I Start with a Bad Hand!

As if truly living up to his reputation as a scoundrel, Logan exerted all his energy to open Dietrich’s heart just as he had seduced naive girls in the capital. At dusk, like ivy climbing a wall, he would ascend to Dietrich’s window and whisper sweet nothings.

Logan was incompetent in most areas of life and foolish to boot. However, in matters of love, he wasn’t foolish. He didn’t truly give his heart to the daughter of a rural lord, not believing in notions like ‘love at first sight’ or ‘soulmates.’

To Logan, Dietrich was merely a source of entertainment in the dull countryside, a mere plaything. Unlike Dietrich, who had nowhere else to place her heart, Logan had plenty of diversions in life aside from her.

This precarious relationship continued until right before I was possessed into this world, and just before Logan entered the academy, an accident occurred. It was an accident that shook Dietrich’s life again after she had been expelled from the ducal house—an accident that resulted in a broken leg.

With the information flooding in, my head was spinning. Still crouching down, unable to compose myself, the librarian looked at me with a concerned expression.

“I’m sorry, I think I’ve been studying too hard.”

“I must have been looking at books for too long without eating,” I managed to say, forcing a smile though my voice barely came out. The librarian, who had seen me coming and going in the old library a few times, seemed quite worried about a freshman who hadn’t moved for hours in a sunless spot. “Should I call someone for you?” the librarian asked, to which I replied that I might be fine after resting a bit, then I turned my gaze back to Logan.

Logan had been probing me, or rather Dietrich.

Even though Dietrich was from a baronial family, she was undoubtedly a noble’s child. Being involved in an incident that resulted in breaking the leg of a noble lady could hardly be shrugged off, even among nobles, but Logan seemed to have drawn his own conclusions from the absence of any protest letter from Baron Degoph.

Whether Dietrich remembered the events leading up to her fall or not, or even if she remembered, she was still in love with him enough not to hold a grudge.

Unfortunately, it was neither. Dietrich’s physiological reaction alone made it clear. She was rejecting Logan on a visceral level. In a way, it was somewhat pitiable that Dietrich, who remained calm even in the presence of a member of the Elexion Ducal House, only showed such strong aversion to Logan.

The shock of being betrayed by someone she liked was greater than being abandoned by her own family.

‘Heartless bastard.’

I cursed Logan inwardly, forcing myself to smile at him.

“It really has been a long time. When did you go back to the capital?”

“Uh, um? I don’t remember? Because of enrolling in the academy… maybe it was the winter before last? I went back home then…”

Logan seemed flustered, yet he was trying to gauge why Dietrich had asked that question. I continued with a regretful expression.

“Ah, actually… um, I had an accident where I fell down the stairs, and I must have hit my head because I can’t really remember anything from around that time.”

So maybe that’s why I didn’t even know I had gone back. I thought it was odd, thinking there’s no way you would leave without saying anything… I trailed off, and Logan’s face visibly brightened, though his eyes still held a cautious watch over me. He seemed worried that Dietrich, with nowhere else to turn, might cling to him even here at the academy.

Such obvious stupidity on display, Logan’s expressions transparent as distilled water, made me want to ask Dietrich even more questions.

Dietrich… why on earth did you get involved with such a guy?

No charm, no brains, no agreeable qualities at all in this man…

Whether or not he knew of my internal outcry, the cause of it, Logan, fortunately declared, “Good to hear you’re okay then! I’ll be off!” and disappeared like the wind. Watching Logan hastily retreat without a hint of dignity or grace, I couldn’t help but call out Dietrich’s name again in frustration.

Dietrich… why, just why.

Even after Logan had left, the dizziness remained, as did the nausea. Eventually, I had no choice but to lean against the cold wall for a long while to cool my head. But soon, I had to force myself to move.

A class on regional studies, notoriously difficult, was about to start. I cried out in frustration, cursing my uncooperative body.

“No, I can’t miss this class—it’s only the second one!”

Skipping the class wasn’t an option if I wanted to keep up with the relentless pace, akin to a runaway train. As much as I wanted to retreat to the dormitory and rest, the consequences of missing such a fast-paced lesson terrified me.

