A Butterfly Through the Mist - Chapter 21

“How’s your body feeling?”

Judy placed an elegant box on the nightstand as she studied Tilia’s face.

“My goodness, you’re still so pale. This won’t do. Let’s go to the hospital.”

“No, I’m fine. It’s just because I had a nightmare.”

“A nightmare?”

“Yeah. I dreamed I got a failing grade.”

Tilia pretended to wipe cold sweat from her forehead, trying to lighten the mood.

“Oh dear, to dream about something like that even after it’s all over… Graduation exams are really terrifying, aren’t they?”

At that joke, Judy’s expression of concern finally softened, and she smiled.

“Really now. If even you, who came in second, felt that way, imagine how scared I was! I dreamed of failing a subject and shook with fear for three days!”

Sitting on Tilia’s bed and rubbing her arms as if she still felt shivers, Judy suddenly remembered what she had intended to do. With an “Oh!” she exclaimed, pulling something out of her bag.

“Here, chocolate.”

“Wow.”

“And this is medicine that’s good for indigestion. My mom bought it for you since you weren’t feeling well. Make sure you take it after eating.”

Looks like today is a day for receiving medicine.

Even as Tilia thought cynically about it, she gratefully accepted the digestive medicine, the only item she’d received today that carried a genuine feeling of care.

“Thank you. Please thank the countess for me too.”

“Indigestion right before an exam… Just thinking about it makes me dizzy. You said you barely woke up from resting in the medical room just before the exam, right?”

“Yeah, well… I was lucky… By the way, what’s that box? Did your brother bring it from Ontaroa?”

Tilia quickly changed the subject, fearing the conversation about her lies might go on too long.

“The velvet ribbon looks so luxurious. What’s the gift?”

“Oh, this? It’s not mine.”

But the response that came from Judy was something completely unexpected.

“The dormitory attendant said it was for you. Honestly, I’m just as curious. What is it?”

For me? Tilia’s eyes narrowed.

‘There’s no one who would give me a gift like this…’

Seeing Tilia just staring at the box with an inexplicable sense of unease, Judy scooted closer.

“I was dying of curiosity while bringing it here. Can you open it now? Please? Please?”

With Judy’s persistent urging, Tilia hesitated for a moment, then slowly untied the ribbon on the box.

The lid of the box opened smoothly, without even a rustling sound.

But as soon as the lid opened, Tilia’s face turned rigid.

“Medicine?”

Unlike the stiff Tilia, Judy’s tone was innocent. Excited, she took out various kinds of medicine from the box, chattering away.

“Let’s see. This one is good for bruises, this is an ointment for cuts… Oh, there’s a fatigue recovery tonic and bandages too.”

Judy looked puzzled as she examined the medicines, then turned her gaze back to her roommate.

“Tilia, these all seem to be from a high-grade apothecary. Do you know who sent them?”

In response to Judy’s question, Tilia slowly shook her head. “No. I have no idea.”

***

After the final exams of the semester, there was a period for grading and corrections. The academy moved at a slow pace during this time.

Even Tilia, who usually led a hectic life, could afford a bit of leisure during this period.

Of course, that only meant catching up on books she hadn’t had time to read or previewing materials for the next semester at a more relaxed pace.

Still, Tilia enjoyed these small moments greatly, waiting eagerly all semester for that short period of respite when the exams were over, and her schedule would be freed up.

But now…

‘That guy.’

While browsing books in the library, Tilia’s eyes narrowed.

‘What is that guy doing here?’

Her raised eyes turned to a man sitting at a window seat at the end of a bookshelf.

The central library, which had existed since the academy was founded, was just as old as its history.

The musty smell of moldy books invoked nostalgia but was faintly unpleasant, and the marble was cracked in places, showing its age even where repair work had been done.

In such an old place, Ilex Davenport stood out like a newly painted oil painting, looking distinctly out of place.

Sitting cross-legged on the innermost seat of the long line of bookshelves, the early summer sunlight poured in behind him.

The sunlight, which was already bright, made his blonde hair shimmer like freshly forged gold, highlighting his already elegant nose in an almost otherworldly way.

‘Sure, I get it—you want to act handsome.’

But Tilia’s lips, observing him from the end of the bookshelf, were twisted in a displeased curve.

‘Why here of all places?’

Annoyed, Tilia put back the book she had taken out.

