Chapter 102

“Please have a seat here.”

“Excuse me.”

Grace arrived at Delphoi’s research room and plopped down on the sofa.

In the meantime, Delphoi returned to his desk to prepare some light snacks.

Grace looked around the research room to see if anything had changed.

His research room was quite typical for a professor, more focused on theory than practice.

The place meant for practical studies was elsewhere; she had visited that other location many times.

‘This will be my last time here.’

After today’s consultation, she would work with Godin instead of Delphoi.

Delphoi had a solid background from a reputable institution, and his abilities were decent, but there were many hints of discomfort about him.

Occasionally, he would call her with a sickly sweet voice or make subtle physical contact, and without Sivar’s warning, she might have missed those cues. So she kept shutting him down coldly.

Whenever she did, Delphoi would only awkwardly laugh it off and wouldn’t push any further.

‘Ability and personality are separate things.’

She felt this deeply from her family background.

They say lions drop their cubs off cliffs to raise them strong, highlighting the harshness of the wilderness.

In reality, lions are quite community-oriented. However, her family, the Verche Duke’s Family, really did drop their cubs off cliffs.

Just that alone was enough to make anyone shudder, but they were also adept at using both carrots and sticks.

They would provide various supports to help you climb back up after falling from the cliff, which just made her smirk.

‘I feel like Sivar has some bad feelings about this.’

Grace looked at Delphoi, who was busy preparing coffee after the snacks.

She was curious why the professors had placed restrictions on Sivar’s attack rights, but she just recently found out.

It was because Delphoi had engaged in politics. He low-key restricted Sivar simply because he was too strong.

If this were any other student, they’d think it was nonsense, but the issue was Sivar.

Living in the wilderness, he lacked morals and common sense. It was clearly dangerous.

Since there was a strong underlying perception of this, many professors agreed with Delphoi’s opinion.

‘He’s not harmful at all, though.’

After teaming up with Sivar several times, she realized he wasn’t harmful at all, but rather quite docile.

Especially when you give him delicious food, he’ll gladly do whatever you ask. On the flip side, if you take his food away, he might turn savage.

Anyway, Sivar was tamer and gentler than any wild animal. That perception of danger is probably very much related to the accident he caused.

Clatter—

While she was lost in thought, Delphoi placed the snacks and coffee on the table.

Grace glanced at the tea in her cup. It was mostly green with a little bit of powder settled at the bottom.

“This is green tea. It’s one of the famous teas from the Eastern Empire. It has a refreshing effect on the mind. The powder at the bottom? That’s green tea leaves.”

“I see. I’ll enjoy it.”

Grace smiled brightly and took a sip of the tea Delphoi had brewed for her.

Delphoi wore a meaningful smile as he watched her, but unfortunately, Grace didn’t notice.

“This has a unique taste.”

“It reflects the characteristics of the Eastern Empire.”

Delphoi said that as he took a sip of the green tea, while Grace popped a snack into her mouth.

The snack was Eastern style, matching well with the green tea. It had a sweet yet slightly bitter strange flavor.

Grace was satisfied with the exquisite combination of flavors and set her teacup down.

“So, after today, you’ll be working under Professor Godin, right?”

As soon as she set her teacup down, Delphoi flashed a friendly smile and started talking.

On the surface, he seemed entirely harmless, but to Grace’s eyes, he felt a bit insidious.

His mushroom-like hairstyle threw her off already, and the smile made him look even weirder.

But expressing that would be impolite, so she kept her manners in check.

“Yes. While Professor Delphoi is excellent, what I need is theory. Regardless of anything else, Professor Godin’s theory lessons are almost perfect.”

She made this decision not only to distance herself from Delphoi but also considering Godin’s abilities.

What she had heard about Godin was this: his practical skills might not be great, but his theoretical knowledge was top-notch.

In fact, the thesis Godin submitted had no flaws, and he had achieved numerous successes based on that theory.

“Thanks to that, I realized. What’s important now is not practice but theory. I plan to learn theory from Professor Godin and then slowly proceed to practice.”

“Hmm… I see. I wondered why you would want to learn from someone like Godin…”

Someone like Godin? Grace made a peculiar expression at Delphoi’s slightly condescending remark.

