A broken jar can’t be mended, and that’s exactly the attitude Flora takes now when faced with most choices.
Ever since she’d become like this, she’d achieved certain results she wanted by relying on this attitude.
But nothing in this world can work every single time.
She was not Moria, and Aurora was not Elka.
If she wanted to deal with Aurora using the mindset she used to handle Elka, she would have to face a harsh reality—
She felt aversion toward Elka, but had a lingering attachment to Aurora.
The reason she had agreed so readily to Aurora’s request to share the bed, in fact, was because some secret desire deep in her heart was at work.
However, Flora didn’t have enough self-awareness, nor enough time to realize this.
As soon as she agreed, Aurora, afraid she might regret it, immediately jumped out of bed, grabbed a pillow from the other bed, and hurried under the covers with it, not giving Flora any chance to change her mind.
“We’ll use a pillow between us, so you don’t have to worry I’ll do anything inappropriate after I fall asleep.”
The girl, her head poking out from the covers, said this shyly but seriously.
Flora, having already convinced herself it didn’t matter and calmly hypnotized herself, followed suit and lay under the covers.
“All right, then turn off the lights.”
Her calm demeanor left Aurora, already nervous, even more at a loss.
Now, it was she, the one who had made the request to share the bed, who wanted to back out.
“Wait, I… I haven’t showered yet!”
She hurriedly grabbed this flimsy excuse.
Aurora’s thoughts were simple—once the thrill of what had just happened faded a little, exhaustion washed over her.
If she wanted to clear up the misunderstanding and the knot in her heart tonight, she had to use these last shreds of wakefulness before sleep to talk with Flora a bit more.
Even if she just said “sorry” and then fell asleep, that would be good enough.
But if Flora thought she was about to confess, and tried to go along with it to do something strange together… wouldn’t that be terrible?
And besides, if it really came to that, she’d probably fall asleep first anyway, plus… sharing a bed with someone else without cleaning up first just felt all kinds of inappropriate.
With all these thoughts swirling in her head, all Aurora got in return was Flora’s helpless expression—and, without any hesitation, Flora reached out, pressed her down on the bed, and kept her there.
“We already slept together just now, so you don’t need to care about little things like this anymore. Worst case, just wash up in the morning. Are you afraid I’ll get you dirty?”
“I…”
Aurora wanted to say that was indeed possible, but she really couldn’t hear any such intent in Flora’s tone.
Her earlier judgments about Flora surfaced again, and she forcibly calmed her overly active mind, relaxing her body.
“I study material magic, so I might have the scent of those materials on me, and I’ve been busy all day, so I’ve probably sweated a bit…”
“Aurora, you smell really nice.”
Coming from a girl, such words didn’t feel the least bit awkward.
Especially when it was a soft, fragrant girl whom she’d accidentally “bullied” not long ago saying it—Aurora’s face turned as red as an apple, and she dared not make any other response to Flora.
Moreover, she could feel that Flora was carefully sniffing the scent on her.
This ambiguous development, growing increasingly strange, left her mind blank, a warm current spreading from her heart to her limbs.
This wasn’t the result she wanted.
Aurora bit her lip again, searching for a solution.
But Flora didn’t intend anything special—she was simply curious about the so-called material scent, and, after confirming there was no bad smell, let go.
“Mm, it really does smell nice… uh.”
It was only then that Flora belatedly realized her behavior was inappropriate, but she quickly added, “If you want to ask me anything before sleeping, feel free to ask.”
To hide the blush on her face, she quickly turned off the lamp for Aurora.
“Isn’t this like asking me for my last words before something happens…”
Aurora already thought Flora was about to start “enjoying” her, but the truth was, Flora didn’t have that kind of thought at all and failed to understand.
“Hm?”
“N-no, it’s nothing! I really do want to talk to you.”
With such a reaction, Aurora felt even worse about herself.
She clenched her fists tightly, hoping this would stop her wild imagination from interfering and causing unnecessary misunderstandings.
Then, she made up her mind.
“I want to get to know you better, Miss Flora.”
“Oh, so this time it’s about me, not about him?”
Flora couldn’t help but chuckle, teasing her former self, and then she proactively grabbed Aurora’s tightly clenched hand.
“Go ahead and ask, the sooner you’re done, the sooner we can rest.”
Whether it was about her identity, her arrival at the academy, or why she was in this dormitory, she was ready to answer.
Yet Aurora’s reaction took her by surprise.
The little girl, startled like a rabbit, hurriedly and flusteredly denied it.
“I don’t mean to date you, Miss Flora!”
“?”
“I… what I mean is, I’m not trying to pursue you because things didn’t work out with Mr. Fros…”
“???”
Realizing what she’d just said, Aurora covered her face with her hands, her voice weak and tinged with the edge of tears.
“What am I even saying…”
Even though the lighting was dim, and her face was covered, Flora could still vaguely sense the guilt in Aurora’s gaze as she spoke.
After a brief silence, she let out a sigh.
