Chapter 178………………….
Is it really okay to let her keep misunderstanding like this?
It didn’t sit well with Rosha to be misunderstood by Herina, but she couldn’t reveal that she was Trinity either.
Frozen as if trapped in a situation with no way forward or back, Rosha stared at the retreating figures of Herina and Albert when a large shadow fell over her.
“Rosha.”
Only then did she come back to her senses, her body stiffening.
Just hearing him say her name brought back the memory of his rough hand gripping her, and her body shrank instinctively.
The sensation of him exploring her mouth and the pressure of his bare skin pinning her down resurfaced, making her breath quicken on its own.
Exposed helplessly to the memory of last night—where strength and gentleness, restraint and consideration had coexisted—Rosha’s lips parted and closed several times.
After hesitating, the only word she managed to say was his name.
“Kaiden.”
Backlit by the morning sun, Kaiden filled her vision as he looked down at her.
Squinting against the glare, Rosha soon lowered her gaze slightly.
Avoiding Kaiden’s piercing eyes as they fell coolly upon her, she stared at the bouquet in her hands. His voice settled over her.
“Where did you go so early in the morning?”
At the low voice above her head, Rosha’s eyes darted.
She desperately searched for something to say, but her mind—still occupied with memories of last night—refused to function properly.
Only when she noticed the bouquet trembling faintly with her uneven breaths did she finally recall the answer she had prepared.
“I went for a walk. I had some things to sort out in my head.”
Having said that, Rosha abruptly held out the bouquet.
Small wildflowers trembled lightly at the center of Kaiden’s chest.
“I picked them on the way back because they looked pretty. They’re for you.”
Kaiden did not reach out to take the bouquet. He simply gazed at it quietly.
He said nothing, but it wasn’t difficult to guess what he was thinking.
He probably thought she was trying to run away again.
Kaiden had been anxious that if Trinity disappeared, the Magic Administration Bureau would grow suspicious.
And after she had declared last night that she would leave, it was only natural that his doubts would deepen.
“About last night—you…”
Rosha took a slow breath, bracing herself so she wouldn’t appear evasive.
Carefully selecting her words, she spoke slowly.
“I was angry because you treated me carelessly, so I spoke impulsively. I wasn’t planning to dump everything on you and run away. If you respect my boundaries, I intend to endure to the end, as promised. But if something like last night happens again, I can’t guarantee what I’ll do afterward.”
Despite Rosha’s calm explanation, Kaiden said nothing.
He simply accepted the bouquet.
Like a lake so still you couldn’t tell what lay beneath its surface, Kaiden’s gaze on Rosha grew deeper and deeper.
As expected.
Even if I picked every flower on the mountain, I’d still just be a liar to him.
Growing bitter, Rosha withdrew her now-empty hand and continued in a more subdued tone.
“More importantly, there’s something urgent we need to discuss. When I was out walking today—”
Before she could bring up Allen, Kaiden’s misty voice cut in.
“With Allen?”
Rosha’s eyes widened in shock as she looked at him.
I haven’t even said Allen’s name yet.
Confused, she asked back.
“What?”
“I’m asking if you went for a walk with Allen.”
Kaiden answered in a low voice, but his gaze was directed somewhere other than Rosha.
“That’s not it…”
Sensing the atmosphere shifting strangely, Rosha cautiously turned around.
Allen was standing right behind her.
With a faint, crooked smile as he met Kaiden’s stare, Allen held a single flower Rosha had given him.
As Rosha stared blankly at him, a question cold as sharp ice pierced her ears.
“Isn’t it?”
Caught between two men holding flowers, Rosha’s face gradually stiffened.
Her focus wavered slightly in the empty air.
Around Allen drifted the image of a shabby child who had never even been able to afford a bowl of porridge.
The money he had clutched until the moment he died—without ever seeing his younger sibling again—trembled faintly, stained red with blood.
I only gave him a flower to commemorate his brother.
But judging from Kaiden’s increasingly deep gaze, it was clearly unfolding in a direction far different from what Rosha intended.
Desperation crept into her voice as she tried to explain.
“We just ran into each other by chance while I was walking.”
It was Allen, now standing very close, who countered her words.
“And we had a brief conversation as well.”
Rosha shot back indignantly.
“Kaiden, I was going to tell you anyway.”
Allen didn’t give her time to think and cut in.
