Chapter 26
In the bustling research building of the Academy, a man with a hood entered the first-floor lobby. His steps were awkward, clearly out of place in a tower of scholarship.
Beneath the shadow of the hood, he glanced down at his hands—his face and hands carefully concealed in a suspicious attire. Had this been a cathedral, guards would have approached him before he even reached the plaza.
But the building housing the research labs of Academy graduates was different. It was a space filled with people driven nearly mad by their thirst for knowledge.
Celesto moved toward the central elevator, avoiding the gazes of others. It was indeed a busy time; no one would have noticed anyone coming or going in the research building. At the elevator, a crowd had already gathered.
He stayed at the very back, watching the massive marble cube float upward.
‘If I wait another ten minutes or so, that should be enough,’ he thought, recalling advice Leocel had once given him, along with an explanation of how the elevator operated.
Celesto let out a quiet sigh.
At times like this, he didn’t want to think too much. Although he had fallen under a curse while investigating Leocel’s death, he tried to avoid dwelling on Leocel whenever he dealt with matters related to the curse. He didn’t want to think about his brother while constantly battling a curse that forced his arousal—and on top of that, he kept being reminded of Roarna.
‘Damn it…’
As soon as Roarna came to mind, the familiar sensation flared, and Celesto gritted his teeth.
Even now, he knew he had handled the events at the villa well—somehow hiding his persistent arousal, and waking Roarna safely before sending her home.
Yet nothing in Celesto’s own life had been resolved. Whenever he was alone, especially during prayer, the same issue resurfaced as it had days ago.
During solemn prayer, or even while reading scripture alone, Roarna haunted his thoughts. Her white thighs, her soft skin, and the lingering feel of his own seed that had soiled her…
“Am I really sick?” Celesto muttered.
At his words, two scholars who had been waiting for the elevator with him turned to look at him. They had youthful faces, as if they had just received their degrees.
Celesto unconsciously gritted his teeth. Looking at them brought back memories he didn’t want to think about, even more vividly.
Leocel was the type of person who truly wanted to know all knowledge.
From a young age, his brother was surrounded by mountains of books, and even in this academy teeming with peculiar people, he was said to be far from normal.
And the person who conveyed that fact to him, Roarna Balseren, was the same.
Unlike Leocel’s vast thirst for knowledge, Roarna’s curiosity was directed toward a more narrow field.
Forbidden curses, ancient rituals…
It wasn’t for nothing that despite her pretty face, she hadn’t found a fiancé by the time she came of age. No one wants a girl who carries around raw blood extracted from chickens as their betrothed.
But paradoxically, that’s why the two of them were Celesto’s only friends.
‘They never asked why I spent all day poring over the scriptures, but they were the ones who asked why it had to be the scriptures of all things.’
Just then, the elevator arrived on the first floor. Whether the people in a hurry had already taken the stairs, there was even space for Celesto. Of course, it was a space that could barely squeeze in his large frame.
Celesto barely managed to get onto the elevator. It was so cramped he could hardly reach out to press the button for his floor.
As he pressed the button for the floor where Roarna’s laboratory was located, Celesto felt a strange gaze on him.
The stares that had been stealing glances at him since he was waiting for the elevator intensified the moment the doors closed. The peak was now, after he had pressed the button for Roarna’s lab floor.
Celesto realized the reason belatedly.
‘Right, each floor has a different major field.’
It was something he knew thanks to Leocel.
Leocel, with his insatiable thirst for knowledge, would often delve deep into one field and then move on to the next major.
He used to complain that because the laboratories assigned to each major were different, he had to change labs after publishing a few papers.
Normally, he would have sunk into a strange mood thinking about his brother like that. But not now.
The scholars packed tightly inside the marble cube were all focused on this large, hooded man.
If Celesto had looked even slightly less threatening, they might have pretended it was an accident and pulled his hood down.
Somehow, he instinctively knew why.
A memory of something Leocel had once said came to mind.
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