Unedited
“Even though I did say we should break up, sniff, being dumped like that, hnng, is just too much!”
Brie leaned into me, and I instinctively patted her back. Ever since we ran into each other in the hallway before the healing magic exam, I had sensed something was off because she was in a trance. But I never imagined it was because of Walsh.
Despite her ‘promise’ with Anais, I had no expectations that Bree would cut off Walsh at all. I was just thinking that if they had an argument and she got all sulky, I’d grow my fake beard back to make her laugh, because I didn’t think there was any way to break them up without me pretending to be a fake prophet.
It seems that Anais’ influence on Brianna was greater than I thought. ‘There are many things in the world that don’t require you to take action.’ Kyle’s voice echoed in my head.
Due to Brianna’s unexpected ability to act decisively, a gathering to celebrate the end of exams suddenly transformed into a gathering to celebrate the escape of Walsh’s girlfriend. We ordered cookies and cakes as if we were raiding the small coffee shop and chatted non-stop about our plans during the vacation.
Elizabeth McCarthy was going to have the busiest and most rewarding vacation of all of us. For the past two weeks, instead of reading textbooks on political science or ancient magic and mythology, she has been reading “Mine Development! Everything You Need to Know,” and took the exams that way. ‘As soon as I get my report card, I’m going to burn it.’ Liz said calmly.
Kelly Ramirez was planning to enjoy her vacation in the fiery canyons in the Heman Desert. I wouldn’t have chosen a ‘fiery’ place for a vacation, but after hearing the explanation, it seemed like a fantastic place. It’s true that it’s hot during the day, but at night, it’s so cold that your breath would be visible.
“If you’re really lucky, you might even see the Northern Lights.”
Kelly bragged. I envisioned the aurora borealis twinkling over the sheer cliffs and understood why it was called the Fiery Canyon.
Over the course of our two-month vacation, the Dalton’s were in Milua less than half the time. I would probably spend most of my vacation at the Villard mansion. That is, if Kyle apologized for the shit he’d done to me.
Otherwise, I was prepared to experience the most boring vacation I could experience. Actually, it might not be that boring. Jaden also said he would come to visit and play, not to mention I also had my cat, Lilu, whose charm I will never get tired of.
Suddenly, I sensed Brianna Mosley had become unusually quiet. If you think about it, it was obvious that her vacation at Fitzsimmons would be more boring than my vacation or anyone else’s vacation.
In Florence Belle’s world, my roommate’s cheeks were as red as the pink crayon she was using to color Adam Willie’s butt. I suggested a trip to Milua for Brianna, who was nibbling on a dozen strawberries the size of her fingernails.
Bree pursed her lips as if she didn’t like the idea, but then burst into tears. She cried much louder than when she confessed her broken heart. I felt oddly pleased.
***
I was stuffing spring and summer clothes into two suitcases for the 10th time, but I still found it difficult. Also, the dresses were all bulky; some even had rattan frames, and I couldn’t figure out how to fold them neatly. How did I manage to do this before?
While I was stroking my barely smooth chin and pondering my memory, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
I simply drew a magic circle that involves twisting a doorknob to open it. It seemed that the Milua entry permit that Brianna had been waiting so desperately for had finally arrived after tormenting the flying squirrels in the aviary.
“Ariel.”
I heard the sound of shoes hitting the soft carpet a couple of times, and finally my name was called. It wasn’t my roommate’s voice. Without turning around, I threw the tunic I was holding into my bag. It was crumpled into a mess.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Villard, but as you can see, I’m busy packing right now. Can we talk another time?”
Kyle roughly muttered a spell and stuffed my spring clothes into a brown suitcase and my summer clothes into a yellow suitcase. The lid closed violently. I wanted to throw a temper tantrum, but I couldn’t bring myself to try to organize them again. I crossed my arms and glared at Kyle.
“I’ve been thinking about it. I think it’s okay, your ‘plan’.”
“What?”
“That you’re going to take Rosemary Blossom’s place. I can’t think of a better way to damage the system than to threaten the main character, and besides…”
“I assume you have something to say before that?”
We only had one thing in common: love for pranks, but our personalities didn’t match, so we used to clash frequently. Usually, it was me who was in the position to apologize, and Kyle, who had his arms crossed. Maybe that’s why it seemed unfamiliar for him to be in a situation where he needed to apologize.
Or maybe it was because what he did wasn’t some minor prank. I dated Walsh for three years, but we only got to do a lover’s hug (the kind where you touch each other’s back) rather than a friend’s hug. It was because I had a general fantasy about my first kiss. Of course, a forced kiss couldn’t be a fantasy.
