Chapter 96
A strange tension hovered between the two of them. Both kept glancing alternately at the bouquets and the empty air.
It was that posture — the whole body screaming, “I! Don’t! Care about them!” — while actually caring a lot.
Except for the awkwardness, it was quite a sight for sore eyes.
Elber held a bouquet of peonies. The flowers were white with a soft wash of pink that looked as cute as strawberry milk.
Elber, with that bouquet in hand, wasn’t what anyone would call cute — he had that northern-duke, stoic leading-man vibe — which somehow made it more attention-grabbing.
On the other side, Kai held a bouquet of marigolds and banana-milk–colored roses. It suited the summer-prince image Kai gave off.
But his eyepatch covering his right eye and the sharp look he aimed at Elber created an odd, prickling tension.
In short: everyone around the visitation area was watching those two.
“Heheh, are they both trying to go on dates with some lady? Those pretty bouquets can’t be for someone as ordinary as me~”
…No, I decided not to indulge in soft daydreams like that. I pretended not to see and started backing away.
To the chapel.
If I didn’t go, those two would probably come to the dorm and pester the steward.
I thought my judgment was excellent. But it was other people’s judgment that was the problem.
“Kya! Sol, you’re there! These two were waiting for you! Which bouquet will you take?”
It was Betty, the gossip-loving supporting character. There was nothing left to see.
I dashed toward the chapel. Elber and Kai both made a surprised “Huh?” sound.
But neither of them were the type to just let go. They raised their voices at each other and started chasing me!
“Sol, where are you going! It’s because of this guy, isn’t it? I’ll take care of him!”
“Isn’t it gross to have an older brother who shows up at school on weekdays as well as spending weekends together?”
“It’s like a friend cutting off contact suddenly acting like they know you — scary!”
“Think about how creepy a brother is who knows every friend his sister has!”
You’re all making me uncomfortable!
Damn it, you can’t outrun them. Time to use the home-ground advantage.
I ran straight, then spun and slipped into a narrow path workers used. I heard the two of them skid because they couldn’t stop in time. I quickly shut the side gate.
Now they’ll have to go around to reach where I am, right?
…But I underestimated them. Both of them lightly jumped over the fence.
Kai stood in front of me and Elber cut off my path from behind. Walls flanked both sides. I was completely sandwiched… like a tapioca pearl stuck in a bubble tea straw.
“Huff, huff… Sol.”
Kai stepped closer. He’d clearly been running hard — his golden hair was messy, scattering over his sharp nose.
When our eyes met, his ragged breathing eased and a smile naturally lifted the corner of his mouth.
“What a coincidence. Nice to see you, Sol.”
“Coincidence? Even though you came with a bouquet?”
“I might not have met you. Maybe you wouldn’t leave the dorm, or you might have had other business… I was just doing my best for the sake of coincidence.”
“……”
It was nonsense, of course. But seeing Kai smile while holding flowers made me almost believe it.
Then Elber’s pointed voice from behind snapped me back.
“You sure talk a good line. Sol, why did you run? You didn’t want to meet that fellow even by chance, did you?”
“With the whole school watching, how terrifying would it be if two men were holding bouquets waiting for me?”
Elber said coldly to Kai.
“See? It’s because of you.”
No, it wasn’t.
Kai, of course, refused to accept being blamed.
“Sol said it was two men. Are you excluding yourself from that?” he asked.
“If you weren’t here, it wouldn’t have been two,” Elber retorted.
“Generally, an older brother coming with a bouquet is not something you’d want to show off. Consider basic common sense.”
“If you never come to school again, we can try an experiment next week. Will you cooperate? Or you can leave right now.”
The mood grew harsher and harsher. I wanted to stop them.
But as I opened my mouth to speak, a thick floral scent cut me off. Kai offered the bouquet.
“Please accept it for now. I wanted to show you when it was at its prettiest.”
“Ah…”
It was the sweet rose scent I hadn’t smelled since the entrance ceremony.
The bouquet, cozy like a clutch of little chicks, relaxed my face before I realized it. Even my inner alarm bells weren’t ringing.
At that moment Elber stepped closer too.
“What kind of manners is it to fawn over someone else’s sister in front of her brother?”
“And what kind of family business is it to meddle with a sister’s social life?”
“This is perfectly normal family concern. Would any brother just let his sister touch a wasp?” Elber’s voice drew nearer until his breath brushed the back of my head.
Kai didn’t back down either. Suddenly he loomed out of my peripheral vision. His collar brushed me.
Take just half a step and I’d fall into Kai’s arms.
I was truly trapped. The scent of flowers and the brush of clothes made my head spin.
At least the two of them stayed put, growling at each other instead of raising their voices further. Thank goodness — if they kept that up I might faint.
But leaving it alone didn’t seem to solve anything. What was I supposed to do…?
