Chapter 4 - [A Starry Night For Me]

Chapter 4 – [A Starry Night For Me]

Even now, no one really knows why he wears those gloves all the time. It’s still a very big mystery.

I was also curious, but I understood that there are always going to be one or two stories that no one wants to tell.

After he put his gloves on, he touched my leg.

The feeling of his touch on my leg was a lot more rough and solid than I expected.

Perhaps it is because I always forget how amazing of a swordsman he is, that I was surprised at how perfectly strong his grip on my leg was.

“There’s nothing wrong, amazingly,” he said while carefully touching my soles and ankles.

“That’s a relief.”

“My Lady, have you perhaps already encountered monsters like this?” He asked, looking at me.

“No,” I answered thinking about it some more, “It was my first time ever seeing one of those monsters in real life, and it was the first time I’ve ever experienced something like that as well.”

“I see. . .” Theansis looked lost in his thoughts, “Maybe it was just a coincidence.”

“Is there a problem?” I asked curiously.

He shook his head in response. “It’s nothing. As I said earlier, the accident was caused due to ours and the Academy’s negligence, so if there are any further treatments you need, you can always file a claim in the Academy to have it completely paid for.”

Then, he stood up from the ground, elegantly taking off his gloves and carefully folding them into his pockets.

“Thank you for saving my life.”

When I woke up, I had asked the maid to tell him thank you on my behalf, to avoid causing extra trouble for the already busy Duke. I had forgotten to express my gratitude towards him and his actions for me because I was so starstruck at his handsomeness and his kind actions.

He blinked. “I just did what I had to do. It was our fault that the chain restraining the monster was broken and that it also attacked you.”

He was right. But if he wasn’t there, I would probably be dead. And it wouldn’t have mattered to me who had caused the accident if I had already died.

“That’s true, but it’s all thanks to you that I am still alive and safe.”

Even if it was his mistake, I was also only alive because he was there to protect me from the monster.

“It is my responsibility to do so. If it were anyone else, I would’ve saved them too.”

His tone and manner of speaking were very business-like. There was no emotion.

I felt like he was telling me that I wasn’t saved because I was special. The feeling of not being special made me feel a bit bitter, but I knew it was true.

“Nonetheless, I still wanted to thank you.”

In the bigger scheme of things, Theansis and I are two people living in two different worlds. Although I felt like it was embarrassing that I was taking up so much of his time, I know that I am lucky to have a short conversation with him.

But it’ll never happen again in my life.

“Well, I’ll be going then,” I said, turning around quickly and walking away.

But after a few steps, I stopped and turned back to him. Theansis was still looking at me with his charming violet eyes.

It’s extremely cliche, but he was someone that I could never reach, yet he sparkled so much that you couldn’t ignore him enough to truly get rid of that desire to reach him.

He was like a star in the night sky for me.

His good looks were seemingly carved with passion and soul and were capable enough to make every woman who saw him fall in love with him.

The thought that this would be the last time I would see him again gave me the courage to do something that I normally wouldn’t have done.

“Duke Theansis,” I called.

Theansis looked at me curiously when I spoke up.

“I hope that you’ll stay healthy.”

Obviously, this phrase wasn’t something that a complete stranger would say, so he might’ve thought I was crazy.

But that was something that I truly wanted to say.

‘Please, always stay healthy.’

‘Don’t be sick.’

Although he doesn’t know anything about me, and probably won’t ever think about me again, it was thanks to him and my adoration of him that I was able to survive during all the years I spent caring for my mother.

Without saying anything else, I turned back and went out of the room.

I didn’t see what expression he made when I said those words, and I didn’t think of turning my head back to see it either. I just stepped out, a weight lifted off my shoulders.

***

I left Theansis’ luxurious dorm and headed towards the front gate of the Academy.

On the way back, I noticed a few men wearing security uniforms, just talking amongst themselves.

Then they started to walk towards me.

Suddenly, one of them grabbed onto my arm and started to drag me somewhere.

