Chapter 19
“Studying always calls for something sweet afterward! You like it too, Bella, right?”
“You’re the only one who studied.”
“When someone says that, you’re supposed to play along! Hurry up and eat!”
Belver hesitated.
He hadn’t studied, but just as Roho said, he was suddenly craving something sweet.
But he knew that once he took a bite, he wouldn’t be able to stop, so he hesitated.
The memory of eating with Bellatrix last time played through his mind like a panorama.
The deeper his indecision grew, the more miserable Belver’s expression became.
A golden paradise lay right before his eyes, yet he couldn’t reach it. How heartbreaking was that?
It wasn’t that he couldn’t go; he was choosing not to.
Roho, who had already picked up her fork and was savoring her dessert, tilted her head.
Anyone could tell he liked it from the way he was locked in a staring contest with the dessert.
For some reason, he was only agonizing over whether to eat it or not.
“Bella. Say ah.”
“Ah?”
After watching him agonize for nearly ten minutes, Roho decided she had to step in.
It was cute to see him fretting over nothing but dessert, but it was getting frustrating.
She scooped up a piece of her cake and brought it to Belver’s mouth.
He obediently opened his mouth with an innocent “ah,” and she fed him.
“There’s plenty, so you can eat as much as you want. Besides, Bella, you’re rich.”
Belver answered by nodding.
Thinking about the embarrassing display he’d just put on made his head boil like a kettle.
Maybe this was what it felt like when a volcano was about to erupt inside your head.
And on top of that, he’d even let Roho feed him.
He was too embarrassed to say anything.
So, beneath the table, he secretly tapped his toes together and avoided her gaze.
Roho noticed the little tap-tap sounds coming from beneath the table.
She quickly figured out what was making them.
The mischievous streak she’d been hiding poked its head out, and another foot slipped between Belver’s.
“Hehe. Go on and eat.”
“Mm…”
In the end, Belver took a bite with a trembling hand, like a newborn fawn.
They say good things come to those who wait, don’t they?
He felt that the saying was absolutely true.
He’d only held back from eating what he wanted for a little while, but somehow it tasted several times better.
The moment it entered his mouth, it melted away, setting off fireworks in his head.
His hand regained its strength as if it had never trembled, and he kept bringing the dessert to his mouth.
Watching Belver savor it so happily made Roho find it even more delicious, too.
She’d finally crossed off an item on her bucket list: eating dessert with a friend who didn’t find her exhausting. Of course it tasted good.
In a moment like this, even a toothpaste-flavored dessert would have tasted delicious.
“Want some more?”
“Yeah. No, I don’t.”
“Why not? It’s delicious.”
“Well…”
Belver was mortified that he’d lost himself in the dessert again, but he forced the feeling down with superhuman willpower.
Even so, all he’d managed to do was hold back the urge to run and hide in a mouse hole; his hands and feet were still clenched tight, and his voice kept shrinking lower.
When Roho asked if he wanted more, he’d almost agreed without thinking, then hurriedly changed his answer.
He wished she wouldn’t ask why.
The problem was that Roho had watched him eat with such obvious enjoyment that she absolutely couldn’t let the question go.
He wondered how he should answer.
The reason seemed far too girlish, even to him.
How could he say, “I’ve been eating too many sweets lately, so I’ve gained weight”?!
Lately, he’d started feeling like his clothes were getting a little tight.
Mostly around his underwear.
If that didn’t mean he was gaining weight, what did it mean?
But he couldn’t think of a good excuse.
In the end, he told her the truth.
“I’ve gained weight…”
“Huh? You’ve gained weight? Where, exactly…?”
Roho studied Belver’s slender figure, which looked just as it had last time, searching for what had changed.
What had once been on the small side was starting to make its presence known.
There was no point hiding it: her breasts had grown.
It was plain to see that both her body and her mind were becoming more feminine.
It seemed the theory that love could change the body was true after all.
As far as Roho was concerned, it was a very good change.
“Just eat. Bella, you should put on a little more weight. Excuse me? Could we have one more of each?”
“Should I?”
“Yes. Trust me. You definitely need to put on a little more weight.”
Roho was certain.
From what she’d read in romance novels, men liked big breasts.
Even putting it kindly, Belver’s breasts couldn’t be called big, so it would be better if she put on a little weight.
At Roho’s confident insistence, Belver wore the overwhelmingly joyful expression of someone who had overcome hardship and gotten what he wanted.
His smile was so bright and radiant it could have blinded someone.
That was how much he wanted to eat more dessert.
He’d been worried about gaining weight, but if Roho, another woman, said it was fine, then it had to be fine.
If she said he should gain even more, maybe he could eat as much as he wanted?
Belver could picture a radiant future where he ate two desserts every single day.
He savored the dessert brought to him while imagining that happy future.
***
After polishing off all the desserts, Belver went to meet Bellatrix around sunset, grinning as he told her about his day.
About going to a lecture together, going to the library together, and even having dessert together.
He left out all the embarrassing moments that had happened at those places.
“So that’s what happened. Did you have fun?”
“Yes!”
“I’m glad you had fun. It’s better than being lonely by yourself.”
Belver silently sighed in relief, grateful that she hadn’t noticed what he’d left out.
Bellatrix looked exhausted all over, and she’d even pushed her bangs back because they were damp with sweat. It was clear she’d trained hard.
How hard had she trained for the radar that usually picked up on anything he hid to fail her?
Still, her gaze remained fixed on him as usual.
