“Darkhan-nim. It’s Kainiel.”
“Come in.”
A middle-aged man with a monocle cautiously opened the door at the old man’s words. He entered the room and bowed his head to the Isajang.
“Yes. What brings you here?”
“I came because of information about the student Kain von Barad.”
“Oh. I see.”
Darkhan nodded a few times as if he remembered.
Kain von Barad.
He was one of the students that Hera had warned about before. A student who had fallen into the traps of the Majok and had turned into a dark mage, causing much harm. Hera had instructed Kainiel to be on guard against him.
“So, is there something suspicious?”
“Isajang-nim, we have no student named Kain in our Academi.”
“Um..?”
Darkhan raised an eyebrow at the unexpected answer.
“So, I conducted additional investigations. Fortunately, it was easy since he has a surname. However….”
Kainiel pulled out a sheet of paper from his coat and placed it on Darkhan’s desk.
“I think you should take a look.”
At Kainiel’s words, Darkhan picked up the document and closely examined its contents.
As Darkhan’s eyes moved down the paper, his expression grew increasingly troubled.
“……What is this?”
It seemed he would need to talk to Hera.
*
In a dark alley.
Lily’s amethyst eyes glowed eerily.
“What are you two doing…?”
“Hik!”
Instinctively stifling a gasp of fear, I was taken aback. Robin, sensing something was off, let out a drop of cold sweat.
Lily had a strikingly calm yet intense gaze, like the eye of a storm.
‘Oh no… this is bad.’
I knew from living with Lily that her eyes appeared just before she was truly angry—right before an explosion.
I had to calm her down somehow.
Taking a shaky breath, I tried to call out to Lily.
But—
“Why are you two so close?”
“Hiyah?!”
At that voice, more menacing than millennia-old grudges, I instinctively dove behind Robin.
crack
Once again, a bizarre sound emanated from Lily.
I steadied my quaking heart and peeked out at Lily. She wore a chilling smile, reaching out her hand to me.
“Come here, Sera.”
“….T-that’s…”
To be honest, I didn’t want to go.
No, I was scared.
The murderous aura surrounding her felt like it would devour me whole at any moment.
But my instincts warned me.
If I didn’t go to Lily now, something truly irreversible would happen.
…gulp.
Eventually, I took a heavy step forward, inching closer to Lily like a condemned prisoner walking to the gallows.
As I reached Lily, she quickly snatched my arm, pulling me behind her and glaring fiercely at Robin.
“What were you two talking about?”
Fearing Robin might answer incorrectly, I hurriedly interrupted.
“Uh… it wasn’t anything important!! I just asked if he was okay after that fall the other day. Right, Robin?”
As I looked at him desperately, he nodded a few times, bewildered.
Lily glanced from Robin back to me, her harsh gaze returning to me.
Once again, I found myself stuttering.
“Why are you worried about that, Sera?”
“Uh…? I mean, he got hurt during our training…”
“……”
As Lily’s empty gaze lingered on me, I began to tremble.
Feeling my fear, Lily clicked her tongue and took my arm, leading me outside.
‘Thank goodness…’
I wasn’t entirely out of the woods yet, but it seemed I could make it through this.
I followed Lily out into the street, and just when I thought everything was okay.
“Sera, does that mean he’ll be training with you next?”
stopped
Like a machine that lost power, Lily abruptly froze in place at Robin’s words.
“……What?”
In Lily’s eyes, there was an unfamiliar, dangerous look.
“What does Sera have to do with this…?”
Taken aback by Lily’s menacing tone, Robin stammered an answer.
“I meant… the training…”
“…….”
Lily’s expression softened as she regarded Robin for a while.
Then, she strode over to him and grabbed his collar.
“Lily?!”
I was taken aback and rushed to intervene, but Lily was steadfast, like a mountain anchored to the ground.
‘What… kind of strength is that…?’
While I fidgeted in the back, Lily glared at Robin.
“I can train whenever you want, but don’t you dare go near Sera.”
“…I don’t care about the training if it’s with a strong person…”
Hearing his assurance, Lily turned back to me and pulled me along once more.
Time passed, and in the alley where Lily and I had disappeared,
“…This is awkward.”
An astonished Robin mumbled to himself.
*
Class had long since started.
Yet, Lily continued to grip my hand, leading me somewhere.
