Chapter 81
In his dream, Baileon found himself back at the academy.
It was the final semester before graduation. Fortunately, it wasn’t a dream about taking an exam. Of course, even if it had been a surprise math test, he would have aced it without trouble.
Baileon strolled leisurely through the campus. A few steps ahead, he could hear a conversation between some female students.
“Are you going to ask first, or wait for someone to ask you?”
“I’ll wait.”
The girl who was asked replied somewhat haughtily.
“I won’t choose until I have three potential partners.”
“Such a strange sense of pride.”
“Then, what about you? Are you going to ask first?”
“What’s the harm?”
The first girl shrugged.
“Better to make the first move than wait and have someone else snatch them. I read it in a column yesterday. Apparently, popular guys often end up with the girl who boldly asked first.”
The other girl, initially baffled by such a strange idea, soon became curious about the column her friend had read.
Baileon smiled faintly. From their conversation, he could tell what time of year it was.
It was the season of graduation ball partner selection—a time of subtle games of observation among the students.
Some couples had already confirmed mutual feelings, but most graduating students fretted over their choices, often passing notes even during class.
To digress slightly, Baileon had grown accustomed to being taken aside under a tree by the swings near the library or elsewhere to receive confessions. It was something he had frequently experienced since entering the academy.
Yet, even Baileon, used to gently declining confessions, had genuinely struggled during this time.
The gentle, elegant student council president. The first and last chance to dance with him! Missing this opportunity might mean the next reunion could only happen years later at a grand ball in the imperial palace.
That venue was strict, filled with high-ranking nobles and key figures of society. Even a brilliant classmate would find it hard to approach Baileon without worrying about others’ eyes.
Rumors had spread weeks earlier that Lord Beers would begin his career at the palace immediately upon graduation.
Therefore, this truly was the final moment to gather courage! This urgency permeated among the female students.
At that time, Baileon had already chosen his younger sister Cloise, who attended a nearby girls’ school, as his partner.
If he gently said he had someone to go with, everyone would sigh in disappointment: “Ah, as expected…” But upon learning that the partner was his younger sister, they would suddenly have bright eyes and attempt to challenge him again, as if by unspoken agreement.
Trying to console others every day wasn’t easy.
Yet of all the days he had spent at the academy, why dream of this particular moment?
Since it was a dream, he considered doing something he never did in real life—skipping class to read on the rooftop, for instance.
That way, he wouldn’t encounter anyone else and could avoid receiving awkward partner requests.
With such thoughts in mind, Baileon walked steadily toward the classroom.
‘Hmm?’
Someone was in the hallway. A much smaller girl, seemingly curious about the classroom’s interior, stood on her tiptoes.
From the color of the ribbon on her jacket’s school emblem, Baileon realized she was a first-year.
Her brown hair curled at the ends like a cinnamon roll, and she was hiding her face behind a thick notebook. Over it, she wore glasses with equally thick frames.
Perhaps she was visiting to find a club senior or a sibling. Baileon kindly spoke to the first-year.
“Who are you looking for? Should I call them?”
The girl peeked over the notebook and looked at him.
“Oh, I… uh…!”
As soon as their eyes met, she raised the notebook to cover her forehead, revealing nothing but the luxuriously curled ends of her chestnut hair.
“Ah, no, no! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—!”
“Did I scare you? Sorry…”
“No! No! Ah! I’m fine!”
Without another word, the girl bolted away. Baileon slowly withdrew his hand, which had been extended in midair. Despite her small stature, she had incredibly quick legs.
‘But her glasses have no prescription…’
Even though the lenses were thick, there was no distortion, meaning they weren’t corrective.
They suited her well, but why wear glasses with no prescription? A new trend among the younger students, perhaps?
‘Her eyes are too beautiful to cover.’
The moment he met her gaze lasted only an instant. Yet it lingered in memory because of the unusual color of her eyes.
Clear as glass, not as pale as aquamarine, nor as deep as a bright autumn sky—like three drops of white paint in the faintly brightening sky.
Suddenly, an inexplicable longing welled up in him.
Why did he feel this way toward a girl he had never met in his dream? It was as if he was losing someone he had long been unable to reach, right before his eyes. Baileon pressed his left hand to his chest.
