Chapter 128
Chapter 128
The students parted to either side, clearing a path.
Elysia walked through the opening.
The afternoon sunlight that had come in through the windows shattered dazzlingly over her silver hair.
My gaze was naturally drawn to that sparkle, and before long, I was naturally meeting her eyes.
'I wasn't planning on making eye contact.'
Tsk.
Just a moment ago, my fatigue had shot up because dozens of people kept sneaking glances at me and whispering.
But the moment Elysia appeared, those dozens of gazes were completely shut out by my nervous system.
Probably because that one woman's gaze felt far heavier and more nerve-racking than the burden of the whole crowd.
Young Lady Elysia came closer with her eyes fixed on me.
'What should she say first?'
Word had already spread all over the academy that I'd been having lunch and spending time with Sophia in the capital's southern district.
Even our Iris noona, whose life was all magic, already knew and had pouted about it, and all the students in this greenhouse were chattering about me.
There was no way the young lady of Rosenberg wouldn't know.
I was seriously rattled.
Was she furious inside? Or was she going to shoot me a cold look full of betrayal?
Maybe she was even calculating what poison to put in the tea she'd offer me.
That was when I thought that.
"Hello, Cassian."
Elysia walked up to me and came to a graceful stop, greeting me.
Gone was the shy, wistful smile she'd worn in the Star Tree Forest when she wrapped herself in my cloak.
Instead, it was the one she had shown when we went cosmetics shopping together.
That extremely friendly, lightly mischievous, easygoing smile was on her face.
'Doesn't she know?'
For a moment, I hesitated.
Had she really not heard yet that I'd gone on a blind date?
'No. That couldn't be.'
Even our Iris noona, whose life was all magic, already knew and had pouted about it, and the students in this greenhouse all knew and were chattering about me.
There was no way the young lady of Rosenberg wouldn't know.
'Then why?'
Her smile was perfectly natural, with no hint of shadow in it.
Which only made me even more nervous.
I hesitated for a split second, then erased my awkwardness and returned her greeting as nonchalantly as usual.
"Yes. You've arrived."
When I answered, Elysia naturally took the spot beside me.
'What's this?'
I narrowed my eyes and studied her profile.
For the villainess I knew, she looked far too calm.
But I couldn't relax.
There were too many eyes on us here; this could just be a perfect performance of a young lady drawing a clear line as nothing more than an ordinary teammate.
If so, that'd be a relief.
So why did I feel this chill down my spine, like the eerie calm before a storm?
* * *
"All right, everyone's here? Since we skipped a week because of the Legion Tour issue, I hope you haven't forgotten what you learned before. Let's begin class."
The students focused on Viscountess Müller's charismatic voice.
Viscountess Müller quietly swept her gaze over the students listening to her, then spotted me standing in the corner.
And then.
Grin.
'Ah.'
Viscountess Müller's lips curved upward the moment our eyes met.
That, that—such a devilishly playful smile.
No doubt about it.
That sponsor big-sister from the capitalist camp had definitely gotten a live update on the full story of my blind date.
Still, rather than hiring someone with the money she'd earned from her own merchant company to report it, she'd probably learned everything from free information floating around the school.
'But my blind date is something that woman, Professor Iris, and even all the little fry here know about.'
And only Elysia, sitting next to me, doesn't know?
That's something even a cow would laugh at.
She's definitely pretending not to know.
"Starting today, each group has to choose which herbs they'll grow and care for directly until the end of the term."
Viscountess Müller continued her explanation as she opened a textbook listing dozens of herb names and their properties.
"Since this is a group assignment, cooperation with your teammates and ongoing care are the key to your score. Seating has been prepared in the greenhouse, so each group should move to its assigned table and start discussing."
As soon as the viscountess gave the instruction, the students moved farther inside with their partners.
I also moved inside quietly with Elysia.
We sat face-to-face at a table by the window with a 'Group 4' note on it.
Warm sunlight poured over the table.
Was she urging me to wither and die?
I was just about to open my mouth, planning to pick some sturdy herb that looked easy to grow, slap a name tag on it, and be done with it.
"Young Lady, we can just pick one of those herbs over there that grows fine even if you only water it..."
"Cassian."
Elysia cut off my words and stared at me, propping her chin on her hand over the table.
"Yes?"
Her violet eyes sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight.
And from between her lips came a voice that was very soft, and utterly gentle.
"Did you have a good time last weekend?"
Zing.
In an instant, a chill like the knife wind sweeping across the Siberian plains ran down the back of my neck.
It had arrived.
Every word was so densely packed with barbs it felt like she was smashing my solar plexus with her backbone.
'She knows. She definitely knows.'
