Ch.41The Principled One (5)

“……”

It was quite an unbelievable sight. This would have been an everyday occurrence in the Praester Family’s Territory, but this was the Academy.

Was she the reason why the dormitory door wasn’t locked?

More importantly, how did she get in?

And why did she come in?

…..No. I think I roughly knew why she came. But why wait for me like this?

She wasn’t quietly sitting on the sofa waiting for me, but hiding under the blanket.

After the initial shock passed, my body’s next reaction was… a hollow laugh.

“…Haha..I really..”

Seeing her like this made me feel sorry and sympathetic, drawing out an empty laugh.

After worrying all day, was she here like this the whole time?

Even when we fight and hurt each other’s feelings, the fact that she still craves my affection inevitably makes me smile.

If I disliked the twins, Kirsy being like this would have been creepy and frightening, but since that wasn’t the case… I just felt sorry for her.

On the other hand, I also felt relieved. Because she seemed to regret her actions enough to behave this way, and seemed sorry toward me. She understood her mistake and came to receive my love again.

Unlike Asena, who engaged in a strange power struggle with me today, Kirsy was seeking forgiveness like this.

To ask for love after a fight, one must put aside all pride. Especially if you’re going to be in this state.

“…..”

It was somewhat of a surprise, I suppose?

It was effective enough to melt away the anger and resentment in my heart.

Well, that didn’t mean I regretted my actions.

I didn’t think I had done anything wrong.

Sometimes you need to show them like this. That I’m not just taking it. And honestly… I still needed to show more. It had only been one day.

Though my anger had subsided, I needed to continue as a warning.

“…..”

Formal speech was formal speech, and sympathy was sympathy. I quietly approached her.

I placed my hand on her sweaty forehead and gently wiped away the beads of sweat.

Looking closely, her forehead wasn’t the only issue. Her entire body was drenched. How long had she been under the blanket to sweat this much? I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. Even the sheets were soaked.

Kirsy was wearing casual clothes, as if she had planned to skip classes today. She wore a two-piece outfit with multiple layers on top that wrapped around her waist.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a fluttery outfit. If it had been, her clothes might have clung to her wet body, creating an embarrassing scene. When did she grow up so much? Perhaps she needed to learn to be more careful.

After wiping all the sweat from her forehead, I sat beside her and stroked her silver hair.

It had been a while since I’d examined her this closely.

In the busy daily life of the Academy, there hadn’t been time for this.

Touching her made me feel complicated emotions.

She occupied a large part of my heart. The parts where she resided were warm, but equally unsettling.

In the end, only those dear to me could hurt me, and Kirsy’s recent behavior had been enough to worry me.

The pain was still vivid when I thought about it. The twins had become such a fatal weakness for me. With each of their hurtful words, I swayed like a reed.

That’s why I had decided to leave. I wouldn’t have brought it up if it was something that could easily change.

Though Kirsy looked pitiful right now, this moment might be an opportunity. An opportunity to create distance.

The twins were showing me quite contradictory behaviors.

Politically, they rejected me, while personally, they tried to hold onto me. All while ignoring my suffering in the process.

When I decided to leave, they showed disappointment and anxiety. Enough to make me uncomfortable about eventually leaving.

So… perhaps there was a need to distance myself from our close relationship. Since I would eventually leave, it seemed like a good approach to reduce their resistance if possible.

Enough with these complicated thoughts.

I enjoyed this peaceful time that had returned to me after so long. As I stroked her silky hair, I couldn’t help but smile.

I could understand the feelings of married husbands. They say wives look most beautiful when they’re asleep… the same was true for Kirsy. Since she wasn’t speaking while sleeping, she couldn’t look more beautiful.

And I kept laughing at this absurd situation. How did she even come up with the idea to do this?

Lost in these thoughts, I must have put too much pressure in my hand stroking Kirsy, as she moaned.

“…..Brother…?”

I snapped back to reality. I withdrew my hand. I stood up.

I thought she had caught me stroking her,

but Kirsy was still half-asleep and her movements were clumsy.

She called out to me while hunching her shoulders, then paused for a moment, suddenly opened her eyes, and sat up in bed.

Still kneeling, she supported her upper body with her arms. She looked at me with surprised eyes, then adjusted her clothes.

I wondered why she was so startled when I had already seen everything. She grabbed the hem of her skirt, covering her lower body that was already covered.

Then, as if relieved about something, she let out a sigh of relief.

I couldn’t understand what she was so afraid of being discovered, but I thought the right order would be to explain why she was hiding in my bed in the first place.

“……”

As I stared at her intently, she finally slowly looked at me and said:

“Brother..well..you see…”

I deliberately hardened my face. Though my anger had completely subsided, I had no intention of acknowledging that today.

