Chapter 30

One day before spring break, the Academy began to buzz for other reasons. 

Valentine’s Day is just a day away. 

Students with lovers prepared their own, and students without them prepared their own Valentine’s Day. 

Of course, Penny was the most excited member of our group. 

But somehow she’s been depressed these past few days. 

“Penny, what’s wrong? What’s the matter?” 

Alice asked at lunchtime. 

I was eating a sandwich, so I nodded and agreed. 

Penny opened her mouth and told shocking information. 

“I’m afraid I’ll have to give Neville another Love potion.” 

Alice exclaimed. 

“What? Why?” 

“Shh, be quiet.” 

Penny looked around and covered Alice’s mouth with both hands. 

Fortunately, no one was interested in us. 

I gulped down the sandwich and asked again on behalf of Alice, who was speechless. 

“What’s wrong with Neville?” 

“No, that’s not…” 

Penny twisted her hair around. 

“I’m getting anxious.” 

“What?” 

“I’m dating him using the love potion. I don’t know how long this medicine lasts. So I’m afraid that when the effect wears out Neville will start hating me.” 

“You guys looked great just now?” 

Penny sighed heavily. 

“That’s true. But I asked him out this weekend, but he refused.” 

Alice responded as if it was nothing. 

“Maybe he was busy.” 

“But I’m still worried. I think he has changed a little lately.”  

“You’ve been dating for over a month. He could be a little different from the beginning?” 

“Um…”

Penny, who was pondering for a moment, snapped at the table. 

“I can’t do this. You guys help me!” 

“What do you mean, how do you want us to help you?” 

Alice and I looked at each other blankly and blinked.

“Why am I here?” 

I stared blankly at Penny with an apron on. 

Penny’s eyes, wearing a hood, turned to me. 

“Elena, what are you doing? You should wear the apron.” 

“Ah? Yes….!!?.” 

I put the apron around my waist. 

I, Penny, and Alice were in the kitchen now. 

It’s because Penny asked us to help her make chocolate. 

I mumbled while looking at the ingredients Penny was putting on the table. 

“But I don’t know how to make chocolate.” 

“It’s okay. I’ll help you. It’s easier than you think.” 

So we started making chocolate under Penny’s direction. 

I did something called tempering, put chocolate in a mold, hardened it, mixed it with almonds, and concentrated on it, and we almost completed the chocolate before I knew it. 

Then Penny took something out of her pocket. 

It was a glass bottle with a pink, transparent liquid inside. 

As soon as we saw the mysterious color, Alice and I knew what it was. 

“Is that love potion?” 

“Are you going to put in the love potion?” 

Penny hesitated for a moment and swallowed her dry mouth. 

“Yes, I’m going to put it in.” 

Is that really alight? 

I asked a question out of concern. 

“Are you sure you want to do it? If Neville knew about it…”  

I was about to say ‘he’d feel betrayed,’ when Penny hurried to shhhhhhush me! 

“Neville will never know.” 

“But Penny, think again. I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“Yeah, you can try harder in other ways. Wouldn’t Neville feel good just by giving him the chocolate you made with your efforts?” 

Let’s say Neville loves Penny again because the love potion really works. 

Will Penny’s worries go away? 

No, she will continue to be nervous when the effect will wear off like now.

What Penny really needed was confidence that Neville would like her even if there was no love potion.  

Penny was an attractive girl even in my eyes, who is a girl. 

Besides, if she gets caught, there’s a good chance that he’ll feel betrayed. 

After our persuasion, Penny finally gave up the love potion. 

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” 

“I’m alright!” 

We kept encouraging Penny. 

“Give him this chocolate and confess your true feelings.” 

“OK. I’ll give it a try.” 

Penny wiggled her fingers and clenched her fists all this time. 

“I’ll ask Neville out tomorrow first!” 

“Yeah, good luck!” 

I and Alice waved at the back of Penny leaving the kitchen with a beautifully packed chocolate. 

“I hope it goes well.” 

“It’ll be alright. No matter how much I think about it, Neville seemed to have always liked Penny.” 

