“What kind of rule is that? First come, first served. Jaelin, don’t mind him, use it all you want! Ah, no, that’s not right either. I can’t let our precious new member sit on a dirty sofa that only swordsmanship students use. Don’t worry, Jaelin. I’ll bring in a sofa just for you, one much nicer than that one.”
“Ah, no. You really don’t have to…….”
“Evi! Sitting on the same sofa as those muscle-brained, wrinkle-less swordsmanship kids? No way. The ignorance will rub off on you.”
“Ignorance? Are you insane? Hey, you—!”
As Adrian flared up, Stefan stuck out his tongue and needled him mercilessly.
“What, what? The swordsmanship department is already famous for that, aren’t they?”
“Then did you get first place from the back last semester because you have so many wrinkles?”
At Adrian’s counterattack, Stefan’s face turned blue.
“Aaaagh! Adrian. How can you say something so cruel in front of Jaelin……. My shameful secret…… You’re too much!”
“Might as well know it in advance, since it’s bound to come out after midterms anyway.”
Adrian replied indifferently.
“Still! Too much, too much, too much!”
“Good grief. You don’t even care about your grades, and yet.”
Adrian and Stefan’s bickering continued without pause until Jaelin left the club room to head to her next class.
***
At last, the day of the monster mock class arrived.
Since today was a day with only afternoon classes, Jaelin decided to go to school at a leisurely pace.
She opened a book to study a bit during her free time, but her heart was fluttering so much that she could not concentrate at all.
The class was in the afternoon, but just thinking that she would be able to see Lionel made her heart race already.
In the end, Jaelin closed the book and rose from her seat. She thought it would be better to go out a little early and take care of the errands she had put off.
Leaving her boarding house, Jaelin rode her bicycle to the bank located within the Academy.
Fortunately, having entered with excellent grades, she was able to receive a scholarship, but it was not enough. She needed money for boarding and living expenses.
Fortunately, there were loans available to Academy students, so she decided to borrow a little of the money she needed while attending the Academy.
Of course, it would be wonderful if she could find a part-time job to cover her living expenses, but having transferred in as a fourth-year, just keeping up with her studies already seemed overwhelming.
‘If only I could earn my living expenses, even just during vacation.’
Jaelin pedaled hard. Because she had looked for a cheap boarding house, she had signed a lease for a room far from the Academy’s main facilities.
Walking would take quite a while, so Jaelin had rented a bicycle to commute to school.
The old bicycle creaked as it finally arrived in front of the bank.
Having parked the bicycle nearby, Jaelin opened the bank door and went inside.
The moment she opened the door, a tall man with water-colored hair standing at the entrance glanced back and let out a single exclamation toward Jaelin.
“Oh? You!”
Jaelin was bewildered. It was clearly a face she was seeing for the first time, yet he acted as if he knew her.
The man flashed his pure white teeth in a refreshing smile. The curve of his lips, rising as if to meet his eyes, was very charming.
“Hello? I’m Nathan. What’s your name, by any chance?”
Nathan held out his hand to Jaelin with a thoroughly sly grin. A stranger she had met on the street showing such excessive familiarity made her feel repulsed.
But she could not ignore the hand held out toward her, so Jaelin quickly shook it with a wary expression.
“I-I’m Jaelin.”
“Ah, nice to meet you, Jaelin. You’re a first-year new student who enrolled this year, right?”
“I-I did enroll this year, but I’m a fourth-year.”
Nathan’s face turned peculiar. After briefly furrowing his brow, Nathan opened his mouth.
“Fourth-year……? Then you transferred in this year? I’ve never seen you in previous semesters.”
“Yes. I transferred in this year.”
“I see. Where did you study abroad?”
Nathan asked as if it were perfectly natural that Jaelin was an exchange student.
“St-study abroad?”
“Yes. Since you transferred in as a fourth-year, you must have come from studying abroad in another country. Shallac? Zekalan?”
“I-I did transfer in, but I’m not an exchange student. I’ve never even been to another country.”
“You transferred straight into fourth-year without having studied abroad?”
“Yes.”
“It’s rare for someone who isn’t an exchange student to transfer straight into fourth-year…… How strange.”
Nathan lightly scratched the back of his head with his hand.
“Anyway, Jaelin, you know Lionel, right?”
“Huh? H-how do you……?”
At the name of Lionel, suddenly springing from the mouth of someone she had met for the first time today, Jaelin’s eyes went wide.
“I’m Lionel’s friend.”
Jaelin, who had been unknowingly tense, finally relaxed her body.
‘Ah, so he knows the Young Master. That’s why.’
Nathan shrugged once and smiled refreshingly. His eyes were full of mischief he could not hide.
