Chapter 32
Eventually, Christina burst into tears again, and it was only after a long while that she finally managed to catch her breath.
Quite literally, as if she no longer even had the energy to cry.
“Are you feeling a little calmer now?”
“……Yes.”
Christina covered the corners of her reddened eyes with a damp handkerchief.
“It’s already gotten this dark.”
“I know. Still, don’t worry too much. It only takes about thirty minutes to get from here to Luminous.”
We’d be about two hours late for curfew, but we could manage somehow.
“Well, shall we get up soon?”
In any case, it was a relief that Christina had pulled herself together before it got any later.
As I got to my feet, I held out my hand. Christina remained seated and stared down at my outstretched hand.
“Is there something on my hand?”
“Ah, no. It’s not that.”
Christina slowly lifted her head and looked up at me.
“Putting that aside, Miss Rene, you’re kinder than you let on.”
“KInder than I let on? That sounds like there’s a barb hidden in there.”
“I say that because of the way you speak.”
Christina smiled faintly.
Then, instead of taking my hand, she stood up. Feeling awkward for no reason, I withdrew my outstretched hand and changed the subject.
“So, what are you planning to do from here?”
“I’m not sure… I don’t really know right now.”
Christina turned her gaze toward the window. The nighttime street scene, with the streetlights coming on, was faintly reflected in the glass.
“For now, I can think of two paths. One is… to approach Lord Kairos once again with a fresh mindset.”
“A fresh mindset? Don’t tell me you’re still planning to pursue that bastard?”
“I don’t have all that many options left.”
Christina smiled bitterly—a precarious smile, with a thread of hope mixed into resignation and despair.
‘What does that bastard Kairos have, anyway…?’
Who the hell did that bastard Kairos think he was, making someone else suffer like this?
After hesitating for a moment, I opened my mouth.
“If that’s the case, I’ll introduce you to someone new.”
Christina merely widened her eyes and tilted her head.
“You’re going to… introduce someone to me, Miss Rene?”
“The important thing is just that he has high magical power, right? Don’t worry. I’ll find you a decent guy who’s on an entirely different level from that rude bastard Kairos.”
In any case, if he was an Estrid, his status wouldn’t be a problem either.
From somewhere in the back of my mind, I suddenly remembered Hans, who had whined so much about wanting a girlfriend.
“But… even so, someone I don’t know at all would be a little….”
“I told you not to worry. If you don’t like the guy I introduce you to, I’ll replace him with someone else as many times as you want.”
“Y-you’d replace him…?”
Christina let her words trail off with a strange expression.
“Do you really know that many people…?”
“Well, yeah.”
The top students at Luminous were all connected to me somehow, regardless of what year they were in.
Having high grades meant aspiring to join the Ministry of Magic, and the Ministry was practically House Friesna’s home turf.
“How?”
“Don’t ask too many questions. You might get hurt.”
I shrugged as though joking and jerked my chin toward the door.
“Anyway, let’s really get going now. Teacher Justina must be waiting.”
“Ah… yes.”
Only then did Christina cautiously begin to move.
I chuckled and fell into step beside her, gently patting her trembling back.
On our way out after paying, Christina cautiously spoke up.
“I’m sorry, Miss Rene.”
“All of a sudden? For what?”
“You tried so hard to help me, Miss Rene… and this is how it turned out.”
Then Christina let her shoulders droop.
She apologized for every little thing. I firmly shook my head and patted her shoulder.
“You have nothing to apologize for. The one at fault isn’t you—it’s that bastard Kairos and his god-awful personality.”
“But….”
“I told you, you don’t need a ‘but.’ You can’t blame someone just because they couldn’t convince a monkey with words, can you?”
Christina hadn’t really done anything wrong in this matter, either.
“So straighten your shoulders now. Christina, you’re a woman who can shine just fine even without a guy like him.”
The fact that Christina had the kind of personality I liked hadn’t changed. And being let down by that bastard Kairos… was something I was a little used to myself.
I reached out for no particular reason, gently ruffled her hair, and walked ahead into the darkening street.
“……”
Christina stood still, apparently lost in thought, but soon began slowly following behind me.
※※
‘As expected, Teacher Justina is scary when she’s angry….’
Naturally, the person waiting for us when we arrived at school two hours late was Teacher Justina, with her anger loaded to the brim.
A full hour and a half of lecturing that began with, “I never would have expected this from you, Rene!” and ended with, “Don’t think I’ll let you off next time!”
