Ch.166165. Journey? (7)

# 165. A Trip? (7)

“Huh…? Me…?”

Such a sudden statement.

The moment I heard those words, my mind went blank, and I even forgot what I was originally going to say.

Because of that, I could only wait for Luna’s next words in a dumbfounded state.

“Yeah… You always pretend not to care but secretly look after me… Sometimes you protect me when we go out like this… You even helped me adjust well at the Academy…”

As she spoke, Luna’s face turned bright red. After taking a deep breath, she continued immediately.

“Why are you doing this…? You clearly have a girlfriend… and you even rejected me once…”

“…”

I wanted to say something.

I wanted to make excuses about those incidents and tell her that it wasn’t for the reasons she thought.

But I simply couldn’t speak.

Whether it was because of the shock from what I’d just heard or because of this suffocating atmosphere, I couldn’t say a word.

And Luna was at a loss when I didn’t respond.

“Say something… If you keep acting like this, I’ll really… misunderstand, you know?”

“Well… I don’t have any special reason for—”

“Luna! You should come with us! It’s dangerous to go alone…”

Reina and the others suddenly appeared, interrupting my words.

They seemed suspicious of this strange atmosphere between us.

“This atmosphere… what’s going on? And why are you… shirtless…?”

“Shut up and let’s just go back first.”

Ignoring Rachel’s questions as she looked back and forth between us, Raicle threw a set of clothes in my direction.

I smiled gratefully at his action and put on the clothes he threw.

“Let’s hurry back. The teacher must be worried. You can have your pointless conversations in your own rooms later.”

“Um… okay.”

“That’s definitely for the best.”

Everyone seemed to agree with Raicle’s opinion, and so Luna and I returned to the hotel without being able to say anything more to each other.

I thought Gloria would scold me as soon as we got back to the hotel, but…

‘Nothing happened, huh…’

There were no such reprimands. Instead, she said things like “It’s fortunate you subdued them quickly” and “There weren’t any demons there, right?”

It seemed that because of what I’d shown so far, she was now willing to overlook certain excessive actions for a student.

However, the real problem wasn’t with Gloria.

After safely returning to the hotel room, Raicle, who was the real issue, asked me.

“What happened?”

“Well… that… But do you think I’ve been treating her too nicely? Like in that way…”

“Who? Her?”

“Luna.”

Raicle thought for a moment after hearing my question.

Then, for some reason, he gave me the answer I was hoping for.

“Not really. You’ve just been treating her well as a friend.”

“But… she doesn’t seem to think so…”

“So what did she say?”

“She was about to say something when you guys showed up…”

If I had continued the conversation quickly, I could have handled it, but I couldn’t at that time.

I thought I had kept enough distance.

But reality, as usual, didn’t go according to my expectations.

“Hmm… then it would be really awkward to go talk to her now, wouldn’t it? What should we do?”

“But… I do have a reason to talk to her.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Remember what I mentioned before?”

“Before? Ah… that thing you were going to give her as a gift?”

Since Raicle was with me when I went shopping for items related to Luna’s safety out of concern, he knew what the gift was.

“I told her earlier to come out later because I was going to give it to her… Should I just go now?”

“Just go. You’ll have to tell her it’s not like that eventually anyway.”

“I guess so…”

Having decided to talk to her right away, I was about to call Luna through Reina, who shared a room with her, when, with perfect timing, a message arrived from their side first.

-Hey, Luna wants to see you for a bit… what are you going to do?-

I replied to Reina’s message, which seemed rather troubled.

-Tell her I said okay and to meet me in the lobby on the first floor.-

-Okay, got it.-

After that message, I tossed my phone onto the bed, grabbed the cloak I had prepared in advance, and headed to the first floor lobby as I had mentioned.

When I arrived, Luna was already there, sitting on a nearby bench waiting for me.

Despite the complicated situation, Luna’s expression was contrary to the circumstances.

Unlike before, she seemed to have composed herself a bit. With that appearance, Luna greeted me.

“Hi…? You came pretty quickly?”

“Yeah…”

“Sit down here first. If you keep standing like that, other people will think it’s strange.”

