Chapter 176 - Misgivings (6)

Damian spoke while filling his plate with thick cuts of meat, looking at Olivia who stood beside him with her own plate, "Why do you keep following me?"

Though they couldn't attend classes together, she would rush to Damian during free times like lunch.

Olivia followed him all the way to the Art Club and accompanied him to the student cafeteria.

"Acting friendly with you pisses off my fiancé."

"..."

Though he showed his discomfort, for some reason Damian reluctantly agreed whenever she mentioned her fiancé.

Olivia followed him wearing thin clothes, occasionally trying to flirt by exposing parts of her body, but Damian showed little interest.

It was difficult to find a way to approach such a wooden man. All she could do was show her face frequently.

"Don't I have a private life too?"

"Fine, do what you want. Just be with me when others are watching."

When Damian found an empty table and sat down, Olivia sat across from him.

He put meat in his mouth with a dry attitude, as if he were merely taking in necessary nutrients rather than enjoying the taste.

"Do you always eat alone? Don't you have friends?"

"No, I don't."

"Why? Other first-years seem to have adjusted and found their place, but why are you alone? Did you do something to get ostracized? Like suddenly confessing to a girl in public?"

"I just prefer being alone."

Then Damian's gaze shifted behind Olivia. When she turned to follow his look, she caught sight of a girl with bobbed hair.

It was a familiar face.

From what she remembered, the girl was known in both the Drama and Dance Clubs for her pretty face.

Trisha or... T-something.

The boys around subtly turned their gazes toward the girl.

And since she was one of the first-years Ruscus had his eye on, Olivia remembered her face.

No way.

He had seemed stoic and emotionless, but perhaps Damian was a man after all.

"Don't tell me you like that girl—"

"Please be quiet."

Damian cut her off, taking out a notebook and slightly covering the side of his face.

"...?"

Soon after, a bright voice rang out from behind, "Damian!!"

Damian squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as if slightly exasperated.

The girl from before came with quick steps, lowered herself, and rested her chin on the table.

Then she looked at Damian with a wide grin and said, "Damian! Here you are!"

Damian lowered the notebook covering his face and said, "...What brings you here?"

"You're not eating alone today, unlike usual?"

Then she glanced up at Olivia and asked, "Who is this?"

"A senior acquaintance. She agreed to help with practice matches."

"How nice! I'm Trisha."

"Oh, I'm Olivia."

"Nice to meet you!"

While the girl's eyes were friendly when looking at Damian, they showed subtle wariness when turned to Olivia.

Damian pointed something out to Trisha.

"Wipe that off your face."

"What?"

"That black thing."

Trisha pushed her cheek forward playfully and responded.

"Where?"

Damian sighed and took out a handkerchief to remove the black bean skin stuck like a dot on her cheek. Trisha smiled brightly, showing her dimples.

"Thanks!"

"Hey! Trisha! We're going!"

When her group called from behind, she quickly wrapped up the conversation and stood.

"I'm going first, see you later!!"

Trisha left like a wind, as if having accomplished her goal.

Damian looked slightly drained. Olivia stared blankly for a moment before speaking, "She's cute and full of aegyo... Are you two dating?"

"No. Don't mind it. She just plays around like that sometimes."

"Friends?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you hang out together?"

"I can't handle it."

"Looks to me like you handle it just fine?"

Damian silently put more meat in his mouth.

She'd thought him cold and stoic, but he had his human sides too.

Seeing them made her feel bitter inside.

Though they were just friends, they were kind to each other, while she received only contempt and mistreatment from her fiancé who was supposed to spend his life with her.

Feeling troubled, Olivia stood up first, leaving Damian to his meal.

"Let's spar briefly this evening. See you later."

"You've hardly eaten anything, why leave already?"

"I've lost my appetite."

Olivia left the student cafeteria. Her distinctive southern attire was drawing attention from other boys, not Damian.

A wave of doubt suddenly hit her.

She sighed deeply and muttered to herself, "Why did things get so complicated..."

As she trudged along, she encountered a strange sight in front of the cafeteria building.

A white wolf the size of a bull sat quietly in the bushes. She wondered if it was okay for such a large wolf to be in the middle of campus. She closed and opened her eyes, but the wolf was still there. It wasn’t a hallucination.

A round red sparrow was perched on the wolf's head.

An odd combination of creatures. And both were staring at Olivia.

"...?"

Though the wolf's expression was gentle like a puppy's despite its massive size, the sparrow's gaze was absolutely fierce.

"What... is this?"

Feeling threatened, she cautiously backed away.

***

"S-stop!"

Olivia collapsed on the ground, drenched in sweat.

The sparring with Damian ended in an instant.

It lasted about ten minutes. Olivia was the first to exhaust herself, depleting her mana.

She was too shocked to speak for a moment.

Her real purpose had been to identify Damian's weaknesses, but she hadn't gained anything useful.

He had pushed her, a senior, into a defensive position and disrupted her attacks. His combat sense was exceptional for his age.

Above all, he didn't reveal his abilities fully. Whether he was immune to certain magic or had some way of countering it, elemental magic simply didn't work on him.

He showed no signs of fatigue. He roughly wiped his sword and put it back at his waist.

