Midterm Exams – 6

“Ahaha! So what did you do?”

“Is this really that amusing to you?”

I glanced at Seol-ah, who was laughing so hard the whole campus could hear. From my perspective, this was not funny at all. I sought serious advice, and this is the response I get.

“I asked you seriously.”

“Even if you ask me seriously… I’m in exactly the same position as Cordelia, you know?”

Seol-ah frowned as if troubled. As she said, she too was saying she’d be fine being a concubine like Cordelia, so perhaps I chose the wrong person to consult.

But what can I do when there’s no one else to discuss this with? This isn’t something I can consult Hestia about. Club members? I have no connection with Seria or the seniors outside of club activities. Though Hestia seems to meet with Seria occasionally.

At times like this, I question my limited social circle.

“It’s funny that I’m asking this, but don’t you feel any sense of rivalry or wariness toward Cordelia?”

“Why would I? I was planning to share anyway, so what difference does it make if it’s two people or three?”

“Do you even like me?”

This is ridiculous. Both Cordelia and Seol-ah seem to view people as erasers or something. People aren’t for borrowing or sharing. Seol-ah smoothly brushed off my incredulous look.

“There are various forms of love in the world. Some people, like me, find more joy in giving. And in return, just a little bit of love is enough.”

I was at a loss for words. Her face didn’t look like someone who was lying. She seriously believed what she was saying.

“I hate to say this, but…”

“Then don’t say it.”

“If you’d ended up with a bad man, you would have been in real trouble.”

She seems like the type who would be prone to becoming those wives in manga who suffer domestic violence but still claim they love their husband.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying you’re not a bad man?”

“Aren’t I a good person by most standards?”

When have I ever done anything bad? However, Seol-ah frowned, seemingly disagreeing with my statement. This is what they mean when they say something can be understood without words. She was expressing her complete disagreement with all her might.

“What’s with that expression?”

“Nothing. Just thinking that’s rich coming from someone who’s already made three innocent women fall for him.”

“That’s unfair!”

I jumped up in protest. Anyone would think I did it on purpose. I can honestly say I’ve never acted with impure intentions to do anything to these women. I just followed my heart and did the bare minimum of what was right, and they got attached on their own. What am I supposed to do? Seeing my outburst, Seol-ah laughed.

“I know, I know. I know you didn’t do it on purpose. You’re not a bad man. But you can’t deny that you’re a man with many sins, right?”

I couldn’t refute her and could only groan in response. As she said, regardless of my intentions, the results speak for themselves, so I have nothing to say. Seol-ah changed the subject.

“Have you told Hestia?”

“Of course not. How could I tell her that? That her best friend Cordelia wants to borrow her fiancé for a bit? I can’t say that.”

I do think it’s something I can’t hide forever, but for now, it’s not the time. Seol-ah nodded at my words. Then she suddenly gave me serious advice.

“Right. This is just a woman’s intuition, but don’t give current Hestia any reason to create problems or find fault with other women.”

“What do you mean?”

“Listen to your noona. You may not realize it, but from what I’ve seen, Hestia is the most dangerous among the women around you.”

What is she talking about? Hestia, the most dangerous person? I carefully explained to her how kind and virtuous Hestia is. She has consideration ingrained in her body and is always altruistic.

“Hestia is such a kind and good person. Don’t slander her.”

“Who said she’s a bad person? I know she’s kind and good. It was also Hestia who helped a lot when things were difficult because of Wilhelm.”

She snorted at my defense.

“She’s kind and good, but that doesn’t mean she’s not dangerous.”

What does that mean? Like, “I was drinking, but I wasn’t driving drunk”? Seeing my confused face, she sighed as if frustrated.

“Haven’t you noticed Hestia reacting frighteningly when you’re with Cordelia lately?”

I searched my memory. The answer came quickly. Clearly, not long ago, she had coldly remarked that I seemed to be enjoying myself with Cordelia and that I was showing more interest in Cordelia than in her. Her eyes were smiling, but the corners of her mouth trembled as if forcibly turned up. It was so different from her usual gentle, considerate, and relaxed self that it remains vividly in my memory.

“You have, right?”

She made an “I told you so” expression, as if she could tell from my face.

“Yes, I have.”

“Before you possessed that body, the original Mikhail couldn’t feel anything for Hestia. I told you about this before, right?”

Before I could ask how she knew, Seol-ah began explaining on her own. She mentioned the relationship between the original Mikhail and Hestia.

“Yes. Hestia said that on the day we first met, she was originally going to suggest breaking off the engagement.”

“Right. How would you feel if your fiancé, who had ignored you for ten years, suddenly changed his attitude one day and said he really liked you?”

I thought about it for a moment but couldn’t come up with an answer. How would I feel? It’s hard to imagine. Hate-love? Doubt? It seems like it would be quite a complex emotion.

“I would probably think, ‘What’s wrong with this guy?'”

“That’s a given. But Hestia doesn’t hate you, right? She’s your fiancée whom you have to get along with anyway, and she even has quite a favorable impression of you. She was ignored by such a person for ten years and has finally started receiving attention. She’s probably thinking she never wants to go back to the way things were before, remembering how she was ignored all those years.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“They say only those who’ve tasted meat know its flavor. Hestia, who has once received your love and attention, will never want to go back to the way things were.”

I nodded. Her words were convincing enough. It’s like a group project member who ignored messages all week suddenly becoming actively involved one day—you wouldn’t want to go back to being the lonely group leader.

Seol-ah gave a bitter smile at my analogy.

“Setting aside whether that analogy is appropriate, the key point here is that Hestia doesn’t want to go back to the way things were.”

“What does that have to do with Hestia being dangerous?”

