“Puhahaha! If you do well, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?”
At my words, Professor Peter burst into hearty laughter.
“A while ago, my grandfather was traveling through the Pols region and was offered their specialty apples. To be honest, apples aren’t that delicious of a fruit—you can eat them or not, it doesn’t really matter. But the lord of that place was so generous, personally peeling apples for him, giving him apple jam as a gift, and even giving him apple pie, so my grandfather couldn’t refuse.”
As I added a bit of seasoning to an episode my grandfather had told me before, I could feel the students focusing more intently.
“And there was a time when the Pols region suffered a major flood. My grandfather learned about it and immediately donated about 50,000 Torka to the Pols region. Even though he had no connection to that place. He said the face of that lord offering him a slice of apple pie kept coming to mind.”
“So Mellans, you want to propose resolving this through autonomous donations between merchant guilds.”
“It’s not about donations. I want to talk about morality. Morality based on individual duty. Bluntly speaking, do you think that lord did all that because he liked my grandfather? That was morality performed out of the lord’s duty to promote specialty products.”
Professor Peter closed his eyes and nodded. It seemed I was getting close to the correct answer.
“Seeing that morality, my grandfather simply performed the duty and morality of a merchant. Returning to society what he received. Then naturally, individuals also display their own duties and morality.”
I briefly recalled the magnificent history of the Republic of Korea. The gold collection campaign. Cleaning up the oil spill on the Taean Peninsula, the World Cup, and so on. The times when citizens of a country with nothing stepped forward to support and help the nation. Keu. How thrilling. For a moment, kimchi juice flowed through my blood vessels.
“There’s a saying: ‘Do good while you can.’ If a lord knows his duty well in normal times and acts with morality accordingly, then naturally when the territory is in difficulty, duty and morality will be performed from all walks of society. That is the ethical and trust relationship I want to talk about.”
The lecture hall instantly became quiet. Those who understood were quiet in their understanding, and those who didn’t were quiet in their confusion.
“……”
After a brief silence, Professor Peter opened his eyes and spoke to me.
“Mellans. Like your grandfather, you too will become a good merchant guild leader in the future.”
Yes…! While popping champagne bottles internally, I held mini Cesare’s tiny hand and danced ganggangsullae. K-traditional music flowed beside me.
Professor Peter stepped forward and began explaining to the students.
“Right. Each of us bears a duty. Especially you all who have such good environments that you could enter the Imperial Academy—you bear even more special duties. Building bonds and trust with the people of your territories isn’t simply an optional act to build your reputation, but a moral duty you must fulfill.”
Then Jayden Fellox raised his hand conspicuously and asked a question.
“But isn’t it a loss to impose such strict moral standards only on us? If we have to bear all that loss, isn’t that unfair?”
This place had a class system, so I understood such questions. It was a place where the very notion that everyone is equal was problematic.
Professor Peter nodded, then smiled with a rare playful expression and spoke to the students.
“No. This is a benefit for society as a whole and will also return as a benefit to each individual. You all will definitely benefit too. Didn’t you just benefit a moment ago?”
“Excuse me?”
When Jayden asked back with a blank expression, Professor Peter clapped his hands with a ‘clap’ and said:
“There’s no homework this weekend. Mellans displayed his duty and morality and freed you all from homework. Moral duty and trust isn’t something like ‘Now I should do this,’ where you sit at a desk and start—it’s not something special like that. It accumulates from very small things like this. Be sure to remember that. Especially, I’m saying this to someone in this classroom in particular. For us, morality is not a choice.”
Saying this, Professor Peter deliberately pointed at one of the students and smiled. There was… Oh my.
Cedric.
He gave Professor Peter a light bow as an expression of respect, then looked at me. The moment I met his violet eyes, he gave me that characteristic gentle smile of his.
Huh. He’s handsome.
“We’ve learned everything we need to learn, so further class is meaningless. Though there’s an hour of class left, the spring sunlight is too nice. Class ends here for today, so you all go outside and get some sun.”
“Our cute Rye is the best! Woo-hoo!”
As soon as Professor Peter finished speaking, Cain made a big megaphone with his hands and shouted. Simultaneously, the national anthem rang out in my heart and kimchi juice came streaming down through my blood vessels.
Do you know Korea? Yes. I do.
* * *
After class ended, I walked out confidently, receiving the gazes of students who saw me in a new light. As I walked, a group of seniors cheered for me, and some even patted my shoulder as they passed.
However, Jayden’s gang, who had put great effort into my disciplinary petition, seemed displeased with me and passed by just snorting disdainfully.
