CULBE 09
Chapter 9
“Seriously? You finally see everyone after so long, andĀ that’sĀ the first thing you bring up?”
Sierra grumbled as she leaned over the table.
After spending the past few days buried under their own assignments, the friends had finally gathered again in the student cafeteria.
“Is it true?”
While the others teased her, Kishaāwho had quietly been nodding alongāasked the question.
Tislin shrugged.
“I don’t know if there really are ghosts. But apparently there was some kind of incident where people claimed they saw something ghost-like.”
“Ugh, that’s creepy.”
Irina made a face.
Her hand, however, continued carrying spoonfuls of pudding to her mouth without the slightest hesitation.
The other three stared at her.
Blinking innocently, Irina answered,
“What? What do ghosts have to do with pudding? Living people still have to eat.”
“…She’s got a point.”
“Besides, it’s rare for the cafeteria to serve something this good.”
“They collect all those donationsāwhere does the money even go? The food’s still terrible.”
When Tislin enrolled, House Ermiz had donated roughly three times the tuition fee.
Kisha’s family, House Maris, whose finances were on a similar level, had probably donated about the same amount.
The Marquis of Fontinear, who adored his only granddaughter Sierra, had likely donated three times that.
As for Baron KirschāIrina’s father and a former bankerāhe had probably contributed an enormous sum simply because of his background.
Just how enormous, no one could guess.
Maybe about the same amount His Grace the Grand Duke donated when Damian enrolled?
Even while grinding his teeth over the fact that the Royal Academy had taken away his beloved disciple overnight, the Grand Duke of Luxen had never hesitated to donate an immense fortune for Damian’s sake.
The only ones celebrating the rivalry between the king and the Grand Duke were the Royal Academy itself, which gained both Damian Khasanov and an enormous donation.
Even so…
The academy cafeteria merely managed to maintain food that wasĀ edible.
It almost felt as though they were determined not to spend even a single coin of those donations on improving the students’ meals.
ThereĀ wereĀ better places to eat on campus.
The second-floor cafƩ overlooking the central plaza.
The professors’ dining hall near the dean’s office.
But no student could afford to eat there every day.
“This year’s different, though. Prince Anatis enrolled.”
“And? Has anything actually changed?”
Irina poked the last of her pudding.
Sierra grimaced.
“Just this?”
“Shh.”
Sitting closest to the entrance, Tislin and Kisha quickly stopped her.
“Why?”
“You wouldn’t like people talking about you behind your back either.”
Without directly telling her not to turn around, Tislin got the message across.
Sierra nodded in understanding.
Prince Anatis had just entered the cafeteria.
The noisy dining hall fell into an odd silence.
“Hm. Is it always this quiet?”
Only after the prince muttered those words did conversations gradually resume.
Even then, everyone was obviously listening to whatever he said.
Including Tislin’s table.
The prince had entered alongside a student wearing the Knight Department emblem.
They seemed surprisingly familiar with each other.
Then again…
Adelinde, the Grand Duchess of Luxen’s daughterāwhose status rivaled that of royaltyābecame just as lively and childlike whenever she was around Tislin and Damian.
Prince Anatis was only two years younger than Tislin and three years older than Adelinde.
It wasn’t strange for someone of similar status to have noble friends.
Still…
“I enrolled in the Royal Academy hoping I’d finally get to meet Lord Khasanov. Daif, you’re in the Knight Department. Have you seen him?”
Why is everyone talking about Damian again?
Tislin nearly spat out the food in her mouth.
Fortunately, her friends were too busy listening to the prince to notice.
She quickly swallowed, then quietly set down her utensils.
Who knew what embarrassing thing might come next?
She didn’t even dare take another sip of water.
“You haven’t?”
“No, Your Highness. Not yet.”
“I thought they were friends,” Sierra whispered.
Tislin shrugged slightly.
“When you do meet him, make sure you tell me what he’s like. My older brother got to enter the Knight Department and meet Lord Khasanov all by himself…”
It was certainly unusual that Prince Castro, the Crown Prince and Anatis’s older brother, had joined the Knight Department.
But he certainly hadn’t done it to meet Damian.
The Crown Prince had enrolled two years before Damian entered the academy.
Damian transferred in during June, so they had only spent about half a year together before the prince graduated.
Apparently none of those facts existed inside Prince Anatis’s head.
He merely pouted.
Tislin had seen boys like this in Luxen before.
Sometimes they admired Damian even more enthusiastically than the girls did.
Ironically, Damian himself paid equally little attention to both men and women.
“Well. If you ever get the chance to meet such a remarkable knight, you’ll surely learn a great deal. If necessary, you may even use my name.”
The prince spoke magnanimously.
Then he took a spoonful of the cafeteria soup.
“…Blegh.”
He hurriedly lowered his spoon.
He didn’t spit it outāprobably because he knew everyone was watching.
“He picked the soup of all things. Guess the upperclassmen forgot to warn him never to order soup here.”
“He doesn’t even have friends from his own department,” everyone silently seemed to think.
The four girls quietly stood up before the conversation could drift into criticizing the prince.
“Speaking of Lord Khasanov… Tis, didn’t he come looking for you the other day?”
Ah.
So it’s finally come up.
Tislin had guessed that Irina and Kisha had been holding back their curiosity because she’d been drowning in assignments.
The incident with Damian had been buried beneath mountains of coursework.
But no one had completely forgotten.
“Uh… yeah.”
