I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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I got caught.

I revealed my flaws that I didn’t want anyone to see.

Why did Edgar Fix have to come here right now?

During this festive time when everyone is having fun.

“Don’t, don’t look!”

I screamed, not knowing what to do.

I grabbed some dirt and threw it at Edgar, who was staring at me.

Get lost.

If you don’t want to die, get lost right now.

I tried to squeeze out a hint of negative energy, making a feeble threat.

But as I was exhausted, there was no way I could use any negative power.

“I, I’m just…! My power went out of control…!”

Resigned, I started making excuses.

The reason I looked like this was simply because the negative energy had once again gone berserk.

I threatened Edgar, saying that once I regained my strength, I would tear him apart.

I glared at him, saying that if he didn’t look away immediately, I would gouge out his eyes.

“…”

But he continued to look at me without change.

He was seeing me at my weakest moment, exactly as I was.

And the moment I saw the pity in his eyes, a surge of emotion welled up inside me.

“…Ugh.”

I felt like I was about to cry.

Maybe I had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

For someone to acknowledge the situation I was in.

“Get lost…”

Maybe that’s why my voice wasn’t strong.

On the contrary, my vision blurred, and my voice felt muted.

Then suddenly, this thought crossed my mind.

I wished Edgar would hold me.

I wished someone would comfort me, the unfortunate soul who had to push away everyone I loved.

I was so exhausted that I was desperate for even such cheap sympathy.

As this moment came again and again, it was painfully hard.

-Swoosh…

But fortunately.

The torrent of emotions slowly began to calm down.

The control spell had been restored.

I felt my exhausted body regain its strength, returning to the original me.

A significant part of the emotions that made up my weakness was being excised, and feelings like guilt and self-loathing began to wash away.

“How dare you!”

I decided to punish Edgar.

Since he had discovered my flaws, I had to silence him by any means necessary.

“…!”

But Edgar was instead moving closer to me.

With those pitying eyes.

He was slowly stepping toward me.

I tried to push him away, squeezing out negative energy to shoot it at him.

“…What!”

But it was completely ineffective.

My negative energy couldn’t infiltrate him at all.

Could it be because I was just starting to regain my strength?

No, that couldn’t be it.

No living being could block my negativity.

“D-Don’t come!”

The situation had returned to square one.

The control spell was back, yet I was still flustered.

Why couldn’t my power work on Edgar?

And why was he approaching me with that understanding look in his eyes?

At that moment, he was right in front of me.

My heart raced, and my body shrank back.

With my most potent weapon, negativity, ineffective, my mind went blank.

I couldn’t even think of using another spell.

“It’s okay.”

Then, Edgar said that and held me.

For a brief moment, the background, which had flowed like time had stopped, ceased.

My eyes widened, and my breath caught.

In contrast, my heart pounded, and my head felt dizzy.

It felt like a powerful chemical reaction was shaking me.

-Swoosh…

My whole body relaxed.

Edgar said it was okay once more and patted my back.

In that moment, memories of a long time ago came to my mind.

Back when Adrian Graham had been warm to me.

When I used to act like a spoiled child without any wrinkles.

Maybe I had missed that embrace for a long time.

The time when I could laugh without worries under someone’s care.

“Ah…”

Is it because I just regained control of the spell?

It seems that self-pity still lingered within me.

Seeing that I wanted to lean on him, the one who embraced me.

“It’s okay. It’s okay in front of me.”

My vision blurred.

His words of reassurance quelled the flames of fear inside me.

In the end, I allowed my tears to flow.

I let my ruined appearance be revealed without hiding it.

Once, I wanted to lean on someone.

Even if it’s just for a moment.

I wanted to hold someone and cry my heart out.

“Just for a moment… just for a bit…”

So I leaned my face against his shoulder.

Holding him, I gasped for breath that burst out.

I completely crumbled in front of him.

***

Ten minutes later.

Isabella, who had buried her face in Edgar’s shoulder, quietly looked up.

Now that the control spell had fully returned.

She felt a bit of a reality check.

To be seen crying in such a pitiful state.

“What happened?”

She casually tried to change the subject.

