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Chapter 7
“Rebecca. You know how much we spent to get her into this place.”
Marquis Darling said in a low voice.
“But Arthur, this place is far too gloomy. Oh, if only the Ross family hadn’t done such a thing… It was an unnecessary expense. Genevieve would have been accepted even without it.”
“Rebecca.”
The two of them hoped their daughter wouldn’t understand what they were talking about.
Unfortunately, Genevieve understood every word.
The people who suffered most from the closure of Fogatz Academy were the innocent students who had nothing to do with the grade manipulation scandal.
The current students and the future freshmen—whose names had been placed on the enrollment list practically from birth—desperately searched for new schools.
And in order to send their only daughter to Saint John’s College, the Darling family had donated an entire year’s income from one of their diamond mines.
The famous donation admission.
Since everyone knew that most students from the Kingdom of Cardir had originally planned to attend Fogatz Academy, it was best to keep a low profile.
Please. Let me graduate safely, avoid getting involved with the characters, and inherit the family title. Please!
For the second time in her life, Genevieve offered a sincere prayer to God.
After enrolling at Saint John’s College, Genevieve spent most of her time with Owen Blythe and his friends.
Owen Blythe was the son of her maternal uncle.
Since Genevieve wasn’t from the Avonria Empire, she faced fewer restrictions when making friends. If one looked closely, most student groups were formed according to family alliances and political factions.
Genevieve was naturally outgoing.
The moment she entered the college, she started talking to people everywhere in an attempt to find the novel’s main characters.
But she found no one with unusual hair or eye colors.
Black hair.
Blonde hair.
Brown hair.
Occasionally, there would be someone with red hair, which was considered unusual enough.
As time passed, Genevieve gradually stopped worrying and successfully completed her first year.
When she became a second-year student, she decided to search for the protagonists again, just to be safe.
But she found nobody.
Even so, she couldn’t completely shake off her anxiety.
For an entire week, she thoroughly investigated the first-year students.
Still, she found no sign of the protagonists.
Time continued to pass.
When she became a third-year student, she once again spent a week searching.
No matter how much she asked around, she couldn’t find a pink-haired girl or a black-haired boy with purple eyes.
That left only one possibility.
I must have reincarnated before the original story even began!
Only then did Genevieve finally stop worrying about avoiding the plot and the characters.
Instead, she could enjoy ordinary concerns like a normal student.
Which assignment should I work on first?
Things like that.
Now Genevieve viewed the world exactly as someone who had reincarnated into an unnamed extra should.
Whether the original story was a dark adult romance fantasy or not didn’t matter.
As long as her own life remained peaceful and ordinary.
Her ideal future was simple.
One day she would become the Marchioness Darling.
Then she would read a newspaper headline such as:
<Saint John’s College Burned Down… What Will Happen to the Pine Tree Circle Now?>
She would learn that the novel’s story had ended while she remained perfectly safe.
That was the future she dreamed of.
So Genevieve diligently attended school.
Her consistently high grades made her the second-ranked student in her year.
Her club activities also helped enrich her school life.
And before she knew it—
It was the final semester of her third year.
The dining hall was quieter than usual on Monday morning.
The boring Mass that marked the beginning of the week had drained the students of their energy.
Genevieve, who had spent the entire Mass fighting off sleep, yawned as she reviewed her assignment.
She was so focused that she didn’t realize she was trying to eat soup with a fork until the fifth bite.
Only after confirming that her assignment was perfect did she finally put it down, feeling a small sense of accomplishment.
“Owen. Have you finished with the book?”
Genevieve leaned toward Owen, who was sitting diagonally across from her.
“What book?”
“The Responsibility of a Ruler. You said I could use it after you finished.”
“Huh?”
Owen, who had been slowly tearing apart a piece of bread, looked completely confused.
“The book you borrowed two weeks ago.”
“…”
Owen stared at her blankly, clearly needing more explanation.
From the look on his face, he seemed to have forgotten the assignment even existed.
“Professor Heather’s Governance Studies assignment!”
“Ah!”
Only then did he remember.
“I haven’t finished yet… Just give it to you tomorrow—”
“You know you said the same thing last week, right?”
“Ah, alright. Then you can have it.”
Hearing the warning tone in Genevieve’s voice, Owen quickly changed his answer.
“It should be somewhere in my bag. Let’s see… the book… Ah! Here it is.”
After searching through the bag he had carelessly thrown on the floor, Owen pulled out a thick book and placed it on the table.
THUD!
Actually, threw was probably a more accurate description.
The heavy book slammed onto the table.
Plates and cups rattled loudly.
