🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 73
“Were you so lost in thought you didn’t even notice someone coming?”
It was Adrian. He was supposed to take over at the booth in the afternoon, but he had already arrived. Jaeyllin widened her eyes and asked him,
“Huh? I–is it already afternoon?”
“No, still a long way off.”
Adrian had come much earlier than the promised time.
“Th–then why did you come so early?”
“Stefan was fussing. He said since you were here alone, I should come keep you company ahead of time.”
“I’m f–fine though…”
“I think so too. Peanut, you’re not a kid—why’s he hovering around you like that?”
Jaeyllin nodded in agreement with Adrian’s opinion, but she also understood Stefan’s feelings. If the situation had been reversed, she probably would’ve contacted Adrian to look after Stefan as well.
“So, did you eat lunch yet?”
Since she had gotten up late and rushed to the Academy, she hadn’t even had breakfast.
“N–no. I didn’t even eat breakfast…”
Adrian dropped the paper bag in his hand onto the table where Jaeyllin was sitting.
“I figured. Eat this.”
“H–here?”
“There’s no one passing by anyway, so what does it matter? If you don’t want it, I’ll eat it alone.”
When Adrian opened his own bag, a savory, delicious smell spread in every direction.
She hadn’t even realized she was hungry, but the smell of food made her stomach growl.
“I–I’ll eat too.”
The two sat side by side, eating toast. With half a piece of toast crammed into his mouth, Adrian shook his leg and asked casually,
“So, how many visitors came so far?”
“…O–one. Just one.”
Adrian arched a brow, his expression incredulous.
“What, only one?”
“Mm…”
“Haah. After all that fuss yesterday, just one? That’s it?”
“N–nobody passes by here at all. The building’s so out of the way, people probably don’t bother coming this far.”
“And you guys didn’t even check that before deciding on this location? Whose idea was it to set up here?”
“S–Stefan’s…”
“Good grief… So where is Stefan, anyway? Leaving you here all alone?”
“H–he said he went to a crowded area to advertise the club booth.”
“Advertise? Like that’s going to make people come all the way out here.”
Adrian pressed a hand to his forehead, looking pained.
“Th–then what should we do?”
“How should I know?”
“See? Y–you don’t have any good ideas either.”
Jaeyllin muttered with her lips sticking out in a pout.
Adrian stopped chewing, swallowed, and stared at her intently.
His sharp eyes were intimidating even when he wasn’t angry.
“W–what?”
Jaeyllin knew him well enough by now to realize he wasn’t mad. Still, his gaze made her shrink back, and she avoided his eyes while chewing her toast.
“Peanut, you’ve grown. Talking back to me and all.”
“Wh–when did I? I wasn’t talking back.”
Her voice trailed off weakly.
“I meant it’s good. Keep living like that. Say what you want to say. Isn’t that right?”
“Y–yeah…”
The conversation fizzled out after that. Even after they finished eating, the booth remained utterly empty. Not even an ant seemed willing to pass by the greenhouse.
Stretching in his chair out of boredom, Adrian finally stood up.
“Get up, Peanut. Let’s go.”
“Huh? W–where?”
“No one’s coming. What’s the point of sitting here? Let’s wrap up for today and leave.”
“S–still, maybe someone will show up…”
“If no one came till now, no one’s going to. Come on, get up. This is your first year—you’ve never even seen the festival, right?”
“Mm… Th–that’s true, but…”
“Then let’s go enjoy it. Don’t waste your time sitting around here waiting for visitors who’ll never come. If you don’t go now, you won’t even have time to enjoy it properly.”
“B–but Stefan went out to promote… What if people come soon?”
“How long has he been gone already? No one came, so it’s obvious. Whatever he’s doing isn’t working.”
And so, the Astronomy Club shut down their booth that day. When they powered up the design yesterday, no one had expected things to flop this badly.
Reality was different from expectations.
Jaeyllin and Adrian walked toward the Rose Garden, where the festival booths were densely packed.
