Chapter 27
Her name was Emily Swan. She was nineteen.
She was a mature-looking student, one of Antiope Academy's three beauties, with lake-blue eyes and alluring, translucent silver hair.
“Why can't I get in touch…?”
Emily pursed her lips.
Her messages had always gone unanswered fairly often, but lately it had been especially bad.
However, she had no intention of blaming him.
‘He's always busy.’
Her health had suddenly worsened just before the start of the semester, so Emily had to recuperate away from school. Tomorrow would be her first day back at the academy this semester.
Emily let out a shallow sigh as she brushed her hair.
It was a fact almost none of the other academy students knew, but Carlisle Schultz and she were childhood friends. If you wanted to put it that way, anyway.
That was how Emily saw it, but who knew what Carlisle Schultz thought?
She came from a prestigious family of educators that had sponsored nearby orphanages for generations.
One of them was the orphanage where Carlisle lived, so the two had occasionally crossed paths since childhood.
[Ah, hi?! What's your name?]
She remembered how nervous she had been when she first introduced herself.
[I'm Carlisle Schultz.]
She had fallen in love at first sight. It was ridiculous, really.
Emily had fallen for a black-haired, golden-eyed boy with a cold, intelligent air.
From then on, she followed her father every time he went to the orphanage each month.
That was why Emily was upset.
Carlisle's track record with girls spoke for itself. She had spent so long agonizing over it in silence.
Yet the reason Emily had never confessed until now was simply that she was afraid. Though she was normally steadfast, she was timid as well, and that was how things had turned out.
She feared that knowing each other already might mean he didn't see her romantically, or that he might reject her.
‘And if he rejected me…’
She was afraid she might not even be able to maintain their current relationship.
All of these things had made Emily hesitate.
And now, at this very moment, the thing she'd seen earlier in the group chat kept circling her mind.
-By any chance, guys, have you heard anything about Carlisle lately? I can't get in touch with him at all.
Carlisle was fairly famous at the academy, after all. He was someone whose every move became a topic of conversation.
The responses came streaming in beneath the message she'd hesitantly posted.
-Um, you see.
-Well, Emily.
Her friends naturally knew who she had a crush on. The messages that followed left her a little dazed.
“Bianca Shamal…?”
Had Carlisle already started dating yet another new girl? And did it even look serious?
No way. That couldn't be.
-They spend every lunch together.
-They're practically glued together.
Emily bit her lip.
“I thought you said you weren't dating anyone anymore…”
Hadn't those been Carlisle's exact words himself?
-I'm just not going to date anyone anymore.
-Yeah, why?
-There wasn't really any point.
He'd said it with a fairly nonchalant expression.
She had been so happy inside when he'd said that to her. And right then, Emily had made up her mind!
‘This semester, definitely…!’
And just as she was thinking that, a formidable rival had appeared?! Maybe she wasn't even a rival anymore—not if the two of them were really dating.
“Shamal, Shamal…”
Since the name sounded familiar, Emily kept repeating it to herself.
[I-I like you—!]
Only then did she remember the boy who had shyly confessed to her before, Vita Shamal.
“Ah, Vita—!”
What a strange coincidence.
That pure, hot-blooded boy. Could Bianca Shamal be his sister?
She remembered deliberately treating him a little coldly.
Because his feelings had been so obviously sincere, making it difficult for her to reject him.
“…Still, that was harsh.”
Yes, it really was. Emily regretted what she had done back then.
[My type is someone a little more manly.]
They were a devout family of educators who spearheaded charitable sponsorship efforts.
So Emily herself was gentle-natured rather than abrasive.
“Ugh, right. I didn't have to say it quite so harshly.”
She knew she had made a mistake.
The pure, hot-blooded boy had confessed to her so boldly, right in front of everyone.
She had panicked, overwhelmed by the attention of everyone watching.
So she had ended up being honest. Emily let out a sigh.
She knew about Vita Shamal's condition from what she'd heard.
‘I should apologize someday, right?’
No matter how flustered she'd been, she shouldn't have said that.
Anyway, that aside.
She'd have to check once she got to the academy.
Emily was simply curious.
‘Maybe they aren't actually dating?’
If so, she couldn't back down.
Even if she still had a fair chance to compete…
“That's right. I'll ask!”
Emily steeled herself with a needless little pep talk.
***
The next morning arrived.
Vita's mind was a mess.
It had been that way ever since.
