46 – Midterm – 1
Time passed again and it was April. Everyone seems to be adjusting to the academy little by little. Cordelia’s attack has been a bit restrained lately, as Hestia seems to be paying attention to me. Thanks to that, another week has passed since that day, but nothing has improved. My head hurts thinking about that every day these days. There is one thing that bothers me, so it’s hard to focus on other things.
Whether you know how I feel or not, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom outside. It is said that the cherry blossoms that are commonly known in full bloom and flutter in the wind were only possible after the modern era, but of course there were no such details as it was a fantasy world. Everywhere outside the academy is covered with cherry blossoms.
What comes to your mind first when you think of cherry blossoms? Falling cherry blossom leaves, lovers spreading a mat and enjoying a picnic while chatting? That’s not the right answer Do you know what the flower language of cherry blossoms is? It’s the midterm exam. When I think of cherry blossoms, the first thing that comes to my mind is not the fluttering cherry blossom petals and lovers going on a date underneath them, but the memories of looking at the falling cherry blossom petals in the library while looking at a book I have never even thought of.
Unfortunately, this world’s academies also hold midterm exams when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. The academy has entered a test period in name and reality. Most of the students began studying for the exam in earnest, except for some braves who gave up their grades (including Cordelia among them).
-Crash square
From nob le mt l dot com
Me and Hestia were the same. Thanks to that, Hestia and I are together after school. After the academy is over, she drags her hands around her ass into a library chair. Compared to before, Hestia’s interest in me has noticeably increased. Maybe it’s because of my mood, but she didn’t seem very happy about parting with me.
“Where are you going?”
“I can’t concentrate well. I’ll go get some fresh air. I’ll be back soon.”
“Come quickly. I’ll be waiting for you.”
In this way. I left all my luggage and suddenly asked where I was going, but she asked where I was going as soon as I stood up. Before that, I thought I would do that even if I went out for a while. Seeing her attitude change like this, I feel a little sweet because I think her feelings for me have grown that much, but on the other hand, I feel heavy because she doesn’t seem to have much faith in her. I’ll still be waiting for you, so the words to come quickly are a bit touching. My heart flutters like a wife seeing off her husband on his way to work.
After sitting for a long time, my butt got a little tired and my concentration dropped, so I went outside the library to get some fresh air. The wind is chilly even though it is spring, probably because it is after the sun has completely set. I adjusted the coat of my school uniform and stretched for a while. I bent my neck slightly and there was a crunching sound. Hestia freaked out every time I did this and nagged me not to. But what if she got stuck on her body?
I bent my neck in the opposite direction this time and looked at the well-lit library and dormitory. Wherever I go, the test period is the same, so I felt a bit confused. Even if you are born into a high-ranking aristocrat in this world, you cannot be separated from studying for the exam. But since I’m doing it on my own, I want it to be a little better.
I flinched as I thoughtlessly took a cigarette and lighter out of my coat pocket. Of course, there was nothing in the pocket.
The rivers and seas on Earth were smokers. Mikhail was a non-smoker, so it wasn’t like he wanted to smoke or had withdrawal symptoms. But sometimes, when I was outside alone like this and getting some fresh air, I would think of a cigarette without even realizing it. It was a time commonly called ‘damtam’ on Earth.
Of course, I made up my mind that I should stop smoking this way, but immediately after waking up in the morning, after lunch, especially when I go out for a breath of air at night like this, the thought of smoking pops up.
There are cigarettes in this world too. It’s not even harmful to the body because it’s even rolled up some kind of magic candle and burned. It is said that there is nothing harmful at all except for the pungent smell of cigarettes. I thought it was a ridiculous setting, but I gave up thinking that the writer wanted to write a male protagonist who smokes. If you think deeply that there is something strange, your head hurts for no reason. It’s just that, understanding everything is the way to live in this world.
In the meantime, even Hestia wouldn’t like quitting smoking, so I just thought of quitting smoking for the rest of my life. But I can’t concentrate, and because Cordelia is disturbing my mind, my heart is shaken by itself.
