I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 29

The kindness that felt almost burdensome was still the same, but since it wasn’t bad news, I let out a sigh of relief.

‘But what on earth is the good news that he wants to tell me face-to-face, news that I would be glad to hear?’

I carefully set Jeran Ennessy’s letter down on the desk and sank into thought.

Good news about me that my advisor would know before I did…

‘There’s really no such thing.’

No matter how hard I racked my brain, nothing came to mind. Even comparing it with my experience before being pulled into this game, I couldn’t guess at all.

Never once had an advisor contacting me first brought good news.

…Truly, not even once.

‘It was always bad news.’

He said it was something that would make me glad, but I couldn’t help but suspect that maybe it was only good news for Jeran Ennessy himself. Still, I wasn’t sure if it was fair to treat Jeran Ennessy the same way as my real-life advisor.

‘He’s just too kind and gentle to the point of being overwhelming, but he’s not a bad person…’

On top of that, worried I wouldn’t be able to ask him for help myself, he had sent me a letter offering to be my guarantor. That too, after already preparing the necessary tuition in advance and giving me a week until the deadline.

It felt wrong to compare such a person to my real-life advisor.

‘Whatever the news is, it can’t be bad.’

No matter how much of a professor Jeran Ennessy was, he was still a capture target in a romance simulation game. I didn’t think he would deceive me in such a way.

And unlike Evan Bell, Jeran Ennessy wasn’t the type whose character swung back and forth between good and bad in ways I couldn’t grasp.

With that kind of personality, whatever the news was, it was worth trusting.

‘I’ll just have to go tomorrow at the appointed time.’

With that, I gathered the letter from the desk, wondering if I would still remember the path to his laboratory.

***

The next day.

Contrary to my worries, I arrived safely at Jeran Ennessy’s laboratory without any help from the game system.

Of course, I had briefly taken a wrong turn, but quickly realized something was off and retraced my steps, thanks to which I wasn’t late for the appointment.

Even though it wasn’t bad news and he hadn’t treated me poorly, just the fact that it was a professor’s office made my palms sweat cold and my nerves spike.

I wiped my hands on my skirt, took a deep breath, and knocked.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Professor, it’s Lucia Even.”

“Ah, come in.”

The moment I gave my name, a familiar voice answered from beyond the door, warm with delight.

I politely opened the door and stepped inside. The view that greeted me wasn’t much different from what I’d seen during the winter break.

The bitter ink smell at the tip of my nose, the musty scent of paper layered with time—all of it was the same.

And there, with the same handsome features as always, Jeran Ennessy greeted me kindly.

“Welcome. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Wearing a gentle smile, he gestured for me to sit at the table, just like before.

“Sit comfortably. It wasn’t too cold coming here, was it? The weather’s definitely warmer now, but today the wind was especially chilly. I wondered if I’d chosen the wrong day.”

“Ah, no. It wasn’t that cold.”

I gave an awkward smile and sat in the same seat I had last time.

He smiled softly at my answer. “That’s good. Ah, by the way, I prepared some tea for you again today. A servant should be here with it soon.”

As he said this, Jeran Ennessy tidied the books scattered on the table with practiced ease.

The table cleared instantly, and just then, perfectly on cue, a servant arrived with the tea.

After letting the servant in, Jeran Ennessy sat across from me, waiting until the tea was set. Once the servant bowed and left, he began to speak.

“I wonder if today’s tea will suit your taste. Last time, you seemed interested in the tea I bought from the East, so I prepared another one from the same region.”

“Ah…”

The moment he mentioned tea from the East, I remembered the tea Evan Bell had served me.

The very tea into which he had secretly mixed honey laced with a suspicious drug.

Even knowing Jeran Ennessy wouldn’t possibly drug my tea like Evan Bell, the memory of that day surfaced, making my heart race and my face flush.

All the more because of the kiss that had followed afterward.

Perhaps noticing my stiffened expression, Jeran Ennessy spoke gently, his voice full of warmth and consideration.

“If the tea I prepared doesn’t suit you, you don’t have to force yourself to drink it.”

“Ah, no. It’s not that it doesn’t suit me. I just… was lost in thought for a moment…”

It was an awkward excuse, just something to brush off the situation, since it was too embarrassing a subject to explain, especially to a professor. But unexpectedly, worry flashed across Jeran Ennessy’s face.

“Do you perhaps have something troubling you?”