‘I should have at least asked her name…’
◇ ◆ ◇
“Baileon.”
A clear voice called from the edge of his consciousness. The moment he heard it, he recognized the speaker.
“Baileon, can you hear my voice?”
Marien used his first name when speaking alone. This small revelation made Baileon’s heart flutter.
“I have one good news and one bad news. Which do you want first?”
Marien seemed unaware that her partner had regained consciousness, likely because he kept his eyes closed.
Baileon tried to open his eyes to look at her. For some reason, it felt as if heavy weights were on his eyelids, preventing him from opening them fully.
At least his mind seemed clearer. He listened to her with eyes shut.
“Shall I start with the bad news, since it’s better to get it over with?”
Marien whispered for him to brace himself. It reminded him of what Odette had said on the day of the ball. What followed from Odette had been utterly disheartening. Due to that experience, Baileon naturally tensed.
“My goodness, you just moved, right? I felt strength in your hand when we held it.”
Excitement tinged Marien’s voice.
“When someone gets too angry, their blood pressure rises and they might collapse. But now… it seems the opposite can happen. Your mind snaps back from sheer shock. Baileon, you might suddenly sit up if you hear me.”
The longer she spoke, the more anxious Baileon became.
‘Marien, just say it quickly. My mind is already back. If I wait any longer, I might collapse again before fully getting up.’
Marien sighed before speaking. It seemed certain that this was the bad news.
“That Cain… he openly said to the Fourth Princess that he intends to take me. After the alliance ends, he’s asking permission to move my position to the Palace Service.”
Suddenly, Baileon recalled the day Marien had collapsed while searching the pond for her rocket necklace.
At that time, she was delirious with high fever. Her speech was fragmented and unclear. Yet Baileon remembered every word she had uttered through her tears.
Cain Blackwood intended to make her a servant of the Palace Service.
The moment he heard that, something inside Baileon snapped. The man had been strangling Marien from their first meeting. Time and again, he had put her in danger, and now he claimed he would make her his servant.
Baileon realized something then: Cain coveted Marien.
It would be a lie to say his heart hadn’t sunk. He knew how much Marien hated Cain. He feared Cain might forcibly take her.
‘Cain never stopped provoking me after Marien became my fiancée. I don’t mind him ignoring me—he’s always been like that.’
But demanding Marien from his fiancée Odette was an entirely different matter.
“I told you he’s insane, right? The kind to cut off a man’s leg for fun.”
Marien unleashed a string of harsh curses in her fairy-like voice. Hearing her rage slightly soothed the fire in Baileon’s chest.
“The ruler of the North? What a joke. If I were from the North, I’d have moved as soon as I learned to walk. A brainless fool, a disgrace to the North.”
“Yes, exactly! That’s what I wanted to say,” Baileon agreed enthusiastically.
“Even the emperor would be more mindful than that guy. Even the imprisoned rogue crown prince would be more sensible. How could he propose making my subordinate a Palace Service servant in front of his fiancée? Respect must have been left on the battlefield. Ha, he didn’t even offer a duchess position. The fact that he’s calculating even while talking nonsense is what irritates me the most.”
Marien’s anger at Cain was escalating even as she spoke, and eventually, she slammed her fist down on the bed.
“He wants me, but he doesn’t think I’m fit to be a duchess. Insolent wretch. Fine, I’ll become a duke instead of a duchess. I’ll rise above him as a grand duke! It’s infuriating…”
Suddenly, Marien gasped in surprise.
“I… I must be crazy. I hit the bed while lying down. Are you okay? What if it ruptures?”
The pain was irrelevant to Baileon. Even before Marien hit the bed, the sutured area had been throbbing. Painkillers would help, but until it healed properly, it would continue. More importantly, he wanted to hear the rest of Marien’s story.
But Marien was too distracted worrying about him.
She had to explain what happened after Cain’s rampage, how Odette reacted, how she had safely returned home, and what good news had followed. Above all, Baileon wanted to know how much time had passed since he lost consciousness.
A day? Two days? Surely not over ten days, with Cain scheming again in the meantime?
Strength returned to Baileon’s body. His eyes, which had refused to open, slowly slid open.
“Lord Beers, are you awake?”
