Flame Flower
Even a superhuman born with deep mana would, of course, still have the build of a man or a woman.
To the eye of anyone who understood even that most basic truth, the special-admission student looked like someone who had crossed the line of common sense by a little too much.
A frail frame, a small stature, blue hair as deep as the sea, and sapphire eyes.
After the incident three hundred years ago, it had become common for hair to take on all manner of vivid colors.
But mana had also raised the limit of how far the human body could grow, and those born with strong mana, or those raised in its presence, tended to grow extraordinarily tall.
So when a special-admission student showed up with such a small frame and such a diminutive body, it was only natural that people would look at him with questions.
Even his hair was blue, a color no longer seen on the continent except in old books.
It was only natural that cadets who had forced their way in through a grueling exam, or those admitted for their overwhelming potential, would carry complaints and doubts in their hearts.
But...
"Is this good, Paran?"
"Y-yes... it's good."
The presence of Rie Melitten, clinging to that tiny boy’s side, was the key that silenced their grumbling.
Her reputation was so notorious that if anyone made the mistake of voicing their complaints, they’d end up as a corpse in no time at all.
As long as that powerful bulwark stood beside the special-admission student, no one would dare show him any open resentment.
That is, unless they were fearless to the point of stupidity...
* * *
"Paran seems to like sweets."
"Y-yeah, I like sweets..."
"Mm~ I see."
After I arrived at the banquet hall, I found a table with a bit of space around it and took a seat.
Then Ria sat down first.
- Paran, sit here.
She patted her thigh and made the suggestion.
I was about to politely refuse, thinking I might be too heavy for her, and that it might make Ria uncomfortable.
But then.
She scooped me up in one motion and carefully set me on her thigh.
And now...
Nom, nom...
I was quietly taking the delicious food Ria fed me, like a baby bird.
Sweet, salty, and soft.
I wanted to describe the taste somehow, but it was so refined that I decided to stop trying.
"But, Ria..."
"Hmm? Why, Paran?"
"Aren't I heavy...? This must be uncomfortable..."
Ria looked at me with a brief, pitying expression, then smiled softly and answered my question.
"It's fine. Paran isn't heavy at all, so just relax."
"Really?"
"Mm-hmm."
As if the tension in my body had finally gone out of me, I let myself lean into Ria’s arms.
Her embrace was soft, and I could still smell that warm, sweet scent of yuzu.
When I leaned back, her ample chest supported my back.
For a moment I felt embarrassed and leaned forward, but Ria placed a hand on my shoulder and made it so her chest rested against my back.
Lewd thoughts kept trying to rise in my head, but the warmth of her arms turned me back into a baby bird, and I obediently kept eating.
I quietly felt the gazes gathering on me.
If I didn’t feel that kind of blatant attention, then something would definitely be wrong with my body.
Curiosity about me, suspicion of my skill, ridicule at my small body, envy and jealousy over the special treatment, and more.
But among them, there was something strange mixed in.
Awe, as if they were seeing something extraordinary, something they couldn’t understand.
"What’s with those guys? Why do they keep staring like a bunch of weaklings who aren’t even worth one fistful?"
Ria noticed those gazes too and quietly frowned.
"Ria... don’t be upset..."
"Huh...?"
Seeing Ria look troubled because of the attention I was getting made my heart ache.
My eyes grew wet as I quietly spoke to her.
"H-hey...? Paran, I’m really fine, so..."
Ria flinched, flustered, seeing me on the verge of tears, and tried to comfort me.
"So don’t cry, okay?"
"..."
"It’s fine. It’s fine."
Then she quietly stroked my hair.
That only drew an even stronger reaction from the gazes around us.
I had already heard that Ria’s reputation wasn’t good, but there was no way to understand what kind of image she actually had.
As I sat in her arms, being petted over and over while thinking it through, someone approached from the side with a dignified stride.
"Oh my, it's been a while, Ria."
That polished voice, ringing out with such noble poise, was enough to make me think at once of a noblewoman’s voice.
"Huh? Yoon Hwayeon? Of course you passed too."
Ria seemed to know this person named Yoon Hwayeon, and her reaction was different from how she treated others.
"Of course. Did you think I, the next head of the Flame Flower family, would fail to enter Sielm Academy?"
Flame Flower?
No, YHwayeon?
Even in this eastern region, once called old Korea, families certainly still existed.
And among their representative powers, their great families, everyone spoke of these three.
Yeomhwa, the Flame Flower, which made flames bloom and wielded the power of fire.
Seolhwa, the Snow Flower, which fought by scattering petals of snow.
Nohwa, the Thunder Flower, which struck like thunder with large, brilliant power.
They were the three families that held the greatest and most absolute power in the eastern lands where Korea once stood.
