Chapter 13: A Chance Glimpse and a Quiet Farewell.

Lunch break was nearly over.

Amelia hesitated for a moment about whether to go to the cafeteria, but she no longer felt like eating at all today.

She decided to skip lunch and return to the classroom to wait for afternoon lessons to begin.

Until recently, even being in the same room as her classmates had been painful.
But now that she understood the reason, it no longer felt like such a big deal.

They had accepted rumors spread entirely in her absence as truth within the short time since enrollment.
They had judged her someone who could be bullied with impunity and acted on that mistaken belief.
The consequences of their error would surely be far greater than they imagined.
Thinking of that, Amelia even felt a twinge of sympathy for having unintentionally become the cause.

Of course—the true culprit was Reese, who had spread the rumors in the first place to justify his infidelity.

When she returned to the classroom, several classmates were already back.
They glanced at her arriving alone and whispered among themselves while laughing.
At the center of the group was none other than Julius’s fiancée—Lady Emira of the Marquis Kiedari house.

Remembering what she had heard in the student council room, Amelia looked at her with complicated feelings.

Surrounded by a crowd of young ladies, Emira caught Amelia’s eye for a brief moment—then smiled with clear malice.

“Clinging to a position that’s only causing trouble for your fiancé—how pathetic. Even I would be prepared to step back if it meant becoming a burden to His Highness Julius.”

“!”

The words were so outrageous that Amelia couldn’t help reacting with a visible flinch.

Perhaps Emira had said it simply to demean her.

But the statement she had just made was something she absolutely should not have uttered.

(If she says things like that…)

Julius could view past events clearly through reproduction magic.
And he had only just said he would investigate Emira’s conduct.

It would be better for her not to say such things aloud.

Amelia considered warning her—but she knew Emira would never listen to advice from her.
If anything, it would only escalate; Emira would double down and heap on more insults.
Trying to help might end up cornering her even further.

“As expected of Lady Emira.”

“Only Lady Emira is worthy of His Highness Julius.”

The young ladies surrounding her showered her with praise.
Unable to bear watching any longer, Amelia quietly closed her eyes.

Her mother had always said: Your actions will return to you someday.
So live kindly and honestly toward everyone.
Never had those words sunk in so deeply.

Deliberately pushing the laughing group from her mind, Amelia tried to focus on something else.

(Oh—right. I need to show these to Sarju-sama tomorrow, so I should organize the materials again tonight. If he wants to compare, I might need the data from the regular wheat variety too.)

She opened her notebook and began jotting down what she still needed to do once she returned to the dormitory.
Before she knew it, afternoon classes had begun.

Once she concentrated on the lessons, time passed quickly.

When classes ended, she hurried back to the dormitory.

Lingering too long in the classroom might invite unnecessary trouble.
Besides—she was pressed for time; she needed to prepare the data she would give Sarju.

She quickly gathered her things and left the room.

As she passed the library, a student emerged from inside.
She stepped aside to avoid a collision, but the other person seemed startled and instinctively moved forward to shield the female student behind him.

In a rush, Amelia gave only a light bow of apology and hurried past.

Back in her room, she changed clothes and was about to start organizing the materials when she froze.

(Wait… the person who came out of the library just now… could that have been Reese?)

She had only caught a glimpse, so she couldn’t be certain.

But the tall young man with golden hair had stepped forward protectively in front of the woman behind him.
Perhaps that woman was Reese’s rumored lover.

(Yes… I think it really was Reese.)

In an unexpected twist, she had encountered him for the first time in a year.

He had gone to such lengths to avoid her that he surely never expected to run into her there.

She had been hurrying back to the dormitory, walking quickly—so perhaps he mistook her approach for someone who had heard he was in the library and come to confront him.

That would explain why he shielded the woman so protectively.

But because she had been in such a hurry, Amelia hadn’t even recognized him at first.
She had merely bowed in apology for nearly bumping into him and passed by.

He must have been completely thrown off balance.

The thought made Amelia laugh despite herself.

And in that moment, she realized she no longer harbored even the slightest lingering attachment to Reese.

The days when they had been affectionate fiancés were firmly in the past.

The engagement had not yet been formally dissolved—but Reese had blackened her name for the sake of his lover, while Amelia had walked right past him without even noticing who he was.
Her interest in him had vanished completely.

At this point, she wished the engagement could be ended as soon as possible.
But this betrothal had been arranged between the Marquis Therma house and the Renia Earldom.
Even if both sides now despised each other to the point of never wanting to see one another again, dissolving it would not be simple.

(Oh—that’s right. I need to properly confirm with Father whether any message came from Reese requesting the engagement be voided.)

Amelia sat down to write a letter to her father.

The content was simple—just asking whether any contact had come from Reese.
There were many things she wanted to say, but there remained the slim possibility that her father had suppressed any such message.
First, she had to confirm that clearly.

(Yes—this is fine.)

After finishing the concise letter, she finally turned to organizing the materials.

She didn’t mind this kind of work—comparing data, refining it step by step.
She worked steadily in silence until hunger suddenly reminded her to pause.

Come to think of it—she hadn’t eaten lunch.
She should at least have a proper dinner.

The dormitory had a simple kitchen area and a cafeteria much like the one in the academy.

Amelia had not brought a maid with her.
Raised in the countryside, she could handle most things herself.
But cooking from scratch now felt like too much effort, so she decided to go to the dormitory cafeteria.
It was a little late; it should be quiet.

With that thought, she opened her door—only for someone passing by in the hallway to stop in visible surprise.

Today really seemed to be the day for near-collisions, she mused wryly.
Without reacting particularly, she stepped out and headed toward the cafeteria.

The person lingered for a moment longer before apparently entering the neighboring room.

Amelia ate her dinner slowly in the nearly empty cafeteria, then returned to her room and resumed work on the materials.

Before she realized it, the notes had grown into a substantial volume.
She spent more time reorganizing them to make everything easier to read.

“There. Finished.”

She looked over the results with satisfaction—clear, well-organized, and useful.
Now all that remained was to hand them over to Sarju and let him make use of them for his research.