The Unbearable Lightness of a Kiss, Part 5
"...Why on earth are you making him do this?"
Talia glared at Cordelia.
The horrific sensation of being bound and helpless just moments ago still lingered throughout her entire body.
A suffocating helplessness.
A magical restraint that refused to shatter, no matter how much aura she flared.
But the most agonizing part of it all was that she could do nothing but watch Edwin suffer right before her eyes.
This woman was the one who had caused it.
"Well, the boy did ask for it himself," Cordelia replied airily.
She didn't seem to care in the slightest about Talia's fierce hostility.
Talia's anger flared even hotter.
"This is sheer madness!"
"Is it? From where I'm standing, your lord doesn't seem all that foolish."
Cordelia let out a soft chuckle.
Her smile was infuriatingly relaxed.
Talia absolutely detested it.
Gritting her teeth, she spat back.
"I realized just now why the Lord is undergoing such meaningless training. It must be for the academy's mock battles."
"Mock battles? What do you mean by that?"
"The academy's mock battles feature a barrier that restricts the release of aura. That is why he is training to fight under restricted conditions!"
Ever since Edwin had asked for this training, Talia had questioned his bizarre assumptions. She had finally come up with her own answer.
It was to win the mock battles.
To show off his victory.
She didn't blame Edwin.
A competitive spirit was nothing to be ashamed of.
But this witch, who was exploiting those feelings to use Edwin as her personal plaything and test subject... she was undoubtedly evil.
"Risking his life in such dangerous training just to show off is absurd. It would be far better to practice stable aura control instead!"
Cordelia listened quietly to Talia's outburst. Then—
"Ahaha! Hahaha!"
She burst into a fit of giggles.
The laughter grated on Talia's nerves.
As Talia glared at her with clenched teeth,
Cordelia waved her hand dismissively, offering a mock apology.
"Ah, ahaha, sorry for laughing. But really, I wondered what you were going to say. The academy's mock battles? Is that seriously the best you could come up with?"
"What do you mean, 'the best'?"
"I'm saying the servant is far more short-sighted and dim-witted than her master."
Another insult.
Talia could barely contain herself.
"You have been speaking out of turn since—"
"By any chance, do you know what Pidea's Tears are?" Cordelia interrupted out of nowhere.
Talia, having missed her chance to vent her anger, glared and snapped, "I do not. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Your master probably knows. Simply put, it's a poison. A deadly one, specifically for aura users."
Poison?
Talia flinched at the word.
Cordelia continued in a gentle, lecturing tone, as if she were teaching a class.
"Ingesting this poison does no immediate harm. However, the moment you try to release your aura, it gets blocked as if your airways are shut, forcing it to backfire. That trapped aura then destroys the user's own body."
Cordelia snapped her fingers.
"In short—*boom!* The aura boils over, and the body bursts!"
Talia shuddered.
Cordelia smirked at her reaction and continued.
"The terrifying thing about this poison is how difficult it is to deal with. It's fine as long as you don't release your aura, but if you're attacked after drinking it, even the strongest warrior will struggle. In the heat of battle, releasing aura is an instinctual habit."
Talia couldn't comprehend it.
What was this woman talking about?
Poison?
What did that have to do with their current situation?
Why would Edwin ever need to worry about such a thing?
"...What does this have to do with the Lord?" Talia asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Cordelia smiled and replied.
"Because Edwin has likely been targeted by that poison before. Isn't that why he's so obsessively preparing for a situation where he can't release his aura?"
That was impossible.
This woman had to be lying.
Talia shook her head.
"Poison... On what grounds do you say such—"
"Well, I wouldn't know for sure... But a few days ago, Edwin came to me bleeding from his neck. It was a deep, clean cut. Ah, did he tell me not to mention that?"
His neck. A deep wound.
Bleeding.
In Talia's mind, the events of a few days ago instantly fell into place.
The blood-soaked bedsheets.
The empty room with the window left wide open.
Yet Edwin had acted completely fine.
She had believed him when he said it was nothing.
"Are you saying... there was an assassination attempt?"
Talia's heart sank.
