CH 43

“The Ancient Sun” was not a problem twisted and entangled in metaphorical and poetic expressions. Although everyone expected it to be that way, it was pointing to the answer very directly.

If Riett’s thoughts were correct, the answer to the problem was an “ancient sun’s stone.” It was a simple problem, but no one would have easily come up with the answer. 

As stated in this book, the sunstone gradually disappeared from daily life as magical stones became more prevalent. This was because most people didn’t know if such a substance as a sunstone even existed. Riett herself didn’t know until she read this book.

Riett’s mind was spinning with thoughts. The concept of the sunstone was similar to solar thermal energy from a past life. However, while artificial devices like heat collectors were used there, here it was merely utilizing a mineral called a sunstone.

The sunstone had a clear disadvantage compared to magical stones. When used for a long time, the efficiency of the mineral itself decreased, reducing the amount of solar energy that could be stored during the day. As a result, the energy would be depleted before the next day’s sunrise.

And there, Riett was certain. The deteriorated building of the school perfectly matched the drawbacks of the sunstone.

‘That damn clock tower.’

It worked perfectly during the day but seemed to discharge in the evening as if it had malfunctioned.

She thought it was broken, but it wasn’t. It was just that the solar energy charged during the day was depleted after sunset.

If the power source of the clock was a sunstone instead of a magical stone, everything made sense.

Furthermore, the public noble school had been established for several hundred years, and many of its facilities had aged. One of the aging structures was the clock tower.

Realizing that everything fits together perfectly, Riett abruptly got out of bed. She had to confirm her speculation immediately.

* * *

Riett rushed out of her room and ran to the stables, riding Atom in a hurry to reach the school.

It was quite late, and all the lights in the school were off. Naturally, there was no one in sight.

Riett walked slowly, moving her steps, and stood in front of the clock tower.

As she had expected, the clock’s hands were moving slowly, pointing to the wrong places.

‘Where could the entrance be?’

However, seeing that it worked normally during the day, someone must come and return the clock hands to their original positions at a certain time every day. Instead of going through such trouble, they should have replaced the sunstone with a magical stone long ago.

Muttering to herself, Riett found the entrance to the clock tower by feeling the walls as she walked around it. Soon, she found something resembling a door handle.

With a slight tug, the rusty sound of metal scraping against metal echoed. It sent a shiver down her spine due to the eerie sound.

‘But since there’s no one around now, it’s suitable to go and check.’

Riett firmly made up her mind and entered the dimly lit clock tower.

With each step she took on the wooden stairs, they creaked and made a squeaking sound. It was impressive that they hadn’t collapsed yet, considering their state of decay.

In the darkness, she ascended many stairs with tension. Finally, she saw the end.

Without hesitation, Riett opened the door in front of her. As the door opened, a faint light seeped out.

And soon, a fascinating sight unfolded before her.

Surrounded by a massive clock, leaves were busy moving, and in the central space, a sunstone emitted a gentle yellow light, floating in the air.

During the day, the ceiling was made of glass to allow the sunstone to absorb solar energy.

Riett slowly took steps, feeling a sense of wonder in this new world. She cautiously approached the center of the space and observed the sunstone emitting a faint light.

‘I wonder if I can take this sunstone with me.’

Upon closer inspection, she noticed that both sides of the sunstone were tightly secured by clamps. She tried pulling them with force, but they didn’t budge.

Thinking that she should explore the surroundings further, Riett began walking around. Soon, she discovered a part of the wooden floor that resembled marble.

Feeling a sense of peculiarity from the unusual floor material, Riett gingerly extended her foot onto it. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to trigger any dangerous mechanisms. After ensuring her safety, Riett climbed onto the marble-like platform.

And then, at that moment,

Wooosh!

The area around the sunstone vibrated, and the clamps that had been holding it in place fell off.

‘Great…!’

Overjoyed at uncovering the secret, Riett took a step forward to grab the sunstone. However, the clamps vibrated once again, tightly gripping the sunstone.

‘No way…’

Growing desperate, Riett quickly climbed back onto the platform. She tried her best to move swiftly and reached out her hand towards the sunstone that had been released from the clamps.

But it was futile. The moment she lifted her foot from the platform, the clamps swiftly retracted, taking the sunstone away.

Riett slumped to the floor. She fully understood why the principal had organized the election as a pair.

‘I can’t retrieve it alone in the first place.’

She couldn’t fathom what kind of device was set on that marble-like floor, but it required someone to step on it to unlock the sunstone and take it away. 

Even when she tried dragging a nearby box onto it, the device didn’t respond, seemingly designed to react only to humans. Yet, if she tried to use another heavy object, she might risk the old wooden staircase collapsing.

