Chapter 50: Reysir’s Cold Gaze

By now, some readers might want to object to the subtitle.

There was no calm to be found; only a growing sense of unease, as if walking on thin ice.

But do not doubt.

Whether it serves as a good example or not, isn’t there the expression, “the calm before the storm”?

Even amid unsettling currents, peaceful daily life can still continue.

What follows is essentially a condensed version of that peaceful daily life.

The mandatory theory lecture on Tuesdays, History and Ethics, and the Martial Arts class on Fridays.

These two lectures overlapped with Reysir’s schedule, so I ended up running into him a few times while attending them.

Each time, Reysir gave me a cold, unfamiliar look and passed by without a word.

“For someone like me who doesn’t want to get involved with the Original Protagonist, isn’t this also a form of calm?”

Reysir treating me like I didn’t exist had been something I’d long wished for since I was possessed by this body.

Now, all that remained was to quietly keep a low profile for a few months until the Original Protagonist dropped out of the academy.

After that, true calm would finally come.

But this world inside the novel was not a safe place.

So, I couldn’t neglect honing my own abilities.

Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with Professor Radbisin’s help, I kept training to master the handling of Sky-Blue Aether.

As a result, I was now able to use Sky-Blue Aether without reaching complete exhaustion, barely leaving some Purple Aether in reserve.

This achievement came just about a month after starting the training.

In the meantime, I also had two more swordsmanship sessions with Vigdis, during which I could half-understand her explanations.

Ssslick, shupat, fwak, kwaaat, pababak—the countless onomatopoeic sounds still flew around, with meanings I couldn’t grasp.

But since she pointed out exact muscle names and demonstrated the moves, I could at least figure out what she meant by watching closely.

Since swordsmanship involves a lot of physical movement, breaks were inevitable.

Each time, an awkward silence hung between Vigdis and me, but once, this conversation occurred.

“Kar, do you really hate Reysir that much…?”

“What are you talking about out of the blue?”

“It just popped into my head suddenly.”

“……”

I didn’t answer Vigdis immediately but wiped the sweat from my face with a towel, feigning heavy breathing to buy some time.

Swallowing the reply lingering in my mind—”I don’t hate him”—and the question, “Where could that have shown?” I prepared a different answer.

“That’s a foolish question. If I didn’t hate him, I wouldn’t have bullied him in the first place.”

“…I guess that makes sense?”

She nodded as if convinced but raised the corner of her mouth slightly, indicating lingering doubts.

Probably because, last time in the Public Training Hall after Reysir left, I failed to maintain perfect composure and showed some agitation.

I knew the problem but it was too late to fix it.

So, I decided to change the subject altogether.

“Do you worry because you like him, but as my fiancée, I don’t get along with him? You’re afraid he’ll avoid you even if you try to get close?”

“If that’s the case, go find him and explain. Tell him I’m giving you freedom for now, but I might suddenly flip and show obsessive madness again, which scares me. But if I were to break the Disengagement Contract now, Father would probably sell you off to some old man over seventy. So, I have no choice but to keep the engagement.”

“W-What are you saying…?”

She looked completely baffled, not understanding my meaning at all.

Still, I continued without hesitation.

“The reason he endures my bullying without complaint is because he’s trying to avoid causing trouble for the family that supports him. He’s quite capable, so if he knows your situation, he’ll surely find a way to solve it.”

“How…?”

“I don’t know. He’ll figure it out himself.”

“…….”

Vigdis showed a flicker of interest at my claim, then an expression of disbelief at my nonchalant answer.

I was serious, though.

Because Reysir was the Original Protagonist, and Vigdis was one of the Heroine Candidates.

“It’s not just a cliché that the protagonist saves the heroine candidate from misery; it’s the natural flow of the story.”

No, this isn’t limited to heroine candidates.

Even moderately important supporting characters, regardless of age or gender, are destined to be saved by the protagonist.

And those saved become the protagonist’s ardent supporters.

Anyway, I digressed.

There was a reason I brought this up with Vigdis all of a sudden—it wasn’t just to change the topic randomly.

I was planning to bring this up at an appropriate time.

“If Vigdis already has feelings for Reysir, I need to create distance before it develops further.”

Having fully detached myself from Reysir this time, I realized that I’m probably the type to form attachments easily.

Even though I never let my guard down when meeting him.

I still remember how I momentarily felt suffocated when I saw his cold reaction.

