The Duty Of An Academy Student Should Be To Study - Chapter 57
Episode 57
Rose had a hectic daily routine with no time to catch her breath. She was in the middle of her fourth year, and the upcoming exams were just around the corner. At the same time, she had to prepare for a contest.
Even Briley, who used to pester her to chat together regularly, couldn’t bring herself to bother Rose these days. Rose would return to the dormitory just before curfew, exhausted, and sit down at her desk. It was only late at night when she finally fell asleep.
The only fortunate thing was that she had finished her contest proposal yesterday.
‘I need to get that funding.’
She had submitted the proposal to the academy, and it would take about ten days to find out if she would receive the funding. Until then, the work she had been doing with Theo was on hold.
“Ugh…”
Rose let out a deep sigh, feeling the fatigue, then covered her mouth as she yawned. Today was the day she had secret tutoring with Jasper, so she was on her way to the annex laboratory late at night.
‘No matter how busy I am, I can’t skip this.’
She wanted to repay the scholarship she received wholeheartedly. To clear her mind in front of Jasper, she firmly slapped her cheeks with her hands.
‘Let’s focus, focus.’
The heavy major exams were all scheduled for early next week. If she could endure for a few more days, she might breathe a bit easier. Rose relied on the faint light from a small lamp to navigate the dark corridor. By now, she had somewhat adapted to this darkness.
It was still before the tutoring session, but she saw a faint light seeping through the crack in the door at the end of the corridor.
‘Jasper must be here already.’
Tap, tap. Rose hastened her steps and reached the front of the laboratory. However, before she could grab the doorknob, the door swung wide open, revealing Jasper.
“You’re here.”
Jasper was standing right in front of her. Rose almost buried her nose into Jasper’s chest but managed to stop herself just in time.
“You’re here early.”
“I didn’t have much to do. You’ve been looking busy lately.”
Jasper murmured in a low voice as he stood closely by Rose. Rose didn’t sense anything unusual and moved her steps into the laboratory.
“I guess I’ve been a bit distracted with the upcoming exams.”
Rose said, taking deep breaths as she started to take out tutoring materials from her desk one by one. Jasper stood at a distance that seemed almost shoulder-to-shoulder with her, gazing intently at her. His shadow loomed over Rose.
Jasper carefully observed Rose from place to place and then spoke.
“You seem tired. Are you sure you want to do the tutoring today?”
“Of course! You have the introductory magic engineering exam next week.”
“You have exams next week too, Rose Bell.”
Jasper frowned slightly. Rose deliberately tried to sound enthusiastic as she replied.
“Don’t worry! No matter how busy I am, I won’t skip your tutoring. I can’t afford to.”
Jasper grabbed a chair and positioned it as close to Rose as possible while still standing, placing his hand on the desk and staring at Rose intently. Rose felt Jasper’s gaze and scratched her cheek nervously. His gaze was persistent and sharp.
At first glance, Jasper appeared angry and annoyed, but Rose could now sense the hidden emotions behind that gruffness.
‘Is he worried about me? He’s surprisingly affectionate in his way…’
While Rose was inwardly admiring how Jasper had the luxury to worry about others when his graduation was at risk if he failed the introductory magic engineering exam, Jasper’s hand approached unexpectedly.
Swish, Jasper gently brushed Rose’s forehead with his fingertips. Rose was initially motionless but then startled, shivering as she asked.
“Wh-what is it?”
“You had a stray hair sticking out.”
“Oh, really?”
Rose brushed her forehead with her hand, but instead of taming the unruly strand, it stubbornly sprung back up.
Her hair was naturally difficult to manage, but it wasn’t usually this messy. Rose pursed her lower lip.
‘I have been all over the place lately.’
Perhaps due to embarrassment, Rose’s forehead stung where Jasper’s fingertips had briefly touched. Jasper finally sat down next to Rose and muttered.
“Take a quick nap or something.”
“Now? We should start the tutoring.”
“A few minutes won’t hurt. You can’t concentrate if you’re all spaced out.”
Jasper gently cupped Rose’s forehead with his large hand and lightly patted it. Rose was momentarily taken aback.
‘Why is he being so gentle? Did he eat something wrong?’
Jasper, when you got to know him, had a kind-hearted nature, but he wasn’t openly affectionate. However, as Rose thought more about it, she realized that Jasper had become somewhat gentler lately. Not the average level of gentleness, of course.
Rose had been preoccupied with exams and contests for a while, so she hadn’t paid much attention to Jasper’s changes until now when she began to feel a growing sense of curiosity.
As Rose stared perplexedly with wide eyes, Jasper pressed down firmly on her forehead.
