Academy – Reunion

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Jade was sitting at the table, having dinner. Lena was across from him, devouring her food and joining him for the meal.

“Try some of this too.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Lena took the meat Jade offered on his fork and put it in her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully before exclaiming in admiration.

“Mmm… this is really good, isn’t it?”

“Haha, would I have told you to try it for no reason? You’re at an important stage, so you should only eat delicious things.”

“You even think about things like that? You’re quite the gentleman.”

Lena carefully stroked her belly. It was large and swollen, revealing the life it held within.

Jade had graduated from the academy, married Lena, and returned to his hometown to live with her.

‘She’s beautiful as always…’

Seeing Lena’s unchanging beauty, even with a child, brought back memories of the days gone by.

Defeating Doran in a duel, confessing to Lena, living as an adventurer to earn money…

There had been many hardships, but he had ultimately succeeded in achieving happiness.

“Almost ten months now, right? I can’t wait to see our child.”

“…What?”

Lena’s face, which had been beaming, suddenly turned expressionless.

“D-Did I make a mistake?”

Jade stuttered as Lena stared at him with cold eyes. It was as if he had said something he shouldn’t have.

“‘Our’ child? It’s ‘Master’s’ child.”

“M-Master?”

“Doran, of course. The one we slaves must follow for the rest of our lives.”

“Hey, are you kidding? I won the duel against Doran and saved you.”

Did Lena suddenly want to tease him after all this time? Making such ridiculous jokes out of nowhere. Jade chided Lena and patted her shoulder.

-Slap!

“What are you talking about? Are you spouting nonsense?”

But Lena harshly slapped Jade’s hand away, looking angry.

“Did you suddenly get amnesia? Back when we were at the academy, he lightly crushed us when we presumptuously challenged him to a duel. And with his great generosity, he took me in and has cared for me ever since. Moreover, he allowed me, a mere slave, to bear his child.”

Lena muttered with a face full of love.

“Haa… I want to give birth quickly and be educated by Doran’s magnificent cock until I faint. Lately, he’s been so considerate and gentle with me.”

‘Lena isn’t joking?’

Only then did Jade notice the surrounding scenery.

He and Lena weren’t in a cozy newlywed home, but in a small, shabby room. The food on the table wasn’t delicious and fancy, but only hard bread.

“What is this…?”

Looking down, he saw that the clothes he was wearing were tattered and full of holes, no better than rags.

Jade looked no different from a beggar groveling in a back alley.

“You’ve been saying strange things since earlier. Did you eat something wrong?”

Lena put down her fork and stopped eating. She began to gather her belongings.

Seeing this, Jade urgently asked,

“Where are you going?”

“You should get ready too. Soon it will be time for you to clean the stables. And I have to go serve Doran. I’ll go first. You should come to your senses.”

Lena left Jade, who was trembling at the unbelievable reality, and went outside. Jade reached out to her, shouting.

“No!” -He suddenly stood up.

Jade screamed and shot up.

“Huk, huk… Lena, Lena?”

He had to quickly save Lena from Doran’s grasp. He frantically looked around.

But all he saw were white curtains and beds. And the bitter smell of medicine stung his nose.

“Where is this?”

Jade often got injured from training or Doran’s bullying. It was a familiar sight to him.

“The infirmary.”

He and Lena were to be Doran’s slaves forever. And Lena was pregnant with Doran’s child and happy about it. What just happened must have been a nightmare.

He must have been moved to the infirmary after fainting from the duel.

Jade squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head to shake off the horror.

‘How much time has passed?’

When Jade checked outside the window, the moon was up instead of the brightly shining sun, and it was dark. Quite some time had passed since the duel.

After calming his confused mind, he noticed the weight on his right arm.

“Hmm?”

Feeling the sensation, Jade looked down—

-Snore, snore.

Lena was fast asleep, her head resting on his right arm, which was wrapped in bandages.

‘Could it be that she’s been nursing me since the duel ended? If that’s true, I’m really grateful, but…’

The one who must have had the hardest time wasn’t me, but Lena.

Jade felt sorry for Lena, who must have been exhausted but stayed by his side until the end.

