Chapter 120   It Must Be Painful (1)

Why was it that malice and hatred towards someone was so easy? Unkind words flew farther than kind ones. Gossip was naturally feared, as it deceived people by dressing itself up as justice. Then everyone thinks, are you really going to do nothing? Go on. Move. Hurt and harass. Then everyone was in favor.

Louise was lost in her thoughts as she stared at the steam rising from the glass jar she was boiling.

The school year started well. Stella was back too, but Louise hadn’t seen her yet.

Ah, there was one correction.

The school year started mercilessly. The Academy was a perilous place, and as Hesse warned about a while ago, many found themselves at the mercy of the cold season. During class Louise constantly heard people coughing into their handkerchief, and sickness did not discriminate between students and professors. Louise knew that being in a group left one vulnerable to infectious diseases, but she didn’t realize it was to this extent. And so, the faculty and student council of the Academy united in declaring war against this vicious epidemic.

Currently, Louise was disinfecting the bottles by boiling them. She turned her head and saw Ian and Claire swiftly slicing up some lemons. It was the most important part of the student council’s work– the mass production of lemon cheong. (TN: lemons matured in sugar, then used to make a lemon tea. Popular Korean cold-buster)

Next to her, the caretaker was beating Dean for putting his hand in the sugar and eating it.

Louise suddenly worried about the other girl, but the thought of Stella succumbing to a cold was not the reason. During vacation, the Lapis family was caught embezzling money, using it for gambling, and attempting to cover it up. In the original story, and entire chapter was devoted to describing the bullying Stella experienced, the reason being the disgrace of her family.

She began the harassment of the other girl.

The original was indeed a hard-working villainess. Come to think of it, it was almost like she gave up her studies and bullied full-time. How could anyone do that?

Louise felt guilty as she remembered all the despicable things the original said and did. Of course, the path changed because she didn’t behave that way now. While she sometimes regretted it, now she felt pride for not doing so. She didn’t want to replay that terrible behavior.

Then she would have to deal with Ian’s unfriendly face looking down on her.

Ugh…the original Ian was not very good either, and she couldn’t remember why she was so enthusiastic over him. She wasn’t happy thinking about that antagonistic expression in those illustrations now.

Louise picked up another glass jar with her tongs.

It slipped from her and plunged into a huge pot of boiling water, causing hot water to splash onto Louise’s arms and hands.

Louise set down the tongs and stepped back.

Ian came running over with his knife in his hand and his face filled with worry. Louise momentarily forgot about her burned hand and smiled. She felt relieved, to be honest. It was not the cold face she remembered in the original novel.

Louise’s smile made Ian look at her in puzzlement, but there was no shadow of hatred. This was a good expression, Louise thought. That sounded a little silly.

Instead of nagging her, he plunged Louise’s hands into cold water.

She was going to say it, she was just too embarrassed to. She didn’t want to blame him for the accident, even if it was the original Ian’s fault.

Ian then declared that she take a break and brought her a stool to sit on. Louise made herself comfortable and then shook her head.

That was a lie, of course. She was thinking very deeply. About Stella, and Ian.

Louise gazed into the face of Ian, the man in the center of her thoughts. He was looking around and barking out additional instructions to the rest of the room.

I told you to keep an eye on Dean so he wouldn’t dip his fingers in the sugar. Claire cut herself, so get her a stool too. I need some medicine from the infirmary.

And so on.

After Ian finished ordering people about, he went back to Louise and placed his hand on her forehead. Louise shook her head so that he wouldn’t worry she was sick.

Normally, Ian would’ve tapped her forehead and said, “Concentrate,” but this time he didn’t.

He smiled slyly, as if he liked it when Louise opposed him like this. This man was a real pervert.

After a moment, he ultimately nodded.

Louise nodded indignantly with tearful eyes.

Louise bit her lip, without noticing Ian wincing at the action.

Instead, cultural art was an art history class with a whole sea of content to cram into her head.

Instead of answering, he pulled one of Louise’s hands from the cold water and studied it carefully. There was a red mark on her pale skin that looked like it would last a while.

Ian frowned.

Louise plunged her hand back into the cold water to urge Ian to continue.

Ian quickly finished off his explanation, as the medicine for Louise’s hand arrived.

As Ian reached out to Louise, the boy who had been standing next to them approached cautiously, an uneasy look on his face.

Ian shook the bottle, which read, “Sweat for one hour after applying, but do not touch any liquid, even if it is water.”

The boy looked relieved, and then ran to hit Dean Crissis on the back, who was helping himself to the sugar again.