I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 37

【 Comfort 】

I had accepted the offer of comfort, not knowing what it truly meant, but nothing special happened.

All that came was Ruad’s answer in a fresh, innocent voice that carried not a hint of lewdness: “Alright, Lucy.”

After that, Ruad stayed by my side, reading a few books he had brought, just as he always did in the library.

It seemed he intended to wait until I finished what I needed to do.

He had said we should eat dinner together, and no doubt, by his upright way of thinking, it wasn’t dinner time yet.

Whatever the reason, my head was so full of thoughts about that so-called comfort that I couldn’t take in a single word on the page.

On top of that, the late breakfast I had eaten had just finished digesting, and I was hungry.

There was no way I could focus.

Before long, I set down the thesis I was reading and began to tidy my things. Seeing this, Ruad spoke to me.

“Today you’re finishing earlier than usual?”

“I can’t seem to concentrate today. Maybe it’s because I ate at an odd time, but I’m hungry too.”

“You said you brought a lunchbox, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Actually, I haven’t had lunch yet either.”

The time was just past 4 p.m. If he hadn’t eaten lunch until now, it was practically the same as skipping it.

‘Is he going to suggest we share my lunchbox?’

I didn’t mind sharing, but the amount I had brought was small. It definitely wasn’t enough to fill Ruad’s stomach.

But then he said, “If it’s alright, do you want to eat together in my dorm room?”

“…In your room?”

“Yeah.”

Unlike me, who was startled by the unexpected suggestion, Ruad replied calmly as if it were nothing.

“We both haven’t eaten, and you don’t seem to like going to Bell Restaurant much. Other than the dorms, there’s really nowhere else for just the two of us to eat.”

“……”

“Or should we go to your dorm instead? I don’t mind.”

No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t feel like it would just be about food. The thought of that comfort happening in my room made my heart lurch.

“Let’s just go to your dorm. I think that’s better.”

“Alright, Lucy. Then let’s go to my dorm.”

Ruad waited with a face as bright as a child going on a picnic until I finished tidying up, and as soon as I put on my bag, he took my hand tightly. Then, hand in hand, we left the library together.

As we stepped out of the library, a cool, fresh breeze brushed against my hair.

The crowd that had gathered in the morning to mock and humiliate me was nowhere to be seen. The space in front of the library was calm and peaceful.

There was no trace of any fierce fights or punishments, not a single drop of blood.

‘When he said he cleaned it up, he really did erase every trace.’

A strange sense of regret flickered in me, but since Ruad had already punished them more than enough, the feeling didn’t last.

Now the issue was Ruad himself.

We didn’t usually walk side by side like this. At most, we would walk together as far as the library lounge. Because of that, I hadn’t realized how long his stride was.

And he walked so fast that, with my shorter legs and smaller stride, no matter how much I hurried, I would end up being dragged along before I realized it.

Walking nearly at a run, I was out of breath and felt like collapsing before we even reached the dorms, so I had no choice but to call out to him.

“Ruad! Wait a moment…!”

“You called me, Lucy?”

Only then did Ruad finally stop and turn around.

Panting for the breath I lacked, I said, “Ruad. Your pace is too fast. Could you slow down a little?”

“Ah…! Sorry, Lucy. I guess I got too excited thinking you were finally coming to my room. I didn’t even realize. I’m really sorry. I’ll slow down.”

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

Leaving behind the flustered Ruad, I caught my breath and then walked alongside him again. Thankfully, this time he matched his pace to mine.

Perhaps because it was the time for classes, the Academy grounds were sparsely populated.

Now and then, I heard faint voices in the distance, but when people saw Ruad and me, their faces paled, they quickly shut their mouths, and averted their gazes.

It felt like I had suddenly become some kind of thug, but it didn’t really bother me.

After all, considering the chaos that had erupted in front of the library today, in a place where rumors spread faster than wildfire, there was no way anyone didn’t already know.

And it was certainly better than people suddenly picking fights with me.

