Chapter 105
I could no longer use Arvina as an excuse. With how competitive he was, he wasn’t the type to meekly accept it even if I pushed him away and said I didn’t like him.
“…His feelings can’t be that deep.”
Now that I had encountered an obstacle, my mind became calmer instead.
What’s done is done. I just had to navigate it flexibly, didn’t I?
Graduation was coming soon.
I only had to maintain an appropriate distance from him, undergo the Ascension Rite, purify Gerard, and then vanish without a trace.
He might be baffled for a few days because I had disappeared, but his feelings weren’t deep, so it wouldn’t take long for him to forget someone like me.
He had given up on Arvina so quickly after courting her for nearly three years. What was I in comparison?
Even a crisis can be turned into an opportunity.
Perhaps this was actually for the best.
Had I no connection to him at all, I would have needed to devise a plan to approach him after the Ascension Rite, but now I could purify him naturally.
“…I shouldn’t have gotten so angry at the temple.”
I could have simply gone along with him to a reasonable extent. Why had I treated Gerard so harshly? My chest tightened with belated guilt.
Perhaps I had been taking my anger out on him.
The broken promise, the necklace, the dream of the day we parted, and even the anxiety that someone at Melvers Temple might recognize me.
Those complicated and unstable emotions had become tangled together, and I had been unable to control myself.
But now I knew what I needed to do.
“Let’s just… be careful of Madam Marcella.”
After that, I would purify him, cure his disability, and disappear from his life forever.
Then Gerard would finally be completely free of me.
A sharp pain suddenly pricked my chest, but I forced myself to ignore it.
“Haa.”
I gathered the curtains hanging open on both sides, closed them, and shut my eyes. For now, I needed to sleep. Training began early in the morning tomorrow.
At a time like this, when evaluations were so important, I couldn’t afford to show poor performance because I had failed to manage my condition.
But the sensation of his lips pressed to my ear as he confessed returned once more, and I had to toss and turn for quite a while longer.
* * *
“You came out right on time.”
I froze with the door still open. The bastard who had tormented me all night had appeared before me without fail.
Slide. Pretending not to see him, I stepped backward and tried to retreat inside, but his foot wedged itself firmly into the gap.
“You’re acting cute first thing in the morning.”
“Why are you here?”
“To go with you.”
“We’re going in different directions.”
“Can’t I walk you there?”
Of course you can’t. Reading the answer on my face, he slipped a hand through the gap and pushed the door wide open.
“Let’s at least leave the alley together. It’s a place filled with our memories.”
Once I was fully exposed before him, I somehow felt as though my shield had been stolen in the middle of battle.
“What memories?”
“Our first kiss and confession.”
“……”
Gerard had completely changed his attitude the moment he realized his feelings. It was difficult to adjust to him actively trying to seduce me.
“Let’s go.”
For a moment, the sight of him holding out his hand to me with the sunlight behind him looked like a painting. His cheerful face, smiling widely enough to reveal his teeth, made my heart tremble no matter how many times I saw it.
Instead of taking his hand, I gripped the strap of my bag.
When we reached the entrance of the alley, strange goosebumps rose over my skin. Because of what he had said, the alley I had walked through thousands of times suddenly felt different.
Just before we completely left the alley, I said goodbye to him beneath the narrow stretch of shade.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Alright. Think about me a little, even if you’re busy.”
I had expected him to insist on walking me as far as the carriage stop, but Gerard unexpectedly let me go without protest. Had his stubbornness finally broken?
Still, just in case he followed me, I quickened my pace and escaped Gerard’s line of sight.
