Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Lea (3)
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When I opened my eyes, a pure white ceiling filled my vision.
Sunlight filtering through the gaps in the window warmed the room.
Judging by the medicines and bandages wrapped around my entire body, I was probably in the academy infirmary.
“That’s a relief… Ugh!”
Lea must have carried me here after I passed out.
The aftermath of the fight still lingered; even the slightest movement sent throbbing pain rippling through me.
‘But where’s Lea?’
As I started to feel puzzled by her absence,
I suddenly heard a faint, steady breathing sound near my legs.
Lifting my head, I spotted Lea slumped over the bed, arms resting on my knees, fast asleep in a chair. She looked utterly exhausted.
Tear stains still lingered around her eyes, as if she had been sobbing uncontrollably until just moments ago.
“…Lea?”
At the sound of her name, she stirred, slowly lifting her head as if waking from a deep sleep.
When she saw that I was conscious, her face went blank in disbelief.
“…Rowen?”
“Ahaha… I’m awake, Lea.”
She seemed to think for a moment, then sniffed, her eyes gradually filling with moisture.
“This isn’t a dream, right? You’re really okay, Rowen…?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Don’t worry so much.”
She still looked unconvinced and reached out, placing her hand on my face.
I get that she was relieved, but at this rate my face was going to get squished…
She poked and rubbed it here and there, then gently stroked it, before finally seeming reassured. Tears pooled in her large eyes.
“Ugh… ugh… waaah…! I really thought you were going to die, Rowen…”
“W-Wait, Lea!”
I understood how relieved she was, but this position was seriously embarrassing…!
Bursting into tears, she stood up and pulled me into a tight hug, as if vowing never to lose me again.
The problem was that my face ended up buried in an awkwardly sensitive spot.
Having just survived the greatest danger since possessing this body, I couldn’t move an inch, stuck between options.
Trying to escape might only cause a bigger misunderstanding, so I decided to endure it.
Warm… soft… and it even smelled nice…
If someone could read Rowen’s thoughts right now, they’d probably label him a pervert without hesitation.
And so, a blissful moment—for at least one party—passed.
Once Lea calmed down a bit and stopped crying, she looked at me.
“…What’s with that happy expression?”
“I didn’t mean to…!”
Her face flushed red, clearly embarrassed about what had just happened as well.
But how did she know what I was thinking?
As I was feeling confused, Lea spoke as if she understood.
“You’re wondering how I knew, right? Actually, I can smell people’s emotions.”
“Smell emotions?”
Smell emotions? What did that even mean?
In the game, Lea did always seem unusually sensitive to scents, but…
I never expected a secret like this.
Ever since Avillon Academy became reality, it really did seem like there were many details the game never covered.
“When we first met, you asked why I didn’t have any friends, remember? People who harbor bad feelings toward me give off a bad smell.”
That explained it. There was no way someone as kind as Lea truly had no friends.
Being able to sense people’s emotions probably made her naturally avoid forming relationships.
“But you, Rowen… you smelled good. Familiarity, trust, affection… and just a little bit of love, too.”
Wait—what?
Does that mean all my inner thoughts had been exposed this whole time…?
And love, too. Sure, I liked the heroines in Avillon Academy, but I didn’t think it was that obvious.
So she thought I’d fallen for her at first sight?
What if she thought I was the type who only cared about looks…
Realizing that my emotions were probably still readable made my face heat up even more.
“…You don’t need to be embarrassed. Even I think I’m fairly pretty, and plenty of people have fallen for me at first sight. I was just surprised that your feelings weren’t mixed with lust.”
Of course. What I liked was Lea herself.
…Though I almost had some impure thoughts earlier. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice.
“Then, Lea. When did you start being able to sense other people’s emotions?”
“I was actually going to tell you about that.”
Was it painful to recall?
Lea closed her eyes and thought for a long while, then took a deep breath and continued.
“It wasn’t like this from birth. It’s more like a curse I gained because of a mistake I made as a child.”
“…A mistake?”
Her fingertips trembled slightly as she struggled with how to begin.
