Chapter 5
Emily, who had been tensely watching Lucas walk away, suddenly found herself meeting Valenti’s eyes as he stopped and turned around.
Unlike when they had encountered each other in the infirmary that morning, Lord Valenti, now wearing a neat uniform instead of training clothes, looked even more proper than usual. As their eyes met – his clear gray eyes still tinged with melancholy and his black hair neatly swept back – Emily suddenly remembered the handkerchief she had forgotten about until then.
Come to think of it, she had received a handkerchief from him in the infirmary this morning.
Recalling that she had left the handkerchief in her dormitory to wash and dry it, Emily looked at him with a sense of dismay. Valenti’s lips moved as if he had something to say, but then he firmly closed his mouth. He gave her a small nod and turned back around. Seeing this, Emily felt anxious, wondering if he already wanted his handkerchief back.
She thought she should remember to bring it with her as soon as she returned to the dormitory, watching Lord Valenti’s retreating back.
“My goodness, he wants to attend the party with me! Did you hear that, Miss Emily?”
“Yes, I heard.”
Standing beside Emily, Kira finally came to her senses as the shock wore off and let out a small exclamation. Looking at Kira’s profile, which showed surprise, shock, and a strange hint of elation, Emily nodded and agreed with her words.
“Miss Emily, what could His Highness the Second Prince be thinking…?”
“I wonder… I really have no idea.”
Emily had absolutely no clue what the Second Prince was thinking, and honestly, she didn’t want to know at all. She just wished he would stop emphasizing her friendship with Kira every time he saw her. The word “friend” that he repeated several times, as if he had somehow discerned Emily’s intention to naturally distance herself from Kira, felt like shackles, and Emily suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
* * *
After finishing classes and returning to the dormitory, Emily remembered to iron Lord Valenti’s handkerchief first and put it away carefully.
She briefly considered preparing a small gift as a token of gratitude but decided against it, worried that it might be embarrassing if he misunderstood it as a sign of her interest in him.
In fact, this method was often used by young ladies to show interest in someone they fancied.
“It would be troublesome if he misunderstood, so I’ll just return the handkerchief.”
Herself and Lord Valenti? Weren’t they as different as a sparrow and a wolf? He was the son of the famous Valenti Marquis family, while she came from a humble viscount family without even a territory. And what about his appearance? Recalling Lord Valenti’s handsomeness, Emily shook her head and opened her wardrobe door. As they say, a tree you can’t climb is just for looking at.
“I’ve got the handkerchief ready, now let’s see, which dress should I wear to the party?”
Emily rummaged through her wardrobe and took out two dresses she had hung at the very back, laying them out on the bed. Dresses are quite expensive. Especially for a poor family like hers, buying a dress meant enduring considerable expense.
That’s why these two were the only dresses Emily owned. One was a dark green velvet dress with a square neckline that dipped to her collarbone and slightly puffed shoulders in a basic line – it was the most recent purchase, so it was less out of fashion.
“But even though it’s spring, the weather has warmed up a lot, so a velvet dress might be too hot… It’s a dilemma.”
The other was a summer dress, a deep navy blue with tiny jewel dust scattered across the chest area, making it a truly beautiful garment.
Actually, this dress used to belong to her mother, but it had been altered to fit current designs by removing the excessively puffed shoulders and simplifying it. However, the fabric was light and flowy, with exposed shoulders and arms, making it seem a bit early to wear in spring.
“Hmm, both are summer and winter dresses, so they’re a bit awkward to wear in this transitional season.”
After carefully considering the two outfits, Emily decided it would be best to wear the navy dress with velvet long gloves covering up to her elbows.
Click
“Whew, it’s quite hot today too. I guess summer is coming soon.”
After choosing her dress and hanging it back in the wardrobe, Kira opened the door and came in right on cue. Having finished her evening run, Kira wiped the sweat from her flushed face with a towel draped over her shoulder.
“Oh, Miss Kira. Did you go for a run? Didn’t you run at dawn today as well?”
“Yes, I ran a bit shorter this morning, so I felt sluggish all day. Now that I’ve run my usual distance, I finally feel refreshed.”
Kira, with a refreshed look, said she would shower first and went into the bathroom. Emily clicked her tongue at her diligence and sat down at her desk. She took out the course registration guide they had received at the entrance ceremony from the desk shelf and was examining it for a while when Kira, who had finished showering, came out changed into her pajamas, drying her dripping hair. Curious about what book Emily was reading, she approached and peered over her shoulder.
“It’s the course registration guide. Miss Emily, are you taking additional classes?”
“Yes, what you said during lunch made quite an impression on me. I’d like to try taking the Practical Magic class. I may have weak magical power, but I’m somewhat delicate in my control. Are you interested too, Miss Kira?”
“I’m not. I’m not interested in practical magic.”
After finishing her words, Kira went to sit on her bed. Then, with her curly blonde hair falling over her shoulders, she continued to dry it with a towel.
