Always

I always thought I was quick-witted, but I couldn’t understand Bella’s expression as she crossed her arms and sighed deeply in front of me.

I’m targeting myself, and Estelle is cooperating with me in that…?

Bella, reading my bewildered expression, raised one corner of her mouth with an expression of clear superiority.

,People always change the hand they’re holding depending on their own interests.”

Bella spoke as if teaching me as a senior in life, but I felt like I was hearing nonsense, so I could only scratch my ear with a dumbfounded expression.

,Who… who did you hear that from?”

,Who would kindly tell you they’re going to betray you? It’s my intuition and deduction, having survived the imperial family’s cutthroat politics for a long time.”

I subtly observed Bella’s face. As usual, her cheeks were pale, almost white, as if they hadn’t seen a ray of sunlight.

Of course, I’ve never seen Bella drink, but it’s a situation where suspicion is inevitable.

Seeing her snow-white cheeks and not smelling any alcohol, it seems she’s not drunk, thankfully.

,Haa, you have a look that says you don’t believe me?”

Bella, interpreting my observing gaze as she pleased, sighed and began to explain.

,The Lily, who made her first appearance at the meeting, intentionally showed everyone that she manipulates space. At first, I mistakenly thought it was you, but the space magic Lily used was on a different level from your fist-sized space magic that just moves a spear around.”

I wanted to retort that it was efficient usage, but I kept my mouth shut because it seemed like it would be interesting to keep listening.

,I can’t figure out Lily’s identity. She’s a monster that suddenly popped out of the sky. But I did find out that she’s a monster with a near-fanatical belief in punishing evil. She showed me who she was herself… I can tell. That fanaticism was real.”

,I really fooled them,I thought. If Bella was fooled, then the meeting participants must have been fooled by my acting as well. Bella, who even discerns other people’s true feelings, must have interpreted the pure madness of my Berserker ability as it was.

Hearing a fraud victim talk about how well they were fooled made my back tingle a little. I resisted the urge to scratch my back by pinching my thigh.

,Lily even knows the location of an undiscovered dungeon, something that Modist has failed to do even after spending a lot of money on requests several times. The timing of the information is too perfect to be a coincidence. If you think about it a little… it’s more convincing that the guild master gave Lily my information in advance.”

No, that’s not convincing at all. Estelle has never given me information about customers using Modist.

The reason I know the dungeon’s location is, of course, because it appears in the novel.

A question suddenly popped into my head, so I asked.

,So, you think the guild master of Modist joined hands with Lily?”

If it’s Bella’s personality as I know it, she wouldn’t be certain with just one thing. She’s the type to test and confirm the other person multiple times. Roel-nim suffered a lot from that in the early days of their relationship.

Bella shook her head with a look of pity.

,I don’t do stupid things like assuming there’s a forest from a single twig.”

At her serious voice, I bit my lip without realizing it. I can’t laugh here.

,Lily sold a lot of information to gain the initiative at the meeting. It was about the portals that the imperial family manages strictly. She said. That she is the sole inheritor of the space magic that had been lost.”

Bella took a step towards me. I could smell a subtle floral fragrance, as if she had put on perfume.

,The guild master of Modist probably knows that Lily isn’t the sole inheritor of space magic. But the guild master let Lily say that. Not being the only one diminishes the value that much. I felt a sense of incongruity and kept thinking about it, and I realized it late. That Lily needs you to disappear in order to maintain the value of being the only one.”

At Bella’s arrogant smile, I lowered my head.

A faint groan that I couldn’t hold back leaked through my teeth.

You’re completely wrong…!!!

Bella raised her hand and placed it on my shoulder as if to comfort me.

,I know. How hard and infuriating it is to be betrayed by someone you trusted.”

Stop, please stop…

Even pinching my thigh hard enough to leave a bruise, it was hard to hold back my laughter any longer.

,… *kkeueuk*… *kkeueup*…”

,…It’s okay to cry. Someone who has been betrayed deserves that right.”

If she finds out the truth, she’ll definitely lie down to sleep and kick the bed.

,*Heungkeut*… *heuheut*… *keuk*…”

As I desperately repeated that I mustn’t laugh, my indomitable courage was finally activated. Barely holding back my laughter, I raised my bloodshot eyes and met Bella’s gaze.

I took a moment to catch my breath and opened my mouth.

,Why did you tell me?”

Bella stared at me blankly. She frowned slightly, looking somewhat flustered.

,Because you’re Roel’s younger brother.”

She’s still not honest. It’s obvious that she intends to repay the debt she owes me. Whatever her intention, it’s a fact that she’s trying to help me. I can give her about three praise stickers. Even though she has more than 50 demerit stickers.

But if Bella tells Roel-nim about my dangerous misunderstanding, the meaning of Lily’s appearance will disappear. If Roel-nim becomes hostile to Modist as well, things will get complicated. I have to replace the wrong misunderstanding with a different misunderstanding.

,Thank you for your concern. But it’s okay. This is already something that has been agreed upon between me and the guild master. The guild master didn’t betray me, but tried to protect me.”