Was pretending not to know her way of building momentum?
I swallowed once, then carefully managed my expression and answered calmly.
"Well, as usual, I spent it in a tiring way. I didn't even get to rest properly."
"My, really?"
Elysia widened her eyes and lightly covered her mouth with her open fan.
"The entire academy's been buzzing with your story. Saying you were tired is unexpected."
"It's all just baseless gossip people like to spread."
"Gossip? Are you saying it was baseless that you had an intimate lunch with Count Rohanna's daughter at Grand Asteria by the southern riverbank of the capital?"
She had nailed the time, place, and even the person perfectly.
At this point, making excuses would only be poison.
There was no doubt she was testing how I would react.
If I made a pathetic excuse here, saying, 'Ah, that's a misunderstanding. I have zero interest in that woman,' or showed how flustered I was?
That would be the bottom of the bottom.
I wasn't some husband caught cheating, so there was no reason for me not to be confident.
I straightened my posture and looked her straight in the eyes.
"What people are calling a rumor is the busybodies' embellishment that the place was romantic and intimate."
At my firm tone, Elysia's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. From the start, I went there only to keep a promise. I don't really have anything to explain, but if I must say it, that's what happened."
It was a reason with nothing to hide.
I owed Lucius a debt from the Legion Tour, and I had only gone to that meal to repay it.
What reason was there to lie about it, as if I had something to be ashamed of?
After hearing my clean answer, Elysia silently looked at me over her fan and asked in a low voice.
"So."
"Yes."
"So it really was just a situation you were forced into to repay a debt? With Count Rohanna's daughter?"
"Tell me. Was it really forced?"
"......"
There was a subtle edge to her voice.
And I know what this is.
'This is a 'tell me the answer I want' situation.'
A woman's possessiveness and need for confirmation, wanting to hear for sure that I had gone unwillingly.
I let out a short sigh inwardly.
'I need to make this clear.'
If I answered, 'Yes, I was forced to go. I was bored to death,' Elysia might immediately look pleased and smile in triumph.
But that would be showing the worst possible bottom as a man, no, as a human being.
Because it would mean belittling and making a fool of the other person who ate with me just so I could be comfortable.
I clasped my hands together on the table and spoke seriously.
"If you put it that way, you're being terribly rude to the young lady who made time for me and kept her promise, Young Lady."
Her eyes narrowed a little.
"Even if my true feelings really were that I went out reluctantly because it was bothersome, I still can't say it out loud and belittle it as going there unwillingly. That wouldn't be proper manners."
"......"
"But there is one thing I can make clear to you, Young Lady."
I looked straight at her with unwavering eyes.
"The truth is that I went there solely because I had to repay a debt and keep my promise. Not one shred of personal feeling or impure romance was mixed in."
Elysia fell silent.
Though the sounds of the other groups in the greenhouse were noisily picking out herbs and chatting, like a background hum.
Our table alone was as quiet as if it were in a vacuum.
......This is suffocating, isn't it?
......This doesn't seem like an illusion.
Then, Elysia slowly folded the fan she had been holding.
The lower half of her face, hidden behind it, came into view.
Her lips were tightly closed, and her violet eyes swept over my face one corner at a time, as if trying to pry it apart.
And then.
"......Haah."
Her lips parted, and a tired sigh slipped out from between them.
When Elysia tilted her head slightly toward the window, the slanted sunlight settled over her face.
Bathed in the sunlight from outside, her lips curved with a genuine, incredulous laugh, not the pretense of friendliness from before.
"Honestly."
She rested her chin on her hand and shot me a sidelong glance.
"How can a person be like that?"
"What exactly did I do?"
"If you put it that way..."
Her voice softened, and a hint of complaint slipped into it.
I swallowed dryly.
"...Young Lady."
"I know. I know how polite you are, and how well you keep your boundaries."
Elysia cut me off and continued,
"That upright attitude of yours, never putting down the young lady you were with. I know that's one of your biggest charms, too."
When had I ever done that?
Her gaze softened.
"So even if I was angry, hearing your answer actually makes me feel better."
"...Looks like I gave quite the model answer."
"Yes. It was a 120-point answer out of 100."
If I asked why she was even assigning points, this situation would probably turn into a complete mess again, right?
"So."
She pulled her upper body closer to the table and whispered to me.
"Since you've kept all your promises with her, now you should keep your promise to me too, right?"
"What promise did I ever make with you, Young Lady?"
"My, you forgot? You said you'd run to me first whenever you felt troubled. We..."
She added, beautifully folding her eyes into crescents.
"Because we're friends."
Ah.
That damn word, 'friend.'
What kind of world even uses the word 'friend' like this?