Chapter: 35
During his first year at the military academy, the Jeanne Claude saw was always injured somewhere.
Some days her lip was split. Other days both her knees were wrapped in bandages. Her hands bore shallow and deep cuts alike.
But back then, Claude hadn’t paid her much attention. She occasionally caught his eye, but his feelings then were nothing like what they were now.
A fearless brawler who threw punches at nobles from the very first day.
A strange girl who declared him her rival out of the blue after the first exam.
A stubborn fool who, even while being harassed by upperclassmen, refused to act cleverly and insisted on facing them head-on every time.
Even now—look at her.
He had planned to use lunch break to get a bit of sun, but instead, his gaze met Jeanne’s as she stood by the rooftop railing.
He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but he could guess. He’d heard from a classmate that several upperclassmen had been persistently bullying her lately.
She kept glancing back and measuring the distance below the railing, clearly debating whether to jump or not. Wrapping herself in aura would have helped, but at the time Jeanne couldn’t control it as skillfully as she could now.
That’s too high to just jump.
Originally, he’d planned to ignore her. She always glared at him with hostility whenever she saw him—why should he care if she got hurt?
But why was it, then…
[Thinking of jumping?]
That day alone, his heart moved differently from his mouth.
He didn’t know then why he’d acted on such a whim—but now, he knew the answer.
[What?]
[I’ll catch you.]
Because somewhere along the way, without him even realizing it, he’d begun wanting to see another side of her.
[As if! I’d rather jump on my own than accept help from you!]
Of course. Even though she was clearly terrified that someone might chase her, she rejected his outstretched hand without hesitation.
That idiot.
[You’ll break your leg.]
[Whether I break my leg or my arm, what’s it got to do with you?!]
[This is exactly when you should shut your eyes and accept some help, don’t you think?]
[…I said it’s fine.]
Then Jeanne suddenly flinched and sharply turned her head back. He couldn’t see below, but he knew someone had followed her up to the rooftop.
Soon, a coarse voice and vulgar words reached his ears.
Be obedient. Do as you’re told. You’ve got a pretty face, so—
Once the context clicked, just hearing it made him sick. So he raised his voice again.
[If you end up missing classes because of this, won’t you be the only one losing out?]
Jeanne looked down again. Unlike before, when she’d rejected him outright, she now hesitated.
Was she going to cling to her pride and suffer something terrible, or swallow it for a moment and escape the danger?
Even at this point, her hesitation frustrated him—but instead of snapping, Claude spread his arms wide.
[I’ll catch you and pretend I never saw anything.]
*[…]
[On the name of Loren, I swear. So—will you jump?]
Swearing on one’s family name meant a promise that would never be broken.
Whether she understood that weight or not, she hesitated only briefly before leaping from the railing.
That day, the sky was endlessly blue—without a single cloud or speck of white.
Against the vast sky, Jeanne’s hair fluttered like a handkerchief waved by someone dearly missed.
The sun stood at its brightest point, and everything shone.
The noon sunlight pouring down.
The faintly trembling shadows of leaves.
Jeanne’s blue eyes, unyielding even against the strong headwind.
Claude learned then, for the first time, that time slows when you’re placed at the center of something unreal.
Like a meteor crashing down, like a tidal wave overturning land—Jeanne came rushing toward him.
That was when it began.
When he finally realized that her name had been engraved into his soul from the moment they met—and that he’d deliberately looked away because it hurt that she disliked him.
Claude’s world began to rebuild itself.
He wished that those eyes, which suited late spring so well, would soften when they looked at him.
That a pretty crease would form on the bridge of her nose when she saw him.
That she’d smile until her cheeks rounded, and call his name in that clear voice of hers.
And if that dream was unattainable—then at the very least, he wished she wouldn’t smell faintly of antiseptic anymore.
He didn’t know it then.
That this was the beginning of his first love.
* * *
The heart that had been pounding roughly with hostility toward Alexis now thundered for an entirely different reason.
“Move! I said move!”
If Claude hadn’t been an aura master, things could have gone terribly wrong—he might have ended up more seriously injured than Jeanne, with broken bones or a concussion.
The thought alone made her dizzy. Unable to hold back, Jeanne raised her voice at the man who’d caught her without listening.
“What were you going to do if you got hurt?!”
Then she felt a sharp gaze from the side.