But the disturbance didn’t end there.
Blanca, who had been dozing beside Owen, was startled awake by the noise.
In her surprise, she smashed her knee against the table.
The table shook even harder.
And then a cup tipped over.
“Ah!”
Genevieve let out a short scream.
She successfully saved The Responsibility of a Ruler.
Unfortunately, her assignment wasn’t so lucky.
Water soaked through it in an instant.
“Ow… my knee…”
While listening to Blanca’s pained groans from across the table, Genevieve helplessly watched a week’s worth of work disappear before her eyes.
“M-My assignment…”
She stared blankly at the ink spreading across the pages.
The soaked paper looked more like a cleaning rag than an assignment.
“Oh no! Ginger, I’m so sorry. What assignment was it?”
Blanca apologized while calling her by her nickname. Tears filled her eyes, though they were mostly from the pain in her knee.
“Professor Brian’s assignment… It’s due in first period today…”
The name Professor Brian said everything.
His classes were excellent.
The problem was that he was an extremely strict man who followed rules to the letter.
Late students weren’t allowed into class.
Writing assignments during class was unthinkable.
“How much time is left before breakfast ends?”
Genevieve finally asked.
“Twenty minutes.”
James, who had been watching the chaos unfold, answered.
I should have put it in my bag!
Genevieve regretted something that was already impossible to change.
The assignment was nearly ten pages long.
Rewriting it in twenty minutes was impossible.
Another professor might have accepted a slightly late submission.
Professor Brian would not.
“James, what’s the highest grade Professor Brian has ever given for a late assignment? An A-?”
“I wish. It’s a B.”
“…A B?”
Genevieve refused to accept reality.
For the rest of breakfast, she thought about every possible way to persuade Professor Brian.
But even in her imagination, she couldn’t win against him.
Walking into the classroom and watching her classmates place their assignments on the professor’s desk made her more envious than ever before.
No matter how good or bad the assignment was, they had submitted it on time.
Genevieve, who had always been punctual, felt a heavy weight in her chest.
After class ended, she approached Professor Brian.
He was organizing a stack of assignments.
“Ah, Miss Darling. Do you have a question regarding today’s lesson?”
Professor Brian asked warmly.
Gray hairs could already be seen among his hair.
“There wasn’t anything difficult in today’s lesson. But my assignment…”
Genevieve carefully explained the situation.
She tried to keep her explanation as brief as possible so it wouldn’t sound like an excuse.
“…So, would it be alright if I submitted it tomorrow?”
“Your situation is unfortunate, but as I announced at the beginning of the semester, late submissions receive a penalty. As you know, the highest grade I can give a late assignment is a B.”
She already knew.
But hearing it directly still hurt.
Genevieve desperately resisted the urge to complain about how unfair it felt.
Why is my luck so bad today?
This was the first time a week had started so disastrously.
Trying her best to push away the anxiety slowly creeping into her heart, she left the classroom.
“So? What happened?”
“What do you think happened? I need to rewrite my assignment.”
“Professor Brian is too strict. Honestly, couldn’t he let it slide just once? Still, Ginger, I’m really sorry about this morning. I’ll help you with your Economics assignment next time.”
“No. If Owen had just given me the book last week like he promised, none of this would have happened.”
Genevieve glared at Owen with a hint of resentment.
“…I have no defense. Want me to grant you a wish?”
“Forget it. One C grade isn’t going to ruin my life. I just need to focus on my assignment.”
Genevieve spoke in a strangely enlightened tone.
“But don’t you two have newspaper club work to do? Are you planning to stay up all night again before the deadline?”
“If you joined The College, we’d never have to worry about deadlines. Ginger, are you sure you don’t want to join?”
Blanca once again tried to recruit her into the newspaper club, insisting she had kept a position open just for her.
“No. If you’re seniors, then act like seniors and do your work. Hurry up and go.”
After sending the two of them away, Genevieve immediately headed to the student lounge.
The sun was already beginning to set.
Wanting to avoid the sunlight, she chose a seat deep inside the lounge.
A shaded table hidden behind a bookshelf was one of her favorite places.
Placing The Responsibility of a Ruler beside her, Genevieve began working.
She decided to finish her urgent Political Philosophy assignment first.
Thanks to the notes she had rewritten during lunch and breaks, most of it had already been restored from memory.
Now she only needed to copy it neatly.
Professor Brian… Why are you doing this to me…?
Genevieve let out a miserable sigh and continued her endless labor.
How much time passed?
“…Senior.”
A male student was suddenly standing in front of her desk.
She had no idea when he arrived.
