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Chapter – 17
I struggled desperately to stop what was happening to me, but my mouth was already beginning to recite the final spell.
Please… please stop.
For now, just stop. Stop and think.
As a last resort, I bit down hard on the soft flesh inside my mouth.
“Hngh.”
Thankfully, maybe because of the shock, my mind finally cleared.
All the strength drained from my body, and I collapsed to the floor.
From my mouth, which I had opened to catch my breath, a large amount of blood began to spill out.
“Miss, the bath is ready—! Lady Lenia!”
“Hah… Miarr.”
“I’ll go get a physician right away!”
I grabbed Miarr’s wrist as she checked my condition and tried to rush out.
“Miarr. I’m fine. Don’t call anyone.”
“But you can’t— I’ll be right back.”
I tightened my grip on her wrist, putting as much force as I could into expressing my will.
“Please, I’m begging you. I have a bad feeling that if more people get involved, something terrible will happen. Okay?”
“Lady Lenia…”
It was dangerous for others to find out about this.
If this situation spread outside, not only I but Miarr and everyone around me would be put in danger.
After all, this seemed to be related to dark magic.
And if my family heard about this while my mind wasn’t clear, it was obvious they would drop everything and rush in, and I wouldn’t be able to stop them.
Even if I were to ask them for help, I needed to sort things out first and then approach them calmly.
That was the shallow decision I managed to reach, forcing my barely functioning mind to work.
My body had already reached its limit; I couldn’t think any further.
“Please. Don’t.”
“……”
Miarr stood there helplessly, her eyes filling with tears, but when I refused to back down, she finally nodded.
“…All right. I’ll do as you say.”
“Thank you.”
“Miss! Are you really okay?”
Maybe because my tension finally eased after Miarr agreed, my consciousness began to blur.
“Miss!”
“Don’t call anyone… no matter what…”
After making her promise one last time, I sank into a deep, heavy sleep.
“Lady Lenia! Are you okay?”
“…Miarr.”
I pushed myself up, my body stiff and heavy, and looked at Miarr, who was staring at me with tears clinging to her eyes.
“What happened?”
“Don’t you remember? You suddenly collapsed! Do you know how shocked I was?”
“……”
“You told me not to call anyone, but your fever was burning up— I was so worried…”
As I listened to Miarr’s words in a daze, I felt strangely light-headed, my body weak.
“If you’d woken up even a little later, I think I would’ve disobeyed your orders.”
Holding onto my fading focus, I spoke to Miarr, who looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.
“I’m sorry, Miarr. I’m fine now, so don’t cry.”
“Hic… Lady Lenia!”
Hearing that I was okay, Miarr burst into tears of relief and threw herself into my arms.
She must have been really frightened.
I gently patted her back at a steady rhythm as she cried like a child.
I should really sort this situation out soon and tell Serdian or the rest of my family…
Why do I feel so weak?
It’s probably because I just woke up. You’re always weak and groggy right after waking up.
So… it should be fine.
“Miss! You really shouldn’t push yourself!”
“I’m fine. Actually, moving my body makes me feel better.”
“I’m already worried enough that you’re going back to the Academy today…”
“Don’t worry.”
Part of it was to reassure Miarr, but it was also true that I felt better when I moved.
After that incident, I lost all motivation for everything and grew more listless with each passing day.
My body always felt weak, my mind hazy and dull, and strangely, I couldn’t sleep well at night.
In that condition, I couldn’t do anything. So, thinking I should at least try something, I forced myself to train and move my body.
That was when I realized that doing so made me feel even a little better.
Also, when I met my eldest brother after a long time and saw that he didn’t notice anything wrong with me, I decided I needed to keep a firm grip on my mind and maintain my usual appearance as much as possible.
…Come to think of it, it was a relief that my brother wasn’t home that day. If he had been, he would have come to check on me at least once.
Letting out a sigh, I rubbed my tired eyes.
Seeing me like that, Miarr raised her voice again, full of concern.
“Are you really sure you’re okay? I’m so worried I could die, Miss!”
“I told you I’m fine. If nothing else, I’ve always been healthy.”
“Well… it’s not like I can follow you all the way to the Academy…”
“I’ll do my best to make sure what you’re worried about never happens.”
