After Professor Noel left, Penelope rose slowly from her seat, adjusting her bag over her shoulder.
Until she noticed soone still sat behind her.
Ian.
The boy with red hair and blue eyes.
He t her gaze with that sa unbothered look he always wore, one brow slightly raised.
"What?"
He asked, tilting his head.
"You’re wondering why I joined this club?"
Penelope blinked at him, uncertain how to respond.
He sighed, crossing his arms.
"You know, you still haven’t thanked for giving you back your hearing aid that day..."
Her eyes widened a little, and she nodded quickly.
Ian scratched the back of his neck, looking away for a mont before saying.
"Well I...there’s actually this girl I like...
...found out she actually likes sweets."
He paused, glancing at her with a half-smirk.
"So... I figured if I learned to cook or bake...
I-I could win her over with cookies or sothing."
Penelope stared at him for a second before giving a small smile.
Then she raised her hand and gave him a cheerful thumbs-up.
Ian froze, then frowned slightly.
’Is she not hearing ?’ Ian thought to himself.
’Or does she pretend when it cos to ...she did speak to the club patron...’
"Don’t look at like that."
He muttered.
"I don’t like the look on your face all the ti... it’s bothering and annoying."
He turned away abruptly, muttering.
"Shouldn’t have even told you that...You know what...forget what I just said earlier...and no word, do you hear ?"
Penelope gave him yet another thumbs up.
" Ugghh..."
Ian said frustrated as he got up to leave the room.
---
Through the window, I could see the faint mist clinging to the cobblestone roads.
I sat at the back of the car, the soft hum of the engine filling the silence.
It was one of those rare mornings when the world seed to breathe slower, as if it too had decided to take a break.
No lectures today.
No etings.
No urgent reports from the Security Departnt waiting for my seal or signature.
For the first ti in months, perhaps years, my schedule was blank.
I found myself staring at the calendar in my mind, each empty hour mocking with its stillness.
To soone else, this might have been a relief.
But this body was the type that couldn’t stand idleness.
An instinctive unease scratched at the back of my head, like an itch that couldn’t be reached.
-Character Trait-
[Workaholic]
Noel Grenn was a workhorse by nature.
Even the absence of duty felt like a kind of failure.
A soft exhale left my lips.
"...I’ll simply have to busy myself with sothing."
The words disappeared into the still air of the car.
And then I rembered today was the day of the Black Pilgrimage’s eting.
’3 days had passes hadn’t they?’
I still didn’t have full mories of how "I" or rather, the forr Noel was connected to it.
Whether as an observer, participant, or manipulator, I didn’t know.
But it didn’t matter...what was certain was that sothing would happen.
And so, I would wait.
If there was one thing I excelled at, it was improvisation.
The car rolled through the fog-laden streets, the rhythmic clatter of the tires almost hypnotic.
For a mont, I simply breathed and let my gaze follow the shifting scenery.
Then, unexpectedly, a voice broke through the silence.
"...M–My Lord..."
The chauffeur’s voice.
I glanced up from the window, eting his reflection in the mirror.
His hands gripped the wheel too tightly.
"Yes?"
He flinched, as if my acknowledgnt startled him.
"I...I wanted to... to apologize for the day before, sir."
"Apologize?"
He swallowed, throat bobbing visibly.
"When you...when you collapsed in the car.
I... I couldn’t do anything.
I tried calling for help, b–but I panicked.
My mind just... froze.
And by the ti soone ca, you were already unconscious."
His voice trembled like a thin thread ready to snap.
"It’s pathetic, isn’t it?
A grown man... who can’t even help the one he’s supposed to serve.
Sotis I think that’s why I ended up a chauffeur.
Because I was never capable of anything aningful."
His words hung in the air like heavy dust.
For a mont, I said nothing.
The only sound was the low hum of the car and the faint crackle of gravel beneath the tires.
Then I spoke. Calmly.
"You’re mistaken."
He blinked at the mirror.
"...S–Sir?"
"What you felt was not weakness...It was fear. Which is an instinctive response...I’m able to tell because it was sothing we learned during my ti at the military...
The human mind isn’t built to act with precision under sudden distress."
I paused, watching his shoulders stiffen.
"Do not confuse inexperience with incompetence."
He was silent, perhaps not expecting comfort, least of all from .
I continued.
"If your actions were guided by hesitation, then it ans you still cared enough to fear losing control.
That alone makes you far from useless."
The man’s eyes widened slightly in the mirror.
"I do not require perfection..."
I added, voice steady.
"Only honesty.
If yesterday’s event weighs on you, then let it teach you sothing.
Regret is aningless unless it changes what you’ll do next."
For a while, there was no response.
Then, slowly, the chauffeur nodded.
"...I’ll rember that, sir.
Truly, I will."
He smiled faintly.
"Thank you."
He said softly.
"No one’s ever said sothing like that to before."
I looked at him for a second longer, then turned my gaze back to the window.
The Academy’s buildings were now visible on the horizon.
It struck then, how easily the smallest kindness could change a man’s entire day.
If you think about I hadn’t really done much.
I’d only spoken what was logical...yet for him, it seed enough to lift a weight he’d carried longer than he should’ve.
As the car slowed near the academy gates, I found myself wondering ...what kind of life did a man like him live...
... if guilt over a single mont could haunt him so deeply?
Did his nights end in silence too?
