Book 1 Chapter 71
【71】70.
Deep night.
Creak-
Leo carefully opened the window of his dorm room.
Whoosh-!
A cold blizzard raged.
[It's cold! Close the window!]
Kirian, who was trembling in front of a candle, wrapped in a handkerchief as if warming himself by a bonfire, was startled by the sight.
“Don't sleep, be on standby.”
Having said that, Leo left the room through the window.
The place Leo headed to was none other than another luxury hotel where the second-year students were staying.
“As expected, he made his move.”
Meanwhile, Lunea, who was similarly observing the movements in the Lumern dorms opposite through her room window, wore a meaningful expression.
“My hunch was right after all.”
Lunea opened the window without hesitation and went outside.
Shortly after Leo and Lunea left their rooms.
Click-!
“Lord Leo and Lady Lunea, to, together…?”
Another window opened, and Eiran poked her head out.
Eiran, who bravely joined Seirun today, stayed here instead of at home, at Herdium's recommendation.
And while she couldn't sleep properly due to nervousness, she coincidentally witnessed Leo and Lunea secretly leaving the dorms.
“What's going on? Why are Lord Leo and Lady Lunea?”
Eiran pondered the sight of the Lumern class representative, whom she inexplicably kept looking at, and the Seirun class representative, who was scary but also an object of admiration, leaving the dorm late at night.
“C-could it be! A secret rendezvous?”
The rich imagination of a teenage girl who loved heroic tales ran wild.
Covering her flushed face with both hands, she didn't know what to do.
‘As students, such an unhealthy dating relationship…!’
Eiran, having smoothly misunderstood, hurriedly got dressed and went outside.
Leo, who came to the hotel where the Seirun second-year students were staying, stood on the roof.
Then, he concealed his presence, put strength into his hand, and dug his fingers into the wall.
Thud-!
The hotel wall was dented.
Using that method, Leo descended to the lower floor and detected a presence inside the hotel.
‘It seems Seirun rented this entire place as well.’
There was no presence felt inside.
‘Is the floor the students are on the third floor?’
Since it was already late at night, the Seirun students were already asleep.
Leo climbed down the wall to the third floor and checked the interior through a window.
‘Nine people in total. One is missing.’
Leo, who confirmed the number of sleeping second-year students, narrowed his eyes.
And he opened the window of a room that had luggage but was empty.
Click-
The window, whose latch wasn't locked, opened easily.
Leo, perched on the windowsill, took off his snow-covered shoes to avoid leaving footprints and stepped onto the room floor.
And he confirmed the name ‘Lauta’ written on the uniform name tag hanging on the wall.
‘As expected, he secretly left the dorm.’
“Hey! What are you doing here?”
Just then, Lunea, with a very flustered expression, stood by the window and spoke to him.
“What are *you* doing then?”
Leo, who knew Lunea was secretly following him, asked back with a relaxed face.
“Is that important now?! What will you do if you get caught intruding into the second-year dorms?! Get out quickly! Before you get caught…!”
To drag Leo out, Lunea took off her shoes and approached him.
Unauthorized departure from the dorm, and unauthorized entry.
Moreover, considering that their schools were different, if caught, it wouldn't just end with a disciplinary action.
Thud-! Bang-!
“Ugh!”
Lunea, who was too startled to approach Leo, accidentally kicked a table leg.
The table fell to the floor, making a loud noise.
Lunea, having stubbed her toe, felt tears welling up and instinctively grabbed her foot.
A moment later, a sharp, impatient knock was heard.
Lunea, who was whimpering while holding her foot, looked at the door in a panic.
‘Gasp? It’s not locked!’
If someone were to open it and come in now, they would be caught without a doubt.
Leo also saw it and furrowed his brow.
“Hey! Lauta! What’s all this racket in the middle of the night! Do you think you’re the only one here! Let us get some sleep!”
An annoyed male student's voice was heard.
Leo hastily left his shoes outside, closed the window, and then grabbed Lunea's stiff wrist.
And he pushed her onto the bed, then pulled the covers over himself, drawing Lunea close.
“Hey! What the…!”
“Shhh!”
Leo put a finger to Lunea’s lips as she tried to say something with a flushed face.
“Are you ignoring what I say?!”
Bang-!
The door opened irritably.
Lunea felt her heart stop.
The distance between the door and the bed was quite far, so if someone lay with their back to the door, it was hard to tell if two people were lying there unless they came very close.
“Are you ignoring me even after I’ve come in? Fine! So the esteemed high-class student doesn't want to exchange words with a low-class nobody, is that it?”
Seeing someone covered by a blanket on the bed without even showing their face, despite the door being open, the male student, who had mistakenly assumed, irritably closed the door.
A moment later, Lunea, who emerged from under the covers, was red up to her neck and quickly moved away from Leo.
“You didn't have to hug me *that* tightly!”
Leo, seeing Lunea protest in a small voice, got off the bed and replied.
“If we hadn't been so close, it would have looked like two people were lying there.”
“That may be true, but!”
‘Ugh! Why is this guy so nonchalant!’
“I don't know! I don't know! Anyway! If you tell anyone else about this, you're dead!”
Leo, who burst out laughing at Lunea, who was speaking threateningly with her fists clenched, headed towards the window.
“Seriously! Why did you even come here!”
“To find Lauta.”
Lunea paused at Leo's words.
“Is this Senior Lauta’s room?”
“Yes. He secretly left the dorm. He must have headed to the Fairy Forest.”
“Why?”
Lunea wore an expression of disbelief.
“We'll know when we get there.”
“Wait. You're going to the Fairy Forest at this hour?”
“Yes. You go back to the dorm first.”
