-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Chapter 5 The Academy's Troublemaker (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
No one who had ever dared to provoke him managed to complete their academy life and graduate in peace.
Even those with immense power and material wealth had no choice but to tuck their tails between their legs when faced with his fists.
Moreover, while no one knew which family he belonged to, the fact that the Academy took no disciplinary action despite his antics only solidified his status as the number one person to avoid among the students.
“And from now on, I would appreciate it if you would use the door to enter your room at night, instead of the window.”
“Sei-an…”
Even though Kanto had briefly warned him about these facts yesterday, Sei-an’s casual words to Lark made Kanto feel his head spin.
“What did you just say?”
As Kanto had predicted, Lark rose from his seat, strode closer to Sei-an, and spoke in an even lower voice.
“I said it’s a nuisance.”
“…”
“I’m telling you it’s a nuisance to enter a room that way when everyone is asleep.”
*Grab!*
At Sei-an’s words, Lark grabbed him by the collar.
“Sei-an!”
Kanto, too, urgently called out Sei-an’s name, rising from his seat, his eyes wide with anxious helplessness.
“…”
But Sei-an, the one being grabbed, merely looked at Lark with an indifferent expression.
“...!”
Then, he reached out, pushed aside Lark’s disheveled hair, and looked directly into his eyes, which had been hidden.
Lark’s eyes widened in surprise, and he soon released his grip.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“My apologies. I feel stifled if I don’t look someone in the eyes when I speak to them.”
“…”
Lark glared at him with an even colder gaze at Sei-an’s words.
Yet again, Sei-an acted as if it were nothing, moving to prepare to leave the room.
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“Oh, right, I should.”
He then told Kanto it was time for breakfast, and Kanto, who had been tense, quickly began to get ready to leave.
Sei-an watched Kanto for a moment, then turned his head back to Lark.
“Aren’t you going to eat? Let’s go together.”
“Get lost.”
Lark, who had already lain back down on his bed, responded to Sei-an in a low voice, then closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
“Then I’ll see you in class.”
Sei-an spoke to Lark, who was trying to fall asleep, in the same unperturbed tone, gave a slight nod, and then headed out with Kanto, who had quickly finished preparing.
*Thud!*
“…What the hell is wrong with that guy?”
After Sei-an and Kanto disappeared, Lark, left alone in the room, slowly opened his eyes and stared at the firmly closed door, a frown creasing his brow.
“…”
He then irritably ruffled his hair, which Sei-an had just smoothed, before closing his eyes again and attempting to sleep.
***
“You, did you lose your memory along with your fear?”
“Huh?”
“I told you, how dangerous Lark is.”
On their way to the dining hall, Kanto once again offered Sei-an a warning, cautionary advice.
It seemed Sei-an still hadn’t fully grasped how dangerous Lark was.
“You used to avoid even making eye contact with him.”
Sei-an had originally avoided commoners or those whose status wasn’t clear, but Lark was someone he avoided for a different reason entirely.
Sei-an, who instinctively felt intimidated in front of those with power or strength, would mostly spend his time alone outside and only return to the room when Lark wasn’t there.
He had tried to avoid making eye contact with him and had found the very fact of sharing a room with him difficult.
And Lark, for his part, had shown no interest in Sei-an. Of course, Lark had never shown interest in anyone, not just Sei-an.
“I suppose so. How could I have made eye contact when his hair covered his eyes?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“Oh, there’s a seat over there.”
“Sei-an.”
Kanto felt frustrated watching Sei-an ignore his words.
They had somehow gotten through it safely today, but there was no telling what kind of trouble Sei-an would face next time.
But Sei-an, disregarding his words, simply walked ahead, found a seat, and began to eat.
Kanto, too, had no choice but to stop talking about Lark and join him at the table for their meal.
“…”
“…”
As Sei-an and Kanto settled down for breakfast, they felt the gazes of numerous people around them.
It seemed the extraordinary behavior Sei-an had displayed yesterday had spread as a rumor; people were staring at him with a mix of curiosity and disbelief in the rumors.
‘Well, even I can’t believe it after seeing it myself.’
Feeling the gazes, Kanto looked at Sei-an with renewed wonder.
He was seeing him up close, but he wondered if a person could really change so much.
*Bang!*
“...?”
Just then, a group approached them.
