Zervanie had left.
Adeline stood alone, silently turning that sentence over in her mind, “So, he might not like you. He’s just taking care of you.”
Felyn had said something similar to her once before.
Adeline quietly cleared the table of teacups and trays.
After washing them, she carefully arranged everything neatly.
Water stains could be wiped away.
But obsession could not.
Could it be… that Felyn doesn’t like me?
Adeline stood still, staring at the view outside the window.
The sky was shrouded in heavy grey clouds, and the early morning wind bent the garden flowers low.
Her thoughts were a tangled mess.
Zervanie was her rival, after all.
Of course she would say things like that to bring me down.
She was just trying to deceive me,
to make me give up on Felyn voluntarily.
Yes, that had to be it.
…Right?
The words Felyn said to her that morning replayed in her mind again.
That he was just fulfilling the duties of their contract.
Was that really all it was?
But—during the service period,
Felyn still acted like he loved me!
For example… like…
Adeline froze.
Come to think of it, during the service period, Felyn really hadn’t done anything intimately affectionate.
Her hand clutched tightly to the back of the chair, and she didn’t dare move a step.
Could it be that Felyn never liked her at all, and everything had just been a misunderstanding?
Her right hand clenched tightly around the Heart of Tides pendant hanging at her chest.
Her memories from last night were fuzzy, almost nothing was clear, except for one thing: when their two Tidal Heart touched, there had been no glow.
The Tidal Heart hadn’t sensed any love from Felyn.
Adeline stood frozen for a long time, then finally moved her legs, which had gone slightly numb.
She wanted to be sure.
She wanted to go to Felyn.
No matter what she had to do, or say,
She just wanted to be by his side now.
Then she’d know—
Felyn definitely still loved her.
She hurried off to change her clothes, and prepared to head toward St. Andros Academy.
Felyn didn’t make it home until nearly noon.
Luckily, there were no morning classes today because of the holiday.
He took off his shoes at the entryway, climbed the stairs to the second floor, and saw a sticky note stuck to his bedroom door.
“Next time you’re not coming home, leave a note. As your girlfriend, I allow you to sleep over at other girls’ houses, but don’t forget there’s someone at home waiting for you. At least leave me dinner, okay?”
“Crap—I forgot about Daiyi!”
She’d been so quiet lately, he completely forgot she lived here.
Felyn had actually planned to come back last night and make her dinner, since she usually didn’t eat until midnight anyway.
But he ended up at Adeline’s house.
Daiyi must’ve paced the kitchen a dozen times and still found nothing to eat.
Thinking about that girl who always teased him and pretended to be so rational, now actually troubled by hunger.
Felyn felt a little smug satisfaction.
He picked up a pen and scribbled below Daiyi’s note:
“Sorry, sorry, I got held up last night and didn’t make it home. I already made you breakfast early this morning. If you’re hungry in the future, just send me a Communication Seal. You do have my contact info, right?”
He stuck the note to her door, so she’d see it the moment she stepped out.
Then he went to the kitchen and spent an hour preparing all three meals for Daiyi that day.
After that, he rushed to change out of his clothes, threw on his academy uniform, skipped a shower, and raced off to school.
By the time he arrived, the familiar gates of the academy were just coming into view.
“Made it just in time.”
Today was the very last bit of the holiday, though he hadn’t gotten to enjoy it at all.
“Felyn.”
A soft pink strand of hair floated past his shoulder, gently brushing it.
It was Viloti again, beautiful as always today.
She wore a silver earring dangling from her lobe, her hair tied into twin tails with pale blue ribbons, her feet in white heeled sandals, showing off her pale arches and pink toes.
Just like usual, Felyn walked side by side with her toward their classroom.
Autumn had begun to creep in.
Along the shaded paths of the academy, a few maple leaves had already turned bright red in their impatience.
The gloomy sun slowly peeked out, pushing away the lingering shadows from Felyn’s heart.
A breeze passed through, carrying a few red leaves as they twirled down.
Felyn reflected on how many years it had been since he came to this world.
The maples had reddened several times already.
Could he consider his life a success?
As long as he kept living with purpose, even if he wasn’t some kind of hero, then that was success enough.
Just as he was savoring this thought, he noticed something strange.
Today, Viloti had been staring at him the whole time.
Viloti had looked at him before, of course, but only in little secret glances.
Today, though—she was full-on staring at him without looking away.
“Viloti, is there something on my face?”
Felyn touched his cheek and asked.
The hyper-focused Viloti jumped a little at the sound of his voice. Her amber eyes widened in surprise.
She lowered her head, bit her lip, and hesitantly squeezed out a few words.
“Felyn… can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Last night… did you not come home?”
“Eh?”
Felyn raised an eyebrow. Surprised she could tell.
“I stayed over at a friend’s place.”
“…Okay.”
Viloti pressed her lips together.
She didn’t call him out—just walked silently beside him.
But she knew he was lying.
Felyn didn’t have any friends.
No one had been willing to hang out with him these past few years.
He must’ve stayed over at a girl’s place.
She had just started getting close to the real Felyn.
He wasn’t even pushing her away as much anymore.
A bitter sense of injustice rose in her heart.
She was already falling behind in this invisible war.
She wondered—what if she had asked Felyn to stay over?
She would’ve done anything to keep him in that room, even made it so he never left again.
Maybe the girl who kept him over last night thought the same way.
Someone was stealing Felyn away.
As she walked, Viloti kept following him closely.
She didn’t even realize where her feet had taken her.
“Viloti?! Why are you coming in here?”
Viloti finally looked up and realized, she had followed him all the way to the bathroom door.
She squeaked and covered her face, rushing back out to wait for him.
This wasn’t working.
Just thinking and thinking and thinking, that wouldn’t bring Felyn back to her.
Lost in thought, she didn’t notice the corner of the hallway.
There, standing still with a stormy face, Adeline was watching everything unfold.
“You two are so close now that you even go to the bathroom together?”
(End of Chapter)