âSa-save me! What the hell is wrong with you? Huh? P-Please.â
ă Finiseo ă
As his voice echoed like a wave, black fog began to attack the students. It was a dark and mesmerising colour. The spreading smoke soon claimed the studentsâ lives. A faint scream was swallowed by the still wind. In the midst of the cold bodies, only Leto Arsene was left staring at the floor with empty eyes.
ďźÂ ďźÂ ďź
It was the moment I first saw Leto after entering the academy that I realised I was reincarnated in a novel. As soon as I saw his red hair, I knew that he was the male lead in the R19 Horror-Mystery novel âHow to Recognise the Murdererâ.
âOh, Iâm screwed.â
He was the second son born from a Duke and his lover. However, he was abused for being the son of a mistress so he had no choice but to dress up as a woman under his upright and conservative family. Having suffered from lack of affection due to being abused and neglected by his parents, he decided to commit murder for the first time at the age of 19.
do not repost our translations. read only at droppedinks.wordpress.com
And now, he is 18 years old. It was Winter. His first murder was just over a year away. Likewise, my life was also in a year. According to the novel, Leto would kill all of his classmates.
Thatâs right. I, Brisse Pierre, was Letoâs roommate and a girl in his class.
âI canât ruin my life like this!â
Iâve lived a pretty good life before I found out I was reincarnated. Though I wasnât rich, I was born as a daughter of a Baron and was loved by my parents. To repay the love of such parents, I studied hard and entered Lexley Academy, where I would naturally earn honor and wealth once I graduate.
I thought my life was just starting to bloomâŚâŚ.
âMove.â
Leto said, sharply. The two of us, who had just enrolled into Lexley Academy, were carrying our luggages. I stood awkwardly and stared at Leto. He seemed to be quite upset and did not appear pleased to be my roommate.
When I first read the book, I honestly felt sorry for Leto. It was due to his unfortunate history with his family. How many tears were shed during his childhood as he was struggling to live and trying to be loved.
âWhat are you looking at?â
Feeling my gaze, Leto looked at me with a frown. Alright, Leto. Since it has come to this, I have to try to stop the killings as well. As I was thinking so, I put my luggage down on the bed, smiled and reached out to Leto.
âHello, my name is Brisse Pierre. Feel free to call me Bree.â
Leto swerved his head at my lively greeting.
âŚCan I do this well?
ďźÂ ďźÂ ďź
And it failed, miserably. For several days, I followed Leto around and tried to get close to him. Whenever that happened, Leto would look at me as if he was in a bad mood, and blatantly rejected me.
âWhat the hell is wrong with her? She has a pretty face, but her personality is weird.â
âBree, donât play with her. Just play with us, okay?â
My classmates didnât want me to play with Leto, but I couldnât help it.
âNo, Leah is actually a kind-hearted girl.â
The children looked at me with a look of disbelief and shook their heads.
âSure, Bree. Youâre just too nice.â
âDonât try so hard. You should just give up quickly if you get tired.â
The children cheered and headed to another professorâs classroom to learn the âpoison trickâ. In our magic major, many children learned how to make poison, raise dragons and learn healing magic, but Leto and I were different.
do not repost our translations. read only at droppedinks.wordpress.com
We learned dark magic from Professor Hartz, a fierce and feisty professor. It was a subject that all the students avoided. I tried to avoid it as well, but in order to become close with Leto, I had no choice but to choose the same subject.
âLeah, letâs go together!â
Leto ignored me as I chased after him. That didnât mean I was going to give up. I sat next to him and waited for the professor to arrive. At the same time, I asked Leto several questions, to which he ignored and refused to answer.
âNo, letâs cheer up!â
Itâs a little hard, but letâs do our best to live!
Then, a rather tired Professor Hartz, entered with a yawn. He quickly skimmed over the attendance book and glanced at the five children in the classroom. Professor Hartz, who closed the attendance book without even calling for attendance, started the class straight away.
âWow, thatâs so boring!â
In a class that wasnât very nourishing, I too, almost yawned.
Oh, I shouldnât fall asleepâŚ.I glanced at Leto and saw him diligently jotting something down. Inspired by Letoâs enthusiasm to learn, I tried to grab my pen again, but then, Professor Hartz looked at Leto.