‘If they know how those bastards were dealt with by Ruad, they won’t dare touch me for a while.’

After passing a few pedestrians, Ruad suddenly said, “The day before yesterday and yesterday, you didn’t come to the library because you weren’t feeling well?”

“…Yeah. Something like that.”

In truth, it wasn’t that I was unwell, but that I had deliberately wrecked my condition with alcohol to briefly forget my rage. But that wasn’t something I could say.

The time for venting my fury at the crime of my former advisor who plagiarized my thesis had long passed.

At my awkward answer, Ruad asked again, “Was that also why you came later than usual today?”

“That’s right.”

“Were you very sick?”

“…Not really. Just felt like I was coming down with a cold. I wasn’t feeling well since the evening before last, so I rested for a whole day, and I got better quickly.”

“……”

“You were worried because I didn’t come out?”

When I asked, Ruad answered honestly.

“…Yeah. I was worried.”

“……”

“I was afraid… maybe something bad had happened to you.”

In Ruad’s voice, there was a clear trace of caution. As if he feared that saying such things might wound me.

But hearing it left me bewildered.

‘Something bad? What bad thing?’

Could it be that bastard had done something even more fucked up that I didn’t know about?

But I couldn’t imagine anything more awful than what I had realized the day before yesterday.

While I was tangled in complicated thoughts, Ruad continued calmly. Still, he walked slowly, matching my pace.

“You never tell me anything, no matter what happens. I’ve never seen you lean on anyone.”

“……”

“Even if something terrible happened, you’d show up with a calm face and act like nothing was wrong. But today, I was lucky. I saw the misfortune that befell you with my own eyes, and I could handle it right then and there.”

“……”

“If I hadn’t found you today, surrounded by those idiots spewing words you never should’ve had to hear, I wouldn’t have known until much later. Just like how I only found out after the fact about the humiliation you suffered at the bank.”

At that moment, my steps halted without me realizing. Ruad, who had been walking in pace with me, stopped a step ahead. Then he turned and looked at me.

For a while, silence hung between us.

I had never told him that I had been humiliated at the bank. All I had said was that I went there to borrow money.

My heart pounded, and my eyes trembled.

“…Ruad.”

“You’re wondering how I knew, aren’t you?”

“……”

Ruad gave a bitter smile, recognizing the question I hadn’t voiced.

He spoke first.

“Because it looked like what happened at the bank upset you.”

“……”

And what the hell was that supposed to explain?

“When I first asked the bank clerk about you, he told me you wanted a loan, so he kindly prepared the documents and explained everything about it.”

“……”

“If you had been treated kindly, you wouldn’t have been upset. So I went back and pressed him.”

In other words, the bank clerk had lied to Ruad and gotten caught.

And naturally, that meant Ruad had also learned about the discrimination and contempt I had suffered as a commoner.

It was all too clear. There was nothing more to ask, nothing more to doubt.

“So you dealt with that bank clerk the same way you dealt with them today? Because me being humiliated is the same as you being humiliated?”

“……”

Ruad gave no answer. That silence was the same as admitting it.

He had realized that the bank clerk had treated me with disrespect, and he had gone to punish him without me asking for anything.

In a strange, indescribable mood, I asked, “If you pressed the bank clerk, then you must also know about that, right?”

Even though I hadn’t said what “that” meant, Ruad immediately understood and answered without hesitation.

“Yeah. I know you came to the bank a week later with a check to withdraw 1.5 million gold from Evan Bell’s account.”

“Ruad…”

I let out his name with a sigh. The sudden exposure of my private life made my head pound.

I knew well enough that Ruad cared deeply for me. I was grateful that he got angry for me as if my problems were his own, and I was thankful for him dealing with those rude bastards today.

But no matter how close a friend, this wasn’t right.

Ruad had dug into things I hadn’t told him, unearthed them on his own, and then acted without my permission.

All of it left me distinctly uncomfortable.

That was what I wanted to say.

But before I could open my mouth, Ruad spoke first, with a faint smile on his lips.