Catherine stood still, gazing at the path Noah had taken as she thought about his reaction.
"Did he know I was lying when I said I didn't know the directions?... Did my face give it away?" Catherine wondered to herself, curious and confused. It seemed unlikely—her expressions were cold and revealed no emotion, no flaw.
Just then, the boy who had been with her during the meeting with the head of the Winters family and the Black Marrow appeared behind her out of nowhere.
"Who was that?" Dimitri asked, his tone filled with curiosity and caution, though his expression remained cold and his voice smooth like ice.
"Noah Grace. He asked me for directions," Catherine replied with the same cold tone. Even in front of her twin brother, her icy walls didn't crack.
Dimitri stayed silent for a while, standing there and looking at the path Noah had taken, glancing at his sister from the corners of his eyes.
"Sister, we are the Cryo Heirs. We do not associate with filthy, lowly lifeforms," Dimitri said in a stern, warning tone. He seemed to have more emotion than his sister.
"I know... I was just curious about what it will feel like to communicate with one of them," Catherine said, turning to look at her brother standing beside her.
Dimitri stayed quiet for a moment—not in denial, but believing her words. Yet he remained wary of the lowly lifeform known as Noah Grace. Then, Dimitri gently took his sister's hand.
"Let's go. Father is waiting and worried," he said, and in response, Catherine interlocked her fingers with his and nodded.
———————
On the way to the workers' room, Noah walked forward with steady steps before turning right.
"Looks like Catherine can think after all. With how cold she is, I thought even her brain had frozen... When it comes to lying, I doubt anyone's better than me. Not to brag, but I used to lie to one of the top ten hunters, telling him my school life was going perfectly—and he believed me. Maybe Adonis is just an idiot, but he's still the Flame Emperor. I deserve some credit." Noah thought proudly, lifting his chin before taking a left turn and finding himself in front of the workers' room.
He knocked on the brown wooden door and waited for someone to respond. Then, to his surprise, the door was opened by someone he hadn't expected—Jarod, the male dorm receptionist for Sector 11.
"Hmm... you? W-What do you want?" Jarod asked, clearly startled by Noah's presence, his tone slightly tense.
"Ah, I'm here to see the camera footage for Lecture Hall 5 between 4 and 6 AM," Noah said, which flustered Jarod a bit.
"Unfortunately, students aren't allowed in here. I can't let you view the tapes either—they're university property," Jarod replied, suspicious about Noah's request and his presence.
"Ah... but I have authorization from the university," Noah said confidently. Of course, he was lying—but how would Jarod know?
"R-Really? I don't believe you," Jarod said, calling Noah out. Either he saw through the lie or was simply suspicious.
"If you don't believe me, you can call your superiors. But I warn you—they probably won't be pleased that you're doubting their authority or obstructing their orders," Noah replied with full confidence. He wasn't even hiding his lie anymore; instead, he used it to toy with Jarod's doubt and anxiety.
Jarod hesitated, audibly swallowing nervously. Of course, he didn't want to lose his job by angering someone from above. He was too tense to focus on whether Noah's behavior was suspicious or not. After a final decision, Jarod opened the door and let Noah in.
"P-Please come in," Jarod said with a nervous, worried smile.
Noah nodded arrogantly and entered. Inside, he noticed that Jarod was alone in the room. A massive wall-mounted screen was divided into hundreds, maybe thousands of smaller screens showing live footage from the security cameras. Near it was Jarod's desk with a computer, stacks of papers, and folders—just an average employee's station.
"You work here alone? How can you monitor everything like this?" Noah asked, surprised and a bit nervous. The screens showed everything—from all buildings in every sector. He was sure that if he searched, he'd find one showing his own room.
"Umm... my skill allows me to clone myself. It becomes easy when we all share the same mind while each does something different," Jarod said, rubbing his cheek in discomfort.
"Ah, that's useful. That explains why I saw someone who looked like you in Sector 11," Noah replied, not dwelling much on Jarod's skill and instead getting straight to the point.
"How do I view the footage from this morning for the campus entrance and Lecture Hall 5?" Noah asked, turning toward Jarod with his full attention on the matter.
"I-I'll show you," Jarod said, signaling Noah to follow him. Jarod sat at his desk and opened the files on his computer, navigating to the footage from this morning. He entered the date and time, and two split screens appeared showing footage between 4 and 6 AM from the campus entrance and Lecture Hall 5.
"Everything you need is here," Jarod said, setting the mouse aside, leaning back against the wall, and silently watching Noah.
The footage began playing, and Noah watched both screens, pausing when something seemed odd and fast-forwarding when nothing of note happened. At 5:12 AM, the footage briefly cut out, then resumed.
