Chapter 2
For three months, Sonnet had wanted nothing more than to take back first place.
Just thinking about it made her willing to write a love poem on a huge piece of cloth and confess.
Of course, it would be fake.
As long as she could get rid of Aiden Rossfield, it did not matter whether the confession was sincere or not.
Sonnet ran straight to her dorm room.
As she ran, she thought about what kind of overwhelming love confession she would write in bright red letters on a large sheet of fabric.
***
The next morning, Sonnet woke up early and headed to the classroom. A large piece of cloth was wrapped around her arm.
Since it was still early, the classroom was completely empty.
She spread the cloth wide.
[Aiden! From the moment I saw you until now, for 91 days, 10 hours, and 17 minutes, I have thought about you.
I want to be with you forever and love you.
Go out with me!
Even if you don’t, I will never forget you until the day I die.
The red letters on the white cloth looked almost like a curse.
Sonnet smiled to herself.
Aiden would definitely get chills when he saw this.
She had written the time in exact detail to make it more uncomfortable. And by adding “Go out with me!” at the end, it felt almost like a forceful command.
‘With this, he won’t even want to study here—he won’t even want to attend the same school as me.’
She hoped he would hate it enough to avoid her completely.
Sonnet was confident her plan would succeed.
Even to her, someone with a bad reputation, this kind of sudden, curse-like confession felt disturbing and burdensome.
She beamed, already celebrating her perfect strategy in her head.
Humming to herself, she taped the cloth to the wall that was most visible from the seat Aiden usually sat in.
The fabric was heavy and kept falling as she tried to fix it in place, but strong adhesive solved the problem.
Just as she stepped back after finishing—
The classroom door suddenly swung open with loud chatter.
Silence fell at once.
Everyone who entered froze, staring blankly at the banner written in blood-red letters.
Satisfied by their shocked expressions, Sonnet walked over and sat in the seat next to where Aiden usually sat.
Now she just had to wait for him.
Whispers grew louder around her.
“Is she out of her mind?”
“Of course she is. Who would accept a confession like that?”
“That’s not a confession. That’s a curse.”
“She’s unbelievable. I knew she was weird, but not this weird.”
The more she heard them, the more she smiled.
If people thought she was strange or crazy, then Aiden would likely feel the same discomfort.
‘He’ll definitely hate it.’
Still humming quietly to herself, she glanced out the window.
Come to think of it, there was horse-lance practice early this morning.
In the distance, the students who had just finished practice were walking back toward the main building.
Aiden was among them.
He stood out even without trying.
His black hair, damp with sweat, somehow made him look even more striking. He was tall, with broad shoulders, clearly built differently from others.
Even from afar, his sharp features, upright posture, and noble air made it easy to understand why he had become so popular so quickly.
‘He is handsome.’
Sonnet admitted that honestly. She had eyes, after all.
As expected, there were many students around him.
The moment he arrived at this school, he had naturally become popular.
Aiden “Rossfield.”
His last name alone carried wealth. Yet unlike most high-ranking nobles, he was not arrogant and had a good personality. His reputation was solid.
Many girls had confessed to him.
But someone confessing this suddenly, this forcefully, almost like a curse? Sonnet would be the only one.
Most girls approached him shyly or naturally spent time with him.
Even so, Aiden had never dated anyone.
Plenty of girls approached him, but he was tall, fit, handsome, and from a good family. It was probably hard for anyone to catch his eye.
There were rumors that he was engaged to a princess from the Kingdom of Roster.
Sonnet did not think further about that. His engagement had nothing to do with her.
She looked at the large red letters again.
Even now, they looked possessed.
‘He’ll definitely hate it.’
She did not doubt her plan for a second.
Her bad reputation alone would make this unbearable.
Looking out the window happily, she saw that the group from practice had disappeared from sight.
They must be coming into the building now.
Sonnet felt nervous.
No—thinking about it, it felt more like excitement. A pleasant flutter stirred in her chest.
She waited with a faint smile, thinking only about reclaiming first place.
The whispers around her continued.
“Did she go crazy from studying too much?”
“Just ignore her. She’s always like that.”
“Still, she had to drag Aiden into this.”
“He’ll just ignore her.”
“If he ignores her, she’ll probably chase him harder.”
Sonnet silently agreed.
People understood her surprisingly well.
Then the door opened.
The murmuring grew quieter, replaced by the sound of steady footsteps.
For some reason, she found herself focusing on that sound.
The footsteps seemed to blend with the pounding of her heart.
Thu d. Thu d. Thu d.
Neat and even steps, coming closer.
A strange, pleasant excitement wrapped around her.
As she slowly inhaled—
She caught the scent of mint.
Instinctively, she thought of mint from the Itar region, her favorite place of origin for it.
The room grew as quiet as a snowy night. A cool yet heavy presence filled the air.
Sonnet forgot to breathe and turned her head.
As she slowly looked beside her, she flinched slightly.
Aiden’s face, so close, was shockingly handsome.
The black hair falling over his forehead gave him a captivating aura, and his bright blue eyes were beautiful enough to draw someone in.
She had always watched him from afar. Even then, she thought he was good-looking.
But up close, he was annoyingly perfect.
An awkward silence passed.
His eyes, fixed on her, were calm yet persistent, as if waiting to see what she would do next.
Ignoring her sudden tension, Sonnet broke into a bright smile.
“Go out with me!”
A sharp gasp sounded from somewhere in the room. Everyone was watching.
It was so quiet she could hear her own heartbeat.
She looked at Aiden with excitement, fully expecting him to reject her and be disgusted.
But Aiden’s lips curved into a neat smile.
His previously indifferent expression softened in an instant.
He calmly pulled out a chair and sat right beside her, meeting her eyes directly.
As her eyes widened in confusion—
“Okay.”
He said it casually, in a pleasant tone.
For a moment, it felt like a bell rang loudly next to her ear.
…Okay?
Why?
…Why exactly?
“……I said I like you.”
The words came out quickly because she could not understand.
Had she misheard? There was no way this could be real. She had always believed no one could possibly like her.
She looked at him suspiciously.
A gentle smile lingered at the corner of Aiden’s lips.
“Yeah. Me too.”
That was insane.
Sonnet sat there with her mouth slightly open, unable to say anything.
Aiden simply kept smiling warmly.
For a second, she wondered if she was dreaming.
Suddenly, Aiden stood up and walked toward the banner.
“If the professor sees this, he’ll probably say something. So I’ll keep it.”
Sonnet just stared blankly without answering.
He smiled again.
“As a souvenir.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
‘Is he crazy too?’
This was not what she expected.
This was not how it was supposed to go.