Having made my commitment not to let this incident pass easily and wanting to distance myself from her somewhat for the future, I made my choice.

“Please go back, Lady Kirsy. You shouldn’t enter someone else’s room like this.”

Kirsy’s face, which had been confused and half-asleep, froze.

I looked at her firmly.

As Kirsy gradually processed my words, her face filled with deeper bewilderment, grief, disappointment, sadness, pain—all those negative emotions.

In an instant, she began to sob.

“…Brother..please….I hate this so much…can’t you stop?”

“…..”

“Why do you keep talking like we’re strangers…? Is this really the end for us? It’s not, right…? Brother…you know I can’t be without you…”

“….Eventually, you’ll have to live without me. I told you I would leave someday.”

“I said I don’t want that!”

She raised her voice in protest. At that moment, I heard someone approaching from outside. It would certainly be Eric.

With a small knock, he asked:

‘Brother, are you alright? I heard someone’s voice.’

“Oh, sorry. It’s fine! Kirsy…….Lady Kirsy is here!”

‘…Lady?’

Eric naturally questioned why I was calling Kirsy “Lady Kirsy.” But now wasn’t the time to explain.

“…I’ll explain later, Eric. Sorry for the late night!”

‘No, it’s fine. I was just worried there might be a problem.’

“Okay, get some rest.”

‘Yes.’

After our brief conversation ended, Eric’s receding footsteps echoed.

After he left, Kirsy spoke again.

“….You call Eric by his name. But I’m Lady Kirsy? How can you do that? You and I are closer…right?”

“The inflexible one isn’t Eric.”

“..I’m sorry…I’m sorry so…”

She clutched her chest, crying as she spoke.

“I…every time you speak formally to me…it hurts here like a stab. It hurts so much…I can’t breathe.. When I think you’re tired of me…the tears won’t stop. Right..? It’s not like that… Are you really going to be this cold to me forever..? Do you really hate me now..? Don’t you like me anymore?”

“…..”

By this point, even the devil inside me was waving its hands. Even that devil, which had been feeling satisfied, was now whispering that Kirsy was a bit pitiful.

Normally…I might have given up here. I might have just hugged her, stroked her, and forgiven her.

But the thoughts I had while watching her sleep held me back. I would leave them someday, and when that time came, it would be worse than this, not better. Wouldn’t it be right to think of this as a preventive shot?

Bitter medicine is good for the body.

“….”

Looking at me not answering, Kirsy slowly got up from the bed, staggering. As she approached me, she suddenly flinched as if remembering something.

“…..?”

“……”

While I was expressing my confusion, she rolled her eyes as if recalling something. Then, with wide eyes and a higher tone, she asked me:

“….Brother, weren’t you stroking my hair..?”

It seemed like what had been confusing at the boundary of her dream was now becoming clear.

“…Oh.”

At my reaction to her words, a relieved smile began to spread across her face.

“Ah…! Ah…I knew it…!”

“..It was a dream.”

Though I made an excuse, she bit her lip and closed her eyes tightly with a face full of joy.

“Yes…yes…! There’s no way you could hate me….!”

She began to stutter but gradually gained confidence. Her staggering body found its balance, her expression, which had been crumpled with sadness, smoothed out, and her actions became bolder.

Before I knew it, she approached me and tried to put her arms around my neck.

I blocked her touch once, but having obtained what seemed like an unwavering truth from my action of stroking her hair while she slept, she quickly became emboldened again and approached once more.

I couldn’t push her away the second time. The sympathy I felt for her and the smile that had formed while she lay in my bed prevented me from rejecting her.

Her two arms wrapped around my neck like snakes.

“…I knew it..you do love me..I knew it..”

As she writhed with joy after repeatedly confirming my feelings, I finally couldn’t hold back and laughed. Though it sounded like a hollow laugh, the ‘ha’ sound and the smile on my face clearly revealed my emotions.

Seeing me smile, Kirsy, with a smiling face, dropped tears and buried her face in my neck. I felt both her warm presence and a damp sensation at the same time.

In the end, there was only one thing left for me to say.

“….I do love you, but it’s also true that I’m angry right now.”

I still hadn’t dropped the formal speech. Kirsy, like a child being comforted after being scolded, nodded her head with more intense breathing and tears.

“Hic..I..I’m sorry.”

She used formal speech, which she only used when being cute with me, as she asked for forgiveness.

“You’ve been making quite a few mistakes lately.”

I said. I still wasn’t hugging her back. Just not pushing her away. But that alone seemed to satisfy her, as Kirsy hugged me tighter.

“I’m sorry….”

