Falling (7)
The rustling sound grated against my ears like something unpleasant burrowing into my skull.
A deeply unsettling sensation swept over me, as if invisible hands were rummaging through my mind.
My head spun violently.
Though faint, a strangely gentle voice reached me in broken fragments.
“Who did that to your cheek?”
The sudden question pierced through the haze.
For some reason, I felt an overwhelming compulsion to answer it.
“…Teodora.”
I couldn’t resist. The words slipped out before I could stop them.
The benevolent voice murmured, laced with clear dissatisfaction.
“Hmm, so it really was that woman I saw during the day. Why on earth is she tormenting you, Senior?”
“That’s…”
The story of my entanglement with Teodora poured out uncontrollably, ignoring my own will entirely.
The feeling of my mouth moving on its own was utterly revolting.
Especially when it involved a past I never wanted to reveal.
Once my tale ended, the voice fell silent for a long time.
“Wow… are you an idiot? A total pushover?! Devotion has its limits, you know. At this point, even if that woman got on her knees and begged for your forgiveness, it still wouldn’t be enough… Ha. She really is a selfish person.”
The voice sounded genuinely displeased.
It sighed heavily, filled with pity.
“Senior. From now on, you will come to the Theology Department club every single day like a good boy. You will become a little more aware of me. Just having me nearby will make your heart race. And whenever you face something difficult, you will instinctively seek me out… Is that about right?”
The voice grew louder.
No—it wasn’t growing louder. It was simply closing the distance between us.
“Hehe, even your sleeping face is adorable.”
I could feel her breath brushing against my face.
“Senior, your miserable school days are over starting today! Let’s create happy memories together. Unlike everyone else, I can make you happy…!”
Along with that strangely joyful voice,
my consciousness plummeted back into the abyss.
“Now, you’re going to forget everything that happened tonight, okay?”
I opened my eyes.
Outside the window, the world was still pitch black.
Was it still before dawn?
I stared blankly at my hand, clenching and unclenching it.
It was like checking to make sure everything was real, retracing the fragments of memory.
The events from before weren’t completely blurred… not entirely.
“…I remember it all clearly?”
The sudden visit from the Saint.
And how I had unknowingly spilled everything to her.
My memories weren’t perfect, but the core parts remained intact.
Of course, if this too was part of Cecilia’s scheme, I’d have nothing to say. But she didn’t seem like the type to complicate things that much.
‘At least that’s a relief.’
It was fortunate I remembered. Otherwise, I might have blindly started relying on Cecilia without realizing it.
I forced my exhausted body upright and reached for the magic grass that had fallen beside the bed.
Chik.
Huuu…
A dreamy sensation washed over me, and my body relaxed into comfort.
The stabbing pain in my chest vanished, leaving only a languid warmth behind.
‘The effect is reliable, at least.’
As expected, the only thing I could trust was magic grass.
My body was still drained and heavy with fatigue, but my mind had become clear again.
I replayed the recent events in my head.
‘Just what the hell is going on?’
Cecilia was clearly not normal, no matter how you looked at it.
‘How can a Saint use hypnosis?’
Mental magic was an extremely rare ability, only usable by those born with a special talent for it.
Even Solia, who would become a great mage in the future, could barely use a few mental spells.
‘If it’s not her own power, then it must be because of that cross I saw at the beginning…’
The old-looking cross.
There was no doubt Cecilia had used it to pull off her trick.
‘An artifact that specializes in mental magic? As far as I know, there isn’t any item like that.’
This wasn’t some adult game. How was I supposed to remember every single obscure item?
The method of hypnosis itself was one thing, but the biggest question was why.
‘Why go through all this trouble just to keep me trapped at the academy?’
What possible reason could the Saint—praised by the entire Holy Order—have to take interest in a worthless scoundrel like me?
No matter how I looked at it, something was off.
‘And the way she acted so strangely familiar with me…’
Today was supposed to be my first real meeting with Cecilia.
Yet she had spoken as if she knew me well.
If that was the case, then…
Knock, knock—
Before my thoughts could continue, someone knocked on the door.
“…………”
I knew someone had business with me, but I deliberately stayed silent.
Whoever it was, it wouldn’t be anything good.
And honestly… I just wanted to rest.
The things I’d gone through in a single day were more than enough to break anyone.
Solia had restrained me with magic.
