<Episode 25>
"W-What is it?"
"Bianca, tell us everything without hiding anything. You got confessed to, right?"
"Who is it? Which guy confessed? Is he handsome? Did you accept the confession?"
"Lucia, when did you get here? More importantly, why are you being so overwhelming?"
Bianca, who had a bad complexion, burst into a hollow laugh and pushed away the two people who were approaching her.
"Don't hide it and tell us. What exactly did you talk about?"
Even though Bianca tried to avoid answering, Christine and Lucia persistently followed her.
Bianca hesitated for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.
"So, I did get confessed to, but..."
Oh my, oh my, oh my.
Christine and Lucia's eyes lit up. Bianca wore a sullen expression, finding their appearance quite burdensome.
"It's already the seventh confession from that person."
"What? He's confessed that many times?"
Christine and Lucia were startled by the unexpected news.
"Yeah, well... I guess you could call him a childhood friend? Not as close as Lucia and Herwin, but our parents know each other, so we've known each other since we were little."
Bianca's explanation was as follows.
The man was 'Calypse Cherbil,' the second son of the Cherbil viscount family.
He had been in love with Bianca since he saw her a few times as a child and had been in unrequited love for two years.
In fact, this confession was already his second since entering the academy. The first confession took place on the first day of the entrance ceremony.
After listening to Bianca's brief explanation, Christine squealed, saying she was excited, and Lucia felt that Calypse was in a similar situation to her.
"That's pure love. It's hard to find a man like that anywhere, Bianca."
"So what? I'm not interested."
Bianca scoffed crookedly.
"Oh my, it seems you don't like the Cherbil heir?"
"I don't like him at all. I wish he would stop confessing."
Lucia felt her heart sink for a moment without realizing it.
"It's not like it's only been once or twice, he should understand when a person says they don't like him. He doesn't listen even when I say, 'I hate guys like you,' and 'Don't even talk to me from now on.' I don't know if he can't understand or if he's pretending not to."
"Oh..."
Christine wore a bewildered expression at the more intense reaction than she had expected.
Lucia stared at Bianca without blinking.
'...That's different.'
Just a week ago, Bianca had criticized Herwin for not accepting Lucia's confession, saying that he should accept it after about 60 times.
But now, her attitude was 180 degrees different from then.
"I don't really know what kind of confidence he has to keep coming at me. It's not like he's handsome or from a great family."
"B-But he seemed like a nice person."
"There are plenty of nice people if you look for them, so I don't think that's a merit."
Bianca was firm. Christine felt sorry for Calypse even though she didn't know him.
"Ah! Lucia! You've been away for a long time, did you go somewhere?"
To change the awkward atmosphere, Christine hurriedly changed the subject.
She spoke awkwardly and then noticed something in Lucia's hand.
"Oh my, why did you bring your wallet?"
Bianca, who had been sullenly watching the swordsmanship class, turned her head sharply.
"Ah... I thought I might buy something, so I stopped by the classroom."
"Is that so? Did you buy anything?"
"No, I realized I didn't need it. It was a wasted trip."
Lucia smiled awkwardly and met Bianca's eyes. Bianca glared at her, sending a strong gaze.
'Why did you bring your wallet?'
It was a question of why she didn't put her wallet in Arista's seat or bag.
Lucia knew that, but she awkwardly avoided Bianca's gaze.
Then Bianca frowned slightly.
"Lucia..."
Waaaaah!
Bianca's voice was drowned out by the cheers erupting from the training ground.
Turning her head, she saw something purple rippling among the students who were taking a short break.
"Could that be..."
"Aura."
The cause of the cheers was the Aura emanating from Arista.
She had been working hard to be able to use Aura again since she had defeated the ogre.
And today, she was finally able to use Aura.
The students taking the swordsmanship class around Arista burst into admiration.
Among them was Herwin. Seeing everyone enjoying themselves like children, Lucia felt bitter.
"What's wrong with you?"
Bianca approached, taking advantage of the commotion.
"Why did you bring your wallet?"
Bianca glared at Christine, who had gotten up from her seat, and lowered her voice again.
Lucia felt a sense of rejection for some reason and subtly moved to the side.
"I just decided not to do anything."
"Suddenly? Are you scared? If you can't do it, I'll...!"
"No, it's not that. I just... I don't think this is the right way. And I don't want to hate Arista anymore."
Lucia's expression seemed resigned, but she looked more comfortable than ever. It was the peace she had found for the first time in about a week.
Bianca bit her lip, finding it so unfamiliar.
Tch-
Lucia heard a clicking of the tongue as she looked at Arista. She wondered if she had misheard, but Bianca was just resting her chin on her hand with a sullen face.
'Did I mishear...?'
She felt uneasy for some reason.
Lucia!
At that moment, someone urgently called Lucia. Lucia reflexively raised her head sharply.
She saw Christine, who was two steps below, hurriedly reaching out to her. Turning her head, she saw a cold blade flying at her from a fairly close distance.
Death.
Instinctively, the sensation of death was deeply engraved in her mind.
Lucia could only widen her eyes and watch the flying blade, unable to avoid it.
Kagaang-!