âYou, get out.â
All of a sudden, he dismissed Leto.
âI donât understand.â
When Leto asked, Professor Hartz looked displeased and frowned.
âYou are not suitable for black magic.â
ââŚ..!â
I was puzzled at first, but it then dawned on me. Leto was going to kill all our classmates using black magic a year from now. Oh my god, why did I only think of this now! Professor Hartz urged him to leave, probably because of the unusual feeling Leto gave off.
âGo on, leave.â
Leto eventually sprang up from his seat with a face stiff from anger. I held my breath as he slammed the door shut and left.
âThis is a huge problem.â
Professor Hartz started the class again as if nothing had happened, but no words would enter my ears. I was only worried about Leto. When the class was finally over, I hurried up from my seat but Professor Hartz stopped me.
âYouâre friends with that kid, arenât you?â
ââŚâŚI am.â
âThat kid. Sheâs dangerous. Donât get too close with her.â
âThank you for the advice!â
I donât care!
I quickly left the classroom to search for a place Leto would possibly go to. I tried searching the bathroom, but he wasnât there. I then thought he could be in the classroom, but he wasnât there either. Trying to find Leto in the large Lexley Academy was similar to looking for James West in Seoul. [1]
âWhere the hell are you?â
After circling around the academy, I became exhausted and returned to the dormitory. Suddenly, a familiar back appeared in front of me. Leto was at the rabbit farm in front of the dormitory. I unknowingly froze at the sight of him touching the rabbit.
Is he trying to kill it? I hurried after him, but soon found Leto smiling, stroking the rabbitâs head.
âAhâŚâ
No.
Staring at Letoâs figure, I slowly approached him. Leto, who was petting the rabbit with a gentle expression, got up in a hurry. He glared at me, unlike how he stared at the rabbit.
âThere you are, I was looking for you.â
âWhat?â
ââŚI think Professor Hartzâs words were too harsh. So, donât worry too much.â
I approached Leto, slowly.
âStay away.â
âLeah.â
âBecause youâre annoying.â
ââŚ..Huh?â
âItâs very disillusioning for you to pretend to be close with me. Itâs annoying. Do you know how much I want to push you away? If you come any closer, Iâll really push you back.â
Oh. So scary.
âLeah, I truly want to be close to you.â
âItâs disgusting. Really.â
Leto looked at me with a frown.
âI canât promise what Iâll do to you if you get any closer.â
I flinched at his dreadful remark. No way, donât tell me youâre going to kill me?
âIt wonât be a big deal for my family to ruin a family like yours.â
âWhat?â
âSo donât get close. Got it?â
I never thought heâd involve my family or parents. It seems that my trying to get close to him has failed.
âŚ.Then what should I do now?
Am I going to die like this?
I canât do that! I need to find a solution. A solution!
ďźÂ ďźÂ ďź
It was midnight. I quietly looked at Leto who had his back turned and noticed that he wasnât sleeping. I carefully rose up when I saw his shoulders tremble as if he had a nightmare. I could see Letoâs red hair under the moonlight. A girl with long, red hair hanging down her shoulders, white skin, and a pretty dress.
Leto Arsene.
âŚ.youâre pretty even though I know youâre a man. I gulped. Alright, this was the perfect timing.
âH-hey, Leah.â
When I called Leto by his fake name âLeahâ, he turned his head. Leahâs face, which was staring at me curtly as if asking why he was called, came into my sight. His red hair and black eyes. A three-dimensional face, sculpted eyes, and a cute nose tip. His red lips were alluring.
âWhat?â
He asked sharply, I took a deep breath and said,
âI-I like you.â
I confessed. My heart throbbed as I pretended to be shy and spoke with my face slightly lowered. Leto was embarrassed by my abrupt confession and said nothing. It was dark in the room due to the dark clouds overshadowing the moonlight. Then, he finally opened his mouth.
âIâmâŚa girl though?â
Huh?
âAnd youâre a girl, too.â
Oh, god.
Weâre the same gender right now.
Yup. I was screwed from the start.
[1] A saying for very hard to find; finding a needle in a haystack.