CH 61

Not A Lonely Festival (1)

Fireworks exploded loudly, signalling the start of the festival. The moment I heard that sound, I jumped out of bed and opened the window. The sunlight entered my view, along with the signs and banners filling the academy square.

The colourful balloons and bubbles stirred excitement, and the savoury smell of bread was making me hungry. I couldn’t wait to look around, so I shook Leto to wake him up, who was sleeping soundly after yesterday’s late training session.

“Leah, wake up!”

Normally, he would have woken up earlier than me and studied in the morning.

The training must have been really strenuous as Leto looked exhausted. He did the same routine when he returned to the dormitory late after training last night. Although he had taken a bath, his forehead was drenched with sweat. Both his cheeks were flushed red and his breathing was still heavy. It must have surely been difficult, but he fell asleep on the bed without complaining that it was tiring.

It’s been like that for the past few days. Leto suddenly became active in training. I was worried that he might be overdoing it.

“Ugh.”

I was startled when Leto let out a moan, perhaps due to muscle aches. I was contemplating whether I should go look around outside first, but as I stood up, Leto grabbed my hand.

“Leah?”

He may be awake, but the way he looked at me with his squinted eyes was full of fatigue. He gripped my wrist tightly and let out a loud yawn.

“Don’t leave me.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine.”

He responded with a shrug. When I poked my finger at his waist, Leto’s brows immediately furrowed.

“How is that fine!”

“So you’re going to leave me alone? Let’s go together.”

These days, Leto kept trying to keep me by his side. It was worse than before. As I stood there absent-mindedly, Leto rose, tied his hair up and went into the bathroom. Worried that I would leave first, Leto quickly washed up and came out, all dressed up.

S-So fast.

“Let’s go.”

I nodded at his words. As I hurried out of the room, I perked up at the sound of the cheerful song I heard outside.

I entered the Lexley Academy for my reputation and my family, but I also worked hard to enjoy festivals like these. At this time, you should not think about your studies and enjoy to your heart’s content! After passing through the academy square, I was blown away by the large crowd.

Street vendors and children were seen looking around to buy things. There were plenty of things to see and a lot of food. The pamphlet I received along the way said that a famous theatre and circus group were going to perform. These were the things I never got to experience when I lived in the Southern countryside. 

I was amazed by the festival that was larger than I thought. Seeing this, Leto smiled pleasantly, and I looked at him.

“Leah, aren’t you having fun?”

“Not really. Rather, watching your face is more amusing.”

“Is there something on my face?”

“……Nevermind.”

He immediately turned his head, embarrassed by my gaze.

Smiling heartily, I looked at the pamphlet again which had the schedule of the festival recorded. It was a week-long festival. Today, simple street vendors and various performances were held, and the cricket tournament would be held from the second until the sixth day. On the last day, a masquerade ball will be hosted, which was considered the main attraction of the festival. 

As I was staring at the pamphlet, Leto glanced at me and opened his mouth.

“Have you decided on a partner for the ball?”

“Yes.”

“……What?”

I heard Leto’s stunned voice. He looked at me with a stiff expression.

“Who is it? Don’t tell me it’s Nimbo?”

Now, he was completely calling Senior Jimbo, Nimbo.

“Or Vivian? It’s not Kazen, is it? Or, could it be the Reze brat?”

“Course not!”

As soon as Reze’s name came up, I denied firmly. Leto, who seemed a little relieved by my answer, pursed his lips.

“Then, who is it?”

“Of course it’s you!”

“Me?”

Leto’s eyes widened at my words.

“Does your partner have to be the opposite sex? I want my partner to be you…”

“……Damn.”

Leto was dumbfounded by my coquettish voice, but shortly the corners of his mouth curved up. Was he happy? Not being able to hide his joy, he smiled and suddenly became confident.

“Okay, I’ll be your partner,”

“Thank you, Leah! I only have you!”

“Yes. You only have me.”

While we were talking, I saw Bona, a face I haven’t seen in a long time. She was gobbling up a pie in front of a stall that was selling apple pies and made eye contact with us.

“…….”

“…….”

“……Hi?”