Edgar smiled and tilted his head as he poured out a bit of negativity and answered.

“My power isn’t working. What’s going on?”

“Ah.”

Edgar immediately pulled out a doll from his arms.

It was the doll that Isabella had given him to block the negative energy.

“Ah…”

Only then did Isabella’s face turn to understanding.

It was something she had given him at the beginning of the semester, and she had even forgotten that she had given him this doll.

“…Hmm?”

However, the appearance of the doll had changed.

It was a doll she had intentionally made to be creepy, but now it had transformed into an adorable form.

Seeing Isabella looking at the doll with puzzled eyes, Edgar explained.

“It seemed like the doll was trying too hard, so I made it a bit cuter.”

“…”

A more fitting form.

Isabella glanced back at the doll again.

The smiling face of a girl.

Edgar also looked at the doll and added his explanation.

“Somehow, it seemed like the doll was suffering too much. So I made some changes.”

“…”

Isabella suddenly recalled the moment she had given the doll to someone else.

To a few boys who had shown her interest.

At that time, their reactions were all the same.

Faces that seemed to ask why she was giving them something like that.

In the end, their interest didn’t last long.

They either tried to get rid of the doll, burn it, or tear it apart.

‘Why are you…’

But Edgar was different.

He instead happily accepted the doll, thanking her for the gift.

Moreover, he cherished it for a long time, keeping it close.

Even going as far as to modify it into a beautiful doll.

“Are you trying to woo me?”

Isabella asked that question absentmindedly.

If that were the case, he had already succeeded.

She had already felt a strong attraction to Edgar from the beginning.

It was probably from the moment their eyes exchanged glances for the first time.

His calm face that didn’t fear her.

It was intriguing.

Why was he not afraid of her?

Was he an ordinary person who didn’t know about the noble society and her rumors?

Yet, as time went on, that didn’t seem to be the case either.

Even knowing her well, he could look at her with those eyes.

The moment she truly felt assured was probably during their sleep class when he had helped her fall asleep by embracing her from behind.

His warmth, so comforting that she drooled clumsily.

At that moment, she had felt cared for after a long time.

For the first time, she had felt those strange feelings for someone of the opposite sex.

“…”

But Edgar had no answer.

He merely smiled faintly with a complicated expression.

Isabella chuckled softly and asked another question.

“…Why did you hug me?”

“…”

Edgar fell silent for a moment.

He gazed at the composed Isabella.

Yet Isabella was no longer the same as before.

Having penetrated her heart at her weakest moment, she could no longer see Edgar with the same eyes.

As she averted her gaze with a blush, Edgar spoke.

“I thought it was necessary. You looked too distressed.”

“…”

Isabella nodded slightly.

Then, glancing at Edgar sideways as if probing, she spoke.

“You noticed, didn’t you?”

“…”

“You know… what kind of person I am.”

Somehow, she felt he would suspect that.

His eyes were always perceptive of her.

It was almost as if he had known her pain for a long time.

Like a child abandoned by the river.

“…Yeah. I found out while researching the holy sword ‘Guide to Emotions.’ Using such negative emotions comes with a price.”

Edgar added a suitable reason to acknowledge that he knew Isabella’s secret.

Isabella smiled and nodded slowly.

“Just as I expected. I got caught.”

“…”

An awkward silence flowed for a moment.

Then Isabella jokingly glared at Edgar.

“By the way, why are you using informal speech suddenly?”

“…Huh?”

“You used to speak formally. You’re speaking informally all of a sudden.”

Isabella glared at Edgar, emitting slight negativity.

But now, with everything exposed, Edgar’s eyes were like that of a baby cat puffing up its fur.

Soon after reading the emotions in Edgar’s gaze, Isabella sighed and mumbled.

“Tch. My whole plan is out in the open. You’re not scared at all, huh?”

Pouting her lips like a spoiled child.

Just then, Edgar spoke.

“Wanna walk around together? It’s a festival, after all.”

Edgar said that as he looked at the Academy’s scenery filled with sparkling lights.

Isabella replied with a sad smile.

“You know it’s a problem when I’m with you. Everyone hates me.”