Bella’s golden eyes widened. She asked back as if she had heard unexpected words.

,Protect you?”

I calmly retraced Bella’s words and pulled out plausible lies as material. If I mix it with the original intention, Bella won’t be able to distinguish the truth.

,Didn’t I say that the guild master and I are in the same boat? We’re in a situation where we’re holding each other’s leashes. The guild master allowed Lily to say ‘the only one’ because she thought that if the fact that I manipulate space magic became known, the Order or the imperial family might target me. So that I can hide myself in Lily’s shadow.”

Bella opened her mouth slightly and nodded as if she understood.

,Come to think of it, you didn’t use space magic in the duel either, did you?”

,The guild master of Modist advised me. That it wouldn’t be good if it was seen by other people.”

I couldn’t use it then because there was an executive of the Order, but I didn’t intend to use space magic in this triathlon either. As I told Bella, I was going to hide myself behind the name Lily.

,So it was intentional to mention it at the meeting. If you knew it too… the guild master wouldn’t have betrayed you.”

Bella, who was organizing her thoughts while muttering to herself, looked at me with suspicious eyes.

,I haven’t heard about how you became partners with the guild master of Modist.”

,…Of course, it’s a secret. But because we need each other, there’s no possibility of betrayal in the future.”

Bella turned her head and looked around the hallway, then lowered her voice for some reason.

,Don’t trust others so easily. No matter how strong the leash is, it will eventually loosen.”

Bella had lived a life full of suspicion and betrayal. Believing in someone is something that Bella can’t accept. That’s why she thinks of Roel-nim, who always shows her sincerity, as special.

I bowed my head deeply at Bella’s heartfelt advice.

,Thank you for the advice. And please keep this a secret from hyung-nim.”

Bella nodded, as if she understood the meaning of my words without me having to explain.

Bella, who had finished speaking, turned around and walked down the hallway without saying goodbye, but stopped after a few steps.

,…The first event of the triathlon, right?”

I answered yes to Bella’s voice echoing through the hallway. Then I heard a brusque voice.

,It’s better to be careful not to get ganged up on.”

Watching Bella’s back as she left, I scratched my forehead, feeling strange. Bella had obtained information at the meeting that the academies were forming an alliance and warned me.

,Worrying about me, of all people…”

I shook off the strange feeling and wiped my face once before returning to the club room.

***

As night fell and the club members, who had been spending a lazy day in the club room, returned to the dormitory one by one. I subtly glanced at Luna and kept her behind.

Looking at Luna, who naturally sat on my lap in the club room where only the two of us were left, I wet my lips. I didn’t intend to tell her the whole plan, but I was going to give her a warning in advance.

Luna, who was sitting on my lap, met my gaze and stroked my hair, then lowered her hand and pressed my forehead. I must have been frowning without realizing it because I was worried.

,You have something to say, don’t you?”

Luna was getting to know me more and more. I was afraid of what kind of expression she would make when she found out my true self.

,…I don’t know how to bring it up. I don’t even know if it’s good to say it.”

,Then shall we worry about it together?”

I felt like the anxiety that remained in my heart disappeared at Luna’s soft smile. I felt like I wanted to tell her everything now. It’s such a mysterious ability.

,I might show a slightly different side of me than Luna knows at the triathlon.”

Luna’s eyes lit up at my words.

,A different side? For example?”

,A little more bad and arrogant…?”

,You’re already an arrogant beast who doesn’t listen when I tell you to take your vitamins and gets away with a sly kiss when I try to scold you?”

I chuckled at Luna’s playful voice. She knows how to lead the atmosphere without making it heavy, even while listening to my words seriously.

I took Luna’s hand and asked in a serious voice.

,What if I do something stupid and ruin the triathlon? What if everyone blames me and curses me…?”

Luna’s lips stopped my words. Actually, I already knew what kind of reaction Luna would show. Luna was the one who would reach out to me without avoiding the danger when I collapsed, and would be swept away and collapse with me.

Luna, who had taken her lips off, leaned her body completely on me and whispered.

,You already know my answer… did you want to hear it again?”

,…I’m embarrassed.”

When I lowered my gaze because she had seen through my heart, Luna grabbed my face and met my gaze. The lovely lover puffed up her cheeks slightly and said in a firm voice.

,I don’t care what kind of evaluation Ross gets from others. I won’t be ashamed to be Ross’s girlfriend either. As Ross said, we’re going to spend all the seasons together from now on.”

Luna, whose face turned red because she was embarrassed after saying it herself, hugged me to hide her face.

,Ross is shy. I’ll believe that there’s a kind heart hidden in Ross’s actions in the future too.”

Those were the words I wanted to hear. Words that give me the strength to move forward so that my faith doesn’t waver. Taking the warm warmth that Luna gave me as a driving force, I was able to take another energetic step.

Therefore, I had no choice but to answer with sincerity. It was a feeling I always felt for this lovely lover. I say it like a habit, but there has never been a time when I didn’t mean it.

,…Thank you.”

For letting me feel this comfort and happiness when I don’t deserve to love anyone.