Chapter 402: Gold and Silver (7)
Chapter 402: Gold and Silver (7)
To be honest, I’ve never been particularly quick on the uptake.
Of course, I wasn't at a total loss for common sense like the Princess, whose social skills were practically nonexistent.
However, I was someone who had spent the better part of every day since childhood devoted to swordsmanship training.
My social circle was limited, and I simply didn't have the luxury of interacting with enough people to develop much social grace.
Back then, the word 'acquaintance' usually just meant family or neighbors.
I didn't have many friends I could truly bond with on equal footing.
At most, Celine and Reto were the only ones who stood by me.
Growing up like that, there was no way my social skills would be anything remarkable.
Even after enrolling in the Academy and making many friends, I still found it incredibly difficult to deal with the opposite sex.
It was because I found it so hard to read their hearts.
To begin with, the only woman I had really known was Celine.
It wasn't that I had no female friends at all, but I didn't have anyone I shared a deep bond with like I did with Celine or Reto.
At best, I would exchange casual greetings with Emma and a few others in passing.
The crisis I was currently facing was not unrelated to this.
Before I knew it, the number of women around me had grown, and among them were those who had become incomparably precious to me.
The Saintess, who had saved my life multiple times.
Senior Elsie, who had confessed her feelings to me.
And even Senior Delphine, with whom I had spent several nights.
Beyond them, Seria, the Princess, Emma, and Senior Neris had also become invaluable companions.
If there was one problem, it was that I often couldn't understand what was going on in their heads.
Just like right now.
The heavy atmosphere carried a faint tremor. I couldn't find a single spark of light in those dark blue eyes.
It was an abyss.
They weren't the clear blue eyes I remembered. Instead, they were a murky, viscous shade.
Facing that dark plunge, I felt a sense of vertigo wash over me.
My intuition rang an alarm bell once again.
It told me I shouldn't open my mouth recklessly.
My once innocent and cute junior was now spewing thick, heavy emotions into words.
"Is that what that bitch told you? That she did it for the family, for me?"
There was no change in the girl's expression.
At a glance, one might even think I was the strange one.
To be breaking out in a cold sweat in front of a junior who looked so calm.
But anyone standing in front of Seria right now would have reacted the same way I did.
The sheer pressure was different.
Every single word she spoke was drenched in a murderous intent that felt like it was squelching underfoot.
The eerie chill made my skin sting.
Even someone as dense as me could tell.
Right now, Seria was angry.
Very angry.
"That bitch must truly believe it. Setting aside the excuse of doing it for the family... for me...?"
Pfft, ha.
As if it were hilarious, the corners of Seria's mouth curled into a savage arc.
It was a fleeting smile.
And as soon as it vanished, the woman's face became terrifyingly cold.
Cold enough to make even me flinch.
Words of hatred, spat out through gritted teeth, soaked into my ears.
"Don't make me laugh. She took everything... everything that was precious to me! And she says it was for me? That slut... you're not my sister. I wish you had just died. No, I wish you had just killed me instead...!"
Seria's pupils convulsed.
Her unstable focus seemed to represent her agitated state of mind. Unable to bear it, Seria brought her thumb to her lips.
And just before she could bite down on it—crunch—I reflexively stood up and snatched her wrist.
"Stop it!"
At my sudden intervention, Seria's eyes widened.
It was a look that suggested she hadn't expected me to stop her.
Or perhaps, she didn't understand why she needed to be stopped.
I forced myself to calm my racing heart and spoke.
"Seria, you seem a bit overexcited... Let's calm down first."
"No, Senior Ian."
Seria's breathing as she replied was perfectly steady.
Her gaze was so solemn that I almost accidentally loosened my grip on her wrist.
"I am more sane right now than I have ever been. See?"
Thud. Seria placed her free hand on the table and stood up.
With every light step she took, the distance between us closed.
Because I was still holding her wrist, it looked as though she was circling the table to come closer to me.
Before long, I was able to look deep into Seria's eyes.
There was no focus.
Like a painting made of a single color, her pupils only bled deep, dark emotions.
I couldn't even begin to guess their source.
"I'm staying here quietly, aren't I?"
"......?"
Before I could even ask what she meant.
"Isn't it strange? Everything was taken from me... everything! Even the one last thing I asked her to leave for me! And yet, here I am, staying quiet. I'm not trying to kill her with a sword, and I'm not barking like a dog to try and take it back, am I?!"
"Seria, wait. Just a moment..."
I felt dizzy from the sheer torrent of rage pouring out of her.
I couldn't follow the context of the conversation at all. That was why I asked my question almost pleadingly.
"To be honest, I don't really understand what you're talking about. So... what exactly did Senior Delphine take from you?"
Seria didn't give me the information I wanted.
She simply clamped her mouth shut and stared at me in silence for a long time.
After a while.
Just before I could say something to break the awkward atmosphere, Seria spoke in a low voice.
"Senior Ian."
"Yeah?"
Whoosh. Her lightless eyes lunged right up to my face.
I was slightly startled, but I didn't intentionally avoid her gaze.
Even upon close inspection, her beauty didn't fade.
Involuntarily, I found myself thinking of Senior Delphine.
