Episode 259. Final Exam Celebration (15)

“Daeun-ah. It’s been a while.”

Nam Daeun looked back at the voice calling her.

There stood Alice, wearing a professional smile.

“…Hi.”

Seeing Alice, who had suddenly approached her, Nam Daeun tilted her head.

She wasn’t on bad terms with Alice. If anything, she was grateful.

Because Alice had given her the hint to seduce Lee Hoyeon with her body, her relationship with Lee Hoyeon had begun.

If it weren’t for the moves to recruit her into the Iris Guild, Alice would be a good friend.

‘I distinctly remember firmly rejecting her last time.’

But that matter was already over.

Honestly speaking, if it wasn’t for the purpose of recruiting her into the Iris Guild, there was no reason for Alice to approach her first.

Nam Daeun looked at Alice with questioning eyes.

Her friendly smile.

This was a different side of Alice, shown only to her.

Even this side of Alice was quite burdensome for Nam Daeun.

Because Nam Daeun knew better than anyone that there was no one less trustworthy than someone hiding their true self.

“What are you doing?”

Alice continued with a gentle smile.

Her face was so imbued with smiles that a stranger might call her pretty just by looking at her cheerful expression.

“Just wandering around.”

“Hmm, and who’s the person next to you? I don’t think I’ve seen them before.”

Alice immediately asked the question she wanted to ask.

“…A friend.”

“A Victoria Academy student?”

“Yeah.”

“Really? That’s strange. I’ve memorized all the students’ faces.”

Alice, confident she could refute any excuse Nam Daeun might offer, continued curiously.

“There’s a student I don’t know.”

Then, she tilted her head and stared pointedly at Liliana.

At this point, Liliana was bound to notice.

That Alice had some kind of agenda towards her.

Liliana subtly lowered the arm holding the chicken skewer and looked at Nam Daeun.

‘Oh, what should I do?!’

Liliana, who was a fierce warrior (‘Yeo Po’) at home, was helpless outside.

She could only look at Nam Daeun.

Nam Daeun knew this well and desperately concocted an excuse to escape the situation.

“Sorry, she’s actually not a student, she’s a friend. I know I shouldn’t bring outsiders, but I just did.”

The final exam celebration was an event for students, so outsiders were prohibited.

However, getting caught didn’t usually result in severe punishment, especially for an honor student like Nam Daeun.

Of course, it was a significant security risk, but such incidents rarely happened in reality.

Therefore, the atmosphere was one of sweeping it under the rug.

They couldn’t possibly punish a future talent for such a minor infraction.

She’d probably just get a light warning.

“Oh? How curious. How did you become friends with Lee Hoyeon’s roommate?”

Of course, Alice was not going to let it go that easily.

“…”

Nam Daeun hesitated, unsure how to respond while looking at Alice’s unwavering smile.

‘She knew everything.’

Although caught off guard by the sudden situation, Nam Daeun didn’t let her expression falter.

Acting like this wasn’t difficult.

She had been doing it since she was young.

The priority was keeping everything about Liliana a secret.

She didn’t know how Alice found out, but she couldn’t admit it.

She had to come up with a plausible excuse to get out of this.

If she could just hide Liliana for now, Lee Hoyeon, Rebecca-ssi, or Scarlet-ssi would handle the rest.

Of course, Alice was a step ahead of Nam Daeun.

She noticed Nam Daeun’s panic despite her act.

So, she could wait patiently.

Meanwhile, Nam Daeun kept thinking.

‘I need to hide Liliana-ssi.’

She needed to handle the situation smoothly and gracefully, but Nam Daeun didn’t know how to speak like that.

She never had the chance or the time to learn.

Her way of expression was simple.

Either hold back and say nothing.

Or say exactly what she wanted to say, concisely and directly.

Fortunately, Nam Daeun’s communication style was peculiar, but she wasn’t oblivious.

She had learned to read situations well from her time under the Buyer Guild.

‘Why is she saying this to me?’

Nam Daeun regained her composure and quickly organized her thoughts.

If Alice had wanted to make an issue of Lee Hoyeon’s roommate, she wouldn’t have approached her like this; she would have taken action immediately.

