.｡.:✧ Chapter 24 ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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After all the lectures had ended, it was originally supposed to be time for me to exercise, but I left Eve and Tana behind and headed to the cafe in front of the dormitory.

Hayun was already sipping something from a mug, sipping thoughtfully. It seemed like some kind of tea, but seeing a student drink it, rather than the older professors, was a first.

“Drinking something interesting?”

“You should try it too. It has a peculiar depth of flavor.”

“I do like tea quite a bit.”

“Oh, really?”

Hayun grinned, as if they had found a common topic to discuss.

When I lived in the forest, I had to be self-sufficient, so I often used herbs and leaves from the forest to make tea.

Those memories came flooding back, and I ordered tea instead of coffee before sitting down in front of Hayun.

“So, do you have a plan?”

I didn’t intend to micromanage everything, just offer help if needed, but she seemed to be well-prepared.

“There’s a secluded annex inside the academy. It has a big tree in front of it, and I plan to confess there.”

“Oh, I’ve seen it.”

It was an enormously huge tree, one that might create a picturesque scene if cherry blossoms bloomed, but I’d heard it was just an ordinary tree.

“Yeah, they say it’s a confession spot.”

“A confession spot, huh?”

Well, if it’s an academy, it’s likely to have at least one of those, I thought, nodding my head, suddenly curious.

“But who did you hear that from?”

It didn’t seem like something Hayun would actively seek out, based on her image. However, she responded somewhat bashfully, avoiding eye contact.

“From my class. It’s something the students talk about. You know some of them too, right? Like Rin and her friends.”

“Ah, I see, I see.”

Honestly, I didn’t know, but I just nodded casually. What did those students matter anyway?

In any case, the location was decided.

“When are you planning to do it?”

“In three days, at night. I have to wear something a bit unusual, so I want to do it when there are fewer people around.”

“Unusual clothing?”

Curious, I glanced at her, and Hayun nodded.

“Yeah, it’s probably not something I can wear at the academy.”

She didn’t seem willing to say more about it, firmly clamping down on any additional details.

“So, is there anything else I can do? You mentioned the type of confession Ares would like last time, but do you need any more help?”

“Well, there is something….”

She scratched the back of her head and simply told me. It wasn’t as if Ares had any particularly unusual romantic preferences, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.

“He doesn’t want to be in a situation where he receives a confession, but rather a situation where he wants to confess. He mentioned wanting to prepare candles and sing while confessing.”

“…..”

Hayun stared at me with a somewhat stunned expression. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but it seemed different from the image of Ares she had in her mind.

“It’s a bit surprising. I didn’t think he’d be into that kind of thing.”

“He’s actually quite good at it.”

He had won a silver medal at the village singing contest.

Rin won gold, and I got a bronze.

By the way, there were only three participants: the three of us.

We talked about various things related to Ares, and then we saw Tana and Eve approaching arm in arm, panting.

They had probably been exercising, even though they had complained about it just this morning. I wondered what had changed.

“Huh? Weren’t you guys reluctant to exercise?”

“To be honest, after school, we ate too much junk food, so we felt guilty…”

“My stomach hurts.”

Really, it was a brilliant move.

It was only natural that they found it difficult to run after eating without properly digesting their food.

“But what are you two up to?”

Looking puzzled at the combination of Hayun and me, Tana asked, and I smiled as I replied.

“Counseling.”

“You?”

“Me.”

As I looked at Tana’s suspicious eyes and the exhausted Eve, I couldn’t help but remember the determined look on Eve’s face when she had dressed up last time.

After treating them to drinks, we got straight to the point.

“Tana, can you dress up Hayun just like you did for Eve last time?”

“What? Why?”

“Hmm.”

I wondered if I should say this much, but Hayun glanced at me and let out a sigh before she began to speak.

“I’m going to confess to Ares.”

“What?!”

“Oh, wait.”

Tana, in a reflexive reaction, suddenly sat up. Come to think of it, wasn’t Tana also a potential candidate in Ares’ heart? She had been keeping a low profile lately, so I had momentarily forgotten.

However, Tana looked at Hayun for a moment, then sat back down without saying a word.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, I’m ready now.”

Hayun gave a self-deprecating smile and Tana nodded with a sigh.

“Just let me know when you need help.”

Then, we resumed discussing the confession strategy. While Eve claimed not to care and started reading a book from her bag, Hayun and I delved into the details.

After the conversation, Tana provided Hayun with some necessary items, and with Eve in tow, they headed back into the dormitory.

Hayun seemed about to say something as she got up, but I held my chin and asserted:

“The most important thing is a smile.”

“Uh… what?”

“He generally likes cheerful girls. Practice your smile.”

“Okay.”

That’s right, no matter how nicely you dress up, if you speak as stiff as a wooden board, it won’t be very effective. Smiling a bit, creating the right atmosphere, and showing a slightly different side from usual should increase her chances.

‘But wait, what if she actually succeeds?’

I thought about it for a moment.

She was going there to lose, but what if she actually succeeded?

However, I quickly nodded. As someone who knew who Ares liked, even if she made an effort like this, I couldn’t help but feel a little bitter about the slim chances.

***

“Hmm, hmm.”

