Chapter 486 - 485 - A Quiet Answer!
The evening had descended gently upon Arcadia Academy.
The fiery brilliance of sunset had long since faded, surrendering the heavens to a serene tapestry of deep sapphire and soft violet. The first stars had already begun revealing themselves one by one across the endless sky, their faint light reflected perfectly upon the tranquil surface of the academy lake. A cool breeze wandered quietly through the ancient willow trees that lined the shore, causing their graceful branches to sway rhythmically above the water while countless petals drifted lazily across the shimmering lake, carried wherever the wind wished to take them.
The world seemed unusually peaceful.
The distant sounds of the academy had become little more than a whisper, swallowed by the quiet harmony of flowing water, rustling leaves, and the gentle chorus of insects welcoming the arrival of night.
Luca remained standing where he had stopped.
His crimson eyes wandered across the familiar lake whose calm waters had somehow become one of the few places capable of quieting even the noisiest corners of his mind.
A faint smile lingered upon his face.
"...Have I come here again?"
No sooner had the quiet murmur left his lips than another voice answered him.
"Have you?"
The voice was soft.
Gentle.
Carrying with it a warmth that blended naturally into the peaceful evening around them.
Luca slowly turned toward its source.
There...
At the very edge of the lake...
Sat a beautiful young woman.
Her long light-violet hair cascaded gracefully behind her like flowing silk, reflecting both the moonlight and the countless stars above until it almost seemed woven from twilight itself. A few delicate strands danced softly before her face each time the evening breeze passed, while her elegant white dress draped naturally around her, untouched by even the slightest trace of extravagance. Her bare feet rested within the cool water of the lake, creating gentle ripples that spread quietly across the mirror-like surface before disappearing into the darkness beyond.
She was smiling.
Not the radiant smile of someone greeting an old friend after many years.
Nor the polite smile offered to a stranger.
It was something gentler than either.
A quiet smile that seemed as natural as the lake itself.
As though she had always been here.
Waiting.
Luca found himself smiling as well.
This time...
Without hesitation.
Without caution.
The smile appeared almost instinctively.
"So..."
He looked toward her with quiet amusement dancing within his crimson eyes.
"...are you finally willing to meet with me?"
The beautiful woman simply looked at him.
The corners of her lips curved upward ever so slightly.
Yet...
She offered no answer.
Instead, she gently raised one delicate hand before softly patting the empty space beside her.
The invitation required no words.
Luca chuckled quietly.
"So that’s your answer."
She merely continued smiling.
Shaking his head with quiet resignation, Luca slowly walked toward the edge of the lake.
The soft grass beneath his feet rustled gently with every step until he finally reached her side.
Without another word...
He lowered himself onto the ground beside her.
For several moments...
Neither of them spoke.
They simply sat together, watching the gentle ripples spread across the moonlit lake while the cool breeze drifted peacefully around them.
It was strangely comfortable.
There was no awkwardness.
No pressure to fill the silence.
Only the quiet companionship of two people sharing the same tranquil evening.
The young woman continued absentmindedly moving her feet through the cool water, watching the tiny ripples expand across the lake with childlike fascination before her violet eyes slowly drifted toward Luca.
She studied him quietly.
Then...
Her gentle voice finally broke the silence.
"You seem troubled."
Luca smiled faintly.
"I suppose I do."
She tilted her head slightly.
"What is weighing upon your mind?"
There was no curiosity driven by gossip.
No insistence.
Only quiet concern.
Luca looked out across the endless lake once more.
For a while...
He said nothing.
A wry smile gradually appeared upon his face.
One carrying just the faintest trace of guilt.
"I was hoping..."
He laughed softly at himself.
"...that if I came here often enough, I would eventually get to ask you questions instead."
The young woman covered the corner of her lips with one hand as a quiet laugh escaped her.
"It seems fate had other plans."
"It usually does."
Another comfortable silence settled between them before Luca slowly exhaled.
His gaze remained fixed upon the shimmering lake.
"I met someone today."
He spoke calmly.
"Someone..."
His expression gradually became thoughtful once more.
"...who left me with more questions than answers."
The young woman quietly listened without interrupting.
Luca continued.
"He is unlike anyone I’ve met before."
He searched for the right words.
"Not because of overwhelming strength."
"Nor because of authority."
He slowly shook his head.
"Rather..."
His crimson eyes reflected the moonlight dancing across the water.
"...because every word he spoke felt as though it carried another meaning beneath the one I could hear."
He smiled bitterly.
"I’ve spoken with countless people who hid their intentions."
"I’ve met nobles whose every sentence concealed another scheme."
"I’ve faced enemies who smiled while preparing to strike."
He paused briefly.
"This wasn’t like that."
His brows slowly furrowed.
"He wasn’t deceiving me."
"At least..."
He quietly corrected himself.
"...I don’t think he was."
The admission lingered between them.
Luca lowered his gaze toward the rippling water.
"He asked me questions that sounded ordinary."
"He smiled."
"He laughed."
"And then..."
His expression became more complicated.
"...he dismissed everything as though it had merely been a joke."
The gentle breeze passed quietly between them.
Luca watched the ripples spreading outward from her feet before continuing in a quieter voice.
"But no matter how many times I replay that conversation..."
He slowly shook his head.
"...I cannot convince myself that he was truly joking."
The words escaped him almost like a confession.
Not because he expected an answer.
