Chapter 19
Two Methods
[Hello, Sid.]
Thump! Thump!
Just reading the first line made his heart feel like it would burst.
Sid carefully turned the letter over, making sure not to wrinkle it.
“…If I get one more of these, I might die of heart disease.”
He let out a self-mocking chuckle at his own ridiculous state and continued reading.
[First, please forgive my arrogance in not revealing my identity even though I knew yours. I simply didn’t have the courage.]
…That’s understandable.
Sid muttered to himself as he read on.
[From the moment I first saw you, my feelings for you became certain. And as the days passed, they only grew stronger—so much so that even I can no longer control them.]
“…!”
Sid’s hands grew damp with sweat.
Worried that it might stain the paper, he hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped them.
[I truly want to convey my feelings to you. I know it breaks school rules, but I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow at 10 o’clock by the lakeside behind the dormitory crossroads.]
“…!”
[Tomorrow night, under the moonlight, I will be waiting only for you.]
It was a final line too beautiful to ignore.
Sid gripped his blanket tightly, expressing his restless emotions in the only timid way he could, then lay down.
He read the letter again and again, thinking and overthinking—
And only managed to fall asleep at 4 a.m.
“Chirp chirp…”
“Sid, did you stay up late studying? You look exhausted.”
“…!”
Normally, he would’ve brushed off his roommate’s comment—but today, it struck him like a dagger.
“Is it that bad?”
“Huh? No, not that bad. Oh, I have some extra cosmetics my sister gave me—want to use them?”
“…No. I’m fine.”
Sid glanced longingly at the cosmetic bottle in his roommate’s hand, then looked away.
Finally, evening came.
Sid kept fidgeting with the collar of his perfectly pressed clothes, for no real reason.
“Sid, where are you going?”
“…I think I need more studying, so I’m heading to the self-study room. I already got permission from the dorm supervisor.”
He avoided his roommate’s gaze as he answered.
“Yawn… really? Then I’ll sleep first.”
“Yeah.”
Sid closed the door and began walking faster than usual.
To reach the lake, he had to walk over ten minutes through the forest behind the dormitory crossroads.
The lake, hidden deep within the dense forest, was surrounded by all kinds of rumors—most of them absurd ghost stories about a young woman appearing by the water.
Guided only by moonlight, Sid made his way through the forest without fear.
Instead, he worried—
What if she was already waiting?
What if she got lost in the forest?
Thinking of her, he continued walking—
And soon, the beautiful lake came into view.
The moon above, just like the rounded handwriting in the letter, shone softly down on him.
Now—
All that was missing was her.
He checked the time.
There were still 20 minutes left.
Sid looked around carefully.
Though he intended to reject her confession, he wanted to at least give her a flower—rather than leave her with nothing but sadness.
Ah—
Not far away, a patch of flowers was blooming.
Sid carefully picked only the prettiest ones and returned to the lakeside.
Thud!
Out of nowhere, something struck him.
“Ugh…!”
His body collapsed to the ground without resistance.
‘She shouldn’t come here…’
Looking at the fragile flower in his hand, its petals fallen, Sid slowly closed his eyes.
“…Hah. I thought you weren’t coming.”
The owner of the voice held a single blue flower, looking down at Sid’s unconscious body indifferently.
“Hello, Sid. I’ve been waiting for you under the moonlight.”
It was none other than Nigel.
A crooked smile formed on his lips as he looked down.
Nigel pulled out a small bottle filled with red liquid from his pocket and poured it into Sid’s mouth.
It wasn’t anything grand—
Just a sleeping potion.
“Allen deserves a lot of credit for this.”
All of this had been possible thanks to Allen’s habit of buying anything he found interesting.
After setting a record for the highest sales ever at the magic shop, Allen had brought back all sorts of items—
From special paper where ink disappeared without a trace after one day,
To a sleeping potion that kept someone unconscious for exactly two hours no matter what—
And most importantly—
An invisibility magic tool.
The long cylindrical device had two lights—green in the front and red in the back.
Anything exposed to the green light became invisible.
Anything exposed to the red light returned to normal.
According to the suspicious shopkeeper, the effect could last up to half a day.
Judging by how uncertain he looked, it was probably half that—or even less.
Either way—
Sid deserved punishment for speaking carelessly.
Nigel clenched his fist.
The revenge under the moonlight had only just begun.
Nigel looked down at Sid’s face—now covered in ridiculous scribbles—and smiled in satisfaction.
He had been excited at the thought of beating Sid up—
But when it came down to it, he couldn’t bring himself to hit someone who was sleeping peacefully.