Isabella fidgeted with her hands, lowering her gaze.

Seeing her like that, Edgar took something out of his inventory.

It was a snack and drink he had bought from a street vendor.

“Then let’s eat here. You’ve gathered all the negativity you need today, right?”

“…Huh? Uh.”

Seeing Isabella answering with a surprised face, Edgar smiled.

Then he poured a drink into a glass and handed it to her.

As Isabella held the glass and looked at the Academy’s scenery, she murmured with a smile.

“It’s hard to gather negativity when I’m this happy…”

Isabella froze, realizing too late what her own words meant.

“Cheers.”

Regardless of that, Edgar offered his glass.

Clearing her throat awkwardly, Isabella clinked her glass with his.

She downed the transparent liquid in one go.

It felt like a buildup of something that had been stuck inside her was suddenly released.

It was her first time drinking with such a light heart.

“…”

The Isabella whose secret had been discovered was a different person.

There was no longer any need to hold herself back, nor any need to hide her feelings.

A natural smile spread across her face.

-Swoosh.

The two drank in silence for a while, gazing at the Academy’s scenery.

Even though they didn’t have a specific conversation, Isabella felt filled inside.

Just having one person who understood her brought a tremendous comfort to her heart.

‘I want to hold his hand…’

Isabella felt her heart lean towards that direction.

The moment when she had willingly given herself up to him in her time of weakness.

Isabella realized those feelings she had been bottling up had grown uncontrollably.

Perhaps falling in love with the one who recognized her at first glance wasn’t so strange after all.

‘I want to… be ordinary…’

As Isabella emptied her glass, she imagined flowing freely in a typical romance with Edgar.

Imagining herself born as the child of a normal family, whether it be Elmarden Cruel or Bernhardt, smiling naturally beside her loved ones.

Of course, with Edgar by her side.

“I want to be born again.”

Isabella blurted out the words she had kept inside her.

Edgar’s gaze landed on her.

Isabella, smiling bitterly, continued.

“I feel like I was born wrong. I want to be born again.”

“…”

Edgar merely looked at Isabella in silence.

Through whatever means, Isabella’s route always ended in tragedy.

In the end, Isabella couldn’t shake off the destiny of the Grahams.

Living a life hated by all, sacrificing herself to end her life was her finale.

“Do you really want to wander around?”

Therefore, Edgar wanted to create good memories for Isabella.

He took out two masks he had kept in his inventory, handing one to Isabella.

“I saw a lot of people walking around wearing something like this. No one will recognize you.”

Isabella looked at the mask resting on her hand.

Then, when she held the mask to her face, her hair color changed, and her voice was altered.

It was a mask that could perfectly conceal her identity.

“…Okay.”

***

Edgar and Isabella wandered through the festival streets.

Wearing masks that prevented anyone from recognizing them.

They burst into laughter, enjoying the festival just like ordinary students.

“I want to see that.”

“…Do we have to see it?”

“Why, you were so cool back then.”

And they watched a play together.

The one starring Edgar as the main character called “Descendants of the Sea God”.

[I am the strongest cadet of the Empire, Edgar Fix.]

However, this play was one that heavily featured its protagonist.

Every time Edgar’s actor delivered cringeworthy lines, he covered his mouth and screamed.

Isabella burst into laughter at his reaction.

“Should we try that?”

Today, Isabella, who decided to let loose, was truly like a fish in water.

She was doing everything she had wanted to do.

Among those was palm reading.

Edgar and Isabella had their palms read, and soon after, the fortune-teller said they were soulmates from a past life, creating a lively atmosphere.

Isabella, with her face disguised behind the mask, wore a pleased smile.

“How fun.”

So the two of them enjoyed every event they could partake in, except for eating.

As time passed, it was already 2 AM.

The festival booths were starting to close.

With a lingering sense of regret, Isabella hesitated then looked at Edgar.

“Umm… do you want to come to my dorm? I haven’t been sleeping well lately. Your sleep therapy works wonders.”

Perhaps it was because the control spell had been released that day.

Or maybe it was because she was wearing a mask.

Isabella was feeling bold.

And Edgar readily accepted her invitation.

