But as time passed, Kolin gradually realized the gravity of the situation. Understanding exactly what was happening, he quickly began explaining the whole story to Liyami.
As it turned out, Lavinia had rushed over to find Kolin early that morning, carrying a bag and claiming she needed him to see if the swimsuit she had chosen looked good.
Kolin had initially wanted to refuse, as it wasn’t appropriate for him to give his opinion on such a thing. However, Lavinia had moved far too quickly. She stripped off her outer clothes right then and there, revealing that she was already wearing the swimsuit instead of having it packed in her bag. Kolin had no time to react before he was staring directly at her in the outfit.
In the aftermath, Kolin had fallen into a daze. The shock of seeing his companion in a swimsuit was so great that he remained unresponsive no matter how much Lavinia waved her hand in front of his face.
Liyami had come to knock for the first time during that period, which was why Kolin had failed to hear her.
By the time Liyami knocked for the second time, Kolin had just managed to snap out of his shock and hurried over to open the door.
As for the fact that he had seen Lavinia in her swimsuit, the recently recovered Kolin had completely forgotten about it in his haste. Consequently, Lavinia simply followed him and stood by as he opened the door, leading to Liyami seeing her.
That was the gist of the situation. Regarding Liyami witnessing Lavinia leaning her chest against Kolin, Lavinia’s explanation was, “You must have seen wrong!”
Liyami was deeply skeptical of this, but she wasn’t in the mood to argue about it now.
Of course, Kolin also hid a few things from both Liyami and Lavinia. While it was true that he was shocked by seeing his companion in a swimsuit, that alone wouldn’t have kept him in a daze for so long.
The main reason he had stared for so long was that Lavinia looked too beautiful. Even someone like Kolin couldn’t help but be completely captivated.
After all, everyone had an appreciation for beauty. Kolin felt that Lavinia looked wonderful in her swimsuit, so what could be wrong with staring a little?
Naturally, he wouldn’t tell the two of them that. He wasn’t bored enough to actively seek his own demise—especially a demise as certain as this one!
“All right, let’s head inside first. Do you two really want to keep talking out here?” Lavinia suggested.
Neither Kolin nor Liyami had any objections. Liyami slipped into Kolin’s room, and Kolin immediately closed the door and locked it securely. He was terrified that someone might accidentally see the situation inside his room. If rumors about this started spreading, he would never be able to face his Master or his fellow Paladins again!
Although Kolin looked somewhat shaken, Liyami and Lavinia didn’t seem to care much.
Lavinia, of course, didn’t mind. Forget Kit City; there weren’t many people in the entire kingdom who recognized her. Even though she had once fought alongside the Hero, that didn’t mean much. Far too many people had fought alongside the Hero. Even an older guard at the gates of Kit City might have done so, let alone an Elf like her.
Therefore, Lavinia wasn’t afraid of such rumors at all. If rumors did start, the world’s attention would mostly be focused on Kolin, while she would be fine. If anything, she actually hoped such rumors would emerge. Perhaps it would lead Kolin to choose her! As long as the rumors didn’t spread too far—like back to her hometown—she was fine with it.
As for Liyami, she wasn’t afraid of rumors either. She had no close acquaintances, and as an Assassin whose identity could never be revealed to the public, the world would never care about her.
However, she didn’t particularly want these rumors to exist. While she wasn’t afraid, Kolin was a different story. Liyami didn’t want to see Kolin suffer through unwarranted criticism, so she had carefully observed her surroundings and ensured no one was watching before entering his room.
Still, she did agree with Lavinia on one point: she wouldn’t mind turning such a rumor into reality. How do you destroy a rumor? You just make it come true! That way, it’s no longer a rumor!
Thus, while the actual owner of the room was worrying about potential scandals, the two women were perfectly at ease. For a moment, it was hard to tell whether Kolin or the girls were the true occupants of the room.
Once Kolin finished locking the door and returned, Liyami finally asked the question she hadn’t finished earlier. “So, Lavinia, can you explain? W-h-y did you have to come over first thing in the morning to show Kolin your swimsuit?”
Liyami was somewhat relieved that Lavinia and Kolin hadn’t done the things she had imagined, but she wasn’t about to let this go.
She really wanted to know why Lavinia had suddenly done this, though she could probably guess. It was likely some new method Lavinia had come up with to seduce Kolin. But Lavinia certainly wouldn’t admit that directly. Thus, Liyami was more curious about what kind of excuse Lavinia would use to explain the situation.
Hearing Liyami’s question, Kolin realized that he hadn’t actually asked Lavinia why she had run over to show him her swimsuit either. He immediately chimed in, hoping Lavinia would give a proper answer.
Faced with two people demanding answers, Lavinia remained perfectly calm under the pressure, as if she had anticipated this.
“Why? What else could it be? Look at what time it is. It’s August! And it’s almost over! This is a rare summer vacation! How can we not do something with a summer atmosphere?! Therefore, I’ve decided! We’re going to the beach for a vacation! And how can you go to the beach without wearing a swimsuit? So, isn’t it perfectly normal to ask Kolin to check if the swimsuit I chose is good?”
‘What part of that is normal? Setting aside the beach vacation, you never mentioned it before. Secondly, why would you think to ask Kolin to check your swimsuit! Couldn’t you have come up with a more thoughtful reason?!’ Liyami complained bitterly in her heart.
Even though Lavinia was composed, the reason she gave was so lame that Liyami was left speechless.
However, despite how weak the excuse was, Liyami accepted it. After all, even a lame reason was still a reason. She found it difficult to refute Lavinia’s logic. Seeing that Kolin already looked like he believed her, Liyami gave up on arguing.
Of course, the reason Liyami didn’t refute Lavinia wasn’t just because she thought it was too much trouble, but because one specific word in Lavinia’s explanation had caught her full attention.
“…Wait, what did you just say? What do you mean by… ‘we’?”