38

"The look in your eyes is similar to one I know."

"…!"

Elena quickly controlled the anger that she expressed, unable to control it for a moment.

"I'm sorry. I was going to go without the permission of my senior."

"Even the voice."

Elena's lips dried up as she watched Ren narrow his eyes. It would be suspicious to deny it here, so Elena forced herself to laugh and joke.

"They look like me? Then she must be gorgeous, right?"

Elena smiled insincerely as she turned around. It was a frivolous smile that she'd never done while posing as Veronica. She was afraid of arousing Ren's suspicion if she didn't show the opposite of Veronica.

"…"

Despite Elena's performance, Ren didn't respond.

One second, two seconds… Less than a few seconds felt longer than a few hours. She was going crazy worrying that maybe Ren had noticed.

And finally, Ren reacted.

He smiled. Ren laughed. It was a smile without malice. Elena stood dumbfounded, completely unaware of the unexpected reaction. Ren suddenly took off his uniform coat.

'What else are you going to do?'

Since Ren had made a habit of tormenting people in the most bizarre ways, Elena was wary of what kind of damage he might do again. Ren threw his coat over Elena's head. It was like a raincoat to protect her from the pouring rain.

"It's raining."

"…"

Elena couldn't laugh or cry, and stood there with an incomprehensible look on her face. She didn't know why, she didn't know what Ren's intentions were, and she was more worried.

"Now you're going, aren't you?"

"… Can I go?"

"Yes."

Ren beckoned her to go. Elena pulled out carefully, not letting go of the tension. Ren did not move with his arms crossed, as if he had no intention of arguing anymore.

"I'll be on my way then. I'll leave you now."

She said good-bye and tried to run away in a hurry.

"You owe me."

When she looked back at Ren, who made her nervous by talking about debt, he was smiling wickedly like a devil. The smile looked as if a child were happy with a new toy.

Elena felt her hair stand on end as she hurried away. Could there be a worse day than this? It had to be so bad that if she could turn back, she would.

Elena hurried to the library's archives in a rush to avoid the rain.

It was not until the lock on the record room door was firmly fastened that the tension was lifted, and she slid on her back. Elena threw Ren's coat, which she was holding, roughly.

"How did it get tangled up like this…"

It all started with the chance meeting with Sian. If she had dealt with the situation wisely and calmly at that time, she would not have attracted Ren's attention. What made her even more resentful was that she couldn't blame anyone else. Elena's little mistake had snowballed into the situation she was in now.

"Calm down. Calm down, Elena. Huuu. What if you regret it?"

Elena had a thought shift. There was nothing more meaningless than loosening a thread that has already been tangled. Once a thread is tangled, unraveling it again will not make it as straight as before.

"If it gets tangled, let's go with it. I don't have to solve it."

If this was the extent of her frustration, she would never have decided to seek revenge in the first place. The bad karma from the past had come together in a different way and had shaken Elena, but it had done nothing to change her. Instead, it was an opportunity to make her heart stronger.

Having succeeded in mending her temper, Elena untied her disguise and returned to Princess Veronica. Her torn stockings from her earlier fall and her uniform stained with muddy water might arouse suspicion, but she was going to tell Anne that she had fallen on the rainy street.

"This is the real challenge."

Elena's expression was irritated as she looked at Ren's uniform coat. She wanted to throw it away immediately, but she couldn't do anything about it, not knowing when Ren would want it back again.

"Let's keep it for now."

Elena's gaze, which was hanging from the closet with his coat hanging on the hanger, headed to Ren's name tag on the left chest.

Jiiiiik.

Elena removed the name tag without any trouble. She grasped it tightly in her small hands. She threw it in the trash, as if she still couldn't get rid of the resentment she had just felt. Finally, she felt relieved and left the record room with a light step. Her rain-soaked clothes still hadn't dried, and she was still shivering, but when she left the library, the sun was shining as if it hadn't rained for ages.

Anne was surprised to see how Elena looked when she came back to the dormitory.

"Miss, what happened? How did you hurt your leg!"

Beyond the torn stockings, the flesh of the knee was peeled and bloodstained. It was time for her to be ashamed of the scars on her body, so Anne fumbled to bring her regular medicine.

