27 - How to Escape the Reverse Harem Cliché
Chapter 27
A week after I received the letter, Rowen excitedly grabbed me and delivered the news.
“Espers and Guides are expected to come to Verdenin.”
“……Are you sure?”
“Yes. But don’t worry, Laila. We’re on the inside, so we won’t have to encounter them. The Academy said they’re increasing security measures to prevent students from getting close to them.”
The National Academy treated Espers and Guides like monsters, but that actually helped me a lot.
I wrote back to Aiden, telling him not to come. I explained that I had enrolled late and was so far behind that I had no time to sleep to meet the graduation requirements. Aiden seemed a little disappointed but sent a reply back saying to at least get enough sleep and that we’d see each other at home next time.
Orion also sent a letter that clearly showed his disappointment.
〔My Laila. If that is your wish, I will gladly obey. But Laila. I miss you so much. I think I’ll be able to get leave once this matter is concluded. Will you grant me a little time then?〕
I couldn’t reply to that request. I wasn’t sure if Orion’s leave would coincide with my break, and I didn’t want to give him false hope.
Aiden, Orion, and Valerian were all assigned to a skilled Esper team deployed to the front lines.
None of them had graduated from the Academy yet, but Valerian had come of age, and Orion and Aiden would come of age next year. They would likely be pushed harder and be more active than they are now. With their ranks, there would be nothing they couldn’t do.
And, as I expected, Rose was training with them. I found her name in Orion’s letter.
Rose was the only S-rank Guide who had shattered an Inspection Stone. She was said to be tireless, even while Guiding numerous Espers. She seemed to have incredible stamina, unlike me.
So, I actually hoped Orion might forget about me due to Rose’s Guiding. In the original work, Orion and Rose had good compatibility.
The problem was that Laila, who manifested later, had even better matching rates.
In any case, I thought if I just didn’t show up, Orion and Rose could develop a good relationship. In the original story, Orion was kind to everyone, but especially to Guides. He treated Rose, who was fighting on the battlefield with him in the same unit, even more specially.
Espers are inevitably drawn to Guides. Especially the longer they spend together. So, it was only natural for him to fall for Rose.
〔Lilacs remind me of you. With love, Orion Restro.〕
The letter was filled with the scent of lilacs.
Sighing with a heavy heart, I put the letter away in my drawer.
While my head was aching from the news of the letters and the Espers being deployed to Verdenin, Evan disappeared. He hadn’t come to the storage room for over two weeks, and he had even been absent for several days.
At first, I was preoccupied with my own troubles and thought it was a good thing I didn’t have to waste time on the bothersome Guiding, so I ignored it. But after more than half a month, I started to get worried.
He was already known for having a high Guiding consumption rate. What if he was on the verge of Berserk again? Overwhelmed with worry, I went to his classroom for upperclassmen to ask about Evan, but the upperclassmen in his class said they didn’t know his whereabouts either.
So, as soon as the last lecture ended that day, I left the Academy, ignoring Rowen’s call, and headed to Evan’s dormitory.
“Mr. Evan Olivite is not here.”
“Not here? Since when?”
“He left the dormitory two days ago. He didn’t say where he was going, but he had an exit permit stamp.”
I was disheartened. I had gone all the way to the men’s dormitory, only to find out Evan wasn’t there.
At this point, I wondered if he had gone back to his family for a visit, but an inexplicable sense of unease made me increasingly anxious.
What if he goes Berserk…? His rank is low, and he hasn’t received Guiding for half a month… Could he have Berserked already? Is he dead?
Did he really die alone…? The thought sent my heart plummeting.
What surprised me even more was that it had been half a month since he disappeared, and no one was looking for him. Even I, who met him regularly, hadn’t looked for him during this time.
How could this be? He’s been absent from the Academy for half a month, so why isn’t anyone looking for Evan?
“Well. The last time I saw him, he had his head buried in his desk all day. Now that I think about it, he seemed sick. But I don’t know what was wrong. He’ll probably be back soon.”
I went back to Evan’s class and cornered the upperclassman who last saw him, but the answer I got was frustratingly unhelpful.
No one really cared about Evan.
This is a fictional world created by a writer. And Evan Olivite was an unnamed supporting character, not the protagonist.
