Chapter 48

“…Yurina?”

She lifted her head at the worried voice, pulling her from her thoughts.

“What were you thinking that you couldn’t hear me?””

“I’m sorry. I must have spaced out for a while. What did you say?”

“I asked you to go see the stars… If you’re sleepy, hurry up and go to bed. It’s very late.”

“No, let’s go see the stars.”

Yurina quickly went into the room and put her robe over her pajamas before he urged her to sleep again.  She looked in the mirror, straightened her hair once, and opened her door to see Raynald in regular clothes, unlike her.

“Not pajamas?”

“I couldn’t change because I had something to think about. Then let’s go.”

“Where are we going? Do you have any ideas?”

“It’s late, so I don’t think we can go far, but if we go up on the roof, wouldn’t we be able to see better than here? What do you think?”

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

Yurina grabbed his hand. In fact, it didn’t matter where they saw it. She agreed to go see the stars, but in fact, she wanted to spend more time with him than looking at the stars.

When Raynald flicked his finger once, the landscape changed without notice. Sitting on the roof with a single blink of an eye, Yurina trembled in the sudden cold wind.

“It’s cold even though I’m wearing a robe.”

“I knew this would happen, so I brought a blanket.”

Raynald shook the blanket in front of her nose and covered Yurina’s shoulder with a blanket. Yurina rolled herself up in the blanket and looked down at her feet.

“If I move a little wrong, I’ll fall down. Will it be okay?”

“You said you trust me. Why are you worried when I’m here?”

It was a confident voice that made her worries of falling off earlier disappear. He crept out and pulled her back.

His firm arms really felt as if they would not let her go no matter what. Yurina yawned lightly, wrapping one side of the blanket around his shoulder.

“Are you sleepy?”

“No.”

“You can sleep if you’re sleepy. If you fall asleep, I’ll take you to your room.”

“How reliable, but I’m not going to sleep.”

However, she yawned again, overshadowing what she said as if the exhaustion was determined.

“I wasn’t sleepy when I was in my room…”

Raynald burst into laughter as he watched Yurina muttering awkwardly. Perhaps because it was a quiet night, his soft voice was as sweet as listening to a lullaby.

Yurina leaned her head on his shoulder like a nodding child. Raynald’s hand, which was wrapped around Yurina’s waist, strengthened.

“Don’t worry and sleep.”

His voice in her ear disrupted her. Yurina shrank her shoulders in surprise at the feel of his warm breath. Raynald leaned over her surprised head.

“I’m here, so don’t worry about anything.”

The feeling of hugging the whole body was familiar and unfamiliar. She couldn’t breathe well as if her heart was pressed down by his weight.

Familiar arms, but unfamiliar feelings.

Yurina slowly looked up at Raynald. He smiled with his eyes and bumped his forehead into Yurina’s forehead.

She thought he was in a good mood as she heard his low laughter scattering in the wind. His smile seemed like a cheerful boy or a soft young man.

Yurina couldn’t smile after seeing Raynald smiling with their foreheads pressed together.

At that moment, she thought she got used to it but it felt unfamiliar again.

His face, which looked like a man, his firm arms, wrapped around her waist.

Why is it so strange and awkward tonight?

Yurina unknowingly stepped back from him and removed his hand. Raynald quickly grabbed it and pulled her back as she almost slipped after losing her balance because of the wind.

“Are you okay?”

As if his hand was comforting her, he gently swept Yurina’s hair. Yurina tried to push him away again, but she hit her nose on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Somehow, her cheeks felt like they were burning because of the mood.

* * *

Yurina, who was held in Raynald’s arms for a while, drooped as if she had fallen asleep. The pleasant sound of her breathing resonated in the quiet dawn.

Raynald wrapped Yurina’s head, which was about to fall forward, with a careful touch. He tried to change his posture so that Yurina could sleep comfortably, but he couldn’t find the right position.

Perhaps he felt uncomfortable, but when Yurina frowned in her sleep, he eventually moved to the dorm with Yurina in his arms. 

He felt strange when Yurina moved in search of a more comfortable position and buried her face in his shoulder. His face suddenly got a little hot.

Maybe it was because the weight that filled his arms was warm. Since he left the Carthia mansion and came to the kingdom, he had never been so close to anyone.

Suddenly, he remembered his 13th birthday. One day, he felt sorry when he saw a servant lightly carrying Yurina, who was tired, but now he was so proud that he could walk with her in his arms so easily.

-I want to be an adult soon.

As he wished while looking at the sunset, he was now an adult who could protect those he wanted to protect. No matter who threatened him, he had the power to protect himself. To do so, he had been working hard all this time in this strange place.

‘But why am I so nervous?’

He knew in his head that nothing would happen to Yurina. There was a time when Yurina appeared weak as if someone would strangle her at any moment, but next to her was Dave, who recognized her skills, and there were many talented escorts attached by Marquis Carthia.

