“Bella, I’ll take her with me!”
“Go ahead.”
“Huh? Are you not opening your eyes properly? Am I a noble? Try committing blasphemy once and see what happens?”
“Hahaha. I’ll be going now then.”
“Take care. Do well and come back.”
“I’ll cheer for you too!”
Bellver always feels like dying when he’s around these two.
They keep growling at each other; it’s obvious their relationship isn’t good.
Bellatrix originally disliked Roho, and while Roho doesn’t know Bellatrix’s true identity, he instinctively senses something and treats her without hesitation.
Bellver saw Bellatrix grinding her teeth the first time those two met.
He also witnessed Roho establishing his authority as a noble then.
Even though they just met, why do they already dislike each other so much?
Stuck in the middle, Bellver can’t help but worry if they’ll actually fight.
Of course, both know they’re opposites, but they don’t hate each other as much as Bellver thinks.
It’s all an act because Bellver’s reactions are just too cute.
Even though Bellatrix used to dislike Roho, after merging with Bellver, she regained some peace of mind and doesn’t hate him as much anymore.
“We’re off to take our exams now.”
“Got everything ready?”
“I’m always prepared. The top spot is mine.”
“I’ll cheer for you.”
“Wow, such bad taste.”
“That’s genuine though.”
“Even worse taste.”
Despite cheering sincerely, Roho didn’t believe it.
To him, it felt like Bellatrix was mocking him to try harder.
That karma has fallen on Bellver since Bellatrix usually acted that way.
And besides, Bellatrix always won the theory exams.
Naturally, Bellver, who doesn’t know about this karma, has no choice but to suffer.
It’s unfortunate, but ignorance is its own punishment.
Bellver silently resents being treated unfairly for reasons unknown, but by the time he tries to express it, Roho is already far away.
Chasing after him makes Bellver regret not exercising more often.
Though after lectures end, instead of working out, Bellver heads straight to the dessert shop.
After all, isn’t exercise just about making resolutions and never following through?
Thanks to this, a certain part of Bellver slowly but surely starts gaining weight.
“Who wants to bet who finishes first?”
“You win if you finish first, obviously.”
“I know you won’t, which is why I’m asking.”
“Well, let’s do it then.”
“The winner gets one wish granted.”
“Alright.”
Before taking their seats, they exchanged one last greeting.
It wasn’t exactly a proper farewell—it was more like placing a bet—but ultimately, it motivated both of them.
A wish is always a good motivator.
Bellver parted ways with Roho in the front row and took his seat.
Instead of focusing on winning the bet, Bellver found himself curious about what wish Roho would make.
No matter how confident Bellver may be, there’s no way he could outperform the genius Roho, who’s lived in this world his entire life.
Still, Bellver has no intention of losing intentionally and plans to give it his best shot.
“What? This is too easy…”
Thinking he was bound to lose, Bellver flipped open the exam paper only to find his mind blanketed in white.
Not because he couldn’t understand the questions—rather, they were so clear it seemed almost suspiciously simple.
Is this really the midterm evaluation from the so-called premier academy?
Bellver assumed the questions were simpler due to the medieval fantasy setting.
This was a huge misunderstanding, though—he’s the type who scores 100% just by reading textbooks.
And by “reading,” we mean memorizing every single page cover to cover.
He naturally thought this was normal and studied all the required theory and magic books thoroughly enough to recite them verbatim.
With all that knowledge stored in his head, solving the problems was effortless.
“Finished…?”
In no time, Bellver finished the first test on the history of magic and moved on to the next one.
Opening the second paper on basic magic studies, Bellver confirmed his suspicions.
The questions were absurdly easy.
He quickly powered through each section, flipping pages and solving problems until, around 2 hours and 30 minutes into the exam, he had completed all the tests and double-checked his answers.
Considering the maximum allowed exam duration is 12 hours, finishing this early was unprecedented.
“I’m done.”
“Yes…? Alright…”
Roho desperately wanted to peek at what Bellver was doing but resisted for fear of being accused of cheating.
As Bellver handed in his trembling answer sheet to the professor, the gazes of the other students in the room subtly shifted toward him.
Among them, naturally, was Roho.
She was utterly astonished watching Bellver confidently submit his answers and walk out.
She thought it would take at least four more hours to finish.
While she knew Bellatrix always dominated in theoretical exams, she didn’t realize Bellver was this exceptional.
Truthfully, even Bellatrix herself would have taken about five hours to complete this test.
Bellver’s brilliance was undeniable, yet he remained blissfully unaware.
“I’m bored.”
Having emerged as the absolute first-place finisher, Bellver claimed a chair beside the door to wait for Roho.
Waiting was his forte, and though he didn’t know how long it would take, he doubted it’d last the entire day.
After waiting for an indeterminate amount of time, Bellver succumbed to drowsiness and began nodding off.
Even though the test was easy, his brain had been overworked, combined with the natural sleep cycle kicking in.
Though determined to stay awake for Roho, resisting the overwhelming lethargy proved impossible.
“Bella. Bella. Wake up.”
“I’m not sleeping…”
“You are. Wake up already.”
“Mmmh…”
Roho emerged as the second finisher to find Bellver sound asleep beside the door.
After waiting nearly three hours, this was unsurprising.
She poked Bellver’s cheek repeatedly to wake him up.
His bleary-eyed awakening, complete with adorable whining and rubbing, was irresistibly cute.
Roho smiled softly, regretting not carrying a video-recording magical tool to capture this precious moment.
“Did you do well…?”
“Yes. But will you ever use that cute honorific again? I want to hear it more.”
“Absolutely not!”
Bellver immediately snapped back to reality upon recalling his earlier antics.
Morning grogginess was something he preferred to keep private.
Though, the exception was the maid who woke him daily.
Smiling mischievously, Roho led the way to their usual dessert shop.
Her brain needed sugar after all that mental exertion.
They also needed a place to grade each other’s tests.
“Does this even make sense…?”
“Why?”
Finishing grading Bellver’s test, Roho struggled to distinguish between reality and illusion.
It was a perfect score—absolutely flawless.
Not hers, but Bellver’s.
How did he manage a perfect score after finishing in just two hours? She had no idea.
At the very least, she expected him to miss a question or two as any human would.
With all the dating and hanging out with her, when did he even find time to study?
Meanwhile, Bellver, enjoying his dessert alone while Roho graded, received a gaze filled with envious curiosity.
The source? A headache-afflicted Roho massaging her temples.
Gazing quizzically, Bellver cut a piece of chiffon cake and held it out to Roho.
“Thank you. I really needed something sweet.”
“My pleasure.”
“Whose fault is this anyway?”
“Whose fault is what?”
“Oh my gosh. You’re so cute I can’t even punch you.”
“Violence is bad.”
Roho pondered deeply about what to do with this person.
He’s grown craftier hanging around her, Bellatrix, and Bellver.
Learning only the worst traits.
Originally, he was straightforward—not cunning at all.
Deciding it was all her karma, Roho popped the dessert into her mouth.
Now, she dreaded settling the bet, considering how Bellatrix used to despise her despite their recent friendship.
“I lost the bet. What do you want?”
“Hmm… Don’t talk to me for a day and spend time with Bellver instead. It sounds fun.”
“Uh…?”
“Seems interesting, doesn’t it?”
“Fine… You’re really mischievous.”
“That’s not something Roho should say.”
Roho truly felt the depth of her karma.
Pairing two obvious opposites without any buffer zone? Terrifying awkwardness loomed ahead.
