The Fiancée (2)
When exactly had I blacked out?
By the time I managed to gather my drifting, hazy senses and opened my eyes, I found myself waking up in the all-too-familiar surroundings of my dormitory room. As I pieced together my memories leading up to that final moment, a sudden realization struck me.
"Right. So I’m just 'lightly injured,' is that it?"
In the end, they had dumped me right back in my dorm room. I had fought to my absolute limits before collapsing from sheer exhaustion, and their grand medical treatment was chucking me onto my own bed? Dirty, cheapskate bastards, the lot of them.
"Oh! Yohan, you're awake?"
Just then, Yuna poked her face right into mine. I stared blankly at her for a moment before muttering under my breath,
"Jesus, you scared the life out of me..."
My heart had legitimately dropped into my stomach. When someone startles you that badly, you can't even muster a scream.
"Yuna, how long was I out?"
"About three days?"
"And the situation?"
"No casualties. You saw what our enemies were like, so you probably figured, right?"
"Really?"
Come to think of it, even the Cradle's weakest link—meaning me—had wiped the floor with them. The bulk of their forces were just a ragtag rabble; the only ones truly worthy of being called formidable threats were Charybdis and Faust. Charybdis had been tied down by Yuna, while Faust was held back by Olga Hermod and the Imperial Princess's entourage. Even more astonishing was the fact that Olga Hermod never once dispelled the illusion magic cast over the Cradle, even while facing off against Faust. Granted, that allowed that bastard Faust to slip past her and end up right in front of me, but well... all things considered, they handled it pretty damn well.
"How are the Director and the Princess's party? Did they take heavy damage?"
"Nope. From what I heard, the Grand Sage vanished midway through."
"So they didn't actually subdue him."
I did think things wrapped up awfully fast. Still, no matter how monstrously strong Faust was, his opponent was an Archmage. Throw in the Imperial Princess's party—a gathering of combat prodigies—and it wouldn't have been easy for him to just steamroll them. Looking back, even Charybdis was probably nothing more than a pretext to reach me. Faust was a voyeur who peeked at what everyone was doing through his chains. With countless links at his disposal, pulling off something like teleportation would be child's play for him. Above all else, the bastard possessed the widest arsenal of abilities in the entire Empire.
"The most severely injured one was our underclassman."
"Ah, Dietrich... I completely forgot about him halfway through, but at least he didn't die."
"Disappointed? Didn't you say he was the Prophet's puppet?"
"Just what kind of shameless piece of trash do you take me for?"
I knew Dietrich was a paladin cultivated by Cult, but Dietrich himself wasn't a bad person. If anything, he was the very paragon of a good, righteous knight who perfectly embodied the ideal of a holy warrior.
"Guess I should pay him a visit later."
"He was already discharged and is walking around."
"Never mind then..."
Good grief, talk about a beastly constitution. He was supposedly far more critically injured than I was, yet he fully recovered in less than three days? That must mean everyone else had been discharged too. Then why the hell was I the only one exiled to my dorm room like this...?
I sank back onto the mattress. My body still felt sluggish and heavy.
"Tired?"
"Yeah."
"Because of your ability?"
Yuna narrowed her eyes as she asked. Right. Back when she had asked about my innate ability, I flatly denied having one. Actually, did I just deny it, or did I snap at her in irritation? If she was sulking because I had thoroughly deceived her back then, well, I had it coming.
"Yeah."
I answered honestly for once. By default, my stamina was pathetic. Consequently, I tended to tire and run out of steam much faster than everyone else. After all, isn't laziness the true hallmark of effort?
"Wow... Seriously, how could you? And here I thought we were friends."
Yuna started blatantly roasting me. With exaggerated gestures like an actress on stage and a voice dripping with aggrieved betrayal, anyone watching would have thought I’d run off with the deed to her house.
"And after doing all that, you... to me?!"
"..."
"You lowered your voice at me, like—whoosh!—and scowled so hard, saying, 'If you don't want to answer, just say so. Stop beating around the bush'?!"
"...I've got nothing to say."