“Well, it is something Cadet Kaiden should know.”
Get lost, sunbae.
Rosha glared at Allen with murderous intent in her eyes.
Is he trying to blackmail Kaiden like he tried to blackmail me with my Trinity identity?
Though she sent him a silent message to stop interfering in her conversation with Kaiden, Allen paid no heed.
“This works out nicely. Since we’re all here, it’s better to talk together.”
As Allen and Rosha exchanged plausible-sounding remarks, Kaiden asked in a chilling voice:
“What were you going to tell me?”
Though the question was directed at Rosha, Kaiden’s eyes never left Allen.
Like in the Escalun dormitory director’s office, the two men glared at each other with Rosha between them.
Grabbing Kaiden’s arm, Rosha hurriedly tried to explain.
“Senior Allen—”
Her desperate explanation didn’t even get the chance to begin.
“I asked Cadet Rosiana whether she would consider studying with me.”
“Senior!”
Rosha cried out sharply, but Allen showed no sign of stopping.
Standing close behind her, he smiled leisurely.
“If Cadet Rosiana is willing, I’d like to help her with her studies.”
It was only natural that Kaiden’s voice dropped sharply in temperature when he addressed Allen.
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
Sensing yet another misunderstanding forming, Rosha tugged at Kaiden’s arm.
“Let’s not do this here. Let’s go somewhere else and talk, just the two of us.”
But Kaiden didn’t budge.
No matter how much she pulled, he didn’t move and continued to stare at Allen.
Recognizing the emotion hidden within that calm gaze, Allen’s smile deepened.
“In truth, I’ve liked Cadet Rosiana for quite some time.”
“Senior, are you crazy? That’s not true.”
Though Rosha glared fiercely, Allen continued smoothly.
“I’ve never felt this way before, so I don’t want to lose her.”
Wearing the cruel expression of a mischievous boy crushing a line of ants, Allen glanced at the flower in his hand.
As he lightly rolled the stem between his fingers, the blossom trembled and spun.
Watching the stubborn vitality of the tiny wildflower, a faint thrill glimmered in his dark eyes.
“My grades aren’t inferior to Cadet Kaiden’s either… I believe I can help Cadet Rosiana sufficiently.”
After listening in silence, Kaiden spoke slowly, each syllable weighted with suppressed emotion.
“Senior Allen. Through the faculty meeting, it was decided that I would assist Rosha.”
Fully aware of Rosha’s murderous glare toward him, Allen nevertheless pinched her cheek lightly as if she were cute.
“If Cadet Rosiana wishes, isn’t a meeting’s decision something that can be overturned at any time?”
Before Rosha could even swat his hand away, she was pulled into Kaiden’s chest.
He had wrapped an arm around her waist and drawn her to him.
Like a beast whose territory had been invaded, Kaiden radiated fierce killing intent. Allen let out a short laugh.
“Cadet Rosiana.”
Allen spoke to her in an intimate, gentle tone.
As if to show Kaiden.
“If you ever change your mind, contact me. I’ll be waiting.”
As he brushed past Kaiden, who was holding Rosha protectively, Allen left behind a faint smirk.
The arm around Rosha’s waist tightened.
Held in Kaiden’s embrace, Rosha watched Allen’s retreating figure, her face paling.
“What’s wrong with that bastard? Did I scare him so badly he went crazy?”
Muttering to herself, Rosha flinched when a strong hand gripped her chin.
Without a chance to avoid it, she was forced to look up at Kaiden.
His expression hadn’t changed.
But his green eyes flickered with a strange light.
A chill running down her spine, Rosha didn’t hesitate to report Allen’s misconduct.
“That’s not it. He’s lying.”
Since he’d discovered she was Trinity, she had always felt his gaze to be cold and distant.
But today, strangely, it burned hotter than Herina’s flames, suffocating her.
As if engulfed in a blaze strong enough to burn down a forest, her insides felt seared.
“He figured out that I’m Trinity. He’s threatening to report me to the Magic Administration Bureau.”
Like breathing out fire, Rosha poured out the truth mixed with resentment.
“So I threatened to reveal a secret I know too. Since things didn’t go his way, he’s just stirring up trouble elsewhere.”
Even after she explained this far, Kaiden remained unresponsive.
He merely shifted his gaze from Rosha to the bouquet in his hand.