“Maybe it’s because I hardly have any experience exchanging feelings with others…?”

If I broke the engagement with Vigdis immediately, I’d lose the chance to continue learning swordsmanship from her, but that didn’t bother me much.

Her teaching skills were poor anyway.

“There’s already a definite method available to me. I’m not stupid enough to ruin things with vague hopes. I have no idea what qualities Kar sees in Reysir to value his abilities so highly.”

“Just because you like someone doesn’t mean you trust their abilities, huh?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask… why do you keep insisting I like him?”

I stared at Vigdis’s face silently.

She frowned, meeting my gaze with a sulky expression.

There was no hint of embarrassment for having her secret crush exposed.

“Is it not true?”

“No, it’s not!”

“Then even if you come to like Reysir later, it’s fine to talk to him about the Disengagement Contract. You wouldn’t want to give him the wrong idea that you already have a partner, would you?”

“There’s no way I’ll ever like him.”

“Don’t be so sure. The future is uncertain.”

“You’re the one making baseless assumptions right now, not me.”

“That’s because I’ve read the original and know the future.”

But Vigdis, unaware of this, clearly didn’t appreciate my comment.

Her face showed a mix of disbelief and irritation.

“Are you acting this way just because I greeted him first…? I heard some rumors, and since he approached you so warmly, I was curious—maybe even amazed—about what had happened… so I just talked to him.”

“I understand. No more misunderstandings. But if you ever like him, please tell me first. Even though we plan to break the engagement, as long as it’s maintained, we should at least keep minimal courtesy.”

“Why?”

“So we can keep distance and detach feelings.”

“I was worried about Vigdis being in danger if she got involved with Reysir.”

“But I couldn’t take on the role of the villain who suppresses her free will.”

“You said you’d stop obsessing…”

“I’m not obsessing; quite the opposite. I’m telling you that you don’t need to hide your feelings just because you’re worried about me.”

“How can there be no middle ground?!”

‘Could it be because I’m not truly Karbaldr but someone else entirely?’

I only thought this in my head. I didn’t say it aloud.

Unless I had some hidden acting skills to fool Vigdis, she definitely didn’t like Reysir yet.

Maybe it was just postponed, but for now, I could put that worry aside.

“If this is also what I call calm… does it feel like I’m forcing the subtitle?”

Anyway.

The important thing is that during the past three weeks, nothing unusual happened.

Thanks to that, both training and studying proceeded exactly as planned.

I woke early every morning, set study goals, and entered them into my scheduler.

I focused on studying until Yor woke up and went to eat breakfast.

***

After attending all the lectures, I devoted myself to various training sessions.

It was never easy or leisurely, but it helped me shake off distracting thoughts, so I was grateful.

“Let’s finish gathering knowledge this semester.”

Just enough to avoid being called ignorant elsewhere.

Anything beyond that would be a waste of time.

I couldn’t afford to spend too much time on academics unrelated to survival.

Despite moving my body a lot for training, I slept less, so I was tired.

“Meow~!”

“Yor, are you awake?”

“Ok!”

Now that Yor was up, it was time to finish studying and get ready for breakfast.

After quickly tidying my desk, I opened my scheduler before standing up.

I already knew there were no special plans, but I kept the habit to prevent forgetting anything if something came up later.

“Morning: Martial Arts lecture. Afternoon: physical training and Whip Technique practice in the private training hall. Study during breaks… Midterms are in two weeks, so History and Ethics…”

***

After reviewing the schedule, I closed the planner and handed it to Yor, who slipped it inside the Yeouiju.

It would be embarrassing if anyone found out that the young master of House Austri was still studying basic knowledge now.

And since I kept detailed personal notes on why schedules changed, I didn’t want others seeing those either.

For the same reason, I entrusted my notebook and diary, where I had summarized the original story, to Yor as well.

No one would search my room, but it’s better to be cautious.

Though I tried to prepare thoroughly for everything, there were still incidents I had to face without any warning.

For example…

“Karbaldr!! Where the hell did you take Heilga?!”

The Original Protagonist burst into the classroom, flinging the door open and grabbing me by the collar, demanding to know the whereabouts of his childhood friend.

I couldn’t have prepared for such an unexpected situation.

It would have been the same no matter who had been possessed by this body.

“That didn’t happen in the original story…?”

No wonder I felt like I was walking on thin ice.

My fragile calm was just as thin as the ice beneath my feet, and it shattered so easily.