Since she came to her first instead, she must want something.

Understanding the situation, Nam Daeun felt a bit more at ease.

“Alice.”

“Yes. Daeun-ah.”

“Tell me clearly what you want to say. Is it wrong for me to be friends with Hoyeon’s roommate?”

Nam Daeun directly asked what she was curious about.

Hearing the question, Alice was taken aback.

‘What I want to say…?’

The reason for approaching Nam Daeun?

Seeing her getting along well with Lee Hoyeon’s roommate.

The reason why that’s a problem?

If Nam Daeun gets close to Lee Hoyeon’s roommate, how does that cause a problem for me?

Anyway, whether Lee Hoyeon has a roommate or not, she had no intention of reporting it.

Lee Hoyeon was also in a contractual relationship with her.

Moreover, he was the only precious masseuse in the world capable of curing her illness.

She had no intention of harming such a person.

Alice perfectly understood that any harm to Lee Hoyeon would inevitably lead to harm for herself.

‘Why did I act like this?’

‘I was too hasty.’

Only then did Alice regret her actions belatedly.

‘I should have been calmer.’

She could have investigated more efficiently than this.

Using Sebastian to properly investigate Lee Hoyeon’s relationship with his roommate, and then investigating the roommate’s relationship with Nam Daeun, would have been a more efficient method.

If her goal was truly ‘information,’ she should have acted that way.

But the reason she didn’t?

Doing so wouldn’t allow her to resolve this suffocating feeling filling her chest right now.

No one at the academy even knew about Lee Hoyeon’s roommate.

Whatever methods she used, she had managed to avoid detection until now.

Yet, this secretive roommate was friendly with Nam Daeun.

Nam Daeun had received help from Lee Hoyeon.

Developing romantic feelings is understandable. But why could she be so friendly with the roommate?

Nam Daeun wasn’t flustered by Alice’s mention of Lee Hoyeon’s roommate.

Instead, she looked at Alice as if surprised.

Her eyes seemed to ask, ‘How do you know that?’

That meant Alice already knew everything.

If Lee Hoyeon and Nam Daeun weren’t close, Nam Daeun wouldn’t know about the roommate’s existence.

If they were close, it would be hard for Nam Daeun to accept the roommate’s existence, even if she knew about it.

Yet, the two of them were friendly.

The reason why two people who shouldn’t be able to get along were friends.

That was what she was so curious about.

What kind of relationship had they built to be laughing so merrily?

Of course, there was the hypothesis that Nam Daeun had no romantic interest in Lee Hoyeon and had simply become friends through a business relationship, regardless of the roommate…

But seeing Nam Daeun’s eyes, Alice judged that hypothesis to be false.

Because those two shared a deep trust that went beyond a simple business relationship.

And there was only one question that could encompass all these doubts.

Alice looked straight into Nam Daeun’s eyes.

“What’s your relationship with Lee Hoyeon.”

At some point, Alice’s professional smile broke.

Seeing Alice biting her lip slightly, looking somewhat resentful, Nam Daeun, who had maintained a neutral expression, couldn’t help but let the corners of her mouth lift.

Now she finally understood.

Alice wasn’t intending to demand anything.

The emotion contained in that expression.

She knew from experience.

Admitting one’s own feelings isn’t easy.

It had taken Nam Daeun herself, who owed Lee Hoyeon a debt, quite some time.

Alice, with her strong pride, would never admit it.

Nam Daeun observed Alice confidently.

Alice’s eyes were trembling slightly.

As if she feared what would come next.

Sensing that, Nam Daeun slowly opened her mouth.

“…He’s someone precious to me.”

That was the smile of a victor.

* * *

“Ugh, I knew it… I said just once.”

After setting up a barrier and coming out of the restroom, Lucy and I slowly returned to Lumi.

Lucy’s face was still flushed, looking embarrassed.

“It’s okay since nobody found out.”

“That’s not the problem… Sigh. Okay. Let’s hurry back to Lumi.”

“Okay.”

Actually, quite a bit of time had passed.

We decided to do it just once, but it wasn’t that easy.

Still, exercising patience, we only did it twice.