I lifted the corners of my mouth into a smile as best I could and gently patted Miarr’s head.
Even so, she looked unconvinced, her eyes full of doubt.
“Hm? I really will try.”
“……”
Unable to withstand my smiling face any longer, she finally smiled back.
“All right. I’ll trust you.”
“Thank you, Miarr.”
“Ah— anyway, Miss, you’re all ready to return to the Academy now.”
“Really?”
I had already asked her to prepare things while I lightly moved my body, so I could head straight for the carriage.
Even during the ride to the Academy, Miarr didn’t stop scolding me with worry-filled nagging.
I could only nod absentmindedly as I listened to her voice.
And maybe thanks to her endless chatter, it felt like we arrived at the Academy faster than usual.
Just before I got out of the carriage, Miarr grabbed my wrist.
“Miss.”
“Yes?”
“If anything difficult happens at the Academy, please call for me.”
“……”
“I’ll drop everything and come running right away.”
“What?”
I let out a small laugh as I looked at Miarr, who was clenching both fists like she was fired up with determination.
“All right. I promise I will.”
“You promise. Really!”
“Yes. Now go. Be careful.”
“Okay.”
Miarr looked back at me with lingering reluctance, and I waved until she disappeared from sight.
Once she was gone, I let out a small, tired sigh.
“Haa…”
“Why are you sighing like that?”
“Ah— you scared me.”
“…….”
“Adam?”
“Yeah. Long time no see.”
He always shows up like this.
Adam leaned his face close to mine and spoke.
“Did I scare you?”
“When you show up without a sound and suddenly talk right next to my ear, it’d be strange not to be scared.”
“But you were scared.”
“Were you?”
“…Yeah.”
Ugh… talking to Adam makes my head feel even foggier.
Normally, Adam was blunt, quiet, and extremely even-tempered.
…And completely lacking in tact.
No, not just lacking— he had none at all.
“Well, I mean— no… never mind.”
“……”
“But why are you staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?”
“Yeah. There’s something dark under your eyes.”
As he said that, Adam brushed under my eyes with his hand.
That’s not dirt. That’s called dark circles.
Still… his hands are cold. It feels nice.
“Adam, put your hands over my eyes. It feels refreshing.”
“Okay.”
He placed both hands on my face, pressing gently with his thumbs around my eyes while holding my cheeks with his fingers.
“Ah, that feels good. Press a bit harder there.”
“Okay.”
Thud.
“…You two.”
“L-Liliana?”
“Since when did you two become that kind of relationship?”
At the sound of something dropping to the ground, Adam and I pulled our hands away and turned our heads, seeing the others standing there.
This feels like déjà vu.
I immediately started explaining the situation to Liliana and the others.
“What do you mean, that kind of relationship?”
“Well, you were doing this and that.”
“…What?”
If you’re not going to help, at least stay quiet.
Hearing Adam’s words, Liliana looked like she was about to kill him and lunged forward.
“You! Adam, you—!”
“Why?”
While Adam remained completely oblivious, Aiden held Liliana back, and Sierra and Ignis just stared blankly at the scene.
As the noise around me grew louder, my head began to throb, and I frowned.
Deciding I couldn’t take it anymore, I opened my mouth to explain again.
“Guys, listen to me for a second.”
“Lenia, you… how could you, with someone this tactless—”
“He is tactless.”
“Am I really tactless?”
At Adam’s blunt question, everyone made expressions like they’d just realized something.
Seizing the chance, I continued.
“Anyway… when Adam said he did this and that, he just meant talking with me, giving me an eye massage like this—”
“……”
“Literally just this and that. Nothing more.”
Adam nodded a few times at my explanation, then spoke in his usual flat tone.
“If I caused a misunderstanding, I’m sorry.”
“Well… you were just telling the truth.”
Thankfully, my hastily blurted explanation seemed to work, and the situation gradually calmed down.
That’s a relief.
After the misunderstanding—if you could even call it that—was completely resolved, Liliana insisted that she’d massage my eyes instead and dragged me to her dorm room.
Of course, Sierra, who shared the room with her, was there as well. Sierra settled into her seat and naturally pulled out a book, while Liliana and I began a long, drawn-out conversation.