“Lie down for a bit and rest.”
“It’s fine…”
Pushed gently by Jasper’s palm, Rose’s face drew closer to the desk. Unconsciously, Rose rested her cheek on her arm. Almost instantly, a heavy drowsiness overcame her, rendering her earlier protest meaningless.
Rose’s eyelids began to grow increasingly heavy. As she blinked slowly, she mumbled.
“No… but I still need to tutor…”
“I’ll wake you up exactly in 10 minutes. Okay?”
“Umm… you must wake me up.”
With those words, Rose fell into a deep sleep, as if she had fainted. In the face of overwhelming exhaustion, it was inevitable.
* * *
A little while later, Rose woke up, her body trembling slightly, and a faint groan escaped her lips.
“Ugh…”
Rose’s hair rustled as she slowly lifted her head.
“I only slept for 10 minutes, why do I feel so sluggish…?”
Her eyelids were heavy, and her vision was blurred. Rose blinked her eyes slowly and made an effort to shake off the drowsy feeling. She ran her fingers through her hair, and then a deep voice came from beside her.
“You woke up right on time.”
Rose wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and turned her head. Jasper was staring intently at her with his chin resting on his hand.
Rose mumbled with a weary voice.
“Yeah, it doesn’t feel like I slept for 10 minutes…”
Then, Rose noticed an old hanging clock over Jasper’s shoulder.
“Huh…?”
Rose let out a startled, embarrassed sound. Unless there was a problem with her vision, it had been roughly two hours since she fell asleep.
Rose stared alternately at the clock and Jasper, who was looking at her with an intrigued expression. It was only then that she realized Jasper’s jacket was draped over her shoulders.
It was only after a delayed realization that Rose jumped in surprise. She twitched in her seat, her body jerking as she exclaimed.
“How long did I sleep?”
“Who knows? It’s almost curfew, so let’s start getting up.”
Rose clenched her hands tightly, trying to resist the urge to grab her hair. As she took a deep breath, Jasper’s scent permeated her nostrils. It was because of Jasper’s jacket enveloping her entire body.
‘Does he usually wear perfume?’
There was a dense yet refreshing scent, like the aroma of a forest. Rose, flustered, handed Jasper back his jacket with trembling hands.
“Is this yours…? Here…”
Rose mumbled with a somewhat embarrassed expression.
“Oh, no… I thought you would wake me up. You said you’d wake me up in 10 minutes.”
Jasper chuckled with one corner of his mouth turned up.
“How do I wake someone up when they’re sleeping so deeply with their mouth wide open?”
Rose, now embarrassed, seemed to be blushing intensely. Her cheeks flushed, and her startled lips quivered. Her slightly lowered eyes looked even more downcast.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know I could fall asleep so deeply. What should we do? Shall we try again tomorrow?”
“It’s fine. You can catch up on sleep during our tutoring time.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry about the exams; I’ll take care of them myself. Graduation is at stake, so do you think I’d be careless?”
Rose casually murmured, her lips turning up at the corners.
“But… Jasper, you know you’re not very good at magic engineering.”
Jasper grumbled.
“Well, I’m not bad, am I?”
“What if you fail?”
“I won’t let that happen. I wouldn’t be saying this if I weren’t confident.”
Jasper had a determined expression, but Rose couldn’t completely let go of her worries. After all, she hadn’t seen Jasper study seriously.
‘These days, he kept asking strange questions while tutoring.’
It’s as if he has an allergy to magic engineering. Whenever she tried to progress with the material, Jasper would bring up unrelated topics.
Rose recalled some of the offhand comments Jasper had made from time to time.
“Did you eat out last Sunday? I didn’t see you at the restaurant. It was the day you were preparing for the contest with Theo Lixton, right? Were you too busy to eat? Did you have it in the lab?”
“You… you just did it roughly? If you don’t take care of yourself properly, you might collapse. That guy is practically exploiting you. Isn’t it student exploitation?”
“…You said you wouldn’t eat it? Are you defending Theo Lixton? Rose Bell, you’re too kind to people.”
Rose had thought that Jasper had no interest in anything related to magic engineering, but he unexpectedly seemed quite curious about the invention contest. He also seemed worried at times.
He often asked about their progress and whether Rose and Theo got along well. Every time, Rose reassured him, saying not to worry and that teaming up with Theo for the contest was the best choice.
These conversations often disrupted the tutoring sessions, and Rose felt like she hadn’t been able to focus on Jasper’s studies as a result.
However, unlike the worried Rose, Jasper had quite an arrogant expression when he spoke.
“I might even get a perfect score on this exam.”
“A perfect score?”
“You look skeptical. Wanna make a bet?”