Chapter 27
Even if he appeared at the library… what did that have to do with Anita?
Step, step.
At the sound of footsteps echoing through the quiet library, Anita quickly opened the book she had just closed. She didn’t want to give the impression that she had been waiting for him like a guard dog. Pretending to be deeply engrossed in studying, she buried her face in the book.
The footsteps stopped abruptly in front of Anita.
“You’re… Senpai?”
Anita greeted calmly, acting as if she didn’t know anything, blinking her eyes. Standing before her was Edmund, his blonde hair tied back reaching his shoulders.
“I sensed someone’s presence for a while, so I came to check.”
“……”
“It was you.”
He smiled faintly, somehow looking very tired.
“Hello.”
“Come sit next to me.”
Though it sounded like a command, his voice was weak, almost like a request. Feeling sorry for his pitiful appearance, Anita willingly gave up the seat beside her. Edmund flopped down onto the sofa as if he might collapse.
“Don’t you really want to become family with me?”
“Do you want to be adopted that badly?”
“Yeah. That old man keeps interfering just because I’m family.”
Thanks to Edmund’s whining complaints, Anita learned some information she wasn’t really curious about—such as the story about the Earl of Aberdeen, chairman of Aberdeen University, cutting off his grandson’s allowance to change his mind about not wanting to get married.
“Then you could at least get a job.”
It wasn’t exactly about the money, but since Anita worked at a café, that’s what she thought.
“I’m too lazy to work.”
Anita was speechless. Meanwhile, Edmund slumped down on the sofa. When Anita, feeling guilty about disturbing a tired-looking person, tried to get up, Rutger entered the library. Seeing Anita, he approached, but when he noticed Edmund slouched beside her, his brows furrowed.
“What’s that?”
“Who knows.”
“Hello?”
Oblivious, Edmund greeted cheerfully.
“Ah. The one with the mental illness?”
Anita groaned, recalling the worst first meeting with those two. She also couldn’t understand Rutger, who had no interest in her but constantly meddled.
Before Anita could say a word, Rutger strode over and squeezed in beside her. Trapped between the two, Anita was stuck.
The problem wasn’t just the tight space. When Rutger sat beside her, the sofa sank, causing Anita to lean and fall toward him. Her head lightly touched his shoulder, and she jerked away as if having a seizure. The scent of shampoo from his hair swirled confusingly inside her head.
Since the sofa was narrow, when Anita moved away from Rutger, her head naturally touched Edmund. That side was just as uncomfortable, so Anita just rolled her eyes.
At that moment, a warm hand gently grabbed Anita’s hand and pulled it. Like a fish suddenly dragged out of water, she flinched but couldn’t do anything.
“It’s gone now.”
Rutger held her hand in one of his, rubbing the back of it. Anita’s fingers trembled.
“Huh?”
“The butterfly I drew for you.”
Days ago, the butterfly had already disappeared without a trace.
“There’s no reason to keep it.”
“No reason?”
“Yeah.”
Anita thought she had answered wisely. He probably wouldn’t think deeply about this anyway.
And Anita’s guess was right. Rutger glanced once more at the back of her hand, then silently turned his head away and let go of her hand.
He probably had already forgotten the request to come by once more to finish the portrait.
Looking blankly at her abandoned hand, Anita silently placed it on her lap.
By the way, Edmund had been unusually quiet since earlier. Turning her head absentmindedly, Anita chuckled softly. He was sleeping with his face buried in a book.
Rutger, hearing Anita’s small laugh, asked quietly,
“Why?”
“Nothing.”
Unable to endure the silence any longer, Anita suddenly stood up.
“I’m going to look for a book for a moment.”
Answering the question no one had asked, she walked between the bookshelves. After wandering among them for a while, she found a secluded spot and sat down. Since it was between the bookshelves, she wouldn’t be visible to him.
Only then did Anita relax and open her anatomy book to resume studying.
How long had she been like that? Anita suddenly realized she didn’t know the scope of the anatomy exam. The exam topics must be posted on the hallway wall on the first floor. She should have checked earlier.
Biting her lip nervously, Anita finally got up. It was better to go check than waste time studying the wrong topics. Leaving the book on the seat, she exited the library.
The second-floor hallway was quiet, with not a soul in sight. Still, the bright lights made it not scary.
After briefly going down to the first floor to check the exam topics, Anita came back up to the second floor.
At that moment, a flash of pure white lightning struck. The hallway instantly brightened. Anita frowned for a moment, knowing what noise would follow.
Crash!
A deafeningly loud noise echoed all around. Up to that point, there was no problem. But once the loud thunder and lightning subsided, the hallway lights started flickering. Anita looked up at the ceiling lights. After many on-off cycles, the lights finally went out.
“Huh?”
It wasn’t completely dark yet. The candles attached to the walls were still intact.
