“The summer vacation is over—you’re now officially third-year students!”
Right now, Xiao Jun was happily enjoying her summer break as a second-year student—sofa, air conditioning, icy cola, and cucumber-flavored Lay’s. The feeling was simply blissful, the sort of contentment that no words could express.
“Beep~ beep beep~”
“Hello? Xiao Jun, come out and play! Once third year starts, there won’t be any more chances.”
After hanging up the phone, she headed straight out the door. Boys really are the kind of creatures who just wear whatever they wore at home when going outside—no sense of style at all!
“Hey, which internet café are we going to today…”
Strange looks. Puzzled eyes.
“Are you a cosplayer? Excuse me, who are you?”
“Miss, do you know us?”
Why do you look so shy, as if a beautiful girl is chatting you up? Ugh, just seeing that gives me goosebumps.
“What are you babbling about? I’m your old pal Xiao Jun!”
“Xiao Jun?” “Old Xiao?”
Seeing that they really weren’t faking their expressions, Xiao Jun was annoyed. “Hey, hey, what kind of lousy joke is this?”
“No, miss, isn’t it you who’s joking with us?”
“Yeah, yeah, that guy’s got a delicate face, but even if he cross-dressed, he wouldn’t be as pretty as you, miss.”
“Hahaha!”
What the heck? What are you guys talking about… Wait, my memory… My head hurts a little…
An evening gown, pointed ears, an alluring face of unparalleled beauty, blood-red eyes unlike any human’s.
Huh?
Eh, eh, eh!
“Elika, Elika?”
A soft call made the girl half-open her eyes. The insecure Elika searched for her pillow, fumbling in the darkness for a while, and then suddenly her face was buried in something soft.
“Elika, you really love to snuggle, don’t you?”
“Ugh!” Realizing what her face was pressed against, Elika sat up abruptly, flusteredly waving her hands. “Uuu, I’m sorry, Lady Evelyn!”
“It’s alright.”
She really did end up sleeping with Evelyn… and even— The girl was a little dazed as she looked at Evelyn, who was leaning against the headboard brushing her hair. Elika couldn’t shake the feeling that something was a bit off about this scene…
Elika pulled the quilt up with her small hands, covering everything below her eyes, and suddenly remembered those rumors about them.
She should probably remind Evelyn, just in case.
“…Um, Lady Evelyn. With your wisdom and foresight, I’m sure you understand that it’s best if our relationship isn’t made public.”
“Why?”
“Wouldn’t the commoners and nobles misunderstand? If word got out that you had a concubine like me, it might affect your future marriage prospects…”
“Elika, I told you not to bring that up again, didn’t I?”
At the mention of marriage, Evelyn bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “I’ll decide my marriage for myself.”
“…Sorry.”
Just as expected, bringing up marriage always makes her angry. The plot twists in novels are always unexpected, but it seemed Evelyn really didn’t have much interest in marriage. Actually, it was probably hard for her to even find someone she deemed worthy.
“I won’t get married, so tell Kasim that bastard to stop writing me letters. Just hearing his name makes me sick.”
“I’ll remember that.”
Hearing the name Kasim, an image of a brown-skinned man surfaced in Elika’s mind, only to vanish immediately. That guy was a Prince from a neighboring country, high in the line of succession, and had been doggedly pursuing Evelyn for years. He fancied himself a romantic and devoted man, and was even on the Candidate List for Evelyn’s marriage selected by the ministers.
It might have been rude to turn him down so bluntly, but the Empire of Noelle, called the High Wall of the Continent, and his impoverished little country had such a vast difference in strength that there was no need to show him any courtesy.
Kasim dared to boldly court Evelyn precisely because of his own magical talent. After all, that Kasim had reached the Fifth Rank at a young age, a level most magicians never attained in their whole lives, which earned him the title of Innate Talent.
High-level magicians must marry other high-level magicians—that was the strange rule of this world. Otherwise, rumor had it that something dangerous would happen. Elika guessed it had something to do with that troublesome curse.
Coming from an old royal bloodline and blessed with magical talent, there were few more suitable matches for Evelyn than Kasim. But Evelyn seemed utterly repulsed, saying outright, “I’ve never met a more hypocritical man. He’s utterly disgusting.”
It wasn’t just dislike—it had reached the level of loathing.
Looks like my description of him as ‘self-styled’ was spot on, Elika thought.
But if she kept talking about this, she’d just end up raising a Death Flag for herself, so the girl wisely shut her mouth.
“Mmm…” Evelyn, who’d just woken up, was now hugging Elika’s neck like a giant teddy bear, showing no intention of getting out of bed. Her soft chest pressed against Elika’s cheek again, her chin resting atop Elika’s head, radiating warmth.
“Elika, it feels like I’m getting to know you even better now.”
Evelyn looked at her with a trace of intimacy, and for some reason, Elika herself felt a bit of dependence toward Evelyn. Maybe Evelyn thought of her as a kind of pet, that was it. Just like she treated Wang Wang the squirrel dog as a pet, Evelyn probably thought of her as a particularly special pet.
From the very start, there was a false premise. Could someone as unbalanced as Evelyn ever truly love anyone besides herself? Maybe, to her, she herself would always be the most important—so as a subordinate, it was best not to overthink things.
“Elika, do you have something to say?” Evelyn asked, her eyes half-open.
Apparently, being squished and kneaded in Evelyn’s arms had put her in an unusually good mood.
At least now, while Evelyn’s attitude was soft and her heart was open, Elika decided to finally confess the words she’d been bottling up—not just for a few days, but for months. She sensed that if she didn’t speak now, she might never get another chance.
Now that the Hero was about to appear, it was the best timing.
It was time to go all in.
“I…”
“Just say whatever’s on your mind.”
“I want to resign as the Palace Gardener.”
All in.