Chapter 73. < 31. Being a Handsome Man is Suffering (2) >
"What? That person was a knight cadet?"
"Yeah. He's wearing a knight cadet uniform, isn't he?"
She hadn't known. She had no particular interest in other departments. Especially not the Knight Department.
She looked again at Lumian, the sword tournament winner who was walking slowly ahead.
'...I guess he is a knight cadet. He looks like he has a good body.'
It was unexpected.
The knight cadets she imagined were all people with rough faces and rustic atmospheres. That was how the knights of her territory felt.
She never dreamed that such a handsome man, one who made her want to comfort him in her embrace, would be a knight cadet.
She couldn't take her eyes off Lumian's retreating figure.
"What is it? Do you like him?"
"Huh? No, it's just... he's handsome."
"Eh, is he handsome? I don't think so. He has charm, but..."
"No! He is handsome!"
When the female student raised her voice, the purple-haired girl was startled.
She said,
"What? Suddenly?"
"Ah, no, it's just..."
"She's really fallen for him. She used to say she wasn't interested in men..."
"No, that's not it... I'm saying he's really handsome? Maybe not incredibly handsome, but definitely..."
"Hmm... really?"
The purple-haired girl tilted her head.
While she had thought Lumian was cool during the sword tournament, now that the excitement from back then had faded, she didn't think much of it.
But with her friend being so insistent, she felt confused.
'Did he get more handsome over the break?'
Nah, no way.
That was a ridiculous thought.
But she couldn't help being curious. The purple-haired girl playfully said to the female student,
"If I pass him, call my name."
"What?"
"I want to see how handsome he is. I couldn't see properly just now. Okay? I'll be right back!"
"Hey!"
A plan to naturally turn around and check his face when her name was called!
It was a slightly embarrassing thing to do, but her curiosity was too great.
She walked with long strides, different from usual, and overtook Lumian. Thankfully, his walking pace was slow.
And after a moment, her friend's voice came from afar.
"Hilder!"
"Huh? Jessica!"
The purple-haired girl turned around as if she had been waiting. But her eyes weren't looking toward where the voice came from.
The target was, after all, Lumian Calad's face!
She quickly checked her target. She intended to glance over him without being obvious.
But.
"...Ah!"
The purple-haired girl couldn't do it.
She couldn't.
His gaze that slightly met hers.
The moment she faced the anguish and pain felt within it, she had no choice but to stop in her tracks.
'This is... what...'
"Hey! Snap out of it!"
"Ah!"
The female student who had approached without her noticing patted the purple-haired girl's shoulder.
Until then, she had been endlessly watching Lumian walking away.
To her, who had finally come to her senses, the female student said as if to show off,
"Right? He's handsome, isn't he?"
"Yeah, but... what is it? He definitely wasn't like that before..."
It wasn't just his face that had changed.
The inexplicable sadness flowing from his body, from his eyes!
That heart-aching atmosphere was making Lumian's appearance stand out even more.
"Sigh... but what is it... why is he making such a sad expression..."
"Yeah... I'm curious..."
The two girls worried about Lumian as if it were their own matter.
And such a phenomenon was increasing in real-time throughout the academy.
"Ah!"
"Huh?"
"Oh my..."
Female students who saw the anguished Lumian stopped in their places as if nailed to the ground.
And they stared at his retreating figure for a long while. As if entranced by something.
They came to their senses when Lumian had moved far away and disappeared from view.
"Oh my."
"What is that person?"
"He's definitely familiar... the one who participated in the sword tournament..."
"Ah, that person?"
"Lumian Calad! Right, that was his name."
"But was that person that handsome..."
"And something seems to be bothering him... sigh, what is it?"
The women talked among themselves for a long time where he had left.
It was a completely different atmosphere from the first semester.
Back then, thanks to the sword tournament victory, Lumian's recognition was fairly high, but it hadn't elicited such reactions from women.
After the rumor about Kal Krone disappeared, all they heard was 'It's Lumian' or 'He's the sword tournament winner, he was cool back then.'
