"..."
"...!"
For a moment, Rotsard's expression turned vulnerable, causing Lila to believe that she would get to learn an important clue that would help her piece together the story behind the events. In her mind, there was a whole chain of events that pushed Rotsard into becoming the trash he was, that someone behind the scenes had pushed him in that direction.
The funniest part of it was...
She wasn't wrong at all.
But that was a problem. Because with the knowledge of the future that the deofol's story gave him, he also knew that. Only that he couldn't do anything against it because it might end up being the trigger the humanity's destruction. Rotsard simply had to steer her away but... how..?
With curiosity mixed with misplaced obligation, Lila has already decided to strike the iron while it was hot.
"While doing my research, I happened to learn that your behavior changed completely after your mother's death…"
"!!!"
The moment Lila mentioned Rotsard's mother, all signs of vulnerability disappeared from Rotsard's face. Even the thoughts about steering her away from the truth were all suddenly replaced by seething rage.
His mother's death felt like the lowest blow, one he instinctively retaliated against.
And nurse Lila instantly realized she had made a huge mistake.
The next moment, their roles reversed, and Lila was being forced down.
Only that Rotsard didn't attempt to hold her down and get up immediately.
"Filthy peasant! The likes of you have murdered my mother, and now you're wiping your mouth with her name while spouting nonsense?!"
Rotsard roared while curling his fingers the same way he did during the duel with Justin.
"But…!"
"WHERE IS A PLACE FOR BUTS IN THIS CONVERSATION?!"
Lila let out a panicked gasp, but Rotsard snarled over her.
"YOU'RE DELUSIONAL! STOP TRYING TO FIND ISSUES WITH MY FAMILY WHEN THERE ARE NONE!"
"...!"
The bleached-blond-haired boy snapped completely, yet somehow still able to attempt make the woman stop looking into the matter, storming out of the room and the hospital wing without even giving Lila a chance to say another word.
"S-student Rotsard…!"
When she finally came to, the woman stepped out and called out after the boy, but didn't dare to follow him.
"...well, that was a clear rejection if I ever saw one…"
One of the other nurses snorted under her breath while walking past the troubled Lila.
"...how heavy is the burden he carries…? I have to help him, whether he wants to or not…"
But instead of getting agitated or even slightly bothered by the tease, Lila clutched a small pendant she usually kept hidden under her clothes and muttered to herself.
While she was already planning the continuation of her research regardless, or rather precisely because of Rotsard's reaction, the bleached-blond-haired boy returned straight to the cold room, completely ignoring her warning out of pure spite.
-----
Three days later, Rotsard's anger didn't subside at all, so when he found a letter with nurse Lila's scent all over it stuck under his door, his first instinct was to tear it to pieces without checking the content.
"…"
…but he decided not to do that and opened it, giving the peasant nurse the benefit of a doubt on the off chance it was a written apology.
[Student Rotsard,
I apologize for my behavior. I stepped out of line. My love for detective novels has made me see nefarious plots where they had no place.]
And truth be told, the beginning of the letter suggested it was exactly that!
[I realized that I was too focused on trying to connect everything to your family, while blind to other options. While you might not believe me, I am convinced that I stumbled upon a lead proving that someone really was after your life. Tonight, after delivering this letter, I will be meeting a witness who can provide solid proof of that. If everything goes well, I will compile enough evidence to expose and bring the culprit to justice on the day the representative of your family will arrive at the Royal Academy.]
…but only two lines in, it steered right back to the dangerous territory.
"Haaa… There wasn't anything like that in the story. Even though I'm supposedly involved with him, the actual antagonist for volume one will only show himself after the results of the first term evaluation, it's too early for the plot against Vallhalls to surface…"
Rotsard sighed, crumpling the paper and tossing it against the wall.
"She really is such a peasant, diving right into things that don't involve her!"
The bleached-blond-haired boy spoke to himself, watching his breath turn into white mist that floated down and turned into a fine layer of ice on the already frosted floor.
"...still… Maybe it's fine for her to learn the truth since she wasn't a named character in the first place...? Yes... that sounds... nice... as long as she will wait until the right moment to reveal it all, it should be fine. I'll confront her tomorrow and make her stop before she actually interferes with the story… or gets herself in trouble…"
Rotsard groaned and made a decision while sitting down to begin circulating his mana slowly and carefully, while his expression gradually softened.
—---
But when Rotsard went to the hospital wing the next day, just as he decided, he didn't find nurse Lila in there.
Instead, he was informed that the woman left the Royal Academy in a great hurry last night, because of some undisclosed family issue, and didn't mention the date of her return.
That left the boy in a peculiar state. On one hand, he was relieved that, regardless of reason, the nosy woman dropped the issue before it turned into something troublesome. But on the other hand, he did feel a bit… disappointed that she ended up giving up that fast.
And definitely the last emotion he had towards the whole situation was… worry.
If the peasant nurse left with only a note of explanation, something really bad must have happened, and it was concerning… for some reason…
Rotsard was so distraught about this newfound compassion of his and for a peasant, no less, that he decided to hold back with the cold room training, as that sudden emotion very well might have been a side effect caused by his injury getting worse when exposed to cold.
Nan, at least, appeared to be relieved and even happy about his decision…
…at least until he instructed her not to disassemble the magic formations of the cold room because he didn't actually make a final decision regarding the training.
The rest of the week passed without any major issues, besides Rotsard continuously prodding and pushing on the limits of the Academy's faculty so that they would come up with new rules...
And then, before the bleached-blond-haired boy even knew it, the day of a representative of the Vallhall family showing up arrived.