Chapter 24 : Why does it feel so stiff?

“Hey, wake up.”

“It’s morning.”

Tepheri was sound asleep right next to where I had fallen asleep.

Using my arm as a pillow.

She must have been so tired; she didn’t react at all even when I gently tapped her awake.

‘I guess I was pretty tired too.’

I only meant to rest for a moment on the bed while Tepheri washed up, but I must have fallen asleep in the meantime because my memory

cut off.

Sorry, Arwen.

It hasn’t even been a day since you nagged me not to sleep in my clothes.

When I came to my senses, I was sleeping on the bed still in my outdoor clothes.

Unlike me, Tepheri was wearing separate pajamas.

It was just ordinary loose clothing, but somehow I found it difficult to look.

“Ah, damn.”

Isn’t it normal for a double room to have two beds?

Maybe because it’s a countryside inn, the room we got only had one bed.

Barely wide enough for two people to sleep side-by-side without falling off.

Thanks to that, physical contact with Tepheri was unavoidable.

If it were some lecherous guy, maybe, but surely Tepheri wouldn’t do anything just because we shared a bed?

Rather, Tepheri had even unbuttoned a few buttons on my shirt, probably worried I’d be uncomfortable while sleeping.

I was just grateful for her thoughtfulness in paying attention to such small details.

Still, having her use my arm as a pillow continuously is a bit uncomfortable.

I carefully slipped my arm out from under her head and went outside.

Yawning, I went down to the first floor and found Amite already awake.

Honestly, she had gone through the most trouble, yet she looked perfectly fine, just like yesterday.

Her stamina was incredible, seeing it again.

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“You look terrible.”

Terrible?

What’s wrong with how I look?

Aside from my clothes being slightly damp, maybe from sweating in my sleep, nothing much seemed different.

As for the buttons, well, Tepheri undid them.

I guess I’m just a bit tired because the bed was different.

It can’t be helped.

My stamina is lower than Tepheri’s, let alone Amite’s.

Because I barely moved since I was young.

I have the constitution that doesn’t gain weight, so I never really exercised; I was practically a living, breathing log.

Just sitting still in the carriage for hours made me tired.

Even though I didn’t sleep poorly, I felt sluggish and not refreshed for some reason.

“Your complexion looks a bit bad.”

“Must have slept wrong.”

“Believe it or not, I have a precious body.”

Saying that boastfully, I looked in the mirror on the wall, and there was a pale, decadent-looking beautiful girl.

Is this me?

Of course, I have pretty features, but ‘decadent beauty’ is another way of saying I look sick somewhere.

My eyes looked hollow as if I’d been suffering from an illness.

“…It must be because the bed was narrow.”

Is that really it?

I touched my cheek, murmuring to myself in a daze.

While I was lost in my own world, Tepheri woke up and came down the stairs.

[Good morning!]

“…Uh, yeah.”

What’s with you?

Tepheri appeared before us looking much more lively than yesterday.

Unlike my haggard and pale appearance, she looked full of energy.

Does the protagonist get a correction buff even for things like this?

Well, it’s true that descriptions of doing makeup or washing up don’t explicitly appear in novels.

[Treah, are you tired?]

“A little?”

“Did I sleep wrong? Why does my body feel so stiff?”

Still, it’s not severe enough to affect my condition, so it doesn’t matter much.

It’ll probably get better soon.

“You look energetic.”

“Did you eat something good?”

From what I heard, Amite seemed to have passed out without even eating dinner.

Come to think of it, I was the same.

I think I fell asleep as soon as I lay down on the bed.

Tepheri glanced at me for a moment and said.

[…No?]

[I didn’t eat anything.]

[Uh, you must be hungry, right?]

[Let’s hurry up and go eat.]

For some reason, Tepheri flusteredly pushed my back.

Why is she flustered?

Before I could even ponder the reason, Tepheri’s hand led me out of the inn.

After eating, I couldn’t even remember what I was 고민 about.

‘This is nothing, I just suggested we sleep in the same room…’

Tepheri repeated that to herself amidst the pouring water stream.

No matter how much this was a village in the countryside, it was larger than the hometown Tepheri had lived in until now.

Treah grumbled that this was a cheap inn, but it was more splendid than any inn Tepheri had ever seen.

The inn even had a bathroom with running hot water.

