I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 36

Ruad had dealt with them far worse than I expected.

If that was the lightest punishment one of them got, I could imagine well enough what happened to the rest.

In truth, all they had done was run their mouths the wrong way. It might have been an excessive retaliation, but when I recalled the things they had said to me, any trace of pity or sympathy vanished like a candle flame in the wind.

“…So, after I carried the injured to the infirmary with magic, I came straight back to you.”

“I see. Thanks for telling me. And also for taking care of those rude guys in my place.”

“I only did what I had to. You don’t need to thank me. What makes me happiest is knowing that you trusted me.”

The conversation ended there.

Neither Ruad nor I spoke for a while.

Not because we had nothing to say, but because we both sensed there was no need to continue that topic any further.

It was time to change the subject.

And the one who opened his mouth first was Ruad.

“Lucy.”

“What?”

“About today, I’m sorry.”

Out of nowhere, Ruad apologized to me.

I couldn’t hide my confusion at the sudden apology and asked in bewilderment, “Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“……”

“They were the ones in the wrong, and you had nothing to do with them. You’re the one who went and dealt with them in my place. I don’t get why you’re apologizing.”

“…I just wanted to. Sorry, Lucy.”

In the end, Ruad didn’t say why he was apologizing. He just brushed it off with the word “just” and apologized again.

‘He beat the shit out of those guys and then comes back to apologize, what sense does that make?’

Unless he had secretly been the mastermind pulling the strings and ordering them to harass me, it made no sense.

But remembering the look on Ruad’s face when he heard what those bastards had done to me, the murderous intent he radiated, there was no way that was the case.

Still, receiving an apology for no reason wasn’t exactly pleasant, so I decided to change the subject.

“Forget the apology, I’ve got something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“That thing about me presenting at the conference. How did you know? I don’t remember ever telling you.”

“Oh, that?”

At my question, Ruad answered without hesitation, as if it was nothing to hide.

“I saw Jeran Ennessy write your name on the conference application form.”

“Ah…”

“And the Rochef family is sensitive to academic information. News travels fast to us. That’s how I heard you’d be participating.”

So the information network of a noble family clearly destined to dominate the academic world was far more impressive than I thought.

‘If rumors spread fast, I guess information like that would spread just as quickly.’

My curiosity about how Ruad knew about my conference presentation without me telling him was resolved.

Only one thing remained.

“And one more thing I want to ask…”

I was about to ask what he meant when he said insulting me was the same as insulting him.

But before I could get the words out, Ruad suddenly straightened his posture and cut me off.

“Sorry, Lucy. I moved around a lot just now, so I’m kind of tired. Do you mind if I take a short nap?”

“Oh, uh… sure. Go ahead.”

“Sorry, Lucy. Whatever you were going to say, tell me later after I’ve rested.”

“Ah… alright. You must be tired, so close your eyes.”

“Thanks. Wake me in about 30 minutes.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Before I could press him with my question, Ruad had already leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, eyes closing.

His sharp features were softened by long, thick golden lashes that sank lightly down. Before long, his head drooped limply forward.

He was asleep.

“……”

In the end, I didn’t ask Ruad the most important question.

At the crucial moment, he had cut me off, claiming he was tired, and fell asleep right in front of me.

It would be a lie to say I didn’t feel a sense of wrongness at that sequence of events.

Ruad was clearly avoiding my question. He had anticipated what I was about to ask and used sleep as an excuse to dodge it.

Whatever it was, I had definitely touched on something important to Ruad. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have avoided it.

I wanted to know right away what it was. But waking up the person who had just gone out of his way to take care of those bastards for me, only to interrogate him, didn’t feel right. So I let it go.

‘Well. There’s still plenty of time.’

It was only April, and Ruad always came to the library to sit by my side. We even spent mealtimes together, so I knew there would be plenty of chances to bring it up.

‘So don’t be impatient. And besides, right now there are too many things on my mind, everything is too complicated. I’ll ask later, after I’ve sorted things out a bit.’

With that thought, I glanced at Ruad absentmindedly.

He was sleeping in a posture that, at first glance, looked like someone sunk deep in anguish.

‘Doesn’t that hurt?’

It was such a strange sleeping position that I couldn’t help but wonder, but Ruad was already fully asleep, and since I had promised to wake him in 30 minutes, I passed the time slowly reading theses.

Suddenly, I felt a prickling gaze on my cheek. When I lifted my head, Ruad was awake, staring fixedly at me.

