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[Lucy’s POV]

‘What I talked about? What does he mean?’

For a moment, Lucy was unable to understand Liel’s words.

But soon, I remembered my lie to Liel when I left.

‘Is that it?’

I swallowed my words that almost came out reflexively.

“Yes?”

Liel called out to Lucy, who was sweating profusely without answering.

“That… uh, yeah……. I felt like Melissa’s in danger.….”

Surely no one here would believe Lucy’s sloppy lies.

And so did Liel.

Liel narrowed his eyes and fixed his eyes on Lucy. Lucy sneaked away at his heavy gaze that was coming toward me.

He still has both of his hands still clasped

As if he’s at the moment of enduring such breathtaking patience

“……but why did you get so dirty in such a short time?”

Liel, who had already come close to Lucy’s face, asked with a tap on the hem of her coat.

Liel’s gentle voice was full of worries.

Checking if Lucy stumbled, Liel carefully examined her palm and knees.

‘Melissa’s worse than me.….’

Even though I thought so, I didn’t bother to say it considering that Liel and Melissa didn’t know each other.

“Did you fight with your friends?”

Liel, who even shook off the dirt on Lucy’s shoulder, asked again.

Strangely, the word friend was loaded with meaning.

But Lucy, who was not aware of it, hesitated to answer for a moment. There was a light wrinkle between Lucy’s forehead, who was calculating something.

Lucy subtly rolled her eyes toward Flinch and Martin.

Martin was drooping his shoulders almost like a liberated man, and Flinch kept swallowing his dry saliva, turning blue.

The two seemed to be frightened by Liel for some reason.

It was also because Liel was a senior a year older, but above all, the fact that he was a man of the Duke of Marsen also played a part.

This is because Flinch’s first goal, whose brother dreams of becoming a knight, was the Knights Corps founded by Duke Marsen.

‘That’s fascinating… I thought they’ll ignore him as an illegitimate child.….’

Lucy insinuated that Flinch was doing that because the title of “The Duke of Marsen” came closer than “The illegitimate child.”

‘Yeah, Liel’s scarier than me. These guys should get hurt too.’

Soon after, Lucy, who finished her calculations, answered enthusiastically.

“No, rather than fighting, they’re unilaterally bothering our Melissa. Can you believe it?!”

Lucy, who told on Melissa in an exaggerated voice, again clung to Melissa.

At best, Liel’s shaking off Lucy’s clothes became useless.

Liel watched Lucy closely, and soon moved his gaze toward the arm she held tightly.

Soon after, he let out a small breath like a sigh.

He looked around for a moment, found pots in the flowerbed, and picked up one of them.

‘Oh? Why with the flower pot…?’

It was Lucy’s turn to look at Liel, who suddenly approached Flinch and Martin with the flowerpot.

“Is it you guys who’s making a fuss on campus?”

Suddenly, there was a movement behind them, and Professor Bendic, who Lucy had been waiting for, finally appeared.

Lucy shouted in a welcoming voice.

“Professor!”

“Yes, yes, ahahh—”

Professor Bendick yawned loudly without covering his mouth as soon as he appeared.

On his chin, a brown beard, the same as his hair, was sticking out little by little.

“I heard that first years are fighting, but now I see there’s even a second year involved.”

Bendick has pretended to know Liel.

“Hello, professor.”

Liel greeted Professor Bendic with a calm face.

“Yes, hello too. You punk.”

Bendik put his arm on Liel’s shoulder and reached out to Liel’s black hair.

He was very fond of Liel.

There was no particular reason. It was just because the second graders would be very quiet when he was around.

“So, let me ask you why you were bothering your juniors.”

“Me?”

Liel asked back, as if saying “I heard something I couldn’t understand.” With a pure face as if he’s never bothered anyone before.

“What? Didn’t you mean to bully them? A big guy like you was also holding a flower pot, so I thought you were going to break the kids’ heads with it.”

‘What? Was it like that?!’

When Lucy, surprised, opened her eyes wide and looked at Liel, he also turned his head toward Lucy, as if he felt her gaze.

Liel, who made eye contact with Lucy, smiled at her with a harmless face and shook his head.

“Not at all, I was just trying to get back at them for throwing dirt to my friend.”

Rather than Lucy, it was Melissa who was thrown dirt.

Liel answered, grabbing the flower pot with his hand that had not yet healed.

