Chapter 271 : My Precious Person
Chapter 271: My Precious Person
People always say it.
That a first kiss tastes like sweet-and-sour lemon.
Or like candy so sweet it could rot your teeth.
Romance films love to portray it that way.
But the first kiss with the person I loved—the one I had actually experienced—tasted bitter.
It was probably because a little of the powdered medicine Senior usually took had gotten onto his lips.
I felt like crying.
No, in truth, I was already crying.
If I were to honestly describe how I felt right now, it was closer to "it hurts" than "I'm happy."
Silence's story hurt.
It hurt knowing that no matter how hard I tried, I could never become this person's "one and only."
The stories of his past that he confessed hurt.
The traces of pain that remained plainly etched across his bare face hurt.
Ah...
Why was this world...
Even as I cast such meaningless resentment into the void, an indescribable happiness slowly began filling me through the warmth of his lips.
I suppose this is what life is like.
In the bitterness filling my mouth, I had no choice but to find happiness for myself.
And surely this very moment was a reward I had seized with my own hands.
“I love you, Senior.”
My precious person.
“...And so, we're dating now.”
“So you finally did it, Raina.”
“Ooh, congratulations! Congratulations!”
Thunderous applause erupted throughout the Student Council Room.
Student Council President Irie Elisbell, the heads of the Tactical Combat Department and the Science and Technology Department, the secretary, and even the head of public relations all became excited by Raina's announcement.
They had been the ones who had watched Raina suffer more closely than anyone else.
How could they not rejoice when the difficult days had finally come to an end and happiness had at last found its way to her?
In fact, Raina's face was blooming with radiant smiles.
She looked as though she were shouting, "I'm the happiest person in the world."
Just this morning, she had looked utterly exhausted, yet that appearance had completely vanished.
It was astonishing that a person could change so drastically in only a few hours.
'Did she secretly absorb his vital energy or something?'
'His name was Silence, right? That guy's going to be completely wrapped around her finger.'
'She's left him alone for months. Let him suffer a little.'
While the Student Council members hid such thoughts and congratulated Raina on finally bearing fruit, Irie's reaction was somewhat subdued.
She, too, clapped with a smile and blessed the couple, but her mind was filled with entirely different thoughts.
Those thoughts were...
'...I'm so jealous!'
Jealous.
Jealous.
Jealous.
How enviable it was to be able to end up with the person you loved.
Rejecting the rejection of her confession, boldly stealing his lips, and forcing the relationship to begin.
It was so very Raina.
And yet, Irie couldn't help thinking it was incredibly cool.
For a brief moment, she imagined it.
She imagined herself boldly confessing to Aaron just like Raina had.
Then, when Aaron rejected her, she would pounce on him, steal his lips, and force him to accept her confession.
Whoooosh—!
At that very moment, Irie's face turned bright red.
Blood rushed to her head so fiercely that even her ears felt like they were burning.
“Hm? President, what's wrong?”
“Huh? N-No! I-I'm f-fine!”
At the question from the head of the Science and Technology Department, Irie frantically waved both hands and awkwardly brushed it off.
Her skin was naturally so fair that even the slightest blush stood out immediately.
Well, anyway.
Thanks to her senior from the Science and Technology Department, Irie snapped out of her fantasy almost instantly.
Instead, resignation filled her heart.
'There's no way I could ever do something like that...'
To begin with, something like that was only possible because it was Raina and Silence.
They weren't far apart in age, and they were both students.
There was nothing strange about them dating.
On the other hand, her own situation was unimaginably difficult.
Not only was there more than a five-year age gap between her and Aaron, but the difference in status between a scholarship student and her sponsor was also enormous.
Unlike the Silence-Raina couple, if the two of them ever started dating, it would become front-page news.
'No... front-page news would actually be the best-case scenario.'
If things went badly, rumors like, "Chairman Aaron Stingray laid his hands on the female student he was sponsoring!" might spread everywhere.
No matter how much they insisted that they genuinely loved each other, no one would believe them.
'There are far too many obstacles to overcome...'
The bigger problem was that the possibility of even reaching that stage was practically zero.
No matter how she looked at it, Chairman Aaron seemed to have absolutely no romantic interest in her.
On top of that, because of what had happened with her older brother last week, she still couldn't even properly face Aaron.
Every time she saw his face, those memories came flooding back, making her chest tighten so much that she couldn't even hold a proper conversation.
'Instead of making progress, I've actually gone backwards...'
Sigh.
Irie became overwhelmingly depressed.
Still, if there was at least one hopeful thing...
It was that the "difference in status" had shrunk considerably.
Learning that she was actually the daughter of the Everheart Couple had shocked her immensely.
Yet, deep within the most hidden corner of her heart...
Just a little...
She had been happy.
After all, it meant that the stigma of being "from the Fallen Sector," which had shackled her for so long, had finally been removed.
She still wasn't mentally prepared to reveal the truth to the public.
Even so, simply knowing the truth had allowed her to stand a little taller.
There was an impossible gap between "the eldest son of the Stingray Conglomerate" and "a female Academy student from the Fallen Sector."
But if she were "the only daughter of a famous former actor couple," then the story became a little different.
In a way...
Just a tiny bit...
So little it was practically invisible...
Perhaps the situation had improved, if only slightly.
'That's right. Think positively. I've already narrowed that impossible gap in status considerably... so now all that's left is figuring out how to win his heart...!'
In other words...
How could she capture that man's heart?
...
......
.........
...Yeah.
I've got nothing.
If only something—anything—would happen to give me an opportunity.
