Chapter 25
“What, what’s going on?”
“Bianca, tell us honestly. Someone confessed to you, right?”
“Who was it? Which guy confessed? Is he handsome? Did you accept?”
“Lucia, when did you get here? No—more importantly, why are you acting so intense?”
Bianca, whose face looked uneasy, gave a forced laugh and pushed back the two girls who had stepped in close.
“Stop hiding it and tell us. What did you two talk about?”
Even though Bianca tried to dodge the question, Christine and Lucia clung to her relentlessly.
Looking troubled, Bianca finally let out a deep sigh.
“So yes, someone confessed…”
“Oh my, oh my!”
Christine and Lucia’s eyes lit up with excitement. Their eager faces made Bianca grimace.
“It’s already the seventh time he’s confessed.”
“What? Seven times?”
The unexpected news startled Christine and Lucia.
“Yeah… well, you might call us childhood acquaintances? Not as close as you and Herwin, Lucia, but our parents know each other, so we’ve seen each other since we were kids.”
Bianca went on to explain.
The boy was Calips Cherville, the second son of Count Cherville.
He had developed a crush on Bianca after seeing her a few times in childhood and had been in love with her for two years.
This was already his second confession since they entered the academy; the first had been on the day of the entrance ceremony.
Hearing the story, Christine squealed in delight, while Lucia thought Calips’s situation sounded oddly similar to her own.
“That’s real devotion. You don’t find guys like that easily, Bianca.”
“So what? I’m not interested.”
Bianca gave a crooked little snort.
“Oh? So you don’t like the young lord Cherville?”
“Not even a little. I wish he’d stop confessing.”
Lucia suddenly felt her heart drop.
“If someone says no more than once, you’d think he’d get it. I’ve told him flat-out, ‘I can’t stand men like you,’ and, ‘Don’t even talk to me again,’ but I don’t know if he can’t understand or is just pretending not to hear.”
“Uh…”
Christine blinked, startled by the sharpness of her tone.
Lucia stared at Bianca, unable to even blink.
…That’s different.
Only a week ago, Bianca had scolded Herwin for refusing Lucia’s own confession, saying that after sixty tries he ought to give in.
Now her attitude was the complete opposite.
“I honestly don’t even know what gives him the confidence to keep coming after me. He’s not especially handsome, and his family isn’t anything remarkable.”
“B-but he seemed like a kind person.”
“Plenty of kind people around. That’s hardly a selling point.”
Bianca’s refusal was firm. Christine, though not acquainted with Calips, couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.
“Oh! Lucia, you’ve been gone for a while. Where did you go?”
Trying to break the awkward mood, Christine quickly changed the subject.
As she spoke, she noticed something in Lucia’s hand.
“Oh, why are you carrying your purse?”
Bianca, who’d been absently watching the swordsmanship class, snapped her head around.
“Ah… I thought I might buy something, so I stopped by the classroom first.”
“Really? Did you buy anything?”
“No. I realized I didn’t need it after all. Just a wasted trip.”
Lucia gave an awkward smile and accidentally met Bianca’s eyes.
Bianca’s stare sharpened.
Why bring your purse?
It was a silent question: why hadn’t she left it at her seat or in her bag?
Lucia knew exactly what Bianca meant but avoided her gaze.
Bianca frowned slightly.
“Luci—”
Waaahhh!
Her voice was drowned out by a sudden roar from the training yard.
Turning toward the noise, they saw a violet light ripple among the students on break.
“Is that…?”
“It’s aura!”
The cheers were because Arista was radiating aura.
Ever since the ogre incident, she had worked tirelessly to use it again—and today she had finally succeeded.
The swordsmanship students around Arista gasped in admiration.
Among them was Herwin, laughing with childlike delight.
Seeing it left Lucia with a bitter feeling.
“What’s going on with you?”
Seizing the commotion, Bianca stepped closer.
“Why did you bring your purse?”
She shot a glance at Christine, who had stood up, then lowered her voice.
For some reason Lucia felt a strong resistance and edged away.
“I’ve decided to… not do anything.”
“Suddenly? Did you lose your nerve? If you can’t, I can—”
“No, it’s not that. I just… think this isn’t the right way. And I don’t want to hate Arista anymore.”
Her face looked perfectly at peace, as though she had finally let something go.
It was the first real calm she’d felt in a week.
The serenity was so unfamiliar that Bianca bit her lip.
Tsk.
Lucia, still watching Arista, heard the sharp click of a tongue near her ear.
She turned, wondering if she imagined it, but Bianca only rested her chin on her hand, looking indifferent.
Did I hear wrong…?
A faint unease settled over her.
Lucia!
Someone called her urgently. She jerked her head up.
On the steps below, Christine reached toward her in panic.
