TDSM 19

Chapter – 19

I tried to dodge Ignis’s attacks and counter him, but in the end, I failed.

I can’t even find an opening to land a hit.

As Ignis and I continued to clash swords, we only grew more and more exhausted.

When our blades met up close and our eyes locked, we could both tell—we were completely worn out.

“Ignis.”

“Yeah, Renia.”

“Should we take a break?”

“Want to?”

“Let’s do that.”

Unable to see any end to the match, we eventually declared a draw and decided to rest.

I sat down on the ground as I was, filling my lungs with much-needed air.

Ignis also sat down beside me, steadying his uneven breathing.

“Ha… I like this time of day. There’s no one around. Right?”

“Yeah. It’s quiet, and we can just sit like this and rest.”

“Exactly.”

With a cool breeze blowing over us, I closed my eyes and simply repeated breathing in and out.

It felt like quite some time had passed. When I slowly opened my eyes and looked to the side, Ignis was resting with his eyes closed as well.

A moment later, Ignis lifted his eyelids—and our eyes met.

As we held each other’s gaze, we both wore expressions more relaxed than ever.

“Renia.”

“Hm?”

“…Should I press your eyes like this? Like Adam used to do. You look a little tired.”

Watching Ignis move his thumbs up and down as he spoke, I burst out laughing.

Ignis, realizing how awkward his behavior was a moment too late, smiled shyly as well.

I gently closed my eyes again and gave him an affirmative answer.

“I’d love that. Go ahead.”

“…….”

I had been wondering how I should naturally make contact today, so this suggestion couldn’t have been better.

Just like Adam had done, Ignis gently held my cheeks with all his fingers except his thumbs.

Then he carefully pressed and rubbed around my eyes, easing the fatigue that had built up.

How much time had passed like that? When I sensed that Ignis’s fingers had stopped moving, I slowly opened my eyes.

Ignis was still there, his hands resting on my face. He silently looked at me, and before long, he began lightly brushing beneath one of my eyes with his finger.

Ah, that tickles.

My eye fluttered shut at his touch.

When Ignis touches my eyes, I get sleepy for no reason.

Lost in such idle thoughts, I opened my eyes again and blankly met Ignis’s gaze as he continued to look at me.

“Renia, I’m sorry!”

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Ignis—who had been wearing a drowsy expression—widened his eyes and sprang to his feet.

Because of that, I ended up falling forward onto the ground like some tragic heroine.

“I—I suddenly remembered something urgent I have to do! I’ll get going. See you tomorrow!”

“I-Ignis?”

Ignis left so fast that I couldn’t even see his feet.

…That might be the fastest I’ve ever seen him move.

Is something really urgent going on?

Something is strange about Ignis.

In one way or another, he’s avoiding me.

I started to notice that Ignis was avoiding me from the day after our night training session.

At first, I wondered if I was just being oversensitive.

“Ignis! You’re heading to swordsmanship class, right? Let’s go togeth—”

“I’ve got somewhere I need to stop by first! Go on ahead, Renia.”

“Oh, really? Okay.”

“See you later.”

“Mm.”

This exact situation had been repeating ever since that day.

What is it? Did I do something to upset him?

Or did I make him uncomfortable somehow?

“Or maybe that ‘urgent thing’ was something bad?”

He hasn’t been coming to night training either.

As Ignis kept avoiding me like this, I tried to naturally make contact with him during the brief moments when I did manage to see him.

But this can’t keep going on.

“Well… I guess he must have his reasons.”

Ignis isn’t the type to act without a reason.

But even so… this feels a bit too much.

“Ignis.”

“Oh—Renia, hi!”

Ignis had now reached the level of bolting away the moment I even called his name.

Luckily, I managed to grab his arm before he passed me, but if this kept up, even that would soon become impossible.

I chased after him with quick steps as he hurried past me.

Ignis didn’t look back, as if he hadn’t noticed me at all, and just kept walking straight ahead.

“Huh?”

…No, that’s not it. He definitely knows I’m chasing him.

I could tell because the closer I got, the faster his steps became.

Seeing that, my competitive spirit flared up, and I started walking even faster to match him.

And the faster I walked, the faster Ignis moved as well.

Because Ignis kept increasing his pace, and because there had already been some distance between us, my situation became more and more unfavorable.

