CH 70

Not A Lonely Festival (10)

It was Senior Jimbo. It was cool to see Senior Jimbo dressed neatly, unlike his usual school uniform and training suit. His curly hair and blue eyes matched the black frock coat better, and he even looked taller in the black attire even if he was already tall.

As though I wasn’t the only one who thought so, everyone that passed by kept glancing at Senior Jimbo and blushed. He had an attractive appearance that could not be hidden even with a mask on.

“Senior!”

“I knew it was you. I could tell you from afar.”

He gave me his signature gentle smile and stopped himself from trying to stroke my hair. He must have figured that I had my hair done for hours at a boutique. Senior glanced at my dress and opened his mouth.

“Cute……”

I couldn’t hear senior’s mumbled words. When I asked again, senior became startled and suggested we talk outside. I was worried about Bona, but she seemed to be fully distracted by the pudding. She knew the academy better than I do and handles interactions well, so I didn’t have to worry about her.

After nodding my head, I followed senior out of the ball and headed to a nearby garden. There were also many people outside, but it was not as loud as it was inside the building, so it was easier to hear senior’s voice.

“What about that person?”

Senior asked, looking around.

“Leah? I guess there was a prior engagement. She headed to the mansion, but she will be back soon.”

“…….”

When Leto’s situation was revealed, Senior Jimbo opened his mouth to say something but immediately closed it again. It wasn’t like him to hesitate. Did he have anything to say about Leto? The relationship between senior and him wasn’t very good. I was worried that senior would say something bad about Leto. Even though I knew he was not that kind of person…

“So you mean Leah! She’s originally a kind person who smiles a lot! She’s very nice to me. So you don’t have to worry……”

Senior Jimbo had a dejected expression at my words.

“You don’t know anything about her, do you?”

“Me?