After receiving Dennis’s request for a bout, I found myself curled up in a corner, feeling even more suffocated.
Reeti was called by her seniors and dragged away, leaving only Lily beside me.
“Haa… I wish I could leave soon, what with all these compulsory events.”
“Just hang in a little longer. It’s almost over.”
Finding solace in Lily’s words, I sipped at an alcohol-free cocktail, not knowing how many I’d had.
Just then.
“Arthur!”
A loud voice rang in my ears.
It was undoubtedly from someone behind me, but I knew who it was without even looking.
“Hey, Luke.”
With a wide smile spread across his face, Luke approached and gave my shoulder a hearty slap.
“Ow…”
“Long time no see, besides that brief meeting during the break, right? How have you been?”
“Alright, I guess. How about you?”
“I’ve been doing well.”
“…Huh? You?”
Caught completely off guard by his unexpected response, I repeated my question. Letting out a weary sigh, Luke said:
“I attended various parties during the break, getting dragged around here and there. It was utterly exhausting.”
“Wow, you don’t like parties either?”
“You too, huh? Does Arthur dislike parties as well?”
“Uh, I don’t care for this stifling atmosphere.”
“I see. Arthur’s feelings towards parties are understandable. Besides, it’s just a waste of money, time… I don’t know why they insist on holding these events that are nothing but wasteful.”
Surprisingly, our conversation flowed rather well.
To be honest, I’d felt a bit uneasy before, but Luke was pretty different from the image of nobility I knew.
“Arthur, did you attend the New Year Festival?”
“Yeah, I did. Why?”
At my words, Luke’s eyes sparkled.
“W-well, did you see the fireworks when the year turned over?”
“I did.”
“How were they?”
“Um… they were beautiful. Very dazzling.”
Luke sighed heavily.
“I really wanted to see them too…”
“Uh… If you want to see them, you can, right?”
“That’s not as easy as you think.”
After hesitating for a moment, Luke continued,
“I was attending a party at that time.”
“Aah…”
Luke seemed unbearably pitiful.
So being a noble isn’t all fun and games, huh…
Especially for someone of noble status like Blaze, it seems even busier.
“Every year, fireworks have been set off, but this year’s fireworks were specially made by adding extra gunpowder. I was really looking forward to it… I was so disappointed.”
“Ah, maybe next year…”
Upon reflection, we’ll be seniors next year.
Seniors, the so-called graduating class, are the year when people study the most intensely.
According to the welcoming party materials, seniors aren’t made to attend mandatory events.
They’re such busy people.
In this hall, you hardly see senior badges of purple anymore.
With such a hectic schedule for seniors, the festival… Hmm…
“…We’ll have to go after graduation…”
The powerless mutter from Luke was quite different from the figure I saw at Dreamland.
‘At that time, he seemed like the god of destruction, but now, he feels like a regular classmate.’
I hesitated but patted his shoulder.
“Um… There’s more to the festival than just fireworks, like birthdays. You can attend those, right?”
“…I wish that was true.”
Luke, who had been moping, suddenly lifted his head.
“Come to think of it, Arthur. Were you alone during the festival?”
“Uh… No?”
“With the woman you met before?”
“…Yeah.”
At that moment, Luke gave me a hearty slap on the shoulder, as if all his previous sluggishness had disappeared.
“A festival date, how romantic!”
-It was romantic. It ended perfectly with a final proposal.
Lily’s unexpected comment brought back those memories, and my face turned red.
“Huh? Your face is red, Arthur.”
“Urgh… It’s nothing.”
Observing me intently, Luke nodded as if he understood something.
“I see. Well, given the engagement, that’s expected.”
“…What are you thinking?”
“I understand, Arthur. It’s the time of youthful vigor, you know. But Arthur…”
Luke dropped his voice and cautiously glanced around as if worried someone might hear.
“I’ve heard that contraception is a must at our age. It can become troublesome if a child is born…”
“It’s not! We didn’t!”
Of course, we almost did- but that scene replayed in my mind.
With Lily on top of me, I had ended up in a pinning position.
Lily’s pale face sparkling in the fireworks’ light.
The sweet breath tickling my nose-
“Your face is red, Arthur. You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to.”
“I didn’t.”
“I’ll keep your secret safe.”
“It didn’t happen, alright?”
“That’s what friendship is about.”
“You aren’t listening to me.”
Grasping my head as a headache approached,
‘This isn’t even a proper conversation. It feels like talking to a wall…’
-Pfft…
Laughing voices echoed in my head. Looking down, I saw Lily covering her mouth, trying not to laugh.
‘-Cats cover their mouths…’
‘-It’s too funny, what can I do?’
This isn’t someone else’s business… Actually, it isn’t even someone else’s business.
