Emily's Doubts and Bianca's Blush
Are you Bianca Shama? My name is Emily Swan. Age nineteen. One of St. Antiope Academy's three great flowers, a mature beauty with lake-blue eyes and translucent silver hair.
"Why isn't he replying...?" Emily pouted her lips. He'd always been spotty with responses, but lately it was getting a bit extreme. Still, she had no intention of blaming him for it.
He's always so busy, after all.
Right before the semester started, her health had suddenly taken a turn for the worse, forcing Emily to take time off for recovery. And tomorrow, she'd be heading back to the academy for the first time during the term. As she brushed her hair, Emily let out a soft sigh.
Not many people at the academy knew this, but she and Carlyle Schultz were childhood friends, sort of. Well, if you wanted to get technical. That's how Emily saw it, anyway—though who knew what Carlyle himself thought.
Her family came from a prestigious line of educators. For generations, they'd sponsored nurseries in the area, and one of them happened to be the one Carlyle attended. They'd crossed paths now and then since they were little.
She'd been so nervous during that first greeting.
First sight, and she was smitten. Ridiculous as it sounded. With his cool, intellectual vibe, black hair, and golden eyes, Emily had fallen head over heels for the boy. From then on, she'd trailed after her dad every time he visited the nursery once a month.
That made it hurt all the more. Carlyle's history with girls was no secret. She'd spent so long burning with quiet jealousy inside.
But Emily had never confessed—not out of fear, despite her steadfast nature laced with shyness. It was precisely because they knew each other so well that she worried he'd only see her as a friend. What if he rejected her outright?
And if he did reject me...
She might lose even this fragile connection they had. That fear had kept her hesitating all this time.
So right now, her mind kept circling back to that group chat she'd glimpsed earlier.
Carlyle was something of a celebrity at the academy, after all. Every little thing he did sparked chatter.
Emily bit her lip as the replies poured in after her hesitant message.
"He said he was done with that stuff..."
Those had been Carlyle's own words, straight from him.
His expression had been so matter-of-fact. She'd been thrilled inside when he'd confided that in her. And that's when Emily had made up her mind!
This semester, no matter what...!
Right on cue, a formidable rival shows up?! And maybe not even a rival anymore—who knew if they'd already crossed that line.
"Shama... Shama..."
The name rang a bell somewhere, so Emily kept repeating it to herself.
Then it hit her—the shy boy who'd confessed to her before, Vita Shama.
"Ah, Vita!"
What a coincidence. That pure-hearted, hot-blooded boy. Was he Bianca's brother? She vaguely remembered being a tad harsh with him on purpose. His sincerity had made it hard to turn him down gently.
"...Still, that was too much."
Yeah, really. Emily regretted it now.
Her family led sponsorships for nurseries as devout educators, so Emily's nature was more rounded than sharp.
"Ugh, yeah. Didn't need to say it that way."
She knew she'd messed up. Of all people, that earnest boy had confessed boldly in front of everyone. Caught off guard, burdened by all the eyes on her, she'd blurted out the truth.
Emily sighed. She knew about Vita Shama's health issues from the grapevine.
Guess I should apologize someday.
No matter how flustered she'd been, she shouldn't have said it like that.
Anyway, that was neither here nor there. First things first, she'd check things out once she got to the academy. Emily was just curious.
What if they're not actually dating?
If not, she couldn't back down. As long as it was still a fair fight...
"Right, I'll ask!"
Emily steeled herself, psyching up for no reason.
The next morning dawned. Bianca's head was a mess. Ever since that confession-that-wasn't from Carlyle Schultz.
[I like you, Bianca.]
Her mind was in chaos. He'd probably thought she was asleep and let his true feelings slip. Ridiculous. It had to be nonsense. Her rational side insisted it was just babble, but the words kept resurfacing.
Bianca finished getting ready.
"Gotta go to the academy anyway."
Duty called, health or no.
"Good morning, Bianca!"
As she entered the classroom, her seatmate Shasha's greeting kicked off the new day.
"Hey, Bianca!"
"Feeling better?"
Friends met her gaze with warm hellos, leaving Bianca a little awkward. She hesitated, then responded.
"Y-yeah, hey!"
Embarrassing, but not a bad feeling.
For some reason, I've gotten kinda popular.
She thought that inwardly as she returned the greetings and took her seat. A sneaky glance at Carlyle's spot—no one there yet, thank goodness.
"Looking for your hubby?"
"...?!"
Bianca panicked hard.
"Wh-what...? That's ridiculous!"
Goosebumps prickled her arms. But Shasha, her seatmate, just grinned mischievously.
"It's obvious, you know—"
Obvious what? No, seriously...
"You're so pure, Bianca. It's all over your face."
"What is?"
"You always check his seat first thing after arriving."
Eh, no way. She'd never...
But denying it would just invite more teasing. Bianca countered with her own timid rebellion.
"I've told you a million times, Shasha. We're not dating."
"No one buys that."
Shasha's words drew agreeing murmurs from around them.
"Aren't you two together?"
"Yeah, totally looked that way."
Caught off guard, Bianca shot up from her seat and blurted loudly.
"No, really!"
The classroom fell silent. Eyes turned her way, faces puzzled. Bianca realized her mistake.
"Uh, um..."
Classic otaku overdrive. Her face heated up until she hid it with her small hands.
"Sorry, got carried away..."
She plopped back down, mumbling a sincere apology.
"I've been off lately. Overreacted."
The silence lingered. Everyone had heard. And piecing it together, why Bianca Shama was reacting like this—why her face was so red—was obvious. People only deny something that hard when they're hiding something.
So moments later, sparkling-eyed girls swarmed Bianca.
"So cute, Bianca!"
"Like a pure little kid."
"Hey, is your 'weird state' connected to Carlyle?"
What kind of reaction was this? Bianca panicked again.
Did I say something wrong...?
Apparently so.
"Yeah? Spill."
"Why's your heart all weird...?"
Wait, she'd said her condition was off, not her heart. But if she split hairs, it was spot-on. Her emotions had been a whirlwind lately.
With all those eager eyes fixed on her, Bianca opted for escape.
She slipped out of her seat—
"S-sorry, gotta hit the bathroom!"
And bolted.
That's when she ran into a familiar face.
Emily...?
Emily Swan, heading her way—the object of her crush back when she was a guy, the one she'd even confessed to.
Bianca's heart plummeted at the sudden encounter. It'd been ages.
Heard she was recovering... Guess she's back today.
And Emily was still impossibly beautiful. Lake-blue eyes, sleek silver straight hair. Her neat uniform and feminine poise gave off elegant young lady vibes, like from some noble house.
......
Their eyes met in the air. Moments later, Emily spoke to Bianca, a shy smile on her lips.
"Um, are you... Bianca Shama?"
A touch embarrassed, sweetly smiling.
"Knew it."
Even her voice was pretty—totally unfair. And though the gap in their feelings was vast, she'd confessed to her with real passion back then. Shy as she was, she'd mustered the courage for the one she adored: Emily Swan.
"Uh, y-yeah...?"
It felt like waking from a dream into reality. Bianca Shama's heart began to pound.