I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 44

Ruad sat down beside her, picking up books he didn’t really want to read and flipping through them just to kill time.

‘Ah…. This is boring as hell.’

Ruad stifled a yawn that was about to burst out and turned the pages. While doing so, he sneaked glances at Lucia Even sitting next to him.

The moment she entered the library, she found an empty seat, opened a book, and hadn’t moved for hours, only studying.

When she first sat down, her inkwell had been full, but now it was already half gone. The nib of her pen was so soaked with ink that the elegant designs engraved on it were barely visible.

‘So she beat me because she studies like her life depends on it?’

He’d heard that she was usually in the library unless she had class. Which meant that aside from eating, sleeping, and washing, she spent every moment like this—studying. Just thinking about it was exhausting.

‘I don’t get it. What’s the point of working this hard? It’s not like this place hands out scholarships for good grades.’

Some of the academies abroad he’d attended offered scholarships to commoners with excellent grades as encouragement.

It was a significant amount of money for commoners, so many of them studied desperately. They devoted themselves to their studies like their lives were on the line, just like the Lucia Even sitting in front of him.

But Calypse Magic Academy had no such system. Good grades didn’t guarantee her any special opportunities either.

‘Even with top grades, a lowly commoner like her would only end up working under some provincial lord.’

There was no chance she’d reach the capital or the imperial palace, nor would she ever be recognized as one of the Empire’s most renowned wizards.

At best, she might get paid a little more by whatever lord hired her.

Ruad couldn’t understand why she was reading with such a grim face, staining her fingers with ink, and poring over books as if her life depended on it, just for that.

‘Honestly….’

Ruad quietly shifted his gaze to her face.

Her expression was stiff, not showing much emotion, but she was actually quite pretty.

Her face was small and pale, her calm brown hair reaching down to her waist and shining with a healthy luster.

Her features themselves were ordinary and common, but her large brown eyes strangely drew attention. Each time her long lashes fluttered, light flickered in and out of her big, clear eyes. Watching her made him feel like he was being sucked in.

On top of that, the figure faintly visible beneath her uniform wasn’t bad at all.

…Not to mention the feel of her when he’d pulled her against his shoulder.

‘With that face and body, seducing the son of a lord would be a much faster way to climb the ladder. That’d be far easier than studying herself to death here.’

Her low birth would be an obstacle, but if she had magic power and could handle spells decently, her position in the family would be limited, but a marriage wouldn’t be impossible.

It would certainly be more effective than sitting in Calypse Academy buried in books all day.

‘If it were me, I’d be scouting for a decent husband instead of wasting time studying. Can’t tell if she’s stubborn or just stupid.’

Thinking that, Ruad turned back to his book. Just as before, none of the words entered his head.

After all, his reason for coming to the library wasn’t to read dull books but to strike up a conversation and build familiarity with Lucia Even.

Pretending to read while killing time, he eventually realized it was almost lunchtime.

Suppressing another yawn drained more energy than he expected, and he felt awfully hungry.

He thought it was about time to leave the library and try talking to Lucia over lunch, but she didn’t budge. Her pen didn’t stop moving over the paper either.

“…?”

‘It’s practically lunchtime. Isn’t she gonna eat?’

Just in case, he waited for about five minutes, but she showed no sign of leaving for a meal.

She sat with the same straight posture as when she’d first come in, busy reading and writing without a pause.

Ruad’s patience, which was never abundant to begin with, finally ran out. He tapped her shoulder lightly with his finger.

Only then did Lucia stop and turn her head to look at him. Her large, clear eyes silently asked why he had called her.

“It’s lunchtime now.”

“….”

“You’re not eating? If you don’t go now, it’ll be crowded and you’ll have to wait a while.”

“I’m not eating.”

“Why?”

Ruad was genuinely curious and couldn’t help but ask again.

‘Even if you love studying, you should still eat, shouldn’t you?’

It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it. Meals were provided free of charge to every enrolled student at the academy. There was no reason not to eat.

“Are you sick? Or is your stomach upset?”

“….”

He tried guessing at reasonable excuses for her refusal and asked again, but Lucia didn’t answer.

She only blinked her eyes slowly, staring straight into his face as if he were something unreadable.

After a long silence, Lucia finally turned her head back to the book and buried herself in it again. Her tone was downright cold.

“…If you need someone to eat with, you should find someone else.”

It was a roundabout way of saying she wouldn’t eat with him and had no intention of telling him why she wasn’t eating either.

“If you don’t eat, you’ll get hungry….”

“….”

He pretended to mutter a simple truth out of concern for her, but she didn’t react at all. She didn’t even twitch and instead returned to her trance-like studying.

The ink that had been half full was now down to a quarter, and it looked like she wouldn’t leave her seat until it was completely gone.

‘Better back off for now. Push harder and it’ll only backfire with this type.’

Quickly deciding on the best move, Ruad forced a gentle smile.

“Then I’ll go first. If you ever feel like eating later, come to the cafeteria. I’ll keep the seat next to me open.”

“….”

She still didn’t respond. It was as if he were a ghost; she didn’t even glance at him, just kept working.

Ruad packed up his things and stood, thinking to himself.

‘She’s seriously strange. And stubborn to a ridiculous degree.’

Then he left the library and headed to the cafeteria.

Even by the time lunch ended, Lucia never showed up there.

***

“Hi. We meet again here?”

As soon as he walked into the lecture hall and spotted Lucia sitting there, Ruad walked right over, smiling shamelessly.

“You remember me, right? Ruad Rochef. I saved you last time. We studied together at the library too.”

“….”

Worried she might not recall, he kindly reminded her of their encounter, but Lucia only stared at him without much welcome in her expression.

Her face even seemed to say she didn’t know why he was there at all.

Ruad answered her unspoken question without being asked.

“I’m taking this class too. You are as well?”

“….”

“Oh, so you are. Is this seat taken? Mind if I sit here?”

“…I don’t care.”

The moment she gave her reluctant permission, he quickly set down his things and slid into the seat beside her.

He noticed some students nearby glancing their way with confused expressions, clearly wondering what was going on.

And it was only natural.

The academy’s second and first rankers were sitting side by side. That alone was enough to stir surprise.

On top of that, Lucia Even’s relationships were a disaster. She didn’t have any friends in class at all.

Now suddenly, Ruad had shown up, struck up a conversation, and sat beside her. It was enough to draw attention.

Ruad could clearly feel their gazes on him, but he didn’t feel intimidated or burdened. He was the same as always, and so indifferent it would’ve shocked them if they knew.

Instead, he boldly swept his gaze around the room, meeting the eyes staring at him, as if declaring that the seat of Lucia Even’s friend belonged to him.

Naturally, the first to avert their eyes were the onlookers.

He even caught whispers buzzing as they turned away, speculating about what on earth was going on between him and Lucia. But Ruad quickly tuned them out.

A brief friendship with a lowly commoner wouldn’t tarnish the name of House Rochef, and besides, he’d never cared about other people’s opinions.

This was nothing more than a little playacting as friends. All he needed to do was lure her in, make her open her heart, then dig into her weaknesses and snatch the top rank.

And right now, he was in the middle of that process, and what mattered was Lucia Even’s heart, not the judgments or thoughts of the other rabble.

Having easily gained the upper hand, Ruad calmly approached Lucia once more today, aiming to win her heart.