"I should have gone and talked to him..."
"Me too..."
The women regretted it too late.
At their desperate appearance, the men made envious expressions. Some glared at Lumian with jealous faces.
Of course, they didn't have the courage to pick a fight. He was the sword tournament winner, after all.
And Lumian was completely unaware of the current situation surrounding him.
'It's painful, so painful!'
Because he wanted to leave for Rodisia but couldn't bring himself to do so, he had no leisure to look around due to his own circumstances.
If he had known about the effect of the Incubus's demon stone and the atmosphere he was emitting, he would have felt the women's gazes and smiled brightly.
And he would have immediately escaped from his depression.
But Lumian was deeply immersed in his own world.
In the end, he entered the theory class without noticing anything.
"Sigh..."
And without realizing it, he let out a deep sigh.
The amazing thing happened after that.
"Sigh..."
"Aah..."
"Hmm..."
Right after Lumian's sigh came out, voices of female students leaked out from various places in the classroom.
Sounds of suffering as if empathizing with the protagonist of a tragedy.
The male students, including Teoro, frowned.
'Why are those girls acting like that?'
They called it a class, but they had been living like knight squad comrades for over a year.
Having seen all sorts of things from each other, what bloomed between them wasn't romance but something closer to friendship. Or hatred. Of course, after the group battle during the first-year midterm evaluation, everyone had gotten along well.
Anyway, there had never been any dating between men and women within E Class. At least not publicly.
But now the atmosphere was strange.
All the female students couldn't concentrate on the class at all. Their eyes were focused on Lumian.
Their gazes were also unusual.
The faces of girls looking at the opposite sex they were interested in!
Seeing this, some male students whispered among themselves.
"Did they all go crazy together?"
"What is this, seriously."
"He did get a bit better-looking, but I still don't get it."
The current sense of disconnection was because the Incubus's charm didn't work on men.
Not knowing this, the students made uncomfortable expressions throughout the class.
Of course, Lumian didn't know this either.
He was just continuously worrying about whether he had to give up going to Rodisia or if there was no way to find a solution.
And after a while.
"Lumian, about the class content just now..."
"Huh?"
"Me too, I have a question too! I'm in a hurry, can you tell me first?"
"What. You weren't even interested in theory classes before."
"No, that's why I'm going to work hard from now on."
'What is this? These girls?'
During break time, Lumian looked bewildered at the female classmates arguing in front of him.
In the early first semester, they had shown interest in him who had changed, but not now.
The same went for him. They had already become like cows and chickens to each other.1
'So why are they suddenly like this?'
He couldn't understand.
Shaking his head, he said quietly,
"Sorry. I have something to think about."
Then he quickly left the classroom.
His head hurt so he wanted to get some fresh air outside.
"Wait, Lumian!"
"Something to think about? I'll listen."
"Lumian..."
'What is it, always!'
But the female students were persistent. Even though Lumian frowned, they showed no signs of leaving.
Eventually, seeing the three female students who had followed him outside the building, Lumian sighed again.
Why wouldn't they leave him alone!
Why did they keep clinging to him!
'If someone's going to cling, I wish a stunning beauty would come...'
It was when he was thinking this.
From over there, a truly stunning beauty walked toward him.
The only unfortunate part was that despite her excellent appearance, her figure was lacking.
It was Tania Eloyse. She had her black hair tied back tightly as she approached and said,
"I have something to talk to Lumian about, could you step aside for a moment?"
"Uh..."
"Hmm, okay..."
"I understand..."
It wasn't just words. A sharp intensity came with it.
The second-year cadets couldn't withstand the pressure of someone who had never missed the third-year top ranking. The three who had been bothering Lumian quickly fled inside the building.
Seeing this, Lumian expressed his gratitude.
"Thank you, sunbae."
"It's nothing. You looked a bit troubled."
Tania said with a bright smile.
Unlike the female students from earlier, she seemed unaffected by Lumian's atmosphere.
But this was a facade.
Her inside was completely different from her appearance.