Striking the table where Sei-an was sitting with a loud bang, creating an intimidating atmosphere, were Rubin and his companions, who followed Illnis.
“Illnis wants to see you.”
“Who is he, that he wants to see me?”
But Sei-an, despite their actions, calmly looked up and asked his question.
“What?”
“Hah! Are you kidding me?”
Rubin’s group stared at him with dumbfounded expressions at Sei-an’s question, asking who Illnis was.
“When class is over, come to our club. Nicely, if you know what’s good for you.”
Then, warning Sei-an once more, they left the spot. Not forgetting to glare at him one last time.
“Who is Illnis?”
“That’s…”
After Rubin’s group disappeared, Sei-an asked Kanto who Illnis was. He was curious as to who this person was, ordering him around.
“The one who gave you the most trouble.”
“Huh?”
“…”
When Sei-an first enrolled here, his beauty, more striking than a woman’s, had garnered everyone’s attention.
But as time passed, his unnecessary stubbornness, his inferiority complex, and his inability to get along with others gradually led students to shun him.
It was then that someone appeared who particularly tormented Sei-an.
That was Illnis. For reasons unknown, he had relentlessly tormented Sei-an with petty annoyances, large and small, ever since enrollment. As if playing with a toy.
People even thought that Illnis might have been the decisive cause that led Sei-an to choose to end his own life.
“Try not to clash with him.”
In this place, where a father’s power was one’s own, there weren’t many who could provoke Illnis, the son of a ducal family.
Students avoided Sei-an even more after he was targeted by Illnis, and gradually, swept up by the atmosphere, they even began to join Illnis in tormenting him.
Kanto, seeing that Illnis seemed to be preparing to torment Sei-an again, looked at him with a worried gaze.
“Here, eat.”
Then, Kanto began to generously pile the meat and vegetables from his own plate onto Sei-an’s.
“...?”
Sei-an looked at Kanto with a puzzled expression at his actions. He couldn’t understand why Kanto was suddenly giving him food.
“Eat and gain some strength.”
“Huh?”
“You’ll have to eat a lot and gain strength to deal with those guys.”
“…”
Listening to Kanto’s answer to his question, Sei-an looked at him with a momentarily surprised expression.
Then, he lowered his gaze to his plate, which now held double the amount of food, and let out a small laugh.
“Ha… haha!”
It was just food, but he felt Kanto’s sincerity in it.
Feeling this warmth for the first time since entering the Academy, Sei-an couldn’t help but laugh and smile.
“...!”
Meanwhile, Kanto was momentarily stunned by Sei-an’s laugh. It was the first time he had seen him smile.
‘How can a guy…’
…be so pretty when he smiles?
Watching Sei-an smile, Kanto’s face couldn’t help but turn red.
And it wasn’t just Kanto who felt that way.
“...!”
“...!”
Many in the dining hall who were watching Sei-an either wore blank expressions or, like Kanto, had flushed faces at his smile.
“You, don’t smile from now on.”
“Huh?”
“Just saying.”
“...?”
Kanto deliberately avoided Sei-an’s gaze, offered that piece of advice once more, and then let out a short sigh.
He thought that perhaps the greatly changed Sei-an wouldn’t find Illnis’s torment so difficult anymore.
***
“Hmm.”
Entering the classroom for class, Sei-an felt that the students’ atmosphere was quite different from yesterday.
The number of people who picked fights with him for no reason had significantly decreased.
Sei-an even turned his head to find the person who had thrown trash at him yesterday, and upon making eye contact, the person’s face flushed as they quickly averted their gaze, making Sei-an subtly furrow his brow.
“Why are they all like this?”
“Like what?”
“Their reactions are strange, that’s all.”
Sei-an then asked Kanto, who was quietly preparing for class beside him, to explain the current situation if he knew anything.
“…”
Kanto looked up, surveyed the classroom atmosphere, clicked his tongue softly, and sighed briefly, then let out a small, derisive laugh.
“Don’t mind them. They’re just flustered themselves because the guy they used to dislike suddenly started looking likable.”
“Huh?”
“It’s proof that the guys here are surprisingly simple. Enough to be swayed by a single smile, apparently.”
“...?”
But despite Kanto’s words, Sei-an didn’t understand what he meant and continued to look at those around him with a puzzled expression.
“Heh!”
At Sei-an’s expression, Kanto chuckled softly, and he too looked around at the others once more.
