Banquet (2)

Banquet (2)

Sien’s action itself wasn’t a problem.

The problem was my hand that Sien was holding.

I looked at my palm, which was somewhat wet from Delia licking it, and tried to pull it away before Sien could feel disgusted.

However, Sien tightened her grip on my hand in response to my action and said to me.

“… No, you can’t.”

That kind of talk made me want to say something.

But Sien, as if determined not to listen, started to pull me along, slowly dragging me to a secluded spot.

‘I don’t know.’

If she dislikes it that much, it might be better to leave it as it is.

I had no choice but to give up and follow along.

Sien pushed me against a nearby wall and said.

“Lord Deren. I would like you to look at me.”

Unlike usual, her somewhat forceful demeanor made me look into her eyes with a puzzled expression.

Sien stared blankly into my eyes for a moment, then overcome with embarrassment, she lowered her head deeply.

I was chuckling at her actions that were completely opposite to her behavior, when Sien, hesitating, spoke to me.

“… I’m sorry. The secretary said it would be better to do it this way, so I tried to follow… but it doesn’t seem to suit me after all.”

Then she lowered her hands, fidgeting.

She grabbed my hand again and continued speaking.

“Lord Deren, please sit here. I cleaned up before coming, so there shouldn’t be anything dirty…”

Sien stopped mid-sentence and her face turned even redder.

I pretended not to notice Sien’s face and slowly sat down on the chair.

“You should sit down too.”

“Yes.”

Then, as if it were natural, she sat right next to me and continued speaking.

“Lord Deren, I wonder if you have any discomfort in your Academy life.”

It’s not much of a topic, considering she was dragged away in front of everyone.

I was nodding silently to such a topic and trying to remove my hand again.

“… Lord Deren. Do you dislike me holding your hand?”

I had to stop when I saw Sien’s face, visibly saddened.

Her expression looked like she might really cry at any moment, so I had no choice but to respond with a roundabout explanation.

“It’s not that I dislike holding your hand… it’s because of the sweat.”

Since there were many issues with saying it was because of Delia’s saliva, I said it was because of sweat.

Sien was startled and apologized while wiping her hand with a handkerchief.

“I-I’m sorry… I guess I was quite nervous.”

It seems she thought it was because of her own sweat, not mine.

I shook my head and corrected her, saying it was ‘my sweat’.

Sien blinked and looked at me, then smiled brightly and said.

“That’s fine. If it’s Lord Deren’s sweat… it’s not dirty at all.”

How on earth should I express this?

As the situation became increasingly frustrating, I was falling into deeper contemplation.

Around that time, Sien, seeing me silently pondering, seemed to misunderstand something and hurriedly called out to me.

“Lord Deren. I will prove to you that it’s not dirty at all.”

Prove?

As I looked at this somewhat strange word.

Sien hesitated for a moment, then licked her palm and spoke.

“… If it was really dirty, I wouldn’t have been able to lick it like this.”

“……”

Maybe I should have just told the truth at this point.

I nod my head, deciding to take to my grave the fact that Sien’s first indirect kiss was with Delia.

Sien, seemingly coming to his senses now, starts to get flustered again, his face turning bright red.

“Ah… that, this is. Um… it’s a misunderstanding. I didn’t do it because I wanted to, it was just the only way to prove it.”

Seeing him get flustered after doing that, strangely enough, I feel myself calming down instead.

I gently pat Sien’s shoulder and say.

“I understand.”

“… Yes.”

Perhaps happy that his intentions and actions were understood, Sien nods his head with a modest smile.

Then, slowly looking at me, he starts wiping his hands.

“… Now that I’ve wiped my hands, may I hold your hand again?”

“As you wish.”

“… Thank you, Lord Deren.”

As soon as I give permission, Sien grabs my hand as if he’s been waiting for it, and smiles softly.

As I watch Sien, wondering what’s so great about simply holding hands,

Sien, still holding my hand tightly, says to me.

“This reminds me of when I was young.”

A story from the past, is it?

Unfortunately, the stories from Deren’s past only described the ‘evil deeds’ he committed.

I couldn’t know what kind of relationship he had with Sien, let alone what they had been through.

So I kept my mouth shut and looked at Sien, trying not to arouse suspicion.

