Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Kalli's Heart & Glacia's Wait
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***
It was only for a brief moment that I was surprised to see Cadet Han Cheon-seong collapse into my arms, only for a brief moment that my body froze.
But that short span of time felt incredibly long to me.
In terms of actual time, it couldn't have been more than a few minutes... but I had no idea how to react.
“…”
He was breathing softly.
As Cadet Han Cheon-seong, resting in my arms, let out a gentle breath, a somewhat hollow laugh escaped my lips.
“Even if you say you’re fine. You were completely exhausted.”
Muttering to myself, I found it fascinating that a cadet would push himself so hard in a sparring match that he lost consciousness.
The cadet had long since surpassed his limits, essentially burning himself out on pure willpower alone.
But no matter how strong that will was, a limit still existed.
He tried to keep pushing forward, his will a burning flame. But the body could not respond to that will indefinitely.
Gently.
I carefully eased the cadet from my embrace and slowly knelt down.
It wouldn't be right to carry him somewhere like this, and more importantly, he was simply asleep from exhaustion.
It was nothing to be overly concerned about. If I just let him rest for a bit, he would regain his strength on his own…
“What should I do?”
After a moment of thought, I carefully rested Han Cheon-seong’s head on my lap.
I wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do, but I thought this would be the most comfortable position for him right now.
Gently.
As I looked at the cadet resting on my lap, a sense of awkwardness washed over me. I wasn't sure if my lap would provide him with even a little comfort, and the act itself felt strange.
Moreover, the sensation of the cadet resting on my lap was peculiar.
“This is… because it’s Cadet Han Cheon-seong.”
I steadied my heart with a single utterance.
Since I had already decided to show him favoritism, perhaps it was acceptable for me, his instructor, to offer this small kindness.
Yes, thinking of it that way, this action didn’t seem so strange. If the student I’d chosen to favor had been a female cadet, I would have done the same.
“It wouldn’t have been… much different.”
I rationalized my actions, not quite understanding why I was muttering such things.
“…”
The awkwardness was fleeting. I found myself gazing at the peacefully unconscious Han Cheon-seong.
He wasn't tossing and turning, which I took to mean my lap wasn't uncomfortable. I felt a strange sense of relief as he simply lay there, breathing steadily.
A smile crept onto my face as I became more conscious of the soft sound of his breathing.
“And to think… I told you repeatedly to take a rest.”
Recklessly forcing the sparring session would only strain his body.
Even so, I couldn't bring myself to see the unconscious Han Cheon-seong in a negative light.
He burned with willpower, put his effort into action, and showed a fierce desire to move forward. He was kindling such a will not on a battlefield, but here at the academy.
No one would have said a word if he had trained a little more loosely, with a more relaxed mindset…
I had felt it during our first meeting, but Cadet Han Cheon-seong’s mindset was fundamentally different from the other cadets. He was serious about his training, always giving it his sincere, utmost effort.
Gently.
As I carefully brushed his disheveled hair aside, I found myself truly seeing him anew.
“…”
The Ellimiang's earring I had personally put on him caught my eye, and then his features came into focus one by one.
Though a hint of youth remained, it didn't feel… entirely boyish.
If anything, he seemed more mature than others his age.
I had sensed it during our conversations and observed it in his usual attitude during lectures.
Cadet Han Cheon-seong was definitely younger than me, yet he didn't give off a younger vibe. Only now, as he slept so soundly, did it hit me that he was just a young man who had barely turned twenty.
“He looks a bit like a child when he’s asleep…”
As I spoke, his sleeping face seemed to exude a strange innocence.
It was as if Cadet Han Cheon-seong was somehow untouched by the world’s grime.
“…Come to think of it.”
There was more than one strange thing about him.
Commoner background, Common trait. I had checked his family records several times, but there was no noteworthy information.
It was as if he had suddenly dropped into this world. Compared to other cadets, the lack of information on him was extreme.