You’re really overdoing it, Lily.
The moment I started to feel slightly resentful towards Lily,
“Arthur, I have a question.”
Luke’s serious expression spoke volumes.
Even though Luke always carried himself with seriousness, there was something different this time.
“What is it?”
Taking a deep breath, Luke said,
“Who made the confession first?”
“……”
“……”
“…..?”
Did I hear that correctly?
It seemed Luke asked who made the confession first.
There’s no way Luke would ask something like that-
“I asked who made the first confession.”
“……Why?”
“Cause I’m curious!”
“…”
At a loss for words, I was about to brush it off when an idea crossed my mind.
‘…On a closer look, who did confess first?’
Suddenly, I became curious.
The first person to say “I love you” was…
-Lily.
-I love you.
…Me?
No, that was as a family member expressing love.
As lovers, the confession was…
-I love you, Lily.
…Again me??
I seem to have gone all out (??).
Did I even propose twice before her?
As if confirming the killing blow, Lily’s words popped into my head.
‘-What are you deep in thought about? Of course, it was you.’
‘-Really? How long did I try to hold back my feelings, and yet you confessed without realizing… And you still didn’t have any self-awareness?’
…Not at all.
Despite wanting to brush it off, the situation was too clear, so I decided to answer.
“I did first.”
“Oooh! As expected, you’re a courageous man!”
…Courage? Me?
I’ve never heard something like that in my life.
“How did you feel when you confessed?”
“Nervous.”
“Scared of being rejected?”
“No, both me and the other party already knew we liked each other.”
“Well then, why were you nervous?”
“…How about you? Why were you nervous?”
Thinking about it now, it seems quite light-hearted…
No, not at all light.
Even now, it feels like my heart might burst.
Regardless of success, confession is a quite burdensome and nerve-wracking matter.
“How did you notice each other’s feelings?”
“Hmm… It was just a gut feeling.”
At first, when I realized the emotion in Lily’s eyes, I only thought it was warmth, not knowing what emotion it was.
But when I realized my gaze towards Lily was the same, I figured out what emotion it was: love.
“Hmm… A gut feeling.”
Luke was pondering seriously, chin in hand.
“Anyway, why did you suddenly ask this?”
“I didn’t say? Just curiosity.”
“No, no. This kind of reaction wouldn’t come just from mere curiosity, right? Is there someone on your mind?”
Startled.
‘What… Is it real?’
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What am I?”
“It’s like you’ve spotted a rolling coin in the marketplace.”
… What exactly is that look?
But for some reason, I understood.
It means Luke actually has developed interest in this kind of thing.
Luke, who notices nothing because recognition obstruction magic doesn’t work on him,
Luke, whose head is said to be filled with muscles due to excessive training,
has developed an interest in love?
It seems entirely mismatched.
“Luke, are you also interested in someone?”
“Um… It’s kind of interest… I’m not really sure. More like there’s something strange with their side.”
“The other side?”
“Yes.”
Who on earth could it be that even Luke feels nervous?
It seems they’re quite over the top.
“Uh, anyway, thanks, Arthur. It was really helpful.”
“…I don’t think it was particularly helpful though.”
“No, seriously, it was super helpful.”
“…Alright. If you say so.”
Shaking my hand, Luke disappeared back into the party.
With a look that seemed to be mulling over something seriously.
“-…Luke in love? I can’t imagine it at all.”
“Really? I kinda get the vibe.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I even know who it is.”
“Who?”
“I can’t tell you. I’m not totally sure. But let’s just say it’s a bit unique.”
Unique huh? Who could it be?
As I was pondering with a tilted head,
‘…Have I drunk too much of the cocktail?’
I felt the need to go to the restroom.
I’ll have some fun there with Lily while passing the time.
Just as I was heading towards the entrance of the hall,
“Excuse me!”
“Uh?”
Turning around, I noticed a girl with familiar black hair rushing towards me.
The girl in front of me bent down, holding her knees and catching her breath heavily.
She looked quite exhausted.
“Uh… Are you alright?”
At this, the girl silently showed her badge.
A brooch with a yellow color and gold border.
“A freshman?”
“Huff… huff… Yes, I’m a new student… huff… My name’s Callisa… Huff… Please feel free to address me.”
“I’m-”
“I know, third-year Arthur-senpai, right?”
“Wow? How do you know that?”
Taking a deep breath, Callisa straightened up.
“Do you not remember?”
“Uh?”
At Callisa’s words, I slowly examined her.
Then I smacked my palm to my forehead and exclaimed.
“Ah, you were that person at the library…”
“That’s right. I’m glad you remembered.”
She was the bookworm freshman introduced by the librarian at the library.
She looked completely different without her glasses and in a dress.
