Chapter 36: The First Letter (36)
Chapter 36: The First Letter (36)
The silence between Celine and Seria stretched on for a long while.
Both of them were holding onto me. It looked as if the two women were engaged in a war of nerves with me caught right in the middle. No, if I wasn't mistaken, it wasn't just a metaphor—it was reality.
Both Celine and Seria were lovely girls who would draw admiration anywhere they went. Having two such girls like me this much should have been a point of pride, but seeing their cold gazes clash made my stomach churn for no reason.
Celine, whom I had grown up with since childhood, was one thing, but Seria, who was only just beginning to learn about human relationships, was also a friend I couldn't help but care for. Since I was likely a precious friend to both of them, I could understand their desire not to lose me.
Possessiveness exists even outside of romantic relationships. While such feelings tend to fade as one gets older, Celine and Seria were at an age where those emotions were still vivid.
To be honest, it was a predicament.
That was the first thought that crossed my mind amidst the tension, which felt like a tightly pulled string. At this point, it wasn't easy to take anyone's side.
Technically, Celine was the one who had unilaterally intruded between Seria and me, but then again, hadn't we always implicitly shared breakfast together? Even so, I couldn't exactly suggest the three of us eat together in such a frigid atmosphere.
If I did, the ice-cold mood would probably make it impossible to even digest the food. No matter how dense I might be, I wasn't that pathetic of a person.
Just as I was breaking into a cold sweat, it was Celine who broke the silence.
She wore a bright, gentle smile. It was a smile that perfectly reflected her social personality. However, there was something different about the smile she wore now.
Her eyes weren't laughing, even as her lips curved into an arc.
In her amber eyes, which flickered for a moment, a cold light still lingered. The first words Celine threw at Seria—whom she had been pointedly ignoring until now—were as follows:
"Hmm, Miss Yurdina? Do you have some kind of business with our Ian?"
As she spoke, Celine clung to me, almost hugging my arm. I looked at her with startled eyes, but she was merely glaring at Seria with a frigid expression.
She even let out a triumphant, boastful snort. I felt the soft sensation of a woman's body against my arm. Celine was no longer a child.
Just as I was about to pull away from her as I usually did, the hand Seria had on my sleeve tightened its grip.
Her aquamarine eyes sank deep. It was a dramatic reaction, like a clear sky suddenly being veiled by clouds. Her blue eyes, which had always been clear and pure, gradually began to resemble the murky darkness of the deep sea.
She spoke to Celine in a cold, resolute voice.
"……Step away from him."
"And why should I?"
Celine's response to Seria was shamelessly blunt. She snorted and shrugged her shoulders.
"Ian and I have always been like this. You, on the other hand—how many days has it even been since you started clinging to him? Ahaha… now that I think about it, it's actually pretty annoying."
Celine, who had suddenly burst into a fit of giggles, slowly let the smile fade from her face.
Her sparkling eyes turned cold and sunken, and her lips, which had been curved in a soft arc, twisted with hostility. She whispered lowly.
"Who do you think you are, interfering between Ian and me? Ah, do you think you're actually close to him now?"
"Celine."
I called her name as the atmosphere grew increasingly serious, but she didn't even pretend to hear me, seemingly consumed by anger.
Instead, she pulled me toward her with a sudden tug, forcing me to stumble closer to her. Since Seria was still holding onto my sleeve, the distance between her and Celine narrowed even further.
That was the physical distance, at least. The emotional distance between them seemed miles apart.
Celine muttered in a chilling voice.
"Ian only hung out with you because you looked pitiful and didn't have any friends. Don't you even realize that?"
"I told you to stop, Celine."
"To think you're so excited to be clinging to him without even knowing that… pfft, hahaha……."
As if she couldn't help herself, Celine covered her mouth and let out a mocking laugh. She paid no heed to my repeated attempts to stop her.
There was no change in Seria's expression. Her face remained as cold as ever. Her eyes sank even deeper, making it impossible to read even a flicker of emotion.
I looked at Seria with worried eyes. Celine's verbal abuse was going too far. I felt like I had to intervene soon, even if it meant drawing resentment from one of them later.
However, Celine was faster than my resolve.
"Hey."
Celine spoke in a threatening tone as she brushed my arm off and stepped toward Seria. Seria still hadn't let go of my sleeve.
With a murderous look in her eyes, Celine approached Seria and crossed her arms. Since Seria was taller, Celine had to look up at her, but she wasn't intimidated in the least.
Celine twisted the corners of her mouth into a mocking sneer and spoke to Seria, as if vomiting out all her pent-up emotions.
"You think being a Yurdina makes you special? Please, get a clue… okay? You have no right or standing to say anything about the relationship between Ian and me. I've been patient with you, you loner bitch, but seriously……!"
"Celine!"
