There Was An Umbrella.
There Was An Umbrella.
Lunchtime.
Cafeteria.
I headed to the very back with my tray.
The seat at the end by the wall.
My usual spot.
There are two reasons why I like it here.
One, nobody sits here.
Two, the wall blocks one side, so there are half as many gazes to worry about.
Today's menu.
Soup and bread.
I don't know what it is.
As long as it's warm, it's fine.
I spooned up some soup.
It was lukewarm.
But since I was sitting down, it was fine.
The cafeteria was noisy as usual.
Chatter everywhere.
A scream of "Ah!" from someone who spilled water.
I chewed quietly, leaning against the wall.
In the middle of the cafeteria.
Elise was sitting there.
Her silver hair caught my eye.
It wasn't that I was trying to look, but since it was silver, it just naturally caught my eye.
Even in the cafeteria, there were always people around Elise.
Three or four girls were surrounding her.
"Young Lady-nim, try this. They say the dessert is delicious today."
"Oh, really? Thanks."
"Young Lady-nim, how was class today? Wasn't the Mana Theory exam difficult?"
"Hmm...... It was a bit difficult, I suppose."
Elise answered with a smile.
Naturally.
She wasn't leading the people around her; she was just naturally there.
A young lady of a prestigious family.
The center of attention since birth.
I've been in the corner since birth.
I spooned up some soup.
But the cafeteria went slightly quiet.
I knew without looking up.
Because the air changed.
When gazes are focused in one direction, the noise dies down.
Siegfried had entered.
He walked over with a tray.
Black hair.
A sword over his school uniform.
The radius around him naturally widened.
People just moved out of his way on their own.
Zeke walked by.
It was a path that passed right in front of Elise's table.
I don't know if it was a coincidence or not.
The girls around Elise reacted first.
"Oh, it's Siegfried-nim."
"Oh my."
One of them poked Elise in the elbow.
"Young Lady-nim, Young Lady-nim. Look."
Elise looked up.
Siegfried had stopped.
"Elise."
Calmly.
He didn't even sit down.
The posture of someone who only came to say what they needed to.
"That class professor, they made the exam difficult last year too. If you're going to look at past papers, they're on the left side of the 3rd floor of the library."
3 seconds of information delivery.
"You can go there and look."
It wasn't anything major.
But Elise's reaction.
"............Thank you. Zeke."
Her voice got slightly quieter.
She bowed her head slightly.
As if trying to hide the corners of her mouth going up.
Her ears were red.
Whether Siegfried saw it or not.
He nodded and went to his seat.
The girls around them exploded.
"Oh my! What was that just now? What was that!?"
"Isn't it just talk about class?"
"You come all the way here just to talk about class?"
"Look at Young Lady-nim's ears."
"They're red."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't tease her."
Giggle.
Elise waved her hand, saying, "No, it's just class talk."
But her ears remained the same.
Still red.
'............'
I watched while spooning up soup.
I didn't mean to look, but I saw it.
Because I'm a loser, my ability to read the room has developed to the extreme in order to survive.
And.
There was one more pair of eyes watching that.
Two tables away from Elise's table.
Blonde hair.
Purple eyes.
Camilla de Belcruz.
Room 205 on the 2nd floor.
The kid who answers brightly, "Here~" during roll call.
But her eyes.
Were directed at Elise.
To be precise — she was watching Elise smiling with red ears.
Camilla's expression went cold.
Quickly.
0.5 seconds.
The smile on her lips disappeared.
And her purple eyes turned cold.
0.5 seconds.
She returned.
As if a switch had been flipped.
The way she linked arms with the girl next to her, saying, "Oh really~? Haha," was so natural.
'That woman is smiling right now, but her eyes aren't smiling.'
I spooned up some soup.
The potato didn't get chewed.
No, it was chewed, but I couldn't taste it.
It's because I saw something useless.
'I didn't see it. I didn't see anything.'
I tore the bread.
Chewed.
5 minutes passed.
The buzzing around Elise had died down a bit.
Siegfried was eating alone over there.
As usual.
Just then.
Camilla stood up with her tray.