A chill ran through her as she turned her head—Claude’s knights stood there, staring, mouths hanging open.
I’m doomed…
Only then did Jeanne step back several paces and bow deeply to Claude.
“…I’m sorry.”
The shame and humiliation flooding in hurt far more than the throbbing pain in her side.
An awkward silence followed before Claude gave an order to those behind him.
“Everyone, stand down.”
The knights clearly had a lot they wanted to say, but they dispersed quietly.
Until then, Jeanne had to endure their curious stares.
Soon, only the two of them remained. She wanted nothing more than to run away.
“Thanks for earlier.”
Jeanne subtly shifted her body.
“Well, I’ll be going now.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
She tried to leave, but his fingers caught her collar, stopping her in place. Cold sweat trickled down her spine.
“At a time like this, shouldn’t Sir Leclerc be resting in her quarters? How did you suddenly fall straight out of the sky?”
“….”
“Don’t tell me you’ve been secretly practicing how to fly?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what is?”
Answering him, Jeanne glanced up toward the cliff. Alexis was nowhere to be seen.
She briefly debated telling the truth—that the prince had been here—but quickly dismissed the idea.
If it became known that Alexis had come all the way here, things would get complicated.
Before their alliance, Loren and Brienne were bound by a non-aggression pact—meaning travel without permission was forbidden. Alexis had violated that.
If exposed, the reason he went to Cassis would be dragged into the open, and Alexis would insist on this:
That Jeanne was originally Brienne’s, had received royal sponsorship, and therefore ought to return.
She would become the spark that ignited the conflict.
The heads of Loren, who hated complications, would not welcome that. Unless there was an undeniable reason they couldn’t hand her over to Brienne—
Then Claude would…
As her friend, he might protect her.
But as the Grand Duke of Loren, perhaps not.
Relations with the family heads were already strained after Pascal’s execution. Creating another rift was the last thing he’d want.
It was a problem she’d have to face eventually—but not now.
“I just came out for some fresh air and slipped.”
“…You slipped?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re still not fully healed from yesterday, so you got dizzy?”
“Y-yeah.”
Even she knew how flimsy the excuse sounded, but nothing better came to mind.
There’s no way he’ll believe this.
Head lowered, she waited for his response—fully expecting him to scold her.
Instead, Claude said something unexpected.
“I see.”
Huh?
He was letting it go far too easily—for him, anyway. It was strange, but also a relief. She exhaled softly.
As the tension settled, a pause filled the air.
Just as she wondered what to say next, Claude spoke first.
“By the way, did you finish all the tasks I assigned you?”
“Huh?”
What tasks?
“Reinforcing the holy barrier stone. And the review of Rebois’s grilled seabass. Don’t tell me you forgot.”
She had completely forgotten. With the megalodon and then Alexis, one crisis after another—who had time to think about fish?
“I was in the middle of it.”
“That’s a problem. We’re heading back to Loren together tomorrow morning.”
Claude covered his mouth with his hand and let out a long, thoughtful “Hmm.”
After a moment, as if reaching a decision, he extended his hand.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Rebois. It’s lunchtime, after all.”
“…?”
“We’ll eat there together, and you can write it up.”
She couldn’t understand how he’d arrived at that conclusion. The whole reason she’d been told to write the report was because he was too busy to go himself.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to just eat it yourself? I can reinforce the barrier stone in the meantime.”
“I’d love to, but my arms hurt so much from catching someone who fell off a cliff that I can’t even hold a fork or knife.”
Claude raised both hands to face level. They trembled visibly—far too obviously to be genuine.
Jeanne narrowed her eyes and pouted.
Seeing that, Claude suddenly stiffened his expression, as if enforcing discipline.
“I am assigning you a new mission, Sir Jeanne Leclerc. From this moment on, you will accompany me and complete all previously issued tasks. Any objections?”
Only in moments like this does he treat me like a subordinate.
“…No, sir.”
Since she had no choice, she decided to think differently.
If Alexis was still nearby, keeping Claude close was the smarter move. At the very least, the prince wouldn’t dare appear and drag her away again.
Without protest, Jeanne entered the restaurant.
Under Claude’s watchful eye, she ate—and wrote her report at the same time.
He criticized every line, saying it lacked sincerity or that the phrasing was too obvious.
But as time passed like that, her fear that Alexis might pursue her faded away completely.