“How did you come to know Lionel? He’s a good person, but he never talks about himself, so I’m curious. How do you two know each other?”
“Um, when we were young, I was briefly the Young Master’s playmate.”
“Young…… Master?”
At the title Jaelin used for Lionel, Nathan tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Ah, I-I’m a commoner, so when I was young, I called L-Lionel Senior that.”
“Aha! I see. That’s interesting. You said you’re a fourth-year, right? Then we’re in the same year. We’ll run into each other often from now on. If you ever have a hard time or need help, don’t hesitate to tell me. I’ll help you.”
Having finished speaking, Nathan playfully winked one eye.
“Y-yes. I will.”
Seeing Nathan’s wink, Jaelin nodded dazedly.
***
That afternoon, having arrived at the building where the monster mock class was held, Jaelin parked her bicycle in front of the building.
The spring breeze that had been blowing gently suddenly stirred up a gust.
The fierce wind scattered flower petals in all directions, and the yellow ribbon barely hanging at the ends of Jaelin’s hair was carried off by the wind and fell to the ground.
Before Jaelin could even bend down to pick up the fallen ribbon, a large shadow picked up the ribbon from the ground.
Black hair, deeper and darker than the night sky, filled Jaelin’s vision.
It was Lionel.
“Here, you dropped this.”
Jaelin looked down at the yellow ribbon Lionel held out. It was the ribbon Lionel had given Jaelin as a gift when they were young.
She had cherished and treasured it, using it with the utmost care, but inevitably, with the passage of time, its ends had worn and frayed.
The moment Jaelin raised her head, a shower of flower petals danced and scattered above Lionel’s head.
The young face from the day Lionel had given her this yellow ribbon as a gift overlapped vividly with his face now, already grown into a young man.
Jaelin wondered whether Lionel remembered, but she could not bring herself to ask. All she could do was take the ribbon and express her thanks.
“Th-thank you.”
At Jaelin’s thanks, Lionel simply smiled gently.
At Lionel’s smile, Jaelin’s mind went blank for a moment, and not even knowing what she was saying, she moved her stiff lips.
“H-hello.”
The sentence she barely managed to force out while pressing down on her heart that felt about to burst was nothing more than a greeting.
The fingertips that had briefly touched Lionel’s when she received the ribbon burned as if on fire.
Jaelin tightly rolled and gripped the ribbon in her hand to swallow that sensation.
“You’ve been well, haven’t you? How’s Academy life? Is it manageable?”
Even at Jaelin’s hopelessly clumsy greeting, Lionel skillfully led the conversation and asked after her.
“Y-yes. It’s all right so far.”
Even after Jaelin’s answer ended, Lionel was staring down at her strangely intently.
Fidgeting under the piercing gaze, Jaelin finally asked.
“Wh-why……?”
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Lionel’s fingertips carefully touched and left Jaelin’s wheat-colored hair.
At Lionel’s touch brushing the ends of her hair, Jaelin’s cheeks flushed incomparably red.
“This was stuck to you.”
A pale pink flower petal hung from Lionel’s fingertip.
Jaelin could not even look at Lionel and simply stared at the ground, murmuring her thanks.
“Th-thank you.”
The moment Jaelin’s words ended, a thud rang out and Lionel’s body tilted slightly forward.
Soon after, a voice calling Lionel’s name—immeasurably bright and clear—rang out from behind him.
“Li-o-nel!!”
“Sasha. You don’t have to ram into me with your whole body—a single greeting would tell me you’ve arrived.”
Despite the scolding words, Lionel smiled softly and turned his body toward the back.
There stood Sasha, with short blonde hair and sea-blue eyes.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you going in?”
Sasha seemed puzzled that Lionel was standing here, for she opened her eyes wide and asked him.
“I’m about to go in now.”
Only when Lionel turned fully toward Sasha did she notice Jaelin and wave her hand in greeting.
“Oh, hello! I couldn’t see you because Lionel was blocking you!”
“H-hello.”
As Jaelin’s greeting ended, Lionel turned back to Jaelin and spoke in a low, calm voice.
“Well then, Jaelin. I’ll go on ahead. I have a class soon.”
“Y-yes.”
Lionel and Sasha, having turned their backs on Jaelin, gradually grew farther away.
The sound of Sasha, who had naturally linked her arm through one of Lionel’s, chattering reached Jaelin’s ears.
“I trained so hard during vacation. This semester, I’m definitely going to beat you! Just you watch.”
Lionel’s profile as he smiled down at Sasha, who clenched one fist, was clearly visible even from a distance.
The two looked very close. Only after Sasha and Lionel had completely disappeared into the building where the monster mock training class was held could Jaelin take her eyes off them.