Senior Delphine was beautiful too, but Seria's beauty was of a different kind.
If Senior Delphine was the sun, Seria was the moon.
Even her cold, delicate eyelashes suggested as much.
Despite the strange chill surrounding her, Seria was still Seria.
I found myself momentarily dazed by her beauty.
Before I knew it, the girl's eyelashes were close enough to tickle my retinas.
I could even feel her sweet breath.
"The other day, I heard a man's voice coming from my sister's bedroom."
And then, lightning struck.
A white-hot current surged down my spine.
My body froze instantly, and I couldn't even let out a breath.
Did she see us?
The time of pleasure I had spent in Senior Delphine's chambers two days ago.
Since it was a situation I hadn't even imagined, I couldn't offer any response.
In the first place, what was one supposed to say at a time like this?
I felt like a lover who had been caught cheating.
Even though I hadn't actually done anything wrong.
Regardless, Seria continued her interrogation in a whisper.
"That night... where were you, Senior?"
"Well? As I recall, I went to bed early..."
"Do you even know what time it was then?"
Ah.
I, who had been shamelessly lying, eventually decided to exercise my right to remain silent.
It was because the gaze Seria was giving me had narrowed even further.
There was no point in saying anything more.
Seria was already certain.
I had no means to deny it.
Silence descended for a long time.
Until Seria, who had been staring at me intently, let out a deep sigh, I kept my eyes averted and stubbornly refused to answer.
Seria pressed her hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.
"You made a mistake, Senior. Of all things, drinking alone with her... and with that bitch in heat, no less."
Wasn't 'bitch' a bit too harsh?
I wanted to object, but I ended up just muttering it to myself.
Seria's mood still seemed terrible.
The blue eyes that flickered occasionally were glinting with fierce murderous intent.
"But, I understand. You're a man in your prime, Senior."
"I-is that so?"
I had no choice but to pin my hopes on Seria's somewhat more merciful standard.
No, come to think of it, I did feel a bit wronged.
As she said, I was a man in my prime.
Spending a night with an attractive woman shouldn't be considered strange.
Furthermore, Seria and I didn't have much of a romantic connection.
If the Saintess or Senior Elsie were questioning me, I'd have nothing to say, but...
The thought that Seria was overstepping her bounds suddenly crossed my mind.
As her senior, shouldn't I correct her?
Of course, it didn't take long for such idle thoughts to vanish.
"You're only human, Senior Ian. It must have been hard to resist when a woman who is at least physically excellent seduced you. Especially since you'd been drinking... So, I think it was an unavoidable accident."
"Y-yeah. Well... I suppose there's a bit of that."
"It didn't matter who it was, right?"
I felt a strange sense of foreboding at the question she threw out again.
Until now, I had just nodded along, overwhelmed by Seria's terrifying momentum, but the flow of the conversation was getting weird.
It didn't matter who it was?
I frowned slightly and asked back.
"What do you mean, it didn't matter who—"
"It didn't matter who it was!"
She gripped my arm tightly.
Seria spoke with burning eyes.
It was a Blue Flame.
"That's right, it didn't matter who it was. As long as you were drunk and had someone to satisfy your lust... anyone. It didn't have to be my sister. Mmm, yeah. It could have been me."
"Seria, please calm... ugh?!"
I tried to grab Seria's shoulders before it was too late.
But Seria was faster.
Poke, poke. Seria's index finger pressed into my chest. I was forced to stumble backward under her fierce advance.
"That's how it was, right?! There's no way that wicked woman didn't know that. That's why she stole you from me. Using such cowardly methods!"
"I'm telling you again, Seria. You're very worked up right now—"
"Please, hold me."
That was the request I heard after being backed all the way against the wall.
I could only furrow my brow further.
I could give her a hug anytime, but I knew she didn't mean it in that sense.
No matter how dense I was, I wasn't an idiot.
Seria pressed herself against me, leaving me with nowhere to run. I could feel the touch of her supple body.
Even so, I could only let out a deep sigh.
Seria wasn't in her right mind.
And one shouldn't make such important decisions when they aren't in their right mind.
"Anyone would have been fine, right?! S-so, I...!"
"Seria, you're not yourself right now."
At my low-voiced scolding, Seria instead gritted her teeth.
An even harsher tone erupted from the girl's mouth.
If that was the case, there was only one answer.
"No, I am myself! More than ever...!"
And then, thwack—a hand axe slammed into Seria's chin.
Of course, it wasn't the blade.
It was the blunt side, but the power of the metal mass launched like a bolt of light was immense.
Even a swordsman who had reached the level of a superhuman wouldn't be able to stay standing.
Especially if it was an unexpected strike.
With her eyes wide open, Seria's body flew through the air.
The flames that had been burning in the girl's blue eyes flickered out. It happened in an instant.
The girl, who collapsed with a thud, did not get back up.
She only twitched slightly before her eyelids slowly closed.
She was out cold.
Only then, having regained my freedom, did I mess up my hair in annoyance.
I tapped the side of the hand axe against my palm.
"...Seriously, I told you to get a grip."
Since ancient times, it was said there was only one medicine for those who had lost their minds.