Like Waves Sparkling in the Sunlight
Silver hair that shimmered like waves sparkling in the sunlight. And ears slightly more pointed than an average person's, twitching from time to time depending on her emotions. Sitting in my seat during class, I would often find my eyes drawn to the back of Sylvia's head as she sat diagonally to my left, staring blankly at her without even realizing it. Once we became closer, it had become a daily routine for her to turn around and offer me a gentle, smiling gaze whenever she felt my eyes on her. But today, for some reason, things were different.
"..." I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination, but every time I cast a glance toward Sylvia, she flinched and seemed deeply unsettled. Come to think of it, we hadn't even greeted each other this morning. This reaction was entirely different from usual. I wondered why she was acting like this, but a bitter smile crept onto my face as I realized I wasn't completely clueless.
The day I moved out of Sylvia's mansion and into Yoon Siwoo's house. I recalled how she had tearfully and desperately opposed my departure, loath to see me go. From my perspective, it was a decision made for both our sakes, but from hers, my sudden departure without a proper explanation must have seemed incredibly cold and heartless. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth about my situation. Knowing Sylvia, she would undoubtedly overexert herself to help me, and that was the last thing I wanted to see.
As I pondered how to apologize to her for the hurt my actions had caused, a sudden thought crossed my mind, and I bit my lip. If I apologized, the soft-hearted Sylvia would surely forgive me. But if I did nothing, perhaps I could put some distance between us—distance that had grown dangerously narrow. Recalling the emotional turmoil she had shown whenever something bad happened to me, or when I announced I was leaving the mansion, my heart ached. Still, it seemed best to use this opportunity to distance myself from her. Especially when I considered the shock she would face in the future because of me.
So, when class ended and lunchtime arrived, I steeled my resolve and stood up, leaving behind Sylvia, with whom I always had lunch. However, my plan to go eat alone, leaving her behind, was instantly thwarted.
"Um... Excuse me, Scarlet... Wait a moment." Sylvia had jumped up from her seat in a hurry and grabbed the hem of my clothes from behind. A wave of desire to apologize to her right then and there washed over me, but I maintained as blank an expression as possible as I turned around to answer.
"...What is it?"
"There's something I want to say to you. Could you come outside for a moment...?" I had no idea what she wanted to talk about, but her expression looked so desperate that I couldn't bring myself to refuse. I nodded. Was she going to ask me to return to the mansion? With that thought in mind, I followed her to a secluded spot behind the school building, only for her to do something completely unexpected.
"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry, Scarlet..." Sylvia, who had called me out, bowed her head and apologized with a sorrowful expression, looking as though she might burst into tears at any second. ...I'm the one who did wrong, so why on earth is Sylvia apologizing? Startled, I tried to stop her, but her words poured out before I could intervene.
"...You see, the truth is, your eviction from your old house was actually something I set up by asking your landlord. I... I just thought it would be better for you to stay with me at the mansion... I'm so sorry..." I tilted my head in confusion for a moment, unable to process her words, before my eyes widened in sheer shock.
"...What? So that demolition order and the landlord telling me to pack my bags back then was..."
"...Yes, it was my doing. Just so I could get you to live at the mansion..."
...My head spun at the completely unexpected confession. Come to think of it, Sylvia had visited me in the hospital the day before I moved into the mansion. I remembered how shocked she had been, asking if I had really been living in a place like that. Living in such a magnificent estate herself, my original home must have looked like a doghouse to her, so it made sense that she was worried... But still, I had wondered why the move was so sudden yet so meticulously prepared. I never would have guessed there was such a scheme behind it.
But was that really a reason to bow her head and apologize like this? She had only done it out of goodwill. Yet, Sylvia kept bowing deeply, pouring out apologies as if she were a criminal who had committed an unforgivable sin against me.
"I did that without knowing anything... It was only after you left the mansion that I realized how horrible of a thing I had done. I'm so sorry. I sincerely apologize..."
"No, you don't need to apologize to that extent..."
"No, I do... Because now I know how much you must have suffered because of me..." I tried to stop her, but Sylvia, deeply troubled by her deception, refused to back down and kept apologizing. At this point, I was the one feeling flustered. I was the one who felt guilty, so why was she doing this...? But Sylvia, her face filled with remorse, spoke to me.