The closer they got to the Academy’s center, the more the crowd multiplied.
Not only students and faculty, but even outsiders—usually forbidden entry—had come to enjoy the festival. The campus was so packed it was hard to move.
Students calling out to lure people to their booths, and cheerful laughter from festivalgoers rang out everywhere.
The lively atmosphere was the complete opposite of Jaeyllin’s deserted booth. This was a real festival.
Jaeyllin eagerly looked around at the other booths.
“Why are you gawking everywhere? You’re distracting.”
“S–sorry.”
Adrian frowned slightly, then spoke in a softer tone.
“No need to apologize.”
“It’s j–just, this is my first festival, so it’s amazing.”
“First festival? Even someone like me’s been to one. What kind of life have you been living?”
“J–just… it happened that way…”
“Even if this is your first Academy festival, the capital holds one every year. Haven’t you ever been to one of those?”
“Uh… No. This is my first time in the capital—I only came when I entered the Academy.”
“What about the Harvest Festival in autumn?”
“T–the orphanage never took us.”
“….”
Adrian walked in silence for a while, then threw out a question.
“Anywhere you want to go?”
The first place that came to Jaeyllin’s mind was, of course, the Student Council booth—where Lionel would be.
But if she said Lionel’s name right away, she was afraid her feelings would be obvious. So cautiously, she chose Nathan and Sasha’s names instead.
“Yeah. I want to see the Student Council booth. Nathan and Sasha are running it…”
Without a word, Adrian turned toward the cafeteria, where the booth was.
Lionel’s claim of being busy wasn’t exaggerated—the cafeteria was packed from the entrance.
Jaeyllin and Adrian had to line up just to get inside. It was like another world compared to their empty booth.
“W–wow, there are so many people here, unlike ours…”
Jaeyllin sighed with envy while waiting in line.
“The Student Council booth’s always popular. They’ve got a lot of members, they make it big, and what they do is more mainstream. Naturally, it’s a hit.”
“I–I see… I wish ours could be like this.”
As Adrian fiddled with his comms device, he muttered,
“Our booth’s idea is way better than this. It’s just no one came. Anyway, Stefan told us to meet up, so let’s all gather and think of better ways to advertise.”
“Y–yeah, okay.”
As soon as they entered the cafeteria, Nathan—wearing an apron—greeted them warmly.
“Oh, Jaeyllin, Adrian, you came?”
“Mm, hi Nathan.”
“Here to check out our festival booth?”
“Why else would we come all the way here? If you’ve got a free table, hurry and show us.”
Nathan didn’t take offense at Adrian’s rough attitude. Instead, he exaggeratedly bowed, acting like they were VIPs.
“Yes, yes. Let me take you to the best seats.”
Adrian smirked and tapped him on the shoulder arrogantly.
Following Nathan’s lead, Jaeyllin looked around the cafeteria as they walked between tables—searching for Lionel.
She quickly spotted Sasha, busily serving drinks, but Lionel was nowhere in sight.
Disappointed, Jaeyllin was about to give up when she saw Lionel emerge from the storeroom door behind the counter, carrying a large box with a female student.
He set the heavy box down where the girl pointed.
The student thanked him with a smile, and Jaeyllin recognized her instantly—it was Rosia.
It seemed Lionel had agreed to help her.
His gentle smile toward Rosia was no different from the way he treated Jaeyllin.
Jaeyllin knew. Lionel wasn’t just kind to her—he was kind to everyone. To him, she wasn’t someone special.
But lately, Jaeyllin had been spending more and more time with him. His easy smile, his unguarded moments, his warmth—those things piled up in her heart, making her fall into a dangerous delusion.
The delusion that maybe, just maybe, Lionel felt something for her too.
Jaeyllin hadn’t thought this way at first.
Before coming to Pellodian Academy, she’d been content just watching him from afar.
She’d always believed that was enough, suppressing her feelings.
But little by little, her desire grew. Now, Jaeyllin realized she wanted more from him—she longed for it.