Looking at just his expression, one might think they had misheard, but she clearly heard him. It seemed Godin was not to his liking.

She sipped her green tea while trying to guess the nature of their relationship. She started with a question.

“What do you think of Professor Godin, Delphoi?”

“Honestly… he’s probably not a good person. Even though theory is important, in the Academy, practical skills are the most important.”

It’s still the same now. The way he subtly threw shade made it seem like he really disliked Godin.

However, there was a huge flaw in Delphoi’s argument.

Grace maintained her smile while countering his opinion.

“That’s interesting. Aren’t you also a wizard, Professor Delphoi?”

“…Well, yes.”

“The origin of magic is language itself. No matter how practical it may be, if you lack the foundational language skills, it’s all meaningless. When considered in that light, Professor Godin’s abilities can be seen as exceptionally high, don’t you think?”

There was nothing wrong with Grace’s statement. Language is the root and trunk of magic, culminating in its fruit.

Considering that, it’s absurd to underestimate Godin, who put forth numerous theories and papers.

“…You’ve got a point. But even if the theory is good, if you can’t produce results in practice, it’s meaningless.”

“Well, I beg to differ. In my view, even flawed theories that are continuously tested, proving them wrong is sufficient…”

Grace was suddenly interrupted, stumbling on her words. No, it felt like her tongue had been stiffened completely. She was slightly flustered, trying to move her mouth.

“Ah… uhh…”

But her mouth simply wouldn’t budge. It felt like the stiffness was spreading throughout her body.

What on earth was happening? Grace looked at Delphoi with a panicked expression.

Delphoi still wore that friendly smile and calmly opened his mouth.

“What’s the matter? Are you feeling numb? Is your body not moving?”

“Uhh… ah…”

“I see. Your body is numb then…”

Suddenly, Delphoi’s smile vanished. He looked at her with an icy expression of contempt.

“Then you’re saying you can’t do anything now?”

“Uhuh…”

Thud—

It seemed her whole body was now so paralyzed that it just fell over. No matter how much she struggled, even moving her fingers felt impossible.

Even her magic was of no use. Spinning the magic within her body did nothing to help her move.

“It’ll be useless even if you rotate your magic. It’s a special drug I made. You will feel sensations in your body.”

“Why…”

“Why, you ask? I’ve never liked you. That condescending look in your eyes. And now, those eyes will change into something different.”

Swiftly—

Delphoi said with a sinister smile, adjusting Grace’s position on the sofa to lay her back properly.

If she were to close her eyes now, she’d look like she was peacefully asleep. But Delphoi’s crimes did not end there.

“Why does everyone look down on me? Now even that damned wilderness creature is ignoring me, I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“…”

“I’ll tell you this in advance; I’m not scared of your family at all. Instead, you should be the one scared of your family. Am I wrong? If we keep this under wraps, it’ll be good for both of us, but if it gets out, you’ll disappear too.”

Regardless of the era, ‘purity’ is a crucial aspect for women. If purity is defiled, immense costs will follow.

Especially if that woman is a noble lady, and a Duke’s daughter at that, the stakes are even higher. Grace felt her heart sink at the thought.

Did he really plot this far ahead? The consequences of his words were clear.

Most importantly, the scars on her body would undoubtedly remain. Noble status or not, she wouldn’t be able to show herself in the world again.

“Just hold on a little longer. The pain will be brief, and soon you’ll feel quite good again. Hehehe.”

“Ah… uhh…”

“Shall I watch as those dirty eyes change?”

Delphoi gently caressed Grace’s face, then slowly moved his hand downward.

His hand arrived at the button area of her blouse.

As he began to unbutton one by one, only a white t-shirt matching her school uniform remained.

If she lost that t-shirt too, she’d be left with just her underwear.

“How troublesome; I should just cut it off. Let’s see what kind of underwear a noble lady wears.”

“Uuhh…!”

Desperately struggling, her body wouldn’t budge. But perhaps her tear ducts were still functioning.

Tears began to gather in the corners of Grace’s eyes as she felt the looming crisis. How did it come to this?

