Anything But Study - Chapter 34

Catherine found Melia Anderson irritating.

Seeing her take first place every single time was bound to be unpleasant.

Poor, yet still.

Because of a girl like that, Catherine was always stuck in second place.

Someone with noble blood like hers should be the one claiming first place. That would at least save face.

And yet Melia shut herself up in the library, acting like she was determined to take the top spot.

“Erpen is such a lovely place, but the only problem is that the library is old, so it lowers the class.”

She shook her head with a mocking click of her tongue.

“If you stay in a place like that every day, it feels like the smell would cling to your body.”

Don’t you think so? Catherine turned her head as if seeking agreement from everyone around.

Everyone hurried to echo her words.

“Right? I’ve never even set foot in there.”

“The library? You don’t need to go to a place like that. You can just make the underlings fetch whatever books you need.”

They continued their sarcastic remarks, saying it was a place only poor kids went to anyway.

“It’s really impressive, you know? Someone who’s in the library like that every single day.”

“I guess that’s how she has to raise her grades.”

Shrill laughter rang out.

Melia heard every word.

She didn’t turn around, but she knew those words were aimed at her.

It felt like thousands of needles were being thrown at her back.

‘I’m used to this.’

It hurt, but she was fine.

She’d heard this kind of contempt all her life.

…Let’s just go home quickly.

Since today was exam day, the library wasn’t open anyway. And Hailon’s tutoring… had already ended in the morning, so she could go straight home.

As Melia stood up from her seat, she flinched.

Because her gaze met Hailon’s jet-black eyes.

‘Did he do well on the exam?’

The thought surfaced immediately.

Her lips parted slightly, but she couldn’t call out to him.

Because he was already walking toward her.

His long strides were filled with irritation. His expression clearly showed displeasure.

Seeing that face, Melia felt a chill of fear.

‘What do I do? He must’ve heard everything.’

Of course. Everyone here must’ve heard what Catherine and her group were saying about her.

Melia felt herself shrinking. She felt unbearably small.

She was ashamed that Hailon had seen her being openly looked down on.

She couldn’t attend the seasonal party because she had no money, and instead stayed in the library every day just to earn that money.

There wasn’t a single thing she could refute.

Pretending not to hear it all, unable to say a word back, felt humiliating.

On the other hand, what about Hailon?

The man with the highest status at Erpen.

The gap between their positions felt painfully wide.

A warning rang out in Melia’s head.

Don’t misunderstand. Just because you mixed bodies a few times doesn’t mean you have some deep relationship.

How could someone like her dare speak to Hailon?

She felt like she shouldn’t talk to him at all.

If she did, she’d tarnish his image in front of everyone.

Someone like her, who was openly despised, had no right to do that.

Tap.

Melia sharply avoided his gaze.

Then she quickly moved her legs and left the exam hall.

Without knowing that Hailon’s eyes stayed fixed on her retreating figure the entire time.

***

The next day.

Step. Step.

Hailon’s strides were decisive, without hesitation, as if he already knew exactly where he was headed.

The very top floor of Erpen Academy’s main building was his destination.

“Oh, isn’t this the Young Duke!”

At Hailon’s visit, Erpen’s headmaster brightened.

“My goodness, I was just about to come see you myself.”

The headmaster bowed deeply to Hailon in greeting.

“Thank you very much for this matter.”

“It’s for the development of the academy.”

Hailon spoke as if it were nothing.

In truth, it wasn’t a large sum for him.

“Just recently, I’d been worrying that compared to foreign academies, Erpen’s library collection was lacking. This is truly wonderful news.”

Yesterday, the headmaster received word that funding would be provided for a library expansion project.

From none other than the man standing before him, Hailon Alfred.

When he read the letter delivered by someone claiming to be the butler of the Alfred household, how delighted he’d been.

In truth, not many students frequented the library.

Even so, the number of volumes an academy possessed was practically a symbol of its history and tradition.

He didn’t want Erpen to lose out to other prestigious educational institutions, befitting its title as the finest academy.

