Episode 14
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 14
“There’s nothing between us.”
At her answer, Evan shook his head, his expression disbelieving.
“Think carefully. Are you sure there’s nothing?”
“We’ve never even had a proper conversation.”
He recalled Cain’s expression. He’d gone to ask for leniency out of a simple sense of responsibility for his junior, but Cain had been strangely persistent, grilling him about Elysia.
Feeling an unexplainable unease, Evan had deflected the questions and avoided giving a straight answer, yet Cain had smiled, seemingly satisfied.
And that decision…
“Then I don’t get why Cain offered to pay your share of the settlement.”
Flames once again ignited in her silver-gray eyes. Without a word, Evan and Adrian each grabbed one of Elysia’s arms as she tried to storm out of the Prefect Office.
“Aargh! This is driving me crazy! Is that bastard insane?!”
“Elysia! Breathe slowly, breathe! In, out, in, out!”
“Elysia, please…”
*
As soon as the afternoon sun set, the overcast sky began to spit out a drizzle. A man, who had been watching the scar-like streaks the rain left on the windowpane, walked out of a well-organized room with a leisurely gait.
At the appearance of the handsome man with his neatly swept-back platinum blonde hair, the students sitting in the luxurious lounge hurriedly stood up to speak to him.
“Senior! Are you leaving?”
“I’ve finished what I needed to do.”
“Why don’t you stay for a little while!”
“Sorry, I have something else to take care of today.”
His attitude, smiling gently yet seeming to keep a distance, made them look disappointed as they sat back down.
Cain gave a nod of thanks to the servant who opened the door for him and stepped into the rain-darkened hallway, where he spotted someone and broke into a grin.
“Hello there.”
The woman’s expression, standing in the dark hallway, was half-hidden in shadow and hard to see. Impatience etched itself onto the man’s face as he slowly licked his lips.
Come a little closer. I want a better look at that pretty face.
He chuckled and started walking toward her. The woman flinched but didn’t back away, simply watching him.
The light drizzle intensified. A damp, gusty wind blew into the corridor, as if a window had been left open somewhere.
Cain gazed at her short, curly brown hair, tousled by the wind, and at her eyes, which were filled with confusion.
The more I look at her, the more I like her. Yes, this is how it should be. He smiled brightly and said,
“Did you come looking for me?”
“I was told you offered to pay my settlement fee.”
“I did.”
“…Why?”
The man answered with a smile that could melt hearts.
“Because I wanted to.”
Elysia slowly closed and opened her eyes, as if barely suppressing a surge of emotion, and said firmly,
“That won’t be necessary. I’ve just transferred my entire share of the settlement to House Violante. I refuse your offer.”
A thrill shot through him as her murmuring voice reached him, her quiet breath brushing against his cheek. Cain chuckled, leaning toward her and whispering seductively,
“It hurts my heart to have my goodwill rejected like this.”
Elysia took a step back from the man, whose eyes drooped pitifully. Annoyance flickered in her gaze. Having never cultivated patience, she spat out her words like a sharp jab.
“I’m not a beggar. Why the hell would I take money when I don’t even know what you’re after? Besides, I’m the one who did the damage, so of course I should be the one to pay. I may have a nasty temper, but I’m not devoid of common sense.”
“What am I after? I’m hurt.”
His hand slowly reached out, fingers sinking into her hair as if to caress her ear, before cupping the back of her head. She froze at the sudden contact.
In the darkness, his gleaming red eyes whispered sweetly.
“It’s because I like you, Miss Hemming.”
Has he lost his mind? What is he talking about?
Elysia stared at him, dumbfounded. His red eyes were curved into long crescents, holding a strange excitement. A shiver ran down her spine as his long fingers caressed the nape of her neck.
“Unleashing that filthy temper of yours, yet insisting on taking full responsibility… How honest of you, our dear Miss Hemming.”
Fucking lunatic. His bullshit is as colorful as a goddamn rainbow. Elysia barely managed to stop the curse from leaving her lips.
Patience, patience. They say patience three times makes you a pushover… ah, no, that it can prevent murder…
But this bastard threw the first punch, didn’t he?
A shudder wracked her body at the coldness of the fingers tangled in her hair. Barely suppressing the urge to slap him across the face, she glared at Cain and growled.
“Get your hands off me.”
“Ah, sorry. It’s hard to resist when you’re so pretty.”
A flash of lightning cast a sharp light over the man’s face. Elysia’s expression soured as she realized his palm, which had dug deep into her hair like fingers weaving a net, was trembling with pleasure.
“Let go, you crazy bastard.”
♥ SYSTEM: Cain Ror's Favorability +20 ♥
Hearing the woman’s curse, her silver-gray eyes flashing with blue sparks, Cain chuckled.
Just as she was about to explode, a hand reached out from somewhere, and she stumbled into someone’s arms. Evan stood there, expressionless, having pulled her away by her clenched fist.
“Are you okay?”
Finding the back of her head pressed against a solid chest, Elysia belatedly regained her composure. She remembered Evan earnestly begging her to hold back just this once when she’d insisted on confronting Cain herself. She closed her eyes and reminded herself.
This isn’t a world full of enemies who want to tear me to shreds and hang my corpse as an example. In this world, I don’t have to respond to everything with violence…
I know, I knew that… but it was hard to raise the boiling point that had dropped so low for the sake of survival, and it was just as hard not to unleash the rage that wandered with nowhere to go.
