Chapter 46
Lucas stared blankly at the school’s ranking list. At the top of the large sheet of paper was his name.
“2nd place, Lucas.”
His rank had risen just as he had wanted.
But when he saw Liet’s name down below, a suffocating feeling gripped him, as if someone were choking him. A bitter smile escaped his lips.
“I’m pushing Liet into the abyss just to save myself.”
Was he unknowingly becoming like his father? Where had the rebellious child who had resisted his father—the man who had once handed him a knife to kill a pet dog—gone? The sinking feeling wouldn’t lift.
A few days later, Liet approached him and asked:
“Lucas, is something going on at home?”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been looking unhappy lately.”
Only then did Lucas relax the tense expression on his face.
“No, it’s nothing.”
His throat felt tight. He was losing the composure to control his expression. He should have paid extra attention to keeping his face in check in front of Liet.
‘Would she find it strange?’
He glanced at her, but all he saw in Liet’s eyes was concern—nothing else.
‘Fear and guilt.’
Those two emotions alternated in choking Lucas.
The fear that if he missed this opportunity, there would be no way out of the guild.
The guilt of stepping on others to seize that chance.
Caught between these clashing emotions, Lucas swayed like a ship tossed in a storm, aimless and unsettled.
Quickly, he turned his mind away from the rising self-loathing.
“By the way… have you found a partner, Liet?”
The moment he heard the strange rules of the election, Lucas had thought of her.
To Lucas, Liet was the perfect partner.
She was the only person he could trust, someone he didn’t have to worry about betraying him and stealing the answer while solving the problems.
But Lucas wasn’t just hoping for unwavering trust.
“The answer will be found by Liet.”
It was an unfounded, vague expectation. If he had to find a reason, it would be… a ‘gut feeling.’
Lucas quietly observed Liet, lost in thought.
Honestly, when he first saw her, Lucas had never imagined she would endure this much. Her strong personality was definitely different from other noble girls, but he had thought her spirit would quickly break while competing with boys.
‘The boys probably wanted a queen, not a flower.’
But Liet had shattered that notion of his.
She had defeated Samuel, the leader of the delinquent gang, and established her dominance in the school.
Yet what surprised Lucas about the duel with Samuel was not the result, but the process.
After being slashed across the waist by Samuel’s sword, Liet showed up at school the very next day.
‘That’s when I realized it.’
The fierce determination to win the duel.
Liet knew that by defeating Samuel, her standing in the school would be solidified.
As expected, Liet won the duel, and after that, no one dared to challenge her in school.
‘And she even hunted a bear.’
Lucas clicked his tongue inwardly.
Though Liet could beat the boys in swordsmanship, her opponent had been a notoriously dangerous man-eating bear.
And she had defeated it. He regretted not witnessing it himself.
Her reputation continued even at the dance party.
He had thought she might ruin her chance by messing up the dance, but after putting out a fire on the rooftop, she was named the person of the year.
Her courage to act alone when no one else did, and her quick thinking to handle situations, were truly impressive. Liet always solved problems in ways no one expected.
And recently? Lucas let out an incredulous laugh.
‘She really beat Evan and grabbed first place.’
Strictly speaking, she was tied with Evan, but with bonus points from the dance party, Liet took first place. Though her recent scheme had caused her to drop to fifth in exams, achieving first place was still remarkable.
Liet had finally earned a perfect score in swordsmanship class, a class in which she had never scored full marks before. She knew well that her top result was thanks to endless practice.
There were days when her finger joints were blistered, and her wrists were sometimes wrapped in bandages.
Looking closely, Liet’s body was always injured somewhere; there were no days she was completely unscathed.
Perhaps that was why…
‘She ultimately surpassed her physical limits.’
At first, Lucas thought Evan was truly an overwhelming monster.
A naturally gifted genius with excellent physical ability and an intimidating aura that cowed others.
But soon, he realized.
Monsters were not only Evan. Liet, too, was a monster in a different form.
Through sheer effort, she surpassed a natural genius, and though the process could not have been easy, she endured it silently, without complaint.
‘This is what breaking limits truly is.’
That was why Lucas had placed his hopes on Liet. In this election, she would again find the answers faster than anyone else.
Of course, if Liet found the answers…
Without hesitation,
‘I have to steal them.’
His eyes glinting with determination, Lucas soon twisted his face.
“Sigh.”
The sound of his sigh echoed in the empty classroom.
It was only recently that he realized Liet was suspicious of him.