However, the library had been built with limited space, leaving no room to expand the collection.

And now the Alfred family was offering support for an expansion. How could he not be pleased?

The headmaster’s grin stretched ear to ear at the thought of achieving tangible results during his term.

“So you’ll be starting next week?”

“Yes. We’ll begin as soon as possible.”

Hailon asked the visibly pleased headmaster, “Then of course, the library will have to close for a while. Right?”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a question.

The headmaster hesitated, unsure whether it truly was one.

He must be asking, right?

He misunderstood, thinking Hailon was expressing regret over the library being closed for the time being.

But as far as he knew, the Young Duke’s grades weren’t particularly high.

Since when had he become so academically inclined?

The thought passed quickly.

“If we proceed with partial construction in stages, we could keep the library operating without fully closing it….”

The headmaster stopped mid-sentence.

Hailon’s atmosphere suddenly turned ominous.

A low voice slipped from him.

“And what will you do if a safety issue arises?”

His voice was icy cold.

Even though it was still autumn, the headmaster felt a chill like the depths of winter.

“If an accident happens at Erpen, will you take responsibility, Headmaster?”

“W-well, th-that….”

Caught off guard, the headmaster stammered, suddenly made to seem like someone with no regard for safety.

“I’ll, I’ll close it immediately.”

Faced with the frigid pressure in the room, the words spilled out before he could stop himself.

“That’s what you should do. And how long will the construction take?”

Since Alfred was providing the funds, it was a perfectly reasonable question.

The headmaster gauged Hailon’s expression.

If he was asking like this, there had to be an answer he wanted to hear.

The quick-witted headmaster’s mind raced.

In truth, even rushing, the estimated period was three weeks at minimum.

But if he said that, it felt like he’d be criticized for taking so long while closing the library.

“We’ll do our best to speed things up. If we push it, two weeks should be….”

“No.”

The brief refusal startled the headmaster.

Before he could understand its meaning, sweat began to bead on his brow.

“Did you not hear what I said earlier?”

Could it be even faster?

That would be impossible….

“One month.”

The words slipped from between Hailon’s lips.

“As long as possible, please. The construction should be done thoroughly.”

“I, I was short-sighted.”

The headmaster apologized, still dazed.

Usually, sponsors wanted things built quickly so their support would be visible.

“We’ll proceed as slowly and safely as possible and see it through properly, Young Duke.”

As expected of the Alfred heir.

The headmaster admired inwardly at the difference in his scale of generosity.

***

Since the monthly exams were held every month, the results tended to be posted quickly.

Today, two days later, the rankings were posted on the notice board starting in the morning.

Melia was on her way to the first floor of the main building, where the notice board was located, to check the results.

Tap- tap-

Her steps were heavy. Her expression wasn’t good either.

Hailon’s voice from yesterday morning, when he’d come to the library, filled Melia’s mind.

“Today I have something to take care of. Let’s take a day off from tutoring.”

Melia hadn’t even been able to answer him properly. She was too conscious of how she must have looked the day before, being ignored by Catherine.

Maybe this was his way of distancing himself from her.

Maybe saying he needed a day off was just an excuse.

A prelude to ending the tutoring altogether.

‘I don’t want that.’

Melia bit down hard on her lower lip.

She hoped that wasn’t the case.

She knew it was shameless, but she didn’t want to stop seeing Hailon.

‘No, there’s the relic.’

Right. As long as the relic existed and its effect continued, Hailon would have to keep coming to her.

It was an object that troubled him, but a selfish wish rose up inside her, hoping it would last a little longer.

I don’t know.

What kind of desire is this? What kind of feeling is this? Everything is a mess.

Carrying those tangled thoughts, Melia arrived in front of the notice board.

Let’s check the results first.

Hailon had followed her tutoring fairly well, and the exam itself hadn’t seemed too difficult for him.

So his grades would probably be….

‘Is this real?’

Melia stared blankly at the ranking list posted in the center of the board.