He seemed skilled at hiding himself. He was no ordinary person.

The most frustrating thing about Damian was that he didn't seem very interested in the sparring itself. His casual dominance reminded her of a student who slept in the back of class or stared out the window but still got good grades.

"You're... much more experienced than I thought."

With the sparring date approaching, what would Ruscus yell at her for returning with no results?

He might rage about cutting off support to her family, or even resort to physical violence.

While she was feeling quite depressed, Damian noticed and approached.

He handed her a glass bottle of orange juice and some cloth-wrapped jerky.

"I heard it's not good when mana is depleted. Please have these at least."

"This is..."

"You skipped lunch, didn't you?"

"Ah..."

She felt caught off guard unexpectedly. Damian was unknowingly striking at her weak points.

Just then, they sensed a presence among the trees surrounding the training ground.

Damian and Olivia simultaneously turned toward the shadow-covered area and identified the figure.

A strange person emerged.

It was a woman with long blonde hair, her figure hidden by a robe, wearing a wooden mask with slightly asymmetrical eye holes.

"...?"

"...?"

She didn't seem to harbor any hostility or intention to ambush.

Olivia asked, "Damian, do you know her?"

Damian looked at the mysterious woman for a moment, made a slightly troubled expression, then nodded.

"Yes... I think I do."

He left Olivia and approached the masked woman.

The woman took out a note from her clothes and handed it to him.

Then she proceeded to give him potions, towels, water, and snacks.

The woman spoke in a voice barely audible, "Heard you were training..."

Damian tapped his face with his finger, gesturing to her mask, and said, "Thanks, did you... make that yourself?"

"Yes..."

"...Be careful looking ahead when you go back."

The woman nodded vigorously.

Seeing the tender atmosphere between them made Olivia feel strange again.

The masked woman turned back to the forest after completing her task.

As she left, she bumped her head into a tree with a thud, apparently unable to see well.

"...!"

Though it looked painful, she held back any sound of pain, covered her face with both hands and walked away.

Olivia asked Damian with a dumbfounded expression, "Who... was that?"

"...A friend."

Though Damian didn't have many friends, most of his few friends seemed to be good people. And those friends appeared to genuinely like Damian, while he truly cared for them too. She could feel this without needing to dig deeper.

It must be because Damian was a good person. Warmth emanated from his every small action.

Had Olivia ever done anything voluntarily for her fiancé? Looking back, except for once or twice when she didn't know better, she hadn't.

And now she genuinely hoped Damian would beat Ruscus.

"Hey, I... have something to tell you."

"Yes."

"Actually... I came to find your weaknesses under Ruscus' orders."

Even at this sudden confession, his reaction remained calm.

"I see."

"Aren't you angry with me?"

"It's fine to tell him what you've learned about me as is."

"Ruscus is strong. Though you're skilled too, it won't be enough. Ruscus will thoroughly prepare against you. And..."

"He won't leave you alone if you do this for me. Report what you learned from sparring with me exactly as it is. I'll be fine," Damian spoke as if he understood her situation completely.

"...What?"

"Let's end here for today."

***

After sending Olivia away, I remained alone at the training ground under the moonlight, lost in thought.

I took out the note Luna had given me from my pocket.

It contained information about Olivia and Ruscus that Luna's spirits had gathered.

[...I heard from the floating spirits near Senior Olivia. She approached you under orders to find your weaknesses. It doesn't seem voluntary. She's entangled with Senior Ruscus due to family matters, and he uses this to exploit her and regularly abuses her. Also, he's preparing plans to shake your position in the Principality and replace you.]

I wasn’t worried in the slightest about my position in the Principality being shaken. Only part of what happened in Barbisia was known, and the truth was known only to the Duchess' relatives. So outsiders might mistakenly think there was a rift between the Duchess and me.

The Duchess Bibi I knew wasn't someone who easily abandoned people. She was stubborn, tough, and loyal.

What I was worried about, however, was Olivia. Though it was unfortunate, I couldn't directly intervene in others' relationship conflicts.

That reminds me... I wonder if Duchess Bibi received my letter well.

***

Duchess Bibi had gathered young attendants in a large conference room and was engaged in heated discussion.

"I certainly didn't tell him to send letters. I only made subtle suggestions. Yet... he sent a letter voluntarily. Do you still deny this clear evidence?"

A young female attendant spoke while sweating nervously, "However, even subtle suggestions can become pressure due to status differences. Moreover, Sir Damian is a polite and kind person. He might have just sent it as a courtesy."

"You misunderstand. He has been an arrogant and haughty man since I first met him at Eternia. Such a man sent a letter 'voluntarily’. Do you still deny that he has feelings for me?"

Another female attendant offered her opinion, "I agree with you, Lady Duchess. The expression 'I often thought of Duchess Bibi' in the second paragraph isn't something one uses for someone they don't have feelings for."

Bibi's face brightened.

"Do-do you think so? I definitely agree with that point."

Just then, someone knocked on the conference room door. Soon after, an attendant peeked in and carefully delivered a message.

"Count Ruscus III has an urgent matter to discuss with the Duchess..."

Bibi shouted irritably, "I'm busy now, tell him to come back next year!!!"