Episode 117
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 117
The two, who had been staring blankly at each other, were startled by the sudden pop of a firecracker and looked toward the front of the hall.
As confetti rained down, Elysia held out her palm, catching tiny paper ghosts and pumpkins. She let them fall to the floor without a second thought and dusted off her hands.
In the silence that followed the explosion, Cain appeared at the center of the banquet hall. Perhaps it was the well-tailored suit, but his lean, muscular frame was subtly highlighted by the lights.
“I sincerely thank all the students of Minerva who have graced us with their presence tonight.”
Elysia let out a quiet, humorless laugh and muttered to herself. Thankful, my ass. He doesn’t seem very thankful. Indeed, his attitude wasn't one of gratitude, but rather of someone who expected everyone to show up as a matter of course.
Contrary to Elysia’s assessment, every gaze in the hall was favorable. The female students nearby whispered among themselves, then tapped each other on the shoulder with shy smiles.
“Tonight’s banquet will continue until tomorrow morning. All morning lectures have been canceled, so I hope you all relax and enjoy yourselves.”
At the sudden news of canceled classes, a murmur went through the students. Soon, cheers and applause erupted. Who would refuse an invitation to have fun?
Elysia, however, sighed with an annoyed expression. For some reason, Cain’s gaze was fixed in her direction. Irritated, she picked up a glass of water from the table and downed the cold liquid.
Regardless, that handsome voice continued.
“This is unprecedented, but we’ve noticed that students often have trouble concentrating after the banquet. We decided that extending the time to ensure no one leaves with regrets would be better for academic efficiency…”
He paused for a moment, then continued in a softer, almost joking tone, looking directly at Elysia.
“To be honest, I had a personal reason, too. There’s someone I absolutely have to meet today.”
Slamming her glass down on the table with a thud, Elysia lifted her face, her expression cold. While her silver-grey eyes were filled with irritation and suspicion, Cain’s were as innocent as a boy’s, full of anticipation.
She didn’t avoid his gaze, instead crossing her arms and staring back at him impassively.
“Whoa, senior, what’s this all about!”
“So that’s why you were pushing for an extension! Are you meeting a girl?”
Cain gave a good-natured smile to the students who were teasing him playfully, then turned his head to look at her again. He was finding her so easily, even from a distance.
At this point, Elysia was just curious. What the hell does this man want from me?
“Since the theme of the banquet is Halloween, we’re also planning some fun events. Well then, everyone, please enjoy yourselves.”
Fun events? Staring at Cain’s back as he returned to the crowd, Elysia belatedly noticed someone tapping her on the shoulder.
She turned with a face full of annoyance to see Siene, her eyes wide, looking vexed.
“I kept calling you, why didn’t you answer? What were you thinking about?”
“About killing that bastard.”
“I don’t know who that is, but you don’t have time for that, you know?”
Siene laughed off Elysia’s words as if they were nothing and pointed behind her. Elysia followed her gesture and turned around, muttering with a dumbfounded expression.
“...What the hell is this…”
A line of people had formed, all waiting for a chance to speak with her.
*
“El, don’t die on me.”
She was already drained after just a few light conversations. With a troubled look, Evan led Elysia to the banquet hall’s balcony.
As she collapsed onto a sofa, he naturally slipped off her heels and set them neatly aside. He sat down next to her and asked.
“How was it?”
“Everyone was fine, except for that last person.”
“Ah, that woman.”
“Yes, her name was… Lindsay Brickwell?”
At Elysia’s words, Evan’s face hardened. She was the daughter of the Brickwell family, one of the few viscounties in Löwe. From the start of the banquet, she had been insufferably condescending toward Elysia, trying to turn people against her.
She had followed them so persistently that even though Evan had deliberately avoided people he expected to be rude, they had been forced to exchange words. Then, recalling something, Evan let out a small laugh.
“But you handled it well.”
Elysia shrugged as if it were no big deal.
Lindsay had brought a whole group of her friends, clearly intending to snub Elysia, and had greeted Evan without so much as a glance at her.
Just as Lindsay was about to continue speaking, ignoring Elysia who stood right beside him, a hand suddenly grabbed hers. She stammered, looking up at the woman who was much taller than her. Elysia cocked a dark eyebrow and said.
“I’m Elysia Hemming.”
“...Pardon?”
“You didn’t greet me. I thought you might have forgotten.”
Called out so suddenly for her lack of manners, Lindsay’s face turned bright red. She had expected the commoner-born woman to shrink away if ignored, but she was completely flustered when Elysia confronted her so confidently.
