The Duty Of An Academy Student Should Be To Study - Chapter 48
Episode 48
‘What on earth did those two talk about?’
Rose quickly approached Rebecca. As soon as Rebecca noticed Rose, she turned her body away from Caleb and stood close to Rose.
“Let’s go, Rose.”
Rebecca bumped fists with Rose. Her tone was firm, but her arms were trembling ever so slightly.
Caleb approached from behind as if trying to grab Rebecca, but Jasper intercepted him. Jasper muttered to Caleb.
“Enough. People are watching.”
Rose led Rebecca away with her, and they quickly distanced themselves from Caleb. They went all the way outside the tea room and stopped at a corner of Main Street.
It was only then that Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief and her chest heaved. Unbeknownst to Rose, tears welled up in Rebecca’s eyes.
“Rebecca, what happened?”
Rose asked with concern. They bumped into Briley who went out for a dress and was returning to the tea room. Strangely, Briley was barehanded, but Rose couldn’t focus on that because her attention was on Rebecca.
Briley, however, was ready to confront Caleb. She bounded over and grabbed Rebecca by the shoulders.
“What’s going on? Did Caleb upset you? Should I give him a piece of my mind?”
Briley was ready to confront Caleb as if she were going to grab him by the collar. But Rose was more focused on Rebecca and didn’t sense anything particularly unusual about Briley. Briley had eagerly rushed over, but she noticed Rebecca’s shoulders shaking.
“No, I don’t want to pay any more attention to him.”
Rebecca let out a teary sigh and turned her head to the side. It’s not like the Rebecca who used to be obsessed with Caleb.
Rose and Briley were both surprised by the drastic change in Rebecca.
But Rebecca’s eyes were no longer filled with tears, contrary to what they expected. Instead, she seemed determined.
“No, it’s over with him. I don’t want to have anything to do with Caleb anymore!”
* * *
On that night, Rose found herself strangely captivated by her thoughts and tossed and turned for a long time. She lay on her side on her bed, her body curled up, thinking about what she had heard from Rebecca.
“Caleb Sidoor wasn’t honest. That made me angry. If you hadn’t helped me, Caleb would have kept avoiding me until the end.”
Caleb had intentionally ignored Rebecca and confessed with tears in his eyes. Given Caleb’s usual behavior, it was an unexpected sight.
‘He was sincere enough to cry like that, so why…’
Jasper’s words were correct; Caleb Sidoor was a coward. He had been afraid of falling too deeply in love with Rebecca Sherman and had ultimately chosen to run away from her. His long hiatus from school might have been a way to avoid seeing Rebecca as much as possible.
Rose had heard the general details of Caleb and Rebecca’s relationship from Rebecca herself last year. Rebecca had been the one who fell in love first. They had known each other since childhood, having frequently crossed paths at various social gatherings.
Surprisingly, Caleb Sidoor hadn’t been a womanizer from the beginning. He had deviated from the path of the Sidoor family, who had high expectations for their eldest son, partly due to his rebellious nature and defiance starting from adolescence.
However, Rebecca already knew Caleb’s true self, and she believed she could change him.
When Rebecca and Caleb started dating, Rebecca had even considered the possibility of engagement, unaware of the underlying family conflicts between the two houses. Caleb had chosen to cut ties with Rebecca rather than confront her directly, yielding to duty over love.
Even though his emotions were too difficult to confront head-on upon seeing Rebecca, he deliberately hurt her in the process. While his intention might have been to detach his affections, it left Rebecca deeply wounded.
If he was going to act like this, he should have remained aloof and cold throughout. Caleb told Rebecca that he did it because he liked her too much.
Rebecca had said that Caleb’s words had dried up her emotions more than anything else. Even if Caleb shed tears in front of her, she felt more bewildered than sympathetic.
‘Emotions are truly complicated.’
Rose thought as she clutched her blanket. Her mind, which had been filled with family concerns and magic engineering, now had room for other curiosities. She was nearing adulthood, and her newfound interest in romantic and interpersonal matters made her feel late to the game.
It was also a testament to the fact that she hadn’t had the luxury of such concerns in her life thus far.
‘What does it feel like to like someone?’
She had never read a single romance novel and was only now, through her interactions with Briley and Rebecca, delving into the intricacies of romantic relationships.
‘Is there any sign that you’re in love?’
The symptoms of love seemed to vary from person to person, and there was no official rule, making it a complex issue.
‘How do you know it’s love when it comes to you? There’s no definitive answer.’
Rose pondered as she unwittingly tossed and turned in bed, the rustling sounds echoing in the dark room. That’s when she heard a faint voice from beyond the partition.
