Chapter 43: Flancia Alice (1)

Alice couldn’t concentrate on her studies until nightfall.

She needed some fresh air.

She had been sitting at her desk for far too long.

She kept finding excuses to wander outside. It was because Sylvia hadn’t returned even though it was getting quite late. Other students from the magic department were returning at a leisurely pace, but there was still no news from Sylvia.

‘Sylvia? Hmm? I don’t think I saw her today?’

Whenever Alice encountered a classmate who tilted their head and said they hadn’t seen Sylvia, she felt suffocated. Could something have happened to her? Or perhaps, unable to bear the pain of heartbreak, had she made an extreme choice? As she worried, biting her nails, the beautifully painted nail art had already chipped away.

The faded color gave her an unpleasant feeling, like facing the wallpaper from when she was confined alone in her room.

Wallpaper and horizons.

Alice recalled the time she was locked alone in her room. What Alice faced back then were old and dirty things. The wallpaper, stained with cobwebs and mold, and the horizon of the mattress that greeted her every morning upon waking.

Alice hated everything that possessed a cold sensibility. She disliked the mottled clouds floating in the sky, and she hated the moment the sea and sky clearly divided under the sunlight. All those moments only amplified the dark, straight lines she faced.

The straight lines of the corners dividing walls, and the horizontal lines separating the floor and the mattress.

Even after Isabel became her new mother and she gained a close older sister named Elena, Alice still hated those lines cutting across her vision and the chilling warmth of the room.

‘Sylvia. When are you coming back……. Huh?’

Sylvia.

Sylvia was the only one who filled her heart with warmth. There was a clear difference between loving someone and wanting to be loved. While Isabel and Elena were people she had to love for her entire life, Sylvia was someone she wanted to hug tightly and keep all to herself. Someone she wanted to hold until she crushed her, whispering sweet nothings.

Someone who shone even from afar, whose voice was clear even during trivial conversations.

Someone who could blow away her unfortunate memories.

‘Huh?’

Alice froze, her nail-biting interrupted. It was because Sylvia was walking towards her. Adjusting her skirt hem and clothes, she was carefully running towards Alice. Her anxious heart, fearing Sylvia might have had dark thoughts, melted away like snow, and she waved her hand like a child towards the approaching Sylvia.

‘Sylvia!’

She waited, shouting loudly like someone embarking on a journey and smiling brightly, hoping for a wave back. Sylvia, who had been running, looked at the window with a puzzled expression, then recognized Alice, smiled, and waved back. She then walked under the windowsill and asked,

‘Alice. What are you doing? You seem so energetic today? Did something good happen?’

Sylvia asked about Alice’s well-being as if her recent heartbreak was nothing. Just hearing Sylvia speak like that made Alice’s heart swell, and the mere fact that she was safe eased her mind, causing her to smile and say,

‘No. Nothing much. More importantly, I wanted to talk today. Is that okay?’

‘Talk?’

‘Yeah.’

Sylvia nodded and replied,

‘Okay. I’ll go to my room, change clothes, and be right there.’

‘Okay. Hurry back.’

As soon as Alice closed the window, she dived onto the bed, patting the mattress pang pang and hugging a pillow. Rolling around playfully like a pet, unable to contain her excitement, she suddenly got up and started cleaning her room.

She shoved all the trash scattered on the floor into the bin and roughly folded the clothes she’d worn, stuffing them into the closet. The room, which usually felt fine even with moderate tidying, seemed like a complete disaster zone right before Sylvia’s arrival.

She tossed the textbooks she’d been studying under the desk and pushed the chair in, making it seem like she hadn’t been studying at all. She boiled water in the magic pot and prepared tea with Sylvia’s favorite scent, placing it on the desk.

‘Ah… there are no snacks?’

The cupboard was empty of snacks. It was an awkward time for Alice to go buy some herself. Alice rang the notification bell and contacted the management office.

‘This is Flancia Alice in room 203. Could you please ask a servant to buy some snacks and send them up?’

‘The servant for room 203 is currently out.’

‘What? Out? Where did they go?’

Alice scratched the back of her head at the sudden news of the servant’s outing. She had told him not to go out often because it was easy to get into trouble, so why wasn’t he here at such an important moment? Just as Alice was about to storm out, the management office contacted her again.

‘Ah, they just returned. The instructions have been passed along.’

Only then did Alice sigh deeply and resume cleaning. She swept the dust off the floor and brushed away the fallen leaves near the window. After smoothing out the mattress she’d just dived onto, the room looked perfectly tidy on the outside. Just as she nodded, admiring her own cleaning skills, she heard a knock on the door.

Startled, Alice jumped up and down in place, adjusted her clothes, tied her hair back, and then opened the door wide with a smile.

