“This is the young lady’s room.”
“….”
Sion stared blankly at the door.
The room of Estroja Perrawell located at the end of the second-floor corridor.
There was a sign hanging on that door.
– KNOCK WITHOUT EXCEPTION!!!
“This is….”
“Oh, don’t mind that. The young lady hates it when people enter without knocking… Of course, sometimes I do enter without knocking just to see her angry.”
“…What?”
“Shall we go in?”
It felt like he had heard something he shouldn’t have.
The maid, Anna, casually knocked on the door.
– Knock knock knock.
“Miss, are you there? We have a guest.”
Anna knocked and pressed her ear against the door.
But there was no sound coming from inside.
“Is she not in there?”
“No, she seems to have fallen asleep because she has a bad cold.”
“Then I think I should go back…”
“No! It’s fine. You’re curious about your girlfriend’s room, aren’t you?”
Anna winked at Sion as she said that.
‘She’s not even my girlfriend, and I’m not particularly curious about the room….’
He had missed the timing to clarify and was still in a situation where he was misunderstood as ‘Estroja’s boyfriend.’
When and how should he say something to clarify this misunderstanding without it being awkward?
While he was thinking that, Anna suddenly flung the door open.
“Come on, go in. Take this with you.”
“…What?”
“Normally, it would be dangerous to leave an outsider alone, but if it’s your boyfriend, I can rest easy. I’ll be outside, so feel free to stay. Go on!”
With that insistence from Anna, Sion stepped into the room.
When he turned back, the door had already closed behind him.
The doorknob with her hand on it did not turn.
‘…This is a problem.’
The misunderstanding was growing uncontrollably.
Even if he said ‘I’m not her boyfriend’ now…
Wouldn’t he get stabbed if someone thought he was after their lady?
‘But what is this?’
Clink.
Before entering the room, what Anna had handed him was a tray.
On the tray were a spoon and a steaming bowl.
When he gently lifted the lid off the bowl, it was ‘juk’ (rice porridge).
…Now that he thought about it, it was lunchtime.
“Ugh… Anna? Anna?”
“…!”
Rustle—
When Sion heard the sound of someone stirring on the bed, he couldn’t even breathe.
Her room was larger than the dormitory room and was filled with various cute patterns and dolls.
Perhaps due to the dolls encircling her on the bed, she seemed not to have noticed Sion’s presence yet.
“Anna, did you knock…? Anyway, I’m hungry, so give me some food….”
“…….”
“Not juk again, right? Can’t you secretly give me something else? Juk doesn’t taste good~.”
“…….”
“Anna…? Why aren’t you answering?”
Her voice was 180 degrees different from usual, filled with charm.
Sion froze, still holding the tray.
It was then that Estroja noticed something was off.
Feeling a sense of discomfort, Estroja raised her upper body and looked at Sion.
She was wearing only a thin chemise.
The sweat-drenched chemise clung to her body, revealing Estroja’s curves without any filters…
“Why aren’t you saying anything…?”
“…Hello?”
“……………………Huh?”
With a blank look on her face, she stared at Sion.
Sion also froze, exchanging glances with her.
After one second, two seconds…
And when it reached three seconds.
“Kyahhh—! W-What are you doing here!!”
As Estroja screamed, she covered herself with the blanket.
“Wait a minute! First, lower your voice and calm down…”
“Calm down? Get out, get out now!”
“No….”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
She began throwing the surrounding dolls around in a panic.
Since they were fluffy dolls, naturally, there was no real damage.
He only hoped that the other maids wouldn’t come and make the problem worse.
“How the hell did you get in here… Ugh.”
“…Estroja!”
She clutched her head and wobbled.
Her upper body leaned dangerously to the side.
If this continued, she would surely fall under the bed.
‘No way!’
Sion set the tray down on the bedside table and quickly caught Estroja’s upper body.
Fortunately, he managed to prevent her from falling under the bed.
But….
“Are you okay?”
“…….”
Looking closely at Estroja.
Her pure white eyes seemed beautiful like blooming snowflakes.
The place her gaze was directed at was…
Sion’s hand, which had firmly grasped Estroja’s chest.
“Ah, this wasn’t intentional…”
“Pervert!!!”
Slam!
Sion was slapped right across the face by Estroja.
*
“So you came here because of Professor Bariyes’s request?”
