Grant Me One Wish – 4

Three people attacked our party. Given how overpowered Mikhail’s body is, it would be possible for him to handle them alone.

However, the crucial thing is that no one should get hurt. No matter how quickly and efficiently I subdue them, it would be the worst outcome if anyone gets injured.

“Cordelia! Protect Lily and Hestia! Don’t overexert yourself, just try to block them somehow!”

I knew it was an unreasonable request, but there was no choice. No matter how hard I try, while two of them mark me, if one rushes toward the girls behind me, there would be nothing I could do.

Fortunately, they seemed to have completely lost their reason. Considering that the first one lunged while calling someone a “filthy slut,” it means their target wasn’t me but one of the three. Most likely Seol-ah.

But now all three are charging at me with rage for blocking their way. Not bad. I thrust strongly at one of them as if to put a hole in his stomach.

Since it was a practice sword without a sharpened edge, it didn’t actually pierce him, but he took a hit to the solar plexus, so he won’t be getting up for a while.

He made a retching sound and collapsed. He spat out dark red blood from his mouth, suggesting internal damage, but that wasn’t my concern.

Since they were already crazed and attacking wildly, there wasn’t much skill to speak of, but once the numbers reduced from three to two, they began to crumble rapidly.

Perhaps that’s why I let my guard down.

“Watch out!”

I heard Cordelia shouting from behind. The one who had collapsed from my first thrust had somehow gotten back up and started running.

Can I catch up in time? How did the distance widen so much already? Before various thoughts could fully form in my head, my body was already moving.

‘Too late!’

I sensed I wouldn’t be able to reach him. No matter how quickly I moved, I couldn’t reverse the fact that he had already reached them. His sword was aimed at Hestia.

Like slow motion, everything in the world began to flow slowly. The enemy’s sword slowly approached Hestia. Seol-ah embraced Hestia, showing her back as if she would take the hit instead. Cordelia stood in front of both, arms spread wide in a T-shape. Hestia’s lips moved slightly.

-BANG!

And then the world began to move at its original speed again. With a thunderous sound, it wasn’t Hestia who went flying but the man who tried to attack her. He was embedded in the corner of the training ground, his limbs twitching like an ant crushed under a finger.

Seol-ah and Cordelia, who had stepped forward to protect Hestia, looked with bewildered expressions at the man who had flown far away. Seol-ah quietly released her embrace and stepped back at the surreal power.

But I couldn’t see anything else.

“Are you okay?”

I belatedly rushed over and embraced Hestia. Fearing she might disappear somewhere, I held her tight.

“Mikhail, I can’t, can’t breathe.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Perhaps because I hugged her too tightly, Hestia complained of breathing difficulties and tapped my shoulder.

If it weren’t for that, I might have stayed like that indefinitely. I reluctantly let her go from my arms.

Hestia’s face was flushed.

“Th-thank you for worrying. I’m fine. Rather than me, those two first…”

Only then could I see the two people looking at me with hurt eyes.

“Uh, sorry.”

“I was really worried too, but seeing someone over there excessively cuddling, I actually feel calmer now.”

“Indeed. I suppose that’s what they call learning from a negative example?”

They seemed to mock my intense embrace of Hestia to hide their hurt, but the disappointment seeping through their voices and expressions couldn’t be concealed.

Well, from a positional standpoint, anyone could see that Cordelia and Seol-ah were in more danger. It’s natural for them to feel that way. But what can I do when Hestia is my priority right now?

After silently promising myself to take care of both of them later, I decided to sort out the situation first.

“So what happened in the end?”

“Magic.”

As she lightly flicked her finger, white rings formed around the hands and feet of the other two lying far away. All three of us turned to look at her simultaneously.

“It’s a magic that can only be easily cast on unconscious opponents. What just happened, I had been preparing for a while.”

Hestia, seemingly feeling guilty under our gaze, spilled out answers to questions we hadn’t even asked.

“No. We really didn’t look at you with that meaning.”

“I was just amazed.”

Cordelia and Seol-ah both earnestly explained that their gazes truly had no ulterior meaning.

Hestia gave them a bitter smile and slowly approached them.

“W-wait! Let’s talk, I mean, let’s talk!”

A frightened Seol-ah waved her hands in front of her.

“That’s too harsh. Do I look like that kind of person to you?”

Hestia puffed her cheeks at Seol-ah.

“Both of you, please stand here together for a moment.”

Seol-ah, still seemingly shocked by the magic, quickly went to stand right next to Cordelia.

Seeing the two standing side by side, Hestia took a deep breath and bowed deeply.

“Both of you, thank you so much!”

“Why are you suddenly doing this?! It’s uncomfortable, so stand up quickly!”

Cordelia frantically grabbed her waist, finding her sudden formality uncomfortable, but she wouldn’t budge.

“Both of you threw yourselves in front of me to protect me. I’m truly grateful.”

Unlike Cordelia, who was flustered by Hestia who wouldn’t lift her head no matter what was said, Seol-ah seemed somewhat embarrassed and stepped back slightly.

While Hestia and Cordelia were arguing, I approached Seol-ah and nudged her side.

“I was surprised.”

“What?”

“That you threw yourself for Hestia.”

“It’s not like I did it specifically for Hestia, you know?”

Seol-ah acted cold, pretending it wasn’t a big deal.

I decided to apologize for what happened earlier.

“I’m sorry about earlier.”

“For what?”

This time, irritation seeped through her voice.