"What happened there?" Noah asked curiously, glancing at Jarod.
"It's just a technical error. Our equipment is a bit old. Glitches like this happen often," Jarod explained.
"A technical error?... That sounds like a good excuse, but this is one of the top ten universities in the world, it's odd to have old equipment... Maybe it really was an error... or maybe he's lying...but why would he lie?," Noah thought, turning back to the screen and glancing at Jarod from the corner of his eye.
"You guys should fix your outdated equipment, then," Noah said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood for Jarod.
"Haha, I always tell my bosses that, but they ignore me," Jarod replied with a nervous chuckle.
Noah continued watching the footage but found nothing suspicious—except for the mysterious "technical glitch."
"I think that's everything," Noah said, standing up.
"Ah, that's a relief," Jarod sighed.
"Relief?" Noah raised an eyebrow, confused.
"Ah—I meant regarding the administration. Y-You won't report that I didn't let you enter in the beginning, right?" Jarod asked, changing the topic to cover his slip-up. It seemed he was hiding something, but Noah chose to ignore it.
"...I won't."
———————
Outside, Livia and Luo Yan had just finished questioning the last person who claimed to have seen something—but their search yielded nothing. They both walked back toward the campus entrance to meet Noah. A strange silence hung between them on the way—though it wasn't empty.
"...Have you decided what you're going to do yet?" Livia finally broke the silence, her tone nervous, unsure whether she should even bring the topic up again.
"About what?" Luo Yan asked curiously, not catching the hint.
"About Noah. You know you don't stand a chance if you don't make a move," Livia said with concern. She was worried that Noah might no longer be available for her friend. Despite what he said about love, he was still a man—and men are always drawn to beauty, no matter how cold they act.
"Why are we still talking about this? I'm not interested in him," Luo Yan replied defensively, her expression annoyed and impatient. She didn't want to talk about this at all.
"With that mindset, you'll lose. He's not a product you can buy whenever you want—he's a reward to be earned. And if you don't try, someone else will earn him," Livia said, trying to convince her. She seemed desperate to explain for some reason—perhaps she genuinely wanted to help Luo Yan, or maybe there was another reason.
"What's with your awful metaphors? Haven't you been talking about Noah a lot lately anyway? Maybe you should be the one dating him, not me," Luo Yan replied with a slightly provocative tone. She was fed up with everything related to Noah—as if someone were trying to push her back toward an ex.
"W-What?! How did this turn on me? I'm trying to bring you two closer! And why would I want to date someone emotionally unavailable? If I wanted him, I wouldn't have told him everything about you and your best traits," Livia said. Her help was turning into obsession—she had clearly crossed a line.
"Huh?! You told Noah about me?! Why would you do that?!" Luo Yan said, flustered, anxious, angry, and upset—all her emotions clashing, but one thing was certain: she was now mad at Livia.
"Ah, shit,… I-I really didn't mean to, it was just a slip-up," said Livia anxiously, raising her hands defensively in the face of Luo Yan's anger.
"What did you tell him?! And it better not be some nonsense like me liking him!" Luo Yan warned, pointing an accusing finger at her.
"D-Don't worry, Luo-tan, I only asked him what he thought of you, that's all," Livia said, rubbing the back of her neck nervously, an apologetic smile spreading across her face.
"And what did he say?!" Luo Yan asked with her usual sharp, fiery tone. The irritation and anger were clearly reflected in her eyes.
"...H-He hasn't given me an answer yet," Livia replied tensely. It was a lie—maybe she just wanted to protect Luo Yan from the fact that the guy might not care at all about her. And that made her realize something: why was she trying to get Luo Yan involved with someone like that in the first place?
"T-That's… comforting… Livia van Reicht, if you ever pull something like this again… it'd be better if we ended our friendship right now. I don't want someone who acts like this—so childish—in my life," said Luo Yan, clearly upset and warning her.
"L-Luo-tan…" Livia whispered, her eyes widening in shock. She had tried to play innocent, but it hadn't worked.
"No. I'm not 'Luo-tan' to you anymore… I'll give you time to think about this… If you really want to end our friendship over some guy who just showed up at university, then so be it…" Luo Yan said in a voice that sounded disappointed. That's when Livia was truly stunned, realizing just how serious Luo Yan was about this. Luo Yan started to walk away from her, then stopped—still with her back turned to Livia.
"I don't want to end our friendship over a stranger… You matter more to me than he ever could, more than anyone else," Luo Yan said without turning around, then walked off.
Livia remained rooted in place, stunned. She hadn't realized how serious Luo Yan was—only now did she understand her mistake. Her expression darkened into one of regret as she looked down at the ground, ashamed of what she'd done.
"…I'm sorry…"