I Give Up on the BL Novel's Male Leads - Chapter 39
Suddenly, Edwin interjected.
“Huh?”
“Are you two close?”
Damon asked, surprised.
“No,” Edwin replied curtly.
“Then I’ll come along too. Anyway, Illein has to go to the library with me.”
“Rejected.”
Edwin quickly interrupted, looking at Illein.
“Could you go ahead, Damon? I’ll join you there later.”
“Alright.”
When he said that, Damon responded reluctantly.
As Damon packed up and left, he kept glancing back at Illein and Edwin, clearly unsettled.
Everyone else had finished their academy classes and didn’t want to stay in the classroom any longer, so they quickly gathered their things and left.
“You’re hiding something from me. Tell me the truth.”
Illein’s body trembled at his words.
He must have figured it all out—that she was a girl and that she had been deceiving the academy and everyone all this time.
“No, there’s nothing…”
Illein tried to deflect, her eyes darting around.
Edwin’s intense gaze made her feel like he could see right through her, and cold sweat started to form.
Her hands were already damp with sweat.
“Really, nothing?”
Illein hated lying, but the truth was too terrifying to admit.
“…Yes.”
So she had to reply that.
“Alright, then. You can go.”
Seeing the expression on his face made her feel guilty, but she quickly grabbed her bag and left.
Without looking back, she headed straight to the library.
When she arrived, she saw two people—Damon and Melias.
“Damon?”
“Yes, I told Melias we were going to study, and he wanted to join us.”
“I’ll study with you too.”
“Oh, sure. That’s fine.”
Illein felt a bit uncomfortable with Melias joining, but she didn’t show it. After all, studying was mostly an individual task.
She sat down at the round table Damon had reserved and placed her bag on the floor.
“I’ll go find some books.”
“Should I come with you?”
“It’s fine.”
Illein said to Damon with a smile and got up from her seat.
Her mind was still in turmoil because of Edwin.
What exactly does he know? Could he have discovered that she was actually a woman pretending to be a man?
“Sigh.”
Illein headed up to the 9th floor alone to find some books.
She walked towards the bookshelves, sighing deeply.
It seemed likely that he figured it out because of the magical control device she had absorbed through her hand.
But simply being near him wouldn’t have given anything away… right?
Her head throbbed.
One problem resolved, another arose to trouble her.
She felt utterly exhausted. She missed her first year when she had nothing but her studies to focus on.
“Huh?”
Illein suddenly noticed that the book on magical physics she was looking for wasn’t in its place. A chill ran down her spine.
She remembered there was another incident in the library involving Edwin.
Besides the one where she fell from a high place, there was one more.
In that event, Edwin borrowed the book she was looking for first, forcing her to talk to him to get it back.
In that incident, instead of their lips colliding, she accidentally touched a place she shouldn’t have.
“I guess I’ll have to give up on physics.”
She muttered, laughing at the absurdity.
After all, magical physics was her best subject.
She could always cram for the exam the night before.
Accepting this, she turned her attention to finding an ancient language book.
“Huh?”
But oddly enough, the latest edition of the ancient language book was also missing.
“What’s going on….?”
She had never seen these unpopular books missing from the shelves.
Multiple copies were usually available for such rare cases.
So why wasn’t there a single copy left?
She reluctantly decided to look for an astrology book.
“Huh??”
To her surprise, the astrology books were also missing. These books were so unpopular that no one ever borrowed them.
“What is this?”
Startled, she decided to look for a book on transformation magic. At that moment…
“Are you studying here too?”
“Eek!”
Illein jumped, frightened by the sudden voice and the hand that tapped her shoulder from behind.
On the 8th floor of the library were Damon, Melias, and one librarian. Illein was alone on the 9th floor. There was no one to feel disturbed by a shout. And yet…
“Willai?”
“Hey, good to see you.”
Willai smiled at her as if they were friends.
“What brings you here?”
“What do you think? I’m here to study too. Did you come alone? If so, want to study together?”
“I’m not alone.”
Illein noticed the long string of books floating beside him. Books were piled up, held up by magic.
“You…”
“Oh, do you want me to lend you one?”
He had all the books she had been looking for.
“….”
Illein was momentarily speechless and pressed her lips together tightly. Saying something rude wouldn’t change anything.
She tried to keep herself from saying anything she might regret.