Ch.4948. Midterm Exams (2)

## 48. Midterm Exams (2)

The library was now almost empty, with only two people remaining.

Those two were Elizabeth and Rachel.

Though they sat at the same table, they weren’t particularly paying attention to each other.

They were simply reading books, enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the library.

However, that silence didn’t last long.

What broke the silence was Rachel’s question.

“Do you have someone you like, unni?”

Rachel actually wanted to ask a more direct question like “Do you like Albert, unni?” but she lacked the courage.

Elizabeth gave an ambiguous answer to the ambiguous question.

“Umm… I’m not sure… What about you, Rachel?”

Rachel gathered a bit more courage than before and answered honestly.

“I don’t like him yet, but there is someone I’m interested in.”

Elizabeth smiled upon hearing Rachel’s words.

And maintaining that smile, she said:

“I have someone like that too.”

Rachel envied Elizabeth’s brilliant yet gentle smile.

***

As soon as Chris, who seemed to have something to say, came out of the library, he asked me:

“What’s your relationship with those two!?”

“Why are you overreacting?”

He was showing quite an exaggerated response.

“Come on! Honestly, it’s worth overreacting! I’ve been wondering for a while—what’s really going on?”

“Well… First of all, Rachel and I are just friends.”

“Then what about the other one?”

I couldn’t simply call my relationship with her just senior and junior, nor did I want to.

However, it was also awkward to reveal the truth.

‘Maybe it’s okay to share a little?’

I decided to trust my old friend.

“Can you keep this to yourself?”

“I’m seriously tight-lipped.”

Chris’s confident expression made me hesitate a bit, but I couldn’t back out now.

After carefully checking our surroundings, I whispered in an extremely quiet voice:

“I like the princess.”

I thought Chris would be shocked by this intimate revelation, but he wasn’t at all.

Chris made a bored expression and said:

“I already know that.”

“Huh? You knew?”

Chris nodded.

‘He already knew?…’

The fact that Chris already knew was quite shocking to me.

And Chris let out a disbelieving laugh and said:

“It would be strange not to notice, honestly.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yeah, obvious enough that even the princess knows.”

“She knows.”

“What!? She knows?”

Chris was more surprised by the fact that she knew I liked her than by the fact that I liked her.

“Yes, she knows.”

“Then, do you know if the princess likes you?”

“…”

Come to think of it, I didn’t really know that.

I knew my feelings for her better than anything, but I didn’t know her feelings toward me.

I only thought, ‘She doesn’t seem to dislike me since she doesn’t push me away when I approach her,’ but I didn’t know exactly what was in her heart.

Of course, there was no way to know.

‘I can’t just ask her directly…’

I wasn’t that bold of a person.

“You don’t know?”

“I really don’t know, honestly.”

Chris sighed deeply and immediately began speaking.

“The princess definitely likes you too.”

“Why do you think so?”

“I can just see it. Her eyes change slightly only when she looks at you.”

“Her eyes change?”

I wasn’t sure if it was just my imagination, but I hadn’t particularly noticed anything like that.

‘Am I just oblivious?…’

Chris said to me as I was lost in thought:

“Just confess. It’s a 98% chance of success.”

“98%?”

I questioned that oddly specific yet ambiguous number.

“Why specifically 98%?”

“Human affairs are unpredictable. It’s like insurance.”

His statement sounded like “take it or leave it,” which made me doubt Chris’s words.

“But the princess definitely likes you. I can say that with 100% certainty.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

“There’s no way I’m wrong. It’s 100%, I’m telling you.”

This time, he seemed quite confident.

‘Could it really be true?…’

Because of his words, I would probably pay more attention to her gaze from now on.

Chris asked me with an intrigued expression:

“So when are you going to confess?”

“Confession…”

First Riel, now him—I don’t understand why everyone wants me to confess.

Of course, it was something I would have to do eventually, but I didn’t want to do it this quickly.

It’s true that I liked her romantically, but I also needed mental preparation.

‘I’m just starting to get used to this…’

I wasn’t ready yet.

“If you’re going to say cliché things like you’re not mentally prepared, just shut up.”

“How did you know that’s what I was thinking?”

“It’s written all over your face: ‘I’m not ready yet!'”

