Anything But Study - Chapter 68

‘Were you happy in a place where I wasn’t?’

The question Hailon directed toward Melia floated through his mind.

He answered it himself.

She probably was.

Without seeing his face, she must have regained her peace. The person she resented had disappeared far away, so she must have felt relieved.

After that, the two of them never ran into each other anywhere.

Their living spheres, their regions, nothing overlapped, so it was only natural.

In the vast Alfred castle, Hailon always longed for Melia.

Someday, I’ll definitely go find her again.

He always made that promise to himself.

And so nine years passed.

Melia and Hailon, who had been eleven when they parted, became adults.

But then.

A miracle occurred.

Even for Hailon, it was something he truly had never expected.

That she would enroll in Erpen.

It was not long after she had enrolled. It was simply a moment from an ordinary day, when he was slowly walking down the corridor with a dry expression.

‘…Melia?’

Wheat colored hair, dark green eyes that once looked at him warmly, and her delicate features.

It was not a mistake.

Hailon recognized Melia instantly.

The moment the face he’d longed for entered his sight, it felt as if time had stopped.

The sounds of other students chatting loudly, the hurried footsteps of those moving to their next class.

All the noise of the world that had been loud just moments ago seemed to vanish, and to Hailon only Melia was visible.

Without realizing it, he turned his body toward her as she passed by without recognizing him.

She had simply matured. Nothing else had changed. She was exactly the way he remembered loving.

Would her voice be the same too?

Since returning to the ducal house, his heart, which had always been cold, felt as if it were beating warmly again.

He wanted to run to her immediately.

To tell her it had been a long time, that he’d truly missed her.

The urge to pull her tightly into his arms overwhelmed him.

He took one step forward.

But.

Stop.

Strength filled the tip of his foot as he halted again.

He couldn’t do that.

‘…No.’

Clenching his fist tightly, he forced himself to restrain his impulse.

Because he was no longer Calix, but Hailon Alfred.

A person who did not exist in Melia’s memories.

Calix should never appear before Melia again. How could someone who caused her such pain dare to show his face again?

There was no need to approach her and deliberately drag out Melia’s painful memories.

He had always sworn that someday he would go back to find her, that he would see her again.

Yet when he actually saw her face, he couldn’t easily approach.

In the end, the path Hailon chose was to watch over her and help her secretly.

***

The library on Monday morning was peaceful as usual.

However, there was exactly one difference: Melia, who was working as a library assistant.

Sitting at the desk, she was staring blankly into the air, her gaze unfocused.

Like someone who had experienced a shocking event.

There was no helping it.

Even after waking up and morning arrived, the truth that Hailon was Calix had not changed.

Her confused feelings tangled together into complete chaos.

“…Excuse me.”

“….”

“…Um. Me, Me, Melia?”

“….”

To the point that she couldn’t even hear someone calling her right in front of her.

“H-hey, um… Me, Melia.”

“Oh, oh?”

Only after the visitor in front of her called her three times did Melia finally recognize the person standing there.

“Sorry, what is it?”

“Th-this… return.”

It was Baron, who had been coming to the library almost every day lately.

Melia accepted the book like a machine.

Her mind was not whole like usual, but since it was something she did every day, her hands moved out of habit and processed the return.

It was the book he borrowed last time, the one Melia liked.

‘Hm? Something… feels damp.’

Something sticky seemed to have gotten on the cover and then been wiped away.

Normally, in a situation like this, Melia would have taken a closer look at the book.

‘It’s probably nothing.’

But today was different.

She didn’t have the mental room to pay attention to something so trivial.

Naturally, there was no way she could notice that Baron’s gaze watching her was somewhat strange.

***

“…Lia! Melia!”

“Mm, Rosha. Sorry. What did you say?”

“What? You didn’t hear a single thing I said? I’m curious, curious about how things are going with your romance lately!”

Even by lunchtime, Melia’s condition hadn’t lifted from the way it was in the morning.

“…Ah, sorry.”

After Melia became Hailon’s partner at the seasonal party and Anastasia was driven out, Melia and Hailon became a couple.

Rosha quickly noticed this fact and questioned her about it every day, and in the end Melia admitted it.

“What! My friend is going to become the Duchess of Alfred? That’s amazing!”

“No, it’s not that far yet….”

“What are you talking about? No one in the world has ever heard that Hailon has a woman! You’re the only one, Melia. That’s really amazing!”

After that day, Rosha always wore a satisfied smile whenever she saw Melia.

Today’s question was simply a continuation of that.

“You’re going on a date after class, right? I mean, these days the time you spend with me has decreased, but I’m really okay with it. I’m always cheering you on, Melia!”

Rosha was not being sarcastic. She meant it sincerely. Her friend finally had a lover, and the person was Hailon Alfred of all people.

Just hearing from time to time that things were going well between them was more than enough for her.

But.

“…I don’t know about today.”

Melia’s expression was dark as she answered.

“Huh? What do you mean by that? Ah, you mean you don’t know where to go for your date? What does it matter? Just looking at that face would be good enough….”

Rosha’s voice gradually trailed off as she continued speaking.

Because Melia’s expression did not look ordinary.

“What is it, did something really happen?” Rosha asked immediately.

‘Should I tell her the truth?’

Melia thought for a moment, then soon shook her head.

“Nothing happened. I just meant I might not be able to see him because I’m not feeling well.”

Melia forced a faint smile.

She still couldn’t tell Rosha.

Because she hadn’t yet let go of the last thin possibility that Hailon also had not recognized her.

Even though the shock was great, if Hailon also did not know, she wanted to talk with him first.

Just not now. A little later, after her mind calmed down.

The problem was that she had to see Hailon this afternoon, and she couldn’t easily find a solution for what to do.

But then.

“What? So that’s it? But if you’re not feeling well, what should you do? If you need to rest quickly, should I take over the library assistant work for you today?”

“…Really? Can I ask you to do that?” Melia asked cautiously.

Rosha’s eyes widened at that reaction.

Rosha had made this kind of suggestion several times before, but Melia had never accepted it even once.

This was the first time.

Rosha immediately nodded. “Of course. Leave it to me.”

It looks like Melia’s condition must be really bad? With a worried expression, Rosha urged her to go back as soon as classes ended.

“If Hailon comes looking for me at the library… tell him I went home early today. That I’m not feeling well.”

“Yeah, yeah, got it. Of course.”

“Thanks, Rosha.”

Melia felt relieved.

She had absolutely no confidence about how she should face Hailon today.

She felt sorry toward Rosha, but she was still not mentally prepared to ask Hailon about it yet.

“Just today. I’m asking you this once.”

“What, between us, can’t I even do this much?”

Rosha shot her a look, saying that if Melia thanked her too much, she would actually feel hurt.

Seeing Rosha’s consideration, Melia smiled more comfortably and nodded.

‘Right, tomorrow I’ll definitely talk with him.’

She’d already realized last time that nothing would be solved by suffering alone.

Let’s trust Hailon just once.

Somehow, her heart felt a little lighter.

***

Hailon headed toward the library as usual.

By now, it had become a place more comfortable than his own home.

Well, considering it was the place where they’d slept together more than anywhere else, maybe it was only natural that it felt more comfortable.

With that ridiculous thought, he arrived to see his lovely lover.

But then.

“…Where’s Melia?”

She wasn’t there.