She now began to press not just her face but her entire body against me. The sensation of her sweat-soaked body was a bit concerning, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

At the same time, she took a couple of deep, trembling breaths, then spoke in a sulky voice.

“But…! This time was really too much…Brother, I hope you never do this again..”

“That’s for when my anger has subsided, isn’t it?”

“Ah…! That…yes..”

She tensed up as she realized the obvious fact again.

“And I don’t plan on it subsiding today. Please go back, Lady Kirsy.”

“…Huh?”

She removed her face from my chest and looked at me. At the same time, as if she didn’t want to show her tear-stained face, she turned her face at an odd angle and only rolled her eyes to look at me.

I felt more pressure on the arms wrapped around my neck. It was starting to hurt now.

“…What do I need to do to make you forgive me..? I can do anything…”

She said.

“Nothing you do will make me forgive you. Not today.”

“Then tomorrow…?”

“We’ll see when tomorrow comes.”

“…Why…I really hate this…”

She released one of the arms around my neck and used that hand to grab my arm. Then she moved my arm to her back. It seemed like a signal for me to hug her. Similarly, she moved my other arm to her back as well.

With her being so cute, I hugged her gently, though not strongly.

Once in that position, Kirsy once again buried her wet eyes in my neck and hugged me tightly. Looking at her like this… it’s impossible to think of her as an emotionless villainess.

I sighed and said:

“…I’ve been speaking formally to Asena all day today too. Also, I’ve warned you several times not to do this, haven’t I? I don’t want to forgive you after just one day, even today.”

“……”

Kirsy strangely stiffened her body, then quietly whispered:

“….Just now…you called my sister just Asena.”

“Ah.”

“….Then you could call me just Kirsy at least once too.”

“…….”

In the end, I let out a short laugh, “Kuk.” Kirsy, either infected by my laughter or perhaps she too found this situation funny, cried and then trembled with laughter in my arms.

The atmosphere gradually lightened. As it did, I hugged Kirsy more tightly.

“…But why are you here?”

I asked her a question that suddenly came to mind. It was a question I couldn’t ask in a serious situation.

“……..”

After a long silence, she answered in a mumbling voice:

“I…missed you.”

Even this answer warmed my heart. But that didn’t completely satisfy my curiosity.

“…Well…I understand that. But there was no need to get into the bed…”

“…..It feels like home. We did it a lot at home..”

“But you’ve sweated a lot today. I don’t think I can sleep tonight.”

“……Huh?”

“The sheets are all soaked with Lady Kirsy’s sweat, what are you going to do about it?”

“……”

Kirsy paused strangely, then hugged me tighter and tighter. Then she started leaning on me. Pushed by her strength, I stepped back until my body hit the wall.

Since I had nowhere else to retreat, she pressed even closer to me.

Very subtly, Kirsy lifted her head from my neck and whispered:

“….I don’t mind.”

“….?”

Feeling like the conversation was oddly misaligned, I became confused.

“….What? You don’t mind that my sheets are wet?”

At my question, she seemed to suddenly come to her senses, flinching and covering her mouth after moving away from me.

My clothes, wet with her sweat, felt cool. And I felt a tingling sensation as blood flowed through my neck, which she had been hugging tightly.

“…..”

I couldn’t understand her behavior at all. So I just honestly asked about the part I was concerned about.

“You didn’t do anything strange, did you?”

This question came from the fact that Kirsy and Asena had been doing a lot of incomprehensible things lately. Like spitting on my bed or tearing the duvet cover…. Of course, neither of these would be something the twins would do, but I asked out of unnecessary concern.

“………”

But Kirsy didn’t answer my question. Instead, her face turned as red as a radish. I tilted my head in confusion.

“…..What did you…”

“I..I didn’t do anything, Brother! No, more importantly, I…I think I should go now.”

Kirsy said, flustered.

“I…I’m truly sorry for what I did. It’s not possible today…but tomorrow…please don’t speak formally to me like before…please, I’m begging you. Okay?”

“No, in my bed..”

She ignored my words.

“I…I’ll go now, Brother!”

Kirsy, who had been clinging to me, was suddenly gone, fleeing from me in a hurry.

With her leaving so suddenly, I felt empty.

I scratched my head, then lifted the blanket again and placed my hand on the sheet.

The bed was cold and wet. Kirsy’s flowery fragrance still rose strongly.

No matter how fragrant the smell was….I had no desire to sleep in a damp bed.

In the end, I left the room and lay down on the sofa.

It seemed I would sleep here tonight.

If I consider even this discomfort brought to me by Kirsy….well, I felt like I should extend speaking formally to her for one more day.

At least, having reconciled with Kirsy, I was able to fall asleep with a more comfortable mind.