Chapter 3: Starlit Doubts: The Spark of Revolution
Starlight filtered softly through the window.
Its silvery glow settled on Nihir’s weary eyes.
Within her, the light of a new realization was also beginning to shine.
Aren’s voice echoed in Nihir’s mind.
The heliocentric theory and elliptical orbits.
Soon, long-standing mysteries began to flood her thoughts like waves.
The retrograde motion of Mercury, the phase changes of Venus, and more.
Phenomena that current astronomy couldn’t yet explain.
Even the seasonal changes followed a regular yet inexplicable rhythm under geocentrism.
‘If Aren is right… everything we’ve believed in will be shaken to its core.’
On her desk lay centuries of astronomical records she’d been grappling with all night.
Nihir picked up her quill and began recalculating the celestial orbits.
She immersed herself deeply in a sea of numbers.
Placing the sun at the heart of the universe, she arranged the planets in elliptical orbits around it, attempting to redraw the portrait of the cosmos.
Starting the calculations anew was excruciatingly painful.
Everything was chaotic, and the variables sprawled uncontrollably.
She wondered countless times why she was even doing this.
But Nihir gritted her teeth and pressed on with the calculations.
Astonishingly, as she continued, the chaos transformed into a harmonious and beautiful result.
‘It’s almost like…’
The newly crafted elliptical orbits around the sun played the celestial movements like a symphony, regular and elegant.
The issues with Mercury and Venus were naturally explained.
Even the changes in brightness and size could be woven together like a painting, tied to their distance from the sun.
Nihir held her breath.
The theory was still riddled with errors, but the fragments of truth shining within were dazzling.
‘It’s like a dream. Like glimpsing the divine order.’
Her murmur drifted into the night air, escaping through the window.
For the first time in her long life, the world outside the window unfolded before Nihir as something entirely unfamiliar and new.
She flung open the window and gazed at the night sky.
The stars passed slowly overhead.
Or perhaps they didn’t.
Maybe it was our world that was moving.
The unfamiliarity grew, but so did the boundless beauty welling up in her heart.
Before the majestic truth, the soul of a scholar resonated deeply.
Nihir took a deep breath.
The night air was cold, but her inner passion burned hot with newfound zeal.
The night sky had looked the same for thousands of years, but tonight, Nihir’s eyes saw it as if for the first time, like a lover struck by newfound affection.
The stars were seducing her with their enchanting whispers.
‘How did Aren reach such a realization?’
The thought struck her suddenly.
To specifically propose placing the sun at the center with elliptical orbits.
Even with its errors, it was impossibly precise.
What Nihir didn’t know was that the errors she perceived stemmed from her incomplete understanding of Johannes Kepler’s laws, having only heard a vague explanation about ellipses.
If she knew the full laws, she could have drawn them more accurately.
‘Who is Aren? How did he see through this?’
The stars remained mysterious in the sky, but seeing them from this new perspective felt strangely intimate.
Had Aren been feeling this way all along while gazing at the heavens?
*
I headed to the library after the astronomy lecture.
Not to review today’s lesson, of course, but to find evidence to support heliocentrism.
The library should have records of star observations, at least.
‘And yet, the Earth moves,’ Galileo reportedly never said, but he faced a religious trial for asserting heliocentrism after discovering Jupiter’s four moons.
Back then, people believed the Earth was the center of the universe, with all stars revolving around it.
Galileo realized the Earth wasn’t the center after observing Jupiter’s four moons orbiting it.
In other words, Jupiter’s moons could plant the seed of doubt that the Earth wasn’t the universe’s center.
With that thought, I walked down the corridor, arms full of books.
-Thud
A crash, and the books spilled onto the floor after I bumped into someone.
I hurriedly apologized and looked up to pick up the books.
My eyes met Lilia’s, who stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say.
“Oh… Aren, what a coincidence to run into you here.”
I knew why Lilia was acting awkward.
According to the novel, Lilia and Aren were close until Aren made a bizarre public confession, after which they grew distant.
How did he confess again?
‘I’m the eldest son of a count’s family, so I can take responsibility for a fallen noble’s daughter like you forever. Accept my confession.’
Something like that, with an utterly arrogant attitude.
I recalled the novel’s description of Lilia feeling hurt and humiliated by those words.
Anyway, that was the novel’s story, and I’m me.
