Chapter 105
"D-do as you please."
She didn't say she couldn't do it until the end.
It was vanity melted in like a habit.
Even this seemed to reveal her personality, so I burst into a low laugh.
I felt both pity and appreciation at the same time.
"Pfft... Then I won't hold back."
I gently extended my hand.
Perhaps because she couldn't confidently stand still, her delicate shoulders were shaking back and forth, revealing her tension.
A faint trembling was evident on her closed eyelids.
Emilia was fidgeting with her innocent sleeve while waiting for the touch that would soon follow.
The presence drew closer and closer.
'Where will it be?'
The girl thinks.
Where will it be?
Where those greedy fingertips would touch.
The chest full of soft cushioning, the waist drawing a slender curve, to the beautifully finished hips.
The beautifully formed frost had many winters to take.
The villainess would be focusing all her nerves on the sensations of her entire body.
"Young Lady."
Of course.
None of it was the correct answer.
I pass by all the previously mentioned parts and gently place my hand on top of her head.
Then I begin to stroke her deep blue hair.
Swish-.
"...?"
Perhaps because of the unexpected contact.
The girl carefully opened her eyes.
Only my face is reflected in the blue surface.
I meet her deep gaze, then whisper in her heated ear with a kind smile.
It was words of encouragement.
"You worked hard."
"What...?"
Emilia raised a question mark.
I say.
"I heard you prepared really hard for this exam... So I wanted to say you worked hard regardless of winning or losing."
Although…
She didn't show it because she was usually putting on airs, but she was always someone who worked twice as hard as other students.
She must be struggling in many ways.
Recognition from others is the driving force that leads life.
For vanity to be filled with others' recognition, effort worthy of applause must precede it.
The girl was living that repetition every day.
"Because you're always working hard."
I wanted to tell her.
That even without clinging to mere rankings, there are a few people cheering for her by her side.
And that I'm included among them.
I slowly pronounce sentences pressed down firmly while leaving the kindly touching body heat behind.
It was a resonance spreading gently.
"...You really."
Would such sincerity reach her?
The villainess mutters.
Perhaps it was shameful to have a strange misunderstanding alone.
At the same time, satisfaction at being recognized by someone close, and fulfillment coming as the empty time that no one acknowledged was filled.
Her cheeks reddening at the end of complex emotions.
The faint breath adds snowflakes to the inner season.
"Going back and forth, I don't know which tune to follow... It's annoying."
"I apologize if it was presumptuous."
"That's not what I meant. You're really too soft-hearted."
She needlessly pouts her lips.
Even that awkwardness was transparent.
The villainess hesitates on how to answer, then mutters while avoiding the overlapping gazes.
A faint but world-dyeing resonance.
"Thank you."
Her pink lips pronounce.
"...Yuda."
Two unfamiliar syllables.
That unfamiliarity sometimes makes people laugh.
"Hmm? Isn't this the first time you've called me by name?"
"Shut up!"
"I'm glad to feel recognized. I'd appreciate it if you called me by name instead of stiff titles from now on."
"Don't have any strange expectations because I have no intention of doing that!"
Emilia flatly refused.
Seeing how she didn't avoid the stroking hand even amid that, I could feel that the distance of the relationship we had narrowed until now wasn't so far.
We walked side by side, exchanging bickering conversations.
***
A few days later.
The written exam results were finally announced, and now we were facing the practical exam.
We were spending time in the library as usual.
"The practical exam starts tomorrow."
"That's right."
Children having everyday conversation.
The snake, the pilot, the vain one.
It was now a composition treated as one set.
Originally the rose and Little Prince should have been there too, but today they ventured out saying they would take time to adjust to the academy.
It seemed they would look around the shopping street located on the outskirts of the academy.
Of course.
We weren't doing any particular activities either.
We even rested from training as it was the day before the practical.
It was for condition management.
We just gathered out of habit after lectures ended, and were only exchanging everyday conversation while occupying one side.
