Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Sickroom Visit (3)
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After a bout of commotion...
The infirmary, where sharp gazes had been flying back and forth, had settled down somewhat.
"...So, during the exam, you sensed an ominous energy. And when you followed it, you found Estelle fighting some demon?"
"Um... It wasn't so much fighting as her getting one-sidedly pummeled..."
"Eek, it wasn't that bad..."
Lea still wore a displeased expression, as if her anger hadn't fully subsided.
But after hearing the gist of the incident, she seemed to understand to some degree.
'Maybe I shouldn't have said that last part...'
She hadn't wanted to lie to her precious friend, so when she asked who had dealt with the demon, he'd said it was him.
-"W-what...? You barely managed to pull off a practice technique and luckily beat the demon?"
-"Ahaha, it was a close call. Lea, you should've seen the scene. That's my only regret."
-"Y-you... idiot! You call that an explanation!? You come back all battered and torn up, and all you say is 'lucky I didn't die'!"
Slap!
Upon hearing that, Lea had staggered, her body going limp as tears welled up in her eyes.
'...My back probably isn't flayed, right?'
Even so, as if determined to break his bad habits, the palm she'd swung at his back...
Even now, some time later, it still stung fiercely, proving its power.
How could a hand without even aura hurt this much?
Even Lea, who had swung it, had looked startled and hesitated.
Yet she wore a resolute expression, sniffling as if she had no intention of letting it slide easily.
-"This time, Rowen, you went too far..."
Moreover, Estelle seemed to feel the same, gazing at him with apologetic eyes but siding with Lea.
The two exchanged a subtle glance, as if sharing some unspoken understanding.
After enduring their piercing stares for a while...
Lea finally composed herself and spoke in a calm tone.
"Even if... it was an emergency. Really, just a little. Please value yourself a bit more."
"..."
"I know it happened suddenly, and that you were trying to keep your promise to me..."
Lea continued, desperately trying to suppress her surging emotions.
Even as her eyes reddened, she barely lifted her head to meet his gaze.
"Seeing you hurt like that... it tears my heart apart. I can't help it."
Lea, now right in front of him, reached out with trembling hands to gently stroke his face.
He felt the warmth in her touch...
But the resolve standing firm in his heart showed no sign of wavering.
"...Sorry, I understand how you feel, Lea... but I can't promise it won't happen again."
Finally parting lips that clung like they never wanted to separate...
He uttered words laced with apology and bitterness.
"You and Estelle... you're both too good for me, too precious. People I'd give everything to protect."
If only he'd been a little smarter, maybe he could have found a better way.
But he... wasn't talented enough to make everyone happy.
Slide...
Even knowing full well Lea's caring heart...
All he could do was wipe the tears gathering in her eyes.
"I'm... the selfish type who has to embrace everyone who comes into my arms. Even if that action torments me... I have no intention of giving up."
Gently caressing Lea's furrowed brow, as if pained...
He carefully pried her hand away and took a step back.
"I know better than anyone how weird that makes me look. Lacking ability but overflowing with greed."
Taking another step back, he gazed at Lea with trembling eyes.
His breath caught, chest tightening unbearably.
Knowing a precious person might leave... no, precisely because she was precious, words he had to say.
If his selfishness hurt Lea's heart...
He'd rather she forget him and live a happier life.
"...So, forget a pathetic guy like me and be happy..."
"...It's okay."
Whoosh!
As he pushed on with words from a heart ready to spit blood...
Lea, who had been looking at him sadly, suddenly pulled him into an embrace.
Thump, thump.
So... apologetic, yet so warm.
Lea's embrace, far too good for him.
Within it, he felt a stinging emotion he couldn't identify.
"I'm... not the type of flighty woman who'd abandon Rowen over something like that."
Clack.
Lea spoke in a voice so warm, despite her sad expression.
"From the start, what I love most about you is that caring heart of yours."
Step.
Every time he hesitated and took a step back...
Clack.
She advanced with even larger strides.
"And... like I said before. I'm not that nice of a girl."
Step, clack.
One step, one step.
As she drew ever closer...
Thud.
With nowhere left to retreat, he was pushed by Lea and ended up perched on the edge of the bed.
"...So, Rowen, don't even think of running from me. No matter... how far you flee, I'll catch you in the end."
Squeeze...
With those words, as Lea pulled him strongly into her embrace...
Instead of discomfort, he felt a ticklish relief.
"And after doing all these seductive things... telling me to forget? Isn't that too much?"
She gently lifted his chin from her chest...
And met his eyes with her signature clear smile.
"I want to right now, but you said you have no time for it... so I'm holding back."
As Lea continued, exhaling heated breaths...
The ticklish feeling in his heart made him merely avert his gaze slightly.
"And sending me those seductive looks. That's why... other girls keep flocking to you."
Sighing softly at him, Lea pulled him back into her arms, seemingly content.
"...Eek. M-me too, I wanna hug."
Watching them, Estelle approached from behind and embraced him as well.
Caught between their warm embraces, he felt a strange emotion.
"...Estelle, were you always this forward...?"
"Ah, no... Watching Lea and Rowen... my chest just aches so much... it's too painful."
"Hmm... I see."
Seeing Estelle, usually so reserved, hugging Rowen with an oddly excited face...
Lea could only chuckle dryly at the intensely sweet scent wafting from her.
'She seems somewhat aware of her feelings...'
Every time she looked at Rowen, her eyes brimmed with affection to the point of overflowing.
Yet she still hadn't fully realized it, appearing confused.
'I need to secure my position before it's too late.'
She was willing to yield a little to Estelle... just a little.
But the most important spot had to be hers.
"Hng, hah..."
"..."
Even to another woman like herself, Estelle's movements seemed violently possessive.
If the day came when Estelle fully realized her feelings...
Even a blockhead like Rowen might fall completely.
"Hey, Estelle... do you have to keep groping like that?"
"Eek... Uh?"
"...Never mind. If you like it, whatever..."
Rowen drifted into sleep, feeling a peculiar sense of peace between Lea and Estelle.
And so, as the sun began to set, the academy's day—filled with a strange, ambiguous tension—drew to a close.
Tadadot!
Meanwhile, at some corner of the academy...
Someone was racing toward the infirmary, unable to calm their restless heart.
"Why... why always only that guy...!"
Her turmoil was so great that her usual neutral tone had shifted to a thin, delicate voice.
-"Um... Arien? I have some news for you."
-"...Yes?"
-"Well... Rowen got caught in a bad incident during the midterm exams, so he's in the infirmary now."
-"...What?"
During class, she'd been called out by the dean into the hallway...
The dean stood there with an apologetic expression.
After relaying that Rowen was badly injured, she apologized and vanished abruptly.
"I should have been the one hurt..."
At the dean's words of a demon attack causing major injury...
Arien struggled to suppress her stinging heart.
Creak!
Finally reaching the infirmary, Arien opened the door with trembling hands...
"So cute..."
"Heehee..."
She spotted Rowen sleeping with a strangely blissful expression between two female students.
"..."
"..."
"..."
One was Estelle, from her own S-Class.
The other was Lea, the girl who'd shone brilliantly in the midterms.
"Y-you... playboy jerk..."
Arien blushed furiously at the sight and bolted from the infirmary.
'Worried for nothing...!'
In Arien's heart, who thought Rowen pathetic for being so immersed in girls...
Lurked an unconscious sense of relief and a ticklish jealousy.