way he’ll inherit a title.”
If he cared that much about grades, he should take better care of his assignments.
Letting out a slow breath, Liette stood up. She was ready to go put that guy in his place.
“Liette Meren.”
Right on cue, the voice from yesterday called out. She had been planning to confront him, but how nice of him to show up first.
“Did you sleep well last night? I didn’t. I was so upset.”
“If it was that precious, you should’ve taken better care of your project.”
Liette crossed her arms and stared at Henry. After yesterday, she was no longer fazed by his barking.
“So this is how you keep your grades high—sabotaging others with petty tricks! Feel good about being first now?”
“Save your nonsense for your family dog.”
All she could do was laugh.
“You’re under a huge delusion. I don’t even consider you a rival. I didn’t even know you existed until yesterday.”
“W-What?”
Henry’s face flushed red and pale in turns at her mocking smile. Liette gave him one last smirk.
“So instead of wallowing in delusional victimhood, maybe go read a book or something. That’d be way more productive.”
And with that, she gave her final piece of advice—with a smile.