Then, they snuck into the girls’ dormitory without anyone noticing.

As soon as they entered Isabella’s room, they let out subdued giggles.

Sneaking into the dormitory to evade other people’s gazes was quite thrilling.

“Right now, I’m completely fine. Let’s have another drink.”

Then Isabella took off her mask and urged him for more drinks.

Edgar took out a few bottles and snacks from his inventory, predicting she would say that.

They shared drinks, talking about all sorts of things.

Stories from their childhood.

The things they had experienced up to now.

In the process, they exchanged trivial jokes.

“Now we really need to sleep.”

Before long, it was 4 AM.

Isabella took Edgar’s hand, rising from her seat.

She decided to let go of her usual reserves for just today, not trying to hide her feelings.

With a flushed face, she tugged Edgar’s hand and led him to the bed.

“Put me to sleep.”

Isabella said that as she turned over to lie down.

However, feeling Edgar behind her made her heart race.

Her bare thighs felt a cold tingle.

-Swoosh.

Then.

Edgar lay down on the bed, and his presence could be felt.

Her face heated up, and a tingling sensation spread from her toes.

The only person who knew her secret.

The person she wanted to lean on.

The person she liked.

That person was approaching her.

He wrapped one hand around her waist, pressing their bodies together instinctively.

His breath tickled the back of her neck.

-Swoosh.

Just then.

Isabella turned around again.

She faced Edgar, who was holding her from behind.

Edgar wore an unusually flustered expression.

That look felt cute, sending a tingling sensation through her chest.

Then Isabella nestled herself in Edgar’s arms and spoke.

“I… only become this helpless once every 49 days.”

“…”

“Can you accept me just once every 49 days? Then… I think I’ll be able to breathe a bit easier.”

Isabella waited for Edgar’s reply as if confessing to a long-time crush, her heart racing.

What could it be that made her heart flutter like this?

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

Edgar said that and embraced Isabella.

She smiled softly, burying her face in his embrace.

Her one-day freedom granted to her.

Isabella enjoyed that fleeting moment to its fullest.

She acted just like any other girl would have.

To be held by the person she liked.

“The whole world is a snow country.”

Thus, Edgar began to implement the sleep method that had once put Isabella to bed.

Just like the countless times before, he used the same technique.

Continuing in a gentle voice.

-Breathe… Breathe…

Soon, Isabella fell asleep.

Without recalling the mother who had died due to her mistakes.

Nor the people she had tormented.

Nor the faces of her friends who had been hurt because of her.

She drifted into a peaceful sleep after a long time.

“…”

Edgar held Isabella for a long time as she lay there.

***

“…Ah.”

When she opened her eyes, it was already midday.

Edgar, who had been holding her, had long since left.

Isabella stared blankly at the spot where Edgar had been.

She pulled the blanket, which held the traces of where he had lain, close to her chest.

“…Such a pitiful girl.”

But at that moment.

The light in Isabella’s eyes began to fade rapidly.

At this moment, when her sister’s life was at stake.

What she had to do was crystal clear above all.

She had to gather negativity by any means necessary, whether hurting others or getting hurt herself.

She had to be acknowledged for the power of that negativity to rise and become the next head of the family.

“…”

But as she made up her mind, her gaze fell upon the doll on the table.

It was the doll that Edgar had fixed.

The smiling face of the doll.

Isabella stomped forward, ready to tear apart the doll.

She filled her fingers with magic power, trying to rip the doll apart.

“…”

But at that moment, Isabella hesitated.

Like a daydream, yesterday’s events flashed through her mind.

Yet she shook her head fiercely and tried to tear the doll apart again.

She needed to return to her original life.

“…”

But still, she couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t bring herself to completely excise this feeling.

Wasn’t it the only memory and emotion she had that allowed her to breathe?

-Swoosh.

Therefore, Isabella set the doll down again.

With shaky eyes, she looked at the doll that Edgar had repaired.

“…Ha.”

Then she smirked, as if finding it absurd.

Resting her forehead into her palm, she began to chuckle lowly.

“…”

And that was it.

Isabella turned on her heel and stepped out the door.

It was time to get back to work.