The tests have begun to select the students who would be part of Professor Bentleyâs mentoring classes. Students who had a thing for Professor Bentley didnât skip a beat in partaking, it was after all a test that would give them a chance and an excuse to see him. Lariensa and I, however, were just forced to participate.
Since weâre still freshmen in this academy, there are some things we surely havenât learned just yet, right? But, thatâs fine! I can definitely pass this. Iâve been studying so hard for days!
Even though I told Lara to purposely get all the answers wrong, I studied hard in case Professor Bentley would do something about it, so I did my best and took the test, and somehow, I eventually got accepted.
HoweverâŚ
âI couldnât believe Lariensaâs score on this test. A student whoâs supposed to be good at history has a score like this? As a history professor, itâs undeniably my job to supervise a student like her.â
Woof woof! Arf arf! Bark bark!
Can you believe this dog barking some nonsense!?
Professor Bentley deliberately passed Lariensa even though she purposely got all the items wrong.
And as for me, I barely managed to pass the test by a hairâs width. It was too difficult for a freshman to even answer.
Of course, there were a few students who passed his test, but Professor Bentley used some tricks to remove some of them.
âPlease write down why we should learn history, what history means to you, and then submit your thoughts as a paper.â
Even if we submit a paper, it will still just be scored subjectively. Iâm sure heâs going to put Lariensa on it no matter what.
âOh, Lariensa doesnât need to submit one because I can feel her passion to learn history.â
See.
When there were no students left anymore, he went towards Lariensa and said something to her discreetly.
And this got me agitated.
Even though I know Iâll drop this class in the future, I had no choice but to write my paper all night long. I just canât leave Lariensa alone with him!
On the deadline, surely, I almost saw my spirit trying to leave my body.
I then proceeded to the faculty room to submit my paper, ugly-looking with tissue on my nostrils.
âMarilyn Launer.â
There I was wondering who was that guy standing in the hallway, it seemed to Sibel.
Sniff! I pulled out the bloody tissue out of my nose and faced him as he stood in my way.
âYou shouldnât hand that in.â
I also know that, you know? Who are you kidding?
âYou donât have to care.â
âEven if you pass, youâd better not go to his classes.â
Thereâs no way Sibel doesnât know about him. Thereâs no way he doesnât know what Professor Bentley is like.
He must have instinctively recognized this man as someone who has bad intentions towards Lariensa.
âBut I still have to do this. I canât let Lara be alone with that bastard.â
I tried to walk past Sibel, but he stood in my way again. Maybe because I called him out last time before when he touched me that he didnât do so right now.
Tsk, he keeps blocking my way.
âDidnât I tell you before to stay out of my sight?â
âWhy are you bringing that up now?â
âAre you doing this on purpose? You keep doing things that bother me.â
âI didnât ask you to be bothered about it though..â
âDonât hand in your paper. Iâm sure you wonât be able to pass, and even if you will, you shouldnât go.â
âYou know that youâre being too nosy right now, right?â
âI canât help it. Iâm a nice and kind student who canât turn a blind eye to a friend in need.â
Heh, thatâs funny. How long are you going to keep up that facade?
âI am still not sure whether Lara would actually be included or not, so I have to prepare for the worst.â
âI think youâre the one whoâs being too nosy.â
âLaraâs my friend.â
âHave you actually been in a dangerous situation?â
âWhat do you mean by that?â
âWhen you are in a really tough and scary situation, you become on your own â no one suddenly remembers you as their friend or family.â
Is it related to his past? I have no idea about Sibelâs past before the storyline in the novel. I just came to this world with everyone already having their own defining characteristics and backgrounds.
âI donât have to put myself in that situation, and I wonât in the future. Because Iâm going to make sure that itâs not gonna happen.â
My words went past by him. Then he just simply stepped out of the way.
When you are in a really tough and scary situation, you become on your own?
What does he mean by that?
âŚSigh, I donât know anymore.
Protecting Lara is already too much for me right now, what more trying to probe about Sibelâs past. Thereâs no need for me to know about it.
Creakâ
I opened the door of the faculty room and submitted my paper to Professor Bentley.
âGood job, Marilyn. I hope youâll get a good result.â
Iâll get good results if you let me through.
âYes, professor. I hope so, too. Lariensa felt uncomfortable taking this class alone.â
ââŚâŚâ
âIf it wasnât for her sake, I wouldnât have bothered myself to enroll in this class.â
âHaha, Iâm fine with you doing that.â
âBut Lariensaâs not fine with it though.â
ââŚâŚâ
Facing Professor Bentley who has the same eye color as Marilynâs, no, as I do now, I purposely smiled even more brightly.
âI trust professor to give me a fair evaluation.â
As I turned my back on him, my face immediately turned sour.
Well, I guess his expression is also the same as mine as he looked at me from behind.
ďź ďź ďź
It was now nighttime, and Professor Bentley, who was known to be diligent, was still inside the faculty room.
His desk contained carefully written papers by other students, but in his eyes, they were all rubbish. For him, there was something more important than those papers.
Bentley entirely focused on one thing on his desk. Amidst the dozens of papers, there contained a portrait of a girl.