When I said hello, Bona blushed from showing such a shameful appearance. Despite that, she still didn’t let go of the apple pie in her hand. Then, she shoved the remaining apple pie into her mouth and gulped it down. I was worried about Bona, who swallowed it without chewing, but she appeared to be fine. Then, I noticed six bowls in front of Bona. Did she eat six apple pies?

“What are you looking at?”

She was still fierce. Unlike her tone, she only appeared cute when she licked the sauce on her hand.

“I’m not looking at you because I want to.”

“Still pitiful, aren’t you? Arsene.”

Bona and Leto glared at each and quarrelled. Looking at it this way, it seems like they were getting along with each other well, but at the same time, they don’t…

“What are you doing by yourself?”

When I asked, Bona arranged the dishes she had eaten and handed them over to the owner.

“Can’t you see? I was eating apple pies.”

“You ate a lot. Aren’t you full?”

“With only this? In fact, I can fit in a steak at the end. 3 servings should be good?”

At her words, my mouth fell. Unlike me, who was surprised, Leto seemed as though he wanted to quickly pass Bona to go to another stall, not caring how much she could eat.

“Oh, if you guys are bored, would you like to hang out with me? I’ll walk around with you.”

“Where…”

“You don’t have to thank me too much.”

It was surprising that Bona invited me to accompany her first. She moved ahead without asking me and Leto’s opinion. Leto didn’t like it, but Bona wasn’t the type to be discouraged.

“Why should I go with you?”

“Didn’t Bree say okay?”

“Since when.”

Afterwards, I heard the two of them argue behind me. Looking at that sight, the two must have been enemies in their past lives.

We walked around the academy again. I saw Senior Jimbo while walking around, but he didn’t notice me because he had a friend beside him. I wanted to say hi. I hadn’t run into him since the last time we met in the library, so I didn’t have the time to greet him.

“Bree. Let’s go to the steakhouse.”

I guess Bona’s purpose must have been the steak from the beginning.

“Who has steak in the morning? Go eat alone.”

When Leto spoke curtly, Bona became furious.

“What? Don’t you know how delicious steak is for breakfast……! You don’t know anything, do you?”

“Huh?”

“Of course, what to expect from that straightforward and crooked personality.”

“Are you introducing yourself now?”

“You can’t even tell even though you study a lot. It’s obviously about you.”

The quarrel between the two was interesting, but I didn’t want to get involved.

I turned around without saying a word and entered an obscure alleyway. I was wondering when there had been a place like this, but I suddenly heard a muffled voice. At the sound, Leto and Bona also stopped arguing and turned their heads. Was there someone here?

My footsteps naturally headed towards the sound. Then, as I predicted, I could faintly hear a couple of male students’ voices. Somehow, it sounded familiar.

As I went further, I recognised the owner of that voice. It was Vivian. In front of Vivian, there were three other students who seemed to be his friends. No, it wasn’t a friend. The three of them had their hands in the pockets of their pants and stood there while laughing out loud. 

Something was strange. Soon, I noticed that Vivian was being bullied. Then, a guy shoved Vivian on the shoulder.

“What are you guys doing?”

The guys looked at us as if Leto’s voice had reached their spot. Vivian’s eyes met mine. Suddenly, his eyes began to shake anxiously.

“You’re Arsene and Pierre, aren’t you?”

The guy sneered, seeming to know us.

“What do you want?”

“Mind your business, ladies.”

In response to Leto’s question, they even made a sarcastic remark. I was mad. 

“You guys, I may not know what your name is, but do you want to be caught on the noticeboard? Aren’t you afraid of how the students will look at you if Leah and I open our mouths and report your bullying?”

When I said that, they laughed.

“Don’t you know? We aren’t the only ones.”

“What?”

“Aren’t all the students bullying Vivian? It doesn’t matter if we get caught or not.”

I knew Vivian was timid and petite, but I never imagined that he would get bullied for that. No, I thought he would be popular with the students because he has a kind personality and a good heart……When I looked at Vivian, he had a troubled face as if the secret he didn’t want to be known was revealed.

“Hey, it’ll be troublesome if we get entangled with these guys. Let’s just go.”

The guys left the alley quietly without touching us. The only ones left were the four of us study members.