CH 25

“What, what?”

“Bianca, say it out loud without hiding it. You got confessed, right?”

“Who is it, the boy who confessed to you, is he handsome, did you accept his confession?”

“Lucia, when did you get here? No, it’s more burdensome than that.”

Bianca, who didn’t look happy, burst out laughing and pushed the two of them away from her.

“Don’t hide it, tell us. What were you two talking about?”

Bianca tried her best to avoid answering, but Christine and Lucia were persistent.

Bianca hesitated for a moment, then sighed heavily.

“So, I guess I did get a confession…….”

Whoa, whoa.

Christine and Lucia’s eyes lit up, and Bianca shuddered, feeling quite overwhelmed.

“That’s his seventh confession.”

“What? That many?”

Christine and Lucia were taken aback by the unexpected news.

“Yeah, well… I guess you could say we’re childhood friends. We’re not super close like Lucia and Herwin, but our parents know each other, so we’ve known each other since we were kids.”

Bianca explained.

The man was Calyps Cherville, the second son of the Count of Cherville.

He had been in love with Bianca for two years, having met her a few times as a child.

It was even the second time this confession was made in the academy. The first confession was made on the first day of the entrance ceremony.

After hearing Bianca’s brief explanation, Christine squealed with excitement, and Lucia realized that Calyps could relate to her situation.

“You’re a sweetheart, Bianca. It’s hard to find a guy like that anywhere.”

“Then don’t bother, I’m not interested.”

Bianca snorted sharply.

“Oh, I see, you don’t like the young Cherville?”

“I don’t like it every time. I wish he’d stop confessing.”

Lucia felt her heart drop for a moment.

“It’s not the first time I’ve told him I don’t like him, and he should be able to understand that. Even if I say, ‘I don’t like guys like you,’ or ‘Don’t talk to me next time,’ I can’t tell if he doesn’t understand or if he’s pretending not to.”

“Uh…….”

Christine winced at the unexpectedly strong reaction.

Lucia stared at Bianca, unblinking.

‘…..that’s different.’

Just a week ago, Bianca had criticized Herwin for not accepting Lucia’s confession, telling her that it was time to accept it after about sixty times.

Now her attitude was 180 degrees different.

“I don’t know what kind of confidence he has in him, it’s not like he’s handsome or has an outstanding family.”

“Ha, but he seems like a good person.”

“There are many good people to find, so I don’t think it’s an advantage.”

Bianca was adamant. Christine felt sorry for Calyps even though she didn’t know him.

“Ah! Lucia, you’ve been gone for a long time, where have you been?”

Christine quickly changed the subject to break the ice.

As she was talking awkwardly, she noticed something in Lucia’s hand.

“Why did you bring your purse?”

Bianca, who was watching a class in swordsmanship, turned her head.

“Oh… I was wondering what to buy, so I stopped by the classroom.”

“Did you buy anything?”

“No, I realized I didn’t need it. It was a waste of time.”

Lucia smiled sheepishly and made eye contact with Bianca. Bianca’s eyes widened and she gave her an intense stare.

‘Why are you carrying a purse?’

She was asking why she hadn’t put it in Arista’s bag.

Lucia awkwardly avoided Bianca’s gaze, even though she knew it was obvious.

Then Bianca frowned slightly.

“Luci-…….”

Waaaaaah!

Bianca’s voice was drowned out by the roar of the training center.

They turned to see a flash of purple amongst the students who were taking a break.

“That can’t be…….”

“Aurors.”

The source of the shout was Arista’s auror.

Ever since she had defeated the Ogre, she had been working tirelessly to learn how to use her auror again.

And today, she was finally able to use it.

The students in Arista’s swordsmanship class erupted in admiration.

Herwin was among them. Lucia felt bitter as she watched them all rejoice like children.

“What happened to you?”

Over the commotion, Bianca approached.

“Why are you carrying a purse?”

Bianca glanced at Christine, who had gotten up from her seat, and lowered her voice again.

Lucia sidestepped her, feeling vaguely repulsed.

“I just decided to do nothing.”

“Suddenly? Are you scared? If you can’t do it, I’ll……!”

“No, it’s not like that, I just… I didn’t think this was the way to do it, and I don’t want to hate Arista anymore.”

Lucia’s expression couldn’t have been more relaxed, even though she seemed to have given up for once. It was the first peace she’d found in nearly a week.

Bianca bit her lip because it was so foreign.

Chit-.

A tongue-lashing sound caught Lucia’s ear as she looked at Arista. She turned her head to see if she had misheard, but Bianca Bianca was just resting her chin on her face.

‘Did I hear it wrong…….’

She felt a pang of recognition.

“Lucia!”

Just then, someone called out to her urgently. Lucia’s head snapped up reflexively.

She saw Christine, who was two steps down, reaching for her in a panic. As she turned her head, she saw a cold blade flying at her from a fairly close distance.

Death.

The sensation of death was instinctively imprinted in her mind.

Lucia couldn’t help but widen her eyes to see the flying blade, unable to dodge.

Kagagang-!

