Anything But Study - Chapter 75

Music box.

The moment she heard that word, a scene from Melia’s childhood memories surfaced.

“Sister, there’s something called a music box! They say an incredibly beautiful song comes out of a wooden box about this big!”

Melia only wanted to make Ervan happy.

So when she went out to the street and found an old discarded music box, she brought it back.

Ervan had been truly delighted.

But that caused the fire?

“The glass ornament attached to the old music box was exposed to sunlight, and that caused the wooden music box to catch fire.”

She added that the room Calix used had only been scorched and hadn’t actually burned.

“That can’t be….”

Melia didn’t know. She knew nothing at all.

Since the room the siblings used was completely burned down, she simply thought the entire orphanage had been like that.

Most of all, Ervan had been severely injured. She didn’t have the presence of mind to check anywhere else.

But if everything the director was saying was true, then in the end….

The reason Ervan ended up like this wasn’t Hailon….

It meant it was Melia herself.

The shock pressed down on her whole body.

Her throat felt tightly blocked, and no words came out.

She hadcaused Ervan to end up like that? She simply… couldn’t believe it.

‘All this time, I didn’t know anything. No, but why did it have to be blamed on Hailon….’

Reading the confusion and questions mixed in Melia’s expression, the director parted her lips.

“He asked me to do it. He said that if you learned the truth, you would suffer greatly. He said he would carry it all himself until the end.”

Hailon had worried that Melia would torment herself with guilt for hurting her younger brother. The director spoke with a bitter expression as she explained that he had willingly taken on the role of the one responsible for the fire.

“But why, why would he go that far….”

Melia barely managed to ask.

Even if the cause was something else, why did he have to take the blame?

“He said that if the cause was something else, you would blame yourself for not being careful.”

If there was someone she could clearly blame, Hailon believed it would be easier.

Melia couldn’t argue. Not a single part of his reasoning was wrong.

Until the very end, he had been thinking only of her.

Looking at Melia’s empty expression, the director lowered her gaze.

“In the end, I followed his request, but I still don’t know if it was the right choice. Of course, if Ervan still hadn’t recovered, I wouldn’t have told you even now. But that’s no longer the case, is it?”

“I… I….”

Melia couldn’t continue speaking properly.

“If I kept this buried inside forever, I felt I would regret it. Melia. I’m sorry.”

The director’s face was filled with painful anguish that words couldn’t describe.

Ervan had regained his health. The pain of the past had reached the time when it should be forgotten. Even now, the truth needed to be set right.

The director slowly stood up from her seat.

“I hope this decision was the right one. Let’s meet again sometime.”

Leaving those final words behind, the director left Melia and walked away.

Although she grew further and further away, Melia could not even bring herself to see her off, wishing her a safe journey home.

She remained seated exactly where she was, without even turning her head.

***

Step, step.

Without even the strength to judge whether she was walking the correct path home, Melia simply moved forward mechanically.

Her mind was filled with a single thought, leaving no room to think about anything else.

‘Hailon….’

Her heart felt so complicated it was as if heavy stones had settled everywhere inside it.

All this time, he had been lying for her sake.

Even taking the blame for something that was actually her fault.

If that incident had never happened, it also meant Hailon would never have needed to hide his identity from Melia.

And yet she, knowing nothing, accused him of deceiving her and blamed him, saying Ervan had been suffering all this time because of him.

“So you were Calix. You really made a fool out of me.”

When he heard that cold farewell, what kind of feelings did Hailon have?

She couldn’t imagine it at all.

‘I want to apologize.’

She wanted to tell him she didn’t know, that she was truly sorry, and beg for forgiveness.

But did she even have the right to do that?

She was the one who ended things on her own terms. Could she shamelessly approach him now just because the misunderstanding was cleared up?

She was the one who turned away so heartlessly first. How could she possibly dare ask for his forgiveness?

Besides, Hailon is now the Duke of Alfred.

She heard he would officially receive the title next month.

If she went to see him now, wouldn’t he think she was being calculating?

Wouldn’t he misunderstand and think she was approaching him again out of some petty desire?

Hailon would become a duke and move even farther away.

Her tangled thoughts kept leading to more tangled thoughts, yet Melia still couldn’t decide whether she had the right to go to Hailon and apologize.

Before she knew it, Melia had arrived in front of her house. She didn’t even know how she managed to walk all the way back.

Click.

As soon as she opened the door, Ervan greeted her with a bright expression.

“Sister, you’re back?”

“Mm.”

“While you were gone I was studying. I did well, right?”

“Mm.”

“It’s for the Erpen entrance exam. The real one will probably be harder, right? You’re really amazing. You passed the entrance exam easily and you’ve kept the top rank all this time… sister?”

The moment she looked at her brother’s face, tears filled Melia’s eyes.

Her vision immediately blurred.

What should I do, Ervan?

I’m the one who hurt you. All this time.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Ervan.”

Whoosh. Melia wrapped her arms tightly around her brother.

“What’s wrong? Tell me.”

Crying in the arms of the younger brother who had grown much taller than her, Melia confessed the truth.

“It was me, because of me….”

Even as she spoke, she was afraid.

What kind of resentment Ervan might feel toward her.

But even so.

“The truth is… the reason you were sick. The fire that day was all….”

“It’s okay, sister.”

Melia hadn’t even finished speaking, but Ervan answered first.

The voice that reached her ears was calm. There wasn’t the slightest trace of surprise.

Huh?

Melia lifted her head and looked into Ervan’s eyes. He was looking down at her with a warm gaze.

As if everything was truly fine.

“You… don’t tell me….”

Did you know everything all along?

Ervan slowly nodded.

“Because the place where the fire started was the room I was in.”

Then why, even so… why?

“Don’t you resent me?”

“How could I? After everything you’ve done for me, sister.”

Hearing that sincere answer made something surge up in Melia’s heart.

“You brought that music box for me, didn’t you?”

Ervan was saying he had never resented her even once.

“Then it’s my fault. I’m the one who told you about the music box.”

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Then you didn’t do anything wrong either, sister.”

At words that felt like comfort, tears poured from Melia’s eyes.

Apology, gratitude, and sorrow mixed together and flowed out with those tears.

Melia was no longer tormented by the past.

Winter was approaching quickly, yet it felt warm and gentle, as if spring had already arrived.

Crying in her younger brother’s warm and broad embrace, Melia made a decision.

Yes, I’ll apologize to Hailon too.

Even if I can’t ask for his forgiveness, I’ll at least apologize.

And I want to tell him thank you as well.

For trying so hard, for doing that for me.

For enduring that secret alone for such a long time.

To tell him that I’m truly grateful.

***

Melia returned to the academy.

“Melia! I missed you so much!”

The person who welcomed her more than anyone else was Rosha.

“The exam is tomorrow, and you weren’t here. Do you know how worried I was that you might lose your top rank?”

“I’m sorry. I won’t make you worry again.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Just as Rosha said, the regular exam was the very next day.

It was the final exam for the third years, so it also had the greatest impact on the final yearly grades.

The next day arrived.

Thanks to all the effort she had put in until now, Melia was able to take the exam without much difficulty.

However, even in the exam hall, Hailon’s back was nowhere to be seen.

Back when she used to tutor him, no matter where he was in the hall, he had always been the first person she noticed.

‘He must be busy.’

A few days later, the results were released.

As expected, it seemed Hailon hadn’t taken the exam.

.

.

.

152nd – Hailon Alfred

Because his name was placed in the very last position.

‘If I don’t see his face, I can’t apologize. Could it be… that he won’t appear like this anymore?’

Melia stared at his name written at the very bottom of the score sheet for a long time.