Still, it would be a waste to do nothing.
So instead—
He covered Sid’s face in drawings.
On Sid’s smooth forehead, now bruised from the fall, he drew worm-like wrinkles.
On his eyelids, framed by long eyelashes, he drew new eyes.
He extended the width of his straight nose with exaggerated lines.
And finally, he added a mustache stretching down to his chin.
Aside from his arrogance, Sid’s face had been fairly decent—
But now it was hidden beneath clumsy doodles.
Still—
Nigel couldn’t shake a lingering sense of dissatisfaction.
“…Maybe I should’ve just scared him by pretending to be a ghost.”
But it was too late now.
The sleeping potion had already taken effect.
“And I can’t just leave him here alone either…”
Sid wasn’t as skinny as Allen, but between Allen and Noah, he was definitely closer to Allen’s build.
“Well, whatever. Sometimes you need a break like this.”
Nigel plopped down against a nearby tree.
“Sigh… I don’t even know what I’m doing.”
Whenever he was alone, his thoughts always led back to one thing—
Noah—the protagonist of this world, and the key to his survival.
They had grown closer, but Noah’s behavior still felt more like courtesy than trust.
The more Nigel tried to get closer, the more Noah seemed to hold back.
Even today—
When Nigel gave Allen and Noah small chocolates during lunch as a gesture of friendship—
Noah didn’t even say thank you. He just stared silently at the chocolate.
A few days ago, Nigel had asked Allen how to quickly become close to someone.
Allen had suggested two methods.
The first—
Sharing even a small secret between just the two of them.
It made sense.
People who share secrets tend to grow close quickly.
But—
It was hard to imagine kind-hearted Noah gossiping about someone.
And as for secrets…
‘If I suddenly tell him I know something only a few people know, that’ll definitely build trust, right?’
Noah’s secret in the original story—
Mana deficiency.
Mana wasn’t just for mages.
Everyone in this world was born with it.
Mages simply had more mana than their bodies could contain, allowing them to use magic.
If mana wasn’t used and accumulated, it caused mana poisoning—like Nigel’s condition.
On the other hand—
If someone had less mana than their body required, it was called mana deficiency.
Those affected were physically weak and constantly exhausted.
Noah, the only heir of a marquis family, rarely appeared in society because of this illness.
The reason his condition hadn’t been cured—
Was that he couldn’t absorb mana from the air like normal people.
Thus, mana potions were his only source of replenishment—
But they were expensive and rare.
This was where the female protagonist, Meriel, came in.
She was Noah’s childhood friend and a mage.
Meriel could share her vast mana simply through physical contact.
However—
Nigel, a saint blessed by the goddess, seemed to be an exception.
When he had touched Noah by the lake before, he felt his own mana flowing into Noah.
Using this—
He could cure Noah’s mana deficiency far earlier than in the original story.
But—
What would happen if he suddenly said:
“I know you have mana deficiency—let me fix it,” and tried to grab his hand?
“…Marquis Besselion would probably accuse me of being a spy and cut me down.”
That’s why trust was essential.
Deep trust—enough for Noah to believe he had no ulterior motives.
Of course—
Allen’s second method would solve everything easily.
Dating.
Obviously—
That wasn’t an option.
Nigel had spent his life hiding his identity, refusing to follow the original story or his destined role.
And now he was supposed to interfere with the original couple’s love?
Ridiculous.
No—
The premise itself was flawed.
It was impossible from the start.
“Because the other person is Noah Besselion.”
Noah was kind.
Kind enough to speak politely even to a commoner like him.
And his moral standards were even stricter when it came to relationships.
Even in the original story, he never had unnecessary physical contact with Meriel before their engagement.
If Noah had been more carefree, this would’ve been easy.
“…Let’s stop thinking about useless things and heal Cromwell so I can go back.”
Nigel removed the ring from his finger.
Focusing his senses, a brilliant golden light erased Sid’s bruises completely.
Rustle.
At that moment, he sensed someone nearby.
But it was fine—
He was invisible.
“…?”
A shadow appeared beneath his hand.
Ah.
So that scammer wasn’t trembling because it lasted half a day—
It only lasted an hour.
Damn fraud.
Nigel carefully approached the source of the sound.
Behind that tree—
No matter what, he had to silence them.
He quickly reached out—
“…?!”
The moment his hand touched the figure—
His mana began to drain.
A shadow slowly fell across Nigel’s face.
The person standing there—
Was none other than Noah Besselion.