Humming with her nose, Rin was braiding her hair in her room. She had heard the boys talking among themselves yesterday and had obtained some new information.

“Do you know how, when a girl who usually keeps her hair the same suddenly changes it, it excites you all of a sudden?”

“Ah, I totally agree. When her hair suddenly changes or she wears completely new clothes, it’s subtly attention-grabbing.”

“There’s that girl in Class E who usually wears glasses and carries books, right? She came in one day all dressed up differently, and it was quite shocking.”

“That’s true.”

So that was the case.

I tried it several times when I was younger, but this was the first time I had braided my hair this way as an adult, and it turned out quite nicely.

Rin, who had slightly raised her shoulders, secured the end of the braid with a hairband.

‘It might look better in something other than our school uniform, though.’

However, Rin didn’t have many clothes, and she didn’t have money to buy new ones, so she reluctantly took off her school uniform cardigan and checked herself in the mirror with just the white shirt on.

It was a different atmosphere from her usual self, who wore her hair down. Rin nodded and left her room. She was heading to her friend Hare’s room for a walk.

‘He doesn’t monitor me in the dorms.’

She couldn’t wait to get out there and show him.

It would be nice if he approached me excitedly after seeing the surveillance records.

“Hare?”

She knocked on the door, but there was no response. Since the door wasn’t locked, she gently pushed it open and found Hare staring out of the window, deep in thought.

“Hare?”

Wondering what she was so engrossed in, Rin called out again, and Hare seemed to snap out of her reverie, turning to smile at Rin.

“What, are you going on a blind date or something? You look so pretty; did you dress up for someone?”

Rin blushed and tried to explain that it was just a mood she was in. After a quick preparation, Rin and Hare went down the stairs and into the dormitory.

Their spot was not very visible, but Rin couldn’t help but notice Daniel, who she couldn’t overlook. He was chatting and laughing with Hayun from Class A.

“Is this what you were looking at?”

“Oh? Ah! Yeah…”

Hare’s excuse was a bit odd, but there was no point in paying attention to it. Rin’s eyes turned cold as she clenched her fist. It seemed like something was about to explode, but she held it back with superhuman patience.

‘What is this?’

Rapidly pacing forward, Rin pondered the situation.

What on earth was going on?

Why was he so close to another girl?

What the heck?

She felt like she had heard something like this before.

Some people can easily approach those they don’t feel any romantic attraction to, but have difficulty talking to someone they have feelings for. Yeah, trying to understand it that way.

Understanding…

Understanding…?

…

…Why?

Why do I have to understand?

You don’t understand me either.

You don’t understand that I’m not approaching you just the way you want me to, I’m waiting from afar, and I don’t want you to even talk to another woman.

Yeah.

If we both like each other.

We can just be together, right?

***

The academy’s rooftop.

Leaning against the railing, May looked up at the setting sun and spat out a dried speck of blood from her mouth.

“Ugh.”

“It hurts so much.”

“My face is all bruised.”

“Hey! You’re bleeding!”

Even her group of so-called delinquent friends, who accompanied her, were lying around her, and their crying voices annoyed her.

“Damn bastards. How can they just mess with us as soon as they come back?”

The reason May was beaten up like this was that she got into a fight with Fenil Leiros’ delinquents, who had returned today, right after they got out of detention.

It was obvious why.

‘I guess it’s because they can’t take a shot at Daniel, Tch.’

That’s why they came to her and re established their dominance by venting their anger like this. She felt like they were getting too carried away, but she guessed it was because they were confident in something.

“Ugh.”

Slowly getting up from her seat, May reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of candy. She leaned against the railing.

In the past, she would have trembled and worried about how to impress her seniors to look good in front of them, but now she didn’t think much of it.

“Maybe I’m not scared because I felt something so terrifying.”

The aura she felt from Daniel in the Dean’s office.

It was like he had moved beyond being just human, becoming more rugged and ferocious, like a monster. Since then, she no longer found anything too scary.

Was there anything scarier than that?

Crushing the crushed candy wrapper while looking down, she happened to see Daniel coming out of the cafe and heading back to the dormitory.

Hayun was with him, and the two of them seemed quite friendly.

“Ha, I’m suffering like this, and you’re in a relationship?”

It was ridiculous, but at the same time, she remembered the conversation he had with her.

“Are you going to control both the Light and Shadow sides?”

The Light side was the Dean.

Even the highest-ranking figure in the academy, the dean, couldn’t say anything to Daniel now.

The Shadow side was May herself.

Trying to consolidate her delinquent friends and make them bow to her was probably his intention, but in reality, May was also under Daniel’s control.

Whatever purpose he had in mind for giving her this task, she couldn’t know. But she understood the intent.

“May, what should we do now?”

“They seem like they’re going to keep bothering us.”

“Let’s just go back and apologize to Senior Fenil. Maybe he’ll forgive us!”

Only now did her friends, who had regained their composure, look at her. May smiled wryly and put the crushed candy in her mouth.

“What can we do? We can’t just take a beating like this.”

Even though she only fought with Daniel during the second exam and managed to protect herself, he called it teamwork.

Then…

“You flirt, and I’ll fight in the background. You can call this teamwork, too.”

Candy crumbs rolled around inside her mouth, but it was quite sweet.

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