Chapter 52.2

Chapter 52.2

“Professor! Professor! Did you see this?”

Even though the assistant, who had come running, was shaking the newsletter, the person lying on the sofa was sound asleep and motionless, her arm draped over her eyes.

The assistant sighed as he saw her disheveled hair, glasses perched crookedly on her forehead, feet crossed over the couch rack, slippers strewn about, unwashed mug, and desk littered with research journals and papers.

Who would look at this person and think she’s an exclusive scholar of the Grand Academy? It was a sight that lacked any semblance of dignity.

If his sister or daughter were sleeping like this, he would sigh. But he was just an assistant.

He shook his head and opened the window to let fresh air into the lab.

Apparently, she’d been working all night without ventilation again, although he had told her several times that it would k!ll her later.

“Professor, Professor, wake up! You’re not dead, are you?”

Sh’s snoring, so I know she’s alive. But she sleeps like a corpse… I have to check on her from time to time. The assistant sighed and stared at his professor for a while before deciding to get her some morning coffee and bread.

The eccentric professor was from a large aristocratic family, so she couldn’t be bothered to take care of herself. Nevertheless, if someone cared for her, she would graciously accept it.

“Ugh, she might be dead at this rate.”

“Don’t worry about cleaning up.”

“Ah!”

At the sudden, lazy voice, Jonathan, the unfortunate assistant, jumped in surprise. He shouted at the professor, still lying down and yawning, arms crossed.

“Don’t talk to me like that while sleeping like a corpse!”

“Then don’t disturb me when I’m sleeping, Jonathan.”

Still in her sleeping position, her eyes unopened and her mouth moving, she looked like a revived pharaoh in a desert kingdom across the sea. The assistant’s eyes narrowed.

“If the professor doesn’t get up in time, neither will I.”

“I’m hungry. Did you bring any food?”

“…I’m not a mess hall. That’s not the point.”

While she was slowly getting up and scratching her back, Jonathan carefully straightened out the crumpled newsletter and held it out to the professor, who had not yet batted an eye.

She lifted her glasses from her forehead and wiped them on the hem of her shirt. She opened her eyes and asked,

“What is this? You want me to do origami?”

“Oh, read carefully. It’s a newsletter from the imperial society. Didn’t you tell the professor that you have an older brother? He, the duke…”

“Why that person?”

Her blue eyes widened sharply as if to ask why she was bringing up such an unpleasant subject this early morning. Professor Risha Aion’s eyes were as cold and sharp as a bird of prey’s, though her glasses hid them. From what Jonathan heard, fierce eyes ran in the family.

“Look at this. The Duke has a scandal, and the whole capital is buzzing. Is he getting married?”

“What?”

Risha snatched up the tattered newspaper. This time, she kept her glasses straight, her brow furrowed, and her rapid-fire reading ability took her through the gossipy paragraphs she normally wouldn’t have bothered with.

And she wrinkled her face in conclusion. Her spiky gray hair fluttered like a bird’s nest, as if a bomb had hit it.

“Marriage? Already? That can’t be right.”

“Isn’t that right? No, she’s from the famous Duchy of Liovanni, and when you’re related to a duke and duchess, the southern top stocks go up like crazy, right? I bought some a few years ago, but they’re competing with your top….”

Jonathan secretly mentioned his interests and told her what was on his mind, but Risha didn’t listen and looked through the rest of the articles, then quickly threw the gossip paper on the messy table.

“You look like a scumbag. Again.”

“Right! Right? Hahaha, it hasn’t been that long since an article said the marriage talks fell apart.”

“No. Maybe someday, but not right now.” Risha said, irritated. “The timing is a little… he’s not the type to do that.”

“What?”

“Jonathan.”

“Yes.”

“What a pity. Jonathan is supposed to be a scholar, yet he’s susceptible to this baseless gossip. And on a sacred morning?”

There was no soul in her face as she began her professorial admonishment. She was obviously a little dazed, already thinking about something else, and seemed to have lost interest in her brother’s scandal.

It had been two years since she’d been confined to the academy’s rooms and laboratories, unable to be bothered to travel to the capital. She had no interest in the affairs of her home. Even less so for her brother, her only remaining blood relative.

However, Jonathan, the quick-witted assistant acting as a source of information among the academy’s lazy scholars, professors, researchers, and engineers, felt unfair.

“It’s not without basis! My friend, one of the guests staying at the Crown Prince’s villa, said he saw it clearly, too! “The Duke of Aion gave his princess a ‘knight’s kiss.’”

“Alas, I’m sure you did. Jonathan, didn’t you bring bagel sandwiches? I can’t stand up without them.”

“That’s because you’re so immobile, Professor. You’re losing muscle.”

Jonathan gave appropriate advice from a scholarly perspective, but Risha ignored it. Instead, she asked something else.

“A knight’s kiss, isn’t it just a greeting?”