Chapter 200: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

Chapter 200

A sharp clash echoed in his ears as sword met sword.

His opponent was his only family and mentor, a woman with hair as black as ebony.

Although crossing swords with her had become a daily routine, it didn’t mean he had grown accustomed to it.

“Si-woo, didn't I tell you to focus entirely when you swing your sword?”

“Ugh...!”

See, even now, she was mercilessly targeting him, exploiting the slightest lapse in his concentration.

Maybe it was because she believed that fighting against someone stronger was the best way to improve.

Whenever she sparred with him, she always maintained just enough of a gap so that he found her difficult to handle but not impossible to defeat.

Even though she often said that he was growing at a frightening pace, the disparity he felt when facing her had never changed.

So, he had to pour everything he had into his sword whenever he faced her.

He needed to, and yet—

"Ah."

Maybe it was because he couldn't suppress his stray thoughts, but his mind wavered.

He reacted half a beat too slow and saw her sword rushing toward his neck.

She rarely held back, so that sword would likely strike his neck.

Preparing himself for the pain and resolving to focus more next time, he closed his eyes. Just then, her sword halted abruptly in front of his neck.

He looked at her blankly, wondering why. She sighed deeply and muttered, staring at him.

“Haa, let’s call it a day. With your mind so preoccupied, a proper sparring session seems difficult.”

Yoon Si-woo gave a bitter smile at Lucy’s words.

She wasn’t wrong.

His mind was, indeed, in disarray.

Letting out a weary sigh, Yoon Si-woo plopped down on the spot and closed his eyes, lost in thought.

“I killed him.”

His mind was filled with images of Luke.

Did people know?

That most of what he said yesterday was a lie?

Probably not.

He had lied, saying everything Luke had said was the truth.

He didn’t like lying.

But he had no choice.

There was something both he and Luke wanted to protect, no matter what.

So, even if his lie resulted in Luke being falsely accused of murder, he convinced himself it couldn’t be helped.

He never imagined it would lead to this outcome.

“……”

In the end, he and Luke both achieved their goal of protecting Scarlet.

He did it by lying.

Luke did it by taking his own life.

He had been utterly shocked when he heard the news this morning that Luke had died.

He had underestimated Luke’s resolve.

He never imagined Luke would go so far as to sacrifice himself to hide Scarlet’s existence.

But that was all there was to it.

Luke had made his choice, and he hadn’t realized Luke would go to such lengths, so there was no need to feel guilty.

That was all there was to it, and yet—

“Ha……”

He couldn’t help but think about it.

What if Luke died because he had lied?

He remembered Luke’s face as he left the assembly hall, looking like he had done enough.

If he had noticed then, if he had pleaded with him not to do it, could he have stopped him?

Those thoughts came to him now and then.

“Si-woo.”

Just then, he heard Lucy’s voice close by, calling his name.

Guided by her gentle tug, he naturally laid his head on her lap.

Through her hand softly caressing his head, he saw her eyes, as black as pearls.

She didn’t say anything, but he felt like he could hear her.

That it wasn’t his fault, and it would be okay.

He felt a little more at ease.

Maybe he just needed some comfort.

So, it should be fine for just today.

With his eyes closed, Yoon Si-woo quietly accepted Lucy’s touch.

* * *

After a brief rest, Yoon Si-woo got up and found a text message on his phone.

[Yoon Si-woo, can we meet and talk for a moment?]

The content wasn’t particularly special.

But as soon as he saw who it was from, Yoon Si-woo’s breath caught.

The sender was Mark Aegis.

The principal of Aegis Academy.

And at the same time, Luke’s older brother.

Honestly, he felt awkward facing him now, but he couldn’t just refuse outright either.

When he replied with, “Where should I go?” he quickly received a message saying to come to the Academy’s principal’s office.

What could he want to talk about?

Worried, Yoon Si-woo made his way to the Academy grounds for the first time in a while.

When he reached the principal’s office and opened the door, he found Mark flipping through some documents, seemingly busy with some work. When Mark noticed him, he spoke up.

“...You’re here.”

“Ah, yes…”

Even as he answered, he struggled to hide his discomfort.

Honestly, there was nothing he could do about it.

No matter how much he told himself it was okay, the guilt hadn’t completely gone away, and it was hard to look directly at Mark, who must have been devastated by Luke’s death.

So, determined to finish this quickly, he spoke to Mark.

“Um... What did you want to talk about?”

“Ah, well…”

Mark hesitated, looking troubled by his question.

Seeing this, Yoon Si-woo thought to himself that he wished they could just get it over with as soon as possible.

“...I wanted to check if Yoon Si-woo lied at yesterday’s meeting. That’s why I called you.”

His face stiffened at the words that suggested he was suspicious of him.

Had he realized that he lied?

No, it wasn’t certain yet.

He’d said he called to confirm it, after all.

Reminding himself not to show any signs of agitation, Yoon Si-woo tried to maintain his composure as he asked Mark.

“...Lied? What do you mean?”

“Even though we had your help in verifying the truth, we can’t actually know if you were lying or not, right? There were some parts of what Luke said that seemed a bit suspicious. So I was wondering if you and Luke were possibly conspiring together.”

“I wasn’t conspiring with him.”