“I had a younger brother with a very weak body. He couldn’t even go outside on his own, but he always wanted to see the world beyond our house.”
I already knew Lea had a younger sibling.
Whenever she was struggling, she would think of him and regain her strength.
The memory of her sad smile as she said he was far too good for someone like her still lingered in my mind.
“Back then, the only thing I was good at was using brute strength. When my brother asked me to take him deep into the forest, I thought it would be fine and went with him.”
Just recalling it made her face twist in pain.
“He said there was a magical spring in the center of the forest. When we went there, there really was a beautifully glowing spring.”
…Don’t tell me.
In Avillon Academy, there were locations that rewarded rare equipment or elixirs.
Lea and her brother had probably entered some kind of dungeon.
But nothing in this world came for free.
There would have been a guardian.
“I was so thirsty from carrying my brother that I let my guard down to drink from the spring… I didn’t even notice the tiger until it appeared. I shouldn’t have done that.”
That was probably it.
While Lea was distracted by the spring water, the guardian attacked her brother.
In the game, if you talked to Lea while she was gazing at the moon, she always gave the same response:
‘I’m not that amazing. People call me the last bastion or the strongest vanguard, but I couldn’t even protect the person most precious to me.’
That precious person had never been revealed.
Seeing the always-smiling Lea show sadness had moved many players.
I just never realized that person was her younger brother.
“…I’m sorry, Lea. I think I made you bring up painful memories.”
“You don’t need to apologize. In the end, it happened because of me. I bragged that I’d protect him no matter what, yet I was too scared to move. Isn’t that ridiculous?”
She let out a self-mocking laugh, clearly blaming herself.
…How was any of that Lea’s fault?
Most people would faint—or worse—just seeing a guardian.
At that young age, she didn’t even lose consciousness and tried to protect her brother to the end.
Listening to her story, tears began to fall without me realizing it.
“It’s not your fault, Lea. No matter who it was, they wouldn’t have been able to do anything in that situation.”
“But…! Even today, I couldn’t do anything. You almost died because of me, Rowen…”
Sure, if she’d helped, I might’ve avoided serious injuries.
But so what?
Who would blame someone suffering from trauma for being unable to act?
If anything, Lea deserved praise for finding the courage to step in at the end and stop the fight.
“Lea, you said you can smell emotions, right? Then smell mine. I don’t resent you at all.”
“…But because of me, you—”
“Enough.”
Lea’s eyes widened in shock, as if she wasn’t used to being interrupted.
“Back then, you moved. Even though you were scared, even though your hands were shaking, even though you were on the verge of tears.
You still stepped in to stop it. That’s more than enough for me.”
The fact that she overcame her trauma and found the courage to act was already admirable.
When I smiled gently and spoke sincerely, Lea’s restrained emotions finally burst, and she began to cry again.
“Why… why are you so kind to me? I’m someone who only hurts others… someone who doesn’t deserve happiness—someone who shouldn’t be happy. And yet you keep giving me false hope!”
“…Lea. This might be presumptuous, but there’s something I want to tell you. I think I understand your brother’s final words.”
She always tried to look happy on the outside, while her heart rotted away inside.
The reason game-Lea sometimes looked sad was probably because she doubted whether she truly deserved happiness.
After organizing my thoughts, I took a breath and continued.
“Lea, you’re someone who deserves to be happy.”
Her brother had surely said the same thing.
Words left behind for her, blaming herself alone after he was gone.
As if she had found the answer she’d been searching for, she stared blankly for a moment, then her face crumpled as she asked me:
“Really… am I allowed to be happy?”
Even after crying so much, Lea’s beautiful face looked at me with reddened eyes.
She slowly stepped closer, as if desperate for my answer.
There was only one thing I could say.
“Of course. You deserve happiness more than anyone.”
As if she’d finally heard the answer she’d always wanted, Lea smiled brightly and stepped toward me—
Click.
The infirmary door slid open.
“What do you think you’re doing, you two?”
A voice colder than a winter wind.
Standing there with a frosty expression was Estelle.