“You’re awake? I was just about to wake you.”

“……”

I stopped what I was doing and spoke to him, but Ruad said nothing. There was no easy smile on his face. He simply stared at me, scanning me from head to toe as if to measure something.

It wasn’t quite the murderous look he had shown the bastards who insulted me, but without his usual smile, Ruad’s expression was severe enough to make me shrink unconsciously.

Even so, I couldn’t help but ask.

“…Why are you looking at me like that? Is something on my face?”

When I asked, Ruad finally loosened his hardened expression and returned to his usual faint smile, then shook his head. The gesture was rather shy.

“No. It’s not that…”

“……”

“By the way, how late will you be at the library today?”

In the middle of his sentence, Ruad suddenly asked about my schedule.

I thought for a moment, then answered, “Well, I did bring a lunchbox, but I think I’ll head back to the dormitory a little early today. I haven’t been feeling too well these past couple of days.”

“……”

“But why do you ask?”

“Then are you free this evening? You don’t have any other plans?”

“I don’t today.”

This morning, I had hoped for a message from Evan Bell, but nothing came from him, not even a letter.

And at my answer, Ruad carefully made a suggestion.

“If it’s alright… should I comfort you?”

‘Comfort…?’

I was stunned by Ruad’s sudden talk of comfort. I had no idea what he meant by that.

‘What exactly does he mean by comfort?’

But as the silence stretched and my mind churned, realization suddenly struck.

‘No way…!’

The moment I understood, a red alarm light flashed in my head. A blaring siren echoed in surround sound in both ears.

‘Don’t tell me he’s asking to have sex with me right now? Seriously? Really? He’s saying he wants to comfort me with his body?’

For a moment, I suspected maybe I was deliberately misunderstanding what Ruad meant by comfort, when he was only speaking as a friend.

Yes. Maybe some lustful demon had briefly clouded my thoughts, and I was getting it wrong.

‘We’ve met for over a month now, and all we’ve done is study together at the library and eat meals. There’s no way a guy like that would suddenly say he wants to comfort me with his body.’

So I tried to drag out another possible meaning hidden under the word ‘comfort.’ But once the idea of sex took hold in my head, everything kept circling back to it.

And my instincts whispered that what I was thinking was the truth. That there was no other answer.

‘What should I do…? What the hell do I do? I’m not prepared for sex right now at all.’

The thought of having sex with Ruad itself wasn’t bad. It was something I would have had to do eventually anyway, and since he brought it up first, saving me the effort of seducing him, I was even grateful.

But at the moment, I was in a completely defenseless state. I couldn’t even remember if I was wearing matching underwear, top and bottom. That was how hopeless it was.

Even so, rejecting Ruad’s suggestion felt like throwing away an opportunity that had rolled to my feet, so I was reluctant.

‘And what if I refuse now and he gets hurt and shuts me out? Then what if another chance never comes, and even if I seduce him later, he won’t accept it?’

The possibility, as plausible as it sounded, made me anxious.

Of course, Ruad would probably grant me anything I asked. From what I’d seen so far, he was far weaker to me than I imagined.

Even so, I was sure of one thing—this kind of chance wouldn’t come easily again.

An opportunity to naturally and smoothly sleep with a capture target without forcing it.

And hadn’t I even wished this morning for Evan Bell to contact me, to drown out the bad things in waves of pleasure, panting and gasping?

…And then something unpleasant had happened just a few hours ago too.

There couldn’t be a better timing for sex than this.

‘Ah, what do I do? If I’d known things would end up like this, I would’ve made sure to wear matching underwear…’

But it was too late now to regret it, and I couldn’t just switch what I was wearing.

My choices boiled down to two.

1. Have sex in a completely unprepared state, showing Ruad whatever underwear I happened to have on, even if it didn’t match.
2. Don’t have sex.

‘Tsk. Clearly option one is the better deal.’

The problem that had tangled up my thoughts became simple and clear in an instant, and my decision was made.

‘Yes. Doing it is the right move here. If my underwear doesn’t match, that’s Ruad’s fault for springing this on me without warning, not mine.’

Even if my underwear was a little mismatched, it would be stripped off soon enough, and once I was moaning and gasping in pleasure, the brief embarrassment would disappear without a trace.

Even if what he meant wasn’t sex, there was no real loss here.

Having come to a conclusion at last, I carefully opened my mouth.

“…Alright.”