‘Should I just go smell it?’
Of course there were no cigarettes or lights now. Borrowing a cigarette, not even a fire, from a stranger is a crazy idea. I thought of a friend who, in an attempt to stop smoking, would follow me when I smoked, get one, smoke it, and start smoking tomorrow. I laughed for no reason because I looked like that friend right now. There’s nothing in the world that’s as cold as going to a smoking area without a cigarette. However, my feet were already off to the smoking area.
Perhaps it was during exam period, despite the late hour, the smoking area was quite crowded with students. Are there too many people? I didn’t have the confidence to stand alone among them without a cigarette. That friend also followed me to the smoking area empty body without thinking, but at that time he was with other friends and I was alone. Yes, what kind of cigarette is it? I tried to turn my feet to the library, lamenting that I was in vain.
“Did you see that Cordelia?”
A high-pitched voice hit my ears. I stopped. Could it be that I heard wrong? I focused all my attention on my ears. The voice came from around the corner near the entrance to the smoking area. Two female students were smoking and talking.
“Isn’t it really embarrassing to pretend to have a friend these days?”
“So. I still get a fever just looking at this empty head.”
“At that time, I was really cold. I never thought I’d be that crazy.”
This is Cordelia’s story. I looked at the ground as naturally as possible. Even nobles seem to throw cigarette butts on the floor. Among the cigarettes scattered on the floor, I picked out one of the long candles that looked as good as possible and picked it up. It was a bit uncomfortable, but I brushed off as much dust as possible.
“Hey, sorry. Could you lend me a light?”
“Here.”
“Thank you.”
Just in time, he grabbed a passer-by and borrowed a fire. I approached the women who were quietly chatting with a lighted cigarette. I was getting tired of this endless game of tag with Cordelia, and I wanted to catch any slight hint if I could make it right. They were talking behind their backs as if they weren’t worried about getting caught. They are careless friends. I went as far as I could go undetected and put a cigarette in my mouth. Maybe because it was butts, only the bitter taste and smell came up.
I listened intently to their conversation with a cigarette in my mouth. It wasn’t a taste I wanted to suck at. Perhaps it was because of the high tone, their voices caught my ears. Just like Wilhelm, it feels like only the skill to act secretly like this is increasing.
“I am dumbfounded every time I see it. Shouldn’t it have been cut here in the first place?”
“I mean. You also had an accident on the eve of the festival. It’s because the marriage was broken off for a reason.”
The contents of their conversation were mainly a series of primary and one-sided criticism toward Cordelia. I realized that one of them was the tinkerer Hestia had spoken about before. She was the woman who had previously quarreled with Cordelia and tore her hair out to get a huge piece of solder. It looks very ferocious even at a glance, I’m nervous, I didn’t want to get close to it because it seemed to be talking.
I don’t know where in the world I don’t like that kind, bubbly Cordelia so much. Of course, I want to punch him once in a while by playing ridiculous pranks or being stubborn, but I don’t really hate him. She is the type of person that is hard to hate in the first place.
Their conversation bounced back and forth and eventually returned to Cordelia’s gossip. Every time we exchanged words with each other, the water level gradually rose.
“Still, I’m good at catching a man. Look at how he immediately changed to a grand duke because his highness was taken away.”
“Why the Archduke?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? It’s obvious. I must have been attached to it. Because her face is worth looking at. Otherwise, why would the Archduke stick around with that b*tch like that? The one who blocked it on the eve of the festival is also the grand duke.”
Then I finally crossed the line. I felt my head go cold.
“Can you say that again in front of me?”
To be honest, I really didn’t want to get involved, but my body moved first. I approached them and talked to them. If it’s just that I don’t like it, then I can warn Cordelia lightly and move on later. However, I don’t think you can call me a friend if you put up with this nonsense.
I trampled on the cigarette butts that had all been burnt out a long time ago. The tinkerer turned around, annoyed at my sudden intervention.