Gathering the last remnants of my will, I pushed off the wall and slowly moved forward, but someone walking behind me stopped. Maybe I was blocking the way, I thought, and stood still with my head bowed. However, panting and breathing heavily must have looked odd because the person who was walking behind me stopped their path and turned back toward me.

“Lady?”

The shock of seeing a turtle and then being startled by a pot lid. Even though it was blotchy, the golden hair reminded me of Logan’s blond locks. Even if, strictly speaking, Logan was more of the pot lid and the Second Prince more the turtle, or rather, a golden tortoise.

Finally overwhelmed by nausea, I collapsed to the ground once again, retching emptily.

“What’s…?”

The Second Prince, out of character, was flustered as he sat down beside me to check my condition. It seemed he wasn’t concerned that I had retched upon seeing him. I forced myself back up with great effort.

“You look very pale. Are you unwell?”

“…I’m fine.”

I managed to suppress the urge to vomit and answered the Second Prince’s question, hoping he would just leave. However, like a persistent fly, he continued to hover around me.

“It looks like you can barely walk. If you need support…”

“I can make it to the classroom on my own. It’s close.”

Normally, I would have declined politely, but my nerves were too frayed to wait for him to finish speaking. The prince frowned at my response.

“Lady, I understand your feelings, but don’t be stubborn.”

Ah, why does he keep calling me ‘Lady’? It wasn’t just my nerves that were frayed—it seemed my patience for enduring the prince’s nonsense had also snapped. Words burst forth before I could stop them.

“You well know I am not a princess. If this is mockery, perhaps save it for another time. Today, I am not in a state to endure the embarrassment you seem to desire.”

I held back the rest of what I wanted to say, pleading internally for him to just disappear, and met his gaze squarely—though I soon had to lower my head again.

Surely, a single retort wouldn’t sever the lineage of the Degoph family. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t actually a bloodline… Could I be arrested on the spot for insulting royalty, given this was inside the academy? This shouldn’t count as impudence here.

Reassuring myself with the academy’s principles that I had once mocked, I tried to calm my uneasy mind. The prince withdrew his hand that had been reaching out to me. He stood silently for a while.

When I lifted my head to gauge his expression, he looked stern. As our eyes met, he spoke in an even lower voice, his jaw tensed with seriousness.

“I’m not mocking you. I’m concerned.”

“…!”

“But if that’s how you see it, I understand. I’ll leave you be then.”

His words left a heavy silence hanging between us, a complex mix of relief and lingering tension clouding the air.

As he spoke, the Second Prince turned his back with a cold expression and walked towards the classroom. I barely managed to find my way to the classroom, feeling so faint that I barely remembered how I even got there. I managed to find a seat and collapsed into it.

As expected, the lecture didn’t register in my ears. The professor’s words buzzed around me like a dull drone. Clutching the pen as if it was a lifeline, I forced myself to take notes, knowing that understanding was elusive but hoping that writing something down would help me endure the next class.

‘I need to write something to survive the next time.’

Struggling to keep my eyes open, I wished desperately for a pain reliever. By the end of the class, I felt half-conscious and immediately rested my forehead on the cold desk, exhausted.

‘Nausea, dizziness, and a headache… It’s not that my body is in severe pain. A little rest and I should be able to get up and walk.’

I thought perhaps if I had rested after encountering Logan, I might have recovered by now, but forcing myself to attend the class seemed to have delayed my recovery.

I lay there, feeling the coldness pleasantly rising as I heard the sounds of other students gradually leaving the classroom. I could go to the infirmary, but it was quite far from my dormitory.

‘If I tried to go now, I might end up sleeping in the hallway and not getting there until tomorrow morning. Next time, I should carry some medicine with me, just in case this happens again…’ As these thoughts blurred with my fading consciousness, I heard a soft thud.

‘…Who is it? A security guard?’

Using the little strength left in my sliding arms to push myself up, I noticed a transparent bottle containing some liquid placed in front of me. As I lifted my head to see who it was, surprisingly, it was the Second Prince, looking at me with a slightly tilted expression.

“This is…”

As I reached out in confusion towards the bottle, the Second Prince pulled it back.

‘What, is he taking it back after giving it?’