A Tough Day

For the first time in a while, the club room was packed with members. My eyes naturally drifted towards Luna, who was chatting with Aria while munching on snacks.

To prepare for my first date with Luna this weekend, I used my lunch break to meet with Roel and get some advice.

,Date course?!”

Roel’s voice was filled with so much joy as he repeated my question that I immediately regretted my choice. I should have just asked the other members….

,Wow, my little brother has grown up so much. He’s even dating now…. Your Hyung isn’t usually one to cry, but I think I’m gonna shed a tear? Who is it…! My little brother’s innocent first love! Who is it! Ellie? Aria? Luna? Or, like me, all three of them…?!”

For a moment, I almost mistook him for someone else. Roel’s energy was so intense that I felt a crushing pressure on my chest.

,It’s Luna. And keep it down…”

,I knew it, my eyes never lie. I could tell from the moment I saw her, her eyes were so kind. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, right? I knew it right away. You two look so good together. How about Hyung clears his schedule this week? I can help you speed things up? I know a senior who graduated and runs a lodging facility near the capital.”

I sighed as Roel, with a sleazy expression, patted my shoulder.

,No, just the date course…”

,If I can give you one piece of advice as your Hyung, dating isn’t as hard as you think. It’s hard to start, so you might misunderstand. But once you take that first step, it’s the easiest thing in the world. It’s simple. You give back as much as you receive. If you date with that in mind, you’ll never fail. But don’t be stupid and only give back as much as you receive.”

I think my ears are bleeding. And why is he so loud? I desperately wanted to escape the gazes of the people staring at me. But Roel’s grip on my shoulder was too strong, making it impossible.

,No, not dating advice, just the date course…”

,Back in my day, man. There wasn’t a day I missed. Love is hotter the closer you are. You can’t let your bodies drift apart. You have to stick together to keep the fire burning. I lived like a maniac who only knew love in my first year. Now I’ve graduated from being a maniac and transformed into a transcendent lover. I don’t tell this to anyone else, but I’ll tell you because you’re my brother. Flavia and I on the rooftop…”

…That’s how I managed to get the date course with such difficulty.

As I dreamed of my first date with Luna this weekend, trying to suppress my rising cheekbones, Aria frowned.

,What’s with you, Ross? Why are you giving me that winner’s smile?”

I scoffed at Aria’s words.

,Ah. It’s nothing.”

I must have unconsciously given the defeated competitor a winner’s smile. I swallowed my laughter and was about to get up to ask Luna about a date this weekend when…

Aria, who was eating snacks, suddenly stood up.

,Let’s do a club activity!!!”

Aria suddenly shouted, drawing the attention of the members who were resting.

,What activity…?”

I asked, puzzled by Aria’s sudden suggestion of a club activity, and Aria pointed to the wall of the club room.

,Cave exploration! We haven’t checked out our cave yet!”

Aria’s words reminded me of the cave we had forgotten about.

,That’s right, I forgot.”

I was thinking that checking out the cave wouldn’t be so bad when I heard Aria’s words.

,We’re all going to explore the cave together this weekend!”

As someone who was dreaming of a weekend date, I immediately objected to Aria’s words.

,Wait, what does a club activity have to do with cave exploration?”

,Why? It has a lot to do with it!”

I had to go on a date this weekend no matter what, so I shook my head and asked.

,What kind of club do you think we are, anyway?”

,A treasure hunting club…?”

I couldn’t argue with Aria’s words. Come to think of it, we had done things like treasure hunts and secret room searches at the academy as club activities… I had no comeback.

Still, the date course I had worked so hard to get was too precious to give up.

,Ahem, isn’t this too sudden? And I don’t think the cave is big enough to spend the whole weekend in?”

It only took an hour to look around the island and the snowy mountain. So, I thought the cave would be similar.

,But it sounds like fun!”

Faced with Aria’s stubbornness, I subtly pulled out my secret weapon.

,How about we decide by majority vote?”

I already had a reliable companion in Luna. If I could persuade Lacar and Kane, I could go on my weekend date as planned…!

Aria nodded at my suggestion to decide by majority vote and made the first move.

,It’s a cave connected to the secret room! Who knows what treasures might be hidden there! And most importantly, it’s about the memories and friendship we’ll build while exploring the cave!”

Lacar, who was weak to things like friendship and adventure, was persuaded by Aria’s words.

,Memories and friendship…. That’s definitely appealing.”

Too late…! One person had already fallen for Aria.

But Lacar was as good as a discarded card. The most important vote was Kane’s.