Belver thought Bellatrix, who always worked so hard, was truly admirable.
It was clear she wasn’t pushing herself to the point of neglecting her body just to beat someone blindly.
If she were still training solely to beat Roho, she wouldn’t have spared Belver a glance.
That meant she’d overcome her obsession with Roho.
“You did great again today!”
“Hey. I’m sweaty. Don’t.”
“It’s fine!”
Belver even rose up on his tiptoes to pat Bellatrix on the head and praise her.
He was returning the favor she always did for him.
It always made him feel good, so she was sure to like it, too.
See!
Even though she was pretending to hate it, she was smiling!
Bellatrix let out a deep sigh as Belver casually patted her sweat-soaked hair.
It had to feel unpleasant to touch when it was damp, but his expression didn’t change at all.
Apart from that, she was happy to be praised.
Much happier than when professors or other distinguished people praised her.
‘Sorry in advance. You’ll forgive me, right?’
Thanks to him, she had the energy to play a mischievous prank.
She apologized to the Belver in her mind, not the real one, and immediately put her plan into action.
“By the way…”
“Yes?”
“Was being with her more fun than being with me?”
Bweep-bweep! A Code Red alarm sounded inside Belver’s head.
He desperately thought and thought about what he should say.
But it was such a difficult question he felt like he might go insane.
He’d never once thought about it, because he liked them both.
He desperately hoped it was just a mischievous prank.
But Bellatrix’s gaze as she watched him was far too serious.
There wasn’t a trace of the playfulness he usually saw when she was teasing him.
He knew what this kind of question meant.
It meant jealousy.
He didn’t know what on earth she was jealous about, but he knew that was jealousy.
Bellatrix desperately held back the urge to laugh as she watched Belver fidget.
He was so cute she could hardly stand it.
All the effort she’d put into training all day was worth it just to see this.
Since she hadn’t gotten to tease him today, she decided to go a little further.
But she was so tired that she didn’t realize her face had unconsciously lost its unnecessary hint of playfulness.
“I see. Got it. That makes sense.”
“Ah…?”
Bellatrix spoke as if disappointed, then took a small step forward.
Surely Belver would lecture her now about how she shouldn’t tease him.
She could just enjoy his cute, shrill scolding.
But Belver’s mind had turned pitch-black, completely unlike what she expected.
What had he done wrong?
A single thought filled his mind.
His teeth began to chatter, and his body started to grow cold.
‘I have to apologize.’
Belver hurried toward her before it was too late.
But his frozen legs wouldn’t obey him.
When he tried to force them to move, they tangled up, and he fell to the ground.
“Eek!”
“What’s wrong?! Are you okay?!”
Bellatrix was startled by Belver’s scream, turned around, and saw that he’d fallen.
She hurried over and checked him all over to make sure he wasn’t hurt.
Thankfully, he was fine apart from a small scrape on his palm.
While Bellatrix was still feeling relieved, Belver moved his stiff hand and grabbed her sleeve.
He wanted to take her hand, but he was afraid she might dislike it if he did now.
“I’m sorry… Please don’t abandon me… I’m really sorry…”
“I’m sorry. I thought you’d realize it was a joke. I won’t do it again.”
Only then did Bellatrix realize what she’d done wrong.
It had never occurred to her that he might not realize it was a joke.
But a mistake was still a mistake, so she apologized right away.
Belver’s eyes widened when he heard Bellatrix frankly admit what she’d done.
That had been a cruel prank.
Shouldn’t she have given him some way to tell it was a joke?
Bellatrix, faced with Belver’s heartfelt reproach, scratched her head, at a loss for words.
He looked thoroughly angry.
She’d never seen Belver this angry before.
“Don’t play pranks like that again.”
“Okay. I’ll remember.”
“At least make it obvious that it’s a joke. You broke the rules. So I’m going to punish you.”
“I’ll accept my punishment gladly.”
Belver wondered what punishment he should give her.
It was his first time punishing her, so he didn’t know what he should make her do.
Thinking back on the punishments Bellatrix had given him, she’d made him do what she wanted under the guise of a punishment.
So what did he want right now?
He didn’t have to think for long.
“Hug me. While calling me by my name.”
“Right now? I told you I’m drenched in sweat.”
“Right now.”
“All right.”
After hesitating for a moment, Bellatrix awkwardly drew Belver into her arms.
She regretted to herself that she should have washed up at the training grounds if she’d known this would happen.
Belver hugged her without a care, even though she was drenched in sweat.
“I’m sorry, Belver.”
“I really like you, Lady Bellatrix, so don’t ask me that again.”
“Is that a confession? Want to get engaged?”
“Yes. Let’s.”
“Huh? Seriously?”
Bellatrix was so flustered by Belver’s completely serious confession that she didn’t know how to respond.
She liked Belver, too, but wasn’t it too soon?
They hadn’t even known each other that long.
Belver, nestled in her flustered embrace, chuckled very softly.
It was the first time he’d seen Bellatrix flustered.
So this was why she liked playing pranks.
He understood a little of how she felt.
“I’m joking.”
“Hey!”
“It’s revenge, so take it like a champ.”
Bellatrix realized what her real mistake was.
The real mistake was letting Belver learn such nasty things from her.
She regretted it bitterly.
That didn’t mean she planned to stop teasing him.
“Hyah!”
“I told you poking a woman in the side is sexual harassment!?”
“You’re a man.”
“I’m a woman right now… Guh!”
I kept he/him for Belver in narration while preserving the explicit male/female-body contrast in dialogue.