The Duty Of An Academy Student Should Be To Study - Chapter 56

Episode 56

“Did you say she cried?”

“You’re looking at me as if I’m some kind of weirdo.”

“You are weird. You were the one who wanted to break up first.”

“Can we not nitpick on the facts? I’m already struggling.”

Caleb said, sighing heavily, and then continued. 

“Since I saw Rebecca at the tearoom, I’ve been acting strange. I can’t think of anything but her…”

Jasper listened to Caleb’s story, not pushing any further. Caleb’s state of despair was something he hadn’t seen before.

“When my father brought up the engagement plan, I blurted out that I couldn’t go through with it without even realizing it. Hailey Sherman was also there at the time… It was an ungentlemanly thing to do. I know. It was impulsive.”

“Sometimes impulsive actions can be genuine.”

Caleb looked up at Jasper with wavering eyes at his subdued words.

“Is that so? I’m not sure. I just couldn’t stand that situation all of a sudden.”

“You must be completely different from the Shermans.”

“I met Hailey separately in the morning. Look at me all wet. It was Lady Hailey who poured water on me. Well, I suppose it makes sense. So I just stayed quiet.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“Well, my father was about to kick me out of the house right away. He’s probably going to strip me of my inheritance.”

Caleb chuckled, but his face was filled with helplessness. Jasper wrinkled his face and then threw a handkerchief at Caleb.

“Wipe yourself. You have water droplets on your hair.”

“Thank you.”

Caleb’s trembling hands wiped away the moisture. Jasper, with a complicated look in his eyes, asked.

“Do you blame me for taking you to the tearoom?”

Caleb hesitated for a moment and then shook his head. 

“No.”

“Even in this situation?”

“It was my choice. If I blame everything on you, I’d be a coward.”

Jasper refrained from saying one more thing. Normally, he would have lashed out without mercy, but Caleb in his current state seemed too fragile for that.

Jasper licked his dry lips and asked.

“…Do you love Rebecca Sherman?”

“I thought I didn’t…”

Caleb swallowed his words. His wordless, dejected smile was an answer in itself.

For the first time, Jasper felt that Caleb was a little embarrassed. Rebecca Sherman had turned away, and the engagement was broken off. Caleb had lost everything.

“If it was going to end up like this, you should have been honest from the beginning.”

At that moment, Caleb seemed to read Jasper’s thoughts.

“Don’t do something you’ll regret, no matter which way.”

Jasper remained silent.

“Well, I guess you’ll do fine on your own.”

Caleb went into the bathroom weakly to shower, leaving Jasper alone to contemplate Caleb’s words.

“Don’t regret it. What would be regret? Do I have the right to criticize Caleb? Did I behave honestly?”

Jasper put himself in Caleb’s shoes and imagined the scene where he would lose Rose Bell just like Caleb. When he did, his chest tightened, and a sense of dread washed over him.

Then, he recalled the conversation he had with Briley earlier. Her words about not pursuing Rose Bell if he had intentions of taking the engagement seriously echoed in his mind.

Jasper continued to revisit his memories, sorting out his thoughts. The more he did, the more his gaze settled into a calm and contemplative expression.

Whenever he thinks of Rose Bell, his once wildly pounding heart, out of rhythm, has now become surprisingly calm. Jasper faced his heart head-on, having swept away the confusing feelings that had constantly shaken him.

Now, he realized it perfectly. No, he had known deep down but had been slow to admit it.

Naturally, this feeling was far from a casual curiosity. He didn’t want to play with Rose Bell. 

‘…I want to have Rose Bell.’

He wants her. It seemed like he had to have her.

Jasper had never missed what he wanted before. He clung to it tenaciously, like an obsession. By any means necessary.

Jasper stood up abruptly. Right now, he felt an intense need to see Rose Bell. Even though he had skipped lunch and come to the dormitory, he didn’t feel hungry at all.

Jasper rushed down the stairs desperately. His mouth felt parched. 

‘Where could she be? Is she still in that classroom?’

Would she have lunch together with Theo Lixton? Jasper clenched his fists as he headed towards Theo’s office.

‘Ah…’

He felt like the flames burning deep in his heart would only extinguish when he saw Rose’s face. He knew that he had no place in her heart, but he wouldn’t give up on her for just that reason. No, that realization had now struck him deeply.