"I fell down in the rain."

Anne sprayed Elena with antiseptic and applied ointment so that she would not get sick. Elena, who was looking down at Anne, mentioned May, who was not here.

"This is all because of May. The dog seems to be making my day worse."

"I know. She's so careless."

Anne secretly responded and scolded May. She did not forget to appeal to Elena.

"I'll go down and get some warm water. You'll feel much better if you take a bath."

"As expected, you're the only one I can count on. Then please."

Anne left the bedroom with a big smile and warmed up the water. Soon, Anne said she was ready and took Elena to the bathroom.

She felt much better after she soaked herself in hot water. Finally, Anne served her tea, and today's accumulated fatigue went away. However, not all the emotional pain accumulated from the past life had disappeared.

"I didn't expect that meeting."

Reminiscing about the past, Elena laughed painfully. The past days, when she was dry from the wait without hesitation, were very painful. But today, Sian was looking for Cecilia first. Even though it was all past, she was crazy with envy. She felt so pathetic that she had intervened between those two people.

"If I just leave, everyone will be happy. Just me."

Elena felt better when she pushed herself to play the villain. Now she had confidence that she could be brave even if she ran into Sian.

Elena, who finally found the rest of her mind and body, turned her gaze. As time had passed, the sunset suddenly became dark and the sky was dark. It was around that time that May, who had been kicked out by Elena saying she didn't want to see her, returned to the dorm.

"Where have you been! Now get up there and give my lady a flat apology!"

She could hear Anne's lecture downstairs to the bedroom on the second floor. It was funny to hold May like a rat with Elena's trust on her back.

Knock, knock.

Soon she heard a knock.

"My lady, this is May. I'm coming in."

May opened the door carefully, and then checked under the stairs to see if Anne was eavesdropping outside, and came inside.

"What happened?"

"Here you are."

May crossed the parchment with a full report. Elena, who received the parchment, coughed low and suddenly screamed.

"Didn't you hear me tell you to leave? Get out of here!"

This was a prearranged postponement. Elena deliberately scolded her loud enough for Anne to hear. In the meantime, she touched May's cheek with a sad touch, perhaps because she felt bad about hitting her cheek during the day.

"Get out of my sight because I don't want to see you!"

Elena, who had been shouting fiercely, nodded as if this was enough, and May quietly retired after being polite.

As soon as May left the bedroom, she went down to the first floor with a wounded face. Anne did not dare to speak to the appearance of crying at once, and May was locked in a room where the maids lived.

Elena shifted her eyes to the parchment with the report written on it. It would be nice to be briefed directly by May, but she needed a justification to send her out without any doubt as she had to leave the academy to work. And the most obvious cause was Elena's anger.

"As expected of May. It's a lot more neat than I thought."

There were about ten people who May visited and helped today. Those who had been suspicious of the sudden kindness reportedly could not erase their dazed feelings as soon as they received help. Some even expressed their gratitude with tears, saying that a miracle had happened.

"Yeah, it's better to pay the debt slowly than to write it off at once. That way, they'll feel more grateful."

May even took care of the parts Elena didn't tell her to take care of, and the small but important part of her was what she had expected.

"L."

Elena translated the words symbolizing her initials in the ancient Imperial language. Sooner or later, all the great masters of the time will be helped by L. The kindness received was immediately appreciated. If the gratitude grows, it is a grace that human beings cannot ignore.

Elena planned to give them a favor, not a debt. It was believed that it was the only way to win the hearts of the masters of the era, who were united with pride that wouldn't move even if she gave them a billion dollars.

"I'll help you the best I can, even if you don't want it. When L stretches out… may you be my wings."

The next day, May was kicked out of the dormitory. Elena didn't even want to see her face, so she screamed for her to stay out of sight. After four days of not being allowed to set foot in the dormitory, May came home at night, got down on her knees and begged. She begged that she would never make such a mistake again. Please forgive me. Elena, who had finally eased up a little, had no choice but to forgive her. May bowed her head repeatedly, saying thank you, and took care of her again. This was what Anne had seen and experienced for four days.