Chapter 92 – A Sensitive Day

The lively chat with Silina had ended.

Pina, who’d been out cold the entire time, sprang to life the instant the lunch bell rang—as if possessed—and rushed off to her next lecture.

Silina, after repeatedly warning me never to breathe a word about the recording to anyone, huffed and puffed her way to her next class.

It was a stroke of genius to have Pina start recording the moment I stepped into the private training hall. I’d asked her on a hunch, never expecting Silina to actually pull something like that.

Of course, she probably said it to make me more vigilant, but that’s beside the point.

The important thing is that I landed a solid blow on Silina.

Anyway.

Now alone, I was waiting for Leona, the professor in charge of Friday afternoon classes.

I waited, and waited.

“…Why isn’t she here?”

An hour had passed, and still no sign of Leona. I had plenty of time to think, but even thinking gets tedious after a while.

I considered calling, but that was out of the question. Her status light was off, indicating she’d left the academy.

Did she forget she had a class today?

…Surely not?

But then again, knowing Leona, it was entirely possible.

“Tch. I’ll just warm up. She’ll show up eventually.”

I rose, stretched, and took off my outer layer.

Just then, ding! My device chimed.

“…Why is he contacting me now?”

Sedil Mershdoff.

A message from the headmaster.

***

Sedil’s message was verbose, but the gist of it was this:

Leona, who’d been away on official business since yesterday, had sent a letter stating her return was delayed.

Consequently, today’s afternoon lecture was canceled.

However, there was no need to worry about credits; makeup classes would be arranged.

In short, no class today.

I’d been looking forward to seeing what I could learn, what new knowledge I might gain, but… well, it wasn’t the end of the world.

It’s not as if I’d ever relied on anyone else’s help for my training.

If there’s no class, I’ll train alone, as always.

That should be fine.

Yes, if today were a normal day, there wouldn’t be a problem.

Knock, knock.

“Hey, open up.”

I decided to postpone my training for a bit.

I simply couldn’t focus right now.

Knock, knock, knock.

“If you summoned me, don’t keep me waiting. Open the door.”

The rustling on the other side of the door ceased, replaced by a startled voice.

“Eliaernes…? What? Did you skip class?”

“You called me, so why are you surprised?”

“I didn’t expect you so soon!! Ugh, w-wait. Five minutes… no, two!”

The rustling sounds resumed.

Thuds, hurried footsteps, and strained grunts followed, as if something heavy was being moved.

Eight minutes passed.

“…Okay, it’s fine now.”

Creak. The door opened.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you so suddenly, so the place is a bit of a mess… come in.”

She looked awful.

Her usually neat hair was disheveled, and her eyes were sunken, as if she hadn’t slept a wink.

Her slightly reddened eyes suggested she’d been crying.

And the windows were sealed shut, blinds drawn. Zero ventilation.

The entire room reeked of Stella.

“…Hey. Why are you here now? I meant for you to come after school.”

Embarrassed by her appearance, Stella grabbed a hoodie from the floor and pulled it on, yanking the hood over her head.

“Aren’t you going to class? Didn’t you have the Vice Headmaster’s lecture today?”

“It was canceled.”

“Hmm… I see.”

A faint, forced smile appeared on Stella’s face, a pathetic attempt to appear unfazed.

“Keep glaring at me like that, and I’ll poke your damn eyes out.”

“Watch your language!”

Tch. Clicking my tongue, I slumped into a chair and began unpacking the things I’d brought.

“Have you eaten?”

“No, not yet—wait, what’s all this?”

Yuja tea, bananas, lemon candies, dark chocolate, seaweed soup.

I separated the containers holding the seaweed soup, rice, and side dishes and placed them on the table.

“Sit down and eat.”

“…What is all this?”

“Food. And snacks.”

“…What?”

Stella stared at me with a bewildered expression, her lips twitching as she glanced between my face and the spread.

“Seaweed soup…? Why did you bring all this?”

“Stop asking questions and just eat before it gets cold.”

Still looking dazed, Stella picked up a disposable spoon.

“What…? What’s going on? Are you alright? Have you gone mad? Are you going crazy because Yurasia isn’t here? Are you lonely and depressed and spiraling out of control? Or, wait—are you dying tomorrow? Did you screw up so badly you’re about to be expelled?!”

“You—!”

For a split second, I almost lost it and unleashed a torrent of curses.

But I clenched my jaw and held back.

I knew exactly what kind of day this was.

Every damn month, without fail, it hit me like a freight train.

The persistent gloominess, the wild mood swings, the abdominal cramps, the aching lower back, the bloating, sometimes even indigestion.

And, goddamn it, even my nonexistent chest ached.

And let’s not even get started on sanitary pads.

Absolute, unmitigated hell.

Sticky, damp, uncomfortable—every revolting sensation imaginable.

