Chapter 43
The term “Old Sun” wasn’t a metaphorical or poetic riddle twisted into confusion. Everyone might have expected something tricky, but it was pointing to the answer very straightforwardly.
If Riette’s reasoning was correct, the answer to the problem was literally the Old Sun Stone.
It was a simple question, yet probably no one could come up with the answer easily. As the book explained, Sun Stones had gradually disappeared from daily life after Mana Stones became widespread. Most people didn’t even know Sun Stones existed—Riette herself had been in that position until she read this book.
Riette’s mind raced.
The concept of the Sun Stone resembled solar energy from her previous life. The difference was that, instead of artificial devices like solar panels, this world used a mineral called the Sun Stone.
The reason Sun Stones declined was clear when compared to Mana Stones. After prolonged use, the mineral’s efficiency dropped. The amount of solar energy it could store during the day decreased, and as a result, the energy ran out by evening, before the next sunrise.
At that moment, Riette became certain. She recently noticed a school building that perfectly matched the shortcomings of Sun Stones.
“That cursed clock tower.”
It ran smoothly during the day, but in the evening, the clock hands moved as if they were drained of energy.
She had assumed it was broken—but it wasn’t. The Sun Stone had simply exhausted the energy it stored during the day after sunset.
If the clock’s power source was a Sun Stone instead of a Mana Stone, everything made sense.
Additionally, the public noble school had been established centuries ago, leaving many facilities aged and worn. One of those old facilities was the clock tower.
Realizing how everything fit together, Riette jumped out of bed.
She had to confirm her theory immediately.
So eager was she that she ran straight from her room to the stables, mounted Atom, and raced to the school.
It was quite late, and all the school lights were off. Naturally, not a single person was passing by.
Riette walked slowly to the clock tower.
As she expected, the clock hands pointed erratically, moving sluggishly like a lazy creature.
“The entrance should be somewhere…”
Since it worked normally during the day, someone must be coming at a certain time each day to reset the hands. Instead of that hassle, they could have simply replaced the Sun Stone with a Mana Stone.
Riette muttered to herself while searching for the entrance, feeling along the walls of the clock tower until she found a door handle.
Creeeak—
When she pulled it lightly, the seams gave off an eerie metallic sound, sending a shiver down her spine.
“Well, since no one’s around, this is as good a time as any.”
Riette steeled herself and entered the ominous clock tower.
The wooden staircase creaked with each step. For something this old, it was remarkable it hadn’t collapsed yet.
After climbing what felt like countless steps in the dark, she finally reached the top.
Riette opened the door without hesitation, and faint light spilled out.
Then, an astonishing sight unfolded.
Four massive clock faces surrounded a central space, their gears turning busily. In the middle floated a Sun Stone, gently radiating a yellow glow.
During the day, the ceiling allowed sunlight in so the Sun Stone could charge.
Riette marveled at this world and carefully stepped toward the center to examine the Sun Stone.
Though it was her first time seeing one, the weak glow of the Sun Stone clearly showed it had little power.
“So I just need to take this Sun Stone…”
But on closer inspection, clamps held it tightly on both sides. Riette tugged gently, but it wouldn’t budge.
She decided to examine the surroundings more thoroughly and started walking around.
Soon, she noticed a section of the wooden floor that resembled marble.
Sensing something unusual, she stepped onto it. Fortunately, it didn’t appear to be connected to any dangerous mechanisms. With the floor deemed safe, Riette stood fully on the marble.
Then—
Vrrrrr—
The Sun Stone vibrated, and the clamps holding it flew off.
“It worked…!”
Just as Riette joyfully stepped forward to grab the Sun Stone—
Vrrrrr—
The clamps vibrated again and clamped onto the Sun Stone.
“…No way.”
Panicking, Riette jumped back onto the marble and desperately reached for the Sun Stone.
But it was no use. If she stepped off the marble even slightly, the clamps snapped back immediately.
Riette slumped onto the floor. She fully understood why the principal insisted the election be held in pairs.
“I can’t get it alone.”
Some mechanism was clearly installed under the marble floor. Only a person standing on it could release the Sun Stone and take it.