Right. Jayden, did you see that?! I’m not a nobody anymore, so it doesn’t bother me at all, you ignorant fools!
“That world’s strictest Professor Peter ended class early! Really, our Rye is so cute I could die! No weekend homework either! Astol will protect you forever!”
“Right. Not bad, Lionel. I’m seeing you in a new light.”
“Heheh. I was lucky too since I just read it in a book…. Ah whatever, I’m in a good mood. Today I’ll go out and treat everyo—”
My chest swelled with pride at Cesare’s praise, and just as I was about to declare I’d treat everyone, I froze in place.
“Lionel, junior!”
Cedric waved his hand happily and called my name joyfully. He seemed to have been waiting for me to come out of the lecture hall.
“Let’s go. Ignore him, Lionel.”
As soon as Cesare saw this, his face crumpled and he grabbed my arm before I could even greet him. Cain also snickered and grabbed my other arm, starting to drag me along.
“Okay!”
I quickly entrusted my body to their hands and moved my feet rapidly.
“Oh no. Lionel, junior! Wait! There, juniors, wait a moment.”
Eventually Cedric followed us with quick steps. But Cesare and Cain didn’t stop and started running even faster.
“Carry Lionel and keep running, Cain.”
“Cesare! Let’s lose him going down the stairs at that corner.”
“Ugh, wait! My arm’s twisted, guys? Guys?! I said my arm’s twisted?! My arm! It hurts, you bastards!”
I dangled between the two of them, being dragged along. Eventually, the guys, displeased with my whining, inserted their arms under my armpits, lifted me up, and started carrying me with my legs floating in the air.
My twisted arm hurt so much that I had no time to care about Cesare or Cedric. I just achieved enlightenment from the pain that felt like my arm would be severed.
Eventually, Cedric’s angry voice filled the corridor.
“Cesare Yanox! Stop right there!”
Only then did Cesare stop immediately. Because he stopped so suddenly, my body swept forward and I ended up tumbling.
“Aaaah!”
Cesare grabbed the back of my neck and yanked me back hard, so I avoided falling forward, but my center of gravity shifted toward Cesare.
‘Wait, this direction is?!’
— Plop.
Cesare’s sleekly balanced chest muscles touched my hand, and then his firm muscles hit my cheek hard.
“Ahh.”
My mouth let out a short groan of pain, but in reality I was frantically inhaling the subtle scent of cologne flowing from him.
‘Good. So good.’
Still, out of conscience, I didn’t go so far as to grope his chest. That would be too obvious….
Having accidentally fallen into Cesare’s embrace, I lifted my head slightly. With a deep furrow in his brow, he looked at me with dark red eyes subtly curved upward, as if irritation was building.
Feeling cold sweat trickle down my back at that murderous gaze, I gave an awkward smile.
“S-sorry. I slipped.”
“You really require too much attention.”
Cesare looked at my face and openly frowned even more, turning his head away sharply. When I, hurt for no reason, tried to apologize and escape from his embrace, his hand began to wrap around my back even more.
‘Hm?’
“Don’t come out of there.”
Don’t come out?
While I was confused, having ended up tucked inside Cesare’s cape, I heard Cedric’s voice from behind.
“I have something to say to Lionel, junior, so I’d like you to spare some time, but you’re running away as if you’ve committed a crime, Yanox.”
“I haven’t committed any crime. And Lionel has nothing to say to you either, senior.”
“Why are you deciding his affairs on your own?”
“I’m sorry, but Cedric-sunbae. Rye’s heart is our heart, and our heart is Rye’s heart. If we have nothing to say, then Rye doesn’t either~. Right?”
I also heard Cain’s rarely heard murderous voice. I couldn’t quite understand what was happening, so I tried to stick my head out to look, but Cesare’s hand pressed my head down firmly as if telling me to stay still.
My face was pressed against his chest, making it difficult to breathe, but….
Actually, I like it.
I really couldn’t understand why this bad rebel even smelled good. No matter how many times I usually asked what cologne he used, he said he didn’t particularly use any. Really, the bad guy. If he doesn’t want to tell me, he should just honestly say he doesn’t want to.
“Astol… still behaving poorly.”
“Perhaps you’re just too old-fashioned?”
When Cain spoke sarcastically, someone’s sigh was heard.
“Lionel, junior. I’ll send word later, so let’s meet and talk. You must be having a hard time being around guys you can’t communicate with.”
“Is it something you can’t say here? I think it would be heard just fine here.”
“Right. I can’t say it here, Yanox. Because it’s a special conversation between Lionel, junior and me—just the two of us.”