Her delayed response to his partner proposal and the way she had been gauging him had made it obvious.
‘Evan, huh.’
Liet probably would never have suspected him on her own. Outwardly easygoing and indifferent, she nonetheless had deep affection for people. Once she trusted someone, she wouldn’t judge them lightly.
‘She did that with Samuel, and with me too.’
Knowing this, Lucas had spent a year building closeness, entering Liet’s territory.
But for her to suddenly be wary of him for no reason?
Impossible.
On the other hand, Evan was a completely different person. He fundamentally didn’t trust others. Even from afar, it was obvious. After a year, no one had entered his domain. Only his growing followers lingered around. Evan exuded an aura that made him untouchable.
Of course, there were exceptions.
When Evan’s false smile became genuine, when warmth lingered in his cold black eyes, when his dry voice softened.
In those moments, Liet was always present.
Eventually, it became clear: only one person was allowed into his domain.
‘The reason he leaves me alone must be because of Liet.’
Evan’s fierce gaze had grown stronger recently. His look had already gone beyond warning. Yet he didn’t take further action because he knew Liet well.
Having spent a long time with Liet, Evan understood her perfectly.
There was a clear line between them, and he knew crossing it would ruin their relationship forever.
This time was no different.
‘He probably knows I’m the one who threw away Liet’s book, but he won’t intervene recklessly.’
He took a step back, offering hints rather than solutions. That was all Evan could do.
‘Anything more would earn her hatred.’
So it was a relief.
‘Even though Liet has recently suspected me, by her nature she won’t ever abandon me.’
At that moment, he could still smile. Liet had found the “Old Sun” as expected, and had chosen him as her partner.
When he heard the location of the Old Sun, he thought the plan had finally succeeded.
But everything was overturned.
‘She tested me.’
He thought he knew Liet well, but that was his arrogance.
One of the reasons he held her in high regard was her insight—but he had overlooked that too easily.
She must have noticed the changes in him, and Evan’s warning must have influenced her.
‘Anyway… it’s all over.’
Thus, any way to escape his father was completely gone.
Yet strangely,
Why did he feel so relieved?
Was it because he could finally end the play that had weighed on him all this time?
Though Liet’s resentful gaze pricked at his chest, further excuses would only make things uglier.
It was truly time to exit.
“You.”
As he left the school for the last time, someone called out to Lucas. It was Evan.
‘Was it a coincidence that we met now?’
Lucas shook his head. Seeing how Evan always lingered near Liet, it was clearly an obsessive crush.
“Goodbye, Evan.”
“Coward.”
Evan sneered coldly. Lucas’s lips curled crookedly.
“Enough? Usually I’d smile and take it, but I’m in a very bad mood right now.”
“So why should I be considerate?”
“……”
“I hate people like you. You drown in disgusting self-pity and believe your vile actions are justified—at least for yourself.”
A surge of anger.
Lucas reached out and grabbed Evan by the collar.
“What do you know!”
Unlike the agitated Lucas, Evan calmly took his hand and slowly removed it.
“I don’t want to know your situation, nor do I have any reason to.”
It was a condescending look. Lucas had always disliked that gaze.
“And what about you? You couldn’t even speak up properly to Liet for fear of her hating you! If you truly cared for her, shouldn’t you have told her your true self even if it earned her hatred?”
Despite his raised voice, Evan didn’t react, simply watching Lucas.
Then he slowly spoke:
“You’re mistaken about something.”
“……”
“I didn’t tell Liet your true self because I was afraid of her hating you.”
Evan’s gaze met Lucas’s directly—cold and merciless.
“It was because I didn’t want Liet to get hurt.”
The unexpected answer left Lucas momentarily stunned.
“…What?”
“Liet, at least, really considered you a friend. But do you know what that means?”
The cold, sharp voice cut through the night air.
“Now that Liet no longer considers you a friend, she doesn’t care what happens to you. So…”
Evan’s eyes seemed to flash in the darkness for a moment.
“You’d better never cross paths with her again.”
Delivering the fierce warning, Evan disappeared.
“……”
Lucas stood there, stunned for a while.
Liet no longer considered him a friend, and he had stepped outside her domain.
He had known this, of course, but hearing it from Evan drained him. It felt like a part of his heart had frozen.
‘Will the day ever come when I can meet you again?’
Lucas suddenly lifted his head to look toward where Liet had been.
No, he hoped that day would surely come.
The story of Lucas ends here.
