Chapter 33
“Ah, I see. And here I thought it was something serious.”
It was such an out-of-the-blue question that my mind briefly went blank.
Unable to make sense of the situation, I merely blinked, then gave a small laugh and shook my head.
“A date? It’s not like we—.”
“Liar.”
“……Huh?”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Eli’s gaze became even more overt. Her smile seemed to fade slightly, too.
“Uh… I’m really not lying?”
At this point, I was confused, too. Was Eli really confronting me so openly?
“I just happened to run into Christina on the way back.”
I had a pretty good idea what Eli was misunderstanding, but it was a completely absurd misconception.
I firmly shook my head and continued.
“I spent all day meeting a friend from my hometown. Ah, of course, Rene’s hometown friend, not Evan’s.”
“…….”
Eli was still looking at me skeptically. Even so, she seemed willing to at least hear my excuse.
After thinking for a moment, I took the pouch of moonlight grass from my pocket.
“I guess Rene asked a friend to get this for her. Christina said she’d come all this way to deliver it, so I was stuck with her all day.”
It was a somewhat compressed explanation, but it seemed sufficient for now. Bringing up the details of how I had happened to meet her at the bookstore would only make me sound desperate.
Eli silently stared down at the pouch for a moment, then tilted her head.
“What is it?”
“Moonlight grass.”
“……Moonlight grass?”
Eli’s expression stiffened subtly. Well, that was understandable.
I untied the pouch and placed a few moonlight grass leaves in my palm.
“I don’t know why Rene wanted this, though.”
For now, I planned to casually ask Ria whether I had ever mentioned moonlight grass before.
After staring down at the moonlight grass for quite a while, Eli quietly reached out. Then she picked up one leaf and popped it straight into her mouth without hesitation.
“W-wait…!”
“……Yes, it’s moonlight grass.”
Eli nodded calmly.
With a sigh, I put the remaining moonlight grass back into the pouch.
“Be careful. Eating moonlight grass improperly can cause a magical power rampage.”
“Don’t worry.”
Eli closed her eyes for a moment and steadied her breathing, then opened her mouth again.
“But this isn’t proof that you didn’t go on a date with Miss Christina, is it? Someone as wealthy as Miss Christina could easily buy you an herb like this.”
“No… I don’t understand why you keep fixating on the date.”
I let out a short sigh.
“I told you I didn’t. Eli, don’t you trust what your big brother says?”
“No.”
“……Huh?”
What had I just heard?
“To be honest, I’m a little disappointed in you, Oppa.”
“D-disappointed? In me?”
I was bewildered. Why on earth?
Eli simply stared straight at me and continued.
“Using Rene’s body to satisfy your own personal desires… honestly, isn’t that a little much?”
“Desires?!”
My voice rose involuntarily. I could feel my face growing hot.
Eli narrowed her eyes.
“The real you wouldn’t have flirted with Miss Christina like that, even if you liked her. You were someone who valued House Friesna’s dignity more than your personal feelings.”
Eli continued in a sharp voice.
“But even if you’ve escaped those responsibilities, to start acting like this already—and even lie to me… honestly, my very understanding of Evan oppa is beginning to waver.”
Eli was saying frightening things with a frightening expression. I hurriedly shook my head and denied it.
“What are you talking about?! I flirted with her?!”
Then I began refuting Eli’s misunderstanding step by step.
“I never made a move on Christina. It’s true I’ve been seeing her often lately, but that was purely to teach her how to cook.”
“Cooking….”
“Yes, cooking! You knew I was making spicy pork stir-fry for Christina, Eli!”
Eli had definitely mentioned Christina’s name that day. It was as though she had come because she already knew everything.
“Then you lied to me back then?”
“Th-that was… I had my reasons… sort of….”
“Reasons. Then what guarantee is there that what you’re telling me now isn’t a lie either?”
“…….”
I had nothing to say to that. It was true that I had lied to Eli back then.
After hesitating for a moment, I lowered my head and answered.
“It was because… it involved a man.”
“A man?”
“Yes. The truth is, Christina said she wanted to make food for someone she liked.”
I felt bad for Christina, but I couldn’t let Eli continue harboring such a ridiculous misunderstanding about me.
I looked at Eli again and confessed honestly.
“I lied back then for Christina’s sake. If you found out, Eli, Christina would have been embarrassed, too.”
“So Miss Christina’s situation was more important to you than the relationship you’ve built with me all this time?”
“Th-that’s taking it too far! I was just… trying to find a way that wouldn’t put anyone in a difficult position….”
I could think of no more excuses, so I merely lowered my head.
Eli fell silent for a while. After a long pause, a short sigh escaped her lips. Her brow furrowed slightly as she finally spoke:
“In other words, you’re saying all my suspicions are completely mistaken?”
“Yes!”
After that, silence for a while. I could only feel Eli’s stinging gaze fixed on me.
I barely managed to compose myself and meet Eli’s eyes.
The corners of Eli’s eyes softened slightly, and her voice relaxed a little as well.
“……Haa, I think I more or less understand what happened.”
At last, a faint smile returned to Eli’s face.
“I’m sorry for misunderstanding you for no reason.”
“No, no, it’s understandable. I’m sorry I lied back then, too.”
