Chapter 30: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

 Chapter 30

"Hello..."

Scarlet greeted in a small voice.

Sylvia responded to that greeting with the mechanical smile she had always worn since childhood, treating Scarlet like a stranger.

Sylvia saw Yoon Si-woo entering through the door.

However, the heart that once fluttered happily at the sight of him now felt nothing.

It felt as if her chest had frozen over with cold, dead emotions.

It would have been better if she had never felt such emotions at all.

The loss of something once known felt even greater.

Although she had broken free from the cage called Astra, she was still lonely.

This made her a little sad, but despite the numerous educations she received to become Astra's successor, Sylvia had never learned how to alleviate such sadness.

She only knew how to hide that sadness behind a noble-looking mask, just as she had always done.

During lunch, Sylvia sat next to Yoon Si-woo to eat, but it couldn't be said that they were eating together.

Though she didn't make any effort to match his eating pace, it was still a lonely meal.

When Yoon Si-woo finished eating first and got up, she continued eating slowly without looking back.

Thinking that maybe eating something sweet would improve her mood, she considered going to the convenience store after finishing her meal. Then she saw Scarlet, hesitatingly standing with macarons in hand.

Suppressing the urge to bite her lips, Sylvia spoke firmly to Scarlet, who was holding out the macarons.

"As I said yesterday, you don't need to buy these for me anymore. We are nothing to each other now, right?"

We are nothing to each other now.

Sylvia kept repeating that to herself to avoid showing any disturbance to Scarlet, who could read her emotions so uncannily well.

*

The next day, when she arrived at school, Scarlet was smiling from the morning.

Seeing Scarlet, who was almost always expressionless, smiling made Sylvia feel complicated.

When she had said they were no longer friends, she had worried she had hurt Scarlet, judging by her distorted expression. But seeing her smile now was a bit of a relief.

However, at the same time, Sylvia felt a pang of disappointment, thinking she wasn't that important to Scarlet after all.

It was ridiculous to feel disappointed after being the one to reject her, yet she felt it nonetheless.

During sparring class, Sylvia ruthlessly overpowered her opponent and quietly watched the other students' duels after returning to her seat.

"Miss Evande's opponent is Mr. Si-woo! Show us a splendid match worthy of 200 points!"

With Eve's announcement, the students' attention focused.

Sylvia also watched the two who stepped forward for the duel.

It was then she noticed something strange.

Scarlet's expression, as she prepared for the duel, was the same as the one she had seen in the morning.

An unnatural look that hadn't changed at all.

And shortly after the duel began, Sylvia's suspicion turned into certainty.

Scarlet, as if distracted by something else, tried to block the sword with her hand.

Blood splattered from her hand as the sword struck.

Sylvia was shocked to see Scarlet's face, covered in blood splatter, unchanged.

It was a mask-like face, showing no pain.

Sylvia felt that Scarlet was hiding something behind that mask, just as she always presented herself with a noble facade.

If what Scarlet was hiding was something so troubling that the pain of the wound didn't matter, something that confused her so much she tried to block the sword with her hand—

Then everything would make sense.

A memory flashed in Sylvia's mind.

The moment when Scarlet, whose face had remained unchanged despite her injured hand, looked utterly shocked at her.

'Maybe because of what I said...'

Sylvia tasted blood from her lips, bitten unknowingly.

She grimaced at the delayed pain and then twisted her face at the following emotions.

How much pain had she inflicted on Scarlet, that she showed no expression despite such an injury?

What had she done...

Scarlet returned from the infirmary with her hand bandaged, back to her usual expressionless face, but Sylvia's heart remained in turmoil.

*

Sunday.

Though it was a holiday, as Astra's successor, wasting time resting wasn't allowed.

Combat training continued on holidays, following the family elders' words that training must not be neglected just because she had entered Aegis Academy.

However, Sylvia found it hard to focus that day.

One of the most important aspects of elemental magic is mental concentration.

But how could she concentrate when her mind was filled with turmoil?

Sylvia sighed.

If the family elders saw her, they'd scold her for her lack of grace.

Fortunately, no one was around to say anything, but her frustration remained.

Stopping her training to calm her troubled mind, Sylvia heard her phone ringing in the distance.

Normally, she would set it to silent during training, but in her distracted state, she had forgotten.

Picking up the phone, she saw that it was Leonor Lionelle.

Though they had known each other since childhood, they only occasionally checked in with each other, so Sylvia wondered what the call was about.

