Side Story 5

And so, aside from such small incidents, the two continued their Academy life in an ordinary and peaceful way.

The tender first love of adolescence slowly ripened as they drew closer to adulthood. Though he did not openly show his feelings, Lucas had become more mature than before, and Adrianna too accepted him instead of only snapping at him all the time.

At last, the Academy graduation party approached.

Even for Adrianna, who had been indifferent to most things, it was a somewhat thrilling night.

Unlike the graduation ceremony of her previous life, which had been cold and lonely, this one was warm and bustling, with her closest friend beside her, and parents waiting to welcome her when she returned home—a night that made her chest tingle.

It was a day more than perfect for brilliantly decorating the end of her teenage years.

“Adrianna. How was it, the air down below?”

As he escorted Adrianna into the ballroom, Lucas asked.

He was smiling as though joking, but she could feel the excitement he could not hide.

“It wasn’t particularly bad.”

She answered calmly, with a brief smile.

“You should not have let your guard down.”

He bent low at the waist to match her height.

Even as he spoke gently, the irrepressible delight filling his blue eyes was ridiculous.

“2nd place is not bad either.”

That was right. The reason Lucas was so excited was because he had finally beaten her in the graduation exam.

It was something that would surprise everyone. She, who had never once yielded her place, had finally tasted bitter defeat.

Even so, when she said it was not bad, she meant it sincerely.

-Liar. Your pride is hurt. How does it feel, losing to me! Irritating, isn’t it? Feels like you could lose your mind, doesn’t it?

Even so, he was far too excited.

-I think I understand now why you enjoy teasing me. It’s fun enough to die for.

Idiot.

Adrianna ended up laughing.

It had been a difference of only one question. And that one question, she had gotten wrong on purpose. Lucas had taken 1st place with a perfect score.

Thinking about it now, perhaps tying for 1st would have looked better than being 2nd, but as long as she thought of their names placed side by side, nothing about it was bad.

“It’s all right, Adrianna. I understand everything.”

The hand patting her shoulder looked endlessly happy.

“I suppose so. You were 2nd for such a long time, so you would know well.”

“……”

His solid body, which had grown bigger in the meantime and was more than enough to cover her whole, twitched.

-Viper-like woman…….

Then why did he provoke her.

With a small huff, Adrianna resumed the steps she had paused.

The ballroom, glowing with yellow light and filled with a rather pleasant melody, was just ahead. Through the translucent glass windows, she could faintly see the silhouettes of their classmates.

“You look happy.”

Lucas said sourly as he was dragged along by her.

-I took 1st place from you. Aren’t you upset? Why are you happy?

Stopping in front of the door leading into the ballroom, Adrianna turned to look at him.

“I’m simply happy. About all of this.”

The cold winter air, the warmth of the hand clasped in hers, Adrianna liked all of it.

Perhaps it was a sentiment that did not suit her, but only now, at the end of her teenage years, the unhappy previous life that had once clung to her finally faded, and the present felt radiant, as if this were the first life she had ever lived.

Lucas stared blankly at her as she smiled softly.

‘If she is happy, then that’s enough……, is it.’

The yellow lights hid the faint red warmth rising over him.

Lucas knew that the heat rising through his body would not cool for a long time.

From that day when he had first become conscious of Adrianna as a woman, the tiny spark that had flared up in the library had never truly gone out.

What the teachers had done beyond the bookshelf was one of the things he and Adrianna would inevitably have to do later on. Once he became aware of that, the fact that this extraordinary woman was his drove itself sharply into his heart anew.

Perhaps because of that, her chilly tone, and even the arrogant attitude with which she pretended to be polite while in truth looking down on him, did not extinguish that spark at all. Rather, it only blazed more and more fiercely.

He wanted her.

And wanting her was not only about her body. It was not some base act of animals pressing together. He wanted love.

He wanted a full and perfect relationship in which they could know what the other was thinking just by looking into each other’s eyes.

So he waited for the time.

Believing without a doubt that it would come naturally.

That future day.

As the slowly opening doors let in a warm flood of light, Adrianna walked into it without hesitation, looking happy and fulfilled.

‘Beautiful…….’

At the inner thought that slipped out without his noticing, it seemed as though Adrianna glanced back at him and smiled.

Watching her, Lucas had the feeling that even the small inferiority he had felt toward her would soon turn into something completely different.

Into one part of the burning passion that made his life difficult.

Though they each had their own social standing, the students who had been able to grow close under the single name of classmates would return to their original places the moment they stepped out through the Academy’s main gates. It was, in many ways, a night that could not help but leave behind deep regret.

“Imperial Prince, it’s the Academy’s last night. For today at least, how about spending time with other people too?”

“That’s right! Lucas, you’re going to be with Adrianna for the rest of your life anyway! At least for tonight, get away from her side a little!”

Even so, she was a bold girl.

Using Rio Naton, who was very close friends with Lucas, as the spearhead, she had tried to separate Adrianna from his side.

It had seemed all through their Academy years that she had been watching for a chance to aim for him, and now at last she was trying to slip a foot in.

Adrianna looked over the girl, whose name she still did not know even now. Striking red lips, and quite a beauty.

“Go ahead, Lucas.”

“Huh?”

But Adrianna was not uneasy. Even if she was rather beautiful…….

-What rank was she again? If I can’t even remember it, she must not even come close to Adrianna’s feet. I wonder if we could even hold a conversation.

To Lucas, who judged people by their ranking, she was not particularly attractive.

-Then again, why does she look like this? Standing next to Adrianna only makes the comparison obvious.

Now that she thought about it, it seemed he judged people by appearance too, but Adrianna knew that no one other than herself would ever satisfy Lucas’s eyes.

Because she was the one beside him.

“But will you really be all right on your own?”

Concern poured from his eyes.

Lucas saw her as a rival competing with him for superiority, and yet sometimes he still treated her as that bold little child from their younger days.

With the tender heart that had wanted to protect her, watch over her, and never leave her alone in loneliness.

It could have felt stifling, irritating, or even laughable, but that was not what Adrianna felt at times like these.

It was a kind of comfort, similar to what she felt toward her parents but slightly different. A reassuring solidity she could believe in and lean on.

“You keep forgetting that there are people who suit me too.”

“Ah…….”

A group of young ladies were glaring fiercely at Lucas, who had monopolized her.

-If I keep holding on to her, those looks are going to tear me apart. They all have viper eyes, every last one of them, just like Adrianna.

Seeing Lucas clicking his tongue inwardly at them, Adrianna lightly pushed his back toward Rio.

“Enjoy yourself. Tonight won’t come back again.”

She gave him a gentle smiling look with her eyes.

At her firm attitude, Lucas awkwardly began to move his feet.

Adrianna was confident in everything regarding Lucas. She knew he would not give his heart to another woman.

Because Lucas’s standard was Adrianna Velcross, he compared everyone to her first. And in that comparison, Adrianna always overwhelmingly won.

Even when there were people who did surpass Adrianna in some respects, that was still the case.

“Ah, Adrianna. Don’t forget that the last dance is with me.”

“Of course.”

Lucas Skyler belonged to Adrianna Velcross.

Adrianna knew this very well.