Cordelia shrugged.
"At least, that's what I think. He is royalty, after all. It's only natural he'd have a target on his back. Anyway, let's leave it at that. Please don't tell him I said anything. I'd hate for him to dislike me."
Talia didn't want to believe her, but the explanation made far too much sense.
Even so, she wanted to deny it.
Because...
He didn't say a single word to me.
A tempest of emotions swirled within her.
Hurt, betrayal.
Why didn't you tell me anything, Lord Edwin?
I am the guard who exists solely to protect you...
Then came a wave of self-loathing.
Why didn't I know?
Why did I dismiss it as a mere whim?
She was by his side every single day.
She felt utterly pathetic.
That woman had noticed her lord's plight.
Yet she, the one closest to him, had remained completely blind.
Why...?
Ugh...
Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes against her will.
But she refused to let them fall.
Showing tears in front of this woman would be the ultimate humiliation.
Talia...
...grit her teeth and swallowed her tears.
I push the power contained within the rod into myself.
I'm not releasing aura.
I'm drawing it from the outside in, forcing the pathway open.
The theory isn't hard. But...
This is surprisingly tough.
Once again, I missed having a growth cheat.
Real-world effort is usually incredibly tedious, and it rarely yields instant results.
Just pure, honest grind.
You have to pour in effort like dripping water drilling through stone, add a spoonful of talent, and only then do you see results.
I tried to find a shortcut because I hated that process, but this world clearly doesn't tolerate free rides.
Alright, focus.
Instead of channeling aura out, I have to draw the mana packed inside the rod backward through my aura pathway.
It sounds easy enough in theory.
But it wasn't.
In the first place, the aura pathway is meant for aura to flow out. Letting another type of energy in is inherently difficult.
To put it bluntly, it felt like someone suddenly shoving something hard into your backside—which you've only ever used as an exit—and telling you to use it as an entrance from now on.
Unless you have a natural talent for that sort of thing, your sphincter is going to tighten up reflexively.
I am a pro bottom. I am a pro bottom...
This is an entrance, not an exit.
I had to use the pathway meant for releasing aura to absorb mana instead.
The rod was brimming with mana.
And since most matter and energy naturally flow from areas of high concentration to low concentration...
If I withdraw my own aura—
"...!"
At that moment,
I felt a sudden, tingling sensation.
Even though no aura was being released, something was flowing back and forth through the pathway.
Could it be? Did I succeed?
At the very least, I had achieved something close to it.
Alright. Let's recreate that feeling.
Come on, flow in. More.
Just a little more...
Suddenly,
*Snap!*
"Alright, that's enough for today."
With the sound of snapping fingers,
my blocked hearing rushed back.
I opened my eyes to find Cordelia resting a hand on my shoulder.
"Oh, Professor?"
"Let's stop here for today. I think you've done enough."
Already?
I felt like I was just a hair's breadth away.
I felt a surge of annoyance.
I mean, she spent half the day stabbing me in the heart, and she couldn't even spare a few more minutes to supervise my training?
"But Professor, I think I finally got the hang of it. Can't you wait just a little longer?"
"No. It's curfew."
Curfew?
What was she talking about?
My chest had been sliced open around noon.
No matter how much time had passed since then, it should still be broad daylight...
Wait, could this be... that?
A realization struck me.
That classic trope.
The one that always pops up in wuxia novels.
"Talia, how long has it been since we started training?"
"You have been standing still like that for about half a day, Lord Edwin. I thought you had fallen asleep on your feet."
"Really? I felt like I only just started."
I knew it!
The classic "time flies when you're in deep cultivation" trope.
"My, were you in a state of trance? To concentrate that deeply just from having your hearing blocked... impressive."
Exactly. That.
A state of trance.
I've always been good at focusing.
In my past life, I used to get so absorbed in my monitor that I'd fail to hear my parents' footsteps, leading to some very awkward situations.
I replied with a smug grin.
"But I haven't succeeded yet. I felt like I was getting the hang of it, though. If only I had a bit more time..."
"Is that so? I beg to differ."
