* * *
I was on the way back with Carl.
“Excuse me, Lady Danae?”
A man approached us. It was the dormitory supervisor from the military academy we had seen before.
“Sorry to bother you, but could you possibly visit Cadet Noah Windsor?”
“Is something wrong?”
“That, Cadet Noah has been neglecting his studies recently. Moreover…”
“Feel free to speak openly.”
Encouraged by my words, the supervisor quickly spilled the beans. “He has been breaking the dormitory rules.”
“Which rules, exactly?”
“There are quite a few. We’ve warned him, but you know, it doesn’t seem to make much difference…”
In the end, it was a plea for the family to do something about the noble’s son, who wouldn’t listen and was causing trouble.
Carl then patted my shoulder, pointing to himself, “Should I go?”
“…”
I hesitated before shaking my head. I can’t delegate this role to him. He was soon to be ousted from his position as deputy head of the family. It wouldn’t do to let him manage family affairs.
“No, I’ll go. You go ahead, Uncle.”
“Huh? Me first?”
“Yes. I’ll talk to Noah and follow shortly.”
“Can’t I come with you? I’ll wait in the carriage.”
“No, you must be busy. Please go ahead.” I took his hand and smiled brightly, “Please take care of what I mentioned earlier. I’m counting on you, Uncle.”
Please make sure to bring the club membership card. I smiled at him with that expression.
* * *
It was in the dormitory, in front of Noah’s room.
“Noah, are you in there?”
Knock, knock. There was no response. The dorm supervisor hesitated and handed over a spare key.
“Here, we do have a spare key, but…”
“Thank you. I’ll take it from here. You can leave.”
“Alright, then.”
There was only one reason for sending the supervisor away first. If I enter, Noah might throw something at me. He’d probably hurl a pillow or a book, saying, ‘Get lost.’ I didn’t want others to witness such a scene.
“Noah, I’m coming in.”
Creak. I opened the door and entered. Immediately, I wrinkled my nose. The smell of cigarettes. And not just that. There was a smell of alcohol mixed with a distinctly unpleasant odor.
What did he do all night? The living room was littered with liquor bottles. Ashtrays were piled high with cigarette butts…
What’s that? I spotted something that definitely shouldn’t be there. All of them were banned items in the dormitory.
I let out a sigh of disbelief and headed towards the bedroom. The bedroom door was slightly ajar. On the bed, a man with disheveled platinum blonde hair was sleeping. And he wasn’t alone.
“…Who are you?”
There was a woman there. Naked, no less.
“Who are you to, ah.”
Recognizing me, the woman who had been lying next to the man sat up quickly and scrambled for her clothes.
“Uh, um, Lady Danae, it’s just…”
“It’s okay, just leave.”
“Y-Yes!”
As the young woman dashed out, I sighed and approached the bed.
“…What is this?”
Did he just wake up?
Under the sunlight, the man’s pale skin gleamed as he made various expressions while sitting up. The blanket slid off, revealing skin like steel, arms and back packed with muscle.
I paused for a moment. Is that really Noah?
It was indeed Noah. But for a moment, I thought he was someone else, maybe because my memories of him as a young boy were so strong. Seeing his now fully matured soldier’s body, I felt disconnected.
Yet Noah seemed unfazed by her presence. He simply swept back his tousled hair and fumbled for a cigarette pack on the nightstand. Lighting up, he then looked at me with an annoyed expression.
“Why are you here?”
Shocked by his debauched appearance, I was at a loss for words. He wasn’t even trying to hide it, let alone be flustered. Well, he always ignores me, so I guess that’s one thing. But doesn’t he know this will reach Viego? And he still acts so brazenly? I found this version of Noah very unfamiliar.
I heard Noah was a model student. His biggest rebellion was drinking and smoking, at most. An excellent cadet who would blush if you explained what being promiscuous meant in detail. And now he has become like this?
Well, I heard he was quite close with Justin. They were roommates ever since entering the academy. Losing a close friend to murder would indeed be shocking.
That was the extent of my sympathy. I wasn’t particularly worried anymore.
“There was a girl here. Your girlfriend?”
Noah furrowed his brows. “A girl?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t even remember who she is, so how could she be my girlfriend?”
It gave me a headache. This kid has completely gone off the rails in the short time I haven’t seen him.