By the time we finally managed to escape the dorm supervisor’s office, it was already well past eleven at night.
‘I’m hungry….’
Dinner… no, come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten a proper meal all day. As usual, I had skipped breakfast, and I had gotten by on pancakes for lunch because of Jibel.
Grrrrr.
My stomach began screaming as if it had been waiting for this very moment. But by now, even the student kitchen would be locked.
‘Should I just sneak in…?’
I considered it for a moment as I looked toward the kitchen, but soon gave up with a sigh.
Hoping Ria had had the good sense to prepare a late-night snack, I began dragging myself up the stairs.
“Oppa.”
“……Eli?”
At the unexpected yet familiar voice, my head shot up.
Half a floor above, Eli was peeking her head out from the stair landing.
“What’s going on?”
I was glad to see her, of course. Well, I was a little surprised, too.
I hurried up the stairs, and Eli answered with a bright smile.
“Ria told me you still hadn’t come back, Oppa.”
“Ah… I see. I made you worry unnecessarily.”
It was only natural for Eli to worry. In my current state, I was a little kid who looked as though a single tap could send me flying all the way to the border.
As I awkwardly scratched my head, Eli gently took my hand and turned around.
“You haven’t had dinner yet, have you?”
“Huh? Ah, y-yeah… I guess not.”
“I thought so. Then would you like to come to my room for a little while?”
“To your room, Eli?”
“Yes. I had a feeling you hadn’t eaten, so I prepared some sandwiches.”
“Oh… really?”
At the mere mention of sandwiches, I swallowed hard without meaning to.
Eli glanced back at me, then gave a small laugh and went up the stairs first.
The thought that Ria must be worried too briefly crossed my mind, but the temptation of sandwiches was simply too strong.
By the time I came to my senses, I was already standing in front of Eli’s door. Eli opened it without hesitation and led me inside.
“Being a girl has its advantages, too.”
Naturally, this was my first time entering Eli’s room.
It was a neat, tidy room, with a small potted plant by the window. As I looked around, I suddenly spotted a familiar doll and walked over to it.
“You still treasure this lion doll.”
It was the doll young Eli had never let out of her arms for even a moment. Even the stitched marks on its arm were just as they had been before.
“It’s like family to me.”
Eli answered lightly as she headed toward a small table.
“Please sit on the bed for a moment. I’ll bring them over shortly.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I felt a little sorry about making Eli wait on me, but there was such a thing as proper guest etiquette.
I carefully sat on the edge of Eli’s bed. The warm, milky scent that always emanated from her gently filled the air around me.
“Are you all right sleeping alone now?”
“Don’t you think you’re treating me too much like a child?”
Eli chuckled and looked back at me.
“I’m a full-fledged Luminous student now, too. Sleeping alone isn’t a problem at all.”
“Oh~ Look at you. Our Eli’s all grown up now, huh?”
I rested an arm on the bed and made myself comfortable.
“It’s true that before I became Rene, I never had much chance to see your face. The last time I saw you was… my older sister’s birthday party last year, right?”
“Yes. We somehow never ran into each other at school.”
“Haha, right?”
It wasn’t as though I had deliberately avoided her… but neither had I ever gone out of my way to make time to see Eli. Luminous was structured in a way that upperclassmen and underclassmen rarely crossed paths in the first place.
Our conversation briefly lapsed. As I stared absently at the lion doll in the room, Eli approached carrying a tray that smelled deliciously savory.
I quickly stood and took the tray from her hands.
“You can eat on the bed, you know.”
“Oh, but then I’d feel bad if I spilled anything. I’ll just sit on the floor and eat.”
There’s no need to worry about appearances while eating a sandwich.
“Aren’t you going to eat, Eli?”
“I ate earlier.”
Eli smiled brightly and sat comfortably on the floor across from me.
I answered, “I see,” and picked up a sandwich without hesitation.
“Enjoy your meal.”
“Yeah, thanks. I will.”
After a brief exchange, I took a large bite of the sandwich.
Crisp vegetables and tender meat filled my mouth with flavor.
‘Delicious…!’
It was really delicious. Well, naturally, it had to be top quality if Eli had prepared it.
Admiring it inwardly, my eyes lit up without my realizing it.
Eli watched me fondly and smiled softly.
“Oppa.”
“Mmm?”
I turned toward her with my mouth full of sandwich.
Eli smiled gently, her eyes crinkling, then immediately asked me a question.
“So, did you enjoy your date with Christina?”
“……?”
It was a question I had not expected at all.