Cordelia dismissed my claim instantly.
Cold as ice.
Is mommy a Thinker type?
Well, even if I was in a trance, it was just intense concentration. It wasn't a technique I could master so easily.
"Tsk. How long do you think it'll take me to succeed, Professor? It's a bit disappointing to spend half a day and not even succeed once."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
Cordelia tilted her head slightly.
Then, as if realizing something,
she began to chuckle.
"Ah, did you seriously not notice?"
"Notice what?"
"Look at your hand!"
I looked down at my hand.
There,
was nothing.
"...Huh?"
No,
it wasn't completely empty.
The wooden rod was definitely there.
But I wasn't holding it like an object. I was holding it as naturally as if it were a part of my own body.
As if my hand were empty.
"Professor, don't tell me this is...?"
"Yes, you succeeded."
"Really? For real?"
"I told you so."
"Yahoo! Kiss me!"
"Ahahaha!"
Hey, don't just laugh it off.
Give me a kiss!
I looked down at my hand again.
Connecting with the rod didn't produce any dramatic effects. Furthermore, the moment my concentration wavered, the connection severed.
"Ah, it broke."
"It's fine. It's only your first time. Maintaining it even for that long is impressive enough."
"Really? Am I that good?"
"For a Beginner, yes. Hmm, but let's not get cocky, alright?"
While I was bantering with Cordelia,
"..."
Talia stood by with a complex, unreadable expression.
"Talia. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Lord Edwin... Let us head back. As the Professor said, it is already curfew."
Cordelia chimed in.
"Yes. Run along now. Don't forget to submit your absence slip tomorrow."
She snapped her fingers once more.
The three of us were instantly warped back to our quarters.
"...We are back."
"We will take our leave then, Professor."
After bidding Cordelia farewell, Talia and I slipped out of the staff quarters.
Fortunately, the hallways were empty.
We tiptoed past the male dormitory guards, made it back to my room, and shut the door.
"...Whew."
All the tension drained from my body.
What a spectacularly chaotic day.
First, Talia caught me talking nonsense, then I went to kiss Cordelia only to get dragged into an experiment, which somehow ended up helping me train...
Well, anyway.
"...We ended up coming back together, but you should head back to the female dormitory now, Talia."
"Ah, I suppose so."
She answered, but
she seemed to hesitate.
What?
Does she want to sleep with me?
Of course not.
Yeah, I know, I know.
Sigh. But seriously, how on earth do I clear her affinity quest? I can't see a way at all. Would it actually be faster to just seduce her into becoming my girlfriend and do the deed?
I threw out a joke.
"Or you could just sleep here tonight. Honestly, after being subjected to that experiment, I feel a bit chilly. Maybe I'd feel better if you held me while we slept? Ah, of course, I'm just kidd—"
"...If that is what you wish, Lord Edwin, I shall do so."
What?
Did I just hear an incredibly tempting response?
I stared at her, my eyes wide.
Talia, wearing her usual quiet, expressionless face,
glanced at me and spoke again.
"If you are unwell, Lord Edwin, I do not mind. Sleeping by your side will also make it easier to guard you..."
Wh-Wh-What?
I didn't mishear her, did I?
"Really? Then let's go to bed right now! Today was so exhausting. Get in bed, hurry! Hurry!"
I jumped onto the bed and lay down.
Then, I blew kisses into the air, acting cute.
Right.
Now, the usual disgust would return.
She'd spit out a few sharp words telling me to just go to sleep, and then walk out the door.
It was so predictable.
Did she think this was my first rodeo?
However...
"...Understood."
She quietly bowed her head,
walked over to my bed, and slipped off her coat.
Uh?
Uh... U-Uh?
Is this really happening?
For real?
Am I actually about to trigger the affinity quest?
No, what did I even do to make her affection level suddenly blast past the event threshold? I don't remember doing anything special!
While I was spiraling in confusion,
"Excuse me, Lord Edwin."
She came over and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Uh, um, uh... come on in?"
No way. Surely not?
Is she really...?
"..."
Soon, Talia crawled closer
and carefully lay down beside me.