“Stuck?”
Of course, I wasn’t swinging with full power. If I did, I’d end up causing a grotesque scene with that skinny guy named Sean’s head rolling away from his body.
But I wasn’t holding back completely either.
I glanced at the big guy, and he started to slowly tighten his grip on my hand without even a change in his expression.
It seemed like he intended to squash my fist with his grip.
“……!”
When I countered by ignoring his strength and spreading my fingers, I finally saw his eyes twitch slightly.
The one who interrupted our battle of wills was Tana, who was next to Eve.
“Daniel! Stop! If you keep this up, you’re the only one who will get hurt.”
Having just come out of juvenile detention, he was a state-certified counselor, and the soldiers beside him didn’t look very impressive either.
Considering their social standing and my position as a student, it made sense to back off, but I didn’t feel like doing that at all.
“Back off from Eve, you bastard.”
As I threatened the counselor who was too close to Eve, the soldier who had blocked my fist stepped in between us again.
Despite just standing there, his massive frame blocked my view of both the counselor and Eve.
And that fueled my irritation even more.
“These bastards……”
What kind of ridiculous reason do they have for poking at a child’s wounds? I was ready to step up, but I heard a thin voice from behind the man.
“Haha, the academy students are very aggressive. Let’s retreat for now. We can’t leave a bad first impression on Miss Eve.”
“……”
“Instead, students need to be careful. Where do you think you’re throwing punches……”
He twisted his body and muttered, “The standard of Eios has really dropped.” The soldier shot a quick glance at me, snorted, and followed the man.
“Are you okay?”
Even though I felt something terrible in my gut, Eve’s condition was my priority.
She looked confused, as if she didn’t understand the situation, but her trembling hands suggested she must have been scared.
“Let’s head back to the room for now. Tana, take Eve back. I’ll buy some warm tea at the café.”
“Got it, let’s go Eve.”
After getting some tea at the café, we headed up to the fourth floor.
Even though it was the girls’ floor, we cleanly ignored that and went straight to Eve’s room.
Someone was shouting about calling the duty professor, but it didn’t matter.
Eve drank the warm tea, and now that she seemed a little better, she took a deep breath and smiled weakly.
“Thanks for getting mad for me.”
“Of course, it’s only natural.”
“Charlie has come back, right? He wants to apologize to me.”
Mentioning his name seemed to make Eve uncomfortable, and she hesitated for a moment. Nodding slightly, I also decided not to say his name aloud.
“Those crazy people! Bringing Charlie back to the academy? Just to meet Eve? I’m going to make sure they all……!”
Tana clenched her fist and vented her frustration.
I glanced at Eve, but she didn’t seem to respond much.
‘This seems a bit problematic, doesn’t it?’
Tana had asked about my relationship with Eve, and I had explained the current situation.
It seemed like Eve had neatly sorted out her feelings.
Otherwise, how could she sit there and watch other girls flirt around her without any jealousy?
Eve wasn’t that great at acting either.
But Tana shook her head.
Eve still liked me.
However, she wasn’t accepting the current situation as something related to her.
‘Romance Reader Syndrome.’
The name was juvenile, typical of Tana, but still, she was calling it that for now.
When it came to relationships with boys, Eve was living as a reader in her own life, not a character.
And from what I could see, her symptoms seemed to be worsening.
‘Now, not only boys and love but she’s also viewing her current situation from a third-party perspective.’
It seemed Tana noticed this too, as she looked back and forth between me and Eve with a worried expression.
“I wish the counselor were a decent guy.”
Then I could trust Eve’s state of mind more.
“It’s okay, it’ll be fine.”
“Yes, I’m not worried.”
Tana reassured Eve.
Seeing the two of them, I couldn’t help but swallow my bitter feelings.
*
On the rooftop during lunch.
“Hmm! It’s delicious!”
Eve smiled brightly while eating Arni’s lunch box, which had become a daily occurrence. Arni nodded with satisfaction, but as I watched, I wanted to take a bite too and tensed.
“I really like Ares, you know? So don’t try to seduce him.”
“What, did some pheromones come out? If you get too close, will everyone fall for you? And besides, I haven’t tried to seduce him.”
“You never know.”
I thought girls who appeared strong on the outside were actually fragile inside. While they were confident with swords, they couldn’t match Eve when it came to relationships.
I mean, what would the daughter of a swordsmanship family, raised only on swords, know about romance?
“Yet, it seems there truly is someone who likes Ares.”