Just before the blade pierced her face, another sword blocked the blade that had flown towards Lucia, along with a chilling sound.
The sword that had been deflected with a spark was deeply embedded in the ground.
"Hah, hah, hah..."
A red haze was clearly visible before her eyes.
Herwin, who had been with his other friends far away, was now in front of her.
Herwin gasped for breath with a pale complexion.
"What are you doing! You almost killed someone!"
Herwin's anger echoed loudly in the training ground. The surroundings fell silent in an instant, and he turned his head sharply.
"Lucia! Are you okay?"
Lucia couldn't say anything. She could only look at Herwin with wide eyes.
Although the color was different, what was rising from Herwin's body was the same as the Aura that Arista had created.
"Lucia!"
Herwin grabbed Lucia's shoulders tightly and shook her, and her unfocused blue eyes turned to Herwin's face. And-
"Lucia!"
Lucia lost consciousness.
* * *
During the break, Herwin gulped down water, sweating profusely, and roughly wiped his face with a towel. Then, he scanned the stone steps surrounding the training ground.
Some students were watching the swordsmanship class on the stone steps.
"Looking for Lucia?"
Herwin immediately swung his arm at the voice giggling from behind.
Brian lightly dodged Herwin's attack.
"You could just say no, why swing your fist?"
"Don't sneak up on me like that, it's creepy."
"What did I do? I was just curious."
"Looking at it, it's been almost 20 minutes since Lucia left her seat."
"Hmm? Really? It's been longer than I thought?"
Ethan, who arrived late, told him about Lucia's absence.
Herwin frowned and looked at the stone steps where only Christine was. His red eyes were filled with melancholy.
Seeing that, Brian grinned slyly.
"I wonder when Lucia and he will make up."
Herwin's face hardened instantly, and he glared at Brian.
"I don't know what happened, but make up appropriately. What did we do to deserve being stuck in the middle?"
"That's right, it's suffocating. Why don't you think about making up while always looking at Lucia?"
"When did I..."
"When? You're doing it right now."
"You're really not honest."
Whether it was a joke or serious, Brian and Ethan continued to provoke Herwin.
Herwin, who was about to open his mouth, let out a sigh mixed with annoyance and silently walked away from them. The two called out to Herwin from behind, but he didn't even react.
"Oooooh!"
"It's coming! It's coming!"
The area around Arista was noisy. The cause was the faint haze rising from the sword she was holding.
Herwin, who sensed that it was Aura, widened his eyes and hurriedly watched Arista with the other children.
Arista's breathing became rough, and beads of sweat flowed from her forehead. She glared again.
The sword trembled, and a purple Aura, similar to her eyes, burst out!
"I-I did it!"
"Wow! It's real Aura!"
"The rumors were true!"
All the students, including Arista, shouted with great cheers. Arista smiled brightly and showed off the sword surrounded by her Aura.
"Arista! Let's clash with this once!"
At that time, a male student came with a real sword. He had heard the rumor that a sword surrounded by Aura could cut through anything except a masterfully crafted sword or the same Aura.
The children were curious to see if Arista's Aura could really cut through a sword.
"Okay, let's do it. It could be dangerous, so everyone step back."
At Arista's words, space was created around the densely packed crowd. In particular, there was nothing in the place where Arista would swing her sword. They avoided it on purpose in case any accidents happened.
"Will the sword really be cut?"
"Herwin, what do you think?"
"According to theory, it will be sliced like a piece of wood."
A strange light flashed in his red eyes. They were filled with excitement and competitiveness.
"Okay, here I go!"
The male student opposite Arista gripped his sword tightly and swung it at Arista.
Arista naturally swung her sword in the opposite direction from which he was attacking.
Even though the swords collided, there was no noise of swords clashing. Arista's sword, wielding Aura as if cutting through a soft object, cut the opponent's sword in half.
The cut-off blade flew fiercely into the empty space, perhaps due to the influence of the Aura. And that blade was...
"Lucia!"
It was flying towards Lucia, who had returned before they knew it, at a terrifying speed.
Ethan, who had unintentionally cut the sword, and Brian, who was among the children, hurriedly tried to go to Lucia.
However, the speed of the flying blade was faster than them.
"An-!"
Just as Brian desperately reached out his hand, he was pushed aside by a sudden gust of wind blowing from the side.
Kagaang-!
Soon, the noise of swords clashing was heard.
"Huh?"
Brian made a stupid noise and looked at the source of the noise.
Herwin, who had been next to him just a few seconds ago, was now blocking Lucia. Moreover, a red Aura was surging greatly from his body.
Brian blankly looked at Herwin and then turned his gaze to the side. Footprints were deeply imprinted in the place where Herwin had been standing.
"What are you doing! You almost killed someone!"
A loud voice echoed loudly. Herwin's anger was directed at the male student who had caused this situation, Arista, and Herwin himself.
An accident that could have killed someone if it hadn't been for Herwin.
While everyone was frozen, Herwin hurriedly checked Lucia's condition.
Even though he had awakened the Aura he had been longing for, all his attention was focused on Lucia.
"Lucia!"
A heart-wrenching scream erupted. Lucia had fainted in Herwin's arms.
