Chapter 240: Melly

Hannah's eyes widened when she heard the words of the students gossiping. 'Eman is dating Sol?' As she repeated this in her mind, for some inexplicable reason, Hannah's face suddenly frowned without her noticing. There seemed to be some bitter taste entering her stomach.

"Hey, Miss Han! Miss Han!?"

Hannah didn't notice the person beside her was calling her. So when she noticed this, all she could respond was,

"Ha?"

The person frowned before asking, "Are you okay?"

"Ah, eh, Melly? Why?" Hannah stammered.

"Hm, I called you earlier, Miss Han, and you didn't even answer. Your face is pale, though. Are you really okay?" Her friend, Melly, asked her with doubts.

"Ah? I-is that so?" Hannah wrinkled her forehead and suddenly touched both her cheeks. She noticed she showed a bitter expression. Melly narrowed her eyes from her reaction.

'How could this be?' Hannah asked herself. Until now, can't she still forget that person? 'Shut up Han! Please stop thinking of him.' She secretly scolded herself.

"Ahem!" Hannah cleared her throat before speaking again. "I'm sorry, I just remembered something bad."

Hannah once saw Sol and Eman together. That was in the palace hall when there was a celebration after they returned from the subjugation mission. Hannah's chest suddenly tightened.

It was not easy for her to move on. Eman is her first love. And she really loved him despite their status gap. But the sin he committed should not be ignored. That sin was too great. Maybe if it wasn't for her pleading with the leader of their family, her family would have killed him already a long time ago.

Even though she was angry with him, she still couldn't stop herself from rescuing that man several times on that mission, albeit she did it rudely. Even her rejection of his confession was also for the good of the two of them. 'Why has something like this happened now?' Hannah asked in her mind.

Melly stared at her for a second before her attention was caught by the gossiping students. She heard the name of a man from them. The person they were referring to was none other than Eman. For some reason, Eman's name became infamous in the academy. Whether it's in the Male or Female Department.

Melly once made a mistake when she thought that Hannah liked that man, but when he once invited her to date him, she didn't expect when Hannah rejected him. From then on, Melly realized that Hannah's real desire for that man was just friendship.

But, when they recently joined the subjugation mission due to academy requirements, Melly noticed Hannah's questionable move. That time, they saw the young man stunned in the middle of the battle where the area was surrounded by ratmen. Without a second thought, Hannah rescued him.

But except for Melly, no one else noticed the real reason why Hannah hit Eman at that time. If she hadn't hit him when she saw him stunned in the middle of the fight, he would surely have been hit by a spear thrown by one of the ratmen. Although her collision with that man was quite strong, that was because Hannah needed to speed up the horse. If he had been late for even a moment, that man would have been dead at that time. 

Although she didn't show it, Melly noticed Hannah's concern for that person. She also saw Hannah sneak inside the medical tent where that man was being treated for his sustained injury.

From then on, she suspected that Hannah really liked that man. Melly sees only one thing as a reason why Hannah turned down Eman's date offer before. That is… her family. Since Hannah is from a great noble family, it is only natural for her family to look for a man who is more suitable for her.

Melly's belief that Hannah really liked Eman intensified when they saw him fighting with one of the ratmen inside Sitona Town. For the second time, Hannah hit the young man again because he didn't notice the fired arrow from the window of the broken building around. Well, Melly wasn't really concerned about Eman. For her, Hannah was too perfect for him. Regardless, she was certain of the reason why Hannah showed a bitter expression at the moment. It's probably because of that person.

So that the other people would not notice how bitter she was, Hannah forced a smile at the person next to her. "Let's go?" She urged her. Melly looked at her emphatically before nodding. "By the way. The Blue Unicorn Clan will have a gathering the next day." Melly said as they started walking towards the Bath House.

"Is that so? Ah, is it because of the competition that will be held in the coming months?" Although her voice sounded a bit strained, she tried to sound as normal as she could.

"Yes. So all members need to attend. Especially you Miss Hannah. Miss Elaine will definitely be upset if you still don't show up at the meeting," she said. "By the way. The leaders tried to recruit Princess Liya into the clan. But she has not yet made a decision."

"Hm. I see. Well, the princess is hard to tame, so I'm not surprised if even the leader could not invite her."

"Exactly. Even though they were cousins by blood, knowing the princess's conceitedness, she probably won't let herself be under someone's role. There are still many strong freshmen this year, especially in the princess circle. "

Upon hearing it, Hannah narrowed her eyes. "Hm. That girl... Sol," Hannah muttered as she cast her gaze below. She once saw her duel against the other freshman students, and Hannah could tell that she was indeed strong.

"Eh? Do you know her?"

She looked up again and said, "Not really, but I saw her several times with the princess."

"I see. Right. She's one of those talented freshmen that the clan leader laid her eyes on."

Hannah understood the leader's reason.

Melly continued saying, "I'm sure starting tomorrow, all the major clans will be racing to invite new students."

"....."

"By the way…" there was a doubtful look in Melly's gaze as she said it.

"What?" Hannah asked.

"That girl has yet to join any clans. Are you sure you don't want to recruit her?"

"Hm…"

Hannah shook her head. They stopped conversing when they arrived inside the Bath House.