Chapter 88
“Kirine, would you take a look at these experiment results?”
“…”
“Kirine?”
Despite her colleague’s repeated calls, Kirine sat in a daze, staring blankly into space.
“Kirine!”
Only when a hand was waved directly in front of her face did Kirine snap back to reality with a startled “Huh?” as she turned around.
“Oh, sorry. What were you saying?”
“I was asking if you could look at these experiment results with me.”
Her colleague had wanted help figuring out why certain values weren’t adding up, but strangely, Kirine seemed unable to focus. In fact, she didn’t look well at all.
“Are you feeling sick?”
“Hm?”
“Your face is really red.”
Come to think of it, her usually pale face was thoroughly flushed today.
Concerned that her slow responses over the past few days might be due to illness, her colleague asked, but this only made Kirine’s face turn an even deeper shade of red.
“I’m not sick.”
“If you’re not feeling well, you should go see a healing priest right away.”
“I said I’m fine. Just give me the results.”
After firmly shaking her head, Kirine held out her hand to her colleague. Only after she insisted several times that she was truly fine did her colleague reluctantly hand over the results.
“Oh right, did you hear? That rumor about Lord Arensis getting engaged turned out to be completely fake.”
At this sudden comment, Kirine calmly nodded.
“I know.”
“How did you know?”
“Well…”
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Kirine hesitated for a moment.
Ares’s words from that day echoed in her mind once again, tormenting her.
[I won’t do it unless it’s with you.]
[I won’t do it unless it’s with you.]
[I won’t do it unless it’s with you.]
Once recalled, Ares’s voice began to overlap in her head.
‘That madman, that madman, that madman.’
She couldn’t understand how he could say such direct things without even a change in his expression.
“I heard it directly from him.”
Trying her best to maintain composure, Kirine scrutinized the results sheet, but she couldn’t focus on any of it.
Meanwhile, her colleague continued to volunteer information that didn’t need to be shared.
“Apparently, the other party spread false rumors because they wanted to get engaged to Lord Arensis.”
They must have thought he would take interest in them once rumors spread.
But Ares wasn’t the type to care about such rumors. If anything, they should be grateful he simply ignored it.
With his temperament, he wasn’t the type to just let things slide.
“If that kind of attention-seeking worked on him, he would have been engaged to someone else long ago. No, he’d probably be married by now.”
Just as she was making this casual remark, she noticed her colleague giving her an odd look.
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just that you speak as if you know him really well.”
“I’ve seen that guy more times than I can count. It’d be stranger if I didn’t know him.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
Her colleague trailed off while continuing to give Kirine meaningful looks.
“What’s with that look?”
“It’s just that I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone else refer to Lord Arensis as ‘that guy’ or ‘that bastard.'”
“Lord? He doesn’t even deserve such an honorific.”
The mere thought of calling Ares “Lord Arensis” made her shudder involuntarily.
“You two must be quite comfortable with each other.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kirine gave her colleague, who kept making strange comments, a reproachful look up and down before turning her attention back to the results sheet.
‘We are comfortable with each other, I suppose.’
It was the same during their duels. Though they would cross swords as if trying to kill each other, they never crossed the line that would actually endanger each other’s lives.
But now he was no longer just someone she felt comfortable with.
[I won’t do it unless it’s with you.]
As that voice began echoing in her head again, Kirine shook her head lightly to dispel it. But the more she tried, the clearer the memory became.
The way their eyes had met in that moment. Those emerald-like eyes, everything about them.
‘Please just disappear.’
She couldn’t understand why he kept appearing in her thoughts, making her so confused.
In truth, she had received confessions before. Even at the magic school, there had been quite a few who privately expressed their feelings for her despite looking down on her for being a commoner.
Perhaps that’s why. She could usually tell quickly when someone had feelings for her.
But Vincent had been a real exception.
‘I never expected that guy to like me.’
He was a high priest, and possibly a future Pope candidate. Since marriage wasn’t allowed for his position, she couldn’t help but be surprised the moment he showed signs of having feelings for her.
Though she felt sorry for Vincent, as soon as she realized this fact, her first feelings were burden and embarrassment.
To Kirine, Vincent was a really good friend – nothing more, nothing less – which made it impossible to hide her discomfort. Moreover, even if she did have feelings for him, she couldn’t envision an uncertain future with someone who might become Pope.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
“Are we expecting anyone in the lab right now?”
