Why Her Instead of Me?
“Sit down.”
My body reacted before my head could.
“Yes.”
If she says sit, I sit.
Resistance wasn't even an option in this situation.
I obediently pressed my back against the chair again and neatly folded my hands on my knees.
It felt like I was a kid waiting for a scolding.
The atmosphere in the room was that dark and heavy.
-Clack, clack
Lilliana's heels echoed across the white tile floor.
Pink eyes gazing down at me from above.
“Lady Elise.”
She stopped by the bed and called my name in a low, soft voice.
Completely different from the bright, cheerful tone she'd used with Aria moments ago.
“Uh, yeah. Lilliana. What's up?”
I forced myself to sound as calm as possible.
I wanted to pat myself on the back just for not squeaking.
“Why are you so tense?”
She tilted her head slightly as she asked.
A gentle smile still played on her lips, but her voice was cold as ice.
“Me? I'm n-not tense.”
I forced the corners of my mouth up into a smile and looked away.
“Just… surprised you showed up out of nowhere.”
“Ah. So you were surprised.”
Lilliana nodded curtly.
Then she reached out and swept her hand across the mattress.
Her pale fingers glided over the exact spot Aria had been touching just moments before.
A deeply displeased, almost neurotic motion, like she was wiping away filthy dust.
“I was quite surprised myself.”
She murmured lowly.
The fingers that had swept the sheet now clenched the edge of the blanket tightly.
“When I heard the Black Moon cult had appeared in the academy underground… and that you were hurt… you have no idea what it did to my heart.”
“That was… just how things turned out.”
I tried to come up with an excuse, but I had nothing.
Mumbling was the best I could do.
“Yes. I heard all about the situation.”
Lilliana released the sheet and leaned her upper body toward me.
Strands of her pink hair fell across my shoulder.
“…From someone other than you, Lady Elise.”
My breath caught in my throat.
She was close enough that our noses nearly touched.
My stiff face stared back at me from her transparent pink eyes.
“Why do I always have to hear about you from someone else's mouth?”
I could feel her breath.
The thick rose scent from the greenhouse hit me all at once.
Sweet, but with something that dulled the mind.
“S-sorry. I didn't have time to contact you.”
I stammered, breaking out in cold sweat.
“Ah. Is that so?”
“Y-yeah. It felt so urgent, I just rushed off.”
“Ha…”
A sigh slipped from between her lips.
My body flinched on reflex.
She tilted her head slightly and stared straight into my eyes.
“No time to contact me. An urgent situation. I understand completely. Because it's you, Lady Elise.”
“Y-yeah?”
I awkwardly rolled my eyes.
Just as I started thinking she might forgive me, her pale fingers lightly gripped the collar of my patient gown.
A subtle tension entered her grip on the fabric.
Not choking me.
But tight enough to bind me, preventing any escape.
“But Lady Elise.”
Her low voice wormed into my ear.
“There's just one thing I can't understand.”
“W-what?”
Her fingers traced the area near my collarbone.
The gap where a button had come slightly undone.
The exact spot Aria had been staring at so intently.
“Why her, of all people?”
“Huh…?”
“The underground sewer. A place that dangerous… why bring along some first-year like her?”
Lilliana's eyes narrowed.
“I'm right here. I can protect you. So why bring her and end up like this?”
Jealousy.
The emotion swirling in her eyes was pure, blatant jealousy.
A deep, sticky form of obsession.
One wrong word here, and I was in real trouble.
The gears in my head spun wildly.
What excuse to make?
Saying it was a coincidence felt too contrived.
Claiming Aria tagged along on her own might just enrage her more—after all, that girl got me hurt.
Maybe the truth was the safest bet in this situation.
“I… did bring Aria with me.”
“Pardon?”
Her eyes turned feral at my admission.
“You chose that girl… over me…?”
The air truly froze solid.
Her fingertips trembled faintly.
Dark clouds seemed to gather in her pink eyes.
“Why… why?”
Her voice grew watery in an instant.
But it wasn't sadness—it was thick with resentment and betrayal.
Choosing someone else had clearly struck her reverse scale.
I jumped in quickly at her reaction.
Hesitate here, and it was over.
“It was all for you!”
The air in the room halted for a split second at my desperate shout.
Lilliana's eyes went wide as saucers.
The grip on my collar loosened with a flinch.
“For… me?”
“Yes. For you, Lilliana.”
I stared straight into her eyes without flinching and continued.
My heart pounded like mad.
“The underground sewer might have had Black Moon cultists. Traps, monsters popping out—who knew what we'd face?”
“That's why I should have been by your—”
“That's why I didn't bring you.”
I gently cut her off.
Then, carefully, I laid my hand over the back of her cold one.
“I didn't want to see you get hurt.”
I packed every ounce of sincerity into my words.
This wasn't a lie. My top priority was always her safety and happiness.
To achieve that, she needed distance from me and my clear-the-game goals.
“How could I take you somewhere that dangerous?”
“Lady Elise…”
“I can endure my own injuries somehow. But you getting hurt because of me? I couldn't bear it. That's why I couldn't call you. You're too… precious to me.”
The last part was a bit embarrassing, but it was true.
A deep silence settled over the hospital room once I finished.
Lilliana stood with her lips slightly parted, saying nothing.
Her wavering pink eyes gradually widened, and the dark clouds in them slowly cleared.
A clear light returned to her gaze.
“Ah…”
A small, sweet gasp escaped her lips.
The fingers beneath my hand twitched faintly, then gripped mine tightly in return.
Her once-cold body heat turned furnace-hot in an instant.
“Ehehehe…”
Laughter suddenly bubbled from between her lips.
The suffocating killing intent that had filled the room was gone without a trace.
Just pure, innocent giggles.
“So that's it. To protect me… you didn't want to take me somewhere so dangerous…”
I hadn't said "protect," but whatever.
She brought my hand to her cheek and rubbed it gently against her skin.
“I didn't realize… I thought you disliked me and went looking for someone else, so I felt just a tiny bit upset.”
A tiny bit? That kill aura from earlier?
I swallowed the thought, keeping it inside.
“Sorry. Should've told you ahead of time. I will next time.”
“No need, Lady Elise. Knowing you did it for my sake… I'm just happy.”
Lilliana closed her eyes blissfully.
Her cheek against my palm burned like a fireball.
She nuzzled my hand for a long while before slowly opening her eyes again.
Transparent, shining pink irises.
“But Lady Elise.”
Her gaze shifted back to the bandage on my right shoulder.
“Even if it was to protect me, I don't like seeing you hurt like this.”
Lilliana released my hand and approached my shoulder cautiously.
“How much blood did you lose… It breaks my heart every time I look at it.”
“Esilla did solid first aid, so it'll heal quick. Just a light bite.”
I downplayed it to reassure her.
But Lilliana shook her head firmly.
“No. I can't let a scar like this mar your beautiful body.”
She reached out and grasped the knot securing the thick bandage around my shoulder.
“Wait, Lilliana. We shouldn't undo the bandage—”
“Stay still.”
Her voice was soft and gentle once more, but laced with unyielding determination.
-Swish
Lilliana unwound the bandage layer by delicate layer.
Each time a blood-crusted strip peeled away, sharp pain surged through me, and I couldn't help but furrow my brow.
“Ugh…”
“Does it hurt? Just bear with it a little. I'll heal it right up.”