Until coming to the Academy, she thought bathrooms with hot running water were a privilege only nobles could afford.

Normally, she would have been grateful and happy about it, but right now, Tepheri didn’t have the mental energy to spare for such things.

‘It’s just sharing the same room…’

Tepheri was mute from childhood until she gained her Mystique.

A person who expressed her intentions through gestures instead of words.

Therefore, it was natural for her to be quite physical with her affection.

On top of that, she had looks that even she thought were decent.

Most people she had met so far were kind to her, and after gaining the Mystique, everyone was kind to her.

It was natural.

Everyone is a stranger to others.

Her Mystique, which conveyed her true feelings to such strangers, built trust and bonds with others, allowing them to become her allies

without much difficulty.

Except for just one person.

‘Treah.’

If there was a single exception, it was Treah Ludbeck.

The person who had been constantly hurling insults at her since the entrance ceremony.

For Tepheri, who had lived her whole life surrounded by love, she was a type of person she had never seen before.

There were many who looked down on Tepheri and treated her rudely.

This was the Academy, a place where only people overflowing with talent, even special ones, came. It was natural for there to be many

prideful people.

However, among those who had seen her multiple times, Treah was the only one who still treated her harshly.

That didn’t mean Treah was a bad person.

She subtly took care of her, and sometimes when she felt a gaze and turned around, Treah was always standing there.

She was even a cool person.

That rumor about what happened in the swordsmanship training ground. It was clearly amazing.

Though she was a person Tepheri couldn’t figure out no matter how much she looked, Tepheri thought she was cool, that she liked her.

‘Do you perhaps have someone you like?’

‘…I think I do.’

Tepheri wasn’t particularly attracted to men.

If anything, she was closer to being bisexual.

Until now, the emotion of love for her was closer to agape.

Something shared with everyone, vast and abstract like a philosophical term.

However, when she was with Treah, she often felt an inexplicable tremor.

The noble lady with always a reluctant, cold expression.

A lofty person who was always dignified. A person who disliked her yet cherished her at the same time.

Tepheri had always been surrounded by people who loved her.

And she thought it was false affection. A fake created by appearances and her Mystique.

To her, Treah was a completely new kind of person.

‘She’s cool.’

Even her face was Tepheri’s type.

The country girl who had lived her entire life surrounded by love felt her heart pound for the first time only after meeting Treah.

Of course, this feeling must remain purely admiration and love as a friend.

Never mind that this society isn’t tolerant of homosexuality, Treah might like men.

In fact, even to Tepheri, it seemed strange for an ordinary person to like someone of the same s*x.

[Treah, can I come in now… Treah?]

Treah, who had told Tepheri to wash first while she rested a bit, was already fast asleep on the bed, breathing softly.

Her stamina, frankly speaking, was abysmal.

Much worse than Tepheri, who was an ordinary person.

[Are you sleeping?]

Treah looked uncomfortable in her sleep.

The form-fitting shirt seemed to constrict her chest.

She even grimaced occasionally.

‘It’s just because she looks uncomfortable…’

Repeating to herself that it wasn’t anything strange, Tepheri undid a few of Treah’s buttons.

Treah’s breathing became much easier.

Her slightly trembling breaths stabilized.

‘It should be fine not to wake her, right? What’s one day without washing.’

Tepheri swallowed hard and lay down beside her.

Unfortunately, there was only one bed.

Truly unfortunately.

[Treah… are you asleep?]

It was a question she had asked repeatedly, but Tepheri asked again.

She even gently nudged her shoulder several times, wondering if she might wake up, but Treah showed no signs of stirring.

Lying down, Tepheri looked at Treah’s body.

The regularly rising and falling chest, the slender jawline, the lean stomach and legs. Things like that.

Slowly, she placed her hand on top.

Her hand landed somewhere between the chest and the stomach.

Completely unlike usual, her arm trembled violently.

What if she wakes up because of this?

Even though she knew her actions were problematic, her hand didn’t stop.

Thump.

Feeling the other person’s body heat and tremor, Tepheri startled and quickly pulled her hand away.

Her heart, which had lived a virtuous and exemplary life, felt like it was being pricked sharply with needles.

Still, Treah didn’t wake up and slept soundly.

[Just for tonight.]

Gathering her courage again, Tepheri pulled the blanket up to her chest.

It was an ecstatic night.