Touching

The Emperor’s birthday, which everyone had been waiting for, had arrived. From morning, the maids were busily moving around, filling the tables in the banquet hall with food.

They even invited famous chefs from outside, and foods that you couldn’t normally eat were piled up on the tables like mountains.

,I wish it was my birthday every day.”

Aria said while eating lamb chops.

,What should I do? There’s too much to eat…!”

Kane and I laughed out loud at Aria’s happy dilemma.

,What’s the schedule for today?”

,In the morning, there’s a birthday quiz event, a parade through the capital at lunchtime, and a ball and fireworks show in the evening.”

Lakar kindly answered my question.

,Is anyone participating in the quiz?”

The Messiah members, who have been eating with me lately, shook their heads at my question.

,Then shall we go swimming on the island in the morning?”

Everyone nodded enthusiastically at my question and enjoyed the banquet.

At Aria’s persistent request, I put desserts, meat, and glasses filled with drinks into the space warehouse so we could eat them on the island away from prying eyes.

After finishing the banquet to our heart’s content, we went straight back to the club room and headed to the island beyond the closet.

Thanks to Nelson-sensei’s gift, I was able to swim with the members and create good memories by taking out food from the space warehouse and eating it.

*

After the parade, we were lying on the club room bed to rest our tired bodies.

The sight of all sorts of magicians and imperial knights, bands and poets, and the Emperor’s numerous vassals parading was so captivating that we couldn’t stop cheering.

In particular, when Nelson-gyojang seonsaeng-nim appeared riding a cloud, the screams of excitement from the Transcendence Academy students drew attention.

The members were tired from playing, and before I knew it, they were taking a nap, breathing evenly.

After taking a nap for a while, I returned to the dormitory before the ball started and changed my clothes.

Following Mrs. Pommel’s advice, I applied pomade and swept my bangs back.

According to tradition, I headed to the Magic Department dormitory for the first time to pick up my ball partner. The male and female dormitories were separated, and entry by the opposite sex was magically prohibited, but today it was temporarily lifted.

I knocked on the dormitory door marked 1304, which I had received from Ellie in advance.

There was a commotion inside, and then an unknown woman opened the door slightly and peeked out.

,Who are you looking for?”

,Ah, Ellie…”

Before I could finish speaking, I heard a scream from inside and the sound of someone making a fuss. The woman who had peeked out smiled and disappeared behind the door, and soon Ellie appeared in a pretty pink dress.

I stopped breathing for a moment at the sight, staring with a dumbfounded expression. Ellie avoided my gaze, as if she was embarrassed.

,Is it not good…?”

,Ah, no. You’re pretty.”

As I said that and held out my hand, Ellie took my hand with a beautiful smile.

We left the dormitory with the other ball attendees and headed to the banquet hall. As if they had made thorough preparations, the banquet hall had been transformed beyond recognition.

They even used space expansion magic, making it several times larger than usual, and a giant moon dyed pink hung from the ceiling. Stars sparkled and flowed down beautifully.

Orchestras were playing songs on the stage, and all sorts of foods were on long tables on both sides of the ballroom. There was even honey beer and low-alcohol drinks that you couldn’t find at school.

There were so many people that it was crowded, so Ellie and I went to a table on the side for a while and drank some beverages.

,Did you learn to dance?”

,No, never.”

When I shook my head, Ellie shrugged her shoulders, as if she had expected it, and drank her honey beer.

As time passed, more and more people participated in the ball. When people started dancing everywhere, Ellie forcibly dragged me into the crowd and started dancing.

I tried to follow the dance with an awkward posture, and Ellie couldn’t help but burst out laughing. I repeatedly swept my face in embarrassment several times.

Someone put their hand on my shoulder from behind.

,Ross!”

Roel, whose face was slightly red as if he had been drinking, gave a bright smile.

,Hello, Ellie. You look so pretty today.”

Ellie blushed at Roel’s compliment and approached Roel.

,Hi, Ross. Long time no see~”

Flavia, wearing a black dress, greeted me in a friendly manner that didn’t suit her.

,Hello. You look…beautiful today.”

When I answered politely like that, Flavia gave me a fake smile and we avoided each other’s gaze.

,Ross, let’s dance with hyung!”

Perhaps it was because of the alcohol or because it was a ball. Roel, who seemed happier than usual, shook his hips and danced. In an instant, people’s attention was focused on him.

