Chapter 56

Elena, urged by Penny, changed into her pajamas, hugged a pillow, and approached the other children.

They sat in a large circle, chatting in hushed tones.

There were twelve of them, and with the midterm exams just over, there was plenty to talk about.

The topics ranged from exam stories to club activities and relationships. The subjects shifted so quickly that it was hard to keep up if one got distracted even a little.

‘I just want to sleep tonight.’

Elena thought.

She was stifling a yawn with her hand when one of the girls looked at her with a mischievous grin.

“By the way, Ellie, how’s your love life going?”

As soon as the girl opened the topic, the others joined in eagerly.

“Yeah, tell us! How’s it going?”

“How far have you gotten?”

They even moved closer to her, their eyes gleaming like hawks eyeing their prey. Elena, flustered, stammered her response.

“Wh-what love life?”

“They say you’re dating that boy from the swordsmanship club!”

Elena turned to Penny, who avoided her gaze as if she had nothing to do with it.

It seemed that the rumor, which she thought had died down, had actually been spreading quietly underground.

When Elena didn’t respond, the children’s imaginations grew wilder.

“They say he joined the same club just to see you.”

“Well, he did join the same club, but that was because I asked him to fill the numbers…”

“Ahhh! That’s so romantic!”

Elena hurriedly muttered her explanation.

“Not just Cedric, but his junior joined too. And Felix as well…”

“Ahhh, his name is Cedric!”

“Even his name sounds handsome!”

“Wait, hold on…”

It didn’t seem like they were willing to listen. Elena glanced around for help, but Alice was covering her mouth, her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Her face was slightly red.

Elena squinted her eyes.

‘So, you’re enjoying this, huh?’

It seemed Alice was also having fun with the situation.

Elena slapped her hands against the carpet to express her annoyance.

“It’s not like that!”

“Pfft.”

The girls who had been interrogating her burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs. It seemed they had been teasing her all along.

When Elena erased her expression and crossed her arms, the girl who had started it all wiped away her tears and apologized.

“Sorry. I already heard from Penny that the rumor wasn’t true. But are you really not involved with that boy from the swordsmanship club?”

“No. Not at all.”

When Elena answered firmly, the girl clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“That’s a shame.”

“Alright, then. How about we play a truth game since we’re on the topic?”

Joy clapped her hands and suggested. After all, no pajama party was complete without a truth game.

“Sounds good!”

“It’s been a while. This will be fun!”

Joy took out a piece of paper and began drawing a magic circle. It was a recent trend at the academy, a magic circle that could detect lies. When one placed their hand on it and lied, they would feel a slight electric shock.

The senior who had invented this ingenious magic circle claimed its mechanism was surprisingly simple. When a person lies, their heart rate tends to increase, and the magic circle reacts to a sudden spike in heart rate.

Elena wondered if it would actually work, but it was said to reliably catch liars, which was fascinating.

Incidentally, the senior who invented it was practically dragged into the Mage Tower afterward.

When Joy infused mana into the completed magic circle, it began to glow faintly. She scanned the group with a sly grin.

“Alright, who wants to go first?”

“Make Penny go first! She’s the only one among us with a boyfriend!”

And so, Penny was half-forced to place her hand on the magic circle.

One of the children asked teasingly. Her question was obvious.

“How far have you gone with Neville?”

Penny stammered, her face turning red.

“We-we’ve only held hands… Ahhh!”

She yelped and quickly withdrew her hand. The girl who had asked the question burst out laughing.

“You’ve been dating for months, and you expect us to believe you’ve only held hands?”

The questions continued after that. However, even as the person being questioned changed, the inquiries remained similar.

Do you have someone you like? Are you secretly dating anyone? And so on.

At one point, one of the children confessed to having a crush, which led to her being interrogated. It turned out that her crush was a boy from the swordsmanship club.

“I’ll help you out!”

Alice pounded her chest confidently, saying they could count on her. Alice’s words were genuinely reassuring.

Eventually, it was Elena’s turn. As soon as she placed her hand on the magic circle, the children’s eyes lit up like hyenas again.

Questions began pouring in.

“You’re really not involved with him?”

“Have you ever seen Cedric as a man?”

“Has he ever confessed to you?”

Elena had to raise both hands to stop them.

“Wait a minute. One at a time.”

The children played rock-paper-scissors to decide the order and began asking one by one.