I opened my mouth. There was something I wanted to say to Noah. About what the dormitory supervisor had hoped, I’d say. The nagging remarks I should make about his behavior. But then,
…I can’t be bothered. I lost my resolve and closed my mouth. Yes. A single visit was enough pretense. After all, he wouldn’t listen to me anyway, so why bother?
Then, Noah got out of bed and stood up. Seeing him in just minimal underwear made me turn away in shock. Is he insane? Could he still be drunk?
Noah casually draped a silk robe over himself and tied it. Then he said, “Anyway, good of you to come.”
…What? Doubting my ears in disbelief, I slowly turned back to see Noah sitting back on the edge of the bed.
“I’ve been wanting to see you.”
“You wanted to see me?”
“Yes.” Noah crossed his legs and tapped the ashtray on the nightstand. “Having fun lately?”
“What?”
“Your popularity seems to have skyrocketed recently.”
I immediately understood what Noah was talking about. The nude paintings. He was talking about those nude paintings.
“You saw them too?”
“Ah, well.” Noah twisted his lips and shrugged. “Can’t say I haven’t seen them.”
Thump. My heart felt like it had plummeted. I clenched my fists and glared at him.
“When did you start modeling like that? It’s not like you’re short on money.” Noah observed me with a scrutinizing gaze and then mumbled to himself, “Or is it a hobby?” He exhaled a long stream of smoke and chuckled. “Well, I respect that. Everyone has different tastes. Maybe you’re the kind of woman who enjoys being captured on canvas in such a manner.”
“…”
“Does Brother Viego know? Or maybe he already has one.”
That malicious joke carried a hint of self-destructive intent. But I couldn’t hear anything else.
I stormed over, raised my hand high, and slapped Noah across the face. Slap! Noah’s head turned. His pristine, fair skin instantly reddened. But that was it. He just smirked mockingly as if it barely tickled.
“Pathetically weak… Such strength makes me pity your life.”
“Shut up, Noah Windsor. Your rotten character is what’s truly pitiful.”
“Haha. Didn’t know you had it in you to say that.” He slowly stood up.
The perspective, the height difference, changed instantly. Noah’s eyes, which had been below, were now far above me. It gave a sudden wave of intimidation. For the first time, I truly realized how tall Noah was, almost as tall as Viego. And I felt it for the first time.
“Did I say something wrong? Modeling for such paintings, aren’t you ashamed?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. I’ve never modeled. The painter imagined it all.”
“Sure. It looked exactly like you for something drawn from imagination.” He crossed his arms and tilted his head. “Why don’t you take it off now and prove it?”
For a moment, the back of my head felt numb. What did I hear just now?
“What are you doing? Take it off, I said.”
That angelic, wholly luminous, and beautiful face uttered devilish words.
“I’ll check if it matches the painting.”
I raised my hand once more to slap him again. But this time, Noah didn’t let it happen so easily. He roughly grabbed my wrist and pulled me forcefully. Bang, my face collided with his chest.
“Let go!”
“Listen.” Noah leaned down, whispering maliciously in my ear. “Seems like my life got screwed because of you.”
“Let go!”
“So, don’t show up around me. I might ruin your life too.”
Finally, he released me. Instead of stepping back, I slapped his cheek again. Slap-!
“Ah.” His lip split, and as blood flowed, Noah chuckled and wiped it away with his thumb. “Better than before.”
“Don’t worry, Noah Windsor. After this moment, I’ll never speak a word to you again.” I spat out fiercely and turned to leave. Bang! The door closed loudly behind me.
Noah’s POV
“Haha…” I collapsed back onto the bed, unable to stop the bitter laughter.
So this is the end. How boring. I thought we’d fight more. She didn’t even ask why I was doing this. Because she didn’t care about me at all.
Now, understanding a clear fact quite calmly, I hugged the blanket tightly. The faint warmth in the blanket soothed the chill. Whose body heat could it be? Come to think of it, there was a woman. I really couldn’t remember who she was.
Frankly, it didn’t matter who. Even now, the air rushing into my lungs felt cold, making me burrow deeper into the blanket. I wanted to hold someone. At least, while our bodies touched, it wasn’t cold, and my mind was empty. Empty of any thoughts…
Thud. At that moment, I slowly opened my eyes at the sound. Thud, thud. The faint sounds came from the next room. I just listened blankly. Thud, creak. Creak…
I closed my eyes again. The Next room was Justin’s room, who had died.
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