“Yes.”
“And… you’re saying that Sion was misunderstood to be my boyfriend, and the maids forcibly shoved him into my room…?”
“Yes… I’ve already answered this three times.”
“Haah….”
She sighed while rubbing her forehead.
Sion was sitting on a chair set aside for guests.
One side of his cheek was noticeably swollen.
‘I got hit for no reason….’
Sion was using magic to generate ice against his cheek.
He had reached for her to help, but instead, his hand had just landed in an unfortunate place.
He felt wronged since there was not even a 1% intention behind it.
…Though the sensation of her softness still remained clearly on his hand.
“So what’s that document?”
“This is it.”
“…Hmm.”
Flick.
Sion handed over a paper from his pocket.
There were a total of two sheets.
One was Professor Bariyes’s syllabus, and….
“…What’s this?”
“That’s my separate notes.”
“Why….”
“I thought it might be helpful… Ah, don’t worry, I wrote mine separately.”
What Sion had handed over was a detailed note summarizing that day’s class content.
If looked at alongside Professor Bariyes’s syllabus, it was detailed enough that it could be understood without any problems.
Estroja placed it on the nightstand.
“…Well, I can understand why you came all the way here.”
“I came here because the professor asked me to as well…”
“Still, you could have chosen not to come, but you came personally, right?… So you should be thanked.”
Sion widened his eyes at her words of gratitude.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because it’s my first time hearing a thank you…”
“That’s rude. I can say thank you in a normal way too.”
“…Don’t you usually speak indirectly?”
“That’s… something you don’t need to worry about.”
“…….”
Sion silently nodded.
Both Sion and Estroja were adults now.
They were beyond the age of needing to hear someone’s scolding.
“Well then, I suppose I should be going.”
“The maids will see you off.”
“Understood… Ah, before that.”
Sion pointed at the tray on the nightstand.
“Anna said to pass this on to you. It seems like lunch…”
“…Is it juk again?”
“It seems so… Please eat, and I’ll see you in class later.”
“Is that so?”
“…Well then.”
Squeak.
Sion stood up from his seat.
The documents were passed along, and all matters were concluded.
When he left, the maids might ask why he was leaving so soon, but… he could just mumble something about feeling unwell and saying he better head back early.
As he was about to leave…
“…Ugh.”
Thin arms trembled.
Estroja was trying to move the tray on the nightstand over to the bed.
But perhaps because of her cold, she seemed to lack strength, and her arms were shaking precariously.
As if the tray might topple over at any moment.
Thud!
“…What are you doing?”
“Wasn’t Anna supposed to feed me juk?”
“…What does that have to do with you—”
“Just sit down.”
Squeak.
Sion pulled a chair and sat down in front of her bed.
The fact that the maid had been feeding her so far meant that she probably didn’t have the strength to hold a spoon.
She needed someone to feed her.
“You could just go out and call the maid. There’s no reason for you to….”
“Just sit quietly and open your mouth.”
“There’s no need for this—”
“Just accept it.”
“…!”
Surprised, Estroja opened her mouth.
Sion’s spoon slid right in.
She flinched and shivered at that fact, but fearing that the food would spill onto the blanket, she didn’t spit it out.
Munch munch.
Estroja savored the juk.
Sion blew on a steaming spoonful of juk and gently brought it to her lips.
“…….”
“Hurry up and eat. You said you were hungry.”
“…Why are you suddenly being informal…?”
“It doesn’t matter since we’re the same age. Just open your mouth.”
“…….”
Estroja’s lips timidly opened.
Sion prepared the next spoonful while observing her condition.
‘…She doesn’t seem to be angry for using informal language.’
In fact, it was rare for students of the same year and age to use formal language with each other at the university.
In situations where they meet for the first time, using informal language is not unusual either.
For Estroja, since they had met several times now, it would be fine to slowly start using informal language.
The only issue was the difference in status between Sion and Estroja.
“Are you done eating?”
“……Yes.”
“Okay.”
“……Mmm.”
Sion fed her juk while considering her pace of eating.
Estroja accepted the food with a slightly flushed face, perhaps due to her cold.
There was no conversation between Sion and Estroja until the juk bowl was completely emptied.
In the stillness, only the sound of the spoon scraping the bottom of the bowl and Estroja eating echoed, allowing the two to enjoy a strange peace.
