Ch.371371. The Next Step? (2)

“Finally, Senior Renias has realized it too!”

A woman’s weapon to captivate the man she loves.

When just listing the words, it might seem incredibly complicated, but surprisingly, it’s simpler than expected.

Capture their gaze. Naturally guide their reactions. Make them restless and close the distance in one breath.

‘That’s right. There’s no better weapon when dealing with a lover, is there?’

A woman’s provocative attire. Clothing that reveals bare skin will naturally draw a man’s eyes toward his beloved.

This was partly why Lumia recommended the pink dress to Renias. Her fair skin would be further accentuated by the outfit with its cuts and openings, something that couldn’t possibly be overlooked.

Of course, it’s not 100% effective. If the other person responds indifferently as if uninterested in such things, or if he’s a man accustomed to women in dresses like nobles are, this strategy won’t work.

Yet she chose that dress and added makeup to make her look more delicate because she was confident.

‘Senior Junon is definitely the same type as Cain. A gentleman among gentlemen, don’t you think?’

Sure enough, according to Renias’s account, Junon immediately took off his coat and draped it over her. This meant she had successfully prompted her boyfriend’s protective behavior.

In other words, the powerful weapon that makes a man focus all his attention on a woman was ultimately an appeal that stimulated his protective instincts.

‘Wow. He got flustered when you hugged him?’

*Clap clap clap clap*

Though the intention was quite obvious, Lumia applauded, thinking that even the great Senior Junon was just another man before the beauty that was Renias.

The more she heard, the more she couldn’t help but smile. Just seeing the energy emanating from Renias, she could tell how happy she was.

The subsequent stories of Renias’s experiences made Lumia nod in agreement multiple times.

By this point, she thought she could stop worrying about the couple’s future, believing their path would be smooth sailing.

“But… Lumia. I understand this is a woman’s weapon… but he keeps trying to run away.”

“What?”

Run away? Renias was the one playfully teasing him while even hugging him, so how could he be running away?

Thinking there might be more to the story, Lumia listened more carefully.

After hearing the full situation…

‘Ah. So that’s what this is.’

Lumia had an intuition.

“So you understand what weapon I was talking about… but Senior Junon keeps slipping away?”

“Exactly!”

Rather than running away, it was more like changing the subject. It seemed to be Junon’s own way of avoiding the situation.

Well, that made sense. With his exceptional intellect, he probably recognized her intentions but wasn’t willing to simply go along with them.

Assuredly, in such cases, it meant her appeal wasn’t strong enough.

Lumia put on a serious expression and pressed harder than before.

“If he avoids and runs away, you need to push harder!”

“P-push harder?”

“Yes! You need to push so firmly that he can’t even think of running away… Huh? Senior Renias, your face is quite red. Are you okay?”

“Huh?! Ah, um, y-yes…!”

The reason her face suddenly turned red while listening didn’t matter.

Right now, it was a special tutoring session for Renias!

.

.

.

The special tutoring session wasn’t long.

“Of all times, I have to attend a lecture now. I have so much more I want to tell you.”

“No, no! I think I understand everything now…!”

Renias tried to refuse this special tutoring session, seizing the opportunity.

But Lumia fell into deep thought, then put down her book bag again.

“No. When we’re discussing something this important, what does a lecture matter?”

Just when she thought she might escape, what a bolt from the blue!

Desperately trying to find a way out, Renias hastily grabbed her lunchbox.

“I, I have to go give my lunch to him, so I can’t…!”

“Hmm? Isn’t there still some time before Senior Junon’s lecture?”

“Huh? W-well…! There was a time I was late, so I can’t. And if I suddenly enter during the lecture, it would be disruptive!”

“Is that so? Hmm… I guess you’re right. I heard a rumor that he glared at someone just for dropping a pen among his students. Then just one last thing—”

“I’ll be going now!”

“Ah, Senior? She’s gone.”

Lumia was about to offer her most important advice, but Renias moved so quickly. In that moment, she hurriedly grabbed her lunchbox and left the reception room.

“Are you two done with your girl talk?”

“Yes, Cain. Somehow it ended up that way.”

“What did you say to her? Senior Renias passed by so fast I could hear the whoosh.”

“Did she? I don’t think I said anything wrong. I just gave her the same advice I gave you when we had our first dance together.”

“First dance…? Hmm… Oh. That time.”

Cain seemed to understand and sighed deeply.

“I was so surprised back then. You looked so delicate that I thought you might break somewhere, so I took off my clothes to cover you and spent every penny I had to buy medicine.”

“Oh my, that’s right. You remember so well?”

Yes. Just like this.