No matter how he thought about it, the mental pain and torture he had suffered were nothing compared to what Lena had gone through.

Jade slowly recalled the events of the duel.

The desperate situation where his last move, made with all his strength, was blocked and he was on the verge of defeat.

The energy that exploded from within him at the moment of crisis. Thanks to that power, he was able to defeat Doran.

He wondered if the feeling at that time was just a delusion, but…

When Jade raised his left hand and gathered mana,

-Whoosh

Blue energy instantly began to gather in his hand.

“This is unbelievable power.”

Jade still couldn’t figure out why he was able to use such an ability. Had he become a Hero or something?

But that wasn’t what was important to him now.

Jade looked at Lena.

Seeing Lena sleeping peacefully, he realized that he had saved her.

‘I saved her…’

“Haha…”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the happiness and joy that filled his body.

He crushed the guy who was tormenting him and saved the woman he loved with his own hands.

Could there be anything more joyful than this? He felt like running out and bragging to the whole neighborhood.

-Rustle, rustle.

Unable to resist the urge to touch Lena, Jade slowly stroked her golden hair.

‘Soft.’

Despite suffering so much hardship over the past few days, her hair was still soft and silky.

“Ugh…”

Suddenly, Lena frowned at Jade’s touch. Then she began to mutter something.

“Stop, please stop… I, I was wrong…”

“?!”

Jade was startled by her unconscious words and quickly pulled his hand away.

“Could it be…”

Did Lena recall something from her time with Doran at his touch? His heart, which had been so excited, sank in an instant.

She was free from Doran’s grasp, but the wounds she had suffered would still remain deep in her heart. From now on, he had to work hard with Annie to help her recover.

As Jade looked at Lena with a heavy heart, she opened her eyes.

“Haaam…”

Lena yawned softly and rubbed her eyes, then noticed Jade looking at her.

“Oh…? Jade, you’re finally awake!”

“Yeah. Were you waiting here the whole time?”

-Whack!

“Huh?!”

Suddenly, Lena ran to Jade and hugged him.

“W-Why all of a sudden?”

“Thank you for saving me…”

Lena put her face against Jade’s chest and began to cry. The bandages around Jade’s body became damp.

Lena was crying in front of him. Jade could feel her trembling against his chest.

He carefully put his arms around Lena.

“Hic… I was actually very scared.”

The Lena that Jade knew was calm and rational in any situation. It was always hard to imagine her being flustered.

Inside the academy, she had done everything with her own strength, as if she didn’t need anyone’s help.

It was the first time Jade had seen Lena’s weak side, crying and looking for someone to rely on.

“I hated seeing myself giving in to Doran’s touch and his advances. I wanted someone to help me, but my friends only humiliated and insulted me. Haha… I guess I’ve lived a really messed up life.”

Lena laughed hollowly.

“In the end, I succumbed to Doran and said things to you that I shouldn’t have. You must have been very hurt, right? I hated myself the most for doing that.”

She lamented, then began to blame herself as if she hated herself for having fallen to pleasure.

“Jade, I’m sorry. I’m just a slutty bitch, as Doran said-”

“No.”

Jade cut off Lena’s words and firmly denied them. Of course, his feelings for Lena hadn’t changed at all.

“Just a moment.”

He pushed Lena away. Then he grabbed Lena’s shoulders with both hands and looked her straight in the eye.

“It’s not your fault. You know that everything is the fault of Doran and the trashy bastards at the academy, right?”

“B-But…”

“Did I get hurt? Yes. It was too hard for me to see you in pain. But if I were in your situation, I wouldn’t have lasted even a day.”

Jade had thought a lot about Lena while preparing for this duel.

What to say to her if he won the duel.

How to comfort her with his actions.

In fact, there was something else he really wanted to say to Lena. But he would postpone that for a while.

Because it wasn’t the right time yet.

The words he wanted to say to her right now, to the one who had suffered more than him—

“Lena, welcome back.”

“…Yeah.”

Lena nodded with a bright smile like a painting.

-Whack.

And hugged Jade tightly again.

Jade looked at Lena, who was resting in his arms, and made a firm resolution.

He would never let Lena go through something like this again.

Never again.