Ch.8180. Not-So-Ordinary Daily Life (5)

# 80. Not-So-Ordinary Daily Life (5)

Just as Reina and I were about to follow them out of the library, she approached me and asked.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t have anything else to do, so I’m going to start training from today.”

“Ah~”

She gave me a dazzling smile as bright as the sun and said to me.

“Work hard.”

“Yes, you too, Noona.”

After hearing her words of encouragement, I left the library with Reina.

Then Reina, who had been wearing a sullen expression beside me, spoke up.

“What’s with the salt in the wound?”

“Huh…?”

“I mean, doing that in front of a single person… calling her ‘Noona’ and all…”

“I couldn’t help it just now.”

“…”

Reina didn’t respond to my words, and looking at her, I said.

“When someone that beautiful says something that beautiful to me, how am I supposed to hold back just because you’re standing next to me?”

“You’re really serious about this…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Unlike others, you don’t seem to care at all about the princess’s wealth or power.”

Certainly, her overwhelming wealth and power would attract many people.

In fact, she seems to be really struggling because of it.

“Is that so? Then that’s good.”

“But when did you start liking her?”

Reina’s expression was quite intrigued as she asked that question.

She was truly a 17-year-old girl with a lot of interest in other people’s love lives.

“What good would it do you to know?”

“I’m just curious.”

“It’s… kind of hard to tell you.”

Even though I refused to answer, Reina persisted with her questions.

“Then what do you like so much about the princess?”

“There are too many things to list one by one.”

“Ugh… then just tell me one.”

If I had to pick just one from all those reasons… it would definitely be that.

“The fact that while she’s a charismatic leader in front of the public, in front of me, she’s just a shy 19-year-old girl?”

“Wow… I really can’t stand this…”

“You asked and now you can’t stand it?”

“It’s just… so cringy. How can you say things like that…?”

It was certainly cringeworthy, but not to the point where I couldn’t say it.

That’s how sincere I was.

“Well…”

“I wish I had someone like you by my side too…”

I asked Reina about her statement, which I didn’t understand.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I wish there was someone who loved me sincerely, just like you sincerely love the princess…”

Reina looked somehow wistful as she said those words.

I spoke to Reina, who was talking like the tragic heroine of a drama.

“It’ll come someday, someday.”

“I hope so… That would be nice.”

While we were having this rather serious conversation with Reina.

-Ding!-

Suddenly, both our phones rang at the same time.

I took out my phone that had suddenly rung to check what message had arrived.

“A group chat?”

She had created a group chat with just our party members and sent the party schedule she had mentioned earlier.

The party schedule was as follows:

-Monday, Wednesday: Team sparring or practice. Tuesday, Thursday: Joint dungeon raids (number of participants varies each time). Friday: Joint sparring. Weekends are free.-

It was definitely a schedule that was somewhat intense but manageable, suitable for first-year high school students.

‘Weekends are free…’

In my previous life, even weekends were packed, but this time, weekends were marked as free.

For me, it was quite a relaxed schedule, but it seemed that wasn’t the case for others.

“This is really tight…”

“This is actually quite relaxed.”

Hearing my words, Reina let out a disbelieving laugh and asked me.

“Are you sure it’s relaxed…?”

“You’ll get used to it after a while.”

The first two weeks might be tough, but they’ll adapt as they continue.

Humans are creatures of adaptation.

And everyone will do well because they are the undisputed elites of the Empire.

When Reina and I arrived at the training ground, I said to those who were already in combat stance.

“Let’s begin.”

***

In stark contrast to Albert’s passionate team, Elizabeth’s team was still in the library.

“Is this schedule okay?”

“Yes, it looks good.”

“I like that weekends are free.”

Everyone was responding positively to the schedule, and Elizabeth asked them.

“The other team has already started, what should we do?”

“Let’s start tomorrow…”

Aelin, who said that, looked very tired, as if she might collapse at any moment.

It seemed that yesterday’s training had been quite difficult.

“Then let’s do that. Aelin, you pushed yourself too hard yesterday, so go back to the dormitory early today and get some rest. Health is the top priority.”

