Ch.221221. Two-Way Traffic (3)

Renias leaped out of the carriage and ran off with quick, small steps.

While she would normally be greeted by countless people at the Academy, today they weren’t responding as usual.

“Oh, it’s Renias. Hel—”

“Sorry, I’m really busy right now!”

Whoosh—

“Um… seeing her run off like that, she must be in a real hurry.”

“Yeah. She never usually rushes around like that. Did a monster appear in the middle of town or something?”

“No way! People are so sensitive these days. The guards on patrol are already on high alert because of the parade. If a monster had appeared, we would have been called first, right?”

“I guess that’s true.”

And so, in the wake of the silver rabbit’s lightning-fast passage, only bewildered onlookers remained, wondering what had gotten into her.

Meanwhile, the mind of the normally composed protagonist was in complete turmoil.

Maria’s words kept replaying in her head.

—’Someone like that must be popular, right? Good character, excellent grades, and proven abilities—what’s not to like?’

Every time she recalled that voice, her cheeks filled with tense air.

The breath that had filled her inner cheeks soon escaped, carrying heat with it.

Popular, huh? That was probably true. Maybe not before, but now that he’d become the hero who defeated the Sacred Beast and made it into the newspapers, he’d attract even more attention.

She never thought things would turn out this way, but if Renias could go back to that moment… she might have hesitated a bit.

Out of concern that Junon’s stock would soar.

And besides… while she had worried about the lack of visitors at the hospital, she’d since changed her mind about that too.

Senior Senia, who had asked for time to talk with gently curved eyes. Junior Charlotte, who seemed several times cuter despite being only a year younger.

Senior Aris, who somehow kept fleeing whenever their eyes met in the hospital room. Senior Michelle, who approached while retying her reddish-brown ponytail, saying it was perfect timing and asking her to deliver a gift to Junon.

Somehow, they all felt like enemies now. She finally understood what he meant when he said he was uncomfortable with female visitors!

“Oh, Miss Renias? What’s the matter? Why are you running so urgently?”

“Has Senior Junon come this way?”

“Junon? Ah, no. He stops by regularly, but the fitness center hasn’t yet…”

“Thank you!”

“Um… Miss Renias?”

Before the fitness center staff member could finish speaking, Renias had already greeted them and turned back.

The staff tried to quickly stop her, but the silver hair was already fluttering in the distance. The staff member sighed, watching the empty space.

“Oh dear. I was going to tell her she could find him if she just went a little further that way.”

Still, hardly anyone wouldn’t recognize him by now, so a slight detour shouldn’t matter.

Muttering this, the staff member didn’t try to stop the silver rabbit’s dash.

Starting from the fitness center, Renias had already checked all the places Junon might have gone. She realized that aimlessly running around wasn’t helping, but even excluding the places she’d already visited, there were still too many possibilities.

“Ugh… was Levrant always this big?”

Levrant, the capital of the Principality.

As the nation’s capital with all its core institutions concentrated there, it was naturally teeming with people.

Such population density would only hinder her search for one person, but she thought if she kept looking, it would be fine.

That’s what she had thought, but…

—Junon? He went that way just now.

—He seems to be darting around everywhere, so I’m not sure. But he’s definitely somewhere in the Academy.

—He’s avoiding reporters and deliberately taking darker routes to shake off the press. I saw him near the Dube Building earlier.

There was no way no one at Levrant Academy had spotted Junon, but conversely, sightings of the now-famous man began pouring in.

It was too much. Enough to give her a headache even if she tried to track the timing of each sighting.

If she could organize these accounts into a timeline, she might at least be able to guess where he was.

If she could ask when and where Junon was seen, what he was doing, and why he was passing through, the search area would narrow considerably.

But she couldn’t do that. Despite her urgency…

—Why are you looking for Junon anyway?

If such a question came up, she would freeze on the spot like a statue.

Though her heart was burning with anxiety, she couldn’t show it, and she lacked the courage to be honest.

In the end, the silver rabbit chose what she always did—a lie.

“Thank you. I don’t want to keep taking up your time… I’ll find him myself.”

Cutting off questions to a minimum, she continued searching every corner of the Academy.

After checking all the likely places, she tried to think from his perspective about where to go next.

“If I were Senior…”

He prefers to avoid people. As he told her before, he dislikes not just guilds and teams, but belonging to any group at all.

Therefore, he would absolutely avoid reporters, press, club activities, and small gatherings unless absolutely necessary.

Now that his name was known, he would take alleys or less maintained paths to avoid people who kept trying to approach him.

Her antennae perked up again.

“I haven’t checked the path to Merack Building…!”

Renias, who knew more about Junon than anyone else at Levrant Academy, began to move according to his behavioral patterns.

Still, Renias felt anxious. Despite knowing Junon better than anyone, she couldn’t shake off this uneasiness.

Someone might snatch him away. Especially with the Real Winter Parade season overlapping, it would be easy for someone to get close to him!

She couldn’t help but feel impatient.

“I feel like I’ve searched everywhere… where on earth is Senior?”