After his conversation with Briley, Jasper’s thoughts had taken a drastic turn.

“If you break off the engagement, does that mean Rose has to accept you no matter what? I don’t think so.”

Of course not. The solution was simple. 

“I just have to make Rose Bell like me.” 

By any means necessary.

In preparation for when Rose Bell came to him, he would handle the engagement issue. He had several plans in mind. 

‘I need to clear the path without any obstacles.’

What mattered in his relationship with Rose was solely her heart. Jasper set his goal in his mind and walked, and in the distance, he noticed a hint of crimson. 

‘It’s Rose Bell.’

The man standing next to her was probably Theo Lixton. Jasper momentarily held his breath and glared at them. His gaze froze coldly.

Whether it was Theo or anyone else if someone took Rose’s side… 

‘They’ll regret it.’

Jasper had a strong premonition, and he quickly walked towards the two. As they got closer when Rose noticed Jasper, her eyes widened.

The moment Rose’s gaze turned towards him, Jasper felt a shiver down his spine, and a dizzying sensation rose to his head.

Despite the overwhelming tension building up, there was no outward sign of it. Instead, his face remained expressionless, to the point where it was impossible to read any emotion.

Jasper stared at Rose and muttered.

“Rose Bell, come with me.”

“Right now?” 

As Jasper nodded, Theo, who was standing nearby, interjected.

“We were on our way to have lunch. Is it urgent?”

“We?” 

Jasper’s lips twitched involuntarily upon hearing that word. He slowly turned his gaze towards Theo. He couldn’t quite grasp what lay behind those dark brown eyes. One thing was certain, though – Jasper felt an instinctual wariness when he looked at Theo. His body sent signals that he trusted implicitly.

‘I don’t like this.’

Rose seemed caught in between, not knowing what to do. Jasper closely observed Rose’s large pupils shaking back and forth.

In reality, there wasn’t anything urgent that needed to be said to Rose right at that moment. He had come running just because he wanted to see Rose Bell. But when Theo tried to intervene and take Rose away, Jasper felt an even stronger desire to hold onto her.

Jasper quickly found an excuse to keep Rose.

“I need to talk to you about Rebecca.”

Rose blinked in surprise and then sought permission from Theo. 

“Oh, Senior. I’m sorry. We can have lunch together later.”

“Well… okay. That’s fine.”

Theo replied, momentarily hesitating before returning to his usual friendly demeanor.

Jasper watched as Theo walked away and then turned his gaze back to Rose. She looked up at him with eyes filled with worry. The moment Rose’s attention was solely on him, Jasper was convinced that this was exactly what he had wanted.

Rose Bell looking at only him, for whatever reason. It didn’t matter. If he could hold Rose’s interest, that was all that mattered. Rose, who had no idea about Jasper’s true feelings, whispered seriously.

“What’s going on?”

Jasper leaned in close to her face, bending his waist slightly, and replied.

“You’ll find out soon, but I thought it would be better to tell you in advance. Caleb’s engagement has been called off.”

“What?! Really?” 

Rose accidentally exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand in surprise. After regaining her composure, she spoke softly.

“Really? How did you find out?”

“I just heard it from Caleb.”

“Do I have to be happy about this? Is Caleb in big trouble? What should we do?”

Jasper felt a sudden surge of irritation when he saw Rose genuinely worried about Caleb. So, he quickly inserted another topic of conversation.

“He’ll manage. You skipped lunch, didn’t you? Are you hungry?” 

Rose whispered with her lips slightly pouting.

“I am a bit hungry…”

“Well, let’s eat something first.”

“Jasper, did you skip lunch too?”

“Uh…”

In reality, Jasper still didn’t feel hungry at all, but he headed towards the restaurant with Rose. While conveniently omitting the story about Caleb, Jasper had only one thought in his mind.

How can he make Rose Bell like him?

He knew that if he approached her recklessly, he would scare her away. Hadn’t that happened once before? The memory of her face, which had relaxed in relief when she found out he didn’t like her, suddenly came to mind.

‘Ugh, it’s frustrating.’

As pure as it was, he wanted to break down that cruel barrier and stand by Rose’s side. No, he vowed to himself that he would do it, without a doubt.