“Ah… we’re not close or anything. Just… acquaintances, I guess?”
Dean was a kind and diligent person, but Viola didn’t have any particular feelings toward him. He wasn’t someone like Lily, whom she found annoying enough to push away, but neither were they close enough to share their feelings with each other.
“Is that so?”
He tried to act as though it didn’t matter, but a faint change flickered in his eyes.
Samuel moved his hands again and continued treating her wounds. As he worked with delicate care, he added another question in a casual voice.
“Then what about me?”
“You, President? What about you?”
“To you, am I someone you’re close to?”
There was a faint hint of expectation hidden within his straightforward question.
“……”
Viola rolled her eyes slightly, looking as though she was thinking about something.
“No.”
Her answer contained nothing but the same indifference and honesty as always.
At the short and decisive answer, the corners of Samuel’s lips lowered ever so slightly.
It was the answer he had expected. He knew it would probably be like this, but hearing it directly was an entirely different matter.
“…I see.”
After swallowing the brief silence, he returned to his familiar expression. The smooth, quiet movements of his hands continued at the same steady pace, as though nothing had happened.
“Hmm. That should do it.”
Samuel applied the ointment one last time and gently pressed the gauze into place over her wound.
A lingering warmth remained at his fingertips, and his expression subtly revealed that he wished this moment could last a little longer.
“Thank you.”
But as though ignoring his feelings, Viola simply thanked him and slowly moved her arm.
It should heal in a few days.
There was still a slight sting around her wrist, but it wasn’t enough to interfere with her work.
She neatly adjusted her sleeve and straightened her clothes before abruptly standing up.
“What are you going to do now? Go back to work?”
“Yes. I have to. I’m so behind on today’s work that I might end up working through the night.”
Viola spoke calmly and let out a short sigh.
The areas she was responsible for cleaning were undoubtedly a mess again.
“If you end up working all night, should I stay with you?”
His words sounded casual, almost like a joke, but there was a carefully hidden sincerity behind them.
Viola stopped walking for a moment and slowly turned her head.
“No. I’m more comfortable alone.”
It was a concise and definite answer.
As though she had no intention of leaving him even the slightest opening.
“How cold. That hurts.”
Samuel muttered quietly and followed after her.
Though he spoke jokingly, there was a playful tone underneath, as if he were trying to conceal his desire to get closer to her.
“Well, all right. Just don’t push yourself too hard. If you’re hurt, tell me. I’ll treat you anytime.”
“No, thank you.”
After her words swept past him like the wind, Samuel quietly stopped where he stood.
So I’m on the same level as some other guy…
A look of discomfort gradually appeared on his normally unreadable face.
The smile disappeared, and his gaze slowly turned cold and composed.
He hadn’t expected special treatment.
But he had thought he might hold at least some small amount of meaning to her.
Right now, Viola felt far too distant from him.
For the first time, he clearly realized just how much that distance bothered him.
“My goodness, what happened to you?”
The employee’s eyes widened the moment Viola entered the administration office.
She had come to submit a report about the area damaged by the massive explosion and the strange magic circle that had remained behind.
Although she was dressed as neatly as usual, the white gauze wrapped around her neck and arms made it obvious that she had been involved in an accident.
“It’s nothing. I got hurt.”
“No… I can see that. I’m asking why you got hurt.”
The employee blinked in disbelief and asked again, but Viola neither avoided his gaze nor changed her expression. She merely tilted her head slightly with an impassive look.
“It’s not like I’ve never been injured on other days. This much will heal quickly.”
“Good grief… Take better care of yourself. Please.”
There was concern in the employee’s voice, but Viola replied indifferently.
“If you want me to do that, the students first need to stop causing so much trouble. Do you think that’s possible?”
The employee was momentarily speechless.
Eventually, he let out a deep sigh and rubbed both hands over his face.
“…We’re sorry.”
Half sincere and half resigned, his words carried the weight of someone who had long since given up.
At this academy, where young masters and ladies from noble families gathered, accidents were an everyday occurrence, and hardly anyone ever took proper responsibility for them.
