The Duty Of An Academy Student Should Be To Study - Chapter 59

Episode 59

Rose felt a strange, prickling sensation in one corner of her heart. Adela’s face revealed no particular emotion, but that, in itself, made Rose uncomfortable.

Adela alternated her gaze between Rose and Jasper, then quietly looked away and continued arranging flowers in the vase.

Rose hesitated for a moment and instinctively moved closer to Briley. Briley’s presence always made her feel more at ease, so she naturally gravitated toward her.

Standing next to Briley, Rose asked.

“Is there anything more I can help with?”

“You can help hang the curtains later. Jasper and I, being taller, can handle that, right? You should take a break, Rose.”

“No, I don’t mind cleaning the floor or something…”

To avoid feeling awkward just standing there, Rose picked up the broom she had leaned against the wall and started cleaning the floor with determination, trying to clear her mind.

However, she couldn’t help but be bothered by a lingering thought that had been bothering her since earlier.

‘Adela seems upset. Did she misunderstand something?’

From a distance, it might look like Jasper was hugging her from behind.

‘It wasn’t like that at all.’

Jasper had a caring nature, so he was probably just trying to help her by going to great lengths. But it was natural for Adela to worry when she witnessed that scene.

‘She had misunderstandings between me and Jasper before… I explained that we were just friends, but I’m worried that I’ve given rise to unnecessary doubts again.’

Rose didn’t want to become estranged from Adela. The Bluewood surname attached to her name was quite threatening to Rose, and she had no desire to interfere in Adela and Jasper’s relationship.

‘I need to put some distance… between Jasper and me.’

Weekly secret tutoring sessions with just the two of them had led to a growing closeness. It might appear excessive to others.

No matter how close they were as friends because they were of opposite genders, Rose felt that they should maintain some level of boundaries. At least until Adela and Jasper’s relationship was properly resolved. 

If she unintentionally gave rise to any misconceptions around them, it could also become awkward with Jasper.

‘…But what exactly is an appropriate level of distance?’

The problem was that Rose had no sense of such matters in this regard.

* * *

A few days later, Rose Bell began to ponder what she had done wrong. The situation was taking a strange turn.

‘I was supposed to keep my distance from Jasper.’

The more she thought that way, the closer she felt to Jasper. It was a subtle change that couldn’t be expressed in words. Rose felt confused, and if you asked her to explain exactly what was confusing, her lips seemed to seal shut.

‘Did I act awkwardly?’

It was possible. Rose began to scrutinize her actions one by one.

First, when in the company of others, she tried to stay as far away from Jasper as possible. It was fine as long as she didn’t intrude into conversations and stood quietly; there was no issue there.

If Jasper approached and tried to talk to her first, she discreetly stuck closer to Briley. Whenever that happened, Briley would either leave the room with her, as if she knew everything, or she wouldn’t let Jasper in on the conversation.

The problem arose when they were alone together. Whether sitting side by side in mineralogy class or unexpectedly encountering Jasper while moving to another classroom. Of course, the most awkward moments occurred during their secret tutoring sessions.

She needed to maintain an appropriate distance.

With that thought constantly swirling in her mind, Rose couldn’t help but feel tense when she faced Jasper. She worried that they might accidentally touch, so when Jasper approached within a certain distance, she would quickly step back.

‘But our conversation seemed normal…’

Jasper didn’t say anything out of the ordinary. He didn’t ask why was she acting strange or what was she doing as he might have in the past.

Instead, Jasper’s behavior subtly changed. If she took a step back, Jasper took two steps closer. He wasn’t usually this persistent, but he had been acting like this for the past few days.

Every time this happened, Rose felt like she was failing to maintain her distance, and it made her freeze up even more.

Then, Friday evening came, marking the end of the week.

Rose headed towards the annex for their secret tutoring session, full of worries about spending another awkward time with Jasper.

‘How was it on Wednesday…?’

It had been a mess.

Rose put her head down and recalled their last tutoring session.

“I can’t figure out this problem.” 

“Well, give it a try.”

“…Can you see the text from that far away?”

“My, uh, eyesight is pretty good.”

“Oh, really? Mine isn’t that great.”

Jasper pulled his chair closer to Rose’s until their chair legs almost bumped into each other. It was a very close distance.

While Rose was frozen in place, Jasper went as far as placing his pen into Rose’s hand.