To be honest, his dancing skills seemed similar to mine, but perhaps because of his appearance, it looked plausible. This wasn’t jealousy, but a truly objective assessment.

Swept up in the atmosphere, I couldn’t refuse Roel’s continued requests and ended up doing a silly dance with Roel. I hurriedly stopped dancing when I saw Kane and Aria, who had been watching me since who knows when, laughing at me.

,Club president, you’re good at dancing!”

Kane shouted while drinking fruit wine and started dancing.

Aria came over and handed me a glass with something mixed in, and I drank it and danced with Aria as well.

,Did you see Lakar with his fiancee???”

Kane shouted when I was feeling dizzy because of the darkened lighting and sparkling lights, which made it feel like a club rather than a ball.

,Where is he?”

,They were waltzing in the front!!!”

At Kane’s words, I thought I should greet Lakar and his fiancee, but Ellie was already clinging to Roel and dancing, so I scratched my head and moved to find Lakar.

Pushing through the crowd, I saw handsome and beautiful men and women waltzing in harmony.

When the waltz ended and there was a short break, I approached Lakar, who was talking to a woman presumed to be his fiancee.

,Lakar.”

,Ross! Elena, this is Ross, the club president of the Messiah club I told you about.”

When Lakar introduced me to his fiancee, Elena, who had purple hair, greeted me with a smile.

,Hello. I’m Elena from the Department of Magic Engineering. I’ve heard a lot about you from Lakar.”

,Hello. I’m Ross from the Department of Combat. I heard your fiancee was a beauty, but Lakar’s description was very lacking.”

Still, because I was a writer, I was able to spit out those words skillfully.

While I was talking about Lakar with Elena, who was smiling at my words, I remembered Luna, the only member I hadn’t seen.

,Lakar, didn’t Luna come?”

,I don’t think I’ve seen her.”

Lakar answered while eating the lamb skewers that Elena handed him.

I patted Lakar on the shoulder and looked around the ballroom to find Luna, but Luna was nowhere to be seen.

I found Aria eating alcohol and meat in the corner of the table and approached her to ask.

,Aria! Didn’t Luna come?”

,Eueo? Luna? I don’t know! Isn’t she in the dormitory? She hates this kind of thing!”

I sighed at Aria, who was already a drunkard, and turned back to find Ellie.

Ellie didn’t even know I wasn’t there, and she was dancing and talking with Roel, and she answered me absentmindedly when I called her.

,Ellie, I’m going out for a while to find someone!”

,Uh, uh! Do whatever you want!”

Feeling a little bitter at Ellie’s appearance, who was so engrossed in Roel, who was leading people and dancing in groups, that she didn’t even turn her gaze to me, I left the ballroom.

Leaving the noisy ballroom, I headed to the Magic Department dormitory.

It was the complete opposite of the Combat Department dormitory, so it was my first time even seeing the dormitory building.

Everyone had gone to the ball, so the dormitory was shrouded in darkness, and only the sound of my footsteps could be heard.

Because I had come to the dormitory without a plan, I didn’t know where Luna was, so I approached the security guard who was guarding the dormitory and asked.

,Is there a place where I can see the dormitory assignment list?”

,It should be on the wall near the stairs.”

At the guard’s words, I bowed my head in thanks and headed to the stairs, where I found Luna’s name on the dormitory assignment list on the wall.

I knocked on the door of room 1204, where Luna was, but no one came out, as if there was no one inside.

Did she go somewhere else instead of the dormitory? As I was pondering, I wondered if she might have gone to the club room, so I left the Magic Department dormitory and headed to the club room.

When I opened the door to the club room and entered, Luna looked at me with surprised eyes.

,Ross?”

Perhaps it was because of the alcohol that Aria had given me, or perhaps it was because of Luna’s gloomy face as she was alone here while everyone was enjoying the festival.

I approached Luna and asked in a slightly angry voice.

,What are you doing here all alone?”

,Ah…. I’m not really into balls…”

Breathing heavily, I closed the book Luna was reading.

Luna looked at me with a bewildered look at my unusual behavior. I wasn’t drunk, but for some reason, I was shaken by a strange emotion boiling inside me.

,Do you trust me?”

Emotions became words and popped out without going through my brain.

At that question, Luna’s blue eyes shook violently, unable to find her way. I held out my hand and said again.

,Trust me.”

I didn’t have any plans or thoughts, but I spoke with a confident voice.