Finally, a shout erupted from my throat. Only then did Celine flinch, perhaps realizing she had gotten too worked up, but she showed no sign of remorse.
Instead, she let out a huff and avoided my gaze, her face set in a pout.
I let out a long sigh. It was inevitable that a sigh-filled voice would escape my lips.
"I told you to stop! And Seria, don't pay any mind to what Celine said. It's not that I hung out with you because I felt sorry for you……."
"It was you."
I had assumed Seria would be hurt and was trying to comfort her, but I was stunned when words flowed effortlessly from her mouth.
My wide-open eyes were proof of my shock. Seria, talking to someone she didn't know without tripping over her tongue?
Come to think of it, Seria had always been like this. Wasn't that why her nickname was the 'Rude Brat of Yurdina'? A cold, haughty, and strong image.
And her returning to that persona meant she was about to say something 'rude.'
"I didn't realize it at first, but I know now that I've heard your voice. That sharp tone—I wondered where I'd heard it before. You're the one who was hiding in the crowd and insulting me."
"……There wasn't just one or two people calling you a rude brat, you know?"
Celine, who had initially flinched at Seria's accusation, quickly responded by knitting her brows in irritation.
Hostility blazed in her amber eyes. Perhaps the reason she had consistently ignored Seria was that she had known from the start they would end up like this.
That was how much Celine disliked Seria, though I didn't know the reason why.
"How can you be so sure my voice was among them……."
"Are you afraid of the Yurdinas?"
Celine's words were cut short.
It was a clean break, like silk being sliced by a blade. After a moment of flustered hesitation, Celine narrowed her eyes again and asked back.
"……What?"
"I asked if you were afraid of the Yurdinas. Isn't that why you were whispering behind my back?"
Seria took another step forward, pulling on my sleeve. My body leaned slightly toward her. The distance between Seria and Celine was now point-blank.
As a woman a full head taller than her strode forward, Celine almost instinctively took a step back. She managed to hold her ground, likely out of pride.
Celine gritted her teeth and glared at Seria. Seria's gaze as she looked down at Celine remained unchanged—a gaze as sharp as frost.
"Then why don't you just keep whispering behind my back until the very end? Don't go exposing your ugly inferiority complex in front of Senior Ian for no reason."
Celine gasped, seemingly shocked by the verbal blow that exceeded her imagination. Her eyes widened, and then a murderous aura began to rise from her.
I could hear the sound of Celine grinding her teeth.
While it was true that there was a gap between high-ranking and lower-ranking nobles at the Academy, it was rarely mentioned so blatantly. This was because the Academy, at least on the surface, aimed to be an equal space free from social hierarchy.
A remark of this severity was enough grounds for disciplinary action. Celine cried out, her voice trembling with emotion.
"Hey, you……!"
"And did you say Senior Ian only hangs out with me because he pities me?"
Anger was etched on Celine's face, but Seria's eyes remained cold. It was like looking at fire and ice—two things that could never be friendly or mix.
Even if they were together, it was a relationship where both would only rush toward destruction.
I stood there dazed, my mind blank from the verbal abuse the two women were hurling at each other. It was a stupid thing to do.
Seria took another step, leaning her upper body down to whisper into Celine's ear. Her chilling whisper reached my ears.
"……Then, I'll continue to be 'pitiful.' So that I can stay by Senior Ian's side forever."
Celine finally exploded at that point. Her hand went to the sword hanging at her waist. It was an action born of a swordsman's instinct.
"This loner bitch really acts like this because she lacked a proper upbringing……!"
It was a touch-and-go situation. That was when I stepped in.
Until now, it had been nothing more than a war of words, but if it turned into violence, it was a different story. Especially in a situation like this, where the emotional rift between the two was so deep.
Someone could get hurt. It would be one thing if they fought with their scabbards like Teahn and I did, but if a blade was drawn, it would be a catastrophe.
I immediately let out a roar.
"I told you both to stop!"
In truth, I hadn't told Seria to stop, but I needed a stronger expression to halt them both now. Perhaps thanks to that, both Seria and Celine stiffened and turned their flustered gazes toward me.
Seria's reaction was particularly dramatic; her eyes shook violently as she perceived my anger.
Her face said she realized she had messed up.
A deep fear settled in her dark blue eyes. Nevertheless, my irritation didn't subside, and I had no choice but to let out a sigh and speak.
"……Both of you, calm down and go back to your dorms. I need some rest, so don't look for me for a while."
My head throbbed with a dull ache. I had gone through too much lately. With Celine and Seria fighting on top of it all, my primary feeling was one of exhaustion.
I wanted to rest somewhere. I intended to cool my head for just a few hours. It was a simple matter, nothing more.
However, at those words, Seria's expression turned to one of despair, as if she had lost the entire world.