Awakening in the Cathedral Infirmary
Cathedral Church Infirmary at the Imperial Academy. My eyes fluttered open. A white ceiling greeted me. I glanced around. The walls were covered in wallpaper depicting verses from the scriptures. Neatly arranged beds. Spotless interior and exterior. A room filled with several beds. I drew in a breath. Faint mana flowing through my nostrils. Lingering traces of holy power. Crisp air from a high-altitude mountain region. My mind quickly pieced it together. Just one breath was enough.
"Hoo."
As I naturally adapted to the space, the facts came into focus. It was similar to the air at the academy from my previous visit.
"This is... the Cathedral Church Infirmary at the academy?"
My voice echoed through the quiet, chilly hospital room.
"You're awake."
A pleasant baritone voice resounded in the room. A sharp hiss— the curtain partition beside me slid open. And I identified the owner of that voice.
Kirian von Bloomhart. His face and neck were wrapped tightly in bandages. Rozalia's older brother, whom I'd utterly crushed just moments ago.
"Do they usually room guys who were just beating the crap out of each other in the same ward?"
I grinned sheepishly, playing it cool. I could act this casually because Kirian's gaze was mild. The murderous intent he'd shown toward the thug who stole his sister had faded.
"More importantly, what's with the bandages?"
His condition looked like that of a critical patient on the brink of death. I eyed him questioningly. His lips twitched precariously between the facial wrappings.
"M-my... little sister... hit... me."
"..."
The second son of the Bloomhart frontier count. Kirian von Bloomhart. Third-year top student in the academy's swordsmanship department. A man who'd never lost his top spot— beaten by his frail little sister.
I stroked my chin silently. I couldn't help but look at him with pitying, sympathetic eyes.
Kirian opened his eyes in the Cathedral Church Infirmary at the academy. He rose calmly, as always, with his cool-headed judgment. Warm rays of morning sunlight streamed through the window. Sparrows chirped in conversation. And the idle chatter of academy students just heading to class drifted in.
He threw off the covers and surveyed the room.
"Hm."
He contemplated his mana while checking his body. 'My body's relatively normal.' Mana flowed through his channels as smoothly as cold water. 'The saintess must have healed me.' He'd heard a saintess had enrolled as a special student among the new freshmen. He nodded at the high-level medical skills and perfect treatment.
He drew back the curtain. The sleeping face of the arrogant punk who'd pierced his sister came into view. 'What a monster.' He shook his head in dismay.
Kirian frowned and pressed his forehead. Memories of the fight flashed through his mind. He'd only enchanted his sword with basic commands, yet the guy had figured out the words engraved on Kirian's ceremonial sword mid-battle and added his own engravings... or so he could rationalize it.
'Tch.' That was probably when it happened, during the fight. When the gap was still wide, he'd kicked him into the wall. Dust had billowed up like a curtain, obscuring vision. Kirian let out a wry chuckle. Incredibly, the outsider had mastered Bloomhart swordsmanship perfectly in an instant. Right in the middle of their duel. He wasn't angry. Just incredulous laughter. Experiencing two absurd situations in a row left him with nothing but hollow laughs.
A sharp pang. His gaze shifted to the sleeping bastard's face. 'This flashy, empty-headed schemer seduced my... Rozalia?'
More than that, it pissed him off that his sister was tangled up with some sleazy-looking guy.
Clack... clack... Footsteps echoed in the hallway. Soon, a figure appeared in the frosted glass of the closed infirmary door. No doubt about it. Rozalia. His lovely, adorable little sister.
The door opened. It was indeed Rozalia. A cute girl with pale pink hair tied up cutely to one side. She carried a fruit basket, her eyes filled with poignant worry. Someone she cared for deeply was on her mind. Kirian watched his sister, now healthy after they'd barely talked lately since she started at the academy.
Kirian cleared his throat. "Ahem. Cough. Rozali. It's been a while."
Rozalia, who had been heading toward Karn, veered toward him instead. Her eyes were icy as frost. Her golden eyes cooled to a chill. Her moist pink lips parted.
"What...? It's been a while? And you dare... hurt my Karn?"
Slap—! A fierce palm struck Kirian's cheek. His head snapped to the side. Overwhelming power and strength exploding from her soft-looking body.
"Ro, Rozali? You just slapped your big brother...?"
The flustered Kirian muttered dumbly, but he couldn't stop Rozalia's pouring rage.
"Who the hell are you to butt in?! It was such a good mood!"
"What? Good mood?! That country baron punk dragged you into a secluded room by force...!"