Her distinctive black hair and eyes brought her back to memory.
But…
‘-Library?’
The voice in my mind was sharp.
‘-You only talked about books with the librarian, right?’
‘-Yeah.’
‘-So who’s she?’
‘She’?
For some reason, it feels like your tongue gets heavy when mentioning women…
“-She’s a freshman introduced by the librarian. I was surprised because she and I both love reading a lot.”
‘-…You went on a date?”
Not exactly, it’s not like that.
–
‘Lily, I just remembered her name now.’
‘Hmm…’
From the tone, it sounded like she was quite irritated.
We’d better resolve this soon.
“So, what’s the matter?”
“Um, senpai. Are you free this weekend?”
Hold on, that’s a somewhat dangerous-
‘-…Arth-ur…’
Oh no.
Lily’s voice lost its vitality.
Carelessly, the junior in front of me could vanish.
To prevent this situation, I quickly opened my mouth.
“Ah, are you planning to request a bout?”
“Yes, you got it.”
‘-See? It was just a bout request, right?’
“Sorry, but it’s late. I already have an appointment for a bout with another freshman.”
“Ah…”
Callisa’s face clearly showed disappointment.
“In that case, I’ll go.”
I quickly tried to end the conversation to retreat to a place with fewer people.
I need to calm Lily down-
Thud
Someone grabbed my hand.
“Um, excuse me…”
Turning around, it was Callisa again.
Looking at her, I noticed Lily’s eyes were fixed on the hand being held.
And for some reason, it felt like a red glow was emanating from Lily’s eyes…
“Why? What is it? Can you hurry up and say it?”
“Um… Actually, could I observe the senpai’s bout? I really want to watch…”
Uh, why is she saying this?
Each word she says is ripe for misunderstanding.
‘-……’
It wasn’t that Lily didn’t say anything, but the sticky sentiment oozing out her silence made me feel goosebumps.
“That can be arranged. Sorry, I’m kind of busy right now. Can you let go of my hand?”
“Ack, yes!”
As soon as my hand was free, I quickly grabbed Lily and ran out of the hall.
I needed to find a quiet restroom nearby to calm Lily down.
Upon finding a restroom and entering an enclosed stall, Lily immediately reverted to her human form.
There was no expression on Lily’s face.
No anger, no disappointment.
Just an expressionless face.
But it was more terrifying than any other expression.
“Arthur.”
A toneless voice matching her expression.
“Yes.”
“Open your mouth.”
“Uh… Yes?”
Caught off guard by the unexpected words, my reply slipped out, and then Lily…
Bang!
Pushed me against the wall, trapping me with her arms.
“Open your mouth.”
“Yes…”
The pressure from Lily’s expressionless face was immense.
Following Lily’s command, I opened my mouth.
“Lift your chin.”
“?”
“Lift it.”
Surrendering gently to the command, I lifted my chin, resembling a baby bird waiting to be fed by its mother.
Lily positioned herself like a mother bird nearing a chick.
Lily slowly traced my lips with her fingers.
“Arthur.”
“Yes.”
“Whose are you?”
“Yours, Lily.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“But why do you keep making me notice other women?”
“Lily, you-”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Uh?”
“I don’t care who the human earlier was or how you met them. And…”
Her voice trailed off.
Using her fingers, Lily gently caressed my cheeks.
“…It may not be your fault. Perhaps, it’s the other women causing trouble. You did nothing wrong. Poor Arthur.”
Clack
Lily gave a gentle kiss.
“But the fact remains that new people keep appearing around you. I’m quite… irritated by that.”
Instead of the word ‘irritated,’ she seemed close to saying something else.
Lily grabbed my chin.
“So, to prevent anyone else from getting close… I should mark you as mine, right?”
“Li-Lily, hold on-”
Strands of Lily’s hair emerged and held my hands and feet firmly.
“Don’t worry. I’ll tone it down this time so no obvious marks will remain. Then, all that’s left is… the scent, right?”
Lily brought up my hand.
It was the hand Callisa had grabbed.
Lily brought her nose to the hand and sniffed.
“…I can smell the other woman.”
For the first time, Lily’s expression changed.
Lily’s eyes began to glow with a creepy red light.
The intense pressure emanating from her as she crept closer made me unable to move.
Just before her lips touched mine, Lily softly whispered,
“I’ll cover it all with my scent. I love you, Arthur.”
Clack
—-
At the same time, in the hall where the party was in full swing.
A female student stood by the entrance.
She stared down at the hand she had shaken with someone else.
Slowly, she raised her hand and sniffed it.
“Hmph… Confirmed.”
The female nodded, pleased that her hypothesis was correct.
“I found her.”
Her black eyes sparkled.
“Queen of the Night.”
