Chapter 141: Exam Preparation (1)

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The atmosphere grew heavy in an instant.

Despite her calm smile, her eyes told a different story. Seeing that, Riley instinctively broke out in a cold sweat.

‘It’s fine. It’s still fine. I can still turn this around.’

“They’re from the knight order. I trained under them for a bit when I was younger—”

“Are they a woman or a man?”

Here it comes.

The answer—he had to choose his words carefully. It wasn’t about lying, but about how to frame it.

“Nothing special. Just a casual friend I greet and sometimes eat with—a woman—”

“A woman.”

Sugar spat out the word before muttering in fragments.

“A woman. A person. A friend.”

Unfortunately, the nature of the relationship didn’t seem to matter. The gender itself was the problem.

‘Right. If even men are seen as threats, then women are definitely worse.’

“Riley’s friend. A female friend. Yeah, it makes sense you’d make friends while living outside. Now that I think about it, from what I overheard earlier, you two seemed pretty close.”

“We’re not that close.”

“Really? But what if that friend doesn’t feel the same way…? Ehehe. Just kidding.”

Sugar slithered over Riley like a snake and dabbed his sweat with a handkerchief, her expression softening into a sweet smile.

“Riley. Why are you so tense? You’re sweating so much.”

“…”

“It’s fine to have friends. Don’t worry. I’ve been trying to dial back the obsession, so don’t be scared.”

“…”

“I won’t pry. You can read it comfortably. I won’t even look at the contents.”

She spoke tenderly before burying her face in his chest. Riley swallowed dryly as he opened the envelope.

A sweet, heavy fragrance instantly filled the air.

His body stiffened on instinct.

“Mmm… women’s perfume. Spraying perfume on a letter to a ‘casual friend’? What an unusual friend.”

Sugar began tracing circles on Riley’s chest with her finger. Her soft laughter carried an unsettling edge.

Riley didn’t understand either.

‘Why did she spray perfume? She’s not the type to do this. Why would she pull something like this and risk provoking the embodiment of jealousy?’

The answer was in the letter.

‘P.S. I’ve gotten into perfumery lately—what do you think? If it’s good, I’ll give you some as a gift. Pass it along to that childhood friend of yours.’

“…She says she’s picked up perfumery as a hobby recently.”

“Oh?”

“She wants to give you some as a gift if it’s good.”

“Wow, for me? Did you tell her about me?”

“Of course I did…”

“How did you introduce me? What did you say?”

“…”

“Hmm? Riley.”

Her urging gaze was sticky-sweet, a pink-tinged cocktail of affection and desire.

Riley met her eyes without flinching.

“The most important person to me.”

“…Huh?”

Sugar was taken aback. Riley, who had been avoiding her gaze this whole time, was now staring straight at her with unwavering confidence.

“I told her you’re the most precious person in my life.”

“Oh… mmm…”

Her expression melted. Her cheeks flushed as she pressed her lips together.

The hand that had been teasingly rubbing his chest now fidgeted bashfully with her own fingers.

“Hehe…”

She was the type to charge ahead boldly, only to short-circuit when met with the same energy. Her defenses were pitifully low.

Flustered, Sugar giggled and added,

“Y-You’re the most important to me too, Riley.”

And just like that, it seemed he had narrowly escaped disaster.

Thank goodness.

“That aside… I’m curious about this friend of yours. Introduce us sometime, okay?”

“…”

Or maybe not.

Praying that day would never come, Riley nodded meekly.

***************

Today, they had gathered in the clubroom for a specific purpose.

It was a comfortable place to idle even when they had nothing to do, but this time, they had come to practice for an exam.

With daylight still lingering, the two laid side by side on the sofa, using a cloak as a blanket.

The exam was on mental defense—a practical test to resist an enemy’s intrusion in a dream.

“First, close your eyes and enter the dream world as if meditating…”

Normally, they practiced voluntarily entering dreams to create markers. The actual exam, however, involved falling asleep involuntarily and beginning with dream recognition before proceeding to proper escape.

“Sugar. How do you usually practice?”

“Huh? Well… I just go into the dream and make a marker right away.”

“What’s your dreamscape like? What do you use as a marker?”

“It’s just… a dream. Random places—school, the Holy City, somewhere I don’t recognize. As for the marker… I, um, use you for now.”

“…Has a forest ever appeared?”

“Oh. Sometimes. Why? Is there a problem with forests?”

“…No.”

Riley hesitated before speaking again.

“Let’s try it like the real exam today. I’ll put you to sleep first.”

“Mmm… I’m still not great at dream recognition… Okay. I’ll try.”