“I don’t know.”
When her colleague turned to ask, Kirine shook her head, indicating she didn’t know either.
Soon, a familiar voice came from outside the door.
“This is Ares Arensis.”
The moment she heard the name, Kirine turned pale as if she’d seen a ghost and immediately hid under the desk. It was obvious who Ares had come to see.
“What are you doing down there?”
“Tell him I’m not here.”
“Why are you suddenly crawling under the desk?”
“Just tell him I’m not here.”
Crouched tightly under the desk, Kirine put her finger to her lips and made shushing gestures.
Her colleague stared at her ridiculous position in disbelief before letting out a sigh.
“What brings you here?”
“Could you call Kirine Rozentian for me?”
Just as expected, he was looking for her.
This made Kirine burrow even deeper into the corner under the desk. She didn’t seem to care at all that her clothes were getting covered in dust from the apparently uncleaned space.
Her colleague, watching this scene, said playfully:
“Kirine asked me to tell you she’s not here.”
“Hey!”
Despite her pleading, her colleague had completely exposed her, causing Kirine to inadvertently let out a yelp before quickly covering her mouth.
“…”
“…”
After a brief heavy silence, a soft sigh from outside the door resonated like thunder.
Soon after, footsteps could be heard gradually fading away, suggesting he had left.
“Phew…”
Finally feeling relieved, Kirine emerged from under the desk, her expression noticeably brighter.
“Why were you hiding?”
“You don’t need to know.”
Though her colleague asked with a curious expression as soon as she came out, Kirine dismissed it curtly.
Even when met with a dissatisfied look, she refused to give any further explanation.
***
After that, Ares kept coming to find her whenever he had the chance. Each time, Kirine would either run away or hide to avoid him.
She even deliberately chose routes that Ares rarely took. However, it wasn’t long before he seemed to catch on, and she eventually ran into him in broad daylight.
As soon as she saw him, Kirine turned and walked away quickly. Thankfully, she had moved a step ahead of Ares, giving her time to hide.
Swiftly concealing herself behind large bushes, Kirine was about to let out a long sigh when—
“Kirine.”
Ares, who had followed behind, called out to Kirine in a gentle, low voice.
“Kirine Rozentian.”
“…”
When he called again, Kirine covered her mouth with both hands, afraid he might hear her breathing. Her heart was pounding so loudly she could almost hear it right next to her ear.
“If you keep avoiding me, I’m not going to be very happy about it.”
With an irritated sigh, Ares could be seen running his hand through his hair nervously. He was clearly not in a pleasant mood.
“Are you still not coming out?”
“…”
Though she knew this, Kirine only curled up more tightly, refusing to come out.
In truth, even Kirine herself didn’t understand why she was avoiding Ares like this. Whenever she saw him, she felt light and fluffy, like cotton candy.
These unfamiliar feelings left her confused and unsettled.
That’s why she intended to avoid Ares until she could figure out and acknowledge what these emotions were.
But Ares wouldn’t give her that chance.
“Fine, have it your way. Don’t regret it later.”
His words somehow carried a weight that couldn’t be taken lightly.
After saying this, Ares walked away, and Kirine peeked out from behind the bushes.
“Phew…”
Only then did the tension release, and a sigh of relief escaped her lips.
***
Several days passed after that. Fortunately, Ares hadn’t come looking for her since that day.
Thanks to this, Kirine was able to sort out her feelings more easily, but strangely, she felt an inexplicable anxiety when Ares didn’t show up.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long to realize what this meant.
“I guess you would have already known that Lord Arensis’s engagement rumor was fake.”
Her colleague, who was always up-to-date with gossip, muttered reproachfully as soon as they met Kirine. Their expression wasn’t particularly pleasant either.
“What are you talking about now?”
Kirine was about to tell them to focus on choosing the next experiment topic if they were going to talk nonsense.
“About your engagement.”
“…?”
At this sudden statement, Kirine pointed at her own face with a bewildered expression.
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
“With whom?”
“Who else? Lord Ares Arensis.”
Wait, what was this about now?
manonbb
Kyaaaaaaaaaa 😍😍😍 Literally Ares: “If you can’t sway them, just get engaged to them” 😂😂😂