“Lily… wait a moment…”
“….”
“Can we go a bit slower?”
“…..”
“Lily..! My hand is… it hurts…!”
stumble
Finally, upon my faint groan, Lily halted her pace.
She turned around and glanced at my hand, her voice filled with emotion.
“….Do you like Robin?”
At her question, I thought, “Oh no, this is it.”
‘…I never thought she’d feel this way about Robin.’
Lily expressing her feelings this way must be jealousy.
In the original story, Lily showed strong possessiveness too.
She must have misunderstood when she saw me alone with Robin.
To be honest, it was a bit unfair… but since my mistake had been revealed, I had nothing to say.
“Lily…”
I spoke in a pitiful tone, but she looked at me, her eyes cold as she lowered her voice.
“Do you also like Robin? Is that it?”
“…..No.”
“Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie.”
Experiencing an unknown chill from her ominous murmuring, I blurted out, “Uh…!” as the dreadful aura seeped into my body.
Without hesitation, I pulled her into my embrace.
“…Uh…?”
Lily’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Lily, I don’t care about Robin.”
Whether my hug had an effect, she looked at me with her sanity returning.
“….Then why did you ask about my type…?”
Oh.
Wait… did she hear what I said?
As I hesitated to answer, Lily’s eyes began to darken again.
“That… was…! It was just something I needed to know…”
As I struggled to respond, the atmosphere around Lily grew tense once more.
I hurriedly continued to persuade her.
“Lily…! Believe me, I don’t like Robin.”
It’s because of you, after all…!!
“…..”
When she continued to stare at me without saying anything, I pulled her closer and asked once again, this time in a more sultry tone.
“Lily… can you not trust me this once? Hmm?”
“Ugh…”
As I looked at her pleadingly, Lily’s cheeks flushed slightly, flustered.
After a moment of exchanged gazes,
“…I’ll believe you this once.”
With a short sigh, Lily pulled me in tightly around the waist, and only then could I let out a breath of relief.
‘…What a relief.’
I nearly lost her before anything had even started.
What I wanted was for Lily’s love to blossom, not to become a target of her jealousy.
“Lily.”
“….?”
Noticing my confident smile, Lily looked at me curiously.
Now that the misunderstanding was cleared, it was time to move on.
I had procured valuable information that cost me embarrassment. It was time to put it to use.
Operation “Connecting Robin and Lily”
The first step was figuring out Robin’s type.
The second was training for that.
First, I’d master cooking, which was the biggest hurdle.
“What are you doing after class today?”
Lily’s eyes widened as she quickly responded.
“Uh… nothing at all.”
“Perfect.”
“Why?”
She had an expectant look on her face.
I smiled brightly at her.
“Do you want to come to my room today?”
“……What?”
At my suggestion, Lily’s eyes shook like an earthquake.
She gazed at me blankly for a moment before finally stammering out a response.
“Y-you… your room?”
“Yeah.”
My plan was to teach her cooking, as it was her weak point.
Fortunately, there were basic cooking appliances set up in the dormitory, so while I couldn’t show her splendid dishes, I could teach her the basics.
There wasn’t much time, but I believed I could manage to perfect at least one dish.
“Let’s go.”
With her face flushed for some reason, Lily took my hand.
I clasped her hand, smiling cheerfully.
“Okay, let’s walk home together.”
In that cheerful atmosphere, a memory of what Robin had said came rushing back.
He likes kind women.
Lily is sweet and pretty, but I thought she was a tad lacking in the “kindness” department.
Kindness and sweetness are slightly different.
But Lily is kind, so with practice, she’d surely become more gracious.
I thought it would be good for us friends to practice together, so I turned to Lily.
“Lily, and listen…”
“Yes, Sera.”
Responding immediately, Lily’s enthusiasm was infectious.
“When you come to my dorm later…”
“Okay.”
I spoke carefully, asking her a favor.
“I hope you can treat me kindly.”
“Uh… huh?”
“Please… be kind to me, Lily.”
“……”
Despite my earnest request, she fell silent for a moment.
…This is kind of embarrassing…
When I looked up because there was no answer, I saw Lily’s face was as red as a tomato.
“Be… kind…”
She mumbled in a voice barely audible.
I found myself puzzled by her reaction.
Lily… is something wrong?
She can’t be sick.
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