“It’s not really a worry…”

I fiddled with the handle of the empty teacup, trailing off. It was only to buy some time.

In my head, I was scrambling for a plausible topic, something to steer us away from the awkwardly shifting mood.

Finally, one came to mind—something I had been curious about, wanted to ask him, though it wasn’t a particularly serious question.

“I was just wondering… how old you are, Professor.”

At that, Jeran Ennessy widened his eyes in surprise.

“Miss Even… are you curious about my age?”

“It’s not that I desperately want to know, but I happened to learn my former advisor’s age while looking at the school paper.”

“Ah…”

“And while looking, I thought, then how old is Professor Ennessy? That’s all. It was just a passing thought.”

At my explanation, Jeran Ennessy’s eyes, which had been gazing at me warmly and nodding as he listened, curved beautifully, and a smile elegant yet lively bloomed at his lips like a flower opening.

It was a smile that could captivate anyone.

“In that case, it’s understandable that you’d be curious about my age. Surprisingly, Miss Even is a student with many small curiosities.”

“…Haha.”

Faced with the innocent yet warm praise of an advisor whose looks seemed far too striking for a professor, all I could do was awkwardly tug at the corners of my lips into a smile.

Jeran Ennessy took a sip of tea as if moistening his throat, then set the cup down and spoke.

“There’s no need to hide it, nor any reason to, so of course I can tell you. In fact, aside from you, there have been quite a few students curious about my age. Compared to the other professors, I am certainly on the younger side.”

“Ah, I see.”

Thank goodness I wasn’t the only one to ask such a question.

“Still… the fact that Miss Even is curious about something personal about me feels a bit more special.”

As he said this, Jeran Ennessy’s light green eyes sank calmly, becoming more intimate and soft. Then, as if he were about to reveal a hidden truth, he carefully chose his words.

“What I saw in you, Miss Even… how should I put it. You seemed pitifully indifferent to others. As if you had built a high and solid wall.”

“……”

“Since enrolling in the Academy, you must have faced many things that wounded you, so it’s not incomprehensible that you’d be wary of others and keep your distance. If I had been in your position, I likely would have acted the same.”

Jeran Ennessy spoke of the Lucia Even I didn’t know only up to that point, then, as if to change the atmosphere, smiled gently.

“I digress. Then, I’ll tell you my age. I’m twenty-eight this year. And two years ago, I came to Calypse Magic Academy.”

“…Twenty-eight?”

Listening to his answer, I opened my eyes wide at the unbelievable number that struck my eardrums.

Jeran Ennessy chuckled softly and asked, “Is it that surprising? Most people react that way when they hear my age.”

“To be honest… I was a little surprised.”

After a brief hesitation, I answered honestly.

Of course, judging only by his looks, it wouldn’t have been strange even if he said he was twenty-five. But for a professor to be twenty-eight was truly astonishing.

Certainly, I was relieved that he wasn’t some forty-year-old target character who looked freakishly young yet expected me to sleep with him, but even so, it still felt unrealistic.

Jeran Ennessy, seemingly used to such reactions, explained calmly as he drank his tea how he had come to be a professor at such a young age.

“In fact, it’s because I entered the Academy a little early.”

‘That doesn’t sound like just a little early.’

“At the time, it was so unusual that it was even reported in the newspapers. It was nothing special, so it was only published in one or two places.”

‘If it wasn’t special, then why would the reporters write about it…’

“As I studied after entering, I ended up graduating earlier than others, which allowed me to start my research sooner. Thanks to that, I became a professor earlier than most.”

“……”

“So? Has your curiosity been satisfied, Miss Even?”

“Ah, yes… Thank you for telling me.”

At Jeran Ennessy’s kind, smiling question, I swallowed a sigh as I answered.

One curiosity had been resolved, but it felt like I had gained a new wall instead.

‘No matter how I look at it, he seems like a genius who steadily walked the elite course. How am I supposed to seduce someone like that?’

And it wasn’t just a matter of seducing him. A bigger problem loomed.

The newspapers of the empire had even reported that my advisor was a genius.

‘Will I really be able to write a thesis that will satisfy him?’

That was the problem.

In reality, I wasn’t the beloved protégé who was praised no matter what, nor was I a student with any talent for research.

‘Even if I think back, all I remember is being thrashed like grain in a thresher…’

As a pitiful graduate student like me, I felt nothing but overwhelmed by the thought of winning my professor’s heart, his body, and also producing a thesis worthy of him.