She went toward Elise.
Naturally.
With a bright expression.
The switch was flipped.
"Unnie~!"
Elise looked back.
"Oh, Camilla."
"Can I sit next to you?"
"Of course. Sit."
Camilla sat next to Elise.
She naturally grabbed Elise's arm.
"Unnie, your hair is pretty today. What did you do to it?"
"I didn't do anything?"
"Liar. It's so pretty."
Elise chuckled.
"It's true."
"Ayy~ Unnie, you're pretty no matter what you do."
The girls around them watched.
"Camilla and Elise really get along well."
"Aren't they close with the Belcruise family?"
"Camilla always follows her well."
Camilla naturally cut in while organizing her tray next to Elise.
"Unnie, they say this dessert is delicious. Have you tried it?"
"Not yet."
"Here. I'll give you mine."
"It's okay. You eat it."
"No. Unnie should eat it."
Pushing and pulling.
Affectionate.
Intimate.
I watched while chewing bread.
Rather than watching, it was just entering my ears.
The cafeteria is big, but since their voices are bright, it reaches even the very back.
Camilla pushed the dessert toward Elise.
"But Unnie."
Her tone didn't change.
It was a natural transition.
"Siegfried-nim came by earlier, right?"
"Yeah. He told me about class."
"Wow! He came in person? He's kind. As expected."
Camilla tilted her head.
"But that senior eats alone every day, yet he comes to you on purpose?"
"............Is that so?"
"Yeah. I see it every day."
'You see it every day?'
'That means she's observing Siegfried every day.'
Camilla grabbed Elise's arm slightly.
"Unnie~ I think you two really suit each other."
"What. We're just classmates in the same department."
"Ayy~ Do classmates go that far?"
Elise laughed.
A denial laugh.
But her ears were turning red again.
"It's really nothing."
Camilla didn't cut her off.
"But everyone thinks so, you know? It's not just me."
"What are you thinking."
"Aren't you dating?"
A light tone.
A joking tone.
"So, Unnie~"
Camilla shook Elise's arm.
Like a joke.
"Isn't he basically your boyfriend?"
Elise stopped.
Slightly.
"............He's not my boyfriend."
It came out.
From Elise's mouth.
'............'
Camilla's strange smile.
But it felt like all the build-up until now was for this one line.
Inside the cafeteria.
The three or four girls sitting around heard it.
"Huh? Weren't you dating Siegfried-nim?"
"She says no."
"Really?"
"I thought they were dating."
Camilla laughed.
"Oh, really~? That's a shame~ You two really suit each other."
Her voice was in a tone of regret.
But her eyes were smiling.
'.............'
I put the last piece of bread in my mouth.
'That woman is fucking loving it right now.'
Elise saying "He's not my boyfriend."
To Camilla, the traffic light had changed.
From red to green.
And since the girls around heard the whole conversation.
By tomorrow, it will spread throughout the entire Academy.
"Siegfried and Elise aren't dating."
'If that was intentional.'
'She's a scary woman.'
I was about to put down my spoon.
"....................."
"....................."
Our eyes met.
Camilla was looking at me.
She had been sitting next to Elise, smiling.
Then her gaze came toward me.
I don't know why she looked at me.
At the invisible person in the corner of the back row.
But with these squinty eyes of mine.
I had been watching everything until now.
Even the 0.5-second cold expression.
The leading questions.
The smiling eyes.
Camilla's smile stopped.
Just for a moment.
An expression of not knowing what these squinty eyes had seen.
Or the anxiety that I might have seen something.
'I didn't see anything.'
No. Actually, I did see it.
I lowered my gaze to the empty bowl.
'Nothing left to eat.'
I stood up.
I took my tray and went to the return area.
I could feel Camilla's gaze following me from behind.
The back of a loser is sensitive to gazes.
'I don't know. I didn't see anything.'
'It's none of my business.'
Afternoon.
Class ended.
I was about to leave the school gate when the sky went dark.
'Is it going to rain?'
Pitter-patter-
It poured down without warning.
Pouring down like a bucket.
'Fuck.'
I ran under the eaves of the nearest building.
