To the One Who's Only Cold to Me - Chapter 114

Viscount Parden told Graham that he could no longer wait. Realizing they couldn’t get married right away, Daphne sent Graham off to the academy instead of waiting five years, shouting that he must dedicate his whole life to her once they married.

Graham left the Parden estate, where he had lived his whole life, behind. He left Daphne, who cried her heart out, and even Marissa, who showed rare tears. At the academy near the capital, Graham was treated like a complete outsider.

“Is that really a noble? He’d be better off as a smart commoner.”

“Look at that merchant’s son acting all high and mighty.”

“They say he bought his title with money. How filthy.”

He was a noble, but not yet recognized by the capital’s noble society. The new nobles were in an unstable position and had bad relations with the old noble families. It was a time when new nobles were sometimes even assassinated. At an academy full of old noble children, Graham’s position was obvious.

The noble children openly bullied Graham. Not only did they insult him with words, but sometimes even hurt him physically. But Graham couldn’t back down. After Graham entered the academy, Viscount Parden came to the capital. When Graham told him about the bullying, the viscount said if he couldn’t handle even that, he should give up on marriage. Graham shook his head.

“I can do it! Just keep your promise.”

“Fine. I’ll be watching.”

Graham gritted his teeth and tried to survive at the academy. He slept less and practiced swordsmanship early in the morning to rank high. Luckily, he had inherited his father’s intelligence and had a strong enough body, so he was able to keep good grades.

At some point, the physical bullying stopped. Later, Graham found out that the viscount had quietly warned the academy after settling in the capital. He said he couldn’t tolerate violence that left marks on his son’s body.

“Did you buy your grades too? That suits your family.”

“You? Swinging a sword? What a disgrace to knights.”

Even though the beatings stopped, the insults and secret bullying continued. So Graham’s life at the academy was still tough. And at the center of it all was Cliff Lloyd.

“Stop it, guys. Even if it’s true, hearing it all the time gets annoying.”

“Huh? Cliff, when did you get here?”

“Just now.”

Cliff was as well-known as Graham at the academy. He stood out not only because of his beautiful looks and young age as the head of the prestigious Lloyd Marquis family, but also because of his parents’ scandal an infamous land dispute.

They had even tried to use their child in their divorce settlement over land. The issue nearly caused a conflict between nations. It was only resolved when the former marquis died and Cliff ran away from his mother Diane and came to the empire. But people still talked about it.

Despite the scandal, no one dared look down on Cliff. He was the head of one of the top noble families, and since his parents were absent, the emperor himself gave him some protection.

Cliff knew his position well. That’s why he acted proudly at the academy. But unlike other powerful students, he didn’t bully commoners or those from lower noble families except for Graham. For some reason, he had picked on Graham for a while.

“Still, Graham. That face of yours doesn’t suit you. With a merchant father and a commoner mother, the stench of low birth reaches all the way here.”

Cliff’s insults weren’t new. Normally, Graham would have ignored them. But today was different. The past weekend, he had seen his parents being treated badly by another noble in a restaurant. Since then, the image had stayed in his heart.

“You’re one to talk, Cliff.”

Graham glared at Cliff and spoke. Cliff raised his eyebrows at the change in Graham’s tone.

“What?”

“Yeah, my grandfather became a viscount through trade, and my father leads a family that’s not even 100 years old. My mother is a merchant’s daughter, a commoner. But you? You don’t even have parents.”

Talking about Cliff’s parents in front of him was like breaking a taboo. The kids who had been mocking Graham stopped and looked nervously at Cliff. As expected, Cliff clenched his fists and ground his teeth.

“What did you just say?”

“They say the famous Marquis Lloyd died from stress during his divorce. And the marquis’s wife tried to take over this empire’s land from the kingdom of Todome, right?”

“You… you!”

“What’s with that face? It’s true, isn’t it? Everyone here knows your family story.”

Thud.

With a heavy sound, Graham fell backward. But Cliff didn’t stop. He jumped on top of Graham and raised his other fist.

“You bastard! You lowly merchant’s brat! How dare you!”

“How dare I? Why? Did I say anything false? You’re basically an orphan!”

Graham didn’t back down. He grabbed Cliff’s arm and twisted his body. Soon, fists flew between the two boys. Blood was drawn. The other students stood frozen until a professor yelled for them to be separated.

“Write reflection letters together and think about what you’ve done. If you fight again here, I’ll have to contact your parents… Ahem. Behave.”

The mess finally settled. The dorm supervisor locked the two in a room and told them to write apology letters. He tried to say he’d inform their parents, but stopped after looking at Cliff. But the word “parents” had already made Cliff frown deeply.

After the supervisor left, Graham quietly began writing his letter. In truth, he regretted his words especially calling Cliff an orphan.

“Sorry, Cliff.”

“I shouldn’t have said that. I’m really sorry.”

Graham hesitated, then lowered his pride and apologized. At first, Cliff ignored him, but after Graham kept apologizing, he finally spoke.

“It’s fine. It’s not like you were wrong.”

“I know. Not just you everyone thinks that. And they’re right. I am basically an orphan.”

Cliff had started bullying Graham after seeing Viscount Parden visit the academy. When the viscount firmly said he wouldn’t allow any harm to come to Graham, Cliff suddenly hated him.

He knew it was ugly jealousy. But even so, he couldn’t stop his feelings. No matter how great his father had been, he was gone now. His mother, though still alive, meant nothing to him. He had cut ties with her himself.

And his parents’ story known by everyone. Cliff felt ashamed of his family, and even of himself, all the time.

“People don’t say it out loud, but they all think it. They laugh at me behind my back because of my parents. Damn it!”

Cliff cursed and threw his pen. The ink splattered on his paper, the desk, and even Graham’s paper. Graham stared at the ink stain. It was just a blot, but for some reason, it looked like a bruise.

“It’s not your fault.”

Graham spoke hesitantly. Maybe he was wrong, but to him, Cliff seemed tormented by guilt about his parents.

“What?”

“It’s not your fault your dad died or your mom acted that way. So you don’t need to feel ashamed or blame yourself.”

Cliff didn’t reply. He just stared out the window. After a while, he grabbed a new sheet of paper, picked up his pen, and started writing again. Graham didn’t say anything more. He just quietly continued writing too.

The sound of pens scratching filled the room. By the time their letters passed ten pages, Cliff suddenly stopped writing and called out to Graham.

“Hey, Graham.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s be friends.”

It was an awkward thing to say. Cliff had never said anything like that before. His face turned bright red.

Graham didn’t answer right away. He finished the last line of his page, looked up, and said flatly,

“No.”

“What?”

Cliff’s eyes widened in surprise. When he dropped his pen, Graham quickly waved his hands.

“I’m joking! But first, apologize. For insulting my parents.”

“Hey, you too!”

“I already did.”

Cliff, proud as always, started to argue but shut up at Graham’s words. He was right. Graham had already apologized.

“Sorry.”

Cliff mumbled an apology. Graham looked at his red face and nodded, then held out his hand. Cliff hesitated, but eventually shook it.

The two boys soon returned to writing their reflection letters. From that day on, they stayed together and slowly became best friends.

“Hey! Graham. Let me see your homework.”

“No. Do it yourself.”

“You stingy jerk.”

After Cliff became friends with Graham, no one bullied Graham anymore. Some still talked behind his back, but Graham didn’t care.

Their peaceful school life continued. It had already been two years since Graham entered the academy…

Then, in March, when new leaves were sprouting, Graham received a letter. It was from Marissa.

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