A Look That Lingers
Why was he looking at me like that?
It was a gaze too intense to simply walk past — sharp enough to leave an uncomfortable sting. That the other party wasn't human only deepened the mystery. Even from a considerable distance, everything in Bayul's field of vision came through crystal clear.
That hair, rippling like waves; flawless, snow-white skin; eyes like gems gleaming from within it; lips pressed stubbornly shut.
If it weren't for that persistent stare fixed on him, Bayul would have been watching in pure, honest admiration.
“…Bayul?”
How long had he been standing there like that? Eli's hand landing on his shoulder made Bayul flinch.
“You okay?”
What's wrong with you two?
Eli's face was full of suspicion as his eyes darted back and forth between Bayul and Quinn. But what answer could Bayul possibly give when he had no idea himself? All he could manage was an awkward smile.
Then he realized — the stares that had been pinned on Quinn had quietly returned to their rightful place. The sudden commotion had only borrowed everyone's attention for a moment. The star of today's gossip was still Bayul.
Thud, thud. The queasiness was starting up again. Even without a mirror he could feel the color draining from his face.
I can't pass out. Pull yourself together, Bayul!
He didn't want to give people something to talk about on his very first day. Becoming a laughingstock was the last thing he desired. When anxiety crept in, his hand went to the pendant, as it always did. The familiar touch brought a faint, but real, measure of calm.
“A rocket pendant, huh?”
“…Huh?”
“That thing.”
Eli grinned and pointed at Bayul's neck.
“You were wearing it yesterday too. What's inside it? Something important?”
Important? Well…
Bayul didn't know. He'd been wearing the pendant since he was a baby — so long ago that he had no memory of it — but he had never once opened it. The reason was simple: he had no key.
All Bayul knew was that it was a keepsake left behind by his late mother.
“What kind of gem is that? It's so transparent, just like a real water drop. It's really pretty.”
“Thank you.”
Bail used to say similar things. He remembered the way his brother would touch the pendant with envious eyes and call it pretty.
And yet not once had Bail ever asked to have it. He never even said he wanted to try it on. He simply yielded it to Bayul as though it were the most natural thing in the world, never claiming the smallest piece of it for himself.
Come to think of it, that was how he'd been about everything. For the sake of his frail younger brother, Bail had always lived with consideration and sacrifice. Now that Bail was gone, Bayul felt more grateful for that than ever — and more sorry, too.
“Hey, Aidan!”
Just as Bayul was drifting into reminiscence, dredging up Bail out of habit, Eli threw up a hand and shouted.
Aidan?
At the familiar name, Bayul's head whipped around.
“Eli! What are you doing over the— oh? Bayul?”
Aidan, who had been greeting Eli, only now noticed Bayul and blinked in surprise. Ingrid, it seemed, had been left somewhere else — no fedora sat atop the boy's head.
“Why are you still dressed like that, though? Where's your uniform?”
“You two know each other?”
“Yeah, we rode to school in the same carriage. It's been two whole months since the semester started and today's the first time I've seen you. So you and Eli are in the same department?”
“No, different departments — same dormitory.”
“Ah, Stone Lyon? That'd explain why we never ran into each other.”
“Um, Aidan, actually, I—”
“Bayul, sorry. I'm super busy right now. Let's talk at lunch, okay? Got it?”
“No, just a second—”
“Alright, everybody move! Move it!”
Bayul tried to catch him, but Aidan had already turned away. Where did all that strength come from in such a small body? He hauled a cart piled high with books and vanished off in the other direction at a sprint. Thanks to him, the cluster of students around them scattered, and for a brief moment, the stares thinned out.
“He doesn't have a clue you're a transfer student, does he.”
“Ah, well, things just got busy and I never got the chance to mention it…”
He felt oddly guilty, as though he'd committed some crime. Eli seemed to read that feeling, because he said with a laugh,
“Well, it happens. That guy's a work-study student, so his mornings and afternoons are insanely packed. Save it for lunch.”
“Work-study?”
“Yeah, you get a stipend for working. Not much, but enough for pocket money. It's kind of like why I wait tables at Six Tables.”
He earns his own spending money?
That came as quite a shock to Bayul. He'd heard that even study time was scarce in Carrington — and yet here they were, earning their own pocket money on top of it all. Having never done anything entirely on his own in his life, Bayul genuinely found Aidan and Eli impressive.
“Oh, right — keep the part-time job thing to yourself for now. It gets annoying when the girls start swarming.”
Of course it would. Eli's looks bordered on fraudulent. Popularity was only natural. With the restaurant being as famous as it was, the rumor would leak sooner or later even without Bayul's help — but he simply nodded and agreed to keep quiet.