And that’s when it hit me. A sense of incongruity.
Contrary to my impression of his innocence… Han Cheon-seong’s circumstances were anything but.
In fact, it was strange that he wasn't jaded, given the many hardships he faced.
A commoner, granted a low-tier trait, with no family to rely on. He would have had to handle everything by himself, and none of it could have been easy.
This world is colder than one might think.
It’s a world that judges everything—your trait, your birth, your family, and so much more.
This ‘world’ itself was built on gross discrimination.
With the trait you receive upon adulthood, it dictates that your worth is defined by your rank.
As my thoughts continued, my heart sank.
“How can he be like this?”
…I began to look at Cadet Han Cheon-seong in a different light than before.
When I truly considered his circumstances, from his perspective, I was someone who had almost everything.
Family, lineage, even my trait.
I lacked for nothing. I had never really faced what people call adversity. While I had experienced a few major crises on the battlefield, my life up to that point had been remarkably smooth.
And yet here I was… chiding Cadet Han Cheon-seong, pushing him to go further, and placing great expectations on him.
‘Didn’t this situation seem terribly unfair to Cadet Han Cheon-seong?’
That I, who had everything, would place such expectations on him.
“…”
I didn't know why I was only thinking of this now.
These were things I should have considered long ago, but it was only upon seeing the exhausted, sleeping cadet that I could finally reflect on myself.
I clenched my jaw, feeling a sigh about to escape.
And the reason for my ignorance was painfully simple.
“Because Cadet Han Cheon-seong quietly endured it…”
Cadet Han Cheon-seong had always endured and accepted it. He rarely even showed any sign of struggling.
It wouldn't have been strange for him to complain, yet he never tried to show me his weak side.
It was as if… he was consciously trying to do so.
Even in today’s sparring session, not once did he say he wanted to rest or that it was too hard, not until I was the one to tell him he could take a break.
As if he were forcing himself to appear fine for my sake…
“…”
My breath caught in my throat.
Only now did every single one of those moments become glaringly obvious.
Without even realizing it… had I, in some ways, been leaning on Cadet Han Cheon-seong?
Telling myself that I could count on Cadet Han Cheon-seong. That he was the talent I had been hoping for…
Suddenly, that thought struck me. Had I taken his assurances that he was fine too literally?
Softly.
As I gazed at the cadet, sleeping from exhaustion, my lips quivered.
Guilt washed over me.
To look at the student I was supposed to be teaching and guiding, only to end up reflecting on myself instead—this reality felt so foolish.
And this wasn't the first time; it had happened several times already.
“From now on, I’ll… treat you better.”
I made a firm resolve, speaking to the cadet who couldn't hear me.
If a time came when Han Cheon-seong struggled even more, I would have to be his pillar of support. I would help him properly, as much as I was able.
And like the mistake I made before, I would never again treat him so coldly…
Through the window, the night sky had already grown dark. I dazedly checked the time.
“6:27.”
When had so much time passed? At the same time, I felt like I was forgetting something.
Then, I immediately remembered what I had overlooked.
“That’s right, Cadet Glacia.”
Cadet Han Cheon-seong and Cadet Glacia had an arrangement.
Realizing that breaking it would put him in a very difficult position, I immediately shook his shoulder.
“Cadet Han Cheon-seong? It’s already 6 o’clock. You have an appointment today. You need to wake up.”
***
Tap. Tap.
The sound of a twig tapping against the park ground echoed continuously.
The woman engaged in this childish act was, surprisingly, quite beautiful.
With blue hair cascading down, the woman sat on a park bench, passing the time with a calm expression. Glacia, for what felt like the hundredth time, lifted her gaze to scan the various entrances.
“…”
Still, no one was visible at the park entrance.
To be precise, a few people had appeared, but none of them was the person I was waiting for.
‘He’s too late.’
It was so strange. Why was Han Cheon-seong, who had always been so punctual, so late today?
