I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 102

That day, too, was one of the many days when time passed painfully and meaninglessly, with him unable to do anything one way or the other.

After finishing his class as usual and heading toward his laboratory, he noticed someone collapsed in the corridor.

“…Miss Even!”

Jeran immediately recognized that it was Lucia Even and hurried over to her in alarm. He then carefully gathered her collapsed body into his arms.

As he did, her complexion, which had been hidden behind her long hair, gradually came into view.

Even before, her face could not be described as particularly healthy, but now it was far worse by comparison.

‘She’s far too pale. Her forehead is drenched in cold sweat…. Is she breathing properly?’

Jeran brought his index finger close beneath her nose. Though faint, her breathing was steady.

‘At least her breathing doesn’t seem to be a problem.’

Next, he checked her pulse. Thankfully, there was nothing abnormal there either. He also found no trace of poison or anything similar.

It seemed she had temporarily lost consciousness due to accumulated fatigue or stress.

‘For now, it’d be best to lay her down somewhere comfortable until she comes to. Once she wakes up, I’ll ask if she’s all right and decide whether to call a doctor.’

Having made a quick judgment, Jeran gently lifted Lucia Even into his arms. Keeping a close eye on her complexion and breathing, he hurried toward his laboratory.

As soon as he arrived, Jeran laid her down on the sofa by the window and covered her with the softest blanket he had.

Perhaps feeling the softness of the sofa and blanket even in her sleep, Lucia Even’s expression relaxed noticeably, and soon the quiet sound of her shallow, even breaths filled the room.

‘Thank goodness. She must’ve just been a little tired.’

Jeran sighed in relief inwardly and quietly looked down at her sleeping face.

Lucia Even, who always looked like a doll with her blank expression, appeared far more at ease than usual.

Of course, the shadows settling around her eyes and the complexion heavy with fatigue made his heart ache, but even so, she was so young and delicate that even that looked beautiful on her.

‘At most, she’s probably twenty-one or twenty-two. I’m twenty-seven, so she really is quite young.’

As he became keenly aware of her age and thought about the things she must have gone through, a strange feeling stirred in his chest.

It wasn’t pity or sympathy for Lucia Even, nor was it the self-loathing and guilt that had always tormented him for lacking the courage to save her.

It was something akin to maternal affection.

He had never had a child, and he wasn’t married yet, but for some reason, Lucia Even felt like his own child.

Dear, precious, pitiful, and yet also something he felt sorry toward….

It was a peculiar emotion he couldn’t put into words.

They had only met occasionally in class. They had never spoken much or interacted deeply. He had never even called her to his laboratory for a private meeting.

She was nothing more than a passing acquaintance, yet he couldn’t understand why he felt this way.

What was even stranger was that despite everything, the feeling itself was rather welcome. As if it had been destined from the start, it felt completely natural.

“Thinking such things with a sleeping child right in front of me….”

Feeling pathetic, Jeran muttered softly with a self-mocking, hollow laugh. Then he stayed by her side and did some simple nursing.

As he checked Lucia Even’s condition, he wiped the cold sweat off her with the handkerchief he had and frequently checked her breathing, pulse, and temperature.

After about an hour passed, her complexion improved quite a bit. It was enough that he could bring himself to give her something to eat and drink.

‘Her stomach rumbled often while I was taking care of her. I don’t think she’s eating properly. For now, when she wakes up, I should fill her stomach a bit with warm tea and a high-calorie dessert, then ask a servant separately to make sure she eats a proper meal.’

And after that….

He decided not to think about what came after, for now.

Jeran carefully got up so he wouldn’t wake Lucia and prepared tea that was good for calming down, along with a soft, sweet slice of cake.

He could’ve called a servant to do it, but he didn’t want to disturb Lucia’s sleep, and he also didn’t want anyone else to find out that she was sleeping in his room.

‘If it gets out, it’ll only end up affecting Lucia in a bad way.’

