Chapter: 30
“Hello…”
Scarlet greeted with a timid voice.
Sylvia responded to the greeting with a mechanical smile she had put on since childhood, treating Scarlet like a complete stranger.
In Sylvia’s view, Yoon Si-woo entered through the door.
However, just seeing his face, which used to make her heart flutter with joy, now brought nothing but emptiness.
It felt as if her heart was frozen by cold, dead emotions.
It would have been better if she had never felt those emotions at all.
The loss of a sentiment once known clawed even deeper into her.
Though she had jumped out of the cage called Astra, she was still all alone.
That was somewhat sad, but despite the countless trainings she had undergone to become Astra’s successor, Sylvia had never learned how to relieve such sadness.
All she knew was to hide that sadness behind a noble facade, as she always had.
During lunchtime, Sylvia sat next to Yoon Si-woo to eat, but that couldn’t really be called sharing a meal.
It was a lonely meal, lacking any consideration for synchronizing the eating pace.
When Yoon Si-woo finished and stood up, she continued to eat slowly, not bothering to look back.
Thinking that a sweet treat might improve her mood, she considered heading to the snack bar after her meal, and soon enough, she saw Scarlet hesitantly standing there with macarons in hand.
Suppressing her desire to bite her lips, she firmly said to Scarlet, who was extending the macarons.
“As I said yesterday, you don’t have to buy these for me anymore. We’re nothing to each other now, right?”
We are no longer anything to each other.
Sylvia kept repeating this in her head to prevent Scarlet, who could read her feelings so frighteningly well, from seeing her inner turmoil.
*
The next day, upon arriving at school, Scarlet was smiling from the morning.
Seeing her, who was almost always expressionless, smile filled Sylvia with a complicated feeling.
When she had said she was no longer a friend, she had worried that she might have hurt her by seeing that distorted expression. But seeing her smile now brought a slight relief.
Yet, on the flip side, Sylvia felt a bit disappointed; she realized she likely wasn’t so important to Scarlet after all.
It was silly to feel disappointed after rejecting her, but she couldn’t help it.
During the sparring practice, Sylvia crushed her opponent without mercy and returned to her seat to quietly watch the duels of other students.
“Evande’s opponent is Si-woo! Show us a fantastic match worthy of 200 points!”
With Eve’s announcement, the students’ gazes focused intently.
Sylvia too kept an eye on the two who had stepped forward for the duel.
That’s when she noticed something amiss.
Scarlet’s expression while preparing for the duel was exactly the same as the one she had seen that morning.
It was so unnatural that it seemed not to have changed even a little.
And it wasn’t long after the duel had begun when what she’d thought was merely an illusion solidified into certainty.
Scarlet, as if her mind was elsewhere, tried to block the sword with her hand.
Blood splattered as the sword struck.
Looking at Scarlet’s face now splashed with droplets of blood, Sylvia was shocked.
Her smiling face showed no hint of change, frighteningly so.
That expression, which seemed to feel no pain at all, was like a mask.
Sylvia felt as though Scarlet was hiding something behind that mask, just as she herself had always adorned a lofty guise.
And if what she was hiding was a pain so overwhelming that the injury on her hand felt trivial, that it had left her so confused as to try and block the sword—
Then all of that seemed to add up.
A memory flickered in Sylvia’s mind.
It was the moment when, despite her expression betraying not the slightest shift despite her injury, she had looked at Sylvia with an utterly shocked face.
“Maybe it was because of what I said…”
Unconsciously biting her lip, she tasted the coppery flavor of blood.
The pain that arrived late caused her to frown slightly, twisting her expression with the emotions that followed.
How enormous must the wound she inflicted upon Scarlet be for her to show no reaction despite such damage?
How could she have—
Scarlet returned from the infirmary with her hand bandaged, her expression reverting to its usual unreadable self, but Sylvia’s heart still remained in chaos.
*
Sunday.
Though it was a day off, as the heir of Astra, she couldn’t afford to waste time slacking off.
With the words of the clan’s elders reminding her that she must not neglect combat training just because she was now in Aegis, she continued her elemental magic training even on her day off.
However, Sylvia was struggling to concentrate that day.
One of the most crucial aspects of elemental magic is mental focus.
But how could she focus with her mind so troubled?
Sylvia sighed.
If the clan’s elders had seen her, they would surely criticize her for such undignified behavior.
Fortunately, there was no one around to make comments, but her feelings of frustration did not dissipate.
Having stopped training to try and gather her chaotic thoughts, she heard her phone ringing from a distance.
Usually, she kept it on silent during training, but in her distracted state, she must have forgotten to change the settings.
Picking up her phone to check who was calling, she found it was Leonor Lionelle.