‘I-I bought the snacks…….’

There stood Evan, sweating profusely and breathing heavily, holding a bag of snacks. Alice’s smile faded, and she looked Evan up and down with a slightly displeased expression before asking,

‘…You didn’t have to run all the way here, did you? You came too fast. Your face is all red.’

The irritation that had been bubbling up moments before melted away like snow. She hadn’t expected him to run like this just because she mentioned wanting snacks. Evan chuckled at Alice’s words and replied,

‘…It’s a request from your loving daughter, so of course I had to.’

The surge of sympathy she felt plummeted again. Alice shook her head and said,

‘Don’t say creepy things like that. Anyway, sorry for asking you so suddenly. And, don’t go wandering outside too much. People getting hurt after picking fights with nobles isn’t exactly rare, you know?’

‘Okay.’

Alice closed the door and began setting up the snacks. Alice couldn’t figure out where Evan was wandering off to so often. He was often unavailable even when she called him to go to the library to borrow books together. Lately, Alice had even started suspecting if Evan had found someone else besides Isabel.

‘Nah, that can’t be it.’

Of course, that was just speculation. Alice even considered the possibility of infidelity herself, but then chuckled and shook her head. At the academy, there was no one as beautiful as Isabel, except for Alice herself, Sylvia, and perhaps that academy prostitute. It made no sense for a man on the verge of changing his fortunes by marrying a noble lady to cheat with an academy prostitute, and Sylvia had a boyfriend who was a knight.

‘There’s no one for him to cheat with, so that’s not it.’

It was clear he was just enjoying his six months at the academy to the fullest, wandering around as he pleased. Alice looked with satisfaction at the nicely arranged snacks and pulled out a chair. Just then, she heard another knock on the door.

‘Alice. I’m here. Can I come in?’

‘Yeah! Come in!’

Alice thought her voice was a little higher than usual. Was it because she was excited? Her heart was pounding, and the corners of her mouth kept twitching. Sylvia stood at the doorway, wearing pajamas that were slightly thin but neat and tidy. Her eyes were more clouded than usual, and the smile gracing her lips seemed dark.

‘Uh, come in.’

Alice, who had been excited just moments before at the thought of inviting Sylvia over, barely snapped back to reality upon seeing that shadowed smile. What am I happy about right now? Isn’t Sylvia fresh off a breakup? She had promised to comfort her and protect her from being swayed like this in the future, so what was the point of getting excited all by herself? Alice sat Sylvia down in a chair, steeling her resolve once more. Today wasn’t just another day of inviting Sylvia over. It was a day to redefine her relationship with Sylvia, and a day to console Sylvia’s pain.

‘Oh, this is the tea I like. Did you prepare it again because of me? Thank you.’

‘Ah, no. Shall we have some tea first?’

Steam rose from the teacup. Alice held the teapot and looked at Sylvia’s face as she savored the tea’s aroma. Looking at her face, Alice felt like she was hypnotized, unable to think of anything else. It was as if someone was controlling her thoughts, making her focus solely on Sylvia. Alice felt firsthand, every moment, that love makes people foolish.

‘The tea smells nice.’

Sylvia said that and put down her teacup. Only after hearing the dalgeurak sound of the teacup being set down did Alice act like someone waking from a trance.

‘Huh? Uh-huh, right.’

Although she was smiling on the outside, she was rotting away on the inside. She had resolved herself multiple times, but the outcome of her firm decisions was always like this. She didn’t know how to start the conversation, nor how to steer the topic. She, who usually spoke her mind clearly, acted like an idiot in front of Sylvia.

‘So, why did you call me over today?’

Sylvia asked Alice with a smile. Alice noticed that Sylvia hadn’t properly fastened the front of her top today. When she leaned forward slightly, her lewd cleavage was fully visible. Alice averted her gaze and said softly,

‘Th-that is…….’

‘Alice. Look at me while you talk.’

‘Th-that is to say…….’

Sylvia took Alice’s hand. Alice’s heart pounded kung kung, and her face flushed. She didn’t know what to do. Holding hands was a normal thing, but the way Sylvia held her hand today felt different. Her fingertips lingered, sensuously stroking the back of Alice’s hand.

‘S-Sylvia…….’

‘Alice. Do you like me?’

‘Huh?’

What should Alice have answered to Sylvia’s words? Should she have answered like usual, ‘Of course, I like you. We’re friends.’? Or should she have leaned into her mood and kissed her first? Alice’s answer wasn’t that important to Sylvia.

The sound of buttons being undone.

The sound of her top falling.

‘Alice… I feel so hot.’

Sylvia’s voice, flushed and clinging to her.

Alice couldn’t do anything.