“Think about it in reverse. Imagine Hestia ignored you for over ten years, then suddenly said she liked you, showed affection, and gave you attention. You don’t want to go back to the relationship where you were ignored. But then Hestia suddenly becomes close with another man, and the attention she gave you decreases. What would you do?”

I closed my eyes and imagined her scenario. Hmm, just thinking about it makes me angry. I felt the urge to punch that imaginary guy.

“I would hit that man?”

“That’s quite violent. Anyway, that’s exactly what Hestia is feeling right now. Of course, we can’t compare men’s and women’s emotions on the same level, but the pattern is similar. Obsession with you, possessiveness, desire for exclusivity, and jealousy towards other women who take your attention.”

After hearing Seol-ah’s explanation, I understood roughly. I felt a chill. So that’s what she meant by “dangerous.”

“Right. So absolutely don’t get caught up with other women in any way.”

“Okay. But I usually maintain a strong wall against women anyway. I don’t think I’ll get caught now.”

Come to think of it, I’m not flirting with other women or reducing my attention to Hestia. Is there really a problem? Hearing my words, Seol-ah sighed and shook her head.

“You really! No, never mind. I think you’ll only understand once you experience it. Just know that Hestia’s standards are stricter than you think.”

She looked directly into my eyes and offered advice with a serious voice and gaze. I suddenly wondered: Why would someone who understands Hestia’s inner feelings so well say things about seducing me? There’s a limit to inconsistency between words and actions.

“But if you know all this so well, why do you keep flirting with me?”

“Bada, it’s not a crime if you don’t get caught.”

Seol-ah smiled brightly. Recently, I’ve been seeing her as Seol-ah rather than Lily, so I don’t feel the same flutter as before, but still, when she smiles like that with that face, it’s quite powerful.

However, regardless of that, what she said was problematic in many ways. Feeling a chill, I decided not to delve deeper into this conversation. Who knows what abyss might appear.

“Let’s move on to another topic. You definitely told me last week that there would be no fighting, right?”

This is something I’ve been waiting to bring up since this morning. She had been so certain that there would be no fighting, no dangerous situations.

At my probing, her expression hardened. She seems to feel guilty. She laughed awkwardly. Um, oh, ah, yeah. She made strange groaning sounds before closing her mouth.

“A method for someone who couldn’t use mana to suddenly be able to use it—you have an idea, don’t you?”

“Well, I do, but it’s not the right timing to appear yet…”

“Timing? Tiiiming?”

I grabbed her cheek firmly.

“Whaash arr yuu doooing?!”

“How is it that nothing matches up when there’s a transmigrator who knows the original story right beside me! Talking about ‘timing’ and such!”

I let go of her hand because she kept whining about the pain. Tears welled up in her eyes. Even after doing this much, I don’t really feel sorry.

“So explain. What is it?”

“Ow, it hurts. Can you really do this to your noona?”

“Just answer quickly.”

Seol-ah rubbed her reddened cheek where my hand had left a mark.

“In the middle of the original story, there’s briefly a mention of some drug… Hey, what’s with that hand? Stop!”

“A drug appears and you say there’s no fighting? Are you kidding me?!”

“Wait! Listen to me!”

She barely managed to fend off my hand that was automatically rising to her cheek. How can there be no fighting when such a suspicious drug appears? Anyone would see this as a perfect device for getting involved with some dark forces.

“It’s true! The author probably just wanted to wrap things up quickly, so the loose ends were tied up in one line at the end. How could I remember something like that!”

“More details.”

“After Lily successfully walked the tightrope between Wilhelm and you, and built up her own power base to some extent, she starts to get involved in the underworld.”

Underworld? How is the female protagonist so tough? This is very different from the image I had in mind. The image of a romantic fantasy female lead in a dress, attending a ball, dancing with a prince, is completely crumbling. Not content with balancing between the Crown Prince and the Northern Duke’s heir, she builds her own faction and even gets involved in the underworld?

“There, she also captures a sub-male lead from the underworld, starts various businesses, and so on. One of her organization members discovers that drug, and the sub-male lead says he’ll look into it, and that’s the end.”

So there was even another sub-male lead. I felt dizzy from the endless abyss.

“You try giving me that ‘you read this kind of thing?’ look one more time.”

“Okay, I’ll try to restrain myself. So that’s the end?”

“Yes. And right before the conclusion, it’s revealed that despite investigation, nothing could be found out, and there was no way to investigate further, so it was just dismissed.”

“It feels a bit wrong to say this about a novel you enjoyed reading, but…”

“I know it’s a poorly written work, okay?”

She preemptively blocked what I was about to say, as if she already knew. I don’t know how a novel can have so many unresolved plot points and setting holes.

“So you’re suspecting that drug, right?”

“Not suspecting, almost certain. As you said, there can’t be any other suspicious drug besides the one that appeared in the original story.”

“Then what should we do?”

How are we supposed to resolve a plot point that even the author gave up on? I felt a darkness descend over me.

“For now, we can only sit back and wait. From the moment Wilhelm took a leave of absence and disappeared from our sight, the content of the original story couldn’t be much help.”

“Will it be okay?”

Fortunately, nothing happened to Cordelia, but if I hadn’t been there, it could have been really dangerous. It’s impossible not to worry in this situation. Seol-ah, seemingly concerned about my gloomy expression, tried to offer some words of comfort.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. As I said earlier, it’s not that important a plot point, and the Academy isn’t stupid, so they’ll be extremely careful about outsiders entering and safety measures for the time being. There’s no need to worry so much right now.”

Right, let’s think positively. I decided to try to ease my mind. There’s no point in anxiously fretting and just feeling worried when nothing can be resolved that way. I decided to wait for this incident to be resolved.

Max woke up the next day.