“It’s finally just the two of us now.
I want you to keep your promise.” Lucien didn’t move from his position.
His head still rested lazily on the cool wooden library table.
Instead of jumping in surprise or looking terrified, he simply let out a long sigh—so long that his shoulders slowly sagged.
It felt like life never gave him a second to breathe without being disturbed by another creature.
With an annoyingly slow movement, Lucien lifted his head and stared straight ahead.
Behind the tall bookshelf, a dark-haired figure appeared with a confident smile.
“Oh, it’s you, Rayland,” Lucien said flatly, without a trace of respect befitting a junior to a third-year senior.
Rayland, who had been preparing to put on an intimidating face, blinked slightly in surprise.
He stared at the white-haired boy before him, who looked so fragile and pale, yet possessed a razor-sharp tongue and a look in his eyes that seemed to treat his presence as indigestion.
Rayland pulled up a chair across from Lucien and sat down without being invited.
“Wow, that’s quite brave of you, kid.
Speaking to a senior in such a tone,” Rayland said, though his smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“But it’s good that you remember me.
I’ll just get straight to the point.
I want you to keep your promise.” Lucien frowned, staring at the senior in front of him with a confused look.
“Promise?
What promise?” Rayland snorted softly, thinking Lucien was faking amnesia.
“Don’t play dumb.
A few days ago, when I stopped you in the dormitory corridor, you said you’d help me bridge the gap between me and Rose, right?
And now, I need your help to get closer to Rose.” ‘When did I say that?’ Lucien thought to himself as he remembered it.
After thinking for a moment, he remembered now.
Ah, right.
Back then, Rayland had kept on intercepting him and asking him to be a bridge between Rayland and Rose, and in order to get the man in front of him to leave quickly and let him return to the dormitory as soon as possible, Lucien simply agreed without thinking.
Damn it.
Who would have thought this cunning man would take such a casual statement as a sacred oath?
Rayland leaned forward, lowering his voice.
“Spring’s just begun.
I have to take Rose to the festival the day after tomorrow before Prince Seilas beats me to it.
I know that bastard Seilas has had his eye on Rose since freshman year, and for some reason he’s been checking you out lately, it must be for the same reason, but I won’t let him get ahead of me.” Inside his head, Lucien let out a long sigh as he rolled his eyes.
‘That Prince Seilas isn’t glancing at me because he wants to do the same thing as you, but because his brain is short-circuiting due to a strange aura,’ Lucien grumbled inwardly.
Even so, Lucien pondered the situation for a moment.
Based on the original plot of Little Rose—before the world was thrown into chaos by the transmigrators from the main plot of You Are My Star—there should have been a scene involving an invitation to the spring festival.
Rayland, as a conventional antagonist, still walks the track of the original story without being completely absorbed by the “strange magnetism” that befalls the people around Lucien.
Lucien didn’t care at all about the novel’s plot and had no intention of changing anyone’s fate.
But if helping Rayland could get this senior to leave him right now, then it was a fair trade.
“Okay,” Lucien finally replied in a thick, lazy tone.
“I’ll help.” Rayland immediately beamed.
“Great!
Smart kid.
What’s your plan?” “It’s simple,” Lucien said without enthusiasm.
“Tomorrow, I’ll meet Rose and tell her I’m taking her to the festival and that we’ll meet in the town square.
You just wait there, pretending it’s a coincidence.
That way, Rose won’t suspect anything.” Rayland nodded in satisfaction, feeling that his plan was going smoothly.
After warning Lucien not to play around, Rayland left the library with light steps.
As Rayland’s shadow disappeared behind the library door, Lucien leaned back in his chair with a sigh of relief.
‘I did agree to help you, Rayland,’ Lucien thought sarcastically.
‘But that doesn’t mean I intend to betray Rose.
I helped you because I knew full well…
she would definitely reject you outright.’ For Lucien, letting Rayland face Rose’s cold fury was a free spectacle that was far more interesting than having to worry about how to reject the man himself.
In the afternoon after the academy’s dismissal period, Lucien decided not to return straight to his room.
Usually, he only came to his Aryosha scholarship dormitory room during lunch break to catch up on sleep.
However, today he felt so unlucky because he was constantly dragged into other people’s problems, that he needed a quiet place to escape.
Without knocking, Lucien pushed open Aryosha’s dormitory door and stepped inside as if it were his own room—a habit that had formed over the past few days.
Aryosha, who was standing near the bed while folding several pieces of clothing into an old bag, gasped in surprise and almost dropped his shirt.
“Ugh—!
Young Master Lucien?!” Aryosha squeaked, his eyes wide.
He had been startled too many times by the young nobleman’s presence today, and his heart couldn’t handle another heart attack.
“You…
why are you here again so late in the afternoon?
It’s not lunch break time.” Lucien ignored his friend’s surprise.
He immediately flopped onto Aryosha’s narrow bed, hugged the thin pillow, and closed his eyes comfortably.
“It was noisy out there.
The door was unlocked, so I came in.” Aryosha rubbed his chest, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
“This is a normal dorm room, Young Master Lucien!
And please don’t just lie down on my hard bed!” “Shut up, Aryosha.
I’m tired, and I told you not to call me Young Master unless someone else is around.
It’s annoying,” Lucien muttered, his voice muffled by the pillow.
“By the way, where are you going?
Why are there so many clothes scattered on your bed?” Aryosha stopped what he was doing and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
“Oh…
that.
I’m packing.
I was planning to go home for the weekend the day after tomorrow.” “Go home?” Lucien opened one eye.
“Yes.
My parents run a small food stall in the spring festival area in the town outside the academy,” Aryosha explained, lowering his voice slightly due to feeling embarrassed about his humble family background in front of a Duke’s child.
“So, I have to help them look after the stall since Saturday.” Hearing the words festival, city outside the academy, and far from strange people, Lucien’s eyes immediately snapped open.
His previously sluggish brain suddenly started spinning at breakneck speed.
If he stayed at the academy this weekend, he would surely be swarmed by Reichardt’s constant insistence on being close to him under the pretext of protecting him, be bombarded by Seilas with his annoying questions and attention, or even be held accountable by Rayland for the outcome of his date with Rose.
It was hell on earth.
On the other hand, going to a food stall amidst the festival crowds with Aryosha was the very definition of heaven on earth.
Away from the drama of royalty, away from the effects of the magnetic aura, and most importantly: he could sleep peacefully in a foreign place while eating for free.
Without thinking twice, Lucien immediately rose from his position and looked at Aryosha with sparkling eyes full of hope.
“I am coming along.” Aryosha choked on his own saliva.
He coughed a little as his eyes widened at Lucien.
“H-ha?!
What did you say?!” “I said, I want to come,” Lucien repeated casually, slumping back down on the bed.
“Wait, wait a minute!” Aryosha waved his hands frantically.
“Don’t joke around, Lucien!
You’re a high noble, the son of a Duke!
How could a noble’s son like you come to a cramped street food stall in the middle of a commoner’s festival?!” “Who cares about status?” Lucien snorted lazily.
“Instead of staying here and bleeding to death from the stress of dealing with those crazy people, I might as well go to your town.
Besides, I won’t be a bother.
I can be a dishwasher or a waiter.” Aryosha was speechless, utterly confused.
He couldn’t refuse a Duke’s son outright, but he also didn’t know how to explain to his parents if a high-ranking noble’s son suddenly came to stay at their humble home and helped serve customers at the food stall.
Today had been a truly long day for Aryosha, while Lucien was smiling with satisfaction in his heart, because his escape plan for the weekend had been perfectly arranged.