But because, somehow...
Speaking them aloud beneath the quiet evening sky made the burden feel just a little lighter.
Silence gently settled between them once again.
It was not the uncomfortable silence born from uncertainty, nor the heavy silence that followed difficult conversations. Instead, it was the quiet stillness of the lake itself, peaceful and unhurried, allowing Luca’s words to drift away with the evening breeze before either of them felt the need to speak again.
The moon had climbed higher into the heavens.
Its pale silver light stretched across the calm waters before them, transforming the lake into a vast mirror that reflected the countless stars scattered overhead. Gentle ripples spread outward from where the young woman’s feet rested beneath the cool water, quietly disturbing the moon’s reflection before it patiently reformed once more, as though the lake itself refused to remain unsettled for long.
Luca simply watched those ripples.
Somehow...
They reminded him of his own thoughts.
One question giving rise to another.
One answer disturbing ten more.
His mind had become exactly like the surface of the lake moments after a stone had been thrown into it.
Endlessly restless.
The young woman remained beside him without speaking.
She never rushed him.
Never interrupted the silence.
She merely sat quietly, allowing him the time to sort through his own thoughts.
After several long moments, she finally turned her gentle gaze toward him.
"Tell me..."
Her voice was as soft as the evening breeze brushing across the water.
"Is that man your enemy?"
Luca blinked.
The question was so straightforward that it momentarily caught him off guard.
He thought about it carefully before slowly shaking his head.
"I... don’t know."
The young woman continued looking at him with the same calm expression.
"Did he threaten you?"
Once again...
Luca found himself arriving at the same answer.
"No."
She tilted her head ever so slightly.
"Did he insult you?"
Luca gave another quiet shake of his head.
"No."
Her violet eyes never left his.
"Did he attempt to deceive you?"
Luca hesitated.
He replayed the conversation inside his mind once more.
The Vice Dean’s smile.
His laughter.
His strange questions.
His gentle demeanor.
After several moments of thought, he quietly answered,
"I don’t know."
The young woman smiled faintly.
"No..."
She corrected him gently.
"You do know."
Luca looked toward her.
She continued watching the gentle ripples spreading across the lake.
"If your answer were truly uncertainty..."
Her fingers lightly brushed against the water’s surface, creating another circle of tiny waves.
"...you would have said ’perhaps.’"
She looked back at him.
"But every time I asked..."
Her smile remained warm.
"...your heart answered before your thoughts did."
Luca remained silent.
She was right.
Every answer had come instinctively.
Without hesitation.
Without calculation.
The young woman slowly withdrew her feet from the water before wrapping her arms loosely around her knees.
"From everything you have told me..."
She spoke thoughtfully.
"...that man neither harmed you, threatened you, nor treated you with hostility."
She paused briefly.
"The only thing he truly left behind..."
Her violet eyes met Luca’s crimson ones.
"...was a question."
Luca unconsciously lowered his gaze.
"...Yes."
"And ever since then..."
She smiled gently.
"...you have been answering that single question with a thousand of your own."
Luca couldn’t help letting out a quiet, helpless laugh.
"...When you put it like that..."
"It sounds rather foolish."
"I never said foolish."
Her voice carried a quiet warmth.
"I only think you are searching for an answer that cannot yet be found."
The evening breeze gently lifted several strands of her light-violet hair as she looked out across the moonlit lake.
"There are questions in this world that reveal their answers only when the proper time arrives."
Her gaze rested upon the shimmering reflection of the moon.
"No matter how desperately you chase them beforehand..."
She smiled softly.
"...they simply continue running ahead of you."
Luca listened quietly.
She continued.
"If you keep pursuing them before they are ready..."
Her delicate finger lightly traced another circle across the surface of the lake.
"...your eyes will remain fixed upon the distant horizon."
Another ripple quietly spread outward.
"And in doing so..."
She looked back toward him.
"...you may overlook the path beneath your own feet."
Silence returned.
Luca slowly lowered his head.
Her words were remarkably simple.
There was no profound philosophy.
No hidden meaning.
No elaborate explanation.
And perhaps...
That was exactly why they reached him so easily.
He had spent the entire day trying to solve a mystery using nothing but speculation.
Every possibility he imagined only led him toward another.
Every conclusion immediately gave birth to fresh doubts.
Without realizing it...
He had become trapped inside his own thoughts.
The Vice Dean had given him no answers.
Only questions.
And Luca himself had transformed those questions into an endless maze.
He slowly exhaled.
The tension that had unknowingly settled within his shoulders throughout the day gradually melted away.
"...You’re right."
A faint smile finally appeared upon his face.
"I’ve been trying to solve a puzzle without even knowing whether all of its pieces are on the table."
The young woman smiled back at him.
She said nothing.
She didn’t need to.
Luca looked once more across the peaceful lake.
For the first time since leaving the Vice Dean’s office...
His thoughts no longer felt suffocating.
The questions still remained.
The mystery hadn’t disappeared.
But...
His need to answer everything immediately had quietly faded.
Sometimes...
The wisest thing one could do was simply continue walking until the answers chose to reveal themselves.
A gentle smile remained upon his face.
Then...
That smile gradually became noticeably more awkward.
More guilty.
He scratched lightly at his cheek before letting out a small, embarrassed sigh.
"...I’m sorry."
The young woman blinked once.
A faint sound of curiosity escaped her lips.
"Hmm?"