He didn’t mean to threaten his opponent. It was just an unconscious act.

For him, flowers were one of the things that could be plucked and trampled to death.

It was because of Lucy’s words from a long time ago that she would hate flowers in the future.

As soon as the flower pulled out helplessly in Liel’s hand revealed its roots, Flinch and Martin’s shoulders trembled.

Meanwhile, Lucy, who does not know Liel’s true feelings, breathed a sigh of relief.

‘That’s right. How can such a gentle kid break their heads with a pot?’

The petals that fell below Liel’s feet were hidden by his legs and were not visible to Lucy.

“I don’t know how to react because you answer so casually.”

Professor Bendick, who laughed in vain, took the pot away from Liel. Liel handed him the flowerpot without a hitch.

Professor Bendick, who put the pot on the floor, immediately turned to Flinch and Martin.

“What are your names?”

“……Flinch Rosento, this is…….”

“Martin Simoe…….”

“Yes, Flinch, Martin. Do you want to go to the teacher’s office and talk to me?

Professor Bendick said, pulling Flinch and Martin away from Liel, locked them in his arms and dragged them along.

“I’ll scold those two separately later, so come along.”

As if Lucy and Melissa hadn’t forgotten, Professor Bendick moved away, waving gently at the two.

Liel stared at the back of the three, and soon turned around and approached Lucy.

“Lucy, I’ll take you home.”

Lucy, who was pretending to hit Flinch and Martin from behind, lowered her hand at Liel’s call and nodded her head gently.

“Melissa, come with me–-“

“That’s enough.”

Even before Lucy finished speaking, Melissa showed her back.

‘Sigh… It’s too solid. Melissa…!’

Lucy’s shoulders drooped down, thinking she couldn’t get close to Melissa again today.

“…….”

Melissa, who seemed to be going ahead right away, stood and clenched her fist as if she had been nailed to the spot.

“……?”

Lucy wondered if she changed her mind as Melissa stuttered and opened her mouth.

“……and thank you.”

“What?”

“Thank you for helping me today!”

At the end of the sentence, Melissa left Lucy at a high speed and ran away.

“…… Lucy?”

The trembling shoulders of Lucy came into Liel’s eyes, who had been waiting quietly until the end of the conversation between the two.

Surprised, Liel put his hand on Lucy’s shoulder and turned her body to him.

“I think I’ll be able to sit next to her soon…!”

Contrary to Liel’s worries, Lucy’s expression in front of him seemed infinitely bright.

꧁꧂

“Is it Lucy who called Professor Bendick?”

I was on my way back to the dormitory.

Melissa was already out of sight, perhaps because it was only a short distance away.

What time is the first lecture tomorrow?

While thinking about the lecture time inside, Liel asked a question.

“Huh? Yeah. You’re supposed to tell an adult about this.”

My grandmother was like that. While at the Academy, it’s the faculty who have more power than the aristocracy.

If anything happens, tell the professor first.

I didn’t know I would practice my grandmother’s words four days after I entered the school, but I didn’t miss anything she said.

Perhaps with today’s event, Professor Bendick will pay more attention to Melissa, who’s also a commoner.

“……I think it would have been better if you came with me…”

“……… Huh?”

“Lucy did. Melissa? She felt like she was in danger, so she left in a hurry.”

“…….”

Look at him pretending to believe me yet believing otherwise.

Are you trying to make me feel better…?

As I turned my eyes the other way, Liel tightened his finger and pressed the back of my hand.

“Then, did you finish your conversation with your senior?”

When I asked him a question back, a smile disappeared from Liel’s face in an instant.

You’re embarrassed, right?

I didn’t miss this momentum and pushed Liel.

“So, what did you decide to do?”

I poked Riere’s side with his elbow as if to tell him quickly.

“What?”

“Didn’t you get a confession?”

What kind of answer did Liel give back to the confession? When I couldn’t hold back my curiosity and asked, the smile that had disappeared from Liel’s face reappeared.

“You left because you knew I would be confessed to.”

“Of course.”

If it wasn’t for a serious situation like before, I wouldn’t have told such a ridiculous lie.

However, as the situation was, I protected Liel’s private life as I did.

“……… wonder what I answered?”

Why do you keep asking obvious things?

I nodded my head with a positive meaning.

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why are you curious?”