A Butterfly Through the Mist - Chapter 55

Noticing the unfair glances being cast her way, Tilia understood why Cecilia had resorted to such petty tactics.

The scene she had created the day before the semester began must have been her way of declaring war.

Tilia wasn’t sure how Cecilia had managed to unite the desperate final-year students against her, but one thing was certain: Cecilia Clayton had ultimately achieved her goal.

To this point, as most of the students had already formed their study groups, Tilia had not been able to join any group.

A bitter smile escaped her lips once again, but it ended with a deep sigh.

She tried to act unaffected, but this was about her graduation. It was impossible not to feel anxious and uneasy.

What if she truly couldn’t form a study group like this?

Tilia’s green eyes trembled with worry.

A study group was essential for the second exam.

Unlike previous exams, which she could study for alone, the debate exam required practice to learn the way arguments should be presented and to prepare for unexpected situations that could arise while presenting evidence.

No matter how many times she practiced alone, it would never be as effective as participating in an actual debate.

Even so, if that was her only option…

As Tilia tried to hide her freezing fingertips, she glared at her innocent desk, lost in her thoughts.

“Tilia!”

Suddenly, Judy’s voice called out. She had left the lecture hall for a moment to take care of something.

Tilia turned her head in the direction of the sound.

The lecture in the large hall was a general education class attended by all the remaining final-year students.

Though their numbers had more than halved, the students still filled the spacious lecture hall as Judy waved her hand excitedly, making her way through the crowd.

Two unfamiliar men walked alongside her.

Why are those two with her?

As Tilia looked at her friend with a puzzled expression, Judy approached her with a bright voice.

“Tilia, how about we form a group like this? Turns out, these two haven’t found a study group yet either!”

At her words, Tilia widened her eyes and looked up at Judy, who stood beside her desk.

Originally, Tilia had planned to form a group with Judy, of course.

But as things took a strange turn, she had kept her thoughts about forming a study group to herself, as if she had forgotten the conversation they had the first night of the semester.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t desperate to graduate. Nor was she unwilling to cling to Judy.

However, logically speaking, clinging to her friend wouldn’t change anything.

Cecilia Clayton had already instructed everyone not to form a group with Tilia Ambrose.

Though Tilia didn’t know exactly how Cecilia had manipulated everyone, she had a vague idea.

The Clayton Marquisate was influential, with its hands in nearly every business venture. It was likely Cecilia had used her family’s reputation for this.

She probably used both coercion and persuasion.

It was hard to understand why Cecilia would go to such lengths to bring her down, but a woman blinded by love would go to any extreme.

Even if Tilia managed to recruit Judy Wells, her study group would likely consist of just the two of them.

Everyone else had already succumbed to Cecilia’s coercion and persuasion.

How much better would a two-person debate be compared to doing it alone?

Tilia’s answer was skeptical.

Unlike herself, who planned to leave for Ontaroa, Judy was certain to spend her entire life in Arkansis. When she thought about Judy’s future, the answer became even more pessimistic.

Though she was the youngest daughter of the Wells family, it would be difficult for her to live in opposition to Cecilia Clayton.

No matter how much Tilia thought it over, she concluded that forming a group with Judy would cause more harm than good.

She had assumed Judy would also prefer joining a complete study group rather than forming one with just the two of them.

At least, that was what she thought before Judy showed up with two men in front of her.

“Don’t tell me you’ve already found a group?”

When Tilia remained silent, Judy’s eyebrows drooped.

“How could you? We said we’d be in the same group. Are you abandoning me?”

Seeing her friend’s disappointed face, Tilia turned her troubled eyes toward Cecilia’s direction.

As expected, Cecilia was watching them from among her group of followers, a strange smile on her lips, but her eyes were as cold as they had been the day before the semester began.

“Judy, I think it’s better if…”

Tilia was about to reject her friend, who would likely remain part of the Arkansis social scene for the rest of her life.

“No way! You can’t do that!”

But Judy spoke first, clinging to her friend with a pout.

“All three of us barely passed the first exam, so we really need a smart teammate. Please join us! Please!”

Seeing Judy acting like a child throwing a tantrum, Tilia was momentarily taken aback, then frowned in frustration.

“…Please, Tilia Ambrose.”

The man who had stood quietly behind Judy finally spoke.

Only then did Tilia notice him and turn to look at him.

She already knew his name: Victor Bartlett. He was one of the few people Judy, who was very shy, spoke with.

“I also ask you, Tilia. I barely passed the first exam, and I don’t think I can pass the written portion again next year.”

Hearing Victor speak, the thin man standing beside him clasped his hands together and pleaded.

She had to think hard to remember, but she knew his name as well: Mackenzie Fitz. He was known to have been on academic probation for as long as Gregory Myers.

Once she remembered the names of the two men, she understood how Judy had managed to bring them to her.

Both the Bartlett and Fitz families were knight families with members in the Royal Knights. And Judy was the esteemed daughter of the Wells family, known for producing outstanding knights.

‘She used her father’s name.’

With a faint headache coming on, Tilia looked at her friend, who was rubbing her hands together like Mackenzie Fitz.

“Join us. Please? Join us!”

Seeing Judy, Victor Bartlett, who was usually stoic, also started rubbing his hands together.

“Please, Tilia Ambrose.”

“I really want to graduate. If this continues, I’ll be older than my professors before I know it. Please?”

With Mackenzie Fitz’s earnest plea added in, Tilia felt like a woman facing three pleading flies.

Hearing the soft rustle of their hands, she couldn’t help but laugh.

Judy must know as well—that Cecilia Clayton was watching her. But Judy didn’t seem to care, eagerly persuading Tilia.

“I don’t want to attend the academy without you for even a single day. But you’re going to graduate this time. No, you can’t! I can’t do this without you!”

Hearing her friend’s shrill outburst, Tilia finally let out a hearty laugh.

Who cares. Cecilia Clayton was a formidable opponent, but the Countess Wells was no ordinary lady either.

Count Wells, who doted on his daughter, wouldn’t easily give in to Cecilia’s tyranny.

No matter how powerful the Claytons were, they couldn’t easily antagonize the head of the Royal Knights.

“Tilia, please?”

Seeing her friend begging her when it should have been Tilia pleading, she finally gave in and took Judy’s hand.

“You’ll join us?”

“You’ll stay with me.”

Her softly spoken words were sincere.

If I have to, I’ll even borrow money from Father to buy her ice cream.

While Tilia was lost in her small regret, Judy’s face lit up with joy, as did those of Victor Bartlett and Mackenzie Fitz.

“So, it’s the four of us, then? Five would be ideal, but four is almost a full group anyway!”

Judy quickly sat next to Tilia and pulled out her notebook.

“Alright, let’s share our schedules first. We need to reserve a study space at the library, so let me know your available times.”

“Okay, I’ll go grab my timetable and notebook from my seat.”

“Oh, me too!”

As her new group members hurried to their seats, Tilia carefully picked up a pen and scribbled in the corner of Judy’s empty notebook.

Thank you.

Judy smiled softly at the slightly crooked letters, so unlike Tilia’s usually neat handwriting.

But neither Judy nor the others noticed that it wasn’t only Cecilia and her followers who were watching them.

Ilex’s gaze, which had been quietly fixed on Tilia, shifted to Mackenzie Fitz and Victor Bartlett.

For a brief moment, the temperature in his blue-gray eyes seemed to drop, turning icy. But before anyone could notice, he masked it with a neutral expression and turned his head away.