“Is that so?”
At their first personal conversation, Emily turned her head from the book to look at Kira.
“Yes, I prefer handling powerful forces rather than delicate types. I’m particularly interested in offensive magic. If possible, I’d like to study it professionally.”
“Offensive magic?”
Emily’s eyes widened at Kira’s desire to learn offensive magic in this day and age.
“Yes, I want to protect myself with very, very strong power.”
Kira answered Emily’s question with a gentle smile. Then she focused again on drying her hair. Emily slightly opened her mouth to ask a question while looking at Kira, who was drying her hair with her head slightly bowed, but then closed it again and turned her eyes back to the guide.
Strong offensive magic in this day and age? The only course where one could learn that was the military mage course. And that taught lethal magic.
‘…Well, let’s pretend I didn’t hear that conversation.’
As her mind became confused and the letters in the guide became hard to see, Emily widened her eyes again and focused on the content of the guide.
Trying hard to erase the image of Kira beautifully flipping her blonde hair and smiling brightly on a bloody battlefield, Emily exerted superhuman concentration to find the Practical Magic introduction page and check the teacher in charge.
And she was surprised to find an unexpected name written there. It was the name of Liam Calroph, who was in charge of the Illusion Magic class.
Emily, who remembered him as the teacher who always looked at her pityingly like a starved puppy, couldn’t help but feel a bit impressed.
‘…So he’s in charge of Practical Magic too? I heard he became a teacher at a young age due to his outstanding skills, but to be in charge of two classes already, he must be even more talented than I thought.’
‘I hope Practical Magic suits me.’
Emily recalled his sharp gaze behind his glasses, then shrugged and immediately filled out the class registration form.
* * *
The next morning, from the moment she left her dormitory room, Emily was already conscious of the handkerchief in her uniform skirt pocket. And it continued to bother her all morning. She, who wanted to return the handkerchief to Lord Valenti as soon as possible, soon realized that returning the handkerchief to him was an unexpectedly difficult mission.
The Swordsmanship Department and the Magic Department were far apart, and there were almost no overlapping classes. Moreover, in Valenti’s case, unlike Kira, Emily, and Prince Lucas, he was a third-year student, so there were even fewer points of contact. Although he always accompanied Prince Lucas to assist him, he had entered the academy two years earlier and was 18 years old, two years older than Emily.
The only time they encountered each other was during the lunchtime walk when Miss Kira and Prince Lucas exchanged greetings, but Emily couldn’t bring herself to approach Lord Valenti in that setting.
She felt that the moment she spoke to him, everyone present would turn to look at her. In the end, Emily couldn’t return the handkerchief even during lunchtime, the only time she had encountered him.
“Hmm… I never thought returning a handkerchief would be this difficult. This is troublesome…”
Emily scratched her head in perplexity as she came out into the corridor after finishing her afternoon classes. Miss Kira had one more class and had gone to the next classroom, while Emily’s last class was the fourth period, so she was walking alone in the corridor.
She finally gave up on returning the handkerchief to Lord Valenti today and decided to submit the Practical Magic course registration form she had filled out yesterday.
The fifth period class must have already started, as the corridor was quite empty. Walking down the wide, white corridor, Emily admired the arched windows that seemed to be twice her height.
The Academy, said to have been built with support from the Imperial family in ancient times, possessed a beauty that inspired awe despite its long history.
Slide
“I’m here to submit a course registration form.”
“Ah, just leave it there.”
Upon reaching the faculty office, Emily opened the door and entered, showing her registration form. The teacher sitting at the desk near the door pointed to the submission box right next to him. After putting the form in the box and returning to the corridor, Emily was looking around while walking when she unexpectedly found a secluded space in a corner.
“I didn’t know there was a space like this?”
At the end of the corridor in a secluded area, there was only an old bulletin board and a large window, but it was quite spacious and had a nice view with large tree branches hanging outside the window.
As she had no afternoon schedule, Emily decided to take a short rest, sitting on the window sill of the empty corridor.
Although the warm sunlight was shining on the lush trees at the end of spring, it was pleasantly cool in the shade, perhaps because it was on the first floor.
“The breeze is warm too, it feels nice…”
As she was leaning against the window, enjoying a rare moment of leisure, she caught a glimpse of someone with their head bowed beyond the tree shadows. It seemed a male student was washing his face at a washing area a little distance from the training ground.
He was wearing training clothes, probably a Swordsmanship Department student, and his large build, black hair, and fair skin seemed increasingly familiar the more she looked.
Emily was absentmindedly watching the student washing his face with the water running freely under the strong sunlight when suddenly, she stood up abruptly.
“…Lord Valenti!”
With the desperation one might feel upon spotting a decade-long friend who had borrowed money and run away, Emily called out his name loudly without realizing it. Surprisingly, despite the distance, Valenti seemed to hear Emily’s voice immediately. He paused in his face-washing, turned off the water, and raised his head.