I'm sorry, alright? So stop mocking me by reenacting my edgy performance. I was dead serious back then, but looking back on it now, it was so cringeworthy I could die of embarrassment.
"Puhehehe!"
Only after dragging an apology out of me did Yuna laugh, thoroughly pleased with herself. Vicious little character assassin.
"Oh, right! Yohan, look at this. Other people stopped by too, you know?"
"Hm?"
I glanced over at the shelf she pointed toward. It was packed to the brim with all sorts of items. At a glance, they were clearly get-well gifts... but why were there so many?
"The kids from our class dropped them off."
"Why them...?"
"Because you were the only one pathetic enough to actually need get-well wishes. Plus, you stepped up personally this time. I think they were pretty moved by that."
"I will never understand those people..."
Still, it didn't feel bad. I barely had anyone I could call a proper friend, yet this meant a surprising number of people were actually looking out for me. My, my, they really shouldn't have.
"...Wait, why isn't there a single sender's name on any of this?"
"They knew you never bother memorizing people's names anyway, so they just dropped them off and left."
"Ah. Fair enough."
At this point, I just took it in stride. In fact, shouldn't I be wary of anyone who actually bothered telling me their name? Any bastard whose name I memorized turned out to be either a terrorist or the primary target of a terrorist attack. Or, you know, a literal assassin sitting right in front of me. From now on, I needed to steer clear of anyone introducing themselves to me.
"Oh! But there are a few with names on them. Want to see this one?"
I took the fruit basket Yuna handed me.
A small card attached to it bore the name 'Lobelia,' written in neat, elegant script. I wasn't the least bit happy. If anything, the fact that Lobelia had actually come to visit me sent chills down my spine. What deranged assumptions had she cooked up in her head this time?
"And this!"
While I was spiraling into paranoia, Yuna thrust forward a silk top hat that looked extraordinarily expensive. A hat as a get-well gift? What kind of lunatic sent this?
"This is from Lady Ariel."
"..."
A strange shudder crept down my spine. How should I put this...? Perhaps because of what Lobelia had warned me about before, it was becoming increasingly difficult to take Ariel's goodwill at face value. Was this really just an innocent get-well gift?
"Hmm, looks pretty good on you, I think."
"Black is my color, after all."
"I wouldn't go that far."
I took off the hat Yuna had plopped onto my head. Throwing it out felt wrong, so I'd keep it around, but there was zero chance I'd ever wear it. If I strutted around wearing it, Ariel might get the wrong idea. I couldn't afford to give her any room for delusions.
"You're done delivering updates, right?"
"Mm, pretty much, I guess?"
"Then I'm going back to sleep. You should head out too."
"The updates are done, but I still have some personal business. Get up."
As I tried to lie back down, Yuna grabbed me by the collar and yanked me upright. Good grief. How many times had I laid down and been dragged back up already?
"Yohan, how did you know something was wrong with Dad?"
"Hmm..."
Fine, I'll give her that. It was an important matter to Yuna, so it was natural for her to be curious. Whether it was important enough to shake down someone who had been bedridden for three days, however, was another story.
"Like I told you back then, I figured it was what you would have done."
"I see."
Yuna was strong. I wasn't talking about raw power, but mental fortitude. If someone like her still carried guilt over a person to this very day, I figured that person must have been truly exceptional.
"And well... because I knew Charybdis was an Archmage?"
"Huh?! How?"
I ended up confessing to Yuna about the letter Olga Hermod had kept. ...Come to think of it, didn't Olga Hermod foresee things turning out this way? No matter how powerful Faust was, letting Charybdis go so easily was deeply suspicious. That woman really worked people to the bone.
"So that was it..."
"Satisfied now?"
"Yup!"
Yuna gave a radiant grin. It was her usual goofy, silly smile... and yet, somehow, it felt different. A strange dissonance struck me—this was genuine. It wasn't an exaggerated act or stage play; she was truly smiling like an idiot from the bottom of her heart.
"Yohan, thank you. This isn't an act—I really mean it!"
"Of course you should be grateful. When I think of the hell I went through because of you..."