Looking at the girl’s obviously young face, Elysia thought she was rather pathetic. It was so transparent that she was trying to be clever.
“Ah, ahh… Yes, Miss Hemming… I’ve heard a few things about you.”
“What things?”
The implication was, ‘I know about your wild behavior, but I’ll keep quiet about it.’ But when Elysia asked so brazenly, Lindsay was flustered for a second time. With a sour face, she unwittingly repeated the rumors she’d heard, only to flinch and tremble when she met the other woman’s eyes.
“That, you’re quite violent, and that you don’t hesitate to… use your fists… hiccup.”
Elysia had merely been looking at her without much thought, but her natural aura of intimidation terrified the girl. Her feet shuffled back on their own accord.
She had been the one to start the confrontation, and she was the one with the superior social standing, yet a primal fear kept rearing its head.
Evan, who had initially looked displeased, had to suppress a laugh when he realized the surrounding students were watching the scene with pity, as if witnessing the fate of a puppy that had challenged a tiger.
Elysia waited for Lindsay to finish her trailing sentence, then tilted her head and said in her characteristically blunt tone.
“If you have something to say, finish it.”
“I-I’m sorry! Of course, they must be baseless rumors! I-I mean, I…”
“They’re not rumors.”
“Pardon…?”
And that was the end of it. It seemed Lindsay had dismissed the rumors about Elysia on campus as mere exaggerations.
Come on, how could a woman beat a man to a pulp? Was that her naive thinking? She looked utterly shocked that Elysia would admit to it so casually.
Lindsay shot Evan a look that screamed, ‘Are you really okay with this woman?’ but when he just looked back as if to say, ‘What’s the problem?’, she mumbled a hasty farewell and fled.
Elysia clicked her tongue as she recalled the sight of the woman running away, having failed to deliver even half of her prepared taunts.
“So young, so naive…”
“Well, you might have come on a bit strong.”
“I expected her to come on stronger.”
“You did well.”
Truthfully, he had been ready to step in if necessary, but seeing Lindsay flee on her own made his resolve pointless.
He had worried whether the straightforward Elysia would be able to pick up on the nobles’ characteristic way of shaming people with roundabout speech, but as it turned out, she was oblivious to goodwill and keenly sensitive to malice.
He smiled faintly, then checked his watch, his expression darkening.
“...Thirty minutes left.”
Elysia, who had also noted the time until midnight, nodded.
“I should get going soon.”
Leaning her head back against the sofa one last time, Elysia stood up. At that moment, a gentle but firm grip caught her wrist, stopping her.
She stared blankly down at her wrist. Evan, who had been frozen in silence for a long moment, finally managed to part his lips.
“...I have a bad feeling.”
As midnight approached, a sense of dread with no discernible source began to stir within him. He looked down at his own hand, veins popping from a strength he hadn't realized he was using. What’s wrong with me? His heart kept turning cold.
An instinctive fear that if he let go of this hand, he would never see Elysia again. A single phrase, bypassing all reason, tumbled from his lips.
“Don’t go.”
Elysia was taken aback, witnessing the storm of anxiety raging within his usually calm green eyes. She bent down to meet his gaze as he sat, and said carefully.
“He promised my safety first, so nothing should happen.”
“I’d rather go with you…”
“The condition for guaranteeing my safety was that I go ‘alone,’ so it’s probably best not to provoke him. Don’t worry, I’m going armed to the teeth. I even have a gun—”
As she tried to continue, Evan suddenly pulled her toward him. Losing her balance for a moment, Elysia fell into his arms with a small cry of, “Ugh!”
Like someone trying to grasp a mirage, he hugged her tightly, desperately, shaking his head as if to suppress the ominous premonition. He shook his head again and muttered.
“No, no… Ignore what I said. What’s wrong with me? I’m sorry.”
“No, you don’t have to be sorry. You’re just worried about me.”
Elysia felt a vague sense of strangeness. Evan wasn’t the type to get this agitated. Why is he suddenly acting like this…?
The hand that had been tenderly stroking her hair reluctantly pulled away. His deathly pale face worried her, and Elysia kept looking back at him.
He bit his lip and said in a low voice.
“I’ll wait.”
That single phrase made her breath catch in her throat. She was grateful, and at the same time, sorry. Elysia was about to reply, but seeing how little time was left, she hurried on her way.
I’ll say what I couldn’t say when I get back, she resolved as she moved forward.
She didn’t realize then that she would come to regret that decision.