Just as he was about to disappear from my sight entirely, I felt something catch on my foot and fell forward.

“Ah, what was that?”

What did I trip over? Did my feet get tangled?

No… I’m sure it felt like I stepped on something.

“Are you okay?”

“…….”

As an uneasy feeling quietly took root in my mind, someone crouched down and offered me a hand.

I looked at the hand in front of me, then lifted my gaze to see who it belonged to.

…Killian?

With his usual handsome looks, he gazed at me with concern. He was so radiant it almost felt like there was a halo behind him.

“Take it.”

“Huh?”

“Take my hand and stand up.”

“Ah. Yes, thank you.”

When I lightly placed my hand in his, Killian seemed impatient and gripped my hand firmly.

“If you hold on that lightly, how are you supposed to stand?”

“Ah… right. You’re right. Thank you for helping me up. Then I’ll be going now—”

“Wait.”

Just as I tried to leave after thanking him, he stopped me again.

Then he silently studied my face for quite a while.

…This is awkward.

Sometimes when I ran into him with Ignis at the academy, we exchanged brief greetings, and we’d also talked once when we met at the imperial palace—but I’m the type who easily feels awkward around people I’m not close to, so this situation made me uncomfortable for no reason.

When we met at the palace, we were talking about Ignis, so there hadn’t been any time to feel awkward.

Since he was Ignis’s cousin and they were close, I did feel some goodwill toward him—but uncomfortable was still uncomfortable.

Still, it would be strange to show it outright…

So I tried to put on the most relaxed expression I could manage.

Seeing my face, Killian burst out laughing.

Did it show? I really thought I was doing well.

“That must’ve been uncomfortable. I’m sorry.”

“N-No, it’s fine.”

“After our conversation that day, I thought I’d like to get closer to you, Miss Berenoir. So would it be okay if I greeted you whenever we meet from now on?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

“Yes?”

“Then I’ll see you later.”

Like a storm, Killian swept past me and disappeared after saying goodbye.

What… what was that?

“Are you heading to class?”

“Gah!”

True to his words about greeting me, Killian started talking to me from the very next day.

I replied with an awkward smile, just as I had today.

“Yes, class! I’m on my way.”

“I see. Then make sure you pay attention.”

“Yes!”

After parting ways with Killian, I felt a strange, sharp gaze stabbing into me.

When I turned toward where it was coming from, Liliana and Sierra—who had been with me—were staring at me with their eyes wide open.

“You’re on greeting terms with him? All of a sudden?”

“What happened?”

I shook my head at their barrage of questions.

“No, we ran into each other once or twice and talked, and then he just started greeting me…”

“…….”

“I-I don’t really know either.”

“Didn’t it look like he was interested in you, no matter how you looked at it?”

“It kind of did.”

After hearing my response, they began whispering among themselves about Killian and me.

“I’ll head on first.”

“Oh, okay. Go ahead, Renia.”

“See you later.”

After saying goodbye, I continued walking.

…This isn’t a big deal or anything.

Right now, I had a much bigger problem—Ignis.

Thinking about how Ignis now ran away so fast I couldn’t even catch him, I was overwhelmed with unease.

“This is really bad.”

It’s been three days since I last made contact with Ignis.

More than the lack of contact, I was even more worried about why he was avoiding me.

Ignis wasn’t someone who showed things easily, so for him to avoid me this much meant something serious had to be going on.

Should I force myself to create some time alone with him and find out?

At this point, Ignis didn’t even allow me the brief moment needed to grab his arm.

I need to resolve this situation first. Only then can I even begin to deal with what happened that day.

Lately, he’s been training on his own without me even knowing, so there’s nothing I can do.

As I walked along, sighing deeply while thinking about Ignis, Killian—who had said goodbye earlier—appeared again.

It looked like he had walked quickly to get here, as he was slightly out of breath.

“Excuse me!”

“Ah….”

Startled, I stared blankly at Killian.

He smiled at me before speaking.

“Since you’re in the Swordsmanship Department, Miss Berenoir, you must do a lot of physical training, right?”

“Yes. Well, I suppose so…”

“That’s perfect.”

With a bright smile, he dropped a bombshell of a statement.

“Then would you train me?”

“…Me?”

“Yes. I’ve been worried lately because my stamina doesn’t seem very good.”