Mahina was somewhat surprised that a student other than Ruby or Lucia had taken the initiative to greet her. Although it was merely a polite formality, Mahina noticed that things seemed a bit different today.
The air around her was usually heavy and suffocating. Most of the gazes cast upon her back were laced with disdain, mockery, or even a cold, schadenfreude-filled indifference. Mahina lifted her gaze, her eyes sweeping over the crowd. The students appeared fidgety and uneasy; their cheeks were slightly flushed, and while their eyes darted away, they couldn’t help but steal glances at her. She withdrew her gaze and simply gave a slight nod. With the most standard etiquette, she returned a cold, toneless reply. “Good morning.”
She did not address each student by name as she had done before, nor did she show her usual smile. Merlin had said he didn’t like her smiling at others.
The students were confused by a response that differed so much from her past behavior, yet Mahina’s current decorum was impeccable and beyond reproach. The pleasantries they had prepared caught in their throats. In the awkward atmosphere, they could only retreat sheepishly.
Mahina paid no mind to their disappointment and continued walking forward. Ruby, standing beside her, watched the retreating back of a male student and then looked at the oblivious Mahina. She let out a helpless sigh and leaned in to whisper, “It’s because of your smile yesterday.”
“My smile?”
“Yeah, you really have no self-awareness, do you?” Ruby recalled the scene she had witnessed on the lawn the day before. The girl had been kneeling on the ground, her makeup smeared and her eyes brimming with tears, yet she had given Little Merlin a smile that could topple kingdoms. Even though her makeup was ruined by crying and she was in such a pathetic state, the love flowing from her eyes when she looked at Merlin was so pure it seemed capable of cleansing all the filth in the world.
The gentle curve of her lips was like a rainbow appearing after a storm. That defenseless beauty had shattered the defenses in the hearts of the onlookers. Even Ruby, who was long accustomed to Mahina’s beauty, had been left breathless in that moment, to say nothing of the restless, adolescent students.
‘Yesterday… ah.’ The students who had originally gathered just to see Little Merlin had all shifted their focus to Mahina’s smile.
A girl in love. ‘Hmm… could someone really change like this just because of a smile?’ Realizing that the students were only greeting her with ill intentions, Mahina’s expression grew even colder, adopting a look that warned others not to approach.
“You’re the one who isn’t aware; the smile of a girl in love is the most charming thing there is. But something like that… doesn’t belong to me.” Even earlier this morning, before the students had approached her, Mahina would occasionally let a smile slip, though she didn’t realize it herself.
She was surely smiling because she was thinking of things related to Merlin: the slight narrowing of her eyes, the gaze as gentle as water, the upward curve of her lips, and the tenderness radiating from her words and actions. It had all captured the students’ attention this morning. This was a Mahina they had never seen before.
The current Mahina looked as though she had set down a heavy burden, and her entire being had become softer. In the past, she was like a warm but unreachable sun; now, she was like a gentle, touchable spring stream. Her previous decline in reputation had given the students the thought, ‘Maybe I have a chance, too.’
Furthermore, she had already left the Talane Estate. Although both parties admitted that Mahina had left voluntarily, it was hard not to draw connections given previous events—people assumed the Talane family had simply allowed Mahina to leave with some dignity. Mahina’s reputation had hit rock bottom, and to the outside world, it looked as though she had been expelled. At this moment, Mahina had become a girl who had lost her halo, transforming from the Duke’s Daughter back into a helpless orphan.
‘Perhaps… even I have a chance now?’
‘Without the pride of her family, she’s just an ordinary girl.’
Similar dark thoughts were perhaps quietly sprouting in the minds of many students. Yet, Mahina had fallen in love again. The once-cold corners of her eyes would unconsciously droop, turning into gentle waves; her tightly pressed lips would curl into a tiny, sweet arc when she thought of Little Merlin; even her once-stiff shoulders would relax at the imagined sensation of hugging him.
Her entire being radiated a fragrance—a sweet scent unique to a girl in love. Even though she had decided to only smile for Merlin, her overflowing love could not be contained. Love flowed from the tips of her hair, her fingertips, and her occasional absent-minded stares, soaking the surrounding air indiscriminately.
At this moment, Mahina’s every move, word, and expression—even an accidental flick of her hair—was filled with a girl’s softness and charm. She was like a flower blooming for only one person, yet because she bloomed so brilliantly, she caused every passerby to stop. The fragrance she emitted still attracted other students, and it was this charm that made some of them willing to face criticism just to try and strike up a conversation with her.
“Sigh…” Ruby believed that the current Mahina appeared “approachable” now, and yet Mahina happened to be in such a defenseless state. She must have noticed the gazes, but her mind was entirely on Merlin.
Truly… ‘Should I say she suppressed it for too long?’ Now that it was all bursting out at once like a volcanic eruption, it was truly something else. The current Mahina no longer had a reason to suppress herself; she even believed everything was her fault and that she should be the one to proactively give and love. Consequently, the love within Mahina was like a cup filled to the brim, ready to overflow at any moment.
‘But…’ The colder Mahina had been before, the more intensely this current contrast attracted those greedy gazes.
Ruby was no longer Mahina’s maid. While they could maintain a close relationship, she couldn’t stay by her side at every moment like before. Little Merlin hadn’t forgiven her yet, nor had he turned back into Adult Merlin, so she couldn’t rely on Merlin to keep the surrounding students in check for now. It was a real headache…
Upon reaching a corner, Ruby had to bid Mahina farewell. ” I’ll come find you when I have time. Don’t push yourself.”
In the face of her friend’s worried reminder, Mahina simply gave a soft nod. Ruby waved her hand and walked toward the Third Year Section. Once that familiar red figure disappeared around the corner, Mahina tried her best to pull back the soft aura that lingered around her.
She climbed the stairs toward the Second Year Section classroom alone.