Then she saw it—a cold blade spinning toward her, frighteningly close.
Death.
The word etched itself into her mind before she could even think to dodge.
Eyes wide, she could only watch the flying blade.
Clang!
Just before it struck her face, a chilling metallic crash rang out: another sword had intercepted the blade mid-flight.
Sparks flew as the broken weapon clattered deep into the ground.
“Ha… ha… ha…”
A crimson haze filled her vision.
Herwin—who moments earlier had been across the yard—now stood right in front of her, pale and breathless.
“What the hell are you doing! Someone could have been killed!”
His furious shout echoed through the training ground. The area fell silent as he spun around.
“Lucia! Are you okay?”
Lucia couldn’t answer. Her wide eyes stayed fixed on him.
The aura rising from Herwin’s body was a different color but unmistakably the same as Arista’s.
“Lucia!”
He gripped her shoulders and shook her. Her unfocused blue eyes finally turned toward his face.
“Lucia!”
And then—she lost consciousness.
When the break came, Herwin gulped water, sweat streaming down his face, and wiped it away with a towel. Then he scanned the stone steps that surrounded the training ground.
A few students were still sitting there, watching the swordsmanship class.
“Looking for Lucia?”
A sly voice came from behind, and Herwin swung an arm instinctively.
Brian dodged with ease.
“Geez, just say no if you’re not. No need to throw a punch.”
“Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
“What? I was just curious.”
“Anyway, Lucia’s been gone for almost twenty minutes.”
“Hm? Really? Longer than I thought.”
Ethan, arriving late, added his own observation about Lucia’s absence.
Herwin frowned and looked toward the steps where only Christine remained.
His crimson eyes darkened with worry.
Seeing it, Brian smirked playfully.
“When are you and Lucia finally going to make up?”
Herwin’s face hardened instantly.
“I don’t know what happened between you two, but seriously—just patch things up. What did we do to get caught in the middle?”
“Yeah, it’s suffocating. You stare at her all the time, but never try to reconcile.”
“I don’t—”
“Oh, please. You’re doing it right now.”
“You’re so bad at being honest.”
Whether joking or serious, Brian and Ethan kept teasing, needling Herwin.
He opened his mouth to reply, then just sighed in frustration and walked off without a word. They called after him, but he didn’t respond.
“Oooh!”
“She’s doing it again!”
A stir spread around Arista. A faint shimmer of heat wavered from the sword in her hand.
Recognizing it as aura, Herwin’s eyes widened and he hurried over with the others to watch.
Arista’s breathing grew rough, sweat beading on her forehead. She glared with fierce concentration.
The sword trembled—and then with a sharp shhhk! a violet aura, the same shade as her eyes, burst forth.
“She did it!”
“Wow! Real aura!”
“The rumors were true!”
All the students shouted in excitement. Arista grinned brightly, proudly displaying her aura-wreathed blade.
“Arista! Let’s test it against this one!”
A male student approached with a real sword.
There was a rumor that a sword enveloped in aura could slice through anything except another aura-clad blade.
The kids were eager to see if it was true.
“Sure, let’s try. Everyone, step back—it could be dangerous.”
At her words, the crowded circle opened up, leaving a clear path where she would swing.
“Think it’ll really cut it?”
“What about you, Herwin?”
“If theory’s right, it’ll slice like a stick of wood.”
A spark of excitement and competitive spirit lit his red eyes.
“Here I come!”
The boy across from Arista gripped his sword and swung.
Arista naturally swung in the opposite direction.
When the blades met, there was no clang of steel—just a smooth slicing sound, as if through something soft. Arista’s aura-wrapped sword sheared the opponent’s blade clean in two.
The severed fragment shot off with dangerous speed into the empty space—
and straight toward someone.
“Lucia!”
The piece hurtled toward the spot where Lucia had just returned. Ethan spotted it and shouted in alarm.
Arista and Brian both lunged instinctively toward her, but the broken blade flew faster.
“No—!”
Brian reached out desperately, but a sudden gust from the side shoved him away.
Clang!
A split-second later came the sound of metal striking metal.
“Huh?”
Brian stared blankly at the source of the noise.
Herwin—who had been right beside him moments ago—now stood in front of Lucia, blocking her. A deep crimson aura flared around him.
Brian’s eyes drifted to where Herwin had been standing. Deep footprints marked the stone.
“What were you thinking! Someone could have died!”
Herwin’s voice boomed like thunder, his anger directed at the reckless boy, at Arista, and at himself.
If not for him, this could have been fatal.
While everyone froze, Herwin quickly checked Lucia’s condition.
Despite finally awakening the aura he’d long desired, every bit of his attention was on her.
“Lucia!”
His cry tore through the air.
Lucia had fainted in his arms.