Though they had known each other since childhood, they only occasionally checked in on each other, so she wondered what the reason for his call was.
“Sylvia Astra speaking. How can I help you?”
[Ah, lady. Uhm… how have you been lately?]
“…There’s nothing major happening, but can I ask what you needed to discuss?”
Sylvia paused a moment at his inquiry about her well-being before shifting to ask about his reason for calling.
Unlike others, Leonor preferred not to beat around the bush, so it felt odd for him to hesitate like this.
[Well, you see… the girl who was with me in the infirmary, your classmate?]
“…Are you talking about Scarlet?”
The person who had been troubling her thoughts suddenly popped up in conversation, putting her briefly on guard.
Upon hearing Sylvia mention Scarlet’s name, Leonor carefully continued.
[Yes, right. Uh… you know, she seems really eager to be friends with you. From what I can see, she looks like a really nice and good person, and I thought it would be great if you became friends with her…]
Leonor stuttered as if feeling slightly embarrassed while speaking.
It felt like Scarlet might have asked him to speak positively about her, but knowing Leonor’s character, she doubted he would forcedly say such words.
[It must feel surprising to get a call like this out of the blue, but I just wanted to pass that along. Please try talking to her tomorrow… Ah, how embarrassing. Sorry, lady. Enjoy the weekend!]
With that, the call suddenly ended.
Leonor must have been taken by Scarlet quite favorably to go through the trouble of calling her like this.
A kind and good person.
Certainly, as Leonor said, Scarlet must indeed be that type of person.
And she, who had inflicted pain on such a person, had committed a wrongdoing.
Taking a deep breath, Sylvia resolved her thoughts.
The wrongdoings came from her side, so she decided to apologize to her tomorrow.
No matter if it meant facing her wrath or getting slapped, it was something she felt compelled to do.
After swirling thoughts settled somewhat, she felt a bit more at ease.
*
As she opened the classroom door, she spotted Scarlet sitting at her desk.
Sitting down herself, Sylvia’s mind buzzed with confusion over how to broach the topic.
As she lingered aimlessly, class started, and before she realized it, lunchtime had arrived.
After finishing her meal in the cafeteria, feeling frustrated, she stepped outside the building to a quiet spot, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh.
Too many thoughts gave her a headache.
She craved a macaron.
And almost as if she had summoned her wish, Scarlet suddenly appeared in front of her, standing silently and holding something out.
Caught off guard, Sylvia shut her eyes tight and said.
“I said you don’t need to buy anything for me anymore.”
Finally taking a deep breath after she finished her sentence.
That wasn’t what she meant to say.
She wanted to apologize…
“I didn’t buy this…”
The gentle voice broke her train of thought.
Sylvia slowly opened her eyes.
There was something wrapped in paper resting on her extended hands.
She stared blankly at it.
“It’s not bought, I made it…”
Scarlet moved her hands to unwrap the wrapping paper.
Inside were macarons.
Their size and shape.
There was no doubt they didn’t look like ones you could buy anywhere.
Sylvia asked, her voice trembling,
“…You made this?”
Scarlet nodded her head.
“For me…?”
Scarlet nodded vigorously this time.
She noticed the bandage around Scarlet’s hand, a little blood seeping through, suggesting her injury hadn’t completely healed.
With those hands, she had gone through the effort of making macarons for her.
While she had only ever hurt Scarlet, she felt pain surging through her.
“…Why would you go that far for me…?”
As she said this with a quivering voice, Scarlet responded quietly, just as she always did.
“Because I want to be friends.”
With that answer, Sylvia slowly extended her hand.
Gingerly, she took the macarons from Scarlet’s hands, worried they might crumble.
And the words that had been floating in her mind poured out of her mouth.
“…I’m sorry. I was jealous and acted mean….”
Scarlet quietly listened to her apology.
“I never thought of you as a friend, only caused you pain…”
Seeing someone she liked focus on someone else had made her think there could be no way she could reciprocate feelings for Scarlet.
Once she realized the pain she had caused, she believed she should keep her distance and not pursue a friendship with her.
Today, she had thought just to apologize and accept whatever attitude Scarlet might have towards her.
“I’m just a selfish person with a bad temperament, but…”
Yet she couldn’t let go of someone who approached her sincerely, without any ulterior motives.
However, she was unaccustomed to building such authentic connections.
“Will you be my friend?”
She found herself repeating the words Scarlet had once spoken to her.
And despite how foolish it sounded, Scarlet smiled and nodded her head.
The gentle spring breeze felt warm and inviting.
It was a comforting temperature, enough to thaw that which had been frozen.
If she stood still, it felt like any melted emotion would flow down her face.
Sylvia grinned widely.
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