The Duty Of An Academy Student Should Be To Study - Chapter 63

Episode 63

After the final match of the sword fighting competition had come to a close, Rose returned to the dormitory with her friends. 

She didn’t have the chance to greet or congratulate Jasper. Right after his victory, she heard rumors that Jasper was going to meet with the emperor. 

Even though the competition was over, the name Jasper Conway continued to echo from various places. She knew she would find that name in the newspapers tomorrow. 

Jasper, who had secured consecutive victories, had once again proven his skill.

Rose was suddenly struck by how remarkable Jasper was. 

Watching him achieve greatness in his field, while she often heard him complain about the tedium of studying, felt surreal. Scenes of him gracefully defeating opponents with his swordplay replayed in her mind. 

‘He wasn’t called a sword-fighting genius for nothing.’

How much training must he have gone through to reach this level? Certainly, he had invested countless hours. 

Rose found herself admiring Jasper not just for his skill but also with genuine respect. 

‘He’s amazing…’

During the short walk down the hallway to her dorm room with Briley, Rose noticed several people talking about Jasper. All of them were speaking in voices filled with admiration.

“Did you see him take off the helmet at the end?”

“Yeah, despite his strange personality, he’s handsome.”

In truth, his personality wasn’t all that bad. Rose thought to herself as she walked past the girls. The voices of a group of girls chatting in the hallway caught her ear.

“But after the game, it seemed like Jasper was looking at someone for a long time.”

“Oh? I was sitting far away, so I didn’t see that.”

“Well, it might have been my imagination.”

“Did Adela see it?”

“Oh my, she might have.”

Rose tried not to pay too much attention, but it wasn’t easy. Even after entering her dorm room, one scene kept replaying in her mind.

The image of Jasper taking off his helmet right after the match. She wondered where his straightforward gaze had been directed.

‘…What does it matter, anyway?’

Rose shook her head from side to side.

‘How many people were there? He probably just happened to glance in my direction.’

Rose thought to herself, making an effort to push aside thoughts about Jasper. She continued with her evening routine, deliberately avoiding dwelling on Jasper.

Before going to bed, she sat next to Briley on the couch and sipped a cup of herbal tea. As Rose stirred the warm tea, she suddenly wore a blank expression.

‘But what if he did see me… No, there’s no way to confirm it. And even if he did, what difference does it make…’

Her thoughts felt tangled and confusing. She couldn’t understand why the image of Jasper she had seen in the afternoon kept resurfacing. It would probably be more reasonable to let go of a problem that couldn’t be solved with worry.

Just then, Briley poked Rose’s shoulder. Rose, who had been lost in thought, jolted and turned to look at Briley.

“Why, why?” 

“Rose, what have you been thinking about all this time?”

“I… I haven’t been thinking about anything.”

“The tea’s getting cold.”

Rose snapped back to reality and looked at her tea. It had cooled considerably. She couldn’t even tell how long she had been lost in thought.

Briley squinted her eyes and stared at Rose, then grumbled.

“Tell me.”

“No, I really haven’t been thinking about anything…”

“Liar.”

Rose was taken aback. It seemed she couldn’t fool observant Briley. Rose hesitated for a moment before speaking in a muttering tone.

“Briley, you know, what if…”

“Yeah?”

“Why do people, you know, constantly contemplate problems that don’t have a logical solution?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why… why do humans think and live through thinking? Where does thinking even start? How do we think about thinking about thinking…”

“What on earth are you saying?”

“Sorry, my head is just spinning right now.”

“Yeah, it looks like it.”

Rose put her teacup down and rubbed her forehead with her hand. Amidst all of this, Jasper’s face from earlier appeared vividly in her mind. She wished she could clean it away with a broom, like sweeping thoughts from her head.

* * *

The morning after the sword fighting competition, Rose had a dream. It had been a while since she’d had one. Perhaps it was because she had been thinking about Jasper just before falling asleep, but he appeared in her dream as well.

Rose blinked her eyes open and stared at the ceiling for a long time. She couldn’t quite remember the details of the dream, but it was clear that Jasper had been the main character.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed. Her long, burgundy hair was spread out in all directions from sleeping. 

‘I need to get my act together… I should clear my head.’

She mumbled to herself, lightly slapping her cheeks with her palms.

However, her determination didn’t last long. Soon after, something happened that made her feel powerless. 