“By the way…”

I looked down at the chocolate with a troubled face. 

“What should I do?” 

Penny’s chocolate-making was good, but there was too much chocolate. 

If I eat all of this by myself, my health will deteriorate. 

“Alice, do you want to take some?” 

Alice hated it when I offered her some chocolate.  

“Ugh, the smell of chocolate makes me dizzy now. And Ellie, it’s hard to handle what I made. You have to take care of yours.” 

“But I can’t eat it all by myself.” 

”Why do you want to eat it? It’s Valentine’s Day. Give some to the others. It’s your own chocolate.”  

‘Who should I give this to?’ 

I sighed when I saw the chocolate I made. 

The shape of the chocolate was crooked because it was something I made for the first time. 

Penny, who had already made snacks for Neville, and Alice, who was originally good with her hands, made pretty chocolates. 

Mine wasn’t good. 

I muttered, closing the box of chocolates. 

“And there’s no one to give it to.” 

Alice opened her eyes wide. 

“Oh, really?” 

“Yeah, on Valentine’s Day, you give chocolate to someone you like or your lover. I don’t have a lover and someone I like.” 

“You don’t like anyone?” 

Alice looked a little surprised, I don’t know why. 

‘Why?’ 

Is it so surprising that I don’t have someone I like? 

“Why are you surprised?” 

“No, nothing, but you know what? That’s an old way of thinking. It’s changed a lot now. On Valentine’s Day, you can give chocolates to anyone you love.” 

“anyone?” 

“It can be a person who you love, family, friends, a person you respect, all kinds of love.” 

“So I can give it to my friends and professors, too?” 

“Yes!” 

I made a sound of pain and decided to obey Alice. 

“Okay. Then will you take my chocolate?” 

Alice waved her hand firmly. 

“As I said, no. I’m busy processing the chocolate, I have.” 

“Hmm.” 

So who the hell am I going to give it to? 

Unlike Alice, who is popular and close to many, I don’t really have any close friends.

Few people passed by in my head. 

I was worried all the way back to the room with the beautifully packaged chocolate. 

‘Who should I give it to?’ 

The next day. 

It was Valentine’s Day that students have been waiting for. 

The academy began to be crowded since early morning. 

The classroom smelled sweet which shows how much chocolate got exchanged. 

I handed the chocolate to Penny first. 

But Penny refused. 

The reason was similar to Alice. 

“I made a lot of chocolate yesterday… and I’ll give it to a boy, why are you giving it to me?” 

“I will give chocolate to my friends on Valentine’s Day.” 

“Find a boy, not me!” 

I gave it to a few people besides Penny, but the response was usually similar. 

Still, one or two people accepted the chocolate. 

My bag was still heavy. 

I took the bag of leftover chocolate and headed to the training room. 

Today was the day of swordplay class with Cedric. 

Sword and alchemy students were relatively more popular than magic students. 

Perhaps that’s why the training room was crowded with female and male students. 

Cedric was also surrounded by girls. 

I decided to wait quietly under the shade of a tree until Cedric was alone. 

“He’s very popular.” 

I thought he would be, but it was really huge when I see it in person. 

Looking at Cedric refusing chocolate with an embarrassing smile, I naturally remembered someone. 

‘How’s Felix doing?’ 

I hate to admit it, but Felix was also popular. 

According to Alice, it is natural that he is popular because he is handsome, has excellent magic skills, and has a good body because he has learned swordsmanship. 

I don’t know much about Felix’s charm, though. 

Of course, Alice looked at me a little strange when I said this. 

Anyway, for that reason, Felix also suffered a lot from girls every Valentine’s Day since he was a freshman. 

So he would skip classes on Valentine’s Day and hide in a secret place that only he knew. 

Of course, after seeing him for a long time, I knew where the secret place was. 

“I should go there later.” 

To process the chocolate, I had no choice but to give it to Felix. 

I was thinking that I should pass the chocolate to him quickly, but suddenly a shadow fell over my head. 

“Elena Velotte of the Department of Magic, right?”