Albert and Elizabeth’s training intensity was certainly too much for Aelin.

Still, Aelin had gritted her teeth and kept up with their pace during training, and this was the result.

So Aelin, Riel, and Eve, all with eyes like rotten mackerel, left the library to return to the dormitory.

While everyone was heading back to the dormitory, Rachel, who was still there, asked her.

“Unni, how did you two end up dating? It didn’t seem like you were in that kind of atmosphere to start dating right away…”

“What are you talking about? We were already in a situation where we’d start dating if one of us confessed.”

In that situation, when a romantic atmosphere arrived, naturally one side confessed and they started dating.

In the end, Albert was the one who confessed, but originally she had planned to confess first.

“I’m envious… you’re already dating.”

“Rachel, you could easily date too if you wanted to.”

“Uh… really?”

“Yes, as long as you don’t go after someone else’s boyfriend, it’s perfectly possible.”

Hearing those words, Rachel was startled and said in a flustered voice.

“I… I’ve never done that!”

“I never said you did.”

Despite her bright smile, her tone and voice were somewhat chilly.

It was as if she was warning Rachel not to touch her man.

Rachel, understanding her intention, smiled just like her and asked.

“Did you put me and Albert in different teams because of that?”

“Not at all.”

Rachel couldn’t help but be flustered by that calm and straightforward response, which seemed so sincere that it couldn’t possibly be a lie.

“I put you in our team because you’re a mage like us. Please refrain from unnecessary misunderstandings.”

She continued speaking while looking at Rachel’s confused expression.

“Besides, he’s not the type to be swayed by someone trying to seduce him.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s my intuition. If you don’t believe me, want to make a bet?”

“Uh…”

Rachel almost fell for her quite provocative challenge, but fortunately, she came to her senses.

“No, that’s okay…”

It wasn’t ethically right to begin with, and Albert wasn’t the type to be swayed by someone’s seduction, as she had said.

‘I don’t think he’d be swayed even if a succubus tried to seduce him…’

He seemed like the type of person who would only look at one person.

Of course, it was too early to be certain.

But she was quite confident, as if she had been watching him for a long time.

Rachel found this strange and wondered why she had such confidence.

“You’re really confident, Unni, that Albert is the type to be loyal like a sunflower.”

“Ah… Rachel might think that because you don’t know.”

Rachel couldn’t understand what she meant by “don’t know,” just as she had said.

“What? What don’t I know?”

“Nothing, it’s just something.”

She vaguely brushed off Rachel’s question and was naturally preparing to leave the library.

“Are you leaving already? Don’t you usually stay until 8 o’clock?”

“I want to leave a bit early today. Rachel, you can stay if you want.”

“No, I was about to leave too.”

So the two of them left the library together amicably and headed to the dormitory.

For some reason, the atmosphere became awkward, so they walked without saying anything.

***

We trained intensely following the schedule she had given us.

Working so hard made time fly by.

‘It’s already Saturday.’

After those not-so-ordinary weekdays passed, the long-awaited weekend arrived.

That’s why I was at the place she had told me about yesterday.

The capital of the Empire, a huge park somewhat distant from the academy.

I was sitting quietly on a bench near the entrance of the park, waiting for her. After waiting for about 10 minutes, she appeared before me in casual clothes.

Wearing a pure white dress with a purple cardigan, she looked breathtakingly beautiful as she said to me.

“I’ve noticed this before, but you always arrive really early.”

“Well… it makes me feel more at ease. By the way, that outfit really suits you.”

Hearing my compliment, she smiled gracefully and said.

“Thank you. That jacket really suits you too, Albert.”

Her compliment made me feel so good that I didn’t know what to do with myself, and my shoulders rose involuntarily.

“Since we still have some time before the concert, shall we go eat? You haven’t eaten yet, right?”

This time, she had planned the entire date course and sent it to me last night.

‘I was really surprised by that…’

I had been thinking about a date course myself, but she beat me to it.

And since she had suggested we eat together after meeting, I hadn’t eaten yet.

“No, I haven’t eaten yet.”