The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 171

The next day, the news of the engagement between the Castica and Arkenent families spread rapidly within Ardel Academy.

Among the few students of the academy, Han Siha and Solia, who were always at the center of attention in the magic department, made it inevitable that rumors would spread.

First floor of Ardel Academy, cafeteria.

Won sat down with a dramatic flourish.

“Hey, hey. Did you guys hear about this?”

Yoon Haul, who was usually indifferent to others, and Adela, who was always cooped up in the training grounds, stared blankly at Won, seemingly unaware of the latest news.

Won looked around quickly and, after confirming that Han Siha was not around, leaned in and whispered.

“You know how the Castica and Arkenent families are working together, right? You heard about that?”

“Yeah, I knew.”

“So, apparently… they’re going to get engaged.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“It’s just like I said. Han Siha and Solia are getting engaged! Next month!”

Won’s bombshell revelation.

Clatter.

Yoon Haul put down her spoon and spoke.

“What? Who decided that?”

Yoon Haul frowned deeply, glaring at Won.

Won burst into laughter as if Yoon Haul’s question was ridiculous.

“Who else? The Count’s decision, of course.”

“And what about mine?”

“Why would your opinion even matter?”

Uh… Uh….

Yoon Haul blinked, speechless.

This wasn’t something that had been announced beforehand.

Out of the blue, an engagement between the two families?

This couldn’t be happening.

“Han Siha and Solia…?”

Feeling like she had been struck by lightning, Yoon Haul struggled to form words.

“How… how can this be….”

An engagement even the seer hadn’t foreseen.

“This makes no sense….”

Muttering to herself with a shocked expression, Yoon Haul aggressively tore into her bread.

“This is impossible.”

“No, it’s possible. Both families used to be quite prominent, you know.”

“No, but seriously, it’s impossible….”

When you’re feeling down, eating something usually helps. Yoon Haul felt like she was drowning in complicated feelings and reflexively stuffed bread into her mouth.

Watching Yoon Haul munch on the red bean bread as if she might chew the entire wrapper along with it, Won chimed in playfully.

“What’s this, bread soaked with tears?”

“Huff… Huff… Don’t talk to me. I’m too pissed….”

“What’s the big deal? It’s just an engagement, not a marriage. Just make sure they don’t actually get married.”

“Huff… Huff.”

“Honestly, what does Solia have over you?”

“R-Really?”

“Your personality is nastier, your family is inferior, and if we’re being picky, your skills are lacking… Aaaargh!”

Won, acting cheeky, ended up getting grabbed by the neck by Yoon Haul.

After being thoroughly shaken, he was tossed to the ground.

“See? Your personality’s nastier. Use this energy to go grab Solia by the collar!”

“Ugh… you’re so annoying!”

Thud.

Won, who had finally been kicked by Yoon Haul, rolled across the floor.

“Ouch… The top student of the theology department shouldn’t just go around beating people up… You….”

“Wait a minute.”

There was one person who had been forgotten while Won was busy teasing Yoon Haul.

The one who had been frozen with a stiff expression the whole time.

Adela finally spoke up.

“Hey, is that true?”

* * *

Even just walking through the hallways, guys like Won would make a fuss and stick to me, so I took refuge in the cooking practice room for now.

I didn’t realize I was this famous, but now I was starting to feel the popularity.

More accurately, I was feeling Solia’s popularity rather than my own.

Han Siha let out a sigh and clicked his tongue.

“Phew… Did you see how everyone was glaring at me? It’s like they’re out to kill me.”

“I almost died too… same goes for me.”

I especially avoided the area around the snack bar since I was told to stay clear of Yoon Haul.

Solia grumbled, burying her head in her arms. This whole situation felt like an unexpected mess.

“How did this spread?”

“I have no idea. Some loudmouth must have let it slip. It’s not exactly something we were trying to hide.”

There were more than a few servants present at the time.

Honestly, since the engagement date was already set, it was expected that it would cause a stir soon enough.

But just because we expected it didn’t mean we had prepared a plan.

Solia asked with a troubled expression.

“Do you have any ideas?”

Han Si-hyuk’s advice wasn’t much help.

So, Han Siha had come up with some ideas of his own.

“There are three ways.”

Solia swallowed nervously, waiting for Han Siha’s response.

Han Siha raised his index finger with a serious expression.

“First, we run in and cause a scene, saying we absolutely can’t go through with this.”

“….”

“Well, this is kind of my specialty, but you wouldn’t be able to do it, right? You’re not that type.”

“Yeah.”

Then, the second option.

“We politely explain the situation. I mean, they wouldn’t force two people who hate the idea to get engaged, right?”

Han Siha spoke confidently, but Solia lowered her head.

“Even if you’re against it… my father would probably still go through with it.”

“R-Really?”

According to Solia, it was unlikely that it would work in reality.

The two of them weren’t the type to let personal feelings affect family agreements.

Maybe the Castica side would consider it, but for the Count of Arkenent, who had just recently reclaimed his territory, it was a hard offer to refuse.

Even though the Count treasured his daughter as much as his own life, he would push this engagement through under most circumstances.

Unless, of course, the prospective son-in-law was some complete scoundrel from a trashy family, but in this case, Han Siha was someone the Count favored, and he got along well with the Count of Castica.

There was no reason to oppose the engagement.

On top of that—

‘I’ve told him countless times.’

Whenever he had the chance, the Count of Arkenent would ramble on about Han Siha.

That was where the trouble started.