I was confused and angry at why I was being caught with no reason or explanation.

“What the hell is going on?! Where are you taking me?!” I yelled in panic.

They were dragging me along like a doll. They were just too strong.

No matter what I said, the guards didn’t let go of me or give me an explanation.

“Let go of my hand.” I struggled out of their grasp, but their firm hold on me did not even budge.

Soon, they took me to the front of a building with an antique-looking wooden door.

I struggled again out of frustration, but their firm hands didn’t even budge even a little.

“I’ve picked her up, Professor,” one of them said, finally breaking their silence towards me.

“Come in,” came the reply.

Once there was permission for me to enter the building, the guards dragged me through the hallways, and pushed me into a room.

Forcefully, I fell on my knees, bringing my head up to see a person above me.

The person looking back at me was wearing a white lab coat and was also wearing silver-rimmed glasses. He had shaggy hair and an unwashed face. Perhaps if he washed and cleaned himself, he would be interestingly handsome, but the truth was that he did not.

“Who are you?”

“It was you right?” He asked, ignoring my question. “You’re the person who came for an interview for the assistant pharmacist a few days ago.”

I looked at him warily.

‘How did he know that I went into an interview for that position a few days ago?’

Suddenly I saw it. On his lab coat, the words [Alchemy Professor], were embroidered neatly.

As I thought about it some more, I figured that I had probably met him as I was leaving the lab for the interview.

“Are you the alchemy professor who is supposed to be interviewing me at that time?”

“That’s right.”

“Oh, I’m sorry about leaving so suddenly. It’s just that I remembered that something had come up, so I left.”

He stared at me for some time, before looking at me exasperatingly.

“Something came up, you say?”

My mind rushed to think of a solid excuse, but he didn’t even give me a chance to answer.

“You were the one that took the experimental liquid, right?”

I didn’t like him one bit. I had brushed off his way of talking to me since he was supposed to be my previous interviewer, but now it was just getting on my nerves.

“Are you talking about the pink liquid?”

“Yes, that’s right. The one you broke. Well from the look on your face, I don’t have to ask you anymore, I already know the answer.”

His habit of continuously cutting me off before I could fully answer was making me quite mad. The guards had also just dragged me here with no explanation, so I was in a horrible mood.

“It is true that I mistook the experimental liquid you are talking about, with something else. It wasn’t my fault either. The guy who let me in also gave that to me, so how was I supposed to know? But, look, I’m sorry that I didn’t clean up the pieces of glass. I was planning to come back and apologize. I’m sorry if you’re upset, but so am I. I didn’t ask to be dragged here just to be questioned about some liquid.”

“Excuse me?” He scoffed. “Do you know what that liquid is? Did you think that everything would just right itself after you apologized to me?”

Once again, he cut me off. This time I refused to answer him.

In some way, he was right, because I didn’t know what type of liquid it was. It could’ve been expensive or rare, which would explain why he was so angry and mad.

To be honest, I was distracted by the monster’s sudden attack, the encounter with Theansis, and the risk of having my noble title and land taken away from me that I had forgotten that I had become young again with the help of the pink liquid.

“Look, I was distracted, so I didn’t think about it. If you need compensation for the damage, I’ll pay you back somehow. Just know that my situation isn’t very good right now, so I’ll have to compensate you later.”

He sighed in exasperation. “You wouldn’t understand no matter how much I tell you. I’ll show you myself, so you can see it in real life.”

He walked to the lab located beside the office. From the lab, he brought out a small cage that contained a rat.

Lifting the cage onto a nearby lab table, he opened a drawer in one of the office cabinets and took out a pink liquid.

I could tell at a glance that it was the same liquid I had accidentally drank.

He immediately dropped the pink liquid into the cage for the rat to drink.

Squeak! Squeak!

The experimental rat that had been very much alive when he had brought it in its cage, suddenly collapsed after ingesting some of the pink liquid. The rat just lay there without any movement.

My face contorted in horror and confusion.

‘Why am I alive when the rat is dead?’