Sien recalled her memories in a calm voice.

“When I was young, I loved going on outings holding Lord Deren’s hand. Of course, Lord Deren found it bothersome… but I remember him reluctantly coming out for my sake.”

Recalling that when I first met Sien, I was told I had become ‘kind’ despite treating her quite rudely by my standards.

I couldn’t even begin to guess what had happened to make their relationship so distant.

‘It’s not even a mutual dislike.’

Since only Deren seemed to dislike Sien, it was even more incomprehensible.

In that situation, I was curious and thought about asking about it.

‘It would be better not to ask, as it would obviously raise suspicion.’

Thinking it through, it seemed like a bad choice, so I kept my mouth shut, neither affirming nor denying, and closed my eyes.

“… Even if it’s not as much as when I was young, I’m truly happy that I’m getting closer to him little by little.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes… Thanks to that, I hear a lot that the insomnia I suffered from has disappeared and my complexion has improved.”

Sien smiled slightly while speaking.

“It seems Lord Deren is like an elixir to me.”

She said, once again grasping my hand tightly.

I looked at Sien, silently indicating that she could hold on as much as she wanted to feel satisfied.

* * * * *

‘Hmm. They seem to be on better terms than I thought.’

Delia recalled the disappeared Deren and Sien, idly scribbling with a quill pen on her magic book.

Actually, at first, I couldn’t deny that I was just teasing him, wanting to see Deren’s flustered reaction.

But as the teasing continued, I don’t know if it became sincere, but at some point, I realized that I was doing this not as a joke, but genuinely.

‘… I never thought I’d end up like this.’

It’s a bit embarrassing to say this to myself.

Despite how I may appear, I was quite… no, extremely popular among men.

‘Pretty face, big chest, and on top of that, from a good family… and good grades too.’

There’s no reason for them not to like me.

Even though I usually show a rough and foolish appearance, as a daughter of the Herdi family, I knew my worth better than anyone else.

So I tried not to get involved with boys to maintain my value.

‘Deren ruined all of that.’

I sighed at the lingering taste of Deren on my tongue.

There were reasons to like him… but still, from our first meeting, everything that followed was the worst of the worst.

I don’t understand how I ended up liking him so much, I thought as I rested my chin on my hand.

‘How foolish.’

As I was sighing, thinking that I’ve done too many foolish things myself.

Through the hallway window, I see Deren and Sien walking together in a friendly manner.

‘Usually, I wouldn’t have paid any attention to it.’

Thinking it’s strangely irritating, I start scratching at the magic book with my quill pen.

Suddenly, I see Sien hugging Deren and then running away.

“……”

I never thought that Sien would do such a thing, so surprised, I ended up dropping my quill pen on the desk.

“… No, the student council president should be upright, quiet, and only focused on knight training.”

But why is she doing such foxy things?

Of course, I wasn’t angry about the foxy behavior itself, but I was a bit annoyed that she did such things to ‘Deren’.

Feeling that showing these emotions would be like losing, I deliberately suppressed them and slowly acted out my expression.

“Deren, Deren!”

Then, I slightly showed the bright and energetic, but somewhat foolish appearance I usually showed to Deren, and clung to her.

“What is it?”

It’s the same cold response as usual.

But unlike when we first met, it feels good that she’s not looking down on me, but focusing on me, so I continued speaking.

“I can still taste you on my tongue…”

“……”

At those words, Deren silently glared at me.

Then she grabbed my cheek and said quietly.

“If you have so much energy to spare, I’ll increase your tasks for this evening.”

“… Huh?”

“Look forward to it. I won’t let you sleep at all tonight.”

I nodded my head, a bit startled by the words that could sound quite erotic if heard in a certain way.

Of course, Deren didn’t mean it that way, but…

Thinking that it couldn’t be helped if it sounded that way, I just kept pressing down on the innocent quill pen.

“Anyway, make sure to prepare for the banquet in advance. If there are any points to be cautious about, let me know beforehand.”

“Points to be cautious about… There aren’t any in particular. Just bring yourself.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

With those words as the last, while watching Deren opening the magic book.

Thinking he was looking forward a little… no quite a lot to the banquet, he lowered his head deeply in an uncharacteristic way.