Isilla had overpowered me with force.
Teodora had suppressed me with her body.
And Cecilia had enslaved me with hypnosis.
Whether I looked at each incident individually or as a whole, it was an overwhelmingly dizzying day.
So please, just leave me alone.
Just assume I’m asleep and go away.
Don’t come looking for me anymore.
But then—
“Aren…? Are you… sleeping?”
I flinched.
A voice far too familiar, far too longed-for, drifted in from outside the door.
It was Solia.
‘Fuck.’
If it had been anyone else, I would have refused without hesitation. But Solia… she was different.
I knew I still harbored lingering feelings for her that I couldn’t shake off.
Maybe it was because the old memories had been overly romanticized.
Even though I still found her repulsive and selfish, the charred remnants of affection kept resurfacing, tormenting me.
But I had already rejected her once.
In the infirmary, I had spat out words too filthy to repeat.
No matter what, facing her now wouldn’t lead to anything good.
As I tried to pretend I was still asleep,
Solia murmured softly.
“Aren, are you sleeping…? Then… should I make lots of babies with you again today…?”
I shot upright instantly at her words and opened the door.
Creak—
“…What do you want?”
“Aren…! Y-you were awake…”
Solia avoided my gaze with an embarrassed expression.
Instead of her usual uniform, she was wrapped in a large cloak.
Everything except her face was completely hidden.
It was quite an unusual outfit.
“What’s with that cloak?”
“Ah, t-this is…”
When I pointed out her attire, Solia’s face turned bright red and she grew flustered.
For some reason, her reaction seemed a bit excessive.
Well, it was the middle of the night.
Maybe she didn’t want to be seen by others, so she wore that cloak.
Of course, what she was wearing didn’t really matter to me.
I glared at her and said,
“I told you not to come looking for me.”
I had made it perfectly clear to Solia.
If she came to see me one more time, I would treat her like something less than human.
Like a whore on the street.
But in truth, I was only threatening her with words.
I could never actually treat her that way.
It wasn’t just psychological repulsion—
if I did, my life would genuinely be in danger.
If Solia ever confessed that I had done something humiliating to her, the Corpen family would do everything in their power to eliminate me.
No matter how prestigious the Roenhart family was, they wouldn’t protect a half-ruined scoundrel like me.
The moment I tried to ignore her and close the door,
Grab—
Solia seized the edge of the door.
“Let go.”
A relationship that had already shattered beyond repair couldn’t be forced back together.
I knew it.
She must have known it too.
But Solia still seemed to have lingering attachment. She desperately tried not to let me go.
She gripped the door tightly and spoke.
“……Aren, I’m sorry.”
Her voice was so small it was barely audible.
For a moment,
an indescribable feeling surged through me at her apology.
Frustration, regret, lingering affection—every kind of negative yet nostalgic emotion flashed through my mind.
The most pathetic part was that, for a split second, I actually felt happy that she had apologized.
I really must be pathetically weak and broken.
Solia kept her head bowed, endlessly apologizing in a sorrowful voice.
“I’m truly, truly sorry for restraining you with magic without permission… and for knocking you unconscious. Aren.”
‘Fuck.’
My thought process naturally began rearranging itself in a positive direction.
Maybe there was a reason for what she did back then.
Maybe Solia only knocked me out because she cared about me.
Stupid thoughts like these flooded my head.
Normally, I would never have thought this way.
But among everyone I had met today, Solia was the one who had treated me the best.
I let out a silent sigh and opened the door wider.
“…You came here to apologize?”
“Y-yeah… and there’s one more thing…”
“……What?”
When I looked at her in confusion, Solia squeezed her eyes shut and untied the strings of the cloak around her neck.
Slide—
The sight beneath the cloak was completely revealed.
“Haa… haa… This is so embarrassing…”
“Solia, you…”
I was stunned.
The outfit she was wearing barely covered anything at all.
It was an incredibly vulgar dress with almost no fabric on the sides, leaving her breasts exposed from the side. The front was the only part that offered any coverage.
I could never have imagined Solia—who always wore loose, modest clothes—wearing something so provocative.
“Aren, I want to atone to you. No matter how you treat me… it’s fine…”
Solia slowly approached me.
Close enough that our lips could touch.
She asked me one final question.
“Can’t you forgive me now…? Aren, we’re in love, aren’t we?”