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Chapter – 18
“Lenia, is the Mage Tower Master doing well?”
“Ah, yeah. He seemed to be doing fine.”
“I see! Oh, right—during the vacation…”
Lilliana excitedly told me about everything that had happened during the break.
I did my best to steady my drifting mind and responded to her as I always did.
“Yeah. And then?”
“So then I—!”
“Guys.”
“Hm?”
At that moment, Sierra—who had been silently reading her book—quietly called out to us.
She seemed to hesitate, as if thinking something over, before continuing.
“When you see someone every day, and then suddenly you don’t anymore, you start thinking about them for no reason. You kind of miss them, too.”
“Yeah.”
“And I thought that was strange.”
“……”
“And even though you know for sure that you don’t have that kind of relationship… when you see that person being affectionate with another woman, your heart sinks for some reason.”
Sierra, who had been staring into empty space, turned her head toward Lilliana and me and asked,
“What kind of feeling is that?”
“That’s obviously liking someone. Right, Lenia?”
“Yeah. I think so too.”
“Is that so?”
After hearing our answer, Sierra lowered her gaze back to her book.
Lilliana stared at her suspiciously for a long moment, then suddenly shook her head from side to side.
Then she leaned close to my ear and whispered,
“I just had a really weird thought after hearing Sierra talk.”
“What kind of thought?”
“I wondered if Sierra might like Adam.”
“…Huh?”
“That’s ridiculous, right? Sierra liking Adam? They’re total opposites.”
“……”
“But I thought about it, and the book Sierra’s reading right now is The Heart-Pounding Guide to Successful Unrequited Love.”
“……”
“She probably got curious about something from the book and asked us, right? Sierra always asks questions while reading.”
After finishing her whisper, Lilliana calmly sipped the tea in front of her.
I stared at her blankly.
And at that moment, Sierra’s usual flat, emotionless voice quietly echoed through the room.
“I like Adam.”
It was said so casually, as if it were nothing at all.
At Sierra’s bombshell confession, Lilliana spat out the tea she had just taken into her mouth.
She must have been so shocked that her mouth opened on its own.
I just stared at the scene in front of me, completely blank.
“W-What…? Sierra, what did you just say?”
“Ah. I guess something I was thinking slipped out.”
“So you’re saying… that you like Adam? That Adam? The one who has absolutely no sense at all?”
As I listened to the two of them continue talking, I slowly sank into deep thought.
Why do I feel so uneasy?
I couldn’t understand why, from the moment I heard Sierra’s words, a sense of anxiety wrapped around me.
I could maintain my usual composure, but after that day, I couldn’t think as clearly as before.
“Lenia! You’re just as shocked as I am, right? How could Sierra like Adam—!”
“Ah.”
I quickly composed my expression and replied,
“Y-Yeah. I was so surprised, I just blanked out.”
“I know, right? I was shocked too!”
Lilliana and Sierra continued talking after that, and I simply watched them in silence.
“Lady Lenia.”
“Huh? Ah, yeah.”
“You looked like you didn’t sleep much last night. Are you okay?”
“Ah, I just couldn’t sleep well yesterday. I’m fine.”
After spending a dazed day where I barely remembered how classes ended, I happened to run into Iri on my way back to the dormitory.
She looked at me with concern.
“Lady Lenia. Lately, have you been feeling unwell, or—”
“Lenia!”
Just as Iri was about to say something, Ignis’s voice calling my name cut between us.
Ignis cheerfully placed a hand on my shoulder, then quickly realized Iri was beside me and apologized.
“Oh, you were talking. Sorry for interrupting.”
Huh?
“…Wait.”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Lenia?”
The moment Ignis’s hand touched my shoulder, the haze in my mind began to clear, and I felt vitality spread through my entire body.
I urgently spoke to Iri, who was quietly watching the two of us.
“I-Iri, I’m sorry, but could you go back to the dorm first?”
“What? Um, I—”
“I’m sorry, Iri! Sir Ignis, could you come with me for a moment?”
“Huh? O-Okay, Lenia.”
Ignis followed me with a puzzled expression as I quickly headed toward the place where we had once shared our secret.
The moment we entered, I grabbed his hand tightly with both of mine.
