Chapter 3
Before she knew it, Aiden had carefully taken down the perfectly curse-like banner and returned to his seat. He placed it gently by the window, not forgetting to smile at Sonnet.
As soon as he sat down beside her, Sonnet asked,
“Are you really going out with me?”
“You said you like me.”
His calm gaze met hers. There was something strangely sharp in his eyes.
“You’re not joking about something like this, are you?”
Sonnet parted her lips but ended up closing them again.
“Kased started seeing someone and dropped ten places.”
The words she had heard in front of the bulletin board came back to her. They had said that dating lowered grades.
‘If I stay close to Aiden, I can see how he studies… and maybe even interfere.’
It didn’t sound like a bad idea. Things were not going as she had expected, but still.
“Of course I’m not joking. I’m serious.”
She lied.
At the moment, that was the best answer she could give.
There had to be a reason Aiden was acting like this.
Why would he reject other girls’ confessions but easily accept her crazy one?
Who knew?
Maybe he also had a plan to eliminate a rival, just like she did.
‘I’ll pretend to date him and figure out what he’s really up to.’
Sonnet steadied her mind and strengthened her resolve.
Soon, Professor Doriderus, with his long beard, entered the classroom.
Aiden took out a book on temple archives and, along with it, a book about weapons. Naturally, he opened the weapons book first.
Sonnet scoffed inwardly. Professor Doriderus spoke quickly and rarely wrote on the board, which made taking notes very difficult.
Maybe Aiden’s overall grades were high, but for this class, she believed she was better.
Sonnet quickly picked up on the professor’s tone and repeated phrases, writing everything down in her notebook.
She glanced sideways.
Aiden was writing notes too, but he didn’t seem very focused.
In fact, his attention looked more drawn to the silver illustrations of weapons.
She quietly dismissed him and refocused on the lecture.
Then her ink bottle fell off the desk.
She bent down, searching around, but it had rolled somewhere out of sight.
Sighing inwardly, she straightened up—
A neatly wrapped ink bottle in high-quality paper was placed in front of her.
Without thanking him, Sonnet unwrapped it.
She quickly opened the bottle and moved her pen busily across the page.
After writing for a while, she felt someone looking at her.
Even when she tried to ignore it, Aiden’s gaze was obvious.
Distractingly so.
Her hand paused.
‘Is this what it’s like to date a guy?’
She had never received this kind of attention before. It felt awkward.
Very awkward.
And with Aiden sitting right next to her, his presence felt stronger than ever.
She could even smell the faint scent of mint from him.
Her seat had always been empty. Everyone disliked her, so no one sat next to her—no one even sat nearby.
Now Aiden was right beside her. It felt suffocating, almost hard to breathe.
Especially the mint scent. It was her favorite kind, the one from the Itar region. For some reason, she kept wanting to breathe it in.
‘He just finished a horse-lance match, yet he doesn’t even smell like sweat. Just mint.’
At that moment, Professor Doriderus said,
“I’ve repeated this twice. You understand how important it is, right?”
Sonnet’s pen froze.
This had happened before, but not like this.
She hadn’t heard the professor because she had been thinking about Aiden.
Just then, a neatly written notebook slid into her view.
She turned her head.
Aiden smiled naturally and gestured toward the notebook.
Trying to hide her flustered feelings, Sonnet looked at it.
The handwriting was clean, perfectly spaced, and flawlessly organized.
‘How did he write only the key points like this?’
She was impressed without meaning to be.
He had seemed to be reading his weapon book earlier too.
She felt his gaze again. Ignoring the faint sense of admiration rising in her chest, she copied the notes with a stiff expression.
‘I’ll just take what’s useful.’
Her pen moved quickly. After finishing, she mechanically handed the notebook back and looked toward the professor again.
Strangely, whenever she tried to focus, she could feel Aiden staring at her. Her cheek almost felt warm from it.
Unable to concentrate, she turned to him.
It was time to settle this.
The moment their eyes met, Sonnet gave him a wide smile. Most people hated it when she smiled like that.
But Aiden was different.
As if touched, his eyes brightened, and he smiled back even more.
Sonnet’s face stiffened.
She quickly turned back toward the professor.
Aiden never reacted the way she expected.
This was completely new to her.
She couldn’t predict what would happen next. She couldn’t control anything. It felt suffocating, like she had fallen into a ditch.
‘What is this?’
Even she was confused.
Aiden hadn’t done anything wrong.
He was simply staring at her persistently.
And yet, she felt flustered.
Since entering Rossfield, she had never felt so out of control.
Her grades always reflected her effort. School life always went as expected.
But today, everything had changed.
‘It feels like I’m the one caught in a trap.’
A trap set by Aiden Rossfield.
The more she thought about it, the more negative her thoughts became. She forced herself to stop thinking about him and focus on the professor.
But she couldn’t concentrate.
Strangely, every time she missed something, Aiden silently offered his notebook again.
Each time, the notes were perfect. They contained exactly what she needed.
Eventually, he even rested his chin on his hand and simply watched her.
As if everything she did was interesting and adorable.
Sonnet avoided looking at him. She stopped smiling and treated him indifferently.
Soon, Professor Doriderus finished speaking and left the classroom.
Students quickly stood up, glancing toward Sonnet and Aiden’s seats.
Feeling oddly freed, Sonnet shut her notebook.
Then Aiden stood up.
He searched his pocket and held out a ticket to her.
She looked at him in confusion.
“Make sure you come,” he said with an easy smile.
When she didn’t take it, he placed the ticket on her desk, picked up his bag, and left the classroom.
Sonnet stared at the ticket.
It was for the horse-lance tournament.
People had been complaining that it was impossible to get one. It had sold out a week ago.
The seat printed on it was near the very front.
With the Rossfield name and as captain of the team, he must have reserved special seats.
After a brief hesitation, she put the ticket into her pocket and stood up.
She pushed past the students staring at her and left the classroom.
The looks they gave her were full of annoyance.
She was used to negative stares like that. They didn’t bother her at all.
But the way Aiden looked at her…
She suddenly stopped in the middle of the crowded hallway.
‘Was I wrong?’
The thought crossed her mind.
But then she remembered the notebook he had offered—perfectly written notes that had impressed even her.
She shook off her doubts and straightened her shoulders.
In the long run, this fake relationship with Aiden would be helpful.
If she was this distracted, surely he would be too.
She just had to keep her head clear.
Sonnet ignored the feeling that she was the one trapped.
This was nothing more than a strategy for honor and survival.
The next day, Sonnet happened to overhear a group of students talking in the dormitory hallway.
