In Lyr’s eyes, Yilu looked as if she were guarding food, her hands pressed firmly atop her suitcase.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed, making it difficult to tell if she was angry or something else.
“I just wanted to see what kind of stones were inside,” Lyr said, waving his hand as he stood up.
“If you won’t let me see, then so be it.
I won’t look.”
“You jerk.”
Yilu was a bit angry that her private clothing had almost been rifled through.
But seeing the way this guy was acting, she didn’t know how to stay mad at him for long.
She had just casually claimed there were stones inside, and he had actually believed her.
She wasn’t sure if he was doing it on purpose.
Lyr looked around, taking in the entire room.
“It’s certainly quiet, but won’t you get bored?
You don’t even have anyone to chat with.”
Lyr began to feel glad he hadn’t stayed in the dorms back then.
If he had been in a single room, he would have been bored to death.
“What does it matter?”
Yilu replied, her expression softening as her gaze dropped.
“I don’t need anyone anyway.”
Lyr took it all in.
It was clear that Yilu’s social life at the Academy wasn’t great, as evidenced by what had happened earlier.
What piqued Lyr’s curiosity was that her personality wasn’t actually that bad, so he wondered how things had ended up like this.
Still, that was her business; Lyr felt there was no need to pry.
Instead, he felt more concerned about whether his sister, Tif, was in a similar situation.
If she were, her personality wasn’t the type to tell him voluntarily.
The thought alone gave Lyr a headache.
“Alright, I’ve moved your things for you, so I should be going.
Our meeting for today ends here.”
Lyr waved, preparing to leave.
Even if he had helped Yilu, to him, it was just tying up loose ends for someone else—nothing significant.
“What ‘meeting’?
How nonsensical,” Yilu muttered.
It sounded as if the two of them had met here on purpose.
Watching Lyr’s back as he walked toward the door, Yilu hesitated for a moment before speaking up.
“What’s your name?”
It wasn’t the first time they had met, nor was it the first time he had helped her.
Yilu realized belatedly that she still didn’t know his name.
For a long time now, this seemed to be the first time she had proactively asked for someone’s name.
Lyr stopped in his tracks and shook his hand.
“I’m just a passing Knight.”
Upon hearing this, a look of disgust immediately appeared on Yilu’s face.
This guy actually thought of himself as some anonymous hero of justice.
“With an answer like that, do you believe I’ll hurl a fireball at you?”
Yilu didn’t consider herself someone who could be brushed off so easily.
Although this guy wasn’t intentionally looking for trouble, he kept provoking her anger in subtle, accidental ways.
This anger was different from the kind sparked by those who bullied her on purpose; it was more like a flickering flame of irritation.
It felt as if he were mocking her, which made her very unhappy.
“You can only solve problems in such an unreasonable way?”
Lyr turned around, completely not expecting Yilu to be so moody.
“Then just tell me.”
Yilu braced herself, keeping one knee pressed against the suitcase to prevent Lyr from seeing its contents.
She raised one hand; her palm was empty, yet she looked as if she were preparing to throw a fireball.
“I really don’t like being mocked by others.”
Her eyes narrowed, showing she wasn’t joking.
‘What an impolite person,’ Lyr thought to himself.
“My name is Lyr.
Lyle Gnoh,” Lyr continued.
“Is that good enough?”
“The Geno Clan…”
Yilu murmured the name.
It felt familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.
Even the name Lyr felt like something she had heard a long time ago.
“Yilu Shiya.”
“Hmm?”
“What’s with the ‘hmm’?
That’s my name.”
“Fine, then.”
He was surprised by her bluntness in offering her name.
However, even without this exchange, Lyr would have known who she was.
“I heard your name from the guards that night,” Lyr said as he prepared to leave again.
“So, I suppose we know each other now.
May you have sweet dreams tonight, Miss Yilu.”
Stepping out the door, Lyr closed it behind him.
Once she was alone in the room, Yilu finally truly relaxed.
It was a strange feeling; she hadn’t had such a normal conversation with anyone for so long that the lingering sensation was difficult to describe.
After leaving the dormitory building, Lyr didn’t linger at the Academy.
He took a carriage and quickly returned home.
As soon as he arrived, he collapsed onto the sofa, looking like he had lost all will to live.
One trip out and back, and he had been saddled with this mysterious title.
In a way, it wasn’t a disgrace for the Geno Clan to have a descendant serving as a teacher at the Royal Academy.
It was just that the process hadn’t considered his feelings as the person involved at all.
Lyr rubbed his hair, his headache worsening.
A maid stepped forward to pour him some black tea.
Just as she was about to leave, Lyr called out to her.
Since he returned, he hadn’t seen Tif.
Logically, if Tif wasn’t staying at the dorms, she should be home.
Why did it feel so quiet?
“Has Tif gone out?”
“The young lady went out for a bit but returned shortly after,” the maid replied.
“The Academy textbooks were delivered just now, so the young lady should be in her room reading.”
“I see.
She really hasn’t changed a bit,” Lyr sighed.
Although he didn’t know exactly when Tif had become so cold toward him, her love for studying and reading had remained constant.
Back when he was still at the Academy, Tif would cling to him every day when he returned, begging him to tell her stories.
At that time, he truly was Tif’s only source of emotional support.
But that support didn’t seem to matter much anymore; Tif didn’t seem to need him.
“By the way, does Tif live at the Academy?”
Lyr finally asked the question that had been on his mind.
“Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t.
The young lady has a room at the Academy and stays there occasionally, but she spends most of her time here.”
Lyr pursed his lips.
He probably guessed why Tif kept coming back.
With both him and their parents away from home, the fact that the manor remained so orderly was undoubtedly thanks to her.
All in all, as a student still at the Academy, Tif was far more capable than she appeared.
On the contrary, he, the older brother, seemed to have neglected the family affairs and dumped everything onto her.
Just that alone was reason enough for Tif to have become so cold.