"Force my ass! I was super happy, you clueless mutt!"
Kirian's eyes shook like an earthquake. 'Swearing from my pitiful little sister that I know? And she seduced him first?!'
'Mutt? What's that...? Some trendy slang?'
"You're such a true bastard, acting all pissy and making Karn like this?"
Rozalia clenched her fist. Pink mana rose like a haze.
He had to defend himself. To survive.
"Th-that's not...! I was trying to save you...! I, I misunderstood! Rozalia."
"And acting pissy as a true bastard! That's the Bloomhart way of fighting... Gah!"
A fist slammed into his gut. Kirian hurriedly wrapped himself in mana. It still hurt.
That was when Kirian deeply regretted shouting the activation word out of jealousy toward the guy his sister would soon cozy up to.
"W-wait, Rozali...! Hear your brother out... Why infuse mana into your punches... Ugh... Aaaah!!"
Thud! Thwack! Thud thud! It hurt so much he layered more mana. She gripped her fist tighter. Menacing mana began to haze around it. To beat her brother. Her mana-infused punches hurt like hell... This was the same sister who'd smiled faintly at him from under the bed. He was glad his always-frail sister was healthy and strong now... but this was too much. It hurt way too damn much.
Thud—!!!!
"Shut up! You get beaten as much as Karn hurts!!"
"S-stop! Urgh! Karn's less hurt than me... Uwaaaah!!!!"
The cold man called the "Ice Rose" at the academy. The romance fantasy's sub-male lead. Kirian's screams echoed out of the cathedral building. He never imagined getting beaten by a woman at his age— let alone his little sister.
Kirian poured out his grievances as the wronged big brother. I listened quietly to his woeful tale.
"...Sorry. Either way, I couldn't accept my loss in the duel and acted petty. That was on me."
Kirian's frank apology. It was hard to look straight at the bandaged man, so I averted my gaze slightly. His pitifulness had crossed into overkill territory.
"It's fine, senpai. Your body's tougher than it looks anyway."
In truth, when Kirian had chanted the activation word and gone berserk, I'd deliberately left an opening. To fully adapt, I had to take the Bloomhart family's technique, Rose Swordsmanship's "Rose Explosion," head-on— only then could I absorb its framework and essence perfectly.
Kirian nodded toward the table.
"Eat up. Rozalia prepared it for when you woke."
The plate held meticulously carved rabbit-shaped apples, oranges, and all sorts of fruits arranged cutely.
Jealousy dripped from Kirian's eyes.
"Let's share. There's too much for me alone."
I pushed the plate over. I'd expected refusal, but Kirian snatched a fork right away. We sat side by side, spearing fruit and continuing our chat. The awkward air softened considerably. The wolf obsessed with the saintess from the original story was gone; before me sat only a quiet, normal siscon brother beaten by his sister.
Maybe because Rozalia was alive.
Kirian swallowed a rabbit apple and spoke in a heavy voice.
"I've smoothed over the debutante ballroom incident on my end. You should be able to enroll quietly now."
"Though I did enroll pretty painfully."
I chuckled wryly, rubbing near my ribs. Kirian's eyes narrowed, and a hollow laugh escaped through the bandages.
"Heh. For that, I apologize."
He gazed out the window at the sunlight, a bittersweet expression on his face. He looked just like a father sending off his daughter.
"Rozalia really likes you..."
"I like her a lot too."
I smiled warmly, embedding my true feelings. This, I'd never forget. I adore Rozalia. I'd become addicted to her sweet, chewy, utterly cute flavor for life.
Kirian stood, grabbing his sword. Sunlight spilled over from the window. He looked down at me. Bitterness at losing his sister to a thief, mixed with a hint of respect for his opponent.
"Discharging already in that state?"
"Gonna stop by the saintess for treatment first. Worry about yourself."
"Don't use Rose Swordsmanship anymore. If a mere baron's whelp uses a prestigious house's swordsmanship, who knows what they'll say."
"......"
"At least use it after becoming someone from our house."
That meant full recognition of Karn's talent for copying their swordsmanship on a whim— and conditional permission. Something warm stirred in my chest. A strange smile spread across my lips.
"Don't feel too bad about losing the duel, senpai. I'm just an unfair, weird guy."
"Hah. You monster. Make Rozalia smile a lot. She seems brighter around you."
The door opened. Kirian added one last thing.
"Be careful not to get caught by the family. His Excellency the frontier count, the ultimate doting dad, would slice you in half on sight."
Click. The door closed. A soft silence settled over the infirmary.