“Is your family acquainted with the Grand Ducal House of Luxen?”
Tislin’s eyes darted around.
She couldn’t tell Irina and Kisha about the engagement.
They were good friends.
They would genuinely try to keep her secret.
But both of them frequently socialized within Viera’s noble circles…
And both, in completely different ways, were terrible at keeping secrets.
“Well… it was because of the assignment.”
“Right, you’re partners. But the assignment happenedĀ afterĀ Lord Khasanov came looking for you.”
Why are you so sharp about this?!
“Maybe… he found out ahead of time. He’s always busy, and he wasn’t even in class that day.”
“The professor told him in advance? That’s kind of unfair.”
“Well, actually…”
Seeing Tislin’s face gradually reddening as she desperately tried to invent an explanation, Sierra mercifully stepped in.
“How would she know all the details? Anyway, what was that ghost story again?”
Tislin immediately wanted to cling to the new topic.
Unfortunately, that was all she knew.
Thankfully, Irina spoke first.
“Isn’t the Knight Department’s martial tournament in May? Maybe someone was training late at night and thought they saw something.”
“Then they probably just couldn’t see properly in the dark.”
“Kisha, isn’t your fiancĆ© in the Knight Department too?”
“I don’t talk to him.”
Kisha, who rarely spoke so bluntly, cut her off coldly.
Apparently she’d had another huge fight with her fiancĆ©, who was a year younger than she was.
Yet after saying that, she casually added,
“I heard they’re all taking every kind of muscle-building drug they can find. Maybe they all hallucinated together.”
“I wish the Magic Department students would try that too.”
Resting her chin on one hand, Sierra muttered before turning back to Kisha.
“The Knight Department guys may be impossible to talk to, but theyĀ areĀ built well, right?”
Kisha looked utterly horrified.
Irina burst into loud laughter.
For just a moment, Sierra glanced knowingly at Tislin.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Tislin squeezed her eyes shut.
But despite herself…
Her mind drifted back.
The training grounds at the Grand Duke of Luxen’s estate.
Long before either she or Damian entered the Royal Academy.
His lowered, deep blue eyes.
The hand wiping away sweat running beneath his jaw.
The shirt clinging tightly to his body.
It was such an embarrassing memory.
She’d had to hide behind a pillar until the heat finally left her face.
And to make matters worse…
Damian had found her.
“Tis? What are you doing over there?”
The instant she’d heard his voice…
She’d frozen, covered her mouth, and collapsed into a crouch.
She probably wouldn’t react like that now.
But back then…
She’d been hopelessly innocent.
“What are you thinking about? Why’s your face so red?”
“Oh my, Tis… don’t tell me someone from the Knight Department…?”
Even when Sierra rescued her, she still couldn’t capitalize on it.
Shaking her head in exasperation, Sierra grabbed Tislin and declared,
“Fine. I’ll interrogate her myself.”
“We leave the matter to Inquisitor Fontinear.”
Prompted by Irina’s sudden role-play, Sierra giggled and bowed dramatically.
“Yes, Your Eminence.”
The heretic Ermiz, dragged back to the dormitory by Inquisitor Fontinear, immediately surrendered.
“I have nothing to confess.”
“Well, I can’t keep saving you forever.”
She had a point.
Tislin needed to make a choice.
Either find some way to hide the way her face betrayed every emotion…
Or come up with a believable excuse.
Honestly, the second option seemed far more realistic.
“Still, Irina and Kisha already know you like someone.”
“I’ve given up trying to hideĀ that.”
According to Arkin Rudera, practically every young noble in the Grand Duchy of Luxen already knew Tislin liked Damian.
Compared to that, what difference did it make if Irina and Kisha knew too?
“At least the rumor hasn’t spread through the Knight Department.”
“Damian isn’t the type to gossip. And Arkin must’ve kept his mouth shut.”
“Hmm… Anyway, if you’re really planning to break off the engagement, you’d better be careful. You know you’ve just been lucky so far, right?”
One mistake…
And the entire academy could learn that Damian Khasanov was engaged.
Just as Sierra said, she’d only avoided disaster through sheer luck.
Otherwise, the rumors would have spread long ago.
“Besides, whenever you’re in front of Lord Khasanov, you can barely speak.”
“…That’s not exactly something I can control. But… I’ll try.”
Folding her arms, Sierra warned her seriously.
“You said you’ll have to go to the Knight Department to work on the assignment? If someone catches you there, it’s over.”
“I’ll be careful!”
“You might be. But willĀ Lord Khasanov? He probably doesn’t care whether people find out. IfĀ youĀ weren’t planning to break off the engagement, you wouldn’t care about rumors either.”
That was true.
If she’d genuinely intended to marry Damian…
She would’ve happily announced it to the whole world.
Any awkwardness caused by gossip would’ve been a problem for later.
“As soon as you see him, tell him. Ask him to keep the engagement a secret. He’ll agree, won’t he?”
“…Probably.”
Maybe not the broken engagement.
But something like that?
Surely he’d agree.
If Damian had askedĀ herĀ to keep their engagement secret…
She would’ve been heartbroken.
But Damian didn’t feel the same way she did.
So it should be fine.
“…Yeah.”
“I’ll do that.”
Tislin repeated the promise to herself.
Don’t panic.
Just tell him immediately.
“Please keep our engagement a secret.”
As she quietly rehearsed those words over and over under her breath, Sierra watched her with growing concern.
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