If Karl Evenhart misunderstood and thought Lucia had run to him, it was far too obvious that she wouldn’t come out of it unscathed.

So Jeran didn’t ask a servant. He brewed the tea himself, cut the cake into easy-to-eat pieces, placed it on a plate, and returned to the laboratory.

Just like when he left, he opened the door carefully so Lucia wouldn’t wake.

“….”

Then he saw Lucia, as if she’d woken up in the meantime, sitting up on the sofa and staring out the window in silence.

Perhaps because he moved quietly, Lucia didn’t seem to notice at all that he’d come into the room.

Looking at the back of her brown head, Jeran hesitated.

‘Should I talk to her…? It’s her first time in my laboratory, and she’s awake in an unfamiliar place, so she’ll be flustered.’

But strangely, he couldn’t bring himself to speak to Lucia at all. It was as if his mouth was sealed shut, and he couldn’t say anything.

He stood still, holding the tray with the tea and cake meant for Lucia, when suddenly, Lucia’s small voice came through clearly.

“Ah…. Why am I alive?”

At that tiny lament, Jeran’s chest sank heavily.

In Lucia’s voice, he couldn’t feel any will to live. Instead, she sounded puzzled.

That her thread-thin life hadn’t snapped.

That she was still breathing and alive.

Her life and existence itself.

The moment he realized that, Jeran’s breath caught in his throat. The fact that she truly wanted to die terrified him.

And he didn’t even have to ask why she didn’t want to live.

Karl Evenhart.

The instant that simple, clear answer surfaced in his mind, Jeran made a decision.

‘I’ll take responsibility for that child for her entire life. I’ll take responsibility for everything about Lucia Even.’

It was better for him to be ruined than for Lucia to die.

No, even if it meant he died, it was right that Lucia lived.

He couldn’t let her go like this, so futilely.

At the very least, Lucia had to live, freely do the research she wanted, freely learn magic, and smile a little more often. She had to be free and happy.

That wasn’t simply because it’d be a shame for her ability to die early, but because it was a right she should rightfully enjoy as a student of the academy.

And for that, he didn’t care if he had to give up everything he had.

Once his heart became clear, the anguish that had tormented him for so long vanished, and peace came over him. As if it had been waiting for this choice.

That was how Jeran decided to pull Lucia Even out of the mire called death.

***

There was only one way for Lucia Even to break free from Karl Evenhart.

It was for Karl Evenhart to no longer be a professor.

And the way to make Karl Evenhart step down from his position as professor was simple. He just had to report the corruption he’d committed.

The corruption everyone committed, and everyone kept buried.

Students attending the academy sometimes published a few papers before writing their graduation thesis. And most of those papers were generally published by adding flesh to assignments they’d submitted while taking classes.

So among the dozens of papers published under Karl Evenhart’s name, there had to be something that closely resembled the assignments Lucia Even had submitted through classes in the past.

Jeran planned to examine all of it, compare it, organize it, and report it anonymously. Even if it was anonymous, they’d quickly figure out it was him.

He didn’t say anything to Lucia.

Of course, he could’ve asked her what she wanted.

But if he said he wanted to help her and wanted to become her new advisor in place of Karl Evenhart, she’d definitely ask why he was trying to help her.

And then he couldn’t avoid saying what he’d seen at dawn that day in Karl Evenhart’s laboratory.

And that was no different from digging up Lucia’s shameful secret, something she wouldn’t want anyone else to find out.

So Jeran didn’t ask Lucia anything, and he didn’t say anything.

He’d already figured out that Lucia’s research field was barrier and security magic on a national scale.

That overlapped with his own research field to some extent, so when she looked for a new advisor, she’d contact him as well.

Then he just had to accept Lucia.

Jeran planned to treat Lucia very well once he took her as his disciple.

He’d protect her until the talent she possessed fully bloomed, grew wings, and soared far away, and he’d make her happy enough that she’d think she was glad she was alive.

Even if it meant devoting everything he had.