Did he stare at ceilings, questioning every choice, every breath?
I couldn’t imagine his world, nor did I try to.
But as he parked, turned, and said with a brighter voice.
"We’ve arrived, my lord..."
I caught that sa, fleeting expression again.
It was strange.
A single smile that was so genuine, from soone I barely knew, felt like the first warm color in an otherwise gray morning.
I nodded once.
"Good work.
Take the day for yourself after this."
His eyes widened again, as if he thought he misheard .
"S–Sir?"
"That’s an order, Ben."
I said, stepping out of the car.
"...Y–Yes, sir! Thank you!"
He bowed deeply, and when I closed the door behind , I saw his hands tremble in gratitude.
I adjusted my gloves, straightened my coat, and looked toward the academy gates.
The morning chill brushed past , and with it, the faint sound of birds in the air.
Perhaps today wouldn’t be so aningless after all.
Oh how I wish I would take those words back.
---
The sound of gravel under my shoes was soft, almost drowned by the low murmur of students crowding the academy gates.
The car drove off behind , and I stood there for a second, breathing in the morning air.
The sun rays were now filling the marble steps leading to the main courtyard.
There wasn’t anything special about today.
No lectures, no etings.
An empty day was a strange thing to have.
It was almost... suffocating.
For soone like idleness felt like a sickness really.
The longer I sat with nothing to do, the more the silence scratched at from inside.
So I walked, letting my thoughts fill the empty space where a schedule should’ve been.
While walking I saw a familiar face.
A figure near the fountain.
A student with red luscious hair and similar colored eyes.
Penelope Renee was it?
She wad the quiet, partially deaf girl from my cooking club.
She was standing with soone I never expected to see here.
Not in a million guesses of scenarios did I ever think to see two of them together.
Adele Redwynne.
For a mont, I froze.
The man was unmistakable.
Golden hair and crimson eyes.
The sa calm, unwavering composure that made him look almost divine in sunlight.
The Holy Knight of the Holy Grail.
I could never forget him.
The first day I ever opened my eyes in this world ...the first cycle, the first chaos, the first bloodbath.
That day was burned into .
And Adele, cutting through it all with blinding light, standing over as I lay half-dead.
That was the first ti I survived.
The first ti I realized this world wasn’t just a dream.
And now...he was standing in front of ... talking to Penelope?
What are the chances?
Perhaps he was sponsoring her.
The Church often did that ...funding promising students.
Yes, that made sense.
It had to.
I should have ignored it.
Walked past and pretended not to notice.
But that would have been unlike ...not very befitting.
So I moved toward them.
Adele was the first to notice.
He turned, his expression as sharp and composed as ever, though a faint grin touched his lips.
"There’s the man who’s making the headlines yet again."
Headlines?
I stopped, eyes narrowing slightly.
Penelope noticed then.
Her lips parted in mild surprise before she offered a small, polite smile.
"Professor Grenn."
I nodded once.
"Miss Renee."
Adele’s grin deepened.
"My sibling here just confird the headlines today...That’s why I ca here...to see it and hear it for myself."
Sibling?
...What?
For a heartbeat, I couldn’t process it.
I turned to Penelope.
She was nodding slightly, confirming what he said, though the movent was small, uncertain as if it were nothing of note.
My mind, however, spun.
Sibling.
Penelope... was a Redwynne?
Penelope Redwynne?
Of all the people...
Of course.
Of course she was.
A girl in my cooking club ...was...the sibling to Adele Redwynne.
The Holy Knight of the Holy Grail.
The heir to the Saint Redwynne Household.
The strongest divine family in the Empire.
I could almost laugh.
A student in my club, connected directly to one of the most influential houses in the entire Empire.
Infact the number one acknowledged Saint house...
Just what I needed.
My life keeps getting better, doesn’t it?
But then it clicked what Adele had said after the word ’sibling’.... the "headlines."
Adele’s words lingered.
What headlines?
"Headlines?..."
I finally uttered being audible to Adele as a way of urging him to give answers to my now spiralling thoughts.
"Today’s newspaper...
Professor Noel Grenn of the Imperial Academy forming quite the alliance with children of powerful houses, all under the guise of a cooking club."
I paused, taken aback by the revelation.
Adele continued.
"If I’ve co here, you can bet others will follow.
The heads of rival houses will surely take notice, and it might cause certain misunderstandings or differing views.
After all...how can a single club hold such children together, especially during the Divine Household candidacy?
It does seem suspicious, and the Imperial Court might think so too."
I listened, the weight of his words sinking in.
Of course, eyes would be on from now on.
[Calm Deanor] kicked in and I was able to remind myself that this wasn’t the first ti I’d dealt with powerful figures.
"Yes, Sir Adele..."
I finally said, my voice calm and formal.
"You forget I’ve been a civil servant of the empire under the imperial security departnt...
...I have infact managed such situations before.
Handling a few young nobles in a cooking club is no different."
Adele chuckled, his expression still friendly and warm.
"Indeed." he said.
"I’m sure you’ll manage just fine, Professor..."
"Anyways that was all from ...I’m not against what’ you have here...
I infact this is a great idea to stop the unnecessary beef such houses have.
You sir are taking a step towards world peace.
So you have my support...
...it’s not just Penny here who likes pastries."
Adele said ruffling Penelope’s hair as she closed her eyes with a smile.
"I’ll be going now...take care...Mr Grenn..."
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