I tried to deny the impossible reality, but time was already running out for the lecture to end.
Feeling that I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, I could feel the students’ gazes also looking at the clock, surprised.
Seeing that, Ludger smiled slightly and said.
“You would think it’s excessive if there’s an assignment starting from the first day, right?”
Laughter burst out among the students.
But Ludger continued to speak with a leisurely smile.
“But that doesn’t mean I won’t give one.”
……F*ck. Short voices of despair filled the lecture hall.
“It will be done in teams of four. It is an assignment where you analyze the political system of a specific country during the semester and present reform plans from each perspective. Distribute the given roles freely among the teams. One person acts as a politician, one as a legal professional, and the others write the report from the perspective of the public and journalists.”
Assignment from the first day?
And not even a pair, but a team of four?
……This must be a dream.
What an insane amount of assignments.
It was a terrible nightmare.
The expressions of the students who had come to listen to the lecture lightly were all rotting one by one.
They will definitely drop the course. ……I can’t because it’s my major, f*ck.
Swallowing the profanity inwardly, I shouldered my bag.
Honestly, the group project itself was annoying, but the fact that I could form teams freely was a relief.
Because at least I wouldn’t have to be involved with strangers.
Gongi, as if soothing this barren fact, raised her hand high and said in an eagerly bright tone.
“Still, team members are honey (great)!”
Ian also nodded nonchalantly and chimed in.
“We won’t have to worry about teamwork.”
I nodded weakly.
At least I won’t have to worry about stress because of group members, right?
Cedric was just spinning his ballpoint pen alone without a word.
I looked down at him uneasily.
His expression was indifferent, but his gaze seemed to be lost in deep thought somewhere.
His lips were closed lightly, and his gaze was wandering in the air.
What are you thinking, you bastard.
I didn’t play him directly, but I often encountered him in the imperial palace with the Lucian character.
When Cedric made that expression in the game, most of the time someone’s fate changed.
Whether it was the choice for him to become Emperor or someone’s life or death.
“Then let’s go to a cafe. Everyone has time, right?”
When Gongi suggested, Ian and I nodded lightly.
Cedric also packed his bags without a word.
Just as the four of us were about to naturally leave the lecture hall, I stopped my steps at a familiar voice.
“Th, the…… Seohyun-ah.”
Looking back, a man with messy black hair and horn-rimmed glasses was standing there.
He was big in build, but his shoulders were hunched over.
A gaze that seemed anxious somewhere.
Lee Mujil.
A fellow student in his 3rd year of Political Diplomacy who had returned to school around the same time.
We had exchanged greetings a few times, but we had never had a deep conversation.
A fellow student with whom I only exchanged light greetings because his personality was so shy.
Lee Mujil slowly opened his mouth.
“Professor Ludger is calling you.”
Fck*, Ludger.
Trying to hide my hardening expression, I forcibly smiled.
“Really? Thanks for telling me, Mujil.”
I answered shortly, nodding my head.
Lee Mujil clenched and unclenched his fist awkwardly in front of me, as if he still had something left to say.
Tilting my head at that, Lee Mujil, who had opened his lips several times, finally spoke cautiously.
“Ha, have you found all your team members?”
“Yes. We’ve found all four. Let’s do it together next time.”
Leaving a short answer, Lee Mujil nodded a beat late.
He smiled awkwardly, biting his lips tight.
“I, is that so…… Goodbye!”
Lee Mujil waved his hand timidly and left the place hurriedly.
But the expressions of Gongi and Ian, who were watching his back, were strangely not good.
Ian, in particular, did not hide her uneasiness openly.
“……Don’t get too involved, Seohyun.”
Gongi also chimed in at those words.
“That’s right, Yoon Seohyun. I heard that someone who did a group project with him before changed teams quietly.”
Even Gongi, who was bright even about the fact that it was a group project hell, said with a dark expression.
I didn’t have any particular reaction even after hearing that.
Because Lee Mujil had never caused a problem.
But if Gongi and Ian were so worried about it, it was true that I felt uneasy somewhere.
…Well, even so, I had no energy to worry about it right now.
“Go to the cafe first. I’ll go right after I meet the professor.”
“Shall I go with you?”
Unexpectedly, Cedric asked quietly.
However, I cut him off sharply.
“……No.”
It would feel like I can’t breathe if you come with me.
Swallowing those words, I slowly moved my steps to Ludger’s lab.
Standing in front of the door, I took a breath for a moment and knocked.
“Professor, I have come as you called for me.”
A calm voice was heard from across the door.
“Please come in.”
As I opened the door and entered inside, bookshelves filled with books and documents on a neatly organized desk caught my attention.
And Ludger Edelweiss sitting in front of them.
He had a calm expression as always.
Tapping the desk with his fingertips, he slowly opened his mouth.
“I called you because I was curious as to why you cried.”
…Why are you curious about something like that?
“I didn’t cry.”
As I said with a straight face, Ludger looked at me from behind his glasses.
His cold blue eyes narrowed slightly.
“Really?”
“……Is there any reason for me to lie?”
Ludger looked at me, raising the corners of his mouth faintly.
“I see. I heard you are the top student of the Political Diplomacy Department.”
……What?
At those words, I was momentarily flustered.
No, why does this bastard know my information so well?
Ludger observed my reaction and kept a short silence.
And then, he added as if nonchalant, pretending to be indifferent.
“Seeing you earlier, you were walking with the Law Department’s top student, Cedric…… I look forward to the assignment.”
My mouth went dry.
When I swallowed instinctively, his gaze became even deeper.
His coldly settled blue eyes seemed to be searching for me quietly, but persistently.
Seeing that, I thought about it again.
I’m worried whether that gaze has hit a switch, but the words that he’s looking forward to the assignment…… were truly terrible.
