Ch.83Countdown (2)

“…..Ugh.”

I awkwardly waved my hand. I was the only one in an awkward position.

Asena must know that my “it could happen” was just an excuse. Craving love, she’s crossing the line and asking for more.

What’s most troubling is that Asena seems more serious than ever.

She’s biting the corner of her lip slightly with her teeth, looking up at me impatiently.

Today, everything felt strange and awkward.

Both Kirsy and Asena.

Why are they both acting like this?

I wonder if I’m overreacting, but their eyes seemed especially intense today, and their actions more aggressive.

Do they want more affection because I’m leaving? But that doesn’t explain Kirsy—she wasn’t exactly seeking affection from me.

She was just showing off her figure.

Amid my confusion, Asena speaks.

“….Why? You said we could do this.”

“…No… I said that by mistake. You know that.”

“….I don’t think so.”

“…….”

“…Just once more. Even if it’s just lightly.”

At that moment, Kirsy’s door bursts open.

Asena’s expression hardens, and she moves away from me.

I immediately turned to look at Kirsy. Thanks to her, the atmosphere cleared.

“Kirsy, are you ready?”

“…….Yes.”

She looked back and forth between me and Asena, then swallowed as if holding back words before smiling.

Since their dormitory had a different atmosphere today, I hurried to prepare to leave.

“Let’s go then.”

****

This is troublesome.

I thought the problem was only in the room, but it’s the same outside.

Asena was somewhat better, but Kirsy was clinging to my side, tightly hugging my arm.

With one hand interlocked with mine, she seemed to create a prison for my arm using her entire body.

I told her several times to let go, to think about the stares around us, but Kirsy ignored it all.

This won’t change my mind.

And showing this to other nobles won’t do any good.

Anyway, she wouldn’t let me go.

I left her alone for now, but as we got closer to the Academy and more people started looking, I began to think this wasn’t right.

“…Kirsy. Let go now.”

“……..”

Instead of answering, she gripped my hand tighter. The blood was starting to cut off in my interlocked fingers.

Finally, I stopped in place.

“Let go.”

“………”

She buried her head against my arm and squeezed my hand even harder. Her determination not to let go was clear.

Was it shocking that I left them the night before to talk with Daisy? They’ve certainly changed a lot. At least Kirsy has.

“……”

At times like this, I need to be a bit stern. I also decided to give them a preview of what’s to come. If they’ve changed because of my conversation with Daisy, we still have a long way to go.

“What’s wrong with you today? Is it because I talked with Daisy yesterday?”

“…….”

“Just because of that? I need to talk with my fiancée. There will be many more things like this in the future.”

“……”

“…Come on, there are many eyes watching, so let go now. We need to reduce these displays of affection anyway.”

“……Huh?”

“….I have a fiancée now. What will people think of us?”

“….That’s… that’s not right…”

Kirsy gripped my hand even tighter, and

“What would they think…?”

Asena questioned my statement.

I answered them both at once.

“This can’t continue, Kirsy. I have a partner now. And Asena, what would they think… it’s strange if I’m only clinging to my sisters when I have a fiancée.”

“….You like us more. What’s wrong with being with people you like more?”

Obviously, Asena must have found her own words flawed. So this was just stubbornness, nothing more, nothing less.

“……”

I silently stared at Asena. She seemed to feel guilty and turned her head away.

Kirsy also slowly began to release her grip.

“….Right…no…I understand.”

After letting me go, Kirsy walked a step ahead of me.

“……”

After walking for a while, the first people we met in front of the Political Science building were Judy, Daisy, and Lord Hoslow.

Lord Hoslow, a professor in the Knight Department, gave a short nod when he saw the twins.

Asena acknowledged his greeting and shifted her gaze to Judy and Daisy.

At the same time, she asked in a cold tone, completely opposite to how she spoke to me this morning.

“….What brings you here?”

“Well. I came to inform you that the escort practicum ends today,” Lord Hoslow said gently.

Asena tilted her head threateningly.

“….Pardon?”

“Caden Praester and Judy Ice will return to the Knight Department starting today.”

“…I understood the escort practicum would end in 20 days. About two weeks before the end of the semester.”

“These two have excelled and gained sufficient experience, so the period has been shortened. The evaluation is also complete.”

Asena paused for a long time before asking sharply.

“……..Did Grandmother intervene?”