At this rate, someone would cling to him. To implement Maria’s advice, she absolutely had to find him first.

In the midst of her search, a conversation reached the silver rabbit’s ears from the street.

Jon and Noel. Two classmates who seemed quite close to Junon.

“Wow. Junon’s name looks cool in print. No matter how much he tried to hide it, it all came to light in the end. It’s so satisfying. Don’t you think so, Noel?”

“I was getting frustrated with how secretive he was being, so this is really refreshing. But you know what?”

“What’s with that creepy laugh?”

“I saw something even better than this today.”

“What was it?”

“Well, when I was leaving the dormitory, I saw someone very carefully preparing a gift for Junon.”

“!!!”

Upon hearing about someone preparing a gift, Renias immediately pressed her cheek against the wall. Peeking around the corner, she began eavesdropping.

Her eyes and ears were more alert than a rabbit sensing a predator.

“Ohhh…! And then? What happened?!”

“What do you think? You know Junon’s personality. I doubt he’ll even participate in the festival. As for the gift… it could be a confession, but I’m not expecting much.”

Noel had mentioned before that there was a female student who confessed to Junon while giving him chocolate.

The result was rejection, and the girl had burst into tears, which had allowed Renias to breathe a sigh of relief.

But then… Jon said something that made the silver rabbit’s nerves stand on end again.

As Renias searched everywhere for Junon’s location, she suddenly remembered the Real Winter Parade.

The annual event being prepared in anticipation of the snowy winter.

“Confession at the festival…? Nooooo…!!”

With that, the silver rabbit immediately headed to the campus grounds without even listening to the rest of the conversation.

“Huh? So there are two people going to confess now?”

“Two? What are you talking about?”

“Junon seems to have gone to participate in the parade. I just saw him. There were two people with him.”

Of course… it was a big misunderstanding.

***

—’Listen, miss, naturally desirable things are wanted by others too. Jewels are expensive precisely because everyone wants them, right? So you need to reduce the competition.’

Maria’s advice was to reduce the competition.

Currently, the jewel that anyone would desire is Junon, and an environment has formed where numerous women could cling to him.

Therefore, Renias intends to reduce her competitors by any means.

Just like now, directly separating the two women visible from the campus grounds from Junon.

“R-Renias…?”

Junon’s hand, which was about to pat Charlotte’s head, is now resting on Renias’s head.

The three people witnessing this scene would need some time to grasp the situation.

“Um… Senior Renias?”

“…”

Charlotte, who seemed the most confused, asked cautiously, but Renias just stared back with puffed cheeks and sharp eyes.

“S-Senia…”

With Renias’s piercing gaze fixed on her, Charlotte, who had no idea what was happening, could only retreat behind Senia’s back with a drop of sweat rolling down her face.

Then Renias turned her laser-like stare toward Senia.

It was a completely incomprehensible situation.

“So… Renias? I’d like you to let go of my hand now…”

“Hmph.”

“This is an awkward position. Is there… something special about this pose?”

“No.”

Even when Junon signaled for her to release his hand, she wouldn’t.

The question “Then why?” should naturally follow.

But Junon was so flustered that he couldn’t easily speak up.

Her puffed cheeks showed no signs of deflating, and the two arms that had grabbed Junon’s wrist and placed it on her head weren’t about to let go.

Senia narrowed her eyes and began observing Renias.

‘I can tell she’s being hostile, but why?’

Charlotte is a junior, one year younger than Renias. She’s a girl with a much smaller build than herself.

…That’s all. It was strange that she was glaring at Charlotte when they had no quarrel.

Senia began to carefully think back to the beginning.

‘Bright, cheerful, energetic, and kind. A personality everyone likes, with impeccable conduct… I won’t find anything there.’

There was no need to list her outward personality traits.

Then what about her inner self? Purity. A deeply rooted natural innocence.

It was evident at the hospital, and she’d been teased about giving him a lap pillow at the Dube Building. Perhaps it’s fair to say she gets embarrassed quite easily.

This line of inquiry seemed futile as well. But then.

The scenes where Senia had seen Renias being teased always occurred when she was with one particular person.

‘Come to think of it, she’s been firmly holding that hand. Wasn’t that hand about to pat Charlotte’s head?’

Considering how she was shooting laser glares at Charlotte… the fact that Junon’s hand was on Renias’s head…?

One reason came to mind. If such scenes occurred when she was with Junon, it wasn’t a reason that could be dismissed.

And if she was applying the same glaring beam to herself, not just Charlotte, for the same reason.

That hand had been snatched away.

The lock was cleanly unlocked.

‘…Wow.’

So that’s what it was?

Having figured out the true meaning behind Renias’s bizarre behavior, Senia covered her mouth and laughed.

“Pfft, hehehe.”

“Senia…?”

My goodness. Who would have thought?

She didn’t like him patting someone else’s head. And she was glaring like that to separate other women from Junon’s side.

That’s right.

Renias was now exploding with jealousy.

“Pffhahaha…!”

“Senia?”

“…?”

Unlike Charlotte and Junon, who looked completely bewildered, Senia clutched her stomach and burst into laughter.