“By the way, did you know Aidan got in early?”
“No. What's that?”
“You're sixteen, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too. That's the first requirement for entering the Academy. But every so often there are kids admitted at fifteen in recognition of exceptional talent. That's Aidan.”
“So Aidan's a year younger than us?”
So that's why he's so unusually small. Bayul had wondered why the boy seemed too little for his age.
“That's why some people don't like him. Don't want to be friends with a younger kid, apparently.”
“Over a single year?”
“It'd be solved easily if Aidan just called them hyung, but with that personality of his, no way that's happening. So the friction crops up now and then. Just so you know ahead of time.”
“I heard he's in the Knight Department. What kind of talent does he have? Getting in early must mean something extraordinary.”
“No idea.”
“Huh?”
“He won't tell me. Says he doesn't want to show off like some people do. Well, we'll find out eventually, so I stopped asking.”
For one of his first friends at the Academy to be an early-admission prodigy — Bayul somehow felt pleased about it. He was curious, too, what kind of ability the boy might possess.
“You know, you do smile.”
“…Huh?”
“You were all tensed up until a minute ago. And even your smile was completely stiff.”
“Was I?”
“Yeah. Smile like that a bit more often. It looks good on you.”
For sixteen-year-old Bayul, everything in life fell on either side of a single line: the year he turned fourteen, when everything happened. The year he lost Bail — and lost his father's love along with him. Given the chance, Bayul's one and only wish, his sole dream, was to go back to that time and set everything right again.
“Hi, Eli!”
“Good morning, Senior Tatiana.”
When a short-haired girl passing by greeted him first, Eli bowed politely in return. She wasn't as brazen about it as the other kids, but Bayul could still feel her glancing at him.
“She's a second-year in my department. You saw the emblem color's green, right?”
Bayul hardly had the presence of mind for such things now. When he only looked bewildered, Eli thrust out his own left chest.
“Look — mine's yellow.”
Inside a yellow-painted square emblem, a horn design was etched with fine detail.
“A reindeer antler?”
“Yeah, it's the symbol of Carrington Academy. First-years wear yellow, second-years green, third-years blue, and fourth-years red. When you don't know who someone is, check the emblem first. Around here, they take senior-junior etiquette pretty seriously.”
Etiquette was something Bayul was confident in. His father had never tolerated rudeness toward even the household servants. Thanks to that upbringing, Bayul had long since learned to treat people with courtesy regardless of their station.
“Shall we get going, then? We still have the rest of the tour to finish.”
Once they were out of the plaza, nothing could stop them. When Bayul nodded, Eli led the way with an air of just trust me. Following the dependable boy, Bayul stole a glance behind him.
Still…
He'd hoped he was wrong, but he wasn't. Quinn's gaze was still fixed on him.
What on earth was it? Why was he looking at Bayul with that face?
Eli's voice wasn't reaching him at all. All he could think about was the look in Quinn's eyes from the plaza.
“Him? Oh, him.”
“Wow, he looks like a total weakling. Why's his face so pale?”
“Aside from the hair, he looks nothing like Duke Randert. I've seen His Grace from a distance — that silver hair and blue eyes were so handsome!”
“Guess there was a reason he was kept hidden away all this time. They said he's been ill — looks like the rumors were true.”
“Apparently nobody even knows who his mother is. Ran off right after giving birth, they say.”
“She's not dead?”
“The one who died is his brother. His twin, what, two years ago? Fell into the water and drowned.”
“Poor thing. Mother ran away, brother died, and now he's sick with some dreadful illness. The Duke must be heartbroken — that's his only son.”
“What's there to worry about? He can just have another one now.”
“True. He's over fifty and still in his prime, isn't he? They say he looks like he's in his twenties? Really?”
“Yeah, completely young. No wonder women fall all over him. My mom says there's no shortage of noble daughters practically drooling over him.”
“What happens to this kid if the Duke remarries, though? If a younger son comes along…”
“He gets a cute little sibling, what else? Better than being alone, right? He won't be lonely anymore. Hm?”
“A-Aidan!”
At Bayul's entrance, the whispering students froze all at once and looked in one direction. There sat Aidan, freshly back from his errand and slouched atop a desk in the classroom, wearing an expression of pure contempt.
“You're all a year older than me, and this is what you do? Talking trash while the person you're talking about is standing right here listening. Aren't you embarrassed?”
“W-what did we do?!”
“Yeah! We were just repeating what we heard!”
“Heard? Did you just say you heard it?”
The face that had seemed almost cute twisted into something fierce. Where did such presence come from in that tiny frame? Everyone faltered, watching Aidan's mood.
“Did you see it? Did any of you actually confirm any of that with your own two eyes?”