“….?”

I couldn’t understand the context. Why would Grandmother intervene?

I thought Asena had misspoken.

But Lord Hoslow didn’t answer her question. With his rigid posture unchanged, he simply delivered his message.

“…..I’ve explained the reason. Now, Caden, Judy, come with me. Wait until you’ve finished your farewell greetings.”

After that, he stepped back to give us space.

The situation was so sudden that I awkwardly looked back and forth between the twins, Daisy, and Judy.

Judy was the first to act.

She didn’t hesitate. Avoiding my eyes, she immediately bowed to Daisy, then approached Asena and bowed to her.

Even though she was currently escorting Daisy, it made sense that she would also greet Asena, whom she had escorted for a long time.

That was understandable, but after yesterday, I also felt awkward around Judy. More than awkward… I felt apologetic.

She seemed angry with me, not even wanting to look at me, which was perhaps fortunate. I didn’t know how to face her either.

Her voice asking to be my concubine still echoed vividly in my ears.

Enough of these useless thoughts.

Since Judy acted first, I also began to move.

Honestly, I was relieved it ended earlier. Setting aside the twins, I was worried about Judy.

Her position was awkward, whether escorting Daisy or the twins. Since I was the reason for this… the situation resolving this way actually made me feel more at ease.

So I stood still, watching the twins slowly turn toward me. I was also concluding my role as an escort.

“…Then I’ll be going, sisters.”

Kirsy grabbed my wrist again.

“No… don’t.”

“….Not again.”

“……This ruins the plan..”

“…..?”

I was about to caution her, thinking she was speaking to me, but she was just mumbling to herself with unfocused eyes.

“…Kirsy. I’m leaving now.”

I called her name to snap her out of it.

Kirsy looked up at me, startled as if waking from a dream.

Her mouth opened and closed, as if she had something to say but knew I wouldn’t listen.

She probably wanted to tell me not to go. Of course, I would say no.

Knowing this, Kirsy just looked at me with lingering eyes.

I turned my gaze from her to Asena.

Asena’s expression was stiff. There was a slight displeasure in her eyes… though I wasn’t certain.

After gently stroking Asena’s cheek, I walked over to Daisy.

“….This is where we part.”

I said to her.

“….I’ll miss you, Caden.”

“I’m grateful you say so.”

“…Won’t you miss me, Caden?”

The twins had changed, and so had Daisy. Not overtly, but she was clearly showing her affection for me.

I answered.

“….We’ll have plenty of time together in the future. You know that.”

-Snap!

I heard a sound from the twins’ direction, but I ignored it.

My words seemed to ease Daisy’s slight dissatisfaction. She closed her lips, lowered her gaze, nodded a couple of times, and then greeted me with a look of no regrets.

“…..That’s true. Caden, take care.”

“Thank you. You too, Daisy.”

After that, I turned and approached Lord Hoslow.

Judy still wouldn’t look at me.

I didn’t spend much time looking at her either.

I could feel the twins’ eyes on my back, but I pretended not to notice.

****

Asena’s expression hardened further during class.

The content of the lesson didn’t register at all.

She was busy trying to salvage her shattered plans.

The time she could physically spend with Caden had been drastically reduced.

The bigger problem was that he didn’t want to see them right now.

This meant… she would have to become even more unsightly in the future.

Appearing before him when he wanted rest.

Monitoring him when he wasn’t bound to her.

Trying to sway him with words.

Asena didn’t want to do that.

She had been doing it all along, but nothing had worked out properly.

Her head ached from the lack of solutions.

What should she do?

All five methods for solving problems had proven useless.

Avoidance. Concession. Confrontation. Compromise. Cooperation.

Avoidance… absolutely not. If she avoided the problem and waited for it to resolve itself, Caden would leave.

Concession was also impossible. Here, concession meant completely giving up Caden, which she couldn’t do.

Confrontation. Fighting other women over him was a battle she couldn’t win. She had tried many times but never achieved good results… it only led to more arguments with Caden.

Compromise. She had already asked Daisy to concede. Daisy refused all her proposals, saying she wouldn’t waver.

Cooperation. Cooperation? As long as everyone wanted Caden, that was impossible.

With only four days left… another obstacle had appeared with Caden leaving their side.

She sank into deep thought again.

……For now, the stress was becoming unbearable.

Asena unconsciously moistened her lips.