“Haah...”
Today as well, Irie's sighs only continued to increase.
“Miyu.”
“Waaah! Mr. Aarooon!!”
I visited Miyu's laboratory for the first time in quite a while.
The moment she saw me, she sprang up from her desk and came running over like an excited puppy.
She was so adorable that I naturally rested a hand on the top of her head—it barely reached my waist—and gently patted it.
'It feels like I've gained a little sister.'
My real little sister was desperately trying to drive me out, while this tiny girl who resembled me came running over with such a bright smile.
How could she not be adorable?
I was seriously tempted to throw Kallia aside and make this girl the next Stingray Chairman instead.
“Have you been well?”
“Of course!”
The moment she answered energetically, Miyu immediately launched into another one of her endless monologues.
We had barely exchanged a few words before she had once again disappeared into her own world.
“YesterdayIreadanewresearchpaper,anditwasaboutthestabilityoftheMysticEssenceconversionprocess,youknow?Thecontentwassorevolutionarythattheacademiccommunityhasbeenmakingahugefussaboutit,sotodayalltheprofessorswenttotheconferencefordebatesandtogatherinformation,andthisafternoonwe'restartingverificationexperiments,andthemethodthey'reusingissoincrediblyinteresting!First,weextracttheessencefromthemoststructurallystablelowerMysticrace,andthen...”
Yep.
I'd missed this.
Perhaps because everything she'd accumulated over the past month had burst out all at once, Miyu chattered away nonstop again.
From Miyu's perspective, she was using the simplest words she could so that I would understand.
Unfortunately for her, despite all that consideration, I couldn't understand a single word.
Still, I didn't find it annoying.
So I quietly listened to her for a full twenty minutes.
Only then did Miyu finally calm down, come to her senses, and apologize.
“A-Ah! I-I'm sorry! I did it again...!”
“It's fine. I'm glad you look happy. Did anything happen while I was away?”
“No. Lately, I've been eating with the professors every day, and I think they're trying to make arrangements so I can graduate early.”
“Do you want to graduate early?”
“...Mm. No.”
Miyu shook her head.
“If I graduate, it'll become hard to see Irie, Mr. Silence, and Ms. Raina too, won't it? I don't want to end up all by myself.”
“I see.”
I'd asked her something similar before, but it seemed Miyu's feelings hadn't changed.
From the looks of it, she had now completely adapted to life at the Academy and had become the professors' favorite.
There no longer seemed to be any need to worry that she'd be isolated again like she had been during her first year, or that she'd get hurt and lock herself away in her room again.
That was truly a relief.
'...Good.'
Now that I'd confirmed Miyu was doing well, it was time to get to the main topic.
“Miyu, have you checked on Guardian's condition?”
“Guardian... Ah, you mean the first-year student who recently enrolled as a Special Scholarship Student? Yes, I checked.”
While I had been dealing with the Mafia in Sector E, Evangeline and Guardian had begun receiving protection from the Stingray Foundation.
Using my authority, I had transferred Guardian into the Academy as a first-year freshman.
Then, immediately after I returned, I asked Miyu to examine his modules.
The inspection results had been ready for quite some time.
I was only now coming to see them.
“One moment. I'll bring up the results.”
As though she'd been waiting for me to ask, Miyu immediately operated her tablet and projected a hologram.
Guardian's Biometric Monitor data filled the room.
Soon, Miyu began her explanation.
“Guardian became an Adaptee by installing custom firmware on the Stingray-produced nanomachines, 'Adam.' In other words, they're not calibrated to his personal biological specifications at all.”
“What does that mean?”
“Hmm... Think of it like installing a pirated operating system on a computer. Well... the product itself is genuine, but since no CD key was entered, it isn't officially recognized. So he can't receive any official support services from headquarters.”
That analogy made it much easier to understand.
“So?”
“Because of that, there are problems installing most modern modules. Even if he equips Lv.3 or higher Military-Grade Arcane Modules, they'll probably only operate at about 50% of their intended performance.”
“And the solution?”
“Just like we did for you, Mr. Aaron, we can replace them with the nanomachines I developed—'Pandora.' If you give me permission, I can prepare enough nanomachine ampoules for one person within a week.”
“Good. Then go ahead with that.”
“Yes!”
“Anything else to report?”
“Ah! I forgot to mention his mana!”
Miyu operated the tablet again.
A holographic image showing Guardian's internal body immediately appeared.
“There was a strange mana reaction near Guardian's heart. Evangeline insisted it was 'Dragon Magic,' but that's impossible. I think it's probably...”
“No. She's right.”
“Eh...?”
Miyu's expression instantly froze.
“What's wrong?”
“W-Well...”
“Go on.”
“I-I told her that if something like a Dragon had entered the city, the city would've already been destroyed. So... we ended up arguing pretty loudly over whether it was possible or not...”
“...”
Miyu.
I knew you weren't even twenty years old yet.
But you were still a second-year university student.
Maybe stop getting into arguments with an elementary school first-grader?
The words nearly escaped my mouth before I swallowed them back down.
Then again, Evangeline was actually much older.
Even if she still looked like an elementary school kid.
No.
That wasn't the important part.
“...So, what did you do?”
“F-First, after the examination, I attached sensors to monitor the reaction in real time. Then... about a week ago, the reaction disappeared completely.”
“A week ago.”
That was when I defeated the Dragon.
That must have been the trigger.
“So he's fine now?”
“...No.”
Miyu's expression stiffened slightly.
“It's actually a rather dangerous situation.”