How the hell am I supposed to fix this damn temper of mine…?
“Ah… Senior, I tried to hold back, I’m sorry…”
“Don’t apologize. It’s not something you need to be sorry for.”
Her mumbled apology was met with a stiff voice. Elysia was momentarily taken aback by the look on his face—it held more concern than annoyance at a junior who had almost hit someone again.
What? What’s with him?
She had been alone for too long to recognize that someone was trying to protect her.
He helped Elysia, who was leaning against him, stand up straight, then tilted his head and spoke to Cain, who was watching them.
“You should be the one to apologize. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Ah, right.”
Cain chuckled and strode forward, prompting Evan to take a step back, pulling her along by the wrist.
Clearly displeased by the man’s attempt to keep her from him, Cain frowned for a moment before stopping his advance toward Elysia. He smiled gently and apologized.
“Since you find my offer to pay the settlement burdensome, I’ll withdraw it.”
“…”
“And for what happened today, I apologize. I couldn’t control myself. I’m sorry.”
A humorless laugh escaped her. The nerve of this lunatic, smirking while talking about self-control. Furious, Elysia strode toward him and raised her voice.
“Did you get shot in the head and have all your common sense leak out, you crazy son of a—”
“Stop, that’s enough.”
Evan quickly stopped Elysia, grabbing her as she tried to roll up her blouse sleeves and march toward Cain. Held back by Evan, Elysia glared at Cain, who met her gaze and said affectionately,
“Don’t hate me too much.”
“Fuck off!!!”
He covered his mouth and laughed as if he found her growled curse endearing. A favorability window popped up over his face.
♥ SYSTEM: Cain Ror's Favorability +50 ♥
“It’s not like anything will change just because you hate me.”
Leaving her with those cryptic words, the man turned to leave. Then, as if remembering something, he glanced back over his shoulder at her.
“Oh, and enjoy your suspension.”
Elysia was fuming at Cain’s slowly retreating back when she was suddenly spun around. Evan asked her urgently,
“Are you okay?”
“Huh? About what?”
“Nothing happened, right?”
He let out a sigh of relief at her blank blinking and muttered,
“Ror’s relationships with women are… complicated. I followed you just in case… but this is confusing. Ror’s never been like this before. I’m sorry for sending you alone.”
“You followed me?”
“I was worried.”
Elysia’s face crumpled in disbelief at Evan’s stiffly spoken words. She asked again,
“About me?”
“…Actually, about someone you might hit.”
“Aha.”
She understood in an instant. Of course, if she had gotten into a fight with Cain, it would have been a huge headache for this guy…
Seeing Elysia snap her fingers and nod as if she completely understood, Evan’s expression grew troubled.
I have no idea what to do with this time bomb of a junior. Still, she’s banned from campus during her suspension, so nothing should happen for a while…
“As for the drugs being passed around the Art Department… I’ll take care of it while you’re gone, so just get some rest.”
“Rest from what? I’ll be bored.”
What kind of person is she? Evan, dumbfounded, muttered to himself, then looked surprised at his own words.
“You’re right. What did you even do to get suspended on your first day of school…”
Seeing her scratch the back of her head with an awkward expression, Evan suddenly burst out laughing. He laughed again at the way Elysia stared at him, her eyes clearly asking, ‘What’s wrong with him?’
Ah, so this is how comfortable someone can feel, just because the other person knows nothing about them.
He was the type of person for whom hiding his true feelings and smiling kindly had become a habit. He feared that if he didn’t, he might truly be devoured by the misunderstandings people had imposed on him.
But to be this honest with someone he’d just met. To be able to frown and scold them.
In those eyes that looked at him without any prejudice or prior information, he felt free for the first time. The tingling sense of relief, as if a weight had been lifted from his chest, was bewildering but also pleasant.
“Ah, no, I really did try to hold back. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but when he hit me, I just saw red…”
“Right. You held back so much you beat him until his nose bled.”
Elysia, who had been stammering out excuses, looked at his face, still alight with laughter. Realizing he was teasing her, she pressed her lips together in displeasure.
Wiping away a tear that had formed from laughing so hard, he spoke, still smiling brightly.
“It’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Why can I be so honest in front of you? I’ve never said things like this to anyone else.”
♥ SYSTEM: Evan Sylvester's Favorability +30 ♥
…That’s probably because of my passive skill, isn’t it? The words rose to the tip of her tongue, but she managed to swallow them. It seemed the skill ‘Truthful Gaze,’ which helped her easily gather witness testimonies, was subtly glowing by her side.
Should I be happy about this or not…
Realizing that ‘Truthful Gaze’ was affecting this world, her worries about the passive skill that raised the crime rate naturally soared. There were just too many things to worry about.
A sudden wave of fatigue sharpened her gaze. At that moment, she felt the warmth of a gaze on her cheek.
She looked up to meet Evan’s eyes. His green eyes, now incredibly friendly compared to when they first met, were smiling at her. There wasn’t a hint of resentment on the face of the man who had taken on a troublesome task because of her.
With a sharp gaze, Elysia dissected the emotions in his eyes and looked deeper.
For someone who had taken responsibility for all the trouble she’d caused, for someone who felt comfortable around her, there was a strange fear, as if he were trying to keep his distance.