His heart was pounding, but he spoke confidently, as if it was nothing.

After all, there was no way for them to confirm if he had lied or not.

If they had such a method, they wouldn’t have needed his help in the first place.

After his firm denial, Mark stared at him for a moment.

Then, in a low voice, he muttered,

“Scarlet Evande.”

At the name that slipped from Mark’s lips, he involuntarily flinched, thinking to himself, *How did he...*

And as if in response to his thoughts, Mark asked again.

“Is it that child?”

At that moment, what would have been the right answer?

Should he have said no?

Or maybe feigned ignorance?

But caught off guard by the mention of the name of the person they had tried so hard to keep hidden, he couldn’t say anything.

He could feel the cracks forming in the poker face he had been desperately maintaining.

And as he saw the look of certainty forming in Mark’s eyes as he watched him, Yoon Si-woo realized he had made a grave mistake.

“...So that’s how it was. Luke was trying to hide her existence... Which means she was the subject of that experiment.”

The words that came out of Mark’s mouth sounded as if he had figured everything out.

*How did he know?* he wondered, then realized it didn’t matter anymore.

It was all over once everything was exposed.

He and Luke’s efforts to protect her existence, even at the cost of Luke’s life, had come to nothing.

Yoon Si-woo looked at the man before him.

What could he be thinking?

Maybe he was cursing her for driving his brother to death.

Maybe he would reveal her identity to the world and seek revenge.

If that were the case, what should he do?

Yoon Si-woo quietly watched the man before him.

The man who had discovered Scarlet’s true identity.

If that was the case, then before that could happen, it would be better to—

“Um, could you not look at me so scarily…?”

Lost in thought, he was startled when he heard the man’s voice.

The man shivered as if terrified, then let out a bitter smile and muttered.

“I have a rough idea of what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. I don’t plan on spreading this around.”

The Holy Sword of Truth told him that what the man was saying was true.

But Yoon Si-woo, still unconvinced, stared blankly at him and asked,

“...Really?”

“Yes, so try to relax.”

At Mark’s words, telling him to relax, Yoon Si-woo realized he had been glaring at him and blinked a few times.

He saw Mark smiling serenely.

He didn’t seem to be lying, which relieved some of the tension, but it was still hard to trust his words.

After all, this was directly related to his brother’s death.

Moreover, given his position in the Central Committee, it wouldn’t be easy for him to just overlook someone associated with a witch.

So, he voiced his doubt to Mark.

“...Why won’t you say anything?”

“Why, huh…”

Mark chuckled softly at the question.

“Well, there are various reasons. I owe her a debt, and she seemed like a good kid when I met her. But more than anything…”

“...”

“When Luke talked about her, he would smile.”

It was a smile filled with both sadness and longing.

“The fact that Luke made such a choice means he didn’t want her identity revealed, even at that cost. She must have been that important to him. He was a good brother... so I want to respect his final wishes.”

Mark shook his head as if to shake off his melancholy, then said,

“I hope you believe me now. If you ever need to talk about her or anything else, come see me. For the sake of my brother, I’ll help as much as I can. Anyway, now that I know what’s going on, that’s all I needed.”

“...Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear your lie, so you can go.”

Yoon Si-woo bowed deeply to Mark, expressing his sincere gratitude.

Mark waved his hand dismissively, but even so, Yoon Si-woo didn’t straighten up for a while.

He was truly, truly grateful.

After all, Mark had spared him from the worst-case scenario he had feared.

---

After Yoon Si-woo left, Mark was handling the remaining work alone in the principal’s office.

The door opened, and someone walked in.

Since there were only a few people who would come here, Mark greeted the visitor without even looking up.

“You’re here?”

“...Mark, I’ve told you, you can speak casually with me.”

“How could I do that? You’re far senior to me.”

Only then did Mark raise his head to look at the person who had entered.

It was Eve, the acting principal and a teacher at the academy.

One of the few people with whom he could speak freely.

Eve, who had been smiling gently at Mark’s words, cautiously asked him,

“Did Si-woo come by?”

“Yes, I told him what we discussed.”

“...I see. So, you decided to keep it quiet.”

“You wanted that, didn’t you? And I don’t have any strong objections either.”

At this, Eve gave a bitter smile and murmured softly.

“...Thank you.”

“...Please, stop patting my head in thanks. I’m well past that age, and I’m already starting to lose some hair, so I’m taking care of it.”

“Oh, sorry... I did it out of habit.”

Mark chuckled as he watched Eve awkwardly withdraw her hand.

“If it were him, he probably would’ve liked it, even at this age.”

“...You mean Luke?”

“Yes, back when he was young, he used to say he’d marry you when he grew up.”

Mark stared into the distance as if recalling fond memories from the past.

“If that was the case, he should have become the principal himself. But no, he left it to me, saying he didn’t have the guts to lie to people.”

“...”

“...Yet yesterday, I saw him lie without hesitation. That bastard…”

Without realizing it, Mark’s eyes grew red and teary, and Eve silently reached out to hold his hand.

A while later, after calming himself, Mark, still holding Eve’s hand, thought about his brother who had left this world.

Even in a place he had tried to run away from, he had become deeply involved.

Maybe, that was the fate of the Aegis family.

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