Still lying down, Riley raised his wand and recited a sleep spell.

Sugar drifted off almost immediately. She hated this spell—waking up always left her feeling groggy—but it was for exam practice.

“…Zzz.”

***************

“…Huh?”

‘What was I doing again?’

Sugar looked around in confusion. She had the vague sense that she’d been in the middle of something important.

‘This is… the Holy City? Why am I here?’

Well, she was here, so…

‘Right. No reason needed.’

Her body didn’t feel like her own, yet she didn’t find it strange.

As she walked forward, the scenery shifted pleasantly, even though she didn’t feel like she was walking.

The familiar cathedral. The sound of hymns. The priests. Even the clock tower—everything was exactly as she remembered—

“The time is wrong!”

The sun was setting, yet the clock read exactly 3:00.

The contradiction. The inconsistency.

This is a dream. The moment she realized it, control over her body returned.

‘Right… we were practicing for the exam…’

The first step was dream recognition.

She’d succeeded.

Next was creating a marker and defending against enemy attacks.

But there was no enemy here. In the exam, the professor would set up the scenario, but this was just forced sleep.

Still, she had to practice as if it were real. First, the marker.

Sugar imagined Riley standing there.

Instantly, the blond youth from her memories appeared.

“Hello, Sugar.”

The advice seniors had given her in the baths:

Visualize them as ideally as possible.

Trying to make them too realistic would backfire.

Sugar followed this advice very faithfully.

“Hi, Riley!”

As soon as she greeted him, the dream Riley immediately pulled her into a tight hug. His beaming smile was far more affectionate than usual.

“This is my dream. You’re my dream Riley.”

“I see.”

“Remember? We’ve been together like this before.”

“Of course I remember.”

This Riley was crafted from Sugar’s memories and desires. The continuity of his existence depended entirely on her.

“Once I recognize it’s a dream, making things is easy… Maybe the exam won’t be so hard?”

“That’s good, Sugar. You’ll do fine.”

The affectionate Riley reached out with his right hand—the one he used most often in reality.

When she took it, he interlaced their fingers tightly.

Sugar grinned. Riley grinned back.

“—This is ridiculous.”

“…?”

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice made Sugar blink.

She knew that voice—but it wasn’t coming from beside her. It came from in front of her.

When she looked, there were two Rileys. The one holding her hand, and another standing further ahead, glaring in disapproval.

“A dream…? Oh, right, it is a dream…”

Sugar rubbed her eyes.

One Riley. Two Rileys.

Two. Of. Them.

Heh. Heheh. Heheheheh.

A sly grin spread across her face—until the disapproving Riley marched over and flicked her forehead.

“Snap out of it. I’m the real one. I came into your dream from reality.”

“The real one…? Wait, Riley. You can just enter people’s dreams? Even the professor can’t do that. Well… I guess you could. But why? Did you come to check on me?”

“Yeah. But seriously. This is absurd.”

“Why? Because of this Riley? I did a good job, though. He’s got all your usual habits.”

“If that’s true, why does he look like this? Do I really make such a dumb face?”

“Well… not exactly… but he’s nice to look at…”

“Hello, Sugar. Hello, Riley.”

The dream Riley cut in.

“Do I actually greet people like that?”

“Maybe… with a little bias…?”

“…Wake up.”

Once you recognize it’s a dream, waking isn’t hard. Since no extra measures were taken to trap her, even a basic sleep spell could be broken this way.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the familiar ceiling. Rolling over, she found Riley beside her, his expression sharper than usual.

“…”

He glared at her, clearly displeased.

“What’s wrong… Riley…”

“…”

“It’s just… I heard the more different it is from reality, the easier it is to make. I like Riley best when he acts tough but is warm inside.”

Thinking he was sulking over the slightly idealized version of himself in her dream, Sugar began rambling excuses.

In truth, Riley wasn’t that angry. If anything, he was touched that she’d chosen him as her dream marker. Though he was a little hurt—but then again, the Sugar in his dreams was far clingier than reality—

Hmph. Hmph.

Mostly, he was just returning the favor after her earlier jealous antics had put him on the spot.

Still, his mind lingered on the earlier incident.

‘Why didn’t it stop me this time? Is it flexible? Or is there some kind of rule…?’

He’d entered Sugar’s dream far too easily. The strangeness of it made him frown—until Sugar whined and clung to him.

“I’d do almost anything for you, Riley… You know that, right…?”

“Yeah.”

‘As if you’re the only one.’

Riley chuckled softly. His feelings were exactly the same.