'What is it, why does it feel so different?'
Her heart beating slightly faster.
She desperately managed her expression to not show her fluster. Then, without realizing it, strength went into her fists.
Actually, showing her intensity just now wasn't to help Lumian.
It was an action she took because she couldn't stand the women clinging to his side.
'And why does he look so... sad? Like someone with a serious worry?'
Tania's eyes trembled slightly.
She wanted to hold Lumian's hand.
To ask why he was like that. To ask if something was bothering him. She wanted to ask right away.
But she, who was a model of conduct and discipline, couldn't just do that.
The reason she came here was to strengthen connections with promising individuals, not to develop a romantic relationship.
'Rather, this is when I need to show a cool side as a sunbae!'
A reliable sunbae who listens to her hoobae's worries!
How beautiful is this!
Thinking up to here, Tania shook her head to come to her senses.
She couldn't show any more foolish behavior.
'There's no need to solve his worries either.'
If she just listened well, Lumian would feel trust in her. Because of that, the bond between the two would become stronger.
Having finished her thoughts, Tania made a worried expression.
Unlike other women, it was an appearance that didn't show any ulterior motives, seeming to only care about Lumian's wellbeing.
"You look depressed, is something bothering you?"
"Hmm. It's nothing much."
"Nothing much? You have a completely grave expression."
"No, it's not to that extent..."
"Fine, let's have lunch together later. You haven't forgotten the nine times left, right?"
"Are you talking about the nine out of ten remaining right now?"
"Yeah. I'm planning to use the nine times sparingly. In exchange."
"In exchange?"
"In exchange, I'll listen to your worries. I don't know what it is, but don't suffer alone, at least talk about it."
Hearing her words, Lumian made a slightly flustered expression.
But soon he looked at her with a suspicious gaze.
Seeing this, Tania narrowed her eyes.
"What's with that expression?"
"No, uh..."
"Don't tell me you don't trust me?"
"Hmm..."
"Don't do that, just tell me. Even if I say so myself, I'm your life sunbae,2 I'm better than you, aren't I?"
"Pfft. Haha, hahaha!"
"Huh? You're laughing? You're laughing?"
Tania's face crumpled even more. She seemed hurt.
But Lumian couldn't stop laughing.
Seeing her, who was much younger than his past self, acting like a big sister felt strange.
'It's funny, and cute too.'
Of course, Tania didn't know Lumian's thoughts.
She just thought she was being ignored. Then she felt a surge of emotion.
'This guy!'
It was strange. When dealing with others, she wasn't like this, but only in front of this guy, her emotional changes were severe.
She raised her voice.
"You keep laughing? Was what I said that..."
"No. I'm sorry. I just thought of something else for a moment."
"Thought of something else? You laughed because of what I said..."
"Let's eat together, lunch."
Cutting off Tania's words, Lumian came closer.
He was wearing a much brighter smile than before. His expression also looked much lighter.
She stepped back without realizing it.
Her face also reddened a little.
"You said you didn't want to, suddenly, why?"
"You said you'd counsel my worries? Isn't that right?"
"R-right. Yeah. Let's do that."
"Yes. Let's meet at the clock tower at 12:30."
Having set the time and place, Lumian returned to the classroom.
Tania blankly stared at his retreating figure. It was a similar reaction to what the other women had shown.
One difference was that the time it took to come to her senses was much faster.
"Hah."
Tania belatedly realized she had been entranced.
Then her face turned even redder. She could even feel her heart pounding.
'Did anyone see?'
She quickly looked around.
No one seemed to have seen. Thank goodness. If someone misunderstood, it would be a big problem.
But staying here any longer felt burdensome.
Having managed her expression, she quickly left the place.
*Patter-patter-patter*
A figure completely lacking the dignity of a sunbae.
But for a 16-year-old at the flower-like age, it was a truly fitting appearance.
---
1. A Korean idiom meaning they have nothing in common, like cows and chickens.
2. "Life sunbae" (인생 선배) is a mentor or senior who gives life advice.