When she came to the kingdom this time, he could tell by the spirits of the knights who followed her. They would protect her well while Raynald was away.

“I know it.”’

Raynald lay Yurina on the bed and looked down at her with a stiff face. No matter how much he thought about it, he wasn’t relieved to just let her go like the way it was. Would this anxiety disappear if he just quit the academy and returned to the empire with Yurina tomorrow and stay next to her?

“Yurina.”

She didn’t answer as she fell asleep deeply in the meantime. Only the soft breath reached his ears like an answer. Yurina’s regular yet drowsy breathing somehow made him feel comfortable, so he let go of his stiff face and knelt down next to the bed.

When he felt Yurina’s warmth by putting his forehead against her pretty forehead, his selfishness that he had pressed down grew again.

“Wait a little bit.”

When he brought it up, he choked up. His voice, opening his mouth again, was slightly filled with tears.

“I’ll go back as soon as possible.”

Actually, he wanted her to be by his side all the time.

Even though there was no one listening, Raynald couldn’t say what he wanted to say the most.

* * *

The next day, Yurina couldn’t get out of bed easily. Originally, she slept a lot and her mind was clear, but strangely, her body did not move as she wanted. Maybe it was because the feeling of not wanting to leave was stronger than the thought of having to leave quickly.

Yurina, covered in a blanket, stayed in bed for a long time, and barely got up at Bessie’s urge to get up now.

She was led by Bessie’s hand, took a bath in oil-filled water, and even after simple preparations, it was difficult to move as if she had a sandbag on her body.

“Is he really leaving?”’

Yurina came out of the building and looked up at the sky. Unlike her restless mind, the sky was clear without a cloud.

If it had been cloudy and rainy, her mind would have been gloomy, so she thought it was better to be clear, but when she saw the bright sunlight, her judgment was strangely twisted.

Yurina frowned to the fullest in the bright sunlight and turned her head to Bessie’s voice calling her.

“Lady, I brought a parasol. It’s autumn and the sun is burning, so hurry and use it. Or your skin will get damaged.”

“No, it’s okay.  I will get on a carriage soon.”

“You have to use it for a while. And I don’t think the farewell will be over anytime soon.”

Well, it certainly seemed so. Yurina was persuaded by Bessie’s last words and was gently handed the parasol.

When she opened the embroidered parasol and looked sideways, she saw Raynald only looking at the pitiful sky from afar. His expression was so stiff that even from a distance, she could feel his expression harden.

“Ray, aren’t you going to see me off?”

Yurina joked with a playful voice and reached out to him. Turning his head, he smiled helplessly and approached her.

Perhaps they thought the greeting would be prolonged, so Bessie and Dave headed to the carriage, saying they were arranging the inside.

Raynald, standing in front of Yurina, was silent for a long time, fiddling with Yurina’s hand. Yurina also couldn’t think of a suitable word, so she saved her words by looking at her hand.

Even though she knew she had to go quickly after saying goodbye, her lips hardly opened as if they were sealed with wax.

“Yurina.”

Raynald, who had remained silent, took a deep breath and was the first to speak.

“Can you use mana well?”

“Yes. Dave said that even though the amount in my body is small, the affinity is good. Why did you ask that?”

“Can you really use it well?”

“I heard recently that I tore up the space separation magic. I can use it well.”

She was joking, but Raynald didn’t take it lightly, and his dark face stiffened even harder.

“I shouldn’t have brought that up.”

Yurina belatedly regretted and focused mana on her palm to change the atmosphere.

A chunk of nail-sized light protruding from her fingertip fell onto the back of Raynald’s hand, touching his finger.

Raynald lifted the corners of his mouth helplessly.

“Yes, you’re good.”

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

“It’s a compliment.”

“Really?”

Raynald, who nodded without an answer, took something out of his pocket and put it in Yurina’s hand. Yurina stretched out her hand and checked the object on her palm.

What he handed over was a necklace that looked somewhat rough at a glance.

The necklace string was not metal, but a thin leather strap, and the red jewel pendant, the size of a little nail, was shaped like a gemstone without any decoration.

Yurina looked into the transparent red pendant and asked.

“Is it a ruby?”

“It’s not a ruby, it’s my mana condensed.”

Raynald, who took the necklace back from Yurina’s hand, placed the necklace on Yurina’s neck.

“Keep this on until I get back.”

“What’s this?”

“Magic pendant. I prepared it for self-defense.”

“Self-defense? This?”

Yurina observed the pendant hanging around her neck. No matter how much she looked at it, it was just an ordinary pendant.

“I can’t be next to you until I get back from graduation. Before that, I prepared it just in case something happens.”

When Raynald tapped the pendant in Yurina’s hand with his fingertips, a bright light shone from the transparent jewel and disappeared.