"Sylvia Astra speaking. What is it?"

[Ah, miss. Um...how have you been?]

"I have no major issues, but may I ask why you called?"

Sylvia paused at the question about her well-being, then brushed it off and asked the purpose of the call.

Unlike others, Leonor usually spoke straightforwardly, so it was odd for him to seem hesitant.

[Well, you know. The girl who was with me in the infirmary last time, your classmate?]

"...Are you talking about Miss Scarlet?"

Her mind in turmoil, Sylvia was momentarily taken aback when the conversation suddenly shifted to the person troubling her.

As soon as Sylvia mentioned Scarlet's name, Leonor cautiously continued.

[Yeah, that's right. Um... you know, that girl. It seems like she really wants to be friends with you. From what I've seen, she seems like a genuinely kind and good person, and I think it would be great if you two became friends...]

Leonor spoke hesitantly, as if embarrassed.

It sounded as though Scarlet had asked him to put in a good word for her, but knowing Leonor, he wouldn't say this unless he genuinely meant it.

[It must be surprising to get a call like this out of the blue, but I just wanted to let you know. Please talk to her tomorrow... Ah, this is embarrassing. Sorry, miss. Have a great weekend!]

With that, the call abruptly ended.

Leonor must have been impressed by Scarlet to the point of making such an awkward call on her behalf.

A kind and good person.

Just as Leonor described, Scarlet must indeed be such a person.

And Sylvia, who had hurt such a person, had done something wrong.

Taking a deep breath, Sylvia resolved to apologize to Scarlet the next day.

She decided that she would accept any reaction from Scarlet, even if it meant being cursed at or slapped.

For the first time, her troubled mind felt a bit calmer.

*

When Sylvia opened the classroom door, she saw Scarlet sitting at her desk.

Sitting down at her own desk, Sylvia's mind was a flurry of thoughts on how to start the conversation.

Caught up in her thoughts, the class began, and before she knew it, it was lunchtime.

After finishing her meal in the cafeteria, Sylvia stepped outside the building to a quiet spot, hoping to clear her head. She closed her eyes and sighed.

Her mind was overwhelmed with thoughts, causing a headache.

She wanted a macaron.

And as if by magic, Scarlet was standing before her, holding out something in silence.

Surprised, Sylvia spoke with her eyes tightly shut.

"I told you, you don't need to buy these anymore."

She took a deep breath after speaking.

This wasn't what she wanted to say.

She wanted to apologize...

"They're not store-bought..."

The voice that came was soft, breaking her thoughts.

Sylvia slowly opened her eyes.

In Scarlet's trembling hands was a neatly wrapped package.

Sylvia stared at it blankly.

"They're homemade..."

Scarlet unwrapped the package to reveal the macarons inside.

Each macaron was uneven in size and shape, clearly not store-bought.

Sylvia's voice shook as she asked,

"You made these?"

Scarlet nodded.

"For me?"

Scarlet nodded more vigorously this time.

Sylvia noticed the bandage on Scarlet's hand, stained with a bit of blood, indicating that the wound hadn't fully healed.

Despite the injury, Scarlet had made the effort to prepare these macarons for her.

Sylvia, who had done nothing but hurt Scarlet, felt a pang of guilt.

"Why... why would you do so much for me?"

Her voice trembled as she spoke, and Scarlet quietly replied,

"Because I want to be friends."

Hearing this, Sylvia slowly reached out her hand.

Carefully, she took the macarons from Scarlet, fearing they might crumble.

She began to speak, her words pouring out,

"I'm sorry. I've been jealous and mean..."

Scarlet listened quietly as Sylvia continued.

"I said I never considered you a friend and hurt you..."

Sylvia had thought Scarlet would never reciprocate her feelings, which led to her jealousy.

Realizing the pain she had caused, she thought she shouldn't become friends with Scarlet.

Today, she had planned to apologize and accept whatever reaction Scarlet had.

"I'm selfish and have a terrible personality, but..."

Sylvia couldn't give up on someone who had approached her sincerely, without any ulterior motives.

However, she wasn't used to forming such genuine relationships.

"Will you be my friend?"

She echoed the words Scarlet had once said to her.

And despite the seemingly foolish request, Scarlet smiled and nodded.

The warm spring breeze felt gentle.

It was warm enough to melt away the frozen emotions.

If she stayed still, she felt like something melted would flow down her face.

Sylvia smiled brightly.

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