I sought advice from him, who had at least some dating experience.

“What should I do?”

“Just confess already. There’s only a 2% chance of failure. I’ve confessed even when the success rate was 2%. Seriously.”

“You can say that because it’s not your problem.”

Chris retorted, seemingly offended:

“No… it’s not because it’s not my problem. If there was a 2% chance of success in confessing to the princess, literally everyone would do it. Why are you hesitating? Don’t you like the princess?”

Chris’s last words planted a small seed of courage in me.

“Of course I like her.”

“Then confess~”

“I’ll try.”

***

As I woke up, I yawned involuntarily.

“Haaaam…”

Gloria approached me as I was still half-asleep, having just woken up.

“The exams start the day after tomorrow. How can you sleep like this? Go to the back and wake yourself up.”

Today is May 3rd, Monday.

There were only two days left until the exams began.

That’s why most students were diligently preparing for the exams.

Of course, there were some who weren’t, like me.

Following Gloria’s instructions, I decided to stand at the back of the classroom to listen to the lecture.

And beside me was Leo, who was doing the same thing.

I asked Leo, who, like me, had fallen asleep during class and been caught by Gloria:

“Aren’t you preparing for the exams?”

“Why would I do that?”

Indeed, being the Second Prince of the Empire, he could probably dismiss such exams without any consequences to his life.

This noble figure asked me:

“But why aren’t you preparing?”

“I’ve prepared in my own way.”

“You prepared by sleeping with your head down in class every day?”

“I already know everything.”

Leo ignored my words as if he wasn’t particularly interested and quietly sat down in an empty seat.

Gloria was too busy conducting the class to notice Leo’s action, and I followed him to sit in the seat next to his.

Leo looked at me with wide eyes, seemingly surprised that I had casually sat next to him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Why are you sitting here?”

“I just have something to ask you.”

Leo was looking at me with a displeased expression.

“What is it?”

I didn’t like his disgruntled tone, but I had no choice.

“Why didn’t you join?”

“Join what? Are you talking about your party?”

When I nodded, Leo let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Why would I join such a third-rate party?”

“You originally wanted to join, didn’t you? On the surface, you said you participated just to face off against Aelin, but that wasn’t the real reason.”

“…”

Leo didn’t answer my question and just stared at me.

“Am I wrong?”

“How did you know that?”

So I was right.

Leo indeed didn’t participate in the survival game just to face off against Aelin.

“Just a guess, that’s all.”

“You’re a strange one.”

“But really, why didn’t you join? Didn’t you want to?”

“That’s not true.”

Sincerity was evident in Leo’s expression as he said those words.

I was going to ask again, but seeing Leo’s serious expression, I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

When I remained silent and looked elsewhere, Leo asked me:

“Aren’t you going to ask more?”

“It’s fine. I wasn’t that curious anyway.”

“How boring.”

“Would you tell me if I asked?”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

Leo answered in a light voice, different from his serious tone earlier, and returned to his original seat.

I was a bit surprised because I had never heard him speak in such a tone before.

‘He seems to be in a good mood today.’

For some reason, Leo was wearing a brighter expression than usual.

I returned to my original seat and asked Chris, who was diligently listening to the lecture:

“He seems to be in a really good mood. Do you know anything about it?”

“Well… I’m not sure either.”

Chris was also observing Leo’s brightened face.

“But it’s much better than before.”

I shared the same thought as Chris.

As we were positively observing Leo’s changed attitude, Gloria addressed the entire class:

“And I have one more announcement regarding the midterm exams.”

When the word “midterm” was mentioned, the students’ attention focused.

“The melee combat was originally scheduled for Friday, but from this year, it will be held on Thursday.”

Indeed, it seemed logistically challenging to conduct both the survival game and melee combat in a single day on Friday.

“Also, the individual melee combat matchups will be sent to your phones at 5 PM today, so please check them.”

The students were excited about this news until the end of the day’s classes, and as soon as it was 5 PM, everyone took out their phones to check their matchups.

I also checked my matchup as soon as it was 5 PM.

‘As expected.’

There were a total of five names on the matchup list, but only one caught my eye.

Elizabeth Michael.

After confirming her name, I headed to the library where she would be, wearing a satisfied smile.