“…I’m sorry”
“And?”
“I was wrong.”
“So?”
“I won’t do that again. I will never act against your will again. I won’t dare… I-I won’t dare put my feelings over yours again.”
Kyle’s expression was miserable. He looked like he wanted to cry, but he held it in, probably because he knew I would get angry if he cried in this situation.
“So, please don’t hate me.”
Suddenly, it occurred to me that I had no idea why he was hanging onto me so desperately. My mom said that when her eyes met dad’s, she smiled and thought it was love… The Duke of Spencer’s definition of love was ‘Ham’s Song’… Bree stayed up all night studying a subject she doesn’t even take… and Liz put her own future at stake.
But none of them faced fate for so long that I didn’t want to know. My breath caught in my throat.
“Forget the ‘plan,’ I don’t really like it either.”
I lowered my eyes and shook my head. Aside from being too harsh on Kyle, who took on the role of helper, my replacing Blossom meant that I had to intervene in the fate of the target. I didn’t want to manipulate their emotions like Blossom did.
“Well, if the price of being dabbled by a temporary charm spell was freedom, I suppose I should be grateful.”
Even with Kyle’s persuasion, I still wasn’t convinced. From the beginning, when someone confessed their love to me, I didn’t want to be in a relationship where I had to worry about whether it was because I was genuinely lovable or because I flicked their switch. Even if there was some noble purpose there, it made no difference.
But there wasn’t exactly another way. I fell into a deep sense of helplessness.
“Let’s just think about it until August. There’s no big ‘events’ happening during the vacation anyway.”
After finally receiving a positive response, Kyle brightened considerably. He held out his hand.
“So, we’re good? You and me.”
“Yeah.”
We shook hands like adults. But after that, doesn’t everything suddenly feel awkward? As soon as we let go of our joined hands, I pushed Kyle away and closed the door.
Then, a shawl that had been hidden behind his back rolled into view. I opened the brown suitcase. Then a dress popped out, as if it had been waiting for this moment, and I pushed it back down irritably. Somehow, my nose started to tingle.
***
Kyle Villard was the embodiment of an imp who would do one more prank even if the academy was destroyed tomorrow. And what should I hide? I wasn’t really that different from him.
Tomorrow wasn’t the last day of the academy, but it was the last day of the first semester of our 5th grade. So we agreed to pull one more prank.
Coincidentally, Rosemary Blossom’s birthday was today. She was the only student at Fitzsimmons to have a banquet on her birthday.
Ariel Dalton and Kyle Villard, however, were the only students who could crash the banquet. This year, Dalton Guild also brought in dwarven-made hard liquor to be used in the non-alcoholic punch.
As expected, Bryce Nadon rented a huge magic ship. For some reason, it seemed grander than I remembered, so I quietly asked Kyle about it. Then he said that it might have been influenced by the magic ship Brenna had used to propose. After all, there should be a grand difference between a prince’s rented magic ship and a son of a baron’s, right?
The timing was perfect, so Madame Bartlett, head of the academy, gave her end-of-semester speech from the deck of the magic ship instead of from the podium in the auditorium.
I uncorked the bottle as she said, “Don’t let vacation get you off the hook, but maintain the dignity of a Fitzsimmons student.’ The cheerful sound of a cork popping away was masked by Kyle’s unnaturally loud sneeze.
At a typical banquet, there would have been glass bowls filled with punch here and there, but the youngest prince of Nadon, who was known for spending money, never treated guests in a sloppy manner.
He had a punch waterfall overflowing with apples, pineapples, and melons on the main deck of the magic ship, and to me, this was good news. The area to attack was reduced to one place.
There was no way Professor Houston and Professor Humphreys didn’t know what I knew. Thus, they never moved away from the vicinity of the punch waterfall.
Professor Houston, in particular, looked like someone who had been put under a spell and was made into a statue—well, at least until he got caught in the sails by a group of second graders who tried to make his shoes dance with magic.
“It won’t be easy for you, right?”
Brennan mumbled as he nibbled only on the cheese among the olives and cheese on a stick. Then Elizabeth backed away from him a little, as if she were offended. She then whispered to me.
“Are picky eating habits inherited?”
“Honey, I can hear everything.”
Brennan’s expression did not look good as he reluctantly chewed and swallowed the olive. I walked slowly and escaped from the brewing crisis of lovers. Kelly, who was flirting with my roommate, waved her hand from afar.
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