“Sol.”
At that instant, a third voice sounded. All three of us snapped our heads in that direction.
Hanging on the wall was my patron saint, my saintess, my savior!
Seraphina Tillan!
She was hanging on the wall on her tiptoes.
“Seraphina!”
“Hi, Sol. I just finished volunteer work and I’m passing by. Before I go, I’ll ask you one thing.”
“Uh, okay?”
“Is that what you called the ‘heart-throbbing wall-press’ last time?”
“……”
Last Monday, I had explained all kinds of “heart-flutter situations” to Seraphina to show if she had romantic feelings or not. One of them had been a man looming over a woman leaning against a wall. Well, this wasn’t entirely wrong…
Seraphina wore a serious expression.
“If there had been just one man, I would’ve said have a nice time and passed by. Two feels off.”
That wasn’t the point.
Elber, flustered, opened his mouth.
“Lady Tillan, this —”
“Mr. Elber, you have no right to speak right now.”
“Huh?”
“Sol, how should I interpret this situation? Option 1: I pass by. Option 2: I remove one of them in the name of God.”
Remove? No, both are a problem!
I answered immediately.
“Option 3! I want to get out of here! I’ll talk to these people later—”
“Okay.”
“Yeah?”
Seraphina slipped off her tiptoes and seemed to disappear beyond the wall, then she brandished something.
…A wooden statuette of the patron deity. It looked carved, roughly fifty centimeters long.
“O Lord, grant me the power to drive away these lecherous fiends.”
With Seraphina’s clear voice, a silvery, cloudlike light began to wrap around the statuette. No way… holy power? Since when could she use it?
Elber and Kai recognized it at once and cried out.
“Lady Tillan! You’re supposed to be an ordinary lady! And I am her brother!”
“Sol, who is this woman?! Calm down, and I—”
“You pervy demons are chatty.”
The statuette, hovering beyond the wall like it meant “I’ll cut down anyone taller than this fence,” sliced the air…
Of course, Elber and Kai weren’t so weak that they’d be felled by a wooden club a civilian might swing.
They immediately pulled me into their arms and vaulted the fence.
The club swung toward us once more.
I practically tumbled down and hurried to calm Seraphina.
“These guys just came by suddenly and I got spooked and ran! Calm down — they’re people I know!”
I stepped forward like a shield for the two of them — though at our height difference, it was more like a picket fence than a shield — and Seraphina paused.
Seizing the moment, Kai and Elber spoke up.
“Yes, Lady. I’m an old friend of Sol’s. It’s just that her brother jumped to conclusions and took a somewhat hasty conversational approach.”
“As you know, I’m Sol’s brother. A man who claims to be a friend chased after her with a bouquet; it’s natural she’d be scared, and it’s natural I’d chase after him to protect my sister—guh!”
Oh, enough.
I jabbed both their stomachs with my elbows. They coughed and finally zipped their useless mouths.
Seraphina’s expression remained stern.
“If you’re acquaintances, is it okay to corner someone and leave them uneasy?”
“……No.”
“And if you know someone, is it okay to chase them holding a bouquet?”
“No.”
“Why are people who claim to know her acting like this? Or have you unconsciously been thinking, ‘It’s okay for Sol’?”
Seraphina slapped the wooden statuette — or rather, the holy-power-charged club — in her palm. Because of the holy power, it rang with a very clear sound that resonated to my chest.
Before I knew it, the two boys and I were kneeling quietly like students being scolded.
“Sol.”
“Yes!”
“Talk plainly. You said you ran as soon as you saw the two of them at the visitation area? Why?”
Seraphina smiled gently. If I answered, “Because those guys scare me,” her gentleness carried the kind of menace that could send the two of them straight to the deity.
“Well, I thought everyone would be staring, and it’d be embarrassing…”
“You wanted to go somewhere with no people?”
“Yes. But somehow it turned into a chase… Anyway! Don’t kill them!”
“Oh my, Sol. I don’t kill people. I only make them pray in a calm, neat environment.”
Wasn’t that code for “I’ll send you to the hospital”?
Seraphina’s gaze then shifted to Elber and Kai. Her eyes were sharp now, different from when she looked at me.
“Now then, to the two of you who chased and cornered my friend in an alleyway — I’ll ask you.”
Surprisingly, both Elber and Kai waited politely for the question. I’d expected them to protest, “Why are you asking me that?” Instead, they seemed to be placing Seraphina as the judge between them.
A clear, solemn voice rang out.
“How do you view Sol, gentlemen?”
Huh?
“What do you mean, Seraphina?”
“I want to know what your intentions were when you ‘wall-pressed’ her. If it was with wholesome, proper romantic intentions, I’ll step back. But if it was with impure motives, or something done thoughtlessly, I will have to deal with the lecherous fiends.”