âNo matter how hard I try, I canât capture her beauty.â
Eventually, he even crushed his own drawings which he drew relentlessly, and approached the window to look up at the sky. The stars in the night sky were shining so brightly today. It looked so much like that childâs blond hair that he couldnât help but think of her.
âLariensaâŚâ
While carefully calling out her name, he recalled Lariensaâs innocent smile. She was naive and timid, and rarely showed her smiling face, but Bentley already saw her smile. When she is with her friends, she smiles like someone her age.
âIndeed, when she is with her friendsâŚâ
Especially with that Marilyn Launer.
ă âYes, professor. Lariensa felt uncomfortable taking this class alone.â ă
âThat lovely child. My Lariensa!â
He couldnât say that to her.
Bentley could recognize Lariensa at first sight.
She was very similar to his first love, and the woman who would surely become his last love.
Lariensa doesnât know about it because she doesnât even have a chance to talk to him right now, but she will realize it soon.
âThe fact that we are each otherâs destiny.â
Thatâs what he thought.
âBut that Marilyn Launer⌠that damn Ginger.â
[T/N: In Chapter 3, it was stated that Marilynâs nickname is Ginger.]
The man who took away his first love was also red-haired.
Frickinâ Ginger!
Because of his anger, Bentley threw Marilynâs paper into the trash can without hesitation. The school janitors would be cleaning the faculty room early in the morning before the other professors enter anyway â and so he became quite complacent in throwing the paper due to this fact.
Bentley was preparing to leave the faculty room when suddenlyâŚ
A cold wind blew from behind.
âDid I open the window?â
âI saw a star that looked like her, but I donât remember opening the window at all.â
However, when he turned around, the window was certainly open.
âI guess Iâm getting too old now. Iâm already forgetting things.â
Bentley sighed and closed the window again.
âOhh, so you threw it away.â
It was unexpected for him to hear someoneâs voice in the faculty room when he was supposed to be the only here inside.
Bentley hurriedly looked back.
âWhoâŚ?â
At first, it was too dark to recognize who it was, but soon the moon, which was covered by the clouds, revealed itself and lit up the room.
âSibel.â
Sibel was sitting on his desk. Inside the room, there were drawings of Lariensa spread out which Bentley planned to take with him.
Bentley gritted his teeth but still tried to disguise himself by smiling.
âSibel. You have to go back to your dorm right now. It seems like itâs past bedtime, and going out past curfew is against school regulations.â
Even though Professor Bentley still dared to speak despite being caught, Sibel didnât gave him a reply. It seems that he was silently reading something.
âSibel?â
âWhen I saw her earlier she looked pale. Her under eyes are now dark with eyebags and she even had a nosebleed.â
Far from retorting, he was talking strangely.
âYou havenât even read it. You must have had a hard time reading it with your dysfunctional brain.â
Bentley realized that on Sibelâs hand was Marilyn Launerâs paper, which he had just thrown into the trash can.
âSibel! Are you aware that youâre violating the rules now?â
âAm I more guilty of breaking the rules than a professor whoâs stalking a student?â
âWhat the hell are you sayingâŚ!â
âI donât care what youâre going to do with Lariensa Jellinus.â
Sibel smiled brightly as usual, and because of this Bentley couldnât relax. Sibel, who he only considered a student, was now somehow intimidating for him despite remaining polite.
âWell, I just want you to do something for me.â
Sibel, who held Marilynâs paper tightly in his hand, stood up. He then approached Bentley, who was standing in front of the window.
âLet me join your mentoring class. Of course, including Marilyn Launer.â
Right now, Sibel Nouma Khan was threatening the professor.
âYou dare!â
âSibel, picking students for this mentoring class was done through a fair screening. You didnât even pass a paper, let alone take the test for it. Donât be so childish.â
âProfessor.â
âDo you have anything more to say?â
âWhy did you steal Lariensaâs hair tie?â
ââŚâŚ!â
âYou also stole her handkerchief the other day.â
âHow did he know that? I only took items when no one was there so that I wonât be suspected. I intentionally only stole the ones that would not have a big problem when lost so that I could make an excuse even if I was caught.â
âAhem. You seem to misunderstand, I just lost my chance to return those things to her.â
âThen what about these hundreds of portraits of Lariensa Jellinus in your room?â
âIn my room⌠Sibel, youâŚâ
âI just need you to do me a little favor.â
ââŚâŚâ
âIt seems that you want to make this big.â
Sibel turned his back on Bentley as if he was on his way to tell it to somebody. Bentley hurriedly grabbed Sibel before he could even finish thinking.
âAll I have to do is include you in the mentoring class, right?.â
As a professor, having a romantic affection towards a student was considered a big taboo and unacceptable for someone like him.
He didnât know how Sibel got into his room but he found out his weakness, and that weakness was certainly fatal to Bentley.
He couldnât now oppose his threat which was disguised as a request.
âAnswer me, Sibel!â
Until a while ago, it was Bentley, who was holding out as if he would not comply with Sibelâs request, but now that Sibel wasnât making a sound, it was making him more nervous.
It wasnât long after that Sibel smiled back at him and replied.