Ever since he heard Carlisle Schultz's confession—or rather, his not-quite-confession.
[…I like you, Bianca.]
His mind was a mess; Carlisle seemed to have spoken his true feelings, thinking Vita was asleep.
He told himself it was impossible.
Just nonsense.
But the words kept resurfacing.
Vita finished getting ready.
“I should go to the academy, at least.”
Anyway, no matter how he felt, he still had things to do.
“Good morning, Bianca!”
And when he entered the classroom, a new day began with a greeting from his deskmate, Shasha.
“Hi, Bianca!”
“Are you feeling a little better?”
Every classmate he made eye contact with readily greeted him, which made Vita feel a little awkward. He hesitated, but responded anyway.
“M-morning!”
It was embarrassing, but not unpleasant.
‘For some reason, I've gotten a little popular.’
Thinking that to himself,
he greeted everyone, then went to sit at his desk.
He glanced at Carlisle's seat without anyone noticing and, thankfully, saw that Carlisle still hadn't arrived.
“Looking for your hubby?”
“…?!”
Vita was thrown into a panic by the sudden remark.
“W-what…?! That's ridiculous!”
His arms broke out in goosebumps.
But his deskmate Shasha merely grinned mischievously.
“It's written all over you, all of it—”
What was she talking about?
No, seriously…
“Bianca's incredibly innocent, so it's all obvious.”
“W-what is?”
“You always look at that seat first whenever you come to school.”
No way.
He'd never done that…
But denying it would only get him teased more, so Vita responded with his own timid little act of defiance.
“How many times do I have to tell you, Shasha? We really aren't dating.”
“No one's going to believe that.”
The people around them chimed in agreement after Shasha.
“You two weren't dating?”
“Yeah, seriously. It definitely looked that way.”
Was it because the surprise had flustered him?
Vita suddenly stood up and blurted it out loudly.
“No, we're not! Seriously!”
The classroom fell silent.
A wave of gazes turned toward him, and startled expressions appeared around the room.
Vita realized he'd made a mistake.
“Uh, um…”
He'd really messed up. This was the classic otaku tendency to suddenly go off the rails.
As that thought occurred to him, Vita's face grew hotter and hotter until he finally covered it with both small hands.
“Sorry, I overreacted…”
He sank into his seat and apologized honestly, his voice reduced to a mumble.
“I've been acting strange lately. I overreacted.”
The silence lingered, and everyone had heard him.
Once they considered the context, it was easy to see why Bianca Shamal had reacted that way and why his face had grown so red.
When someone denies something so vehemently, they usually have something to hide.
***
And so, a little later,
girls with sparkling eyes crowded around Vita.
“You're so cute, Bianca!”
“You're like such an innocent little child.”
“Um, hey. Is your strange condition related to Carlisle?”
What kind of reaction was this?
Vita was flustered once again.
‘Did I say something wrong…?’
Apparently, he had.
“Huh? Tell us.”
“Why does your heart feel strange…?”
Um, excuse me?
He'd said his condition was strange, not that his heart was.
But, to be precise, it was exactly the right expression. Vita's feelings had certainly been that way lately.
The girls' bright eyes all fixed on him.
The attention was too much for Vita, so he chose to run.
He slowly rose from his seat—
“S-sorry. I'm going to the bathroom!”
And he fled.
But just then, Vita came face-to-face with someone familiar.
‘Huh, Emily…?’
It was Emily Swan, who had just been walking toward him.
She was his unrequited love from when he'd been a man—the person he'd even confessed to.
Vita's heart dropped at this sudden encounter with Emily Swan.
It had been so long since he'd seen her.
‘I heard she was recuperating… She came back to the academy today.’
And Emily was still impossibly beautiful.
She had lake-blue eyes, sleek, straight silver hair, neat clothes, and a feminine bearing.
She even looked elegant, like the daughter of some prestigious family.
‘……’
Their gazes met in midair.
Only after a moment did Emily ask him,
“Um, excuse me… are you Bianca Shamal?”
She smiled shyly, as if slightly embarrassed.
“I was right, wasn't I?”
Even her voice was beautiful. That was seriously unfair.
And even though she'd rejected him,
she was the person he'd once confessed to with such fervent feelings. He was usually awkward about these things, yet he'd managed to find the courage.
The person he'd loved so dearly was Emily Swan.
“U-um, yeah…?”
It felt as if he'd suddenly woken from a dream and returned to reality.
Vita Shamal's heart began to thump!