“Who are you to be like that!”
Then, when he saw my face, he just smiled as if he was embarrassed. The woman who had been arguing after the soldering girl also checked my face and hardened her expression.
“Why is that? Do you have any problems?”
“That, why are you here… ?”
The woman who took the initiative to swear at Cordelia, that is to say, the tinkerer girl stuttered and opened her mouth. You look pretty flustered. The woman who had been agreeing to her words was also at a loss as to whether this situation was sudden or not.
“Shouldn’t I be here?”
“No, not really…” . I heard you don’t smoke….”
“Is there a relationship between my smoking and this job?”
The tinkerer contorted her face even more as if she was at a loss for words. I thought he wasn’t careful because he spoke in an excessively loud voice, but it seems that there was a corner where he believed. Yeah, I never thought I’d meet Cordelia’s acquaintance at the smoking area. Even so, her connections are narrow enough to be counted on her fingers.
I thought about what to do with these nasty women. As if they were sinners, they held their hands together and bowed their heads respectfully. I sighed and decided to let them go.
“Don’t say anything unless you can say it to your face.”
“Yes!”
“What are you looking at? Go.”
They walked away without looking back. I am not their parent, and those women are not elementary school students. The age where you can just get along with others just by saying, has already passed a long time ago. It’s not like I can use my power to cut them out of the academy. I won’t let you open that mouth again, and you can’t beat it. It’s frustrating, but there is no way.
In the end, I had no choice but to let them go. If I see Cordelia later, I’ll have to give her a hint whether she listens or not. Tell Hestia too.
I looked at the girls who had run away with empty eyes, picked up the butts I had left on the ground earlier, threw them in the ashtray, and returned to the library. The women even threw away cigarette butts and ran away. You can see personality in such trivial things.
“Are you very late?”
“… Sorry.”
Of course, Hestia was very, very angry. She was worried about me, so she came out of the library and looked around. She’s sorry, she never thought she’d come out and look for me.
The moment she saw me, her expression melted away, then turned dark again. It’s worth worrying because the person who said he was going to get some fresh air was outside for almost 30 minutes. I didn’t make any excuses and just apologized first.
“What are you doing so late… , sniff. What does this smell like?”
She sprinted towards me, tried to argue, then stopped. I reflexively put my nose on my forearm and sniffed. Sniff sniff. The acrid smell of cigarettes entered his nostrils. If you can smell cigarettes yourself, you really smell a lot.
“Mikhail, are you here smoking?!”
Hestia must have noticed the identity of her scent and started sniffing more intensely. Sniff sniff. Her face passed my forearm and came to my chest. Her expression hardened. It’s the face I’m sure I smoked.
“No, it’s true that I smoked, but that’s not the case….”
She didn’t say anything, but she raised my hand up to hers, pulled it up her own nose, and started examining the smell of her index and middle fingers.
I’m an expert, really. Hakju from her high school days overlapped with her. That teacher also used to catch her bullies with the smell of her index and middle fingers. Her hand cream had somehow caught up to her hand sanitizer as well as sanitary gloves and wooden chopsticks. I never thought I would come to a different world and feel the hearts of the bullies who stood in front of Hakju at that time.
“Mikhail, I won’t say anything about smoking. But hiding it from me and even lying to me is kind of disappointing. Did you think I would interfere with your smoking and tell you not to smoke?”
“No, just listen to me for a second.”
“More than anything, do you know how worried I was when the person who said he had gone to get some fresh air didn’t come back for a while? You said I was waiting in the first place. If you tell me in advance that it will take some time because you are going to smoke….”
I had to listen to Hestia’s nagging for a long time after that. In the end, she was able to clear up the misunderstanding and explain the facts only right before they broke up.
–
“Ah, that’s f*cking unlucky, really.”
“I really f*cking hate it. Ah.”
“I want to f*ck you somehow.”
“Hey, I have a good idea.”
The moon in the sky illuminated the empty space in her head as she smiled wickedly.