Kane, who was always bothered by everything and hated using his body, would definitely…!

I turned to Kane with expectant eyes and saw him frowning with an annoyed expression.

,There’s nothing to see in a cave, and it’s just dark and annoying-“

Aria cut off Kane’s blunt words with a sly smile.

,Well, camping in a cave might be a little difficult for us first-year academy students, right? Then I guess we have no choice~”

Kane’s eyebrows twitched at Aria’s words. Feeling uneasy, I hurriedly tried to stop Kane, but Aria had already pressed his button.

,Ah, camping in a cave. It’s quite a difficult level for a first-year student. But maybe it’s okay since we have Camping Master Kane…? If we prepare thoroughly, we can have a comfortable camping trip over the weekend. Give me three days. I’ll make it so we can camp even if we have to hang from the cliffs.”

I swallowed hard at the sight of Kane pushing up his invisible glasses.

To target Kane, who loves camping, like this…!

Was Aria always this cunning…? I regretted treating her so lightly, thinking of her as a four-year-old niece.

Come to think of it, Aria showed tremendous passion and talent for things she was interested in. It was Aria who found the cursed artifact, thinking it was a treasure….

Aria gave a winner’s smile and turned to Luna.

,My friend~ What about Luna?”

,I think it sounds good too….”

Seeing Luna agreeing with Aria’s words while subtly looking at me, I hung my head in shock at my complete defeat.

I sighed, acknowledged my defeat, and looked up at Aria.

Aria slyly popped a snack into her mouth and mouthed the words to me with a winner’s smile.

,Lame.”

It was truly a tough day.

***

After it was decided to go to the cave on the weekend, I left the club room and headed back to the training grounds to find Roel.

This time, my goal wasn’t Roel, but Rosalyn. As expected, Rosalyn was watching Roel’s training with Flavia.

Roel, who was swinging his greatsword, spotted me and immediately shouted.

,Oh! My lover boy little brother!!!”

,Please, just shut your mouth…”

I was getting a headache from the stress, so I ignored Roel’s teasing and went straight to Rosalyn to talk to her.

,Senior, can I talk to you for a moment?”

Rosalyn looked at me with surprised eyes, as if she didn’t expect me to talk to her, and was very flustered.

,M-Me…?”

I nodded, and Rosalyn followed me outside with a tearful expression.

,R-Ross…. How’s your body?”

Come to think of it, the last time I had a conversation with Rosalyn was the day I fainted due to the Geass’s restriction being activated. Since then, we had only exchanged greetings in passing, and there hadn’t been enough time to have a conversation.

,I’m fine. More than that, there’s something I’m curious about.”

,U-Uhhm…. Ask me anything.”

Unlike our first meeting, Rosalyn was filled with guilt when she treated me.

If it was the Rosalyn I knew, she was definitely doing something wrong and suffering in silence.

She was a bit of an airhead, enough to be fooled by the fact that Roel liked mustaches.

,Did you do something wrong to me?”

I asked casually, and Rosalyn flinched greatly as if she was flustered. Because of that, her chest, which was bigger than her head, bounced up and down in front of my eyes.

,Uh…? I, I that’s….”

I snapped out of it after being distracted by her chest for a moment and stared at Rosalyn silently.

Rosalyn met my gaze, and tears began to well up in her eyes, eventually bursting into tears.

,I-I’m sorry, Ross. Sob, sob… I, I did, did wrong…. I should have trusted you….”

I never expected Rosalyn to cry, so I was very flustered.

What on earth did she do wrong to me that she was even shedding tears?

,What did you do wrong?”

Rosalyn wiped away her tears with her hand and answered with difficulty.

,N-Not, not trusting you…. Sniff, sob… Also, hiding Bella’s lies from Roel….”

Only then did I realize why Rosalyn felt guilty towards me. She felt guilty for not telling Roel that Bella had dragged me to the interrogation room. The reason she had been secretly giving me potions all this time must have been because of her guilt.

Honestly, it didn’t matter to me whether Rosalyn trusted me or not. There was nothing a commoner like Rosalyn could do about what the imperial princess Bella was doing, and it was easier to clean up the mess without telling Roel.

If Rosalyn was still feeling guilty and struggling, wouldn’t it be better to relieve her guilt without making it too difficult?

I stroked my chin and said to Rosalyn with a sly smile.

,If you’re really sorry to me, will you do me a favor?”

,E-Eeek?!”

For some reason, Rosalyn crossed her arms in an X shape over her chest and swallowed hard after hearing my words.

What’s with that reaction…?