Experiments were supposed to be unrestricted, while their results were somehow expected to remain under control.
The contradiction was so obvious that hoping for such an ideal almost seemed strange.
Whenever an accident occurred, people always talked about coming up with countermeasures.
But nothing ever changed.
Viola submitted her report and headed toward the door.
Just as she was about to place her hand on the handle, a strange vibration spread through the metal beneath her fingertips.
She instinctively pulled her hand away.
Immediately afterward, the door swung open.
“……”
The person who opened it was Lucian, a professor from the Alchemy Department.
His long black hair was casually tied back, and his green-tinted eyes met Viola’s through the doorway.
“Hello, Professor.”
Viola greeted him as though they were familiar with each other.
Lucian slowly lowered his gaze.
“What have you gotten yourself involved in this time?”
As though he had seen this many times before, Lucian raised a hand and lightly touched the bandage around the back of Viola’s neck.
His movements were careful, but there was a small trace of concern hidden within them.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s clearly not nothing. Your arm and hand too… Your clothes are a mess as well.”
“It really isn’t anything. And I have a lot of work piled up, so I need to go quickly.”
To Lucian, her calm words sounded almost like resignation.
A coldness close to self-abandonment, as though she had learned to endure things before anything else.
He hesitated for a moment, then spoke without withdrawing his fingertips from the bandage.
“Your body isn’t some disposable item you can replace when it breaks. Take better care of yourself.”
At those words, Viola slightly raised her head and fixed her gaze on him.
Her expression was as impassive as ever, but a slight disturbance that she couldn’t completely hide appeared in her eyes.
“Yes, well. I’ll be careful.”
Viola gave a short answer before raising her bandaged arm and carefully adjusting the sleeve of her shirt.
Lucian quietly watched her before readjusting the stack of documents in his arms and letting out a small sigh.
“Why don’t you just transfer to the General Department building?”
When Viola had first arrived at the academy, they had been urgently looking for cleaning staff for the Special Department buildings.
Even though she knew the work was somewhat difficult for an ordinary person, Viola had readily accepted the position.
“I don’t want to. They pay less if I work there.”
As expected, Viola rejected the suggestion without hesitation.
She had no special abilities or impressive qualifications to boast about.
If she wanted to maintain the wages she was currently receiving, changing jobs was never an option worth considering in the first place.
“If that’s what you want, I don’t really have anything more to say.”
Lucian sighed lightly as though she was impossible to reason with.
“Still, be careful. If you get seriously injured, all that stubborn hard work you’ve been putting in will be for nothing.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Viola answered lightly before turning around and leaving the administration office.
Lucian remained there for a moment, staring at the closed door.
Then he turned around and handed the documents to the administrative employee.
“I’ve always thought this.”
The employee carefully took the documents from the envelope before speaking.
His tone was cautious, but his eyes were filled with curiosity he couldn’t quite suppress.
“Professor, don’t you think you and Viola look very much alike?”
The employee smiled slightly.
It wasn’t only their appearance.
Even the unfamiliar distance they always kept around themselves was remarkably similar.
“If someone didn’t know better, they could easily mistake you two for siblings…”
“Stop talking nonsense and get back to work.”
Before the employee could finish speaking, Lucian left the administration office.
“See? I told you they look alike.”
The employee muttered quietly while watching Lucian’s retreating back.
One afternoon.
“Excuse me, do you have a moment?”
Viola was finishing up her morning cleaning when an unfamiliar voice cautiously came from behind her.
She unconsciously furrowed her brows.
When she turned around, she saw a brown-haired male student wearing the Magic Department uniform standing there with a slightly awkward expression.
The moment she saw his uniform, she remembered all the strange behavior of the Magic Department students who had approached her and played pranks on her before.
Her expression immediately hardened.
“If you’re here to play some strange prank, just go on your way. I’m busy.”
Viola cut him off coldly and sharply before turning her attention back toward the window.
But the male student hurriedly cleared his throat and continued.
“No, no. It’s just… I wanted to ask you for a favor. It’s… a little personal, so I was wondering if you could help me.”
