Chapter 8

Reshu took advantage of Milian’s sleep and reached for the coat lying on the floor. In its pocket, as always, was her portable willow wand.

‘By the providence of the god who governs the world, here and now, I ask, grant me the power to open the gate of time and cross space against the irresistible flow, allow me to go.’

A flash of light, and white mist enveloped Reshu’s body. She felt the unique vibration of teleportation, and suddenly she was in the last stall of the girls’ dormitory bathroom.

“Haa….”

No matter how much she washed, the traces of last night kept flowing from her body. After a long while, Reshu managed to clean herself and tidy her hair. In the mirror, she saw only a slightly tired but otherwise neat Reshu. She headed straight to her room.

“Hmm? I thought you were in the library, but your hair’s wet? Did you shower? At this hour? Did you have s*x with Milian Enokten? Congratulations, my friend. This big sister always believed you’d do it.”

Florin, Reshu’s roommate, stopped reading and greeted her with a giggle. When Reshu just sighed without answering, Florin’s eyes sparkled as she asked again.

“Wait, did you really have s*x?”

“That’s not it, Florin.”

Reshu quickly replied, then added, almost defensively,

“We just… shared our feelings a little.”

By now, Reshu didn’t expect to keep up the ‘it was just a dream’ illusion. At least from a certain point, Milian must have realized it was reality.

Even if he hadn’t, the wild s*x had left the desk in chaos and the bed soaked. If Milian woke up and didn’t realize what happened was real, one would have to question his intelligence.

…Of course, telling Florin everything honestly was too embarrassing, but what happened had happened. She wondered how she’d greet Milian tomorrow morning. She wasn’t sure, but one thing was clear: they each other.

“Florin, maybe I’ve been trying too hard to be the ‘clever girl’ all this time.”

“What’s with the sudden confession?”

“I’m used to having everything under control. Studies, sports, whatever. Even with people, I only reached out to relationships I thought I could handle, and avoided ones that seemed unlikely to work.”

“So you only hung out with people who liked you and stayed away from those who didn’t?”

“Pretty much. Thanks to that, I got along without much conflict. I rarely got hurt. But….”

Reshu fiddled with the air, as if touching something invisible.

“Maybe I missed something because of that. Most of all, my own feelings.”

“Hmmm?”

“Yes, you’re right, Florin. I kept ignoring the ‘feelings I should face.’ Not on purpose, but because I hated getting hurt, I avoided relationships that wouldn’t work, and kept suppressing my own feelings without even realizing it.”

“Hmmm, our clever and cute Lady Reshurka Celestien. I don’t really get everything you’re saying, it’s complicated….”

Florin grinned slyly, coming closer.

“So, did you confess? Did you kiss?”

“Go away.”

Reshu felt her face flush instantly and pushed Florin away.

“Hey, did you kiss or not? Was it good? It was, wasn’t it?”

“N-no, that wasn’t it. This time, we just… confirmed our feelings… just talked, really!”

Feeling too many things hit home, Reshu’s face turned bright red as she shoved Florin. Maybe thinking Reshu was just shy, Florin stepped back with a cheerful smile.

“Anyway, good for you, good for you. See? The things guided by God never go wrong.”

“…Wait, what?”

Reshu knew Florin’s catchphrases well. Saying ‘it was guided by God’ was Florin’s way of brushing off whatever she’d done as fate.

“Don’t tell me Milian skipped the Swordsmanship Division event and came back to the dorm because you did something?”

“Hmm? I didn’t do anything.”

“Florin!”

“I just cast a little spell. When I saw the swordsmanship students gathering, I secretly made Milian’s body feel a bit heavy and gave him a slight fever, just for a while.”

Florin shrugged.

“But Milian decided to rest and came back to the dorm himself. That wasn’t my doing, right? It could have ended as ‘just a feeling.’ In the end, it was God’s guidance. Right?”

“You, you—Florin, what did you…!”

Reshu’s face flushed as she gaped like a goldfish. She wanted to scold Florin for how much trouble her little prank had caused. But she couldn’t say anything. She herself had insisted nothing happened, that she’d just talked with Milian.

“R-right. I guess you just wanted to give us a chance to meet. You knew I was going to sneak into Milian’s room. Knowing your personality, you’d try to make us meet, of course… Yeah, it was predictable….”

Trying to understand, Reshu finally shrieked, spewing imaginary lava, and tackled Florin on the bed, tickling her.