All three fought with elegance and splendor like blooming flowers, and they knew far more about their respective attributes than anyone else on the continent.
One might even call them a superhuman lineage.
Knowing that background made it easy to understand just how immense Yoon Hwayeon’s standing was.
Yoon Hwayeon, of the direct bloodline of the Flame Flower family, was a woman who would become the family head the moment her mother stepped down.
The Flame Flower family’s fierce blaze, blended with Yoon Hwayeon’s own soft flame, gave her a distinctive presence.
Her hair, tied back in a ponytail that seemed to embody a fire burning quietly into shape, swayed over her shoulders, and her eyes, softly asserting their own existence in contrast to her pale skin, were enough to captivate anyone.
Her skill was absolute as well, and she had passed Sielm Academy’s exam with near-perfect marks, making her, along with Ria, one of the academy’s most highly anticipated prospects.
Her voluptuous figure, even in nothing more than a simple sweater, only made her stand out more.
Given all that, it was probably only natural that she knew Ria and was on familiar terms with her.
She had been chatting away as though meeting an old friend when she spotted me tucked snugly in Ria’s arms.
Her expression turned somewhat flustered as she spoke to Ria.
"B-but, Ria, that... boy in your arms... who is he? Blue hair means... special admission?"
"Oh, Paran? I met him on the way here to Sielm Academy, so we came together. Isn’t he cute? Hehe."
Ria answered Yoon Hwayeon with a smile while looking at me.
"You? On the way here? Out of nowhere? What on earth happened to you?"
But even that answer didn’t clear up Yoon Hwayeon’s confusion, so she asked again and looked back at me.
With someone other than Ria coming up close and staring at me like that, before I knew it my body had started trembling.
"Hey! Paran’s shaking, so back up a little. Honestly, I know he’s cute and all."
Realizing I kept trembling in her arms, Ria cut off Yoon Hwayeon, who had been staring at me so intently.
Yoon Hwayeon looked startled and quietly stepped back.
"...What is this? What happened on the way here?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? You ask what happened and then spout nonsense... ah."
Ria had gotten a little rough in her speech, then noticed me and hastily covered her mouth.
"No... up until recently, even if I came up to you, you’d only exchange a few words and then leave, right? And with people you’d never met before, you didn’t even treat them like people..."
"Wha-what are you talking about... haha, what is she saying~"
"Hmm..."
Yoon Hwayeon kept pressing for the truth, while Ria looked like there was something she couldn’t quite hide, and the two of them began a light, bickering exchange.
A quarrel between the Melitten family and the Flame Flower family...
If they ever fought in the political arena, it would probably become a huge conflict.
Of course, the atmosphere between the two of them, who seemed to know each other so well, didn’t look like the sort that would ever lead to an actual fight.
"Ah! I’m sorry, I got distracted because of this guy... I’m Yoon Hwayeon of the Flame Flower family. It’s a pleasure to meet you, and I hope we get along well."
"Ah, nice to meet you too."
After bickering with Ria, she seemed to remember that she had briefly forgotten about me and greeted me instead.
At the same time, she extended a hand for a handshake.
I slowly slipped out of Ria’s arms and reached out to take it.
The next moment, my insides twisted violently and I gagged before collapsing to the floor.
Huh?
I’d been fine just a moment ago.
While I was in Ria’s arms, even if people passed right beside me, all I felt was a slight tremor—nothing like a seizure.
So why was I like this now?
The familiar fit I had felt before spread through my whole body like a shudder.
That unpleasant feeling I always felt, one I had experienced so many times but had never grown used to.
"Ah!?"
"Paran!"
In front of me, I could see Yoon Hwayeon, still flustered at the sight of me collapsed on the ground, and Ria, who was wrapping her arms around me in that familiar way.
"Paran? Are you okay?"
"...Y-yes."
Fortunately, once I was held in Ria’s arms, I could feel the trembling and seizure subsiding.
Being in that warm embrace, I thought that at least I was safe.
"Uh... Mr. Paran? What is this..."
Yoon Hwayeon spoke to me with visible concern, still startled.
"Hey, you didn’t do anything to Paran, did you?"
Ria shot Yoon Hwayeon a sharp glare and questioned her.
"What would I have done...? I didn’t do anything. I was just about to shake hands..."
Ria looked at her with obvious distrust.
I didn’t want to see the relationship between those two sour just because of me.
"It’s not because of Lady Hwayeon... I just... I’m afraid of people..."
I explained the situation to Ria, my voice trembling.
Come to think of it, this was probably the first time I had ever explained it directly to her.
Explaining this body of mine that was so pathologically afraid of human beings...
"What?"
She was making a sad expression I had never seen before.
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