Just before the blade was about to slam into her face, with a ghastly sound, another sword blocked the blade that flew towards Lucia.

It bounced back with a spark and embedded itself deep into the ground.

“Hmph, hmph…….”

She could see a red blur in front of her.

Sure enough, Herwin, who was in the distance with his other friends, was suddenly in front of her.

Herwin gasped, his face pale.

“What do you think you’re doing? You almost killed someone!”

Herwin’s anger echoed through the training ground. The room fell silent for a moment, and he whipped his head around.

“Lucia, are you okay?”

Lucia couldn’t answer, only stared at Herwin with wide eyes.

The auror that rose from Herwin’s body was the same as the one Arista had created, albeit a different color.

“Lucia!”

Herwin grabbed Lucia’s shoulders and shook her, and the unfocused eyes turned to Herwin’s face, and-

“Lucia!”

Lucia fell unconscious.

* * *

When it was time for a break, Herwin gulped down the water, drenched in sweat, and wiped his face roughly with a towel. He glanced at the stone steps that surrounded the training center.

There were a few students on the steps, watching a swordsmanship class.

“Looking for Lucia?”

A giggling voice called from behind him, and Herwin whipped his arm around.

Brian sidestepped the blow with ease.

“Or you can just say no, I’m not going to punch you.”

“Don’t come up behind me like a creep.”

“What did I do? I was just curious.”

“By the looks of it, Lucia’s been gone for about 20 minutes.”

“Hmm? Really? Longer than I thought?”

Ethan came up behind them and told them about Lucia’s absence.

Herwin frowned and looked toward the stone steps where Christine was alone, his red eyes glazed over in exasperation.

Brian smirked at that.

“I wonder when you and Lucia are going to make up.”

Herwin stiffened instantly and glared at Brian.

“I don’t know what happened, but make it up to her. What are we guilty of, being caught in the middle?”

“Exactly, it’s suffocating you, and you’re always staring at Lucia, so why don’t you ever think about making up?”

“When will I…….”

“Whenever. You’re still doing it.”

“You’re such a dishonest person.”

Whether in jest or in earnest, Brian and Ethan continued to irritate Herwin.

Opening his mouth to speak, Herwin let out an exasperated sigh and slipped away from them without a word. The two men behind him called out to him, but he didn’t even respond.

“Oooooh!”

“It’s coming! It’s coming!”

There was an uproar around Arista, caused by a pale glow from the sword in her hand.

Realizing it was an Auror, Herwin’s eyes widened, and he and the others hurried to check on Arista.

Arista’s breathing became ragged, beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, and she squinted again.

The sword shuddered, and a violet auror, similar to the color of her eyes, erupted with a clang.

“That’s it!”

“Whoa! It’s a real Auror!”

“The rumors were true!”

All the students, including Arista, let out a loud cheer. Arista grinned and showed off the sword surrounding her Auror.

“Arista, let’s clash with this!”

Just then, a boy came up with a real sword. He had heard the myth that the sword surrounding an auror cuts through everything except a master craftsman’s sword or the same auror.

The people wondered if Arista’s auror would cut a real sword.

“Okay, let’s try it. Everyone stand back, it could be dangerous.”

Arista’s words created space around the tightly packed group, especially where Arista would swing the sword. It was a deliberate avoidance, not knowing what might happen.

“Will the sword cut?”

“Herwin, what do you think?”

“According to the theory, it would cut like a piece of wood.”

His red eyes spun around, excitement and triumph in them.

“Here we go!”

The boy across from Arista gripped his sword tightly and swung it at her.

Naturally, Arista swung back in the opposite direction he was coming from.

The swords clashed, but there was no noise as they met; Arista’s auror sword sliced her opponent’s sword in half as if she were cutting a soft object.

The severed blade flew fiercely into the space left empty by the auror’s influence, and the blade….…

“Lucia!”

It was flying at a terrifying speed to Lucia, who just returned.

Ethan called out Lucia’s name in panic as he spotted the severed blade flying toward her.

Brian, who was between Arista and the people when the blade was unintentionally cut off, hurried to Lucia.

However, the speed of the flying blade was faster than theirs.

“No-!”

Brian’s desperate outstretched hand was suddenly knocked aside by a gust of wind from the side.

Kaga-kang-!

The sound of swords clashing against each other could be heard.

“Huh?”

Brian let out a dumbfounded sound and turned to look at the source of the noise.

Herwin, who had been beside him only a few seconds ago, was now standing in front of Lucia. Moreover, the red auror’s body was pulsing with energy.

Brian stared at Herwin in confusion, then looked to the side. Footprints had dug deep into the ground where Herwin had been standing.

“What do you think you’re doing? You almost killed someone!”

A booming voice echoed through the air. Herwin’s anger was directed at the boy who had caused this, at Arista, at himself.

An accident that could have killed someone if it weren’t for him.

As everyone froze, Herwin hurried to check on Lucia.

Even now that he had awakened the auror he had hoped for, his entire attention was focused on her.

“Lucia!”

A tearing scream erupted. Lucia had fainted in Herwin’s arms.