If it had been a mere coincidence that they ran into each other, she wouldn’t have reacted so emotionally. After all, it was she who initially proposed pretending as if they had never been intimate.

But why does he keep hanging around?

Tilia bit her lip, glancing around to see if anyone else was near the bookshelf.

Since the day they woke up in the same bed a week after the exams, Ilex Davenport had been hovering near her constantly.

At first, she thought it was a coincidence. She considered it an overreaction, something brought on by her consciousness of his presence.

However—

“Tilia, am I dreaming…? Wasn’t Ilex by the lecture building just now? How is he already near the women’s dorm? Does he have two bodies?”

When even the clueless Judy started noticing his presence, it became clear. He really was hovering around her.

Why is he doing this?

Seeing that only two freshmen with babyish faces were near the adjacent shelves, Tilia glared directly at Ilex Davenport.

Despite her pointed stare, he pretended to have no interest in her, keeping his eyes fixed on the book in his hands.

But Tilia knew. She knew that he had followed her from the lecture building, through the main hall, and into the library.

After all, she had seen him at every one of those places.

Her brows furrowed deeply as she recalled him. She would have confronted him outright if he had obviously followed her around, but he didn’t even give her that chance.

That sly bastard wouldn’t be anywhere in sight during transitions but would appear at the destination as if he’d been waiting there.

It was as though he already knew where she was headed, like he had mapped out her exact route.

He always arrived before her, making it difficult for her to accuse him.

There was no way she could get mad about him being in a place before she was, or she’d look like the stalker.

Annoyed, Tilia cast a sidelong glance at Ilex before lowering her gaze to the book in his hand.

‘Introduction to Ethical Theology?’

Seeing the title of the book held in his broad hands filled Tilia’s eyes with puzzlement.

The first graduation exam had already ended, so why was he studying basic theology again?

‘No way.’

Tilia’s slightly tilted head straightened up.

‘Is he preparing for the second exam in advance?’

If the first graduation exam was a written essay, the second was a discussion-based oral test.

Students were given discussion topics that required value assessments, either from individual subjects or integrated ones, and they had to assert their views within their assigned group.

Although topics were usually from advanced textbooks, occasionally, introductory books also appeared in the discussions.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve looked at an introduction.’

Seeing Ilex with the basic text turned Tilia’s mood serious.

‘This isn’t the time to relax. I should start reading it today.’

As Tilia was about to move to borrow the books she needed immediately, she heard someone whispering in the distance.

“Did you hear about it? Gregory Myers, he finally got caught.”

She paused, keeping her ear attuned to the conversation.

If it was news of Gregory Myers’s punishment, Tilia had also heard it a few days earlier.

According to the information the excited Judy had brought, the teaching assistant involved in the problem leakage had confessed everything. The incident had grown beyond mere cheating to one involving even the academy’s dean.

“Everyone’s in an uproar. Apparently, there’s been collusion since the entrance exam. People say it won’t end with expulsion—he might be taken into custody.”

Judy had said that, proudly giving Tilia a thumbs up, saying her suspicions were correct.

Unlike her roommate, who was simply glad that Myers would no longer be an alumnus, Tilia felt oddly unsettled.

She should have been happy. The incident had escalated beyond the scope of her intended revenge, so it should have been gratifying.

‘Why admit to it now? Why?’

The assistant must have accepted the deal, intending to take the fall in exchange for something equivalent.

She had the feeling there was something more behind it. She couldn’t shake the sense that there had been another transaction she wasn’t aware of.

‘…What does it matter.’

Tilia quickly brushed away the thought and simply enjoyed Gregory Myers’s downfall. She had even whistled inwardly while watching his dejected figure dragging his luggage out of the dormitory.

No matter what filth might still be hidden behind the scenes, his utter downfall was exactly what she wanted.

“Yeah. Of course, he’ll be investigated. His family had ties with the dean from the start.”

The naïve whispering of the freshmen continued in the otherwise quiet library.

Tilia’s gaze returned to them.

“No, that’s not why he was detained.”

“Then why?”

“Apparently, something was found in his dorm room…”

In his dorm room? What was discovered in Gregory Myers’s room?

As Tilia moved a step closer, straining her ears to catch the hushed voices, she forgot that she was in an old library.

Oh.

The worn toe of her old shoe got caught on a broken piece of marble.

As she lost her balance in an instant and missed her chance to grab onto the shelf—

Thud.

A large hand caught her shoulder as she tilted toward the floor.