“You’re really not involved with Cedric?”

“No.”

“Has he ever confessed to you?”

“No.”

“Nothing happened on Valentine’s Day either?”

At this question, Elena hesitated for a moment. The question was vague.

A lot had happened on Valentine’s Day. She had received chocolate for the first time, and Felix, after eating the chocolate, had an allergic reaction and started spouting nonsense.

That incident had led to the complete disappearance of the infamous “Love Potion” from the academy.

But how the girls interpreted her silence was clear—they screamed.

“What happened?”

“Well, nothing much… Ahhh!”

A sharp sensation shot through her palm. Elena quickly withdrew her hand and glared at the magic circle.

“This thing is weird.”

“It’s not weird. Put your hand back on it. Yes, like that. So, what happened?”

“Could you be more specific with your questions? It’s too vague.”

“Did Cedric give you chocolate?”

“Yes.”

He did, as a token of friendship. But how the girls took it made them scream again.

“How can you say nothing happened when you got chocolate?”

Elena glanced at Alice before hastily explaining.

“But it was just friendship chocolate. I gave him some too!”

However, her explanation only seemed to fuel their imaginations. Penny, excited, started patting Elena’s arm.

“You sly girl! You gave him chocolate too, and you’re claiming nothing happened?”

“Ow, that hurts! And it really was just friendship chocolate.”

“Who gives chocolate to friends on Valentine’s Day?”

Elena looked at Alice with an aggrieved expression.

“Alice said it’s something you can give to friends too.”

Alice twirled her hair with her finger and mumbled.

“Well, I did say that to Ellie, but whether Cedric felt the same…”

“Cedric did! He said it was friendship chocolate! And I gave some to Felix too! Felix also gave me some!”

For some reason, when Felix’s name was mentioned, the heated atmosphere cooled down as if cold water had been poured over it. The noisy room fell silent for a moment.

Someone muttered.

“Giving it to Felix too makes it seem like it really was friendship chocolate.”

“Yeah.”

“Aw, what a letdown.”

Then, another girl timidly spoke up.

“But why does the story end there? Couldn’t there be something between Felix and Elena too?”

Looking at her, it was a girl who had transferred to the academy last year.

Penny, looking unimpressed, explained with a bored expression.

“You must not know because you transferred late, but those two are closer than same-gender friends.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means they’ve known each other for so long they’re like family.”

Joy added.

“It means nothing would happen even if they were left alone together in the middle of the night.”

While it was true, Elena felt a strange sense of rebellion. The girl’s words didn’t just imply there was nothing between her and Felix; it felt like they were saying there should never be anything between them.

Feeling slightly offended, she pouted and mumbled.

“Well, something could happen between us.”

Penny clicked her tongue and snorted.

“You two?”

Her tone immediately made Elena shrink back.

“Well, it could happen.”

At her hesitant defense, the girl who had transferred last year looked at her intently.

“Then Elena, are you really not romantically involved with Felix?”

It was such an absurd question that Elena answered immediately.

“No. Not at all.”

“Have you ever felt your heart race when you looked at Felix?”

“No.”

That’s when it happened. A sharp sensation shot through her palm. 

Huh? What’s going on?

Elena exclaimed in an indignant voice.

“This thing is broken!”

Penny, who had been so sure earlier, waved the paper.

“Well, this is weird. There’s no way Elena’s heart raced because of Felix.”

Joy tilted her head and asked.

“Does it have to be romantic? Couldn’t her heart have raced because she was angry at him?”

“Maybe.”

The two leaned their heads together to discuss when someone banged loudly on the door.

“What are you all doing, not sleeping?”

It was one of the magic professors.

“You’re all supposed to rest early for tomorrow’s Mage Tower visit, but you’re up playing? Go back to your rooms.”

Caught up in the game, they hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. Looking at the clock, it was already past midnight.

“Yes! We’ll go!”

The girls who didn’t belong to the room said their goodbyes and hurried out.

The room quickly grew quiet. Those remaining lay down on their beds.

“Good night.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

Elena stared at the dark ceiling, then looked at her right palm, which she had placed on the magic circle earlier. It still felt as if the sharp sensation lingered.

‘Why did it register as a lie?’

My heart raced because of Felix? That was absurd.

She retraced her memories but couldn’t recall such a moment.

She chuckled softly and closed her eyes.

It must have been the magic circle malfunctioning.