Over the next few days, the greenhouse seal did not remain intact for very long.
Day Two
The silver runes across the greenhouse door shimmered perfectly.
Adeline had reinforced them this time.
Three layered barriers.
One alarm rune.
And a mana anchor.
She stepped back, arms crossed.
"There."
A few hours later...
Crack.
The runes flickered.
Then shattered.
Lucien stepped inside.
Adeline slowly turned her head.
Her eye twitched.
"...Professor Lucien."
Lucien gave a small wave.
"Good evening."
Adeline pointed toward the door.
"I spent nearly thirty minutes casting that seal."
Lucien nodded thoughtfully.
"It was impressive."
"It also consumed a considerable amount of mana."
Lucien looked genuinely sympathetic.
"That's unfortunate."
Adeline stared.
"You broke it."
Lucien shrugged.
"I knocked."
"Knocked?....You shattered a Grade 4 arcane barrier."
"Knocking loudly."
"..."
Adeline inhaled deeply.
Her fingers tightened around her cigarette.
Then she exhaled slowly.
"You are an insufferable man."
Lucien extended his hand.
"Cigarette?"
Adeline glared at him.
Then shoved the pack against his chest.
"Take it and leave."
Lucien took one out.
Placed it on his lips.
Lit it.
Inhaled...
"Cough!.."
Adeline closed her eyes.
"I regret everything."
*.....*
Day Three
Adeline cast the seal again.
This time with five layers.
Mana lines spread across the door like a silver web.
She nodded in satisfaction.
"This time..."
That evening....
The door opened.
No breaking.
No cracks.
The runes simply parted.
Lucien walked inside calmly.
Adeline blinked.
"...What?"
Lucien closed the door behind him.
The seal restored itself automatically.
Adeline frowned.
"How did you pass the barrier?"
Lucien shrugged.
"I studied it yesterday."
Her eye twitched.
"You studied my barrier?"
Lucien nodded.
"It was elegant."
Adeline pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Why did I even spend time and resources reinforcing it if you were just going to come disturb me anyway?"
Lucien smiled.
A cheeky, completely unapologetic smile.
Adeline looked at him.
Her sharp crimson eyes narrowed.
"You are doing this on purpose."
Lucien sat down beside her.
"Probably."
She glared at him.
Lucien held out his hand again.
"Cigarette."
Adeline groaned.
"Unbelievable."
But she still handed him one.
*....*
The Days After
Eventually...
Adeline stopped sealing the greenhouse.
There was no point.
Lucien had already memorized her smoking timings.
Late evening.
Occasionally early mornings.
Sometimes after particularly exhausting meetings.
And every time...
He would appear.
Sometimes walking through the door.
Sometimes already sitting on the bench when she arrived.
At first she scolded him.
Then grumbled.
But she never actually told him to leave.
One evening she walked inside and saw him already sitting there.
Her expression darkened.
"You broke in again."
Lucien looked up lazily.
"You left the door unlocked."
"Tch.."
Adeline clicked her tongue.
"You are shameless."
Lucien pointed towards the cigarette pack in her coat.
"You are holding contraband."
She shot him a sharp look.
"Say one more word and I will burn you. "
Lucien snorted.
"You threaten people too easily."
"You break academy property easily."
They stares at each other.
Then Lucien said casually,
"Give me one."
Adeline cursed under her breath.
A sharp, completely unrefined curse.
Very different from the flawless Head Professor persona she showed in meetings.
Lucien raised a brow.
"Oh? Head Professor Adeline uses that kind of language?"
She shot him a vicious glare.
"Do not test me."
Lucien smirked.
"You are getting comfortable."
Adeline flicked a cigarette at him.
"And you are getting annoying."
Lucien lit it.
Coughed less this time.
Adeline noticed.
"You are actually improving."
Lucien exhaled smoke.
"Practice."
She scoffed.
"You are an idiot."
Lucien replied immediately,
"And you are a terrible influence."
Adeline blinked.
Then she snorted.
Slowly....
Their conversations stopped being careful.
No polite professor titles.
No guarded tone.
Adeline stopped pretending to be perfectly composed.
Sometimes she cursed about academy politics.
Sometimes about arrogant nobles.
Sometimes about paperwork.
Lucien cursed too.
About magic training.
About how annoying the academy staff were.
They argued.
Mocked each other.
Bickered daily.
Shared quiet evenings without speaking.
One night the system chimed.
[+5 points]
[+2 points]
[+5 points]
[+1 points]
Lucien glanced at the notifications.
Then he sighed.
And muted them.
The glowing messages disappeared.
Adeline noticed.
"You ignored something."
Lucien shrugged.
"Nothing Important."
For once....
He wasn't thinking about variables.
Or story routes.
Or manipulating outcomes.
Or gaining points.
He simply leaned back against the bench.
Adeline sat beside him, smoking quietly.
The greenhouse was filled with soft moonlight.
Lucien glanced at her.
In both of his lives....
He had never really had a friend.
Not someone he could sit beside in silence without calculating outcomes.
Not someone who wasn't part of a plan.
Not someone who didn't approach him for benefits.
But here....
Adeline flicked ash from her cigarette and muttered,
"If you break into my greenhouse again, I will actually kill you."
Lucien smirked.
"You say that every day."
She shot him a sharp look.
"And one day I will mean it."
Lucien exhaled smoke.
"I'll take the risk."
Adeline scoffed.
But her lips curved slightly.
And without either of them realizing it...
What began as suspicion....
Had quietly become the first real friendship Lucien had ever known.
And perhaps It was the same for Adeline too.