The very act of waiting for him felt unfamiliar.
—6:34 PM.
It had already been well over thirty minutes.
And today, for some reason, the time spent waiting for him… felt especially long. It felt less like thirty minutes and more like I had already been waiting for over an hour.
Whoosh.
A sudden gust of wind tousled my hair. As I smoothed it down, I muttered to myself.
“Could it be… that something happened?”
The Han Cheon-seong I knew was not a man who would break a promise.
He was a man who listened intently to my words, who seemed casual but paid close attention, and who spent time with me.
Then I realized how foolish my last words were.
Han Cheon-seong had clearly said he had a prior engagement with Instructor Kalli today. In that case, there was no way something could have happened to him.
Considering Instructor Kalli’s reputation, that was a given.
‘In that case…’
There was only one other possibility.
“Did he forget about meeting me?”
Even though we had spoken about meeting just a few hours ago, could Han Cheon-seong have forgotten his promise to me?
The thought left me with a very strange feeling.
Nothing happened to Han Cheon-seong. -> Then he should have come to meet me. -> But Han Cheon-seong didn't come.
Following that line of reasoning, there was little possibility other than him having forgotten the promise.
“…”
Without warning, a memory from my childhood surfaced.
—Right! Glacia, you just have to hide behind the box here. The seeker will never find you!
On that day, I had trusted the words of the child I thought was my friend and hidden behind the box for a long, long time.
I stayed hidden until it was very late at night.
And… I was eventually found by my sister, who had been searching for me desperately. The words she said to me then are still vivid in my mind.
—Glacia. Those children you were playing with today… they are not your friends.
—They left you here and went home by themselves. Glacia, you must never play with them again. How could this happen… haa. I’m just… I’m so angry right now.
As my sister looked at me, her voice choked with tears, all I could do was stare back at her.
It was the first time I had ever seen my sister, who was always so confident and smiling, look so full of anguish. I couldn't say a word.
“…”
The sudden memory made my breath quicken.
My heart always ached whenever I recalled that day.
I knew that I had been ostracized by the other children, that I had been the last to realize it. But more than that, the sight of my sister’s heartbreak… left a deep scar on my heart.
More than anything else, I hated seeing my sister in so much pain.
Because my sister was my everything.
“…”
I found myself biting my lip.
I had been in a good mood after meeting and talking with Han Cheon-seong today, however briefly.
In fact, I had been more than just in a good mood… I had been happy.
“He called me… a friend.”
I thought that Han Cheon-seong, at least, had sincerely called me a friend.
He seemed so genuine when he said it.
‘And yet.’
Why hasn't he appeared?
“…”
A deep sigh escaped me as sorrow welled up inside.
Even when I realized I was being ostracized in my childhood, my emotions hadn't surged like this. If it weren't for my sister's sad face back then… I could have just dismissed them as being that kind of children.
But this time, it was different.
I didn't want to foolishly wait for someone. If I was being tricked again, just like back then…
Slowly.
“…Haa.”
As I rose from my seat, a sigh I couldn't suppress escaped my lips.
I let out the pent-up emotions in my chest as a sigh and began to walk away.
Click.
Clack.
My mood sank as I walked toward the park exit.
‘Maybe.’
Maybe Han Cheon-seong had forgotten about me while he was with Instructor Kalli.
Perhaps he hadn't intentionally forgotten or ignored our promise. I found myself unconsciously thinking that.
A bitter laugh escaped me at my own thought.
“How foolish.”
Why was I trying so hard to rationalize it? I was starting to hate this side of myself.
Click.
Just as I was a few steps from leaving the park, my feet strangely refused to move.
‘If I wait a little longer…’
Wouldn't Han Cheon-seong come? He was different from the other people I knew. If I just waited a little more…
“Glacia!”
At that moment, a voice called my name urgently, and I spun around reflexively.
There, panting heavily, was…
Han Cheon-seong.