A sigh of relief escaped me before I knew it. Honestly, she nearly scared me half to death.
I picked up my sandwich again and smiled lightly.
“That reminds me, you really don’t like Christina, do you?”
“What do you mean, I don’t like her?”
“Don’t play dumb. You were thinking something like, ‘I can’t let my big brother go to a woman like that!’”
Eli had every right to feel that way. I cherished Eli like a little sister, and she looked up to me like a real big brother.
“……Hmm.”
Eli wore a hesitant expression, as though I had hit the nail on the head.
Before long, she asked cautiously.
“Oppa.”
“Yes?”
“If I were to start dating Kairos… what would you do?”
“……Huh?”
Why was that bastard’s name coming up now? My heart plummeted.
I asked, my hand holding the sandwich trembling.
“D-don’t tell me… Eli, you don’t mean….”
“Ah, of course, Kairos was just an example. His was the only man’s name I could think of just then.”
Eli shook her head firmly.
Right, there was no way Eli would fall for someone like him. I answered, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.
“Of course I’d knock on that arrogant bastard’s door first. I’d have to see with my own eyes whether he was good enough for you, Eli.”
“……What if he were good enough to win your approval?”
“Well, then I suppose I’d cheer you on. Of course, only if you really liked him, Eli.”
Of course, my standards were extremely strict. Our Eli was such a kind and wonderful girl, after all.
With my heart considerably lighter, I took a bite of the sandwich, and Eli’s quiet voice reached me.
“I see.”
Her voice sounded as though she had a lot on her mind. Could she really have someone in mind?
I watched Eli’s expression again, my heart dropping uneasily, but it was only after a long while that she spoke again.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to work hard so I can bring home someone you approve of, Oppa.”
Once again, her words sounded strangely suggestive.
“Haha… You don’t have to work that hard.”
I laughed awkwardly, playing along with Eli’s words for the time being.
Still, fortunately, it seemed I had at least safely cleared up Eli’s ridiculous misunderstanding.
※※
Stare-
“……What are you doing?”
When I opened my eyes, Ria was staring down at me from inches away.
It wasn’t surprising anymore, so I merely furrowed my brow, and Ria giggled as she backed away.
“Nothing. Your expression was funny.”
“Funny….”
I sighed, got out of bed, and stretched thoroughly.
After yawning widely and rubbing my eyes, I watched as Ria grinned and opened her mouth.
“Why don’t you come out with me today….”
“No.”
“I wasn’t finished speaking yet?!”
Ria raised her voice as if utterly dumbfounded.
I calmly shook my head and answered.
“I’m planning to have it out with that bastard Kairos today.”
“With Kairos?”
“Yeah. I want to give him a piece of my mind about what he did to Christina.”
I wasn’t the sort of person who stuck my nose into other people’s business. I hated—no, practically loathed—spending energy on matters unrelated to me.
But even setting aside the fact that I was Evan, as the eldest son of House Friesna, I couldn’t simply stand by and watch some guy toy with a woman’s heart as though it were a plaything.
If he didn’t like her, he should have said so from the start. What was the point of accepting everything she offered, only to draw such a cold line at the end?
Today, man to man, I intended to have a proper talk with him.
“Have you already gotten that close to Christina?”
“It’s not just because we’re friends. I’m simply going to teach him what proper noble etiquette is.”
“Kairos isn’t a noble, though?”
“With skills like his, he’ll become a noble after graduation anyway.”
Luminous’s graduation ceremony was a major national event attended in person by His Majesty the Emperor. Naturally, it was hardly unusual for His Majesty to personally bestow a surname on a student at the very top of the class.
I answered as though it were obvious, smoothing my bangs, when I suddenly noticed Ria staring intently at me.
I looked at Ria with a slight frown.
“What now?”
“No… now that I think about it, it’s kind of funny.”
“What is?”
“You’re not a noble either, Rene. So it’s pretty funny hearing you say you’re going to teach Kairos noble etiquette.”
“……Ah.”
I’d momentarily forgotten.
After thinking for a moment, I answered as though it were nothing.
“You don’t necessarily need practical experience to teach something. Even the current commander of the knights has no combat experience, yet he’s called a Sword Master.”
“Were you as skilled as the commander of the knights, Rene?”
“……Shut up.”
I waved a hand dismissively and got out of bed.
Ria looked up at me and gave a small laugh.
“If that’s the case, you’d better hurry.”
“Hurry for what?”
“Kairos said he’s going out today.”
“……Going out?”
“Yeah, I saw him getting an outing pass from Teacher Justina yesterday.”
Ria added with a grin,
“I think he said he was going to gather herbs in the western forest?”
“The western forest?”
If he was planning to gather herbs, it wasn’t actually a bad choice, but….
“……I have a bad feeling about this.”
The western forest was famous for its rugged, complicated terrain. Once he went in there, we wouldn’t be able to find him easily.
“I’d better hurry.”
I sighed and hurried toward the wardrobe.
“You could just talk to him in class tomorrow~”
Ignoring Ria, who spoke so casually, I pulled out my gym clothes, and she spoke again in a sly voice.
“A tracksuit is a little weird for a date, isn’t it?”
“There’s no way this is a date!”
The very thought made goosebumps break out all over my body.