Chapter 64
After Judge Cameron stormed out, having just unloaded his monologue:
“Does that guy really conduct trials like that?”
I asked Casian, who was clicking his tongue beside me. Casian glanced down at me and, with a subtle suggestion, said:
“Wanna check it out together?”
“…Why are you saying that like you’re asking me out on a date?”
“Come during lunch tomorrow. Let’s watch the trial.”
“During lunch?”
“Keep it a secret from Arden.”
“So, during lunch?”
“Since it’s your precious lunch break, I’ll pay you extra.”
“You should’ve said that from the start. Alright, let’s go.”
Since the reporters were swarming today, spying wasn’t an option anyway. I nodded.
At that moment, Arden, who had been hiding in a corner, staggered toward us. His face looked pale beneath the hood he had pulled over his head.
I said to Arden:
“Good call wearing the hood.”
If his face had been exposed and Count Cameron had recognized him… everyone would’ve stared at him in shock. His social life would probably be over. Arden, who already had no friends…
“Keep it on until we get home. We’re leaving soon, right?”
“Yes. Let’s go together.”
“That’s what I was asking.”
It would be weird to go separately when we live in the same boarding house. I nodded and looked back at Casian.
He grinned and asked:
“You two going together?”
Arden answered for both of us:
“We live together.”
“Arden, you should say you live in another unit of the same building.”
“Hmm.”
Casian, wearing a subtle expression, said:
“Alright. Make sure to escort him safely. It’s dangerous at night.”
“Don’t go dying on the way, either.”
He’s three years older than me, so who knows what could happen. Arden had tried attacking, but Casian didn’t flinch.
“You know this, Arden?”
“What?”
“A husband dying quickly is supposedly good for the wife.”
“Who spreads these rumors?!”
“It’s true.”
After restraining Arden like that, Casian lifted my hand and kissed the back of it.
“Well then, Seraphina. Until next time.”
“Nuuuu…”
It was disgustingly affectionate. I could even feel Casian smiling through his lips against my hand. I barely held back the urge to pull away.
Arden pulled out a handkerchief beside me.
“Wipe it off quickly.”
“Why? Are you jealous because you can’t do that?”
“I can do it!”
“You’ve got your cleanliness obsession.”
“…”
If you two are going to keep fighting, I’ll just go ahead.
“Arden, have you ever been to court?”
“No. How about you, senpai?”
“Neither… but looking at today, I’m glad we haven’t.”
The distance from the Salon No. 3 to Arden’s boarding house was quite far. But neither of us suggested taking a carriage.
Arden probably couldn’t afford it. As for me…
I don’t know!
I just wanted to walk!
Once we were far enough from the salon, Arden pulled back his hood. His messy blonde hair was revealed, which had been almost covering his entire face, and I finally noticed how sulky he looked.
Arden asked gloomily:
“If a common citizen had to go to court, there must be some injustice involved. If the judge is like that, who can the people rely on?”
“Yeah…”
Why is that judge like that? Born into a wealthy family, attended good schools, got a good job—living as an elite his whole life—maybe he just lacks empathy?
If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to invent a judgment machine, input the legal codes, and have it conduct the trials?
Arden sighed at my words.
“Honestly… I envy the Mage Saint in situations like this.”
“Huh?”
“She has certainty in her actions. She can act without hesitation.”
“….”
I don’t exactly have that certainty myself.
“Probably, if the Mage Saint were here, she’d have bopped that judge on the head with her magic hammer for talking nonsense.”
“…Am I really that violent…”
He was right.
Arden, lost in thought, didn’t notice my unease.
“You know, senpai?” he said.
“Hm?”
“I always thought, ever since I was little, that the world was completely messed up.”
“You were insightful.”
“So I promised myself that when I became an adult, I’d fix this world. And of course, I thought I could do it.”
But now, as an adult, I see how far I fall short, he muttered.
“….”
“I always thought, since everyone’s human, they’d naturally favor what’s right and common sense would prevail. Only recently did I realize that what seems common sense to one person isn’t the same for another. Not everyone thinks the way I do.”
That judge was probably just following his own idea of common sense.
“Even things you think you did well can go wrong in unexpected ways. Now, I don’t even know if I can do well.”
“….”
Why… why am I only two years older than Arden?
When Arden lays out these worries, I want to be the kind of senpai who can say, “You can solve that this way,” and help him. How much older would I have to be to do that?
I don’t know.
For now, at twenty-three, the most I can do for Arden is…
I raised my hand and patted Arden’s arm.
Arden stopped walking and stared at my hand on his arm.
“…You’ve done this before.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Back when we were at the academy.”
“Oh…”
“You don’t remember, senpai?”
“Well… that’s…”
Sorry, I don’t.
“Sorry.”
But Arden didn’t seem to mind.
Fixing his gaze on my hand, he muttered to himself:
“Your hands are still small.”
“They don’t suddenly grow…”
“I thought your hands were tiny back then, too.”
Arden moved his arm slightly, and my hand slid down.
He hooked his index finger over mine, which was now resting on his wrist.
Like a timid handshake, we held just our index fingers together for three seconds before suddenly pulling away.
“Already home?!”
“Yeah! We made it!”
“That was fast!”
“Shall we go in?”
“Let’s!”
Moving arms and legs simultaneously, we entered the boarding house.
“Upstairs!”
“Right!”
We rushed up the stairs, taking turns slightly ahead.
I live in room 206, Arden in 306.
“I’ll go first!”
Almost sliding, I tried to get into the second-floor corridor when Arden called me from behind:
“Senpai.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t get too close to Casian.”
“Huh?”
“He’s got a terrible personality.”
“…”
“I’m going.”
He climbed three steps at a time, disappearing from sight in an instant.
“….”
I entered my room, stunned.
“You shouldn’t gossip when no one’s around. Arden, you’re no saint either…”
I muttered to myself, changed clothes, washed, and turned off the light.
Worrying about the unfairness of the world, Arden is having what sounds like a prince’s dilemma…
I thought about him until I lay on the bed.
“Just a handshake, not even a proper one, just our fingers briefly touched… why am I so flustered?”
I reflected briefly on myself.
“If Arden were a prince, life would be pretty good…”
At least his face…
“It’s a pity he’s a poor royal knight…”
I closed my eyes, letting out a sigh.
Moonlight poured in through the slightly open window.
The heart and wings of the magical mirror hanging around my neck shimmered in the pale moonlight.
That night, I dreamed of Arden for the first time.