Then… is it okay for him to die? Is it okay for a supporting character to die so easily?
He hadn’t done anything… He hated being born an Esper, but the setting the writer gave him was that of an Esper. And a low-ranked one at that, with enormous Guiding consumption.
If he hadn’t met me, if I had lived according to the original story without destroying it. Then Evan would have died much earlier. He would have Berserked and died alone in the first-floor storage room, unknown to anyone.
His Berserk might have caused a small explosion in the building, but it would have been repaired quickly. Then rumors would spread.
‘Evan Olivite finally died. Good riddance, right?’
The thought made my legs stop in their tracks. Annoyingly, I had started to empathize with Evan, and my eyes welled up.
“You can’t die…”
My earnest wish escaped my lips before I knew it.
Don’t die. Evan Olivite, please don’t die alone.
I don’t remember what happened after that. I searched every building in the Academy, and when I still couldn’t find him, I left the Academy without realizing it.
I rented a carriage and went into town, searching desperately for Evan.
I wish I were an Esper. An Esper who could find your traces, but this damn Guide can’t do anything.
After wandering for a long time, as the sun began to set, I finally came to my senses.
“I have to go back.”
This is so unlucky, Evan. Where on earth are you hiding? Did you really go back to the Olivite Marquisate? Leaving like this without a word?
Was the nonsense about wanting to be by my side forever a lie? Even if we had a business relationship, couldn’t he have given some notice to someone who would wait for him endlessly?
Or did Evan see me as someone who wouldn’t care if he disappeared so suddenly, someone who would just laugh it off because I didn’t think of him at all?
…That must be it. Given how I’ve treated him. It wasn’t that I regretted it, but I felt I had done something terrible.
Evan suffers from affection deprivation. Abandoned by his family, ignored by the Academy.
He finally found me after wandering aimlessly, and even then, I ignored him. I wasn’t even really angry.
I should apologize… but I can’t apologize if you’re not here. Where are you, you bad guy?
Even though I knew it was better for him to go back to his family than to be at risk of Berserk, I wandered aimlessly, consumed by conflicting emotions.
“…Miss Pascianne?”
Suddenly, a shadow fell over my head, and a familiar voice reached my ears. As he approached, the noise that had been assaulting my ears lessened.
Ah. It was raining… The umbrella he held over me covered my head.
Even though my whole body was drenched, I didn’t even realize it. I was foolishly standing in the middle of the road, just cursing Evan.
“Miss Pascianne. What are you doing here?”
“Young Master Astolphe.”
My voice, muffled by the rain, made Valerian frown. Then, he took off his formal coat and draped it over my shoulders.
“First, you should go somewhere to rest and change your clothes…”
“Young Master, can’t you help me find my friend?”
At that moment, I forgot that he was the male protagonist. I forgot that he was an Esper I had to avoid.
I grabbed his coat collar without thinking and pleaded desperately.
“You’re the only one I can ask for help.”
“Miss, it’s more important to find a place for you to rest.”
“No. I have a bad feeling. It feels… it feels dangerous.”
“Your friend?”
“Yes. Please help me. I beg… I beg you…”
Valerian gently took my hand, which was falling limply, and bent his back slightly to meet my eyes.
“Alright. I will help you, so you will come with me.”
“…Yes.”
I dazedly let him lead me to the carriage.
I felt like I was possessed. I could have just ignored Evan, but I couldn’t.
Looking back later, I realized I was at the peak of stress. I had been in an unfamiliar place for over nine years, yet I was still facing threats to my survival, and I felt suffocated by the guilt that I might have caused someone’s death.
If I had been rational, I should have run away the moment I saw Valerian, but what was it about Evan Olivite? Why was I searching for him so desperately when he wasn’t even my friend?
“Laila!”
When I came to my senses, I was sitting on a large bed, with maids standing beside me. Just then, the bedroom door opened, and Adrian, with a surprised look, burst in.
“…Aiden?”
“Laila, are you okay?”
“How did you…,”
“Sir Astolphe told me. He said you were here.”
“Ah. Right…”
“Are you cold? Wait a moment, Laila. I’ll bring more firewood and blankets.”
“Yes.”
Some of the maids, following Aiden’s orders, went out, while the rest busied themselves preparing the brazier.