“……”
Lunea crossed her arms and pondered.
“You’re thinking Senior Lauta is involved in this incident, aren't you?”
“Yes.”
“Your assumption is wrong. That’s absurd.”
Even if he was an annoying senior, Lauta was a Seirun student.
From Lunea's perspective, it was naturally unpleasant for a student from another school to link a Seirun student with Tartarus.
But it was certainly strange that he had secretly gone to the Fairy Forest at this hour.
“So I'll go with you and check. As Seirun's first-year representative, I must clear my school senior of suspicion.”
“Do as you wish.”
Leo, having put on his shoes, climbed onto the roof.
Lunea followed him up.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
The two left the city and arrived at the entrance of the Fairy Forest.
Leo, who arrived at the entrance, stopped in his tracks and let out a small sigh.
“Are you going to keep following too?”
“Huh?”
Lunea was flustered by the sudden remark.
Rustle-
With the sound of rustling bushes, Eiran appeared.
“Eiran? When did you start following?”
“I've been following along with you.”
“What?”
From the moment he knew Lunea was following, Leo had also felt Eiran's presence.
‘Eiran isn’t the type to tell tales, though.’
Eiran was the type to silently fret alone rather than report it if she witnessed someone sneaking out.
So he left her alone, but since she kept following, he couldn't help but ask for the reason.
Lunea approached Eiran.
“Eiran. Why did you come all the way here? Go back to the dorm quickl--.”
“Ah…!”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“O-oh, no! Unhealthy dating between students is not allowed!”
“……”
Lunea wore a dumbfounded expression, looking at Eiran who was urgently shouting with a bright red face.
“What are you talking about?”
“I saw it! Lord Leo and Lady Lunea leaving the dorms and secretly entering another hotel room!”
“Eiran! Wait! Listen to me for a moment. That was…”
“O-of course, Lady Lunea is beautiful! And L-Lord Leo is very handsome! And I think you suit each other! But you’re still first-years! To, to shamelessly have a physical relationship…!”
“Argh! Seriously! It’s not like that?! Hey! Leo! You explain quickly too!”
Unable to listen to Eiran's rampaging delusions any longer, Lunea yelled and looked towards Leo.
And seeing Leo clutching his stomach and laughing, a vein throbbed on her forehead!
“Are you laughing! Laughing?! Is this funny?!”
Leo, who stopped laughing at Lunea shouting and grabbing his collar, released Lunea's hand and spoke to Eiran.
“Eiran. You misunderstood. Lunea and I are not in that kind of relationship.”
“R-really?”
“Yes. That place earlier was the Seirun second-year dorm. We went in briefly to investigate something. We came out quickly anyway, didn't we?”
“Ah…”
Eiran gasped.
And a moment later, she covered her face and squatted on the floor.
“I-I’m so embarrassed.”
“Oh, goodness. Seriously. I’m starting to feel awkward too.”
Lunea, who had been fanning her face with her hand, looked at Eiran and smiled.
“By the way, did you come to stop me because you thought I was having an unhealthy dating relationship?”
“S-sorry. You must have been upset, right?”
“No. I was just curious. While there's no way I'd ever be unable to focus on my studies because of romance, if that *were* to happen, wouldn't it be good for you?”
In Seirun, where competition among students is much fiercer than in Lumern, it's considered a good thing if an opponent can't focus on their studies.
“No. Not at all. Lady Lunea is the best student, so I want her to always be the best.”
Lunea was slightly surprised by her words.
‘She was thinking like this?’
Lunea, from a top prestigious family, was always brimming with confidence.
At the same time, she also felt bored.
This was because there were no first-year Seirun students who could be her rival.
So when Eiran, who was in the intermediate class, quickly rose to challenge her, Lunea was delighted to have a rival.
Even when other students whispered about Eiran, she merely scoffed.
This was because she didn't think her rival would be swayed by the words of such losers.
‘Come to think of it, Eiran was always alone.’
Lunea felt ashamed of herself for calling Eiran a friend but not caring about her at all.
“Eiran.”
“Yes?”
“Why haven’t you been coming to school? Saying you’re sick was a lie, wasn't it?”
At Lunea's question, Eiran bowed her head deeply.
“I wasn’t seriously aiming to be a hero like others; I simply attended school with a light heart. Out of a desire to observe people like heroes up close.”
She admired heroes, but she had never envisioned herself becoming one. She simply enjoyed watching.
“I thought that my attending school like this might be disrespectful to those who seriously dream of becoming heroes…”
“Disrespectful? That’s absurd. Such a thought is rather disrespectful to your own efforts.”
Becoming second in the entire school from the intermediate class was by no means easy.
Eiran was indeed the center of attention.
However, introverted and timid Eiran was afraid of that attention.
Along with that, the envy and jealousy that started pouring in from her classmates also felt burdensome.
Feeling isolated and alone, she had fled back to her family home.
Lunea, after hearing Eiran's words, sighed deeply and said.
“I hope you continue to attend school.”
“Wh-why?”
“Because you’re my friend.”
Eiran wore a surprised expression.
“W-were Lady Lunea and I friends?”
“Huh?”
“You didn't dislike me?”
“Pfft.”
When she heard laughter from behind, Lunea glared at Leo once.
It turned out Eiran had been right earlier when she said she didn't think of Lunea as a friend.
“We *are* friends, you know? So don’t mind what the other kids chatter about and keep coming to school! I need you!”
“Me?”
“Yes. That’s right. As a friend and a rival, I want you to keep competing with me.”
At those words, Eiran’s bewildered expression brightened.
Seeing that smile, Leo chuckled.
“Kids grow up so fast, I guess.”
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