*Buuuuuuuum—*

Before she could blame the world, Delphoi slashed Grace’s t-shirt in half with a knife.

Ultimately, Grace shut her eyes tight. As soon as she did, tears flowed down, soaking the sofa.

“Ha! This is quite the mature underwear. Is it because of your adult-like figure?”

Delphoi, having discarded the two halves of her t-shirt, was satisfied. Her figure was indeed exceptional.

A noble body that was well-fed and well-rested. And now, with further provocation from the purple lingerie underneath.

As long as he could toy with that, it would be enough. Delphoi’s smile turned utterly vile as he licked his lips.

“Just think of it as bad luck, my lady. Don’t even think about someone coming to help you.”

“…”

No one would come. Someone would come to help her.

Her purity hadn’t been tarnished yet. Grace fervently prayed for anyone to come.

She prayed to gods she normally didn’t believe in. She didn’t want her life to end like this.

“Please… anyone…”

Could it be that there are no knights in shining armor? Would the childhood dreams she had held onto until now crumble?

As Grace’s heart darkened, Delphoi’s filthy hand approached her chest.

Just as he was about to naively toy with the ripe fruit that had grown, a knock echoed through the room.

Knock knock—

Did someone hear Grace’s prayers? Someone knocked on Delphoi’s door.

Delphoi grimaced at the sound, glancing towards the door. Talk about terrible timing.

“Tch.”

He clicked his tongue and backed away from Grace. In that moment, she felt a glimmer of hope surge within her.

She hoped this visitor would realize what was happening, but Delphoi wasn’t that foolish.

Creeeak—

He only opened the door slightly, enough to obscure the view. If things continued like this, he could easily walk away without raising any suspicions.

Grace struggled to move her mouth, but unfortunately, that was tough too.

“…Who are you?”

“Where’s Grace?”

“Grace?”

“Yes. Is she in there?”

That voice… it was Sivar. Grace’s eyes widened when she heard Sivar’s voice.

She didn’t know why Sivar had come here, but at this moment, she felt confident.

With all her might, she tried to shout. Her tongue wouldn’t move, but she had to cry out.

“Ah… uhh…”

“But there’s no one here. What’s going on?”

But even that tiny sound was drowned out by Delphoi. A single thread of hope was slowly snuffed out, replaced by overwhelming despair.

If things continued this way, Sivar might turn away. Grace desperately hoped he would notice something.

“Nobody? I can smell something.”

“You can smell something?”

“Yeah. The scent of Grace.”

“She was just here, she left.”

“And why do you remember a woman’s scent? You’re a creep.”

He felt like ripping his mouth apart right then and there. Just a moment ago, he had been trying to forcibly tarnish her purity, and now this.

With bitterness and anger rising within her, Grace felt an urge to take down Delphoi.

“Now that you’re done, you should go. Don’t come back.”

“Alright.”

Clatter—

But that feeling soon vanished. Sivar obediently listened and shut the door behind him.

Grace felt the last flicker of hope extinguish, and she closed her eyes. It felt as if her heart would burst from the frustration.

“Hmph. What a perceptive lad. I almost got into big trouble there.”

“…”

“Now then, the nuisance is gone, so let’s finish what we started, shall we, lady?”

Delphoi approached Grace with a sneer. She gritted her teeth, relaxing her body.

There was nothing more she could do. Tears streamed down her face as she moved her lips.

“Do…”

“What? I can’t hear you.”

Delphoi continued to mock her. With a sense of utter hopelessness, Grace made one last attempt to speak.

Perhaps her paralysis had lessened a bit, but she managed to voice out to him.

“Do… come… help… me…”

“Sure. I’ll help you now…”

Bang!

Delphoi couldn’t finish his sentence. The door to the research room burst open unexpectedly.

The door flew far, causing chaos inside the room almost instantly.

Upon hearing the noise, Delphoi turned toward the door in surprise. Standing there was the familiar face he had seen earlier.

“I heard everything.”

Grace smiled softly upon hearing that voice. At the same time, a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Your voice.”

The knight from the fairy tale did exist.

Though, he was a rather unique knight.

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