Such a calm demeanor.

It was almost like she was a different person.

“You seem different from before? A bit calmer, and maybe a little more relaxed too…”

“I was planning to talk in this state originally, but earlier I was… a bit too excited…”

I handed over the item I had brought to Luna, who had fortunately returned to her normal self.

Luna looked at the object in her hands and murmured.

“[Guardian’s Cloak]…”

“Considering your wealth, it’s probably really inadequate… but I couldn’t just leave you walking around like that…”

Even with the [Guardian’s Cloak], it wouldn’t completely block attacks from high-ranking demons, but it was still a hundred, a thousand times better than nothing.

Luna received the cloak and thanked me with an expression like that of a child.

“No… thank you so much… But did you buy this expensive thing with your own money?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t too much of a burden. I had quite a bit saved up.”

“Still, it must have been quite expensive… Thank you so much, and about what happened earlier.”

Luna was casually talking about what had happened earlier.

“I’m sorry about earlier. Thinking about it now, I put you in a really awkward position. Of course you wouldn’t like someone like me.”

“You didn’t need to go that far…”

Seeing Luna, who must have grown up receiving nothing but love since childhood, say such things made me feel quite strange.

But for some reason, even though she said such things, Luna didn’t seem particularly gloomy.

“No, that’s right, at least for now.”

“For now?”

“Yes, for now.”

Luna’s confident expression in this situation seemed familiar, almost like how I used to be.

Being in this situation, I could roughly guess what Luna would say next.

“I was originally planning to confess during this school trip. But it seemed too hopeless.”

“Uh…”

“So I’m going to retreat for now.”

“Retreat?”

“Yes, I’m going to make you like me first, and then confess.”

Luna’s rather bold ambition.

Hearing those words, the corners of my mouth involuntarily turned up, and laughter burst out uncontrollably.

I was desperately trying to hold back that laughter, and seeing me like this, Luna, seemingly offended, scolded me.

“I gathered my courage to say that… If you laugh like that, what does that make me?”

“I know… I know, but it’s just too funny…”

“You… just wait and see. I’ll make you beg to date me!”

“Sure, go ahead and try.”

Those words made me realize that all the worries I had been having were completely meaningless.

But I didn’t feel particularly bad about it.

After all, the outcome was good.

“In return, don’t avoid me like before when I approach you!”

“When did I ever avoid you…”

“You always did! Somehow you always knew when I was secretly looking for you and would run away.”

“Then why did you ask me why I was being nice to you?”

I really couldn’t understand what her standard for “being nice” was.

‘Are the standards for humans and elves slightly different…’

It’s truly an absurd thought, but right now, I couldn’t think of any other explanation.

“That’s a different story!”

“I don’t see how they’re different?”

“Anyway, they’re different, just different.”

Having this pointless argument over such a trivial topic made it feel like I was talking to Aelin.

‘Even the fun part is the same…’

I hadn’t really thought about it until now, but thinking about it now, Aelin and Luna seemed somewhat similar.

Of course, only “somewhat,” just somewhat.

“Let’s stop here and go back. They’ll misunderstand again.”

“I don’t really mind?”

“Well, I do, you know.”

“If we explain it well to the Princess, don’t you think she’ll allow us to date?”

“Please stop talking nonsense…”

Listening to Luna’s words now, it seemed like I wasn’t trapped in a troublesome situation after all.

Luna was a much more troublesome type than I had anticipated.

“I have a friend who likes you. How about dating her?”

“Are you talking about yourself?”

Luna was making such a pure expression as if she really thought that way.

Of course, that couldn’t be true.

“You… you’re a good actor… it’s annoying…”

“Thanks for the compliment…”

I had a strong feeling that I would hear more complaints once we returned to the Academy.

It seemed like I wouldn’t be able to spend the vacation quietly until the break.

“Please, I’m begging you, could you not act like this in front of the Princess later?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Ah… really.”

No matter how I thought about it, I was definitely being targeted by a strange person.

I stood up, ignoring Luna who was grinning, and annoyingly, Luna also stood up beside me.

“I’m leaving… Make sure to wear that if nothing else.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow!”