Ch. 127
Volume 2
Chapter 51 : Invitation
Looking at the blond youth who seemed to shine into the room like sunlight itself, Aemon was dazed for a moment.
“Young Master… Muen?”
“What is it? Were you surprised to see me? Or…”
Muen thought for a moment, then joked:
“Are you blaming me for not coming to see you for so long?”
“…”
“Forgive me. I really could not find the time this past month. Besides, before the results came out, coming to see you really would have felt a little inappropriate.”
Muen walked over and set the fruit he had bought on the table nearby.
“Although I would like to peel an apple for you, I feel like that would be a little too intimate between two men, so you should take care of yourself and do it on your own.”
“…”
“Hm? Why have you been keeping your head down without saying anything?”
Muen sat down in the chair and looked at the silent Aemon with his lowered head, teasing him with a smile:
“Do not tell me you are so moved that you are crying. I may be handsome and charming, but do not fall in love with me. We are limited to friendship.”
“Young Master Muen…”
Aemon suddenly spoke, his voice low and thick with tears.
“Hmm?”
“Why did you come to see me?”
“Why? Is it not perfectly normal to visit a friend?”
“But I…”
Aemon suddenly raised his head, and the remorse and self-reproach in his eyes came surging out.
“But I…”
“All right.”
As though he already knew what Aemon was about to say, Muen reached out, patted him on the shoulder, and interrupted him.
“I am not going to care about something like that. That was not your true intention, was it?”
As he spoke, Muen smiled again.
“I do not have much time for this visit, so let us not talk about such heavy things.”
“…”
Aemon stared blankly at the blond youth before him, who was exactly the same as he had remembered, yet completely different. In that instant, all the regret, self-blame, and dark emotions that had built up in his eyes over the past month seemed, under the gentle gaze of those sapphire-blue eyes, to melt away little by little like ice and snow beneath the sun.
“Mm.”
…
“How has the food been?”
“Pretty good.”
“And how are you sleeping?”
“Not bad.”
“Are the nurse ladies pretty?”
“…They are.”
“What about your family?”
“They sent me a letter. They said they had misunderstood me and have restored relations with me. They even named me the first heir as compensation.”
“In the end, families always put benefits first. You cannot trust them too much. No matter what happens, you still have to rely on yourself more.”
“I know.”
In the mild afternoon light, the two of them chatted idly, one sentence here and another there.
That continued until a doctor entered the room wearing an unfriendly expression and pointed at the time for Muen.
“Haha, then I should be going.”
Muen gave an awkward laugh, having lost track of time without realizing it, and then took his leave.
“Then goodbye, Aemon.”
“Mm.”
Aemon nodded, looking somewhat uneasy and restrained.
It was only when Muen was about to leave the room that he finally seemed to gather his courage and said:
“Goodbye, Muen.”
Muen did not turn around.
He only paused for a moment, then his steps grew even lighter.
…
…
“What should I do next?”
After leaving the hospital room, Muen stretched lazily in his good mood and glanced at the gloomy sky.
“It looks like it is going to rain.”
That was a little bad.
Tomorrow was Open Day.
And the day after tomorrow was the day he was supposed to go on a date with his senior—no, not a date, the day he was supposed to repay her kindness.
If the rain lasted too long, that would be far from ideal.
“How about spending some money to hire a great mage to drive the rain away?”
Muen stroked his chin and considered it seriously.
Judging from the practical side of things, it was feasible.
Driving off a raincloud was something any mage above the Secret Rite rank could do.
But this was Belland, the imperial capital.
If he did something that disturbed the weather here, there was a good chance he would be arrested for endangering the imperial capital.
Even as the Duke’s son, he could not behave recklessly in a place like this.
“Forget it. I will deal with it when the time comes.”
Muen quickly let it go and started walking back toward the dormitory.
This matter of the date was pressing.
He had to plan ahead properly.
“Student Muen?”
But after only a few steps, Muen was stopped once again by a familiar voice.
“It is Student Sherry.”
Muen turned around and looked in the direction the voice had come from.
And then those familiar twin braids and those oversized black-rimmed glasses came into view once more.
Sherry Flander, the girl who had once had a small misunderstanding with him.
“What a coincidence. You came here too…”
Muen had almost said it casually, but he immediately caught himself and swallowed the word hospital.
You came to the hospital too—no matter how one thought about it, saying something like that out loud was just asking to be beaten.
“Did you need something from me?” Muen blinked and asked with a smile.
“N-no, not really. We just happened to run into each other.”
Sherry pushed up her large black-rimmed glasses, her cheeks faintly red.
“Actually, I just wanted to ask whether the cake I made last time tasted good.”
“The cake? What cake…”
Muen asked instinctively, but then his expression froze at once.
The cake!
The cake Student Sherry had given him before!
He had thrown the whole thing away while fighting Aemon.
He had not eaten a single piece!
“Hm? The cake I gave you before, of course.”
Sherry tilted her head, looking puzzled.
“Did you not eat it, Student Muen?”
“I did. I ate it!”
Muen declared at once.
“I ate every last piece!”
What a joke.
If he admitted at a time like this that he had thrown the cake away, then by the next day the academy would probably be flooded with rumors that he had toyed with a young girl’s sincere feelings.
And the worst part was that he would have no way to refute them.
“I see.”
Sherry revealed a shy smile.
“Then… What did you think of the cake, Student Muen?”
“It was absolutely delicious!”
“Eh? That was instant!”
Sherry scratched her cheek and said in distress:
“Actually, I was hoping Student Muen would think about it carefully and then give me a more precise answer, like the texture and the sweetness…”
“This is the result of careful thought!”
Muen looked straight into Sherry’s eyes and said seriously:
“Your cake was so good that I simply could not name a single flaw!”
That was the truth.
Because Muen really could not name a single flaw.
“R-really?”
Faced with Muen’s sincere praise, Sherry’s face instantly turned bright red. For a moment, Muen even had the illusion that wisps of steam were rising from the top of her head.
“Student Muen saying things like that… no matter how you put it… is a little too much…”
“No, it is just that you do not have enough confidence in yourself, Student Sherry. You have to believe in your cake. Believe that it is the very best!”
“I-is that so?”
After being praised so thoroughly by Muen, Sherry immediately became dizzy with happiness, to the point that even her speech grew clumsy.
Seeing that, Muen prepared to slip away as quickly as possible.
If they kept talking, it would not end well if the young girl noticed something was off.
“Do you need anything else, Student Sherry? If not…”
“There is one more thing!”
“Hmm?”
“Well…”
It seemed to be something difficult for her to say.
Sherry lowered her head, tightly clutching the hem of her skirt with both hands.
She hesitated for a long while before finally speaking haltingly:
“A-actually, after I went back and thought about it carefully, I realized that apologizing with something as cheap as a cake still seemed a little too rude for someone of Student Muen’s status. I feel like I need to use something more important to show my sincerity. S-so… I was wondering whether Student Muen might have time on Open Day?”