Chapter 31: The Worst Timing
The place Lorein led me to was none other than her room.
I didn’t expect it to be like this, but I was excited at the thought of possibly being invited to her room.
‘Hmm, it’s quite a normal room, though.’
There was only a desk, a bookshelf, and a bed.
Nicely put, it’s neat; negatively, it lacked personality.
My room, with a sofa and a table, was more filled with this and that.
Given Lorein’s practical nature, she wouldn’t have decorated it purposefully like Ryuz.
Of course, just looking around a girl’s room and smelling its scent had its value.
It had a sweet fragrance, similar yet slightly different from Ryuz’s.
So, I spent some time appreciating Lorein’s room.
“…What kind of ideas have you been filling Ryuz’s head with?”
Lorein, with her arms crossed, glared at me and spoke.
Seeing that she didn’t even invite me to sit, she seemed really angry.
I wasn’t surprised since I expected to be questioned about Ryuz.
“I don’t know what you mean. Filling her head with what?”
“The kid was quiet and good but changed right after your lesson. And you say you have nothing to do with it?”
As expected, she’s sharp.
But wait, wasn’t it natural to suspect me first in such a situation?
Of course, denying it was simple.
Because, in fact, I hadn’t done anything – that’s the truth.
I never spoke ill of Lorein.
On the contrary, I praised her almost daily.
‘Well, that must have felt like pressure to Ryuz, leading to jealousy.’
In short, I ‘directly’ did nothing to Ryuz.
As for the magic, well, its effect was just to increase my likability.
So I could claim my innocence through and through.
The important thing here was how I responded to Lorein.
“I don’t understand what you mean by Ryuz changing. Are you talking about what happened during dinner?”
“Yes. It was obviously not normal.”
“What do you mean?”
Taken aback by my natural reaction, Lorein was momentarily speechless.
She looked at me for a moment and then spoke.
“About her responding coldly to me and suddenly leaving during dinner.”
“Well, she might have been upset because she got scolded by her sister after dressing up for once, and she’s busy with studies. Isn’t that why she got up? Is that such a big deal?”
“That’s…”
Lorein almost shouted a denial but stopped midway.
After hearing my words, she realized that what had just happened wasn’t something to fuss over.
I smirked at her reaction.
“I can’t speak recklessly about a sister’s relationship, but isn’t that common among siblings?”
“Is that…normal?”
“Rather, not fighting and shouting might be a sign of a good relationship, no?”
Lorein pondered upon my words.
She was undoubtedly a genius and excellent in swordsmanship, but she’s inevitably a noble lady from the countryside.
Apart from school, her social experience was overwhelmingly lacking.
However, Lorein eventually shook her head.
“No. Even if that’s normal, Ryuz wasn’t like that before. She’s definitely changed.”
Observing Lorein, I moistened my lips with my tongue.
Maybe it was because I had tasted the thrill once.
I suddenly wanted to see Lorein, shocked again.
‘Hmm, what should I do? This is a bit of a dilemma.’
Pushing her further here would be easy, but that might lower the favorability I had worked hard to build.
As I was internally conflicted, the devil Hyun-woo came and whispered.
-Why hesitate?? Hurry up and crush that proud woman’s mentality!
The devil’s whispers were too provocative.
Still, having listened to the devil, I decided to hear what Angel Hyun-woo had to say.
-Make her cry over her sister’s issue! Don’t you want to see that cold woman cry?
…Strange, where did Angel Lee Hyun-woo go?
Ah, right. Leon that guy stabbed him to death.
What a precious little guy.
Thinking about it again makes me start to get really angry.
Fortunately, there was a punching bag in front of me, so I opened my mouth sharply.
“Isn’t it that it’s not a change, but maybe that’s Ryuz’s true self?”
“…….What?”
Lorein’s eyes widened at my words.
As if she had never thought of such a thing in her life.
“Maybe she just held it in until now. Today, she might have just released what she’s been holding back.”
“Ryuz… was thinking that way all along?”
Watching Lorein’s expression change was entertaining.
Especially because my words weren’t false.
Of course, I was the one who lit the fuse.
“Ryuz only recently graduated from the academy. It’s a sensitive time. An older sister meddling in her fashion at such a time wouldn’t seem pleasant.”
“Meddling… I was doing all that for her….”
“Of course, you would’ve thought that, Lorein. But from Ryuz’s perspective, it must have felt bad. Bad enough to rebel against her respected sister.”
“No, that’s not it.”
A look of anxiety flashed across Lorein’s face.
It was the first time I saw her look anxious since I arrived here.
“Ryuz is such a good kid. There’s no way she’d harbor such feelings toward me…”
“Good, you say. Isn’t that just an image Lorein imposed? You just comfortably thought of her as a good little sister because she always endured.”