In other words, at least two people needed to be present to retrieve the sunstone.

‘Now what?’

Originally, Riett planned to ask Lucas to be her partner tomorrow. But now that she had already discovered the solution, even if Lucas became her partner, he could only assist her in retrieving the sunstone.

In such a situation, who would agree to be her partner?

At that moment, another person crossed her mind.

‘Has Evan figured out the solution?’

He had mentioned running in the election. Perhaps she could ask him for a favor…

‘No way…!’

Riett immediately shook her head. She lost her mind for a moment. It would be much better to ask Lucas for help than Evan.

Riett stood up from her spot, dusting off her backside. It seemed like she would have to talk to Lucas tomorrow about this problem and its related issues.

* * *

Riett had a restless night. The joy of finding the solution quickly faded as the partner issue became a significant obstacle.

With a stern expression, she stepped out of the mansion’s front door and saw Evan.

‘Why is this guy here at our house this morning?’

Riett didn’t hide her wariness and asked without greeting him first.

“Why don’t you start with a greeting if you saw me?” 

Evan replied with a smile, seemingly amused by her reaction.

“You say hello first. That’s what people who are sorry do.”

“Hello, Riett.”

Even with the casual greeting, Riett’s strained expression did not relax.

“Can we talk for a moment? It’ll only take 10 minutes.”

‘Hmm…’

It had been a long time since someone came to her house this early in the morning. Riett hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded reluctantly.

“I’m quite busy, but I can spare some time.”

She was curious about why he came. Besides, she had come out quite early, so there was enough time for a 10-minute conversation.

They sat in the carriage for a brief chat.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing with the election problem.”

When the issue came up, Riett became enthusiastic.

‘I already know the answer!’

But after a moment of smugness, Riett’s expression slowly hardened.

‘Why are you suddenly talking about the problem…?’

Could it be…?

“You… Did you figure out the answer?”

If that was the case, it would be the worst outcome.

Evan didn’t answer immediately but smiled mischievously. Riett’s pupils trembled in response to his relaxed demeanor.

“What… Did you really figure it out?!”

“No.”

…Ah. She was fooled again.

Even though Riett knew that Evan enjoyed her reactions like this, she fell for it every time.

“But why are you asking?”

“I thought you figured it out, Riett.”

The sharp point made her flinch.

‘Uh, how did you know?’

Did he see her go to the clock tower last night?

No, he was just asking, so she had to pretend not to know for now. 

It was still too dangerous to reveal to anyone that she knew the answer.

“No……? I haven’t figured it out yet either.”

“You figured it out.”

At Evan’s firm statement, Riett was taken aback once again.

“But I didn’t!”

“Your lie is transparent, Riett.”

He said that and met Riett’s eyes with a calm gaze.

“For example, you glance upward from time to time, and your lips slightly part.”

Did she do that?

She had an unconscious habit she wasn’t aware of. She would have to be more careful when lying. There was no other choice now that she was caught. She could only admit it.

“Yeah, I figured it out a while ago.”

In reality, she had only found out yesterday, but there was no need to honestly disclose that.

“I had a feeling you would figure it out, Riett.”

It was an unexpected compliment. Although he rarely did this, sometimes he would catch her off guard like this. At such moments, she became unsure how to react, feeling awkward.

‘It hasn’t been 10 minutes yet…?’

Just as Riett began to feel anxious, Evan spoke again.

“Did you find a partner?”

Her restlessness quickly dissipated. Evan seemed to accurately grasp what Riett was contemplating, even to an astonishing degree.

“Not yet.”

“Now that you’ve figured out the answer, it will be difficult to find a partner. No one will volunteer to be your partner.”

And he accurately pinpointed the situation she was in.

Riett inwardly admired Evan’s ability to understand her thoughts so accurately. At that time, she foolishly entertained the thought that he was going to make it big when opening a fortune-telling shop.

“I’ll do it, Riett.”

Riett’s head jerked up.

“What…?”

“I’ll be your partner, I said.”

Her expression brightened for a moment, but soon her eyes narrowed.

“…And what do you gain from that?”

It was an incredibly generous offer, but she couldn’t accept it so easily. There was no such thing as help without a price.

“I’ll regain my rival.”

For a moment, Riett was surprised by the unexpected response, but Evan chuckled and added,

“I can’t consider someone who’s just ranked fifth as my rival.”

He had spoken similarly during the dance party.

When Evan mentioned rankings, a heat surged through her head.

“Isn’t it a bad proposition?”

But she despised herself for not being able to easily refuse this offer. However, she couldn’t just accept it without hesitation.

“…Even if it’s not you, I have someone who can be my partner.”

“Lucas?”

It was just a casual remark, but Evan’s tone instantly became sharp.