She even tried bringing over a nearby box, but the mechanism responded only to a person. Using another heavy object risked collapsing the old wooden stairs.
In short, at least two people were required to retrieve the Sun Stone.
“What now?”
She had planned to ask Lucas to be her partner tomorrow.
But now that she knew the answer, even if Lucas became her partner, he could only help her collect the Sun Stone.
So who would agree to be her partner under such circumstances?
Another person crossed her mind.
“Did Evan figure out the answer?”
He had entered the election… maybe she could ask him.
“No…!”
Riette shook her head. That was crazy. Asking Evan was far riskier than asking Lucas.
She dusted herself off and resolved to talk to Lucas about this problem tomorrow.
That night, she barely slept. The joy of finding the answer was fleeting; the partner problem loomed like a massive wall.
The next morning, she stepped out of the mansion with a weary expression—and saw Evan.
“What’s he doing at my house this early?”
She asked without hiding her suspicion.
“Why are you here?”
“Shouldn’t you greet me first if you’ve seen me?”
Evan smiled, and Riette raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
“Why don’t you greet me first? The one who’s disappointed should do it.”
“Hi, Riette.”
Even the simple greeting couldn’t smooth her frown.
“Can we talk for a moment? Ten minutes.”
Hmm…
It had been years since anyone came to her house this early. Riette reluctantly nodded.
“I’m very busy, but I’ll make time just for you.”
She was actually curious why he had come. Since she was already out early, ten minutes was no problem.
They sat in Merenge’s carriage to talk briefly.
“What do you want to say?”
“I wanted to check if you were solving the election problem well.”
Hearing the word problem, Riette beamed.
“I already know the answer!”
But her smile soon faded.
“Wait… why is he suddenly asking about the problem?”
Could it be…
“You… figured out the answer?”
That would be the worst-case scenario.
Evan didn’t answer immediately; he just smiled, and Riette’s pupils darted nervously.
“What… you really did figure it out?!”
“No.”
Ah. Fooled again.
Even though Riette knew Evan enjoyed seeing her reactions, she fell for it every time.
“Then why ask?!”
“I thought you might have figured it out.”
Riette flinched at the sharp observation.
“How did he know?”
Did he see her go to the clock tower last night? No, it could just be a guess. She decided to pretend she didn’t know. Revealing she knew the answer now was too risky.
“No… I haven’t found it yet.”
“You did find it.”
Evan’s firm words startled Riette again.
“I said I didn’t!”
“You give yourself away when you lie.”
He slowly met her gaze.
“For example, your eyes flick up occasionally, and your lips part slightly.”
Did I really do that?
She didn’t even know she had that habit. She’d have to be careful lying in the future. Now that she’d been caught, she had no choice but to confess.
“Alright. I figured it out earlier.”
Though she’d only discovered it yesterday, she didn’t need to be entirely honest.
“I knew you would figure it out, Riette.”
An unexpected compliment. Evan rarely did this, and it threw her off. She never knew how to react in such moments.
“Has ten minutes passed…?”
When Riette started getting anxious, Evan spoke again.
“Have you found a partner?”
Her tension eased. Evan often seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.
“Not yet.”
“Since you know the answer, finding a partner must be tough. No one would willingly be just a helper.”
He also pinpointed her exact situation. Riette admired Evan’s intuition. She even thought jokingly that he’d make a fortune if he ran a fortune-telling shop.
“I’ll be your helper.”
Riette’s head snapped up.
“What…?”
“I’ll be your helper.”
Her expression brightened briefly, then narrowed.
“…Then what do you get?”
It was an excellent offer, but she couldn’t accept blindly. Nothing is free.
“I get my rival back.”
Riette was momentarily surprised, but Evan smiled and added,
“I can’t consider just fifth place my rival.”
He had said something similar during the dance party.
The mention of rank made her blood boil.
“Isn’t that a bad deal?”
Yet she couldn’t easily refuse. Still, she couldn’t accept it outright either.
“…There’s someone else who can be your partner.”
“Lucas?”
She spoke casually, but Evan’s tone immediately sharpened.
