Chapter 22.2

Pulling up a chair, I sat down, while Noah turned his head and asked, “Is your arm all right now?”

“Of course, it’s completely fine.”

I showed him my un-bandaged arm. Since I’d had my cast for over a month, my arm felt a little bare.

“It healed faster than expected. And it wasn’t even a big injury to begin with.”

“That’s a relief.”

Noah gave me a polite, picturesque smile. “Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve seen you since the opening ceremony.”

“I-Is that right?” I fiddled with my hair in a way that couldn’t be more awkward.

“It felt like I haven’t seen you these past couple of days.” In a quiet voice, Noah raised the question gently. “Why have you been avoiding me recently?”

“…!”

My heart dropped with a thud.

Blinking his golden eyes in melancholy a few times, he asked, “Is it because… you don’t like me?”

“N-No?”

Don’t like you? It’s the exact opposite.

I shook my head so violently that my hair flew up in all directions.

“Then that’s a relief.”

After hemming and hawing for a bit, I opened my mouth. “C-Can I ask why you keep coming to pick me up?”

Noah replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “Because I want to see you.”

With a shallow inhale, I bit my lips.

Excuse me, aren’t you coming at me too fast, too suddenly?

Noting that expression of mine, Noah asked quietly, “If that makes you uncomfortable…”

“Mm, just a little.” I continued speaking, slowly avoiding his eyes. “You have your own daily schedule, too, so to be honest I feel apologetic and uncomfortable.”

When I raised my eyes to look at Noah’s face, at first glance he seemed the same as usual. But as someone who had been watching Noah for two years now, I knew that he was bothered.

From the minuscule wrinkling of his eyebrows, I could tell: that was an expression of displeasure.

D-Did I overstep my bounds?

After a long beat of silence, Noah nodded slightly. “I understand.”

“Thank you.”

I did it—I’d gotten rid of one aspect now.

I pressed down on my chest, feeling relieved.

“If it made you uncomfortable, you could’ve spoken up earlier.” With the sudden murmur, Noah fiddled with his glasses in apparent embarrassment.

“… Oh.” I let out a barely audible sound, my mouth slightly open.

Oh, Noah was feeling sorry. And now I was feeling sorry, too.

With a slightly ashamed expression, I was fiddling with the collar of my shirt when I heard a clear voice from the doorway.

“Hey, both of you are here early, huh?”

Her arm linked with someone else’s, Flora came into the classroom with a sunny smile.

“By the way, this is the first time you’ve seen Kate, right? Here, both of you say hi to each other.”

“H-Hello, nice to…” Rising from my chair to say hello, I stepped back almost instinctively.

Standing by the door was a tall woman, her long blonde hair tied behind in a ponytail.

With a wide smile, she greeted me back. “Hello.”

The new member from earlier was Gloria?

“This is Gloria. She came back from Lowell Kingdom this semester.”

I could barely even hear what Flora was saying.

Don’t tell me, had she targeted Flora already? Or was it because of Noah? Or maybe both?

No, but—more importantly, Gloria inside the book was part of the social club.

While I was standing there feeling chaotic, Gloria extended her long legs to stride toward me. “Hi there, you must be Katelin.”

“Y-Yes, that’s me!”

She reached out for a handshake. I held out a slightly trembling hand.

Contrary to what I’d expected, she didn’t crush my hand tightly, but from her cool hand, I felt a terrifying aura somehow.

The master doesn’t use such childish antics such as this, right?

But why was she smiling so coldly in my direction?

Was she feeling satisfied thinking of how she would torture me big-time?

I stood there frozen with an awkward smile.

“Hmm.”

Only after a long while did Gloria let go of my hand, huffing out a small laugh. “Hey there, Noah. Been a long time, hasn’t it?”

She put both her arms on the desk in front of Noah and smiled. Cynicism glowed within her dark sea-blue eyes.

“Thanks to someone who kept running around like a little mouse.”

A villainess’s flirting was pretty brutal, huh?

Despite Gloria’s somewhat menacing flirting, Noah looked completely calm. “Move.”

Taking a step further, he was even commanding Gloria!

“What?”

“That’s Katelyn’s seat.”

Ohh, Noah, please don’t do that, please… Please don’t dip my destiny into hell so gently like that.

I was biting my nails and trying not to cry, but Gloria only burst out into laughter.

“Pfft, bahaha.” After a booming laugh, she wiped the tears from her eyes. “Man, I’m so scared I could die. Fine, fine.”

Though that’s what she said in words, her eyes were still staring daggers at Noah.

“Guys, I know we’re happy to see each other after a long time but should we all sit down now?” intervened Flora, with an awkward smile.

“I’m only keeping it in because of you, Flora.” Shaking her head, Gloria beckoned to me. “Sit here. Sorry, I took your seat.”

“No, not at all. You can just sit there.”

Declining her offer, I hurried to another seat and sat down.