“Stop it……. What do you, who’s been here for such a short time, know about Ryuz?”
“Sometimes, things are visible to those who aren’t family. Maybe Ryuz dislikes her sister, unlike Lorein….”
“I told you to stop!”
Lorein, suddenly agitated, grabbed my clothes roughly.
Thanks to her swordsmanship training, she was quite strong.
I pretended to fall and pulled her towards me with magic.
Naturally, we ended up on the bed with Lorein on top of me.
Even in that situation, Lorein didn’t stop talking.
“I’m Ryuz’s sister! In Leon’s absence, I’m the only one to protect our land and family! That’s why I’ve been trying so hard every day….!”
Lorein panted as she looked down at me.
For a moment, we just looked at each other without saying anything.
Gradually, the tense atmosphere calmed down.
Lorein’s face turned red.
Not just because she was lying on her bed with a man.
She didn’t know how to express her feelings, even to her family.
And now, she must be embarrassed, having poured out her heart to me, a complete stranger.
“……Sorry, this was a mistake.”
I quickly grabbed Lorein’s wrist as she tried to get up.
“No, I’m sorry too. I thought speaking harshly was the only way to get through to you.”
“……First, let go and let’s talk.”
“When talking, you should look into the person’s eyes, right?”
Maybe it’s because she was shocked by the earlier conversation about Ryuz.
Lorein obediently met my gaze.
Her cheeks were still flushed.
Even this proximity must be embarrassing for a noble lady, especially someone as cold as Lorein.
“I may not be able to teach for long, but I do cherish Ryuz as my student.”
“……”
“So please face Ryuz’s honest feelings properly. Even if it seems a bit off to you as a sister, just observe and wait. Then she’ll surely open her heart to you again.”
“…… I’ll take your advice gratefully.”
Lorein forcibly removed my hand and stood up.
Hmm, that’s slightly disappointing.
I had seen her chest many times during sparring, but this was the first time I had seen it this close.
“……And sorry. For suspecting you might have done something.”
“Are you not suspecting anymore?”
“If you really did something, you would have pretended to be concerned and smoothly brushed it off. I’m not so lacking in conscience to suspect someone who talks to me like this.”
Hmm, I just blabbered because it seemed to help my plan more.
If Lorein saw it that way, I was grateful.
‘Plus, there was an unexpected bonus.’
I smirked, looking at the slightly ajar door.
It seems the excited Lorein didn’t notice until the end.
‘Didn’t see it till the end, did she?’
What kind of look would Ryuz give me tomorrow?
Indeed, this family always excited me.
She needed to apologize to her sister.
Ryuz thought this as she walked down the hallway.
Earlier during dinner, she spoke too harshly in her excitement.
It wasn’t something to be so upset about, and she regretted getting annoyed.
‘I got mad at my sister for no reason and showed a bad side in front of the teacher. Ugh! The worst.’
While thinking this, Ryuz reached her sister’s room.
Suddenly, she stiffened at the sounds from inside.
Her usually cold sister didn’t like anyone entering her room.
‘What… what’s that?’
A strong sense of unease hit her.
Maybe it was a woman’s intuition.
Ryuz, pushed by her anxiety, slightly opened the door and peeked inside.
And then she saw it.
Her sister and the teacher lying together on the bed as if she had pounced on him.
‘……Huh?’
She couldn’t comprehend the situation.
No, more precisely, her mind refused to process it.
‘What’s this……. What on earth is this?’
Her sister’s room, where even maids couldn’t enter casually.
A man and a woman lying cozily on the bed.
All the circumstances pointed to one conclusion.
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
How? How? How? How? How?
She knew they had become close through sparring.
But the sister she knew would never allow such physical intimacy with a man.
Yet, there they were, whispering secrets for a long time as if intimately close.
It meant her sister was close enough to the teacher to allow such skinship.
‘Haha… What’s that…….’
Pretending to be pure and uninterested in men usually, and now this?
The moment a man she likes appears, her sister quickly snatches him up?
No, that’s fine.
But why did it have to be ‘her teacher’?
“……Thieving cat b*tch.”
A harsh curse unimaginable in the past.
But now, Ryuz didn’t feel any guilt cursing her sister.
Talent, popularity, brilliance – none of it mattered.
It was okay as long as the teacher was by her side.
But her sister is trying to take even him away.
As always, intruding into her life to take everything.
‘Stop your nonsense.’
Ryuz bit her thumb nail.
Biting it hysterically, it was now almost gone from the wear.
She couldn’t lose anymore.
Anything else was fine.
But not her teacher.
She didn’t want to pass on the happiness of him stroking her head to her sister.
‘…This time, I won’t let her take it.’
Ryuz, biting her nails, walked down the dark corridor.
Her eyes only thinking desperately about how to outdo her sister and win the teacher.
Only that occupied her mind.
-Click, click.
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