I doubted my ears.
‘Brantley volunteered to be with me!’
Until now, he had always pushed me away and avoided me. I looked at Brantley in disbelief.
His silver eyes were simmering. It was as if someone had just knocked over a dam that was barely holding him back.
He had been wearing a poker face most of the time, but I could notice ripples in his expressions.
He asked, “Hanelope, who are you going with?”
“I…”
“You don’t have to make an unfair choice. After all, how can I be on par as someone who couldn’t uphold his promise?”
Brantley took my hand. Then he turned to Fritzka, his lips curling up in a smile, “Why don’t you go back to bed? By the look on your face, you need more sleep.”
Fritzka flinched at the cold smile. But soon he clenched her fist as if he realized something, and said, “I don’t know what makes you so confident when you know nothing about Hanelope’s last few years!”
Brantley’s eyes narrowed slightly. Knowing his jab had worked, Fritzka showed a smile of satisfaction.
“Are you telling me that I lack sleep? I’m perfectly fine. After drinking the potion…”
Despite his assurances, Fritzka was unable to finish his sentence. His eyelids fluttered down, and then he collapsed like a rag doll.
“What did just…”
Brantley grabbed Fritzka with minimal contact possible as if touching a dirty object.
“….”
Fritzka was fast asleep in a matter of moments. The potions couldn’t help him.
‘He was fed a potent sleeping medicine.’
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Fritzka.
“It must have taken a lot of effort for him to come here frantically searching for me.”
Brantley looked with a displeased expression,
“He should’ve slept at the dorm. Now he has become an unnecessary burden.”
While saying that, Brantley picked up Fritzka.
“I’m afraid we have to head back to the dorms early, thanks to this ‘load’.”
“It’s fine. We can go out some other time.”
“You…”
While Brantley laughed awkwardly, he didn’t say he didn’t want to. Instead, he seemed somewhat expectant. I bounced along beside him in excitement.
Brantley didn’t take any shortcuts on the way back, probably because he couldn’t hold on to me because of Fritzka.
‘That’s better,’ I thought, ‘I can walk longer with Brantley.’
The road to Barbetz was deserted on the way back. The only sounds were of the breeze, the buzzing of grasshoppers, and Fritzka’s heavy breathing.
Rustle, rustle.
Our steps echoed in the cold night.
“I had so much fun today. Maybe we should come back here again.”
“Up to you.”
“…?”
I looked at Brantley in bewilderment.
“Are you really going to do that?”
“Do what?”
“Early… graduation.”
Brantley said in a small voice that sounded like it could be swept away by the wind.
“…….”
I stared at Brantley’s face, trying to read his mind.
When I didn’t answer, Brantley opened his mouth impatiently, “Can’t you stay here longer?”
I shook my head.
“I like you, Sir Knight, and I want to stay with you. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to give up my future.”
“Is your future becoming a professor at the Royal Academy?”
“My dream is higher than that. But I’m sure that dream is not being here.”
Brantley stood there speechlessly, as he hadn’t expected me to speak so firmly.
I felt sorry for the hollow look on his face. He looked as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest. But I continued speaking, “That’s why I want to go to the capital with you.”
“I….”
“It’s up to Sir Knight to decide. Do you want to go with me, or do you want to hide?”
“…….”
“You decide, and I’ll make all the arrangements.”
Brantley’s silver eyes deepened with concern.
Today, one thing was clear.
‘If Brantley’s reaction to meeting Fritzka is any indication, he doesn’t mind being with me.’
But he’s hesitating for some reason. I’ll try to convince Brantley, but in the end, it’s up to him to break the ice.
‘If he tries to hide, I’ll find him again.’
I’m not going to give up on Brantley, no matter what he decides.
***
Brantley didn’t give me any answer. I didn’t expect him to give me a straight answer anyway.
I was willing to wait.
‘I could chase him to the ends of the earth if I wanted to.’
Brantley didn’t give me the answer I wanted but left after helping us. He slipped a sleeping Fritzka into his dormitory.
‘He didn’t take him to his room, but dropped him off in the hallway.’
Fritzka was found by the warden at dawn the next day.
He claimed that Thomas Purple had put medicines in his dinner, thus he passed out. The professors immediately launched an investigation.
They managed to get the canteen staff to admit that Thomas had been paid to slip sleeping pills into Fritzka’s meal.
Thomas vehemently denied it.
“Why would I do such a thing? On the contrary, I was assaulted by the bandit Hanelope brought in!”
Of course, the professors didn’t believe him. They found the same sleeping pills in his room that the cafeteria worker had used. Brantley had helped sneak it in.
“I don’t know why you are saying such things, Thomas. It never happened.”
“Hanelope, it won’t do you any good to lie like that. Don’t you remember the day of the village fest? We met outside the dormitories.”
“Oh my! What are you talking about? Professors have banned us from going to the village.”
“What? N-No I, I meant….”
“I fell asleep early in my dorm that day. My roommate can vouch for me.”
Barbetz didn’t allow the students to visit the village festival. The celebration at night could be dangerous.
‘But since it’s the only festival in town, the dorm manager tacitly turned a blind eye.’
But you had to go in pairs of at least two. That was the dorm manager’s way of showing consideration. It was officially forbidden.
So Thomas unknowingly admitted trying to break the rules.
“Thomas Purple, did I hear you right? On top of drugging the student council president to sleep, you left your dormitory to attend the village festival?”
“P-Professor. I, he, it was…”
“I’m going to have to call a disciplinary committee and start formal disciplinary proceedings. We can’t let this slip.”
“P-Please forgive me, Professor!”
And so the Disciplinary Committee chastised Thomas Purple with six months suspension and 500 demerit points.
With six months of suspension, he would not graduate this year and would be on probation.
I don’t know if he will be able to graduate next year either, recovering from 500 demerit points was not an easy feat. No one believed Thomas Purple could get those grades.
‘With this kind of punishment, he might as well just give up and drop out.’
So Thomas Purple went home sobbing.
***
“Was that really him?” Fritzka demanded excitedly.
As soon as his body had recovered. His breathing was ragged.
I nodded cautiously.
“Haa.. I never knew Brantley Eisen was alive. You know it, Katherine knows it and I’m the only one kept in the dark.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“So what are you going to do with him? He’s going to be a handful.”
“For now, I’m pretending I don’t recognise Brantley, because if I did, he’d run away.”
“What?”
Fritzka’s eyes seemed to pop out..
I added quickly, “But I’m about to confess soon and ask him to return to the capital.”
“Taking Brantley to the capital is a reckless idea,” Fritzka sighed.
“Even if we can ignore the fact that he’s in a strange cult, he’s a sinner anyway.”
Fritzka was referring to Brantley’s framing a few years ago. He was accused of being in league with Asta and disappeared after jumping off a cliff.
“They thought he was dead at the time, and closed the investigation and never officially found him guilty. He is still the next Duke.”
Fritzka’s eyes widened at my words.
“Do you really think that if you took Brantley to the capital, he would be recognised as a Young Master? Think of the Duke of Eisen’s position in the capital now.”
His business has been flourishing after discovering varieties of morning glories. Duke Eisen has gathered a number of resources, and Jacob is living his life to the fullest.
‘I’m not only going to announce that Brantley is alive and well, but also help him reclaim his place.’
I shot Fritzka a sly glance, “So you’re suggesting we leave Brantley alone?”
“I’m glad Brantley’s okay, too. And I want to help him live in peace. But bringing him back to the capital is wishful thinking, and most of all, it’s dangerous. I…”
Fritzka swallowed a heavy sigh, “I don’t want you to be in danger.”
Just then someone added-
“What a pathetic thing to say..”