Then, Luna grabbed my outstretched hand and nodded slightly.

I smiled, held Luna’s hand tightly, and headed to the ballroom.

I could see people doing the wave at Roel’s gesture, as if he had heated up the atmosphere quite a bit.

We joined in the middle of the crowd, where everyone was busily moving their legs to the fast-paced music.

I shouted to Luna over the loud music.

,Have you ever danced?”

,Ah, no!”

I smiled at Luna, who shook her head at my question, and whispered closely to her face.

,It’s my first time today too!”

As I said that, I grabbed Luna’s left hand, which was clenched in a fist.

While Luna, surprised by my sudden action, flinched greatly, I carefully released Luna’s fist and grabbed her hand.

I smiled at Luna’s left hand, which was clenching my hand so tightly that it hurt, and grabbed Luna’s other hand as well and started dancing like the other people.

At first, I was embarrassed and ashamed inside at Luna’s awkward movements with a flustered expression, but as I danced hard as if nothing was wrong, Luna soon started dancing with a smile as well.

When the music ended and there was a short break, we went to the table without letting go of our left hands and shared a drink.

Perhaps because she had been dancing, Luna’s flushed face looked even cuter today.

,Luna, there’s something I want to show you.”

I had the thought that I wanted to show Luna the scenery of the academy rooftop, the place where Roel had confessed his true feelings to Flavia when he was a fourth grader.

As it happened, it was almost time for the magic fireworks to celebrate the birthday.

Originally, students were prohibited from entering, but I knew how to get to the rooftop.

Holding Luna’s hand, I left the ballroom and headed up the stairs to the rooftop.

She should have asked where we were going, but Luna followed me silently, as if she completely trusted me.

The way to the rooftop was blocked by magic, but I recognized the spatial coordinates of the place leading to the rooftop through the window.

Roel had climbed over the window, stepped on the roof, and headed to the rooftop, but it could be dangerous for Luna, who had uncomfortable feet, to walk on the roof.

However, I had a method called space magic.

,Do you still remember what we did in the practice before? When I count one, two, three, jump in place.”

Luna had a flustered expression at my sudden words, but she quickly jumped when I started counting.

We created an entrance to the dimension under our feet and came out through the exit we had made on the way to the rooftop.

Afraid that she might get hurt, I pulled Luna into my arms and took a deep breath, as my magic power had run out for a while.

Creating an entrance large enough for two people to pass through consumed more magic power than usual.

Fortunately, it wasn’t enough to cause magic exhaustion. After regaining my senses, I realized that Luna was burying her face in my chest and hurriedly released the arms that were holding her.

,S-Sorry. I was afraid you’d get hurt…”

,Ah, it’s okay.”

I felt a strange feeling for some reason at the warm body temperature and sweet scent I felt from Luna.

Without letting go of the hands we were holding even in the silence, we headed to the rooftop.

On the empty rooftop, I took out the cloak I had bought before from the space warehouse and spread it on the floor, and sat down with Luna.

Should I let go of her hand now? As I was thinking and trying to pull my hand out slightly, Luna’s left hand only gripped my right hand so strongly that it felt like it would break, whether it was because her hand was uncomfortable or because she didn’t want to let go of my hand.

There was no one around, and only Luna’s regular breathing could be heard in my ears.

Looking down at the beautiful scenery of the capital, Luna turned her gaze to me with slightly teary eyes.

,I wanted to show you.”

I don’t know the exact reason because it was a sudden thought, but the feeling of wanting to show her was sincere.

At my words, Luna answered with a face that looked like she was about to cry.

,It’s like…magic.”

Was it because of the alcohol, or was it because of the emotions given by the moonlight? Or perhaps it was because of the warmth felt from the hands we were still holding.

The feelings I felt for Ellie were different. If I were to express that as a primal emotion called desire, the feelings I felt for Luna were close to pure.

Even without speaking, even without expressing it with our bodies. Even without making eye contact.

The emotions conveyed from the hands we were holding made each other’s hearts beat.

Bang-!

As if the birthday fireworks show was starting. One magic firework lit up the black sky with rainbow-colored light and burst with a roar.

Luna’s appearance as she looked at it was like that of a pure child.

As if the fireworks show was starting in earnest.

Despite the fireworks sounds that lit up the night sky and continued to burst noisily.

-Thump, thump, thump.

My ears were filled only with the sound of my heart beating violently.