So, today, I resolved to be patient.

“…I told you to shut up and eat.”

“…You’re acting really strange today, you know?”

Stella blew on a spoonful of steaming seaweed soup and took a sip. Her eyes widened.

The question marks hovering above her head seemed to instantly transform into exclamation points.

“…Huh? What the—? Why is this so delicious? Did you buy this from the academy cafeteria?”

“It’s expensive, so don’t leave a single drop. Finish it all.”

“I asked if you bought it!”

With a loud shriek, Stella began shoveling the seaweed soup into her mouth.

Leaving her to her feast, I stood up.

“What now?”

Stella, her cheeks bulging with rice, tilted her head in confusion.

I was about to ask if she wanted me to just sit there and watch her devour her food, but I decided to bite my tongue.

There was no point in watching someone eat.

It would only make both of us uncomfortable.

So, instead… I decided to clean.

I remembered her saying she didn’t let the dorm maids clean her room and preferred to do it herself.

That explained why it looked like a disaster zone.

First things first: ventilation.

It’s not that Stella’s scent was unpleasant, but she was still human.

She needed sunlight. Fresh air.

I strode to the window, swish! I yanked up the blinds, and clatter! I slid the window open.

Bright sunlight flooded the gloomy room, and a crisp March breeze swept in, instantly refreshing the stale air.

“Ugh… it’s too bright.”

Stella squinted, grimacing at the sudden influx of light.

But that didn’t stop her from vigorously working her spoon and chopsticks.

Especially the seaweed soup—she was practically inhaling it.

Watching her eat so ravenously filled me with a peculiar sense of satisfaction.

Of course, anyone would feel good seeing someone enjoy food they’d prepared.

Honestly, even if I’d just bought something from the academy cafeteria, she probably wouldn’t have minded.

But since I’d made it myself, it would taste even better to her—at least, that’s what I told myself.

I hadn’t used ingredients from the academy’s main cafeteria.

I’d made this in the Signia Hall dormitory’s kitchen, a space where students could cook freely.

The dorm kitchen was stocked with high-quality ingredients for students to use.

But the food Stella was currently consuming—I’d made it using my ingredients.

No need to worry about their freshness.

I’d stored them in a top-grade artifact enchanted with preservation and spatial expansion magic.

When I’d tasted it earlier, everything was in perfect condition.

And the rice and side dishes weren’t ordinary, either.

They were packed with ingredients renowned for alleviating menstrual cramps, along with other beneficial nutrients.

This was a special Ronan-style… no, Elia-style nutritional meal.

If I had to put a price on it, the cost probably amounted to roughly two weeks’ worth of food expenses.

Of course, I wasn’t going to tell her that.

If that broke Stella found out how much it cost, she wouldn’t touch it.

She might even regurgitate what she’d already consumed.

It was best to just let her enjoy it, blissfully unaware.

“Hey, put up a wind barrier.”

“Mm? Why?”

“Just do it.”

Stella, still clutching her chopsticks, conjured a wall of violet mana, blocking the wind.

Whoosh! A strange whistling sound filled the room as the airflow was disrupted.

Satisfied, I grabbed the blanket on her bed and gave it a thwack!

A stronger whiff of Stella’s scent wafted up.

And with it,

Poof! A cloud of dust billowed into the air.

Not just a little dust—a lot.

The bright sunlight made it look even more appalling.

“Wh-what? Why are you suddenly cleaning?!”

“Ugh, damn it. Have you ever washed this blanket?”

“I have washed it!”

“Yeah, right. Looks like you haven’t even shaken the dust off, ever.”

This was beyond simply neglecting ventilation.

Clicking my tongue, I grabbed the blanket, leaned out the window, and whack, whack! beat the dust out of it with all my might.

Then, I tidied the bed, spread the blanket back over it, and gathered the hair and miscellaneous debris littering the floor—a quick cleanup.

By the time I finished, Stella’s meal was also over.

That girl.

She kept insisting I didn’t need to clean, but her actions spoke louder than words.

Not a single grain of rice, not a single drop of soup remained.

She might as well have licked the bowls clean.

“Was it good?”

“Well… it was edible.”

Her face was flushed, yet she tried to maintain a facade of indifference.

The sight was so ridiculous, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Then, my gaze fell upon something that had been nagging at me for a while—a bag shoved into a far corner of the room.

Might as well tidy that up, too.

“Huh? H-huh?? Hey! Leave that bag alone!!!”

And then,

Rustle, rustle.

A stack of papers, covered in dense black handwriting, spilled onto the floor.

Wait.

I’d simply picked up the bag—why did papers fall out?

The thought flickered through my mind, but there was no time to dwell on it.

Because the title, written in large, bold letters on one of the fallen pages, caused my mind to go completely blank.

[The Secrets of House Eustetia.]