I had no particular thoughts about Lilia—science came first.
“Hey, Lilia. Sorry, I was in too much of a hurry.”
“No… I was a bit distracted too.”
In an awkward silence that felt like time had stopped, Lilia and I slowly picked up the books.
It was as if we were picking up scattered moments, not just books.
Lilia tilted her head as she glanced at the title of one book.
“Ptolemy’s Celestial Observations? You’re reading something this difficult?”
“Yeah, I’ve been studying astronomy lately.”
To be honest, I was trying to educate these medieval minds.
Lilia stared at the book, flipped through a few pages, and shook her head.
“This is way too hard. All these formulas about star positions—I don’t get any of it.”
“It’s not a big deal. Once you understand the principles, it’s easy.”
“That’s impressive, Aren. Really impressive, but…”
Lilia let out a sigh.
Why was she acting like that?
“Suddenly studying astronomy and trying to debate with Professor Nihir? What got you so interested in this?”
“I don’t know. Just felt like doing something.”
“Look, Aren.”
“Yeah?”
“I think you’re amazing just as you are. You don’t need to push yourself to know more about astronomy than Professor Nihir.”
I didn’t get what she was saying.
Why was she meddling with my studies?
Then, a thought hit me.
“Lilia, do you think I’m studying astronomy to impress you?”
Lilia nodded slightly, avoiding my gaze.
“The Aren I know used to procrastinate on studies and barely showed up for even general courses, let alone something as hard as astronomy. Ever since I rejected your confession, you’ve been acting like this…”
“That’s absolutely not it. And even if it was, why would that matter?”
“Because you’re pushing yourself too hard. Earlier, people were just laughing at you… You don’t need to know astronomy to be great. You’re already the eldest son of a prestigious count’s family, while I’m just a daughter of a fallen noble house. So please, stop…”
“Stop what?”
“Don’t do this kind of thing. We can just stay good friends. There’s no point in pushing yourself like this…”
I let out a scoff, dumbfounded.
Thinking the world revolves around her—such a typical romance fantasy heroine mindset.
To see my sacred mission to enlighten these medieval minds as just a ploy to get her attention.
This cheeky girl.
No need to get angry.
I just needed to state the facts confidently.
“Lilia, listen closely.”
“Yeah?”
“Soon, the world will turn upside down. Because of my discovery.”
“What are you talking about, Aren…?”
“Hundreds, no, thousands of years from now, people will remember my theory as the greatest scientific achievement in history. Greater than evolution.”
Since I’d be the first to propose evolution, quantum theory, relativity, combustion theory, and plate tectonics in this world, I’d dominate all the top spots anyway.
Lilia’s face turned pale.
“W-What are you saying, Aren? Do you need to see a doctor?”
“No, I’m fine. You’ll see for yourself soon enough.”
“What do you mean…?”
With that, I gathered the books and stood up.
Lilia’s expression was like she’d seen a madman.
Sure, that’s how it’d look now.
But what would her reaction be once I sparked a scientific revolution?
This novel’s world was about to undergo a genre shift.
From childish romantic drama to a grand sci-fi epic about the dawn of a scientific revolution.
That’d be a sight to see.
I didn’t want to play along with the romance fantasy just because I was transmigrated into it.
And honestly, that genre seemed way more interesting than a romance fantasy.
Romance was mere dust compared to the vast mysteries of the universe.
“Well, Lilia, see you later.”
“Uh… Aren.”
Lilia sat there, still in shock, unable to recover.
She’d get up soon enough, and since I didn’t have a free hand to help with the books, I ignored her and walked down the corridor.
Back at the dormitory, I opened Ptolemy’s Celestial Observations.
Ptolemy was a famous scholar in the real world too.
The one who proposed geocentrism, which dominated humanity for a thousand years.
Back then, geocentrism was a remarkable theory that intuitively explained the movements of the celestial sphere.
I heard this book was even called the Book of Truth.
Setting that aside, I searched for the stars.
And soon, I found them.
‘Here they are. The keys to proving heliocentrism.’
Jupiter’s moons.
Things Ptolemy overlooked when observing the stars.
I examined other books too.
These medieval people did observe the heavens.
They just forced the observations to fit their flawed theories.
-Knock knock
Just as I was getting tired and about to stop reading, someone knocked on the door.
Who could it be at this late hour?
“Student Aren? Do you have a moment?”