He probably wouldn’t even consider that the engagement was something being forced.

‘If I say I don’t want it, he’ll just think I’m embarrassed.’

Solia, looking dejected, shook her head for both options.

At that moment, Han Siha’s eyes glinted.

“There’s still one more option.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve definitely seen this somewhere before.”

You know, it’s like a classic trope in dramas, right?

Han Siha, who had seen a lot of things, smirked and spoke.

“Third, we run away holding hands on the day of the engagement.”

Huh?

“It’s easier to cancel it if we run on the day itself.”

“W-What?”

If you give them enough time, they’ll just come up with other alternatives or try to persuade us.

So, in that case, crashing the engagement on the day itself would be the most effective.

“Uh….”

Solia hesitated.

It made sense, but…

No matter how you look at it, running away holding hands on the day of the engagement is…

“Don’t like it?”

Han Siha said, grabbing Solia’s hand.

“…Like this, we just run, right?”

“W-Wait… huh?”

Blink.

Solia’s eyelids trembled as she looked down.

She understood the gist of what he was saying, but…

“Th-That is….”

For no reason, her mind went blank.

Solia, staring at their joined hands, suddenly realized why.

They were closer than she thought.

And then—

“Um… first, can you… let go of my hand….”

She was about to say it gently.

Just at that moment—

“Kyaaahhh!”

A scream erupted from behind.

“Kyaaahhh!”

“…?”

Han Siha quickly turned his head to check behind him.

“Huh?”

What’s this?

Thump thump thump.

Won, who had somehow dashed over, was standing at the door with both hands pressing his cheeks.

Then, he started screaming at the top of his lungs.

Loud enough for the whole hallway to hear.

“Kyahhh! Han Siha and Soliaaaa—Kyahhh!”

Damn it.

“They’re holding hands—Kyahhh!”

Han Siha and Solia’s faces went cold at the same time.

“Catch that bastard.”

* * *

If we had been any slower, all the kids in the hallway would have swarmed in.

Won, who had drawn all the attention, was quickly subdued by Han Siha.

Thud—

“Ouch!”

Won was sprawled on the ground after being hit, and Han Siha sighed, giving him a warning.

“Keep your mouth shut and stay quiet until the engagement is officially announced.”

“Everyone already knows.”

“Not everyone.”

“Pretty much everyone knows.”

It seemed the rumor had spread openly in the magic department, but it hadn’t yet reached the other departments.

Ardel Academy isn’t exactly small, and if upper and lowerclassmen start getting involved, it’s going to be a real headache.

There’s already enough to worry about, like the situation with Adela; the last thing we need is to add this to the pile.

Even if I had ten bodies, I wouldn’t be able to handle all of this.

Han Siha rubbed his temples and spoke.

“Hey, you’ve been spreading this everywhere, haven’t you?”

“I haven’t! I just heard about it. The rumors were already all over the place. If you wanted to keep it a secret, you shouldn’t have set such a public engagement date in the first place, right?”

“If I had known, I would never have set it so publicly. Ugh… just for now… let’s all keep it quiet until the official engagement.”

Won, reluctantly, nodded at Han Siha’s words.

Won was Ardel Academy’s go-to source for information, but even he wouldn’t spread rumors that his friends clearly didn’t want to get out.

Han Siha let out a sigh and continued his explanation.

“The situation is kind of complicated. It was decided suddenly for us, too.”

“Wasn’t it some kind of promise from childhood or something?”

“Well, it’s true it was from when we were kids….”

The problem was that they were younger than ten years old back then.

Han Siha and Solia roughly explained the situation, and Won, sitting on the cold floor, just nodded.

He got the gist of what was happening.

“You’re planning not to go through with the engagement?”

“That’s the idea.”

“Well, it is… way too early, but….”

Won frowned and asked.

“How are you planning to pull it off?”

“That’s….”

Solia hesitated before explaining their rough plan.

After hearing everything, Won jumped up from his seat.

Their plan to cancel the engagement involved running away on the day of the ceremony, hand in hand.

Han taesu and the Count of Arkenent still didn’t know about this.

A whole bunch of messy details.

Won also understood why they were holding hands in the first place.

“Oh, so that’s why… you were plotting to run away holding hands?”

“Yeah. So it’s really problematic if the rumors about the engagement spread too much.”

“Hmm….”

Won quickly grasped the situation, accepting it even though he failed to tease them, but his expression soon darkened.

Turning his gaze away, Won spoke with a troubled look.

“Hey, but… there’s one problem.”

A problem?

Han Siha followed Won’s gaze and asked.

“What about him?”

“Huh?”

Only then did Han Siha remember the presence he had been ignoring because of Won.

Flapping, flapping—

A small creature was running down the hallway, flapping its two wings.

“Kyahhh!”

Basilus, who had been hiding under the table, leapt forward with his cheeks puffed out and a bright smile on his face.

“koo! Han Siha and! Sollia!”

Wait a second, that line…

Won shrugged his shoulders, raising both hands.

“I think he’s just repeating whatever he hears without even knowing what it means.”

“Han Siha and Solliaaa! Holding hands! They’re getting engaged!”

Damn.

Basilus, trying to announce the engagement of Han Siha and Solia to the entire Ardel Academy, was quickly intercepted.

“Han Siha and…!”

Thud.

That’s as far as he got.

“koo?”

“Hey, you little…”

“koo!”

Basilus was ultimately grabbed by Han Siha, who dragged him back, wings flapping all the way.