Of course, there was a lot of content related to exams given the timing.
"About the practical... Do head teaching assistants take a separate exam too?"
Emilia throwing a question.
I answer.
"Of course. Even head teaching assistants are students in the end. However, I know it's conducted in a different format from the exam general students take."
Just as those words said.
The practical for head teaching assistants felt a bit different.
If the practical for general students was solely for 'evaluation', the practical for head teaching assistants was closer to an 'event match'.
In fact, there was no separate failing standard for the practical that only head teaching assistants took.
Since they were basically individuals whose skills were proven, it meant they wouldn't do meaningless point division.
Instead, they had an exam they had to respond to mandatorily.
"That's the Faculty Tournament."
The Faculty Tournament.
An exam in which not only each head teaching assistant participates, but also the professors who employ them.
It was a tradition handed down since Galimar was first established.
Head teaching assistants, professors, etc... Those standing at the very top of the academy compete.
Students gain enlightenment by watching such an exam, accumulate understanding of the pinnacle at the same time, and ultimately aim for development - that was the purpose of the tournament.
Hidden between that was also the political intention of showing off the professors' skills and highlighting the academy's prestige.
Of course, there's no need to know this in such detail.
"I think you can just know it as an event where faculty members have matches against each other. Head teaching assistants are just included in between like a bonus."
"Will it be alright...? There's no way assistants can be a match for professors."
"As I said, it's closer to an event. There's probably also an intention to show the vast gap between students and professors. Head teaching assistants counted as the most skilled would have been perfect for performing such a role. I hear those participating in the tournament receive practical scores close to perfect regardless of ranking, so you don't need to worry about grades either."
I finished the explanation as briefly as possible.
There were also contents like rules and matchup structures, but I decided to pass over them for now.
It was an event that wouldn't start for another week anyway.
On the other hand, the practical for general students was tomorrow, so it was wiser to be interested in this side.
The villainess listened to the story with an indifferent face, then asks.
"Then... you don't have a practical exam tomorrow?"
"That's right."
"Hmm."
"I'm directly under Professor Selena. I'll probably participate in the tournament with her."
"Being a head teaching assistant isn't something to envy unconditionally."
"Responsibility follows position."
For me it was a schedule to enjoy lightly, but in the students' eyes there seemed to be nothing more frightening.
Well, the professors were beings who transcended levels.
Heroes from the Great Extermination era, former Imperial Knight Commanders, Tower of Magic elders, Church cardinals, etc.
One and all were only gathered high names, so in a way it was a point where you could understand why Galimar was called the continent's best educational institution.
I roughly erase such renewed impressions.
"Well... until then there's practical exams scheduled continuously, so I guess I'll watch other students' matches."
"For your information, mine is tomorrow."
"Of course I plan to go cheer."
Thanks to that, it didn't seem like I'd be bored.
As the conversation was shifting back to the topic of general practicals, the girl sitting across suddenly spoke up.
It was Regia who had been blankly just listening until now.
"Um... Young Master."
"Miss Regia?"
A timid voice as always.
But somehow it seemed more severe than usual.
An appearance of hesitating as if wanting to say something.
When I told her to speak comfortably, she parted her lips while tightly clenching her fist as if resolved.
The stumbling sentences gradually form into meaning.
"Regarding the practical exam, I h-have something I want to request."
"A request?"
I became interested.
In the nearly half year we had spent together, the times she had wanted something from me could be counted on one hand.
That's how much she had a personality that felt burdened relying on others.
For such a Regia to openly say she had a request, this was content that couldn't help but arouse interest.
I listened attentively as if scooping up her continuing words.
"If possible, during tomorrow's practical exam......"
The hesitating girl finally speaks.
With eyes almost on the verge of tears.
Having heard Regia's story, I couldn't help but tilt my head with a question mark.
It was because the content of the request was too unexpected.
"What...?"
What kind of request is this now?