Chapter Index

    Johanna reached out her hand towards my face once more, taking my cheeks and turning my head once to the left, then once to the right.

    I had said I was mentally hurting, but it seemed Johanna took it literally, as if my head was physically injured.

    “There’s no injury…” Of course there wouldn’t be. I hadn’t been hurt in the first place.

    Even after confirming there were no injuries, Johanna’s eyes and hands didn’t stop. She was even checking through my hair now.

    Watching Johanna, with her characteristic dazed expression, check each strand of my hair, I felt like bursting into laughter.

    It wouldn’t be bad to just keep watching Johanna idly play with my hair like this, but.

    “I didn’t mean physically hurt, I meant mentally. And it’s just a little bit of mental fatigue, so don’t worry too much about it.”

    “Really?” “Truly, honestly, really. There’s no way I would lie to Johanna Senior-nim.”

    “………” Johanna nodded slightly.

    Only now, perhaps a little relieved of her worry, did she remove one of the hands that had been touching my hair, but the other hand was still playing with it.

    If she had been touching it just moments ago to check for injuries, what she was doing now was 100% just her personal desire.

    Of course, I didn’t say anything because it felt good.

    Is this why Sepia doesn’t say anything when I put my hand on her head?

    “But why is a disciplinary committee being held?” Johanna, who still hadn’t taken her hand off my hair, asked.

    “Huh? I naturally thought Senior-nim knew. Didn’t you come here because you knew?” A foolish sound escaped my lips without my realizing.

    How did she come here without knowing that?

    “I was just surprised to hear that a disciplinary committee was being held…”

    “Pfft!” Laughter burst out as I watched Johanna trail off her words.

    It seemed she had just been surprised to hear about my disciplinary committee and came running.

    “Why are you laughing?” Johanna asked as if she was genuinely curious why I was laughing.

    If it were Sepia, she would have yelled, “Why are you laughing?” Of course, that’s amusing in its own way too.

    Barely swallowing the laughter that was escaping my mouth, I opened my lips. “No, it’s nothing at all. I was just so happy and pleased that I couldn’t help but laugh.”

    I explained to Johanna how the disciplinary committee came about. That Daron had provoked me first, and when it escalated towards Sepia, I got angry and hit him a bit too hard.

    Of course, I didn’t mention that Daron had sexually harassed Sepia. I didn’t think Johanna would spread it, but there was no need to mention it.

    Johanna, who had been silently listening to my words, slowly opened her mouth. Others might think she had the same expression as before, but.

    “So, you’re going to the disciplinary committee because of ‘that woman’?” Having played the game for 10 years to save Johanna, I could tell. Her expression was colder than before.

    “………….” As I, who had clearly felt that small but chilling change, momentarily remained silent, Johanna slowly traced my neck with the hand that wasn’t stroking my head.

    As if urging a response. It was warm, yet paradoxically chilling.

    “…Because she’s a friend.”

    “Friend… And me? What am I?”

    I could answer this question without hesitation. “Johanna Senior-nim is Johanna Senior-nim.”

    “…What does that mean?” “It means exactly what it says. Johanna Senior-nim is Johanna Senior-nim to me.”

    Johanna, who had lowered the hand that was tracing my neck, murmured in a small voice. “…Alright, I’ll let this much slide.”

    She spoke so softly that even I, right in front of her, couldn’t hear. “Huh? What did you say?”

    “It’s nothing.” Her chilling expression returned to normal.

    She removed her hand from my neck, but still didn’t take it off my head.

    ‘Does gold fall off my head if you touch it?’

    Of course, I had also stroked Sepia’s head for an hour last time, but that was half in jest to begin with. If I were asked to stroke it for another hour, I wouldn’t be confident.

    But Johanna continued to stroke my head as if she never got tired of it. Last time, when we were traveling to Duchess Freya’s estate by carriage, Johanna stroked my head for several hours.

    Does touching my head make her feel good? Curiosity arose, and the solution was simple. I just had to touch my own head.

    -Thwack. The hand I raised to touch my head fell without reaching it. Because Johanna’s hand had swatted mine away.

    ‘She probably just accidentally bumped it while stroking my head.’

    I raised my hand once more, trying to touch my head. This time, it reached my head without any interference… or rather, it didn’t.

    -Thwack. “………..?” -Thwack.

