Turning time back a little, we return to the moment when Rudion was swept away by the magic explosion and lost consciousness.
Boom!
Rudion, flying helplessly, crashes into a tree.
Seria and Alkine, unable to comprehend the situation for a moment, stared at him blankly.
Only after seeing Rudion collapse to the ground, unconscious, did they snap back to their senses.
“Rudion?!”
“Seria! What on earth did you do?!”
“I don’t know! I was keeping him stable for sure…”
Flustered, Alkine, perhaps mistaking the explosion for Seria’s fault, started questioning her, but Seria only looked at her with an expression that said she truly didn’t know.
In reality, Seria wasn’t at fault. Skilled in magic manipulation, she maintained the magic orb in a very precise and safe manner, so the likelihood of it exploding was virtually nonexistent.
But what about the situation now? What was thought to be safe suddenly twisted, and before they could react, it exploded.
Fortunately, the magic contained in the orb wasn’t large, so the explosion’s power was also small, but that didn’t change the fact that Rudion was sent flying by her magic.
“What have I done…”
“C- Calm down. Checking his condition is the priority.”
Was it really something to be this worried about? The two of them slowly approached the collapsed Rudion, their faces pale.
They could hear his quiet breathing, realizing he had merely fainted.
With that realization, both of them sighed in relief.
“Worrying about people… You’re really funny.”
“…Wasn’t this caused by your magic explosion?”
“What? This happened because Rudion triggered it. It’s not my fault.”
Just a moment ago, she had looked like her world was collapsing and was about to blame herself, but now, with the safety confirmed, Seria casually said this.
But when they looked closely, her hands were still trembling.
Alkine couldn’t help but smile faintly.
‘There’s a reason they’ve been together all this time.’
Whether they were always similar from the start or became similar because they were always together, she couldn’t help but notice.
Worrying more than anyone else, but acting like she didn’t care— it was so similar to that man.
How did she know even though they hadn’t known each other long? After receiving his help several times, whether she liked it or not, she understood.
She understood that he, despite acting calm, was haunted by the obsession that he couldn’t fail.
But because he hadn’t failed so far, it just appeared fine.
…How much effort did he put in to maintain that calm?
And why was she involved in that effort?
‘Damn it. It’s happening again.’
She felt the strong urge to hold onto something intensely.
It was the same as before, but now that Rudion was lying unconscious before her, that feeling was even stronger.
She tried to calm herself by clenching her fist, but it was no use.
Maybe she noticed her state. Seria approached her with a cold look.
…It was a familiar look. She had seen how Seria treated those trying to approach Rudion.
She hadn’t expected that look to turn toward her, but… well, she couldn’t say she hadn’t anticipated it.
In the end, it seemed she too had developed those feelings.
“Alkine, I’ll ask you one thing.”
“What is it?”
“You like Rudion, don’t you?”
“…”
She couldn’t answer. But that in itself was the answer.
Seria let out a deep sigh as she looked at Alkine, who stood silently.
But at the same time, she wore an expression as if saying ‘I knew this was coming.’
Seria was the first to speak to Alkine, who hadn’t said anything.
“…Well, good. Since this happened, let’s talk about what we were going to talk about here.”
“I didn’t expect to get time like this.”
“Did you think I would know?”
Seria’s behavior and tone were chilling.
She seemed to try to act as usual, but she was clearly bad at hiding her emotions.
There was nothing to be done about it. She too hadn’t relaxed her fist yet.
She just… hoped it could be resolved with a conversation.
First, they decided to properly lay Rudion down, who had been lying on the ground.
They could have just left him, but he kept catching their eye, and she couldn’t just leave him like that.
“Alkine, could you hold him? Also, support his head a little.”
But something was odd. Normally, Seria would have taken charge and arranged things, but she stepped aside instead.
When Alkine looked at her with a puzzled expression, she subtly avoided eye contact and quietly explained her reasoning.
“I’m still too embarrassed to look at his face.”
“Haah.”
She acted like she had dismissed it, but it seemed she still felt it was her fault.
Of course, she knew. Rudion wasn’t the type to blame others for things like this.
But still, feeling uncomfortable was something she couldn’t avoid.
Did she know? Later, Seria would end up doing something insane because of this. She wanted to feel reassured by seeing Rudion’s usual reaction.
If there was any selfishness involved, it would be a lie, but that was definitely the biggest reason.
In any case, it was Alkine who ended up supporting Rudion’s head.
Seria, while giving Alkine a cold stare, didn’t dare to move closer.
Alkine smiled lightly as she looked at Seria, then suddenly lowered her head, feeling a sensation on her knee.
She could see Rudion’s face resting on her knee.
‘…Ah, this is quite…?
His face, oddly beautiful for his size, now revealed traces of youth that hadn’t been visible from the usual angle. Seeing it from a completely different view, she felt something new.
‘He looked so dependable before, but now, seeing him like this, he’s just a regular boy.’
He had felt so distant before. But seeing him like this, maybe he wasn’t so far away after all.
After all, he fainted from such a small explosion.
‘Wait, come to think of it… it’s strange that he fainted from that explosion.’
It was a level of magic typically used by mid-level second-year students.
Even if it was sudden, it was odd that someone who wasn’t even a magician would faint from it.
‘That means…’
In fact, he might not be as strong as he seems.
He might just look strong because he pushes his abilities to their limits.
‘No, is that what makes him strong?’
I don’t know. A lot of thoughts keep coming, but they just don’t come together.
Forget it. What’s important is that he saved me, and that was possible because he was strong.
‘Still… shouldn’t I be of help too?’
No one is perfect, but for someone to faint from an explosion like that…
I feel like I could be of some help by his side.
I want to protect him so he doesn’t get hurt.
…I want to be by his side.
‘Am I crazy?’
[Current Affection: 17/100]
[3 steps to the next reward.]
Since I saw that strange message, I had an inkling, but actually feeling my heart race was something else.
I can’t deny it now. What I feel is definitely affection.
Realizing that, his face, which had seemed so different, now looks different again.
This is really…
“Wait a minute. I didn’t tell you to stare at me like that. Why are you patting my head?”
“Ah. Sorry.”
I quickly withdrew my hand, which had moved without me realizing.
Seeing that, Seria frowned for a moment as if she noticed something, then sighed deeply and asked,
“Alkine, you’re already an important person to Rudion, aren’t you? You realize that, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Alkine, it’s the same for you, right?”
“…Yeah.”
I just realized that. It’s a feeling I can’t help.
No matter how much I suppress it, it keeps popping out.
When Seria saw Alkine nodding, she seemed to think for a moment, then spoke up as if making a decision.
“I’ll tell you, even though you probably know. I like Rudion too. I get so flustered every time.”
I knew that.
That was why Alkine couldn’t bring herself to accept the affection system even when she saw it in front of her.
Seria’s feelings were real.
She was already well-known in the academy for openly displaying them, so how could they be fake?
That’s why, if Seria asked me to give up, I would have done so.
“But even though I like Rudion, I’m happy that you’re by his side.”
But everything Seria said was completely confusing.
What does she mean by ‘knowing something’?
What does she mean by ‘someone to believe in’?
All she did was list conditions, and it only made things more confusing.
“Alkine, what do you want right now?”
But when Seria asked that final question, Alkine knew exactly what she wanted.
What she wanted now was…
“I want to have some time alone to talk to Rudion.”
It was the moment to convey her feelings.
Her emotions were still not fully sorted. She didn’t even know how to express them.
But she wanted to try, even if they were messy feelings.
Seria, after hearing Alkine’s words, simply smiled wryly and nodded lightly.