We quickly returned to the tent, and whether it was because we weren’t paying enough attention to our surroundings or just fortunate, Lumi was watching the monitor while eating popcorn.

I figured she hadn’t even noticed we were gone.

Lucy, who had been worried Lumi might feel left out, approached Lumi with a look of disbelief.

“Lumi, let’s get going. We’re out of time.”

“Ah, ah! Wait. The emotional live performance is about to start…”

“Lumi, you can watch that at home. We’re hanging out with Lee Hoyeon right now.”

“Sniff! R-right. I apologize, Hoyeon-ssi…”

Lumi’s eyes widened at Lucy’s words, and she repeatedly bowed her head apologetically.

‘She really didn’t know Lucy and I disappeared.’

“…No, it’s fine.”

We left the otaku tent and headed elsewhere.

People who had gathered around the central fountain early in the celebration, unsure where to go, had now dispersed to various places they enjoyed.

Thanks to that, we could move around a bit more comfortably.

“Ugh, agh! Agh! I can’t stand it! I’m going to keep trying until I win!”

This time, Lucy was the one losing her mind, which was the problem.

Here’s the whole story.

We entered a tent filled with claw machines, and Lucy became fixated on one of them.

It was a cute purple girl doll with a yellow hairpin.

“Lucy, you did this last time too, and it took you an hour.”

“This time is different. I have experience, so I’ll win it quickly.”

Lucy, apparently spurred by her competitive spirit, started kicking the claw machine.

“L-Lucy… Don’t kick it. The seniors here will get angry…”

“Grrr… Annoying. So annoying.”

Lucy put more money into the machine.

‘I told her she could just buy it online with that money.’

‘She’s doing it again, just like last time.’

‘Still, she’ll probably win it within 30 minutes.’

I was also quite tired.

I decided to sit down and watch the claw machine game leisurely, but Lumi, standing next to me, gently tugged my arm.

Lumi’s eyes were sparkling.

As if expecting something.

“…”

‘Lucy went with me, but Lumi is asking directly.’

Lumi was already communicating with her eyes: ‘Let’s go quickly, we don’t have time.’

Glancing at Lucy, I carefully whispered in Lumi’s ear.

“Lumi, first, Lucy is…”

“L-last time, Lucy was focused like that for 30 minutes, so… just 30 minutes…”

“…Alright. Let’s go.”

‘Well, it wouldn’t be fair if I only helped Lucy.’

Watching Lucy engrossed in the claw machine, I quietly slipped out of the tent.

‘They’re twins, so they’re similar in that aspect too.’

Lumi was into anime, and Lucy was into claw machines.

Lumi followed close behind me, tiptoeing.

After Lumi and Lee Hoyeon left the tent.

Lucy glanced back.

She noticed the voices had faded and realized they were gone.

“…Pervert.”

As soon as the two disappeared, Lucy stretched and took her eyes off the claw machine.

There was no need to act anymore.

Lumi had genuinely been engrossed in the anime earlier, but Lucy’s focus was an act.

She desperately wanted to spend time with Lee Hoyeon too, but it wasn’t fair for only one of them to have that time.

‘Because I’m the older sister.’

It was her duty alone to look after her younger sister, Lumi.

‘If that damn brat won’t take care of her, I have to.’

‘Will it take about 30 minutes?’

If Lee Hoyeon had any conscience left, he’d be back soon.

With nothing else to do, Lucy reluctantly started trying to win the purple girl doll again.

“Hey, you’re a first-year, right? Wanna hang out with us if you have time?”

Just then, some rowdy seniors approached Lucy, seeing her alone.

They were the type of guys who hit on any pretty girl they saw.

“No.”

Pyong pyong pyong-

Lucy didn’t even turn her head, focusing on operating the machine.

“Don’t say that… Big bro here…”

“Argh, why isn’t this grabbing?!”

Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

Lucy kicked the claw machine, channeling various emotions into the kick.

With a simple kick devoid of any magic, the claw machine began to bend.

The second-year guys blinked, looking at each other.

“…Hey. Let’s go.”

“…Yeah.”

The rowdy second-years backed away and disappeared, while Lucy continued to focus on the purple girl.