"Doesn't that mean I've helped you plenty on normal days?"
"That's fair."
Since I'd received so much from her, I made an effort in return. If Yuna had been even a fraction more ruthless, I would have washed my hands of it and thought, She can handle her own mess. But when all was said and done, Yuna was an affectionate softie deep down. That was why I felt I had to step in.
"Even accounting for that, gratitude is still gratitude. So, Yohan... thank you again. It's all thanks to you."
"Right, right."
"I'll treat you really well from now on!"
"Well, obviously."
"We'll be together forever from now on! Right, my little disciple?"
"Yeah, absolutely not."
"Darn it! You were almost hooked!"
Once we graduate, let's go our separate ways. You can keep playing righteous assassin, and I'll head down to my rural estate and inherit the county.
"Can I finally rest now?"
"Seriously? You're going to sleep more? You were out for three whole days and you're still sleepy?"
Did this girl just despise the sight of me going to sleep? I had no idea why she was being so clingy today.
"Even if I don't sleep, I don't want to do anything."
"Don't be like that! You need to walk around outside to get healthy!"
"Rest is rest. You rest when it's time to rest."
"Tsk..."
Yuna clicked her tongue and grumbled at my resolute refusal.
"Yuna."
"Yeah!"
"Could you please get out now?"
"You're so mean..."
The only one being mean here is you, grilling a sick patient for thirty minutes straight. Unlike you superhumans, I need proper rest to function. Lately, I've been dragged through one mess after another without a single breather, and the fatigue built up in my bones is no joke.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was while you were unconscious?!"
"Is that so."
"I'm terrified that if you fall asleep like this, you'll never open your eyes again!"
"Yuna, that level of acting won't fool me."
"That didn't work either, huh..."
Well, of course it wouldn't. I was slowly getting to know what kind of person she was. Pretending to cry wasn't going to get her anywhere. Between the two of us, petty lies had long stopped working.
"I'm bored, though."
"...Good grief."
Seeing her cling this persistently made me think that if I truly fell asleep right now, she might throw an epic tantrum. That would only double my headaches later, so maybe it was wiser to humor her for a bit.
"So? What do you want to do?"
"Yohan!"
"Yeah, out with it."
"Wanna go on a date or something?"
"Why?"
"Just because."
Yuna brushed her hair back and smiled softly. Her unfeigned smile was remarkably beautiful. This was an outright seduction.
And so, I...
"No."
"..."
Flatly rejected her.
Just talking was exhausting enough, and now she wanted me to drag myself outside? Ha! In your dreams!
Yuna watched with an amused smile as Yohan, having genuinely kicked her out, promptly began dozing off again. He really was consistent to a fault.
"Hmph. Did you think kicking me out would keep me from sneaking back in?"
For three whole days, she had stayed by his side, watching him. It wasn't as though Yohan possessed an endless array of fascinating qualities to admire, but simply being near him like this brought her peace.
"Boo. Bad boy."
Yuna poked Yohan's cheek as he slept soundly, grumbling under her breath. She hadn't expected him to put up such an impenetrable iron wall when she had blatantly tried to seduce him. Still, this was fine for now. Yohan was a coward anyway; he would keep running in circles in place for a long time to come.
"Dummy."
Yuna knew Yohan well. In fact, she had come to know him far too well—every single flaw and every single virtue. And having uncovered every facet of him, she realized something.
"You thought you understood me, didn't you?"
And Yohan knew Yuna as well. Having unearthed her past, he could now read what she was thinking to some degree. Yet, there was one thing he didn't know.
"To be honest, I couldn't care less about being master and disciple anymore."
She would never let anyone discover her most vital feelings. Her most precious emotions would remain hidden, never spilling over to the surface. Abrupt changes in a relationship were bound to create friction and noise—especially with someone as hyper-sensitive to interpersonal dynamics as Yohan. Therefore, she would simply dye him in her colors, little by little.
And by the time he finally caught on, the wave named Yuna would have already swallowed his heart whole.
Yuna beamed softly, her heart fluttering with anticipation for what was to come.