Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: I'll Be Looking Forward to It
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I brushed off Rodwell's question about why it had worked with some vague excuse and headed back to my dorm.
Thinking about it, if I'd just been honest, maybe it would've triggered an event where Laura and Rodwell got closer—
but going back to explain felt a bit much, so I let it drop.
Instead, I mulled over why the necklace had reacted to Laura's mana.
'It seems like there's some kind of trigger unique to Laura.'
No doubt about that part.
Laura was the protagonist, and protagonists always had something special no one else possessed.
So it made sense to assume the necklace reacted to some unique power only she had.
But the problem was...
I had no idea what special power Laura possessed.
It seemed to be the cause of various incidents, but...
I couldn't remember a thing about what power she had.
'Don't tell me it's not just her insane beauty.'
Honestly, with looks like that, you could call it a superpower.
They say excessively handsome or beautiful faces come with the illusion that makes everyone around them look like squid.
This otherworld had an oddly high average attractiveness, so it wasn't that extreme,
but Laura was on a level where claiming she had squid-generating superpowers wouldn't be an exaggeration.
And yet, on top of that, another one?
As I pondered it, one possibility came to mind.
'An ability tied to Laura's past?'
Laura avoided talking about herself to an unusual degree.
I'd thought it was her way of protecting herself whenever "Dominica" came up,
but if it was to hide her ability, that would fit pretty well.
I tapped my fingers on the desk as I thought it over.
'Should I look into it?'
Until now, I'd hesitated to dig into Laura.
I figured keeping a moderate distance was enough,
and maintaining that distance meant avoiding too deep an understanding.
But now that I'd decided otherwise...
Her ability had become something worth knowing.
An unpredictable power that could steer the story in unknown directions.
Even if she was hiding it, I couldn't just stay completely in the dark.
'What could be an ability only Laura would have?'
From what I'd seen so far, the only thing talent-level was her skill with magic.
Magic that monopolized the instructor's praise throughout class.
Even though these lectures were basic level, her unmistakable genius shone through.
But was that her protagonist-unique ability? Probably not.
'A protagonist's unique ability.'
Typically, you'd think status window or regression.
But considering it was a romance fantasy, maybe not.
And narrowing it to a 'special ability that would make the necklace react'...
...no matter how I racked my brain, I had no clue.
I didn't know much about Laura to begin with.
No base information to even speculate on.
'Guess I need to start looking into it now.'
Maybe begin with something light and approachable.
So when I met Laura later and talked, I brought up the topic.
"Do you have anything you like?"
"Pardon?"
"You know, things you like. Objects, hobbies, whatever."
"Things I... like..."
Laura chewed on my question, lowering her head.
I was taken aback by the sight.
Her expression looked far too pained for such a simple question like "What do you like?"
'Did I step on a landmine?'
No way—how was I supposed to know asking about likes was a landmine!
I trembled in unease amid the sudden silence.
Laura Clarins had been in a pretty good mood lately.
Ever since coming to the academy, she'd spent her days in a dreamlike bliss, but
the recent incident had especially lifted her spirits.
Taking the [Understanding Mana] class with her fiancé, Leonardo.
Recalling that moment made something fluffy bloom in her heart.
'I never knew Leonardo had a side like that.'
Her fiancé, who always wore a cold expression.
She'd glimpsed that his inner thoughts weren't so rigid, but even so, it created a psychological distance.
Seeing his icy face often reminded her of her father's.
Count Clarins, whom she'd thought cared for her.
But watching Leonardo in the same class swept those impressions clean away.
His faintly flustered look as he kept popping feathers.
The way he'd subtly roll his eyes, wondering if he was the only one struggling (though it was plain as day to Laura sitting beside him).
And when attempts failed repeatedly, his dejected expression.
Her fiancé, who had felt somewhat distant, stepped right into her heart with those moments.
To the point where she held back from helping just to watch him.
But what shook her heart the most was his reaction when she finally helped him.
[It worked?!]
Leonardo clenching his fist in triumph after successfully lifting the feather unsteadily!
She laughed, and he looked subtly embarrassed!
That image of Leonardo stuck firmly in her mind, refusing to fade.
Like realizing a scary lion was actually a big, gentle dog.
That gap was so lovable she could hardly bear it.
Unable to hold back, she told Laura Carolline, who agreed vehemently.
"Men who look scary on the outside but are soft inside are always rightttt!"
...Honestly, she didn't quite get what was being said.
Laura Carolline went on about "golden retriever-type male leads" and "add a dash of obsession and it's the perfect dish," but Laura didn't really understand.
She just nodded with a smiling face.
Even if the words were a bit odd, Laura Carolline was her first friend.
After that day, Leonardo's attitude toward her grew noticeably more comfortable.
The subtle distance shrank.
He still wasn't proactive, but she felt he was paying attention to her.
That's why Leonardo's question hit her like a blow to the head.
"Do you have anything you like?"
"Pardon?"
"You know, things you like. Objects, hobbies, whatever."
Things she liked.
A perfectly normal question between friends.
If anything, it was weird they hadn't talked about it yet.
Yeah, that was normal.
But Laura Clarins wasn't a normal person.
"Things I... like."
...She had them once, too.
She loved her mother's skirt hem and gentle smile.
She loved her father's prickly beard rubbing against her cheek as he hugged her.
She loved the warmth of the servants who doted on her, calling her "miss" this and "miss" that.
But all that cozy warmth left Laura behind.
Because she was strange.
She saw things no one else could and spoke secrets they didn't want revealed.
So Laura hid them.
Hid and hid, believing that if she stayed hidden, she could keep that happiness forever.
'It wasn't true.'
But she was wrong.
Getting closer meant learning about each other.
Approaching while hiding under the covers alone was a pipe dream.
She could narrow the gap a little, but soon it'd be blocked.
By the thick blanket she wrapped herself in.
See? It was happening now.
She couldn't even answer a light question like "What do you like?" without fumbling,
so how could she claim a place in his heart?
Laura forced her stuck lips to move and spit out an answer.
"I... I like reading books."
It was a lie.
She hated reading.
Reading quietly evoked that frustration from back then.
"Laura Carolline, whom I recently befriended, shares the hobby, so we often chat about it."
But her mouth creakily spun the lie anyway.
Uttering things she'd only imagined as if they were true.
"Do you like reading, Leonardo? If you do, let's have a book club sometime. It'll be fun."
And as always, she changed the subject.
Adding another layer of lies to the blanket over herself.
A brazen lie that embarrassed her even as she said it.
Seeing Leonardo's flustered expression made that lie weigh even heavier on her.
And his overflowing flustered thoughts stabbed at her heart.
But she couldn't stop.
She was scared.
Terrified of what would happen if she shed the blanket protecting her.
So to avoid fear, she endured the pain.
She smiled just as she'd practiced in front of the mirror before coming to Dominica.
And waited for Leonardo's reply.
Hoping he'd lie for her.
But her hope didn't come true.
"Is that so. Everything I read is written in documents, so I'm not sure."
"But it does sound enjoyable, like you said. Next time, I'll pick up a book too."
The truth.
Transparent, shining brilliantly with sincerity.
Leonardo crushed her with that innocent cruelty.
"Yes."
And Laura,
"I'll be looking forward to it."
smiled to the end.
Until the moment she parted from Leonardo.