A letter arrived in the morning mail. She assumed it was from home and eagerly opened it, only to find an unexpected name as the sender—Ethan Conway.

The envelope bore Conway’s seal. 

‘Why would Jasper’s brother write to me…?’

She hesitantly opened the envelope to reveal a neatly written letter. The letter was filled with formalities that nobles often used.

At first glance, it appeared to be a lengthy letter, but in truth, the content was straightforward. Of course, for Rose, it was far from simple to accept.

The invitation stated that a carriage would be sent for her in the afternoon, and she was invited to Conway’s townhouse alone. The reason for the invitation remained unknown to her.

It was technically an invitation, but in reality, it felt more like an obligation. When the heir of the Conway’s family personally sent a carriage to summon you, as a commoner, there was no way to refuse.

‘Why on earth…?’

Rose muttered to herself, feeling perplexed.

She had tried to push Jasper Conway out of her mind, but now it was Ethan Conway who had entered and disrupted her thoughts. 

Over the past day or so, the Conways had caused her a great deal of headaches.

Just then, she heard a belated yawn from Briley, who had just woken up.

“Rose, what’s going on? Did you receive a letter?” 

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Rose replied with a trembling voice, hastily crumpling the letter and stuffing it into a drawer.

Various speculations crossed Rose’s mind regarding why Ethan Conway was calling her, but she had no certainty about any of them.

‘Is it because I became friends with Jasper?’

Was it some kind of validation of her brother’s social connections? Or perhaps, was it related to her past? The latter was the worst-case scenario she didn’t even want to imagine.

‘I was told not to tell Jasper. That would imply that he knows about my close relationship with Jasper…’

Lost in her worries and doubts, Rose’s face turned pale.

* * *

Rose was completely distracted throughout the day. She wanted to congratulate Jasper properly on his victory, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

The morning lecture on mineralogy that she shared with Jasper seemed like they had engaged in conversation, but she couldn’t recall what they had talked about. That’s how absent-minded she had been.

Following Ethan’s instructions from the letter, Rose went to the academy’s main gate at the designated time. There, a plain carriage was waiting for her.

A coachman approached Rose.

“Sent by Sir Ethan Conway, my lady.”

Rose nodded and climbed into the carriage. She didn’t know what Ethan wanted, but she had mentally prepared herself for various scenarios and possible responses.

“Hah…” 

Rose sighed deeply, covering her face with both hands. In truth, she wanted nothing more than to ignore Ethan’s invitation and run away. However, she knew that treating the current member of the Senate and the heir of the Conway family in such a manner could lead to unknown consequences.

The carriage rattled along for a while. Rose peered anxiously out of the window with tense eyes. The destination was as Ethan had mentioned in the letter: the Conway family’s house in the capital city.

As the carriage passed through the front gate of the estate, Rose’s stomach churned even though she hadn’t eaten dinner. She felt nauseous.

A little later, the carriage came to a halt, and the coachman opened the door. Rose clenched her fists tightly to hide her trembling hands as she stepped out of the carriage.

A middle-aged man approached Rose.

“Miss Rose, you can follow me.”

The man didn’t bother to introduce himself. 

‘Is he the butler of this place?’

Rose wondered, judging from his attire. She could only make vague guesses as she followed the man into the house.

The space was filled with opulent and expensive items, but Rose couldn’t bring herself to pay attention to such details. Nothing seemed to register properly in her mind.

Without realizing how she had ended up here, Rose soon found herself in front of Ethan’s study. Even the moment the study door opened and she stepped inside, it all felt surreal to her.

Thud. The study door closed behind Rose. As she raised her head, startled, her gaze met with a pair of blue eyes.

‘Ethan Conway…’

Rose stared at the man before her, her nerves on edge. He bore a strong resemblance to Jasper, but he had a slightly more meticulous and sensitive demeanor than Jasper.

In terms of height and build, Jasper was larger. If Jasper had lived his life wielding a sword, Ethan was someone who had lived through the power of pens and ink.

Ethan Conway rose slowly from his seat and said, his sharp and chilly voice piercing Rose’s ears.

“Rose Bell, is it?”

Rose cleared her throat and swallowed, her voice shaky as she responded in a respectful tone.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

She tried her best to comport herself as someone who had nothing to fear. She had been anxious throughout the journey here, but she didn’t want to display that fear so transparently in front of Ethan.

‘I need to pull myself together.’