“……”
In the past, Hayun, Sen, Elise, and Adriana—
I once thought they were just fish in his net, but now I realized they were just fish models.
It was more surprising to see Arni Duratan genuinely liking Ares.
‘Is it even right to call them a net now?’
Ares had simply transitioned to being a fisherman.
He was now trying to confess to Rin, and Arni was waiting for that to happen.
Tana advised Arni to watch for a chance if Rin turned him down.
“What if Ares still likes Rin even after he gets turned down?”
Arni asked me this after I explained Ares’ confession plans, and I looked at her incredulously.
“Of course, he will keep liking her.”
“Uh?”
Deep down, Ares had an unexpectedly loyal heart, despite his dark appearance and mannerisms. He had always been consistent in his feelings.
“Do you know how long he has liked Rin? Would he give up just because of one rejection?”
“……”
“He told me he can neither give up easily nor stop, so that means he truly loves her.”
I shrugged in agreement.
“Annoying, but that’s the truth.”
Having confessed to Eris before, I could now say that with certainty.
“Neither give up easily nor stop.”
“……”
Tana seemed to be lost in thought, while Eve quietly contemplated like she was reading a line from a book.
At that moment, a girl barging into the rooftop with a candy in her mouth shouted.
“Hey, they’re coming again!”
“Ugh, seriously.”
“We’re eating lunch on the rooftop to avoid them.”
At May’s shout, Tana and I got irritated and left our lunch boxes behind, trying to take Eve downstairs.
“Ah-ha, you’re here? I noticed you haven’t been eating in the cafeteria lately.”
The counselor walked in with a smile, followed by the soldier.
Feeling annoyed that we were a step late, I glared at them, but the most hot-headed girl quickly moved first.
“Just leave, old men!”
Thanks to recent delinquents, May quickly updated us on their positions.
So we could react quickly to avoid them, but sometimes we missed them like this.
“Ah, May student, right? I’ve remembered your name. I heard you’re the dean’s cousin. Did the dean send you?”
“Shut it! If you’re a counselor, shouldn’t you read my mind?”
“There are those who misunderstand what my profession is. We are not mind readers……”
“Yeah, shut up. I didn’t ask.”
May raised her hand and rolled the candy around with her tongue.
The counselor’s expression twisted, and it seemed she won the psychological war against the counselor.
“Don’t cross the line.”
Finally, the soldier intervened.
I had heard from the dean’s investigation that he wasn’t your average soldier.
Demerk, the supervising officer.
He was once a captain in the Royal Guard but got demoted due to harsh training causing many recruits to quit.
With his fierce muscles and massive build, he looked just like a rigid officer.
“You’ve crossed the line, student.”
“So what?”
May put her hands in her pockets and looked up at Demerk. There’s no doubt that she was full of guts at this point.
She wasn’t the back alley queen for no reason; the delinquents blindly trusted her.
But I couldn’t let this slide.
If things continued like this, Demerk might really try to suppress May physically, so I stepped forward.
“We’re done eating, so just leave.”
“Students these days have no common sense.”
“No, you guys are the ones who lack common sense, so stop bothering us.”
“You’re dead now!”
Behind me, May was cheerfully swinging her fists around.
“My boyfriend will totally kick your ass, you big jerk!”
“Boyfriend? Stop saying weird things!”
I turned around annoyed, and May placed a finger on her lips, pretending to be delicate.
“Wasn’t he your boyfriend?”
“Is this some weird strategy again?”
“Tch, eat this!”
May stuffed a lollipop in my mouth in an instant.
Even while feeling annoyed, I discovered it was surprisingly good and began to chew, while Demerk let out a snicker.
“You’re causing a ruckus because of a silly crush in your student days.”
“I told you, he’s not my boyfriend.”
As I glared at Demerk, suddenly…
“I’m leaving.”
A flat voice from a girl in the back reached our ears.
Everyone slowly turned their heads to look at Eve, who spoke to the counselor with a blank expression.
“Charlie, I’ll meet you, so please stop bothering us.”
“Oh, what do you mean by bothering? It’s a serious matter if someone hears that. But you made a good choice. I can’t help but applaud the courage that Miss Eve has shown.”
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
The sound of the counselor’s applause echoed as Eve slowly followed him out, glancing back at us.
“I’m sorry if I caused too much trouble. I’ll be back soon.”
With a voice devoid of emotion, Eve went down the stairs.
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