“Rose, aren’t you sleeping?”
It was Briley. Rose, lost in her thoughts with her lips slightly pursed, was startled.
“Briley? Weren’t you going to bed?”
“No. Can I come over there?”
“Sure.”
Soon, Rose heard the sound of Briley lifting her blanket and walking towards her. After a while, Briley peeked her head around the partition.
Rose fumbled for the small lamp on the bedside table and turned it on. Briley, with a teary-eyed expression, naturally joined Rose in bed. Rose hesitated for a moment but made room for her, and Briley lay down next to her.
“Rose, why weren’t you sleeping?”
“Um… I don’t know. I just had a lot on my mind.”
“Me too!”
Briley protruded her lips and began whining incessantly. It seemed that Rebecca’s story had left her equally restless.
“Ugh… The nobles of the Empire live such complicated lives! Would Rebecca and Caleb have been better off if Caleb wasn’t a noble?”
“I don’t think the Shermans would have let Rebecca marry a commoner.”
“What bad luck!”
Briley exclaimed, her voice still tinged with irritation. Rose chuckled softly at Briley’s grumbling.
Briley looked at Rose intently.
“Rose, earlier, you were with Jasper Conway, right? When I stepped away for a moment.”
“Ah, yes.”
“What did you talk about?”
“Hmm… we didn’t talk about anything. Why?”
“Just curious. Lately, the Academy has been buzzing because of Jasper, you know? I wonder if he’s going to get engaged to Adela?”
“Well…”
“It seems like there’s some communication going on between the noble families, right?”
Rose just nodded silently. She had heard various stories about Jasper, but she hadn’t been permitted by the parties involved to discuss them openly, even with Briley, no matter how close they were.
However, even without saying a word, the rumors about Adela and Jasper’s engagement were spreading through the Academy like wildfire. It wouldn’t be long before they ended up in the gossip pages of newspapers.
Rose couldn’t help but think that Jasper had quite a tumultuous life as well. Being the son of a prestigious noble family, life couldn’t have been easy for him.
As the new school year began, Jasper was constantly besieged by various rumors, from his involvement with Briley to Adela Bluewood.
‘But when is it my place to worry about Jasper?’
Rose wondered. Objectively speaking, Jasper was perfectly capable of handling himself. But for some reason, she found herself concerned about him.
While Rose was lost in thought, Briley muttered.
“I don’t like it…”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“…I guess it’s just not a good idea to get involved with complicated guys after all.”
Rose looked at Briley with a puzzled expression. Briley pursed her lips and let out a sigh.
“I mean, the Empire’s marriage market is suffocating. Ah! I just don’t want to get married!”
If she came from a family like the Lawrences, they would probably insist on marrying off their daughter. But the image of Briley, happily living a single life, seemed all too natural to Rose.
“I’ll focus on my career, make lots of money, and collect handsome men left and right.”
“…With your determination, you could probably pull it off.”
“Of course, I can. Just wait and see. I’ll introduce you to a new boyfriend every time one changes.”
Rose laughed as she listened to Briley, thinking that her friend’s words were probably half in jest. Little did she know that Briley’s words would turn out to be entirely sincere, a fact she would discover much later.
* * *
Rose had been living a hectic life at the academy. As a graduating senior, the difficulty level of her classes had significantly increased, and she had more assignments to complete. Furthermore, midterm exams were just around the corner.
She had been contemplating quitting the academy since she didn’t meet the scholarship requirements, but now the midterm exams for the spring semester were already upon her. Time had flown by so quickly.
Since her encounter with Caleb at the tearoom last week, Rebecca hadn’t brought up the subject of Caleb at all. It seemed like she had decided not to worry about how the marriage negotiations were progressing.
Rose was relieved that Rebecca had seemingly changed her mind. She used to look hurt and sullen whenever she crossed paths with Caleb, but now she treated him as if he didn’t exist. While Rebecca’s inner feelings might still be complicated, she appeared to be gradually calming down on the surface.
Rose was making progress on planning her invention for the contest. She had a vague idea of developing a component for automobiles that would improve safety and accessibility. It was a challenging field, but the potential impact of her invention made it all the more exciting.
On Wednesday afternoon, after finishing her mana dynamics class and briefly discussing the topic with Theo, Rose headed straight to the library. She borrowed a stack of books related to automobiles and began reading them one by one. While deeply engrossed in the content, a gentle voice called out to her.
“Rose Bell, right?”
Surprised, Rose turned her head to find an unexpected person standing beside her.
It was Adela Bluewood.