I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 20

The unpleasantness I felt when he found out about what happened at the bank, and the sweat I broke into while making excuses about changing my research field, were both briefly forgotten.

But aside from the slight flutter in my chest at his smile and words, I didn’t know how I should react.

Because this was the first time in my life I had ever heard such words.

‘It feels nice, but also a bit cheesy, and it leaves me speechless…’

Whether we ended up in a fling or not, I needed to win Ruad Rochef’s favor. After all, I had to sleep with him as well.

But I had absolutely no immunity to these kinds of shamelessly smooth words.

‘Shouldn’t a choice window pop up at times like this?’

That way, I wouldn’t have to agonize over what to say.

Unfortunately, the game system didn’t help me to that extent.

After hesitating for a moment, I just answered vaguely, as if embarrassed, and pretended to act nonchalant by turning my gaze shyly toward the bookshelf.

“…All right.”

“How about you?”

“What about me?”

“My voice.”

“…I don’t know.”

After a brief silence, I gave that short answer, and Ruad Rochef smiled in satisfaction, as though it was plenty of an answer.

Then he said, “I won’t bother you studying anymore. I have some books to look at too, so I’ll just sit here quietly.”

“……”

“If you get bored while studying, pay a little attention to me too.”

“All right.”

Whether he was joking or serious, his sly words continued, and then Ruad Rochef left his seat for a moment.

Not long after, he really did sit quietly beside me again and began reading a book.

Thanks to that, I was able to stop being distracted by him and focus on my studies again.

***

A few hours later.

Just when the basic framework of dimensional transfer magic research that Lucia wanted to do was beginning to take shape, I lifted my head from the book to stretch my stiff body and take a short break, when a bright status window appeared.

[Quest: Study in the Academy Library Reading Room. (1/1) (!)]

‘Ah, right. There was a quest.’

Only then did I recall its existence, which I had completely forgotten.

At first, it felt like nagging to tell me to study, which annoyed me, but now it felt rather rewarding. It was like proof that I had studied enough for the system to acknowledge it.

On top of that, I had also met the final capture target. All I had done was come to the library to study, and yet the harvest was bountiful.

And still seated right beside me was…

“…What is it?”

Ruad Rochef.

Leaning back in his chair and reading a book as if flipping through a magazine in a salon, he noticed my gaze with uncanny precision and looked up at me.

That sly, shameless smile was just a bonus.

“……”

I stared at him with an exasperated look.

He hadn’t moved from his seat once the entire time I studied. He hadn’t even gone to the bathroom.

Like a leech, he kept sitting right beside me, reading his book. With so many empty seats all around, the two of us sat side by side as though we were glued together.

Perhaps because of that sight, other students seemed curious. They kept sneaking glances toward where Ruad Rochef and I were sitting.

Whenever I sensed their eyes on me and looked up from my book, they would startle, bow their heads quickly, and slip past me in silence.

Even though I had never stolen a single coin in my life, it felt as though I had become a delinquent or thug shaking down others on the street.

It seemed Ruad Rochef had done something to cause this, but whenever I looked his way, he only smiled brightly and waved at me like a Miss Korea contestant.

‘Just a little while ago, he looked like a scolded puppy, apologizing over and over, but now that time has passed and his spirits have lifted, he looks lively again.’

…And he had even grown more playful.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

When I didn’t say anything, Ruad Rochef asked.

I shook my head. “It’s nothing.”

“It’ll be lunchtime soon. Do you want to go eat? There’s a place called Bell Restaurant not far from here, and the food is good. Let’s go together.”

‘Oh, damn.’

At his meal invitation, offered with a refreshing smile, my face instantly went pale.

Of all places, it had to be Bell Restaurant.

‘Going to eat at the restaurant run by another capture target together with this capture target?’

Just imagining it made my vision go dark, and cold sweat ran down my back.

Right now, I had to target three characters at once. It was unavoidable in order to reach the true ending, but one thing was certain—under no circumstances could there be a three-way meeting.

‘If I go to Bell Restaurant and get caught being there with Ruad Rochef, I’m completely screwed.’

This was the same man who had gotten furious when I didn’t get examined by a doctor after he grabbed my wrist.

If he caught me laughing and eating with another man, I couldn’t imagine how much angrier he would be.

On the other hand, if Evan Bell acknowledged me there, I was sure Ruad Rochef wouldn’t take it well either.

‘And if he ever finds out I’m working under Evan Bell…’

The outcome was obvious.

He would ask if I knew him, then press on how I knew him, and eventually, he would find out I was working as his personal secretary.

‘The moment the words personal secretary come out, he’ll start worrying himself sick.’

And he would beg me to quit immediately. On top of that, since he offered to recommend me for his grandfather’s scholarship foundation, he would try to cover all my tuition costs himself.

That way, I would lose the perfect excuse to raise Evan Bell’s affection and be forced into a corner where I had no choice but to seduce him, a man who already hated me.

‘Absolutely, no matter what, I have to refuse this meal…!’

Resolute in my determination, I opened my mouth.

“Sorry, but I’ll pass. I just want to head back to the dorm today.”

“I owed you a lot of apologies today. That’s why. It’s not much, but think of it as making amends. I want to lighten your heart.”

“……”

“And the food there really is good. Especially the shrimp tomato pasta. That was excellent. Let’s go, it’s my treat.”

I knew very well how good Bell Restaurant’s shrimp tomato pasta was.

I had been treated to it by the restaurant owner himself and cleaned the plate so thoroughly that I had even been offered another deal in exchange for more free meals.

But no matter how delicious it was, I couldn’t risk even the slightest chance of the two of them meeting.

So I rejected his invitation even more firmly.

“I appreciate the thought, but there’s no need to go that far. You already apologized, and really, it was the bank clerk who was at fault for spreading that information, not you.”

“……”

“You don’t need to apologize by buying me a meal. I’ll head back to the dorm.”

“What if it’s not about apologizing? What if it’s just because I want to have a meal with you?”

As I finished gathering my things, holding a stack of books in my arms and preparing to leave, Ruad Rochef asked.

I froze in place as though my wrist had been grabbed.

Ruad Rochef straightened his once-arrogant posture and looked up at me.

His red eyes, usually mischievous, held no trace of playfulness or laughter. His low, heavy voice matched the seriousness in his gaze and expression.

“We’re friends. I’m your only friend at the Academy.”

“……”

“There’s nothing strange about eating with a friend. And it’s natural to want to treat a friend to a meal. So…”

“Sorry, Ruad. I can’t.”

“……”

Ruad Rochef’s face stiffened.

I did want to share a meal with him. I even had five million gold, and eating with a friend who was also a capture target wasn’t a bad way to grow closer.

But going to Bell Restaurant with him, just the two of us, was impossible.

I truly felt sorry, but I had no choice.

There were gentler ways to refuse, but flustered, I couldn’t think of any. The only excuse I could muster was this.

“Today… I just don’t want to eat lunch with you. Let’s do it next time.”

I forced a clumsy but calm smile and hurried out of the library. I could feel Ruad Rochef’s gaze piercing into the back of my head.

“…And you haven’t had a meal with me since that day…”

His voice trailed faintly behind me, but I didn’t hear it.