Episode 3
Luize Fredelin’s mornings were always the same. Wake up at the exact time, wash, eat breakfast, put on his freshly pressed uniform, grab his bag, and head out. The carriage would always be waiting for him right on schedule.
Not once, since entering the Academy, had this routine ever been broken. Not once.
“…Why did I wake up this late today?”
Luize muttered irritably. He was twenty minutes behind schedule. His valet, who usually helped him get ready for school, bowed his head in guilt.
“My apologies, young master. You always wake up on time without needing me, so I didn’t check properly today…”
“…Hah.”
Luize glanced at the clock and sighed deeply. Years of strict routine had just crumbled in an instant.
“Forget it. I’ll skip breakfast. Just get the carriage ready on time.”
“Yes, young master.”
He got up from bed, annoyance written all over his face. If he didn’t hurry, he’d be late.
“Young master, are you feeling unwell?”
Just as he was dressed and ready to leave, the head butler approached with a worried look.
“No.”
“I heard you overslept… Have you been exhausted lately—”
At that, Luize’s eyes widened slightly. Exhausted? There was one obvious reason. Serena Cressia.
Ever since that run-in with her at the library yesterday, he’d been too annoyed to sleep.
She had snatched the chocolates right out of his hands and eaten them in his face. She’d even scolded him to stop hogging seats. The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became.
And on top of that, she’d snapped at him without even knowing the circumstances. He hadn’t been away from the library for fun—he’d been called out by a professor.
“…Tch. The professor summoned me, that’s why.”
“Pardon?”
The butler blinked at his muttering, but Luize brushed it off.
“Forget it. I just studied late, that’s all. Don’t worry about it.”
“Yes. Then I’ll have tea ready for your return, something good for fatigue. Safe trip, young master.”
Luize only gave a curt nod before stepping into the carriage.
“Serena Cressia doesn’t like Luize Fredelin. That pathetic crush is long gone.”
The words she’d shouted yesterday in the cafeteria came rushing back. She’d spoken louder than usual, so for a moment he’d thought maybe, just maybe, she was serious this time.
But the second he’d seen the chocolates on his desk and her textbook right next to them, his expectations had shattered. The notebook had her name written clearly on it—how could he not assume?
So much for “I gave up.” She was probably just pretending. With a shake of his head, Luize sighed in frustration.
“Luize!”
As he walked toward the main school building, his classmate Theo ran up to him, all cheerful.
“You’re late today.”
“Yeah.”
Luize gave a flat reply, clearly uninterested.
“Oh, right! By the way, you must be tired, huh? I had no idea Serena chased you around that much. It honestly looked scary.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Huh? You didn’t see today’s school paper yet?”
Luize frowned. Theo looked genuinely surprised that he didn’t know. “Go check it yourself,” he added before hurrying off.
Feeling uneasy, Luize stopped at the bulletin board and grabbed a copy from the stand. The Academy’s newspaper club published one issue every month, written by student reporters.
And today, the headline on the very front page screamed at him:
[Is It Love or Obsession?]
The article described what had happened yesterday at the library. According to it, Serena had gone somewhere she never went before—just to sit beside Luize. She supposedly left chocolates on his desk and waited endlessly, only to leave after an hour when he didn’t show up.
To make it worse, the article included a magic photo of Serena walking away, closing with: “There’s a fine line between love and obsession.”
“Written by: Bell Luinella.”
At the same time, Serena crumpled the paper in her hand as she saw the name at the bottom.
“…What the hell is this?”
Her mind went blank. The article had twisted her into some creepy stalker obsessed with Luize.
In the original novel, Serena only became obsessive much later—near the endgame. During the Academy arc, she had liked Luize with a pure, innocent crush.
So even if she hadn’t transmigrated, the original Serena wouldn’t have done something like this.
“But now…”
Serena bit her lip. Why was everything turning out this way? Was it punishment for straying from the original plot?
As students whispered and stole glances at her, Serena took a deep breath.
Even so—nothing changed. Even if the world twisted against her, she refused to accept that tragic ending.
“HEY! BELL!”
She flung open the door to Class B. The old Serena might’ve avoided confrontation, but not this Serena.
“W-what?”
Bell, who happened to be in the classroom, froze, staring at Serena at the doorway. Every other student in the room turned too.
“What the hell is this?!”
Serena stormed up and slammed the newspaper onto Bell’s desk.
“What?”
“You actually write lies in the school paper now? Fix it. This isn’t true.”
“It’s not true?”
“That’s right.”
“I wrote the article based on reasonable suspicion.”
Bell met her glare with shameless defiance. Serena almost laughed in disbelief.
“Reasonable suspicion? Seriously?”
“Yeah! Everyone knows you never study, so why were you in the library out of nowhere? And of all the seats, why right next to Luize’s? Because of him, obviously!”
Unbelievable. This girl should’ve been a novelist, not a reporter.
“That’s not it. I wanted to get good grades on the midterms, so I went to study. That seat was just convenient. I didn’t even know it was Luize’s. If I had, I wouldn’t have gone near it.”
“And you expect us to believe that?”
Even though Serena answered calmly, Bell sneered. Students started murmuring around them, clearly siding with Bell.
“I thought your feelings for Luize were genuine before, but this? This is obsession, Serena!”
Bell raised her voice, and others chimed in, fueling her fire. Serena folded her arms and smirked. She could guess exactly why Bell was doing this.
‘Still bitter about yesterday, huh?’
Because of what happened in the cafeteria—because Serena had humiliated her in front of everyone. This was Bell’s petty revenge.
“Pathetic.”
“…What?!”
“Anyway, run a correction. Or I’ll file an official complaint with the faculty.”
“Go ahead! You think I’m scared?”
At that moment, the bell rang for homeroom. Serena wanted to argue more, but she had to let it go for now. Grinding her teeth, she left the classroom.
Even in the halls, students whispered, clearly having overheard everything.
‘Great. Now I’m today’s circus act.’
Rather than return to class, Serena headed down to the 1st floor. Skipping homeroom wasn’t a big deal. She just wanted to cool off in the lounge.
But even that escape wasn’t allowed. The moment she stepped in—she ran right into Luize.
“…Ah!”
She froze. What if he believed the paper too? What if he thought she really had followed him around?
“Wait, this isn’t—”
But Luize walked straight past her, his face blank.
“Hey! Luize!”
Serena quickly spun and called after him. She had to explain, at least to him. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was some obsessive stalker.
“What.”
“The school paper—it’s not true. I didn’t go to the library for you, and I didn’t know that was your seat until later.”
“Okay.”
He responded flatly, uninterested. His indifference only made Serena’s blood boil hotter.
“I’m serious—”
“I didn’t expect much anyway.”
With those careless words, Serena’s last bit of patience snapped.
“…What?”
“Your declaration yesterday. I didn’t expect you to stick to it.”
So that’s what he thought? That her big dramatic announcement yesterday was just empty words? Serena gave a dry laugh, rubbed her face in frustration, then glared at him.
“Luize Fredelin!”
Startled, he turned back sharply.
“You just wait. I’ll prove it to you. I’ll prove I don’t like you anymore!”
She jabbed a finger at him, breathing hard, then stormed off.
Luize was left standing in the hall, completely baffled.