“Try solving it. Right in front of me.”

“Huh? Um, okay.”

Before she knew it, Jasper was right next to her, exuding a strong presence. It was too close. At some point, Jasper’s scent had ingrained itself into her senses. As she became more aware of maintaining a proper distance, even actions that had seemed harmless before started making her nervous.

Whenever Rose faced Jasper, she sometimes didn’t know what to do, and her lips would tingle. 

Aren’t they a bit too close right now? She wanted to ask this question but hesitated and held it back more than once.

‘At this rate, I might really be misunderstood by Adela.’

Rose analyzed in her own way why Jasper was behaving this way. Jasper had received combat training all his life, and his instinct might be to chase after someone who ran away.

‘Maybe we’ve just gotten too comfortable with each other… But other people might find it strange because they don’t know we have tutoring sessions every week.’

With a troubled expression, Rose walked toward the annex.

In truth, the solution to the problem was simple. She could just ask Jasper not to get too close. 

However, strangely, when Jasper approached, her mind went blank, and her body froze. She couldn’t properly convey the thoughts she had prepared and stumbled over her words. Later, she would only fret, gripping her head.

The more Rose thought about Jasper, the more her heart seemed to flutter strangely. 

It was an indescribable emotion, not entirely pleasant. It felt like her nerves were tightly wound. 

‘Why is this happening…?’

As Rose walked with a heavy heart, she heard someone’s voice from behind.

“Rose!”

It was Theo Lixton. Theo had seemingly run from a distance and stood in front of Rose, panting heavily.

“Senior, what’s going on?”

“Whew! I was passing through the hallway and saw you outside. I have something to tell you.” 

Theo beamed and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. 

“What is it?”

“It’s about the contest grant. We’ve been awarded it.”

Rose, who had been tense just moments ago, widened her eyes and covered her mouth with both hands.

“Really? Is it confirmed?”

“Yeah, I just heard it too. The school is even providing us with a spacious lab. Now all we have to do is work hard on our research. Let’s review the designs meticulously from scratch.”

In an instant, Rose’s body felt like it lost all its tension. If they hadn’t received the academy’s support, participating in the contest might have been difficult. But now, she had nothing to worry about. 

‘As long as we do well…!’

They could win an award in the contest and claim the prize money. Rose’s heart raced so much that she involuntarily twisted her body.

“Uh-oh.”

Theo instinctively grabbed Rose’s shoulder to prevent her from falling over. Rose applied some strength to her tangled legs and stood up straight.

Looking at Rose with concern in his eyes, Theo asked.

“Are you okay?”

“I… I was just so surprised…”

Upon hearing this, Theo flashed his characteristic healthy and cool smile once again.

“What’s there to be surprised about? I was confident that it would be us.”

“Really?”

“Your ideas are excellent. They have enough commercial value, and I even saw the possibility of winning an award at the academy.”

Rose tried to control her racing heart and took deep breaths.

‘If we win the contest…’

Many aspects of her life would change. She could buy a new house in the capital, bring her younger siblings here, have more financial flexibility for her living expenses, and…

Yet, she hadn’t even started creating the invention, and she was already lost in various ecstatic fantasies. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she was partly out of her mind with astonishment and joy.

That’s why Rose didn’t notice Theo’s hand on her shoulder, nor did she hear Jasper’s approaching footsteps, which deliberately made a loud sound.

“What are you doing here?”

A deep voice tapped her ear, and Rose jolted her head up. Jasper stood in front of her with a puzzled expression. His gaze slowly swept between Rose and Theo.

It was only then that Theo let go of Rose’s shoulder. Simultaneously, Rose belatedly realized that her shoulder had been held.

Jasper’s presence used to make her tense, with her nerves on edge. But now, it was the opposite. When Jasper approached, her entire body relaxed to an almost excessive degree.

Jasper opened his mouth and spoke with a cold tone.

“What is the staff doing to the students right now?” 

“Jasper, what do you mean by ‘doing’?”

Theo grinned and spread his hands. 

“It seems like you’re up to something.”

At Jasper’s sunny voice, Theo burst into a bewildered laugh.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding. I just caught Rose when she almost fell.”

Jasper furrowed his brow and immediately turned his gaze to Rose. 

“…Are you hurt somewhere?”