Chapter 92
Though Kirine was momentarily startled by her impulsive action of grabbing Ares’s hand, she didn’t show it outwardly. Instead, she gripped his hand even tighter.
Surprisingly, far from pulling away, Ares simply looked down quietly at what she was doing.
“Are you okay with this?”
“With what?”
“I thought you’d hate it.”
Even though she had grabbed his ungloved hand, Ares showed no sign of displeasure. She had expected him to get angry immediately, but he just tilted his head in confusion.
“Why would I hate it?”
“You used to recoil even if our clothes barely brushed against each other.”
“That was then.”
“So now it’s different?”
She felt she needed to hear the answer directly from Ares’s mouth to believe it.
Reading her thoughts, Ares smiled slightly and interlaced his fingers with hers.
“Do I look like I hate it?”
He lifted their intertwined hands as if showing them off while speaking.
Kirine looked up at him with a surprised expression before finally conceding.
“No.”
“Right. Now I don’t hate it—I actually like it.”
Kirine hadn’t expected such a direct response and covered her face with her free hand before turning away.
But Ares noticed how her ear tips had turned red.
“Are you embarrassed?”
“No, not at all.”
“You look embarrassed.”
“I said I’m not!”
Though she glared fiercely at Ares who kept teasing her, she didn’t pull her hand away.
***
On the surface, their relationship hadn’t changed much. They still fought whenever they met, sometimes even ending up dueling at the training grounds.
But Kirine’s colleague found their behavior suspicious.
“What’s going on with you two?”
“What do you mean?”
When Kirine responded curtly, annoyed by her colleague’s knowing grin, they only smiled more mischievously.
“Well, you seem to be fighting more often lately.”
“When have we ever not fought?”
“True, but it seems softer somehow than before.”
“You’re imagining things.”
“Hmmmm…”
When they openly gave her a meaningful smile, Kirine frowned fiercely.
“What’s with that smile?”
“Oh, nothing~”
“Why are you trailing off like that?”
“Nothing~”
“…”
Seeing their determined teasing, Kirine clicked her tongue briefly while organizing her magic materials.
Watching her back intently, her colleague finally voiced what they had been wanting to say.
“You two look good together.”
When they fought physically, they were like wild beasts showing no mercy, but their verbal spats were childish like five-year-olds—pathetic yet somehow endearing.
Some people would ask if all geniuses were this eccentric.
Kirine, who graduated top of her class from magic school to become an Imperial Magician, and Ares, who joined the Imperial Knights at the youngest age ever.
When these two prodigies entered the palace the same year, people spoke of Arteum Empire’s promising future, but their constant fighting quickly shattered that illusion.
“I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks so.”
“As if.”
Kirine responded halfheartedly while organizing her magic books.
But somehow, her back view looked happy.
***
If anything had changed in Kirine and Ares’s relationship, it was that they often had dinner together after work.
Though they hadn’t explicitly agreed to it, their similar finishing times meant they frequently ran into each other and naturally ended up going to dinner together.
This time too, as Kirine left the laboratory after finishing work and was walking while wondering what to eat—
“Rozentian.”
Turning at the familiar voice, she saw Reilly approaching her with a bright expression.
“Where are you going?”
“Ah, I just finished work.”
“Really?”
At that, Reilly said it was perfect timing and made an unexpected suggestion.
“Speaking of which, it’s dinner time. Would you like to eat together?”
“Ah…”
Seeing Kirine’s somewhat troubled expression, Reilly carefully asked.
“Do you have other plans?”
“It’s not that…”
Kirine fell silent without giving a proper answer.
She hadn’t exactly promised to have dinner with Ares. It was more of an unspoken arrangement.
But still, as she was wondering how to respond, a welcome voice called out.
Ares, who had been heading to the laboratory worried about Kirine being later than usual, frowned upon seeing her with Reilly.
“I’m asking her on a date, so you can leave.”
“Why should I?”
“Because you’re in the way, so get lost.”
When Reilly waved her hand dismissively as if shooing away an insect, Ares stepped in front of Kirine.
“She has prior plans with me, so you should leave, sister.”
“Is that true?”
Unable to believe it even after hearing it directly, Reilly looked at Kirine with a devastated expression. Faced with eyes seeking explanation, Kirine awkwardly scratched her cheek before nodding.
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“How could this be…”
After briefly looking dejected, Reilly made an unexpected suggestion.
“Then I’ll join you.”
“Why would you, sister?”
Ares immediately shook his head saying absolutely not, but Kirine nodded casually.
“I don’t mind.”
Their reactions to her answer were complete opposites—Ares dismayed and Reilly delighted.
Reilly immediately ran ahead excitedly, saying she would introduce them to a restaurant she knew well.
Watching her disapprovingly, Ares scolded Kirine.
“You can be really dense sometimes.”
“But she’s your sister.”
It was hard to say no to Reilly, who was Ares’s sister. Besides, she did want to get closer to her because she was Ares’s sister.
But Ares continued to look at her reproachfully.
“Did you want to be alone with me?”
“Huh?”
Kirine looked up at Ares with surprise at his unexpected directness.
But Ares just pouted disapprovingly at her reaction.
“I’m starting to feel hurt.”
“That’s not what I…”
She definitely hadn’t meant to hurt Ares’s feelings.
It was just that…
“I like being alone with you too. But I thought it would be nice to get closer to your family as well.”
“…”
She had agreed because she thought it would be good to get along with the family of the person she liked, but if she had known Ares would feel this hurt, she wouldn’t have done it.
Looking up at him with eyes conveying those feelings, Kirine lightly touched the tips of his fingers before letting go.
“You know what I mean, right?”
“…”
But still no words came from Ares.
He just kept looking at her silently.
Just as she was about to speak slowly, thinking he might still be upset, Ares lowered his head slightly to meet her eyes directly.
“What? Are you still not feeling bet—”
Before she could finish asking if he was still upset, she felt a soft touch on her cheek accompanied by a quick kissing sound.
For a moment, wondering if she had imagined it, she stared blankly up at Ares, who just smiled brightly at her expression.
“Sorry, I just liked it too much.”
“…”
“Shall we go now?”
Ares casually jerked his chin toward where Reilly was and started walking slowly.
Left alone, Kirine stared at his retreating back before finally coming to her senses and running after him.
“W-what did you just do?”
“What?”
“Just now. What did you just do?”
Her lips were trembling, still unable to believe it.
But the perpetrator just played innocent with a straight face.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You just kissed my…”
“Cheek?”
“…”
When he spoke so casually without any hint of embarrassment, Kirine jumped in place.
“Why did you suddenly do that?”
“Just because. I wanted to.”
Faced with such a simple, matter-of-fact answer, Kirine looked at him in disbelief, but Ares seemed puzzled by her reaction.
“Aren’t we close enough for that?”
“…”
She couldn’t bring herself to say no.
Noticing this immediately, Ares asked again with a perfect smile.
“Should I not do it anymore if you don’t like it?”
His attitude clearly showed he knew she wouldn’t be able to say no.
When he brought his face closer, Kirine gritted her teeth and pushed his face away with her hand.
“Just move your face away.”
Somehow she kept falling for Ares’s pace.
But the problem was, she didn’t really mind it.