“You really do read too many romance novels, don’t you!”
And… are you not even picky?
“I do not! I…”
Aurora, eager to explain, didn’t know how to express herself.
She felt so uncomfortable, as if her mind and Flora’s weren’t on the same wavelength, and their conversation was running on two different tracks.
The feelings she wanted to convey, and the things she wanted to clarify, she simply couldn’t express as clearly as she wished.
“So it’s not that? Aurora, are you saying you actually like me? Weren’t those flirtatious words just meant to tease me?”
Flora, taking Aurora’s behavior as just another endearing side of her, spoke with a hint of playfulness.
She truly didn’t take those words to heart—Aurora had said similar frivolous things before.
Maybe it was just a way to ease the awkwardness?
But she hadn’t expected her words would finally get a rise out of Aurora.
The shy and flustered girl suddenly grabbed her shoulders tightly.
“Eh?!”
All Flora managed was a single sound of surprise—because what she’d done to Aurora a moment ago was now done to her.
The difference was, this time they were both under the covers.
Aurora wasn’t sitting on her stomach, but lying on top of her, her arms wrapped around Flora’s back, leaving her utterly unable to resist.
“Wait, what are you trying to do?!”
Flora panicked—she hadn’t anticipated this at all.
In her view, with Aurora’s personality, she shouldn’t be the type to do anything like what Moria did to her.
“If I don’t do this, you won’t listen properly. You’ll just keep misunderstanding me.”
The girl’s voice, buried by Flora’s ear, was tinged with irritation.
“Flora, Miss Flora… Miss Flora Jade! I, Aurora Valentine, have something to say to you. You must set aside all your worries and any other messy thoughts!”
“Okay…”
Being called by name like this, and being held so tightly—
Flora felt her heartbeat racing uncontrollably.
Faced with such a forceful Aurora, it was hard to think of anything else.
“Hoo…”
Seeing that her bold move worked, Aurora exhaled softly, then continued seriously: “I want to apologize for how I acted toward you before.”
“Apologize? Eh… is this how you apologize?”
“Don’t… don’t interrupt me!”
Just as she’d worked herself up, Aurora almost lost her composure, twisting Flora’s waist a bit.
Hearing Flora’s whimper, Aurora, a bit carried away, didn’t even have time to regret what she’d just done before she stubbornly continued: “It’s an apology! I respect you, not because I like you as a lover, but I did things that only someone pursuing you should do.”
“Eh?”
“I subconsciously treated you as a stand-in for Mr. Fros, and acted presumptuously and out of line. I’m truly sorry!”
Aurora was very clear in her explanation, and Flora understood perfectly.
If things had stopped here, she would’ve felt more at ease—it would mean they could be trustworthy, close friends.
But Aurora kept talking.
“That’s why I want to know you better…”
“And what does that have to do with apologizing?”
“Because it’s only because I don’t know you well enough, and subconsciously saw his shadow in you, that I acted the way I did and insulted you… Miss Flora is a good person, a wonderful person, a beautiful… a person who makes my heart flutter. I want to like Miss Flora, and I want you to like me, too.So please let me get to know you better, and let’s get to know each other more in the future.”
“Can I… take this as a confession? But has anyone ever confessed like this before…”
Flora felt a jumble of emotions, but still couldn’t resist making a joke—whereupon Aurora bit her neck.
“Confession… no, it’s not a confession! I just, I just… ugh, cherry pudding?You want to use that ambiguous interaction to wipe away what I did to you, and you’re so forgiving, but I don’t like it. I want to stick to you like a gloomy slime. I… I… I’m sorry, wuwuwu…Please, please don’t hate me.”
And as she spoke, Aurora began to cry.
Such wild swings of emotion were rare in the world.
Flora didn’t even know how she should respond.
“I’m sorry, Miss Flora, I never wanted to play with your feelings, wuuu… At that party that night I might’ve done something to make you misunderstand, and tonight, too, what I did… I’ll take responsibility, I… I just want to be good friends, I don’t want you to be angry with me…”
Having finally voiced her worries and thoughts, the girl’s voice gradually faded.
No longer making sense, she lay on top of Flora and stopped moving.
Just as she wished, having poured out everything, the moment she finished, exhaustion claimed the last of her wakefulness.
Sensing Aurora’s breathing growing steady, Flora didn’t just hold her, but instead turned her onto her side to let her sleep properly.
She simply held on to Aurora’s right hand, which refused to let go, feeling both a little sentimental and somewhat helpless, and muttered softly: “It seems I’ve troubled you a lot… I’m really sorry.”
Clearly, it was she who needed Aurora’s presence, not the other way around.
Yet things had gotten so tangled up.
Flora felt no sleepiness at all.
She gently propped herself up and sat on the bed, her eyes falling on the cluster of baby’s breath on the windowsill.
“You drew near me, brought me comfort, but my intrusion into your life only brings you this kind of trouble… I…”
She simply could not feel any joy from this strange sense of being loved.