Anything But Study - Chapter 6

It was Hailon Alfred again.

He was looking down at her with an indifferent face, holding out the book he had borrowed earlier.

“What are you doing? You need to process it.”

“…Oh? Uh-huh.”

At his urging, Melia accepted the book.

But this quickly?

It was rare for someone to return a book in just a day.

He had borrowed it only yesterday; had he already finished reading it?

“Did you already finish the camp assignment?”

Oh no. She had slipped.

Without realizing, Melia had voiced the question that popped into her head.

They weren’t on terms to exchange such personal words. She must have been too careless.

But maybe it was because she thought of today as her last day at the academy?

Thinking she wouldn’t see him again after tomorrow made her less uneasy dealing with him than she had been yesterday.

After all, they lived in different worlds, and once they brushed past each other like this, their paths would never cross again.

So even if this man showed signs of displeasure, she shouldn’t be shaken. Melia was steadying her heart when it happened.

“Well, if I don’t go to camp, I’ll probably fail.”

He wasn’t exactly a top student. With that added explanation, he shrugged his shoulders as if it were ridiculous even to himself.

“Pfft, I see.”

At Hailon’s reply, Melia found herself smiling without meaning to.

He reminded her of her classmates who had been fretting about the assignment earlier. It made her realize. So even that Alfred was just another student.

On top of that, he wasn’t offended at all, but had answered her words earnestly.

“But this book was difficult. Was it easy for you?”

The question made Melia hesitate. If she said it was easy, would she come across as arrogant?

Because of that, she failed to question or notice something.

The attitude of Hailon, who was speaking as if it were obvious that she had read the book.

In the meantime, Hailon read the answer contained in her brief silence.

“Guess it was easy. As expected of the top student.”

“No, it’s not like that…”

Melia flusteredly waved her hands to deny it. But no excuse came out.

“I had something I was worrying about, but I think it’s just been solved.”

Because he had suddenly said something incomprehensible.

Even Hailon Alfred had worries? Melia grew curious.

“I do need to raise my grades. I was wondering how, but…”

What he said next as the solution was something Melia could never have imagined.

“You can teach me.”

“Me… teach you?”

Melia repeated, uncertain if she had understood correctly. But he only gave a short nod.

“So, you’re asking for tutoring?”

In the end, the words slipped out of Melia’s mouth once more.

To think she would teach Hailon Alfred, it was something she had never even dreamed of.

But instead of an answer, what came first was the short sound of a laugh.

“You’re the top student, aren’t you?”

“Y-Yes, but…”

Melia agreed right away, but a bitter feeling came with it.

She was for now, but by tomorrow her withdrawal form would be submitted, and she would become the ‘former top student.’

“Then who else should I learn from if not you?”

His counterquestion carried certainty. As if his words were truth itself, not allowing any rebuttal.

Melia was struck speechless for a moment. She couldn’t help but think he was right.

Hailon Alfred. To teach the man who stood at the top of the academy, surely one had to be the top student.

“So you have to teach me.”

He lifted the corner of his lips into a smile. His expression brimmed with conviction, as if his idea was the only right answer.

“If I can’t raise my grades this semester, they told me to withdraw.”

“Withdraw?! Who said that!”

Melia was shocked. Who could dare say such a thing to this man?

And withdrawal, of all things.

Maybe it was because she too had her own withdrawal form right before her, but she felt strangely bothered.

“The Duke. At my house.”

The Duke? At my house? It took Melia about three seconds to grasp what those words meant.

“T-The Duke?”

He was referring to the Duke of Alfred himself, wasn’t he?

The Duke of Alfred, said to wield power second only to the Emperor, and he called that man father so casually.

It was something Melia couldn’t even imagine.

Of course, Melia didn’t have anyone she could call father in the first place.

“The nagging about whether I’ll keep getting such low grades is relentless. It’s hard to endure.”

Melia tried to recall his grades.

After each semester’s regular exams, results were announced, and in the rankings, Hailon Alfred’s name…

As she searched her memory, the answer came from his own mouth.

“My last exam result was 150th place.”

The third-year class of Erpen Academy had a total of 152 students.

In other words, third from the bottom.

For someone who seemed capable of everything to struggle with something too.

To Melia, he suddenly looked a little more human.

“So that’s why you need to teach me. I don’t want to withdraw. I need to graduate, don’t I?”

It was an arrogant request that did not even consider the option of her refusal.

But Melia had no choice but to tell him no without hesitation.

“…Sorry. I don’t think I can.”

Because starting tomorrow, she would no longer be a student of this academy.

“Why?”

A frown appeared between Hailon’s brows as he asked again.

It was the reaction of someone who had never once been refused before.

Melia hesitated before opening her lips. “The truth is, I’m planning to submit my withdrawal form today. So tomorrow, I won’t be the top student anymore…”

The words that she should find another student never came out.

“What?”

Hailon cut her off, raising his eyebrows.

“Why?”

His pressing reaction made Melia suddenly nervous. Had she made some mistake?

Flustered, her lips only trembled.

Even if she would never see him again after tomorrow, when he bent down with a serious face and asked directly, no one could answer easily.

“Why are you doing it?”

Even though the sharp question was repeated, Melia found it difficult to open her mouth.

She was too ashamed to reveal the real reason she had decided to withdraw.

Her hesitation dragged on. Could she really tell him the whole story?

Couldn’t she just refuse like this instead?

That she was being sold off because her brother was sick and she needed money…

How could she say such a thing?

She couldn’t bring herself to speak it.

Even if she would never see him again after tomorrow, she still had her pride.

She feared how Hailon might react when he heard it. She feared the humiliation she would feel.

But then, what should she say?

“Answer me.”

The man demanded a reply with blazing eyes.

She had no choice but to answer something.

Though many thoughts ran through her head, in the end, Melia could not find an excuse, and a small voice slipped out.

“My brother is sick, and I need money.”

She told the truth.

Melia anxiously watched his face.

But Hailon’s reaction was nothing like what she expected.

“So what?”

His expression showed he couldn’t understand what that had to do with withdrawal.

But Melia could never bring herself to say she was going to accept money in exchange for becoming an old noble’s concubine.

So she dodged, thinking this much explanation was enough.

“I’m quitting the academy to work and earn money…”

It was a crude but final shred of pride.

But she was ashamed. Her face flushed red as the words left her mouth.

A part of her even felt resentful that she had ended up explaining herself to Hailon.

Now he would probably look down on her with disdain, or, since he had gotten his answer, leave right away.

That was what she expected.

But instead—

“How much is it?”

“…What?”

Melia couldn’t answer right away. She couldn’t figure out his intent in asking.

“If I give it to you, then you don’t have to withdraw, right?”

Without even knowing how much, he was offering to give her that money.

And the words leaving his mouth sounded as casual as if he were offering to buy her a meal.