"...I won't ask for your forgiveness. I won't even ask you to be my friend anymore. I don't want to bring back bad memories for you... So, from now on, you don't have to be nice to me anymore. Thank you for everything, and I'm truly sorry..." With those final words, Sylvia turned and ran off into the distance.
...What in the world just happened? My plan to put some distance between us seemed to have succeeded, but it left a bitter, uncomfortable aftertaste.
After finishing my conversation with Sylvia, I headed up to the cafeteria. Jesse and May had already secured a table and were waving at me, so I took a seat in the empty space between them. I shoved food into my mouth, but Sylvia's tearful apology kept replaying in my mind, completely ruining my appetite. No matter how much I thought about it, she hadn't really done anything terribly wrong.
...Should I buy some macarons later and go tell her it's fine? Even though I had resolved to keep my distance, I realized once again how difficult it was to push away someone you had grown close to. Just as I was lost in these thoughts, a loud voice echoed from afar.
"Aaaaah! There she is!" At the high-pitched, childlike voice, I looked toward the source and saw Flone Dolos charging toward me, her pink twin-tails fluttering wildly behind her. Though she looked tiny, she possessed the bloodline of the Dolos family—meaning her physical abilities were so monstrous that ordinary Heroes couldn't even compare. Getting hit by her at that speed would probably be more dangerous than getting run over by a dump truck. Just as I was contemplating whether I should leap out of my seat to dodge, Flone came to a screeching halt right in front of me, leaving skid marks on the floor. Then, she bent 180 degrees at the waist and bellowed at the top of her lungs:
"I'M SOOOOORRY!!!" It was the loudest apology I had ever heard in my life, leaving everyone in the vicinity utterly dumbfounded. Wait, another apology? As I was having the foolish thought that maybe there was some trend of apologizing to me going around without my knowledge, Marin, who had run over in a panic from afar, smacked Flone on the back of her head.
"Flone! I told you not to shout like that in crowded places!"
"Ouch! Ehehe, right. I forgot because I was in such a hurry."
"Sorry, Scarlet. You must have been startled, right? Flone wanted to apologize to you, so we've been searching for you all through lunchtime." I nodded at Marin's explanation and turned to Flone.
"...An apology? Is it because of, well, the interrogation?"
"Yeah! I wanted to apologize last week, but you weren't here!" Saying so, Flone bowed her head toward me once more.
"I'm sorry! Flone's papa is a really strict person, so if there's something he doesn't like, he never lets it go! Besides, if Flone hadn't suggested going to the front lines, none of that would have happened. That's why Flone felt bad and came to apologize!" I noticed Marin glaring at Flone with a bizarre look. Even as someone who had known Flone for a long time, did she find it strange that Flone looked so cheerful while apologizing? Of course, if it were anyone else, they might have been annoyed by Flone's attitude, but since I had read the original novel and knew she was naturally like this, I could easily let it slide.
...Still, one person was a problem because she felt too guilty over nothing, and the other was a problem because she didn't seem guilty at all. If only Sylvia and Flone could share half of each other's traits... With that thought, I gently raised Flone's head as she bowed.
"...I'm fine, so you don't need to apologize."
"Really?! Yay! Thank you! Here, I brought these cosmetics as a present for you, so take them all! A girl's got to look pretty and dress up!"
"...No, thanks. I don't really do makeup."
"Ahaha! No refusals allowed, so just take it! I prepared this specially for you, so don't be shy!" I repeatedly declined, but Flone showed no signs of backing down, so I was ultimately forced to accept the shopping bag she thrust at me.
"Now that I've given it to you, I'm off! Sorry about before!" Once I took the cosmetics, Flone finally looked satisfied and dashed away, disappearing in an instant.
"Sigh, what is up with her today? Well, Scarlet, I'll be off too." Watching Marin sigh and chase after Flone, I let out a sigh of my own, feeling completely drained of energy. What a whirlwind... Yet, on some level, I couldn't help but feel envious of Flone. I wished I could live with absolutely no worries like her. As I sighed, Jesse, sitting next to me, muttered with sparkling eyes.
"...Scarlet, those are incredibly hard to get."
"...Do you want them?"
"Oh... No! How could I possibly take a gift that was given to you, Scarlet...?" Jesse seemed highly interested in the cosmetics, so I considered just giving them to her, but since she refused, I had no choice but to keep them. Since there was absolutely no way I would ever use them, I figured I would just sell them later and use the money as emergency funds.