    The first time, I thought it was a mistake. The second time, I thought it was a coincidence. Then what should I call the third time, the fourth time, and the times after that?

    -Thwack. “Senior-nim?”

    I raised my hand as I spoke. “……………” -Thwack.

    Johanna said nothing and simply swatted my hand away. What on earth was going on?

    As I stared blankly at Johanna, she turned her head and murmured in a small voice. “…Only I can touch this.”

    “It’s my head, though?” “…There are no exceptions to the rules.”

    Johanna said that, then turned her head to look elsewhere. Now!

    I stealthily raised my hand. -Thwack.

    Johanna perfectly swatted away the hand I had raised. Don’t use a talent everyone envies for something like this!

    There was even a satisfied smile lingering around her lips. I was so dumbfounded that I felt like letting out an empty laugh.

    “But why are you here?” “Aren’t you being too brazen in changing the subject?”

    Lately, there are more and more brazen people. It’s getting too hard for an honest person like me to live in this world.

    “…I’m genuinely asking.” Johanna said, looking around the empty classroom.

    She must be asking why I wasn’t at the disciplinary committee and was here instead. I wanted to try raising my hand one more time here, but there was no chance of success anyway.

    “Well, you see…” I told Johanna that Daron was in such a state that the disciplinary committee would be slightly delayed.

    “So, I have to wait here until the disciplinary committee begins.”

    “Then I’ll stay here too.” It would be boring alone anyway, and it’s nice to have Johanna with me. But isn’t it class time now?

    “Is it alright to stay here instead of going to class?” “It’s fine.”

    “Did you get permission?” “…It’s fine.”

    “Senior-nim?” Johanna just kept saying it was fine. She didn’t say she had gotten permission until the very end.

    If another student skipped class without permission, their reputation among other students and professors would suffer. ‘But if it’s Johanna, it probably doesn’t matter.’

    I went and sat down at a desk where various things were placed: books, snacks, tea, playing cards, etc.

    “Senior-nim, come and sit here then. Let’s have some tea together.” Johanna shook her head at my words, then knelt on the floor, not at a desk or on a chair.

    “……………” And then, without a word, she gently patted her lap.

    There was no way I didn’t know what that meant. She wanted me to lie down on her lap.

    Even though I was waiting for the disciplinary committee, a lap pillow was a bit… It was true that I liked resting on Johanna’s lap, but someone might suddenly walk in, and I needed to be firm here.

    “Aren’t you going to lie down?” “I’m coming now~”

    * * *

    “How is it?” “It’s wonderful~”

    I was defeated in the end. This was paradise, a utopia.

    Johanna kept me on her lap. She stroked my face and hair. Her platinum blonde hair, affected by gravity, fell down and tickled my face.

    I often lay on Johanna’s lap and talked like this even during morning training. The difference this time was that I hadn’t removed my mask completely, only half of it. So that I could quickly put it back on if someone suddenly entered the classroom.

    “…………..” Though Johanna had made strange noises the first time she saw my face, now, perhaps a little more used to it, she stroked me with only a faint smile on her face.

    Of course, if she met my gaze head-on instead of just looking at my profile like now, she still made strange noises.

    “Come to think of it, Senior-nim, did you come here after swinging your sword?” “Yeah, how did you know?”

    “When you came in earlier, your breathing was a little rough and you were sweating, so I noticed.”

    -Flinch. “W-wait a minute!”

    Johanna, who had flinched greatly, seemed flustered, stammering and calling out urgently.

    “Is something wrong?” Surprised, I lifted my head from Johanna’s lap, and Johanna quickly got up, putting distance between us.

    “Senior-nim?” “Sniff.”

    Johanna ignored my words. She started sniffing her own body odor.

    ‘Could she be doing that because she’s bothered by her smell?’ I barely managed to suppress the laughter that wanted to burst out. There was no unpleasant smell at all.

    “…Should we go sit at the desk?” Even someone who wasn’t an expert at reading Johanna’s expressions, like me, would know. Johanna was flustered right now.

    I still hadn’t forgotten how Johanna had swatted my hand away earlier. For now, I lay down on the floor without saying anything.

    And like Johanna had done earlier, I gently patted the floor. “Come on, hurry up and bring my pillow.”

    “…………..” “Hurry.”

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