I barely avoided it.
My school uniform shoulder was slightly wet.
'I don't have an umbrella.'
I waited under the eaves.
The rain was hitting the ground.
Students were pouring out in droves.
Kids with umbrellas.
Kids blocking the rain with magic.
A pair of man and woman running while sharing one and sticking their shoulders together.
I was standing under the eaves.
'Well. It'll stop soon.'
Just then.
Tap-tap-
Footsteps running.
Someone ran under the same eaves.
Blonde hair fluttered.
Purple eyes.
Camilla.
She was panting.
Her school uniform shoulder was wet.
The blonde hair she had set was slightly disheveled by the rain.
The eaves were narrow.
It wasn't spacious enough for two people to stand.
Distance between shoulders.
One span.
A distance where I could feel her hot breath.
Camilla looked at me.
"............"
"............"
Our eyes met.
It was the same eyes that had looked at me in the cafeteria.
Eyes that were measuring something.
"............Oh."
Camilla opened her mouth first.
"It's the Dormitory Warden senior."
'Ah.'
She used the dormitory title at the Academy.
There was no one around.
Because it was raining hard.
Everyone was inside the building.
There were only two of us under these eaves.
Since there were no others around.
The dormitory title came out.
"............Yes."
I answered shortly.
My voice was low because I was nervous.
Camilla tucked her wet hair behind her ear.
Her fingers were slender.
"I wonder when the rain will stop."
"I don't know."
"Don't you have an umbrella?"
"I don't."
"I don't either."
Camilla looked at the rain.
The rain was falling heavily.
Silence-
Only the sound of rain filled the air.
Under the eaves with no one else.
The woman who was turning switches on and off in the cafeteria.
Was standing there with no switches turned on right now.
Not smiling.
Not bright.
Just standing there.
Watching the rain.
'.............'
This is her real expression.
Not the bright face when she said "Unnie~" to Elise in the cafeteria.
And not the face when her eyes smiled while saying "Isn't he your boyfriend?".
Just.
A tired face.
'.............'
Camilla opened her mouth.
"Dormitory Warden senior."
"Yes."
"Earlier in the cafeteria."
She stopped.
'.............'
My heart raced.
'Is she asking if I saw?'
"............Was the food delicious?"
'What?'
"The soup. Was it okay today?"
"............It was just so-so."
"Me too. School lunch is the same everywhere."
Camilla chuckled.
This time.
Her eyes smiled.
It was that smile she used when saying "Here~" in the dormitory.
Not the switch-smile from the cafeteria.
A real smile.
'.............'
'Ah.'
This woman doesn't wear a mask here either.
Because there's no one else.
Because there's no one to show it to.
Because there's no need to establish a position.
The sound of rain tapped on the eaves.
"But."
Camilla said while watching the rain.
"Dormitory Warden senior, earlier in the cafeteria."
The cafeteria again.
"You saw me, right?"
'.............'
'Fuck.'
'Did I get caught?'
"See what?"
"In the cafeteria. When I sat next to Elise unnie. I felt you staring at me."
"What were you thinking about then?"
Her tone was light.
Not like she was grilling me.
Just like she was asking.
Purple eyes were looking at me.
'What should I say.'
"............My eyes just wandered while I was eating."
"Just?"
"Yes. Just."
"............."
Camilla looked at me.
2 seconds.
It felt like she was measuring something.
And it also felt like she wasn't.
"Hmm."
That was the end of it.
She didn't go deep.
She didn't dig further.
'.............'
Camilla watched the rain.
The rain had weakened a little.
"It's weakened a bit."
Camilla took something out of her bag.
A folding umbrella.
'You had one.'
Didn't she say she didn't have one earlier?
Click-
Camilla opened the umbrella.
"Then I'll go first."
She looked at me.
1 second.
She turned and walked away.
Under the umbrella.
Without getting rained on.
Leaving me behind.
'.............'
'Even though she had an umbrella.'
'She didn't even say let's share.'
'She's going alone.'
Camilla's blonde hair moved away under the umbrella.
She didn't look back even once.
'.............'
I stood under the eaves and watched the rain.