“Just. I thought I couldn’t pay attention to you because I was too shocked.”

“Ridiculous.”

Seol-ah gritted her teeth several times, then sighed as if giving up.

“Sigh. Yes, I did throw myself for Hestia. My body just moved on its own.”

“I’d like to let the past you hear those words—the one who got angry saying everyone in this world looked like fictional characters.”

“Stop teasing me. I still regret what happened back then.”

Just a month ago, she was the one showing me bruises and wounds while crying out that everyone around her looked like nothing more than characters from a novel. I didn’t expect her to change so quickly.

After a moment of silence, she continued in a low voice.

“They probably came because of me…?”

There was no subject, but what she meant was clear.

I placed my hand on top of her head. Patting might be a bit much, but this should be okay, right? She jumped up as if displeased with my hand.

“Are you crazy? How dare you put your hand on your noona’s head…!”

“What noona? I’m your oppa, remember?”

The image of Seol-ah as my senior has long disappeared from my mind. Rather, seeing her like this, there’s a fragile side to her that doesn’t seem like a 25-year-old at all.

“Don’t have any strange thoughts like it’s because of you.”

“…”

My words must have hit home as she closed her mouth without saying anything.

“Why would it be because of you? Nothing has been revealed yet, and even if they were really targeting you, the bad ones are those bastards, not you.”

I tapped the shoulder of Seol-ah, who remained silent.

“So don’t act all pitiful with me and go.”

“Really? It’s not my fault?”

“Why are you confirming something so obvious?”

At my words, Seol-ah nodded as if resolved and awkwardly approached the two who were now hugging and clinging to each other.

Hmm, that looks nice. I wish they could always get along like this.

Hestia sat at her desk, recalling the events of the afternoon.

The incident concluded when the security guards arrived after hearing the commotion. The security guards, with eyes full of laziness wondering what was happening on a weekend, stiffened as soon as they saw the scene.

Students twitching their limbs, looking like they were about to die, coughing up blood, and others who had lost consciousness with restraint magic on their arms and legs, their bodies covered in red and blue marks.

And beside them, noble bloods whose faces and names the security guards recognized, not even trying to hide the traces of battle.

On the surface, the Academy advocated for equality among students and tried its best to maintain it, but that was only among students.

There was no faction that would shield them with talk of equality to the likes of security guards, and naturally, to avoid unnecessary trouble, the security guards memorized the names of students from prestigious families.

The heir to the Sirius Grand Duchy, the Empire’s most prestigious family, Mikhail. The treasured daughter of the Deneb Duchy, owner of the largest granary in the south, Cordelia. The daughter of the Gracia County, which operates one of the Empire’s most prominent merchant groups, Hestia. And Lily, who despite being from a humble family, captured the Crown Prince’s heart and became the talk of the town.

Everyone had the same thought at the same time.

‘We’re fucked.’

Regardless of what exactly happened, if word got to the higher-ups that these four were attacked on Academy grounds, it would be difficult to let it pass quietly. Alertness replaced the laziness in their eyes.

Once it became clear that the thunderous sound from the training ground was not a simple disturbance but a significant incident, Hestia and her companions couldn’t pretend nothing had happened either. In the end, they had to spend the remaining time being taken to the security office to cooperate with the investigation.

And now, after the investigation, left alone. Hestia began to contemplate the feeling that had been poking at a corner of her mind.

It was about Cordelia and Lily.

Hestia was not a fool, and she vaguely noticed both Cordelia’s and Lily’s feelings.

Cordelia didn’t even seem to think of hiding it, and in fact, they had engaged in a power struggle just this morning, though without saying it explicitly.

Lily seemed to at least try to hide it, but Hestia was almost certain from occasional glimpses. The decisive factor was the smell. Recently, she sometimes smelled the same scent from her as from Mikhail. Probably perfume.

Seol-ah thought no one would notice if she showed signs in such a subtle way, but she couldn’t deceive Hestia’s even more subtle nose.

Both clearly harbored impure feelings toward Mikhail. And that was something Hestia could neither imagine nor tolerate.

Hestia was still wandering about whether she loved Mikhail. When she thought of him, she felt butterflies, her heart raced, she was happy when they were together, and she felt bad when he was with other women, but she still wasn’t sure what love was.

However, she was certain about her desire for him to prioritize her and never abandon her.

Therefore, acknowledging and accepting her friends’ impure feelings was unacceptable. Hestia liked them both as friends and wished for their happiness, but if Mikhail were to prioritize them and abandon her, she couldn’t imagine what she might do.

But what if her friends’ happiness and Mikhail prioritizing her and not abandoning her didn’t conflict?

Hestia had seen it. Mikhail rushing to her first, leaving behind Lily and Cordelia who were in a much more dangerous position. And the gazes of the two looking at her with subtle inferiority and disappointment toward Mikhail, as if envying her.

And those gazes were more thrilling than any stimulus she had experienced so far.

‘To think such thoughts. I must be crazy.’

Hestia chastised herself. But once the branch of fantasy had extended, it wouldn’t stop.

With Mikhail guaranteeing her firm and dominant position among his women, always with the premise that she was his top priority, it would be quite enjoyable to see other women burning with inferiority toward her, who had taken his heart despite their efforts…

‘Kyaaaah!’

Realizing what devilish imagination she just had, Hestia buried her head in her bed pillow.

‘I’m truly insane!’

She pressed her face into the pillow and let out a silent scream.