A Butterfly Through the Mist - Chapter 56

‘I have to do this properly.’

Tilia sat at a table in front of the towering entrance to the central library, modeled after an ancient temple, with rows of stone columns. With determined eyes, she scanned through the materials in front of her.

‘I will make sure that everyone in my study group, including myself, passes the exam.’

“Here.”

With firm resolve, Tilia handed over the materials, marked in red, to Judy sitting across from her.

“I think this is enough to cover for this week.”

“Th-this much, all of it…?”

“Yes. The study group won’t function perfectly from the start, so I’ve made the workload lighter. Next week, depending on how it goes, we can gradually increase it.”

“And then… increase more?”

As Judy looked over the materials Tilia had given her, her face grew progressively more disheartened. She slumped over the table with a groan.

“Oh dear, making the ladies wait so long!”

Approaching with a lively voice was Mackenzie Fitz, an extended-term graduate student who was at least six years older than them.

“Where’s Victor Bartlett?”

Seeing Mackenzie, who sat naturally next to her, arriving alone, Tilia frowned slightly.

“Wasn’t he coming with you?”

Due to the differing class schedules, the study group members had agreed to meet at the first table in front of the library after their afternoon classes.

As far as Tilia could remember, Victor Bartlett and Mackenzie Fitz shared the same final class today.

“Weren’t both of you in Geometry? Why are you coming separately?”

“You remembered that? Wow, Tilia. You have such a good memory. Or did you perhaps take extra interest in mine?”

“Quit joking around. Why are you coming separately?”

“Victor said there’s someone who wants to join our study group, so he’s coming with them,” Mackenzie replied nonchalantly, unbothered by Tilia’s stern tone.

“…Someone joining our group?”

“Yeah. We’re still one person short.”

At his words, Tilia raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise and moved to the edge of the bench.

It was already a week since the start of the semester. By this time, most of the candidates preparing for the second graduation exam would have already formed their learning communities and started their study groups.

For someone not to be part of a group at this point…

‘It must be some straggler.’

“Do you not like it?”

“No.”

Despite her dismissive thoughts about the potential new member, Tilia shook her head firmly in response to Mackenzie.

“It’s better to complete the group. As you said, we’re still one person short.”

The debate room required five participants. Even if they were an unreliable addition, it was better to have a complete group. Even a strawman was better than no one.

“They should be here soon… Ah, there they are, coming this way.”

Tilia was hoping the new member would at least be a woman, when Mackenzie pointed toward Victor Bartlett approaching the library stairs.

Without much expectation, Tilia turned her head in the direction Mackenzie indicated.

The central library, designed meticulously by its founder, was situated at an elevated location.

This grand structure allowed for a beautiful view of the sunset over the wide campus, but to enjoy that view, one first had to climb the seemingly endless steps leading up to it.

‘It doesn’t look like it’s a woman.’

Watching Victor Bartlett choose the steep stairs instead of the sloped path, Tilia clicked her tongue softly.

A man raised in a knightly family wouldn’t choose the stairs if he were escorting a lady, so the new member following Victor must be a man.

Even less excited now, Tilia indifferently turned her eyes to the staircase where the new figure would appear.

What first caught her disinterested green eyes was bright blond hair, illuminated by the red glow of the setting sun.

For a fleeting moment, there was something oddly familiar about the finely-textured blond hair.

Step by step, the man’s face came into view as he climbed the stairs.

It was autumn—the time of year when the days were starting to grow shorter.

A colder wind than the day before blew from behind her, passing toward the man who had now fully revealed himself.

Over the golden hair that swayed lightly in the breeze, her eyes met his—those blue-gray eyes, reminiscent of winter.

Recognizing who he was, Tilia’s fist clenched unconsciously over her lap.

“Oh…”

Tilia wasn’t the only one who recognized the new member. Judy, who also hadn’t had high hopes, whispered in a stunned voice, “I-Ilex Davenport… Why is he joining our study group?”

The moment Tilia heard that name from her friend’s lips, she stood up abruptly without hesitation. She strode angrily toward the man who was walking toward them.

***

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Dragging Ilex Davenport to a deserted area behind the library, Tilia hissed at him.

“Why are you joining my study group?”

“Why? Is there some rule that says I can’t join?”

“This isn’t the time to joke…”

As Tilia shot him a fierce glare, she realized she was still holding onto his arm and harshly let go.

Watching her, Ilex smirked, a mocking smile playing on his lips as he spoke, “I was just looking for a study group. When Victor Bartlett mentioned they were short a member, I accepted the offer.”

“Why didn’t you have a study group until now?”

Tilia asked, unable to hide her irritation at his casual tone.

“You’re at the top of the class. How does that make any sense?”

The most crucial criterion for recruiting members into a study group for the Royal Academy’s second graduation exam was their grades.

He had been at the top of the class for four years straight, and he had even ranked first in the first exam with overwhelming scores. There was no reason why someone like him wouldn’t have found a study group by this late stage.

Then why?

Just as she was about to question his motives, she looked up at his smooth face and sighed.

Forget it. Even if she pressed him, he wouldn’t answer honestly anyway.

“Don’t do anything strange and just leave.”

Instead of pressing the inscrutable man, Tilia opted for a conciliatory approach.

“Someone of your caliber could easily leave this group and form a new one. I’ll explain it to the others, so just walk away as if nothing happened.”

“Why should I leave a perfectly good study group?”

Even though she had backed down, Ilex remained defiant.

“Is there some reason I can’t join your group?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

Tilia’s expression sharpened as she couldn’t hold back any longer.

“The rumors about the flowers you sent me have spread all over the academy. If we end up in the same study group, what kind of gossip do you think will follow?”

She couldn’t deny that when she learned Cecilia Clayton was trying to hinder her graduation, she felt some resentment towards Ilex for sending those flowers.

However, there was one reason why she hadn’t confronted him about it.

Although those flowers had caused her trouble, they had also benefited her.

Tilia had enjoyed a comfortable vacation thanks to the gifts from Ilex Davenport.

She knew well that there was no such thing as free happiness. Tilia, who had learned this the hard way throughout her difficult life, accepted that Cecilia’s fury was the price she had to pay.

But she wasn’t willing to pay more than the comfort she had received during the vacation.

Thinking of her nosy father and the letters seeking investments that would soon arrive, Tilia looked up at Ilex with irritation.

“I have no intention of adding fuel to those dirty rumors. So while I’m still being nice, leave.”

Ilex looked down silently at the fierce woman in front of him, who wasn’t even speaking nicely anymore.

Just as she was about to stomp her foot and urge him for an answer…

“…So the flowers did reach you, then,” he murmured with a blank expression.

“What?”

“I said, it looks like the flowers reached you.”

There was no particular emotion on his face as he spoke, his expression even more indifferent than usual.

“I sent them repeatedly, but I never got a response or any word from you. I wasn’t even sure if they were delivered.”

“……”

“But they must have been delivered properly if you know about them.”

Caught off guard by the unexpected topic, Tilia bit her lip unconsciously, looking up at him.

Ilex’s face was as beautiful as the flowers he had sent, but just like those flowers, she couldn’t discern his true intentions.

“Did you like them? Were they beautiful?”

His voice held a twisted smile as he looked at her, squinting slightly.

“I told them to send only the prettiest and most precious ones, the kind anyone would know were grown with care.”

“……”

“Were they worth the money? Did you like them, at least a little?”

Unable to make sense of his sarcastic tone, Tilia could only bite her lip in frustration.

His gaze dropped briefly to her flushed lips before returning quickly to her eyes