So it wasn’t my imagination.
“Lenia, what’s going on?”
The longer our hands stayed clasped, the more energy filled my body, and my foggy mind grew clearer and clearer.
“L-Lenia?”
“……”
I don’t know what’s happening, but for now… thank goodness.
“Lenia, why did you suddenly grab my hand—”
“Ah! I’m sorry, Ignis!”
Now that I’d fully returned to my usual state, I finally realized that I had startled him.
…How do I explain this?
“Well, the reason I suddenly grabbed your hand is…”
“……”
As I rolled my eyes around, trying to come up with an excuse, my gaze landed on his hands—rougher than before, with even more calluses.
That’s it.
“It looked like you had more calluses than before the vacation! I was worried, thinking about how much you must’ve practiced.”
“You were worried about me?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah.”
Even though it was a hastily made excuse, Ignis smiled brightly and thanked me.
“Thank you for worrying about me, Lenia. I’m really happy.”
“It’s nothing. It’s natural to worry about a friend.”
Lying to someone who smiles so beautifully just because I worried about them… my conscience really hurts.
Chapter 5
After that day, there were two things I learned.
First, whenever I made contact with Ignis, my strange condition improved.
Second, about three days after contacting him, the strange condition would begin to return.
Fortunately, since we had already shared a secret, Ignis and I had frequent physical contact to begin with.
Because of that, I didn’t have to worry too much about how to make contact.
I had many questions about why touching Ignis eased my condition, but whatever the reason, it wasn’t harming me—if anything, it was helping me greatly.
So I decided there was no need to dig too deeply into it for now.
I’ll worry about it later. Solving what matters most to me comes first.
“Why did that happen to me?”
Once I regained my senses, the first thing I knew I had to investigate was what had happened to me after visiting the Imperial Palace.
Thinking back, it was obvious that this was related to the book I had touched.
I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but I clearly remembered feeling something strange after touching it.
Since I knew my situation was likely connected to dark magic, I was fully aware that I needed to act with extreme caution.
“…I should at least talk to Serdian.”
I don’t know anything about dark magic right now.
“Haa… I should go see Ignis first.”
After getting ready, I left the dormitory and headed toward the training grounds.
When I arrived, the sound of someone swinging a sword reached my ears.
“Ignis.”
“Lenia!”
Ignis, who had been training with his usual mature demeanor, broke into a bright, childlike smile the moment he saw me.
Since hardly anyone trained at night, the training grounds were completely empty aside from Ignis and me.
“Ah, I’m late again today. I tried to come out earlier than you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You’re amazing as always, Ignis.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
I set down the wooden sword I’d brought at the edge of the training grounds and spoke to the shy-looking Ignis.
“Then I’ll get started too.”
“Okay!”
With that, we began our usual light warm-up, running around the training grounds.
Then Ignis came up beside me and matched his pace with mine.
“You want to do it together?”
“Yeah. I wanted to.”
“What kind of answer is that?”
I laughed at his words as we breathed in the cool night air together.
After running in silence for a while, enjoying the peaceful flow of the night, Ignis carefully spoke.
“At the Imperial Palace…”
“Yeah? At the palace?”
“I was just waiting for the day we’d come back to the academy like this.”
Was it that hard for him at the palace?
“Me too.”
“Huh?”
“I wanted to come back here quickly too. I missed you.”
The moment my words ended, Ignis stopped in his tracks.
Why did he stop? Is he switching to another exercise?
I tilted my head in confusion but continued speaking.
“I missed everyone else too.”
“Ah……”
“Ignis, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”
Ignis, still standing still, had one hand pressed over his chest.
He flinched slightly at my question, then shook his head.
“No… it’s not that.”
“……”
“I was just about to suggest we move on to another exercise.”
“Ah.”
I walked over to where I had placed my wooden sword and picked it up, giving it a light swing.
“Then shall we start, since it’s been a while?”
“Yeah!”
Ignis stared at me blankly for a moment before picking up his own wooden sword from the side.
The two of us took our positions, just like always, and prepared to cross blades.
After not sparring together for a while, neither of us could gain the upper hand, and clear drops of sweat fell onto the ground.
“Wow, you’re not falling behind at all, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“You’re the same, Lenia.”