Your gaze naturally fixes on them, and even if you try not to be conscious of them, you naturally become aware.

Awakening the protective instinct.

‘Senior Renias. Since Senior Junon is such a gentleman, you just need to awaken that protective instinct well.’

After all, a woman’s actions that stimulate a man’s protective instinct are the best weapon against men, right?

Lumia silently cheered “Fighting!” toward the direction Renias had gone.

However, unfortunately… the meaning of “weapon” that Renias had in mind was completely different.

***

A woman’s weapon to captivate the man she loves.

What she discovered after the proposal was indeed a powerful weapon, just as Lumia had said. It didn’t require any special charm to draw attention, naturally guided the other’s reactions, and had the power to make them restless.

Thanks to it, Junon was greatly flustered and troubled like before, even showing signs of freezing up.

After witnessing this several more times firsthand, Renias became convinced.

Of the true identity of a woman’s most powerful weapon.

‘…Yes. That’s definitely my weapon.’

But…

It became troublesome. Lumia’s confirmation that she had figured it out correctly actually made Renias more troubled!

Junon was truly an impregnable fortress. No matter how much she tried to approach him, he wouldn’t easily yield, nor could he be easily broken down.

But when that impregnable fortress did crumble, the signs Lumia had mentioned appeared so clearly.

-‘When the weapon hits its mark, it completely captures their attention.’

Capturing attention?

It was accurate. He would turn his head away as if he had seen something he absolutely shouldn’t see, even if she asked him to look. If a situation arose where he couldn’t fix his gaze, hadn’t she dominated his field of vision?

-‘Once you’ve captured their attention like that, they start to consciously think about it. From this point on, they typically show behavior that’s unlike their usual selves.’

They become conscious and show behavior unlike their usual selves?

It was literal!

Even when she said she had dressed up nicely and asked him to look, he evaded by saying the dress was pretty. When she hinted that he should look more, he fled, saying she was pretty whether dressed up or not.

When she maintained a pose with her arm linked with his, he immediately adjusted his grip. Even at bedtime, he would say it was a bit hot today and suggest sleeping like this.

The usual Junon would never, ever run away like this.

Lumia had also pointed out that reaction was most important, and Junon’s reactions spoke for themselves. She had mentioned that anger was the only possible negative reaction, but added that if the other responses matched, this one didn’t matter.

In the end, except for the one thing she didn’t need to worry about, all the signs Lumia had mentioned appeared.

Because Junon was so good at evading, Renias had come to see if she was mistaken, only to have it confirmed that Lumia’s thoughts were undeniably correct.

Yes. Up to this point, it was fine.

Renias was okay with realizing that she possessed a very powerful weapon.

But what came after was the problem!

-‘If he runs away, you need to push more firmly! Push him so hard that he can’t even run away, I mean it!’

Push more firmly? Push so hard that he can’t run away and has to approach her?

Her face had instantly flushed hot. What was even more outrageous was the sentence that followed.

-‘If you’ve only touched the shell, it’s just scratching the surface! You need to dig deeper inside!’

Dig deeper inside…! How could she do such a thing!

Even thinking about it now made her want to cover her face with both hands. But no matter how much she tried to cover it, her face had become so flushed that it wouldn’t return to normal.

In the midst of this.

As she sat on the bench with her head down, covering her face with both hands, a strange catalyst appeared.

—Mommy.

—Yes. Mommy’s right here.

—Won’t you call for Daddy?

—Mommy.

“…”

A young child, not even a few years old, who had only recently been weaned.

But simply, the child called for their mother and was embraced in their mother’s arms. And the man standing right beside them, presumably the father, was grumbling that the child wasn’t calling him “Daddy.”

It was a scene of a harmonious family that she had once dreamed of.

-‘Don’t you want to move on to the next step?’

Whether this was another coincidence or not, that one sentence from Lumia completely uprooted Renias’s concerns.

“I want to move forward too.”

To become the driving force that would move her weapon most fiercely.

***

Levrant Academy was not much different from yesterday.

That meant nothing special was happening, which was a very good sign.

And indeed, nothing had happened.

Because she spotted a silver-haired girl looking around as if searching for someone.

Some might say that alone is insufficient, but the meaning of that accessory on her left ring finger perfectly fills in the missing 2%.

“Phew. What a hassle because of the professors.”

Though complaining, Senia was about to leave, thinking everything must be resolved now.

But suddenly feeling something was odd, she stayed put. After alternately looking at Renias and the place she was heading a couple of times, she was puzzled.

“That’s a clothing shop that mainly makes school uniforms…?”

Why would someone who should be meeting Junon at this hour be going there?