“Floriiiiin! I’ll never forgive you!”

* * *

Soon, dawn broke and a bright morning arrived. The wind was gentle and the sky clear, more like spring than the end of winter. The dry branches were already preparing to bud.

‘Don’t lose your composure, just greet him. Yes, say “hello” brightly. If you just greet him properly, everything will work out…!’

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Reshu headed to the auditorium where Milian waited. After the chaos of last night, she hadn’t slept at all, but she couldn’t break their morning promise.

Last night was last night, and she couldn’t skip the rehearsal for tomorrow’s graduation ceremony. She was the Magic Division representative, and Milian the Swordsmanship Division representative.

‘Just say hello. No need for anything else, just hello. That’s all. You can do it, you can do it….’

Muttering endlessly to herself, Reshu steeled herself and opened the auditorium door. Sunlight poured through the windows, dazzling her. As her eyes adjusted, she saw someone standing there.

“Reshu, hello.”

It was Milian.

This time, Reshu was the one confused. ‘Was everything last night just a dream?’ she wondered. Milian’s voice and face were so normal.

“Hello.”

After a deep breath, Reshu greeted him and rambled on about things no one had asked.

“I didn’t sleep at all last night. I was talking with Florin until dawn. With graduation coming up, there’s so much to talk about. I went to bed early, but suddenly it was morning.”

“Ah… I see.”

It was a ridiculous excuse, but Milian didn’t seem suspicious at all. If Reshu had spent the night chatting with Florin, then the Reshu who visited Milian’s room couldn’t have been real. But Milian didn’t seem to think any of it was real anyway.

‘Is he an idiot?!’

Reshu genuinely wanted to kick Milian in the shin. She’d hoped he’d ask, ‘Was last night really a dream?’ but at this rate, everything would vanish into a dream.

Clearing her throat, Reshu asked,

“So, how about you? I heard you weren’t feeling well during the evening event, from a Swordsmanship Division friend. You went back to the dorm to rest?”

“Ah, yeah. I slept early.”

Milian gave a slightly drowsy, blank smile.

“…Was that all?”

“All?”

“I mean, yeah! You said you were sick! Did you have a high fever? Did you see things? Did you really sleep well? That’s what I’m asking!”

“Ah… I had a nice dream.”

Milian smiled lightly. Just then, a gentle breeze blew and lifted a few strands of his hair. To anyone unaware of the truth, it looked like he’d had a peaceful dream, his smile so sweet and fresh.

“You, wh-what…!”

Remembering how wildly Milian had embraced her last night, Reshu’s face turned red. Milian tilted his head and fiddled with his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just… Yeah, it’s right before graduation! Why are you so carefree about being sick at such an important time? What if you’d been bedridden today? Tomorrow’s graduation!”

“Yeah, sorry. I’ll be careful.”

Reshu felt so drained her head spun. It was like poking an impenetrable shield with a stick. Unless she bluntly asked, ‘You slept with me last night, didn’t you?’ Milian seemed truly clueless.

‘Is he just stupid? Or is he pretending?’

When Reshu was at a loss for words, Milian suddenly remembered something and said, “Ah.” He pulled a small object from his pocket.

“Oh, here.”

Seeing what Milian held out, Reshu nearly fainted. It was the black voodoo doll she’d hidden in Milian’s drawer last night.

‘That d*mn doll is the cause! Something really did happen to Milian, just as the rumors said! But I think I’m the one who ended up in a worse spot!’

“I’ll give this back.”

“…What?”

“I thought I returned it when we were freshmen, but apparently not. I don’t clean my drawer often, so I didn’t know it’d been there for eight years.”

“W-wait, what are you saying?”

“Hm? This is the doll I picked up eight years ago… I thought I returned it then, but I guess I was wrong. Isn’t it yours? It was in my drawer.”

“So you thought you returned it, but you were mistaken…?”

“Well, yeah, I guess… If I’d returned it, it wouldn’t be in my hand now… I don’t know how I was confused for eight years… Anyway, here.”

Reshu truly felt like fainting.

‘Be suspicious! Be suspicious! If something that shouldn’t be there suddenly appears, don’t just wonder if you’re mistaken—suspect someone touched your drawer!’

Clearly, hoping Milian would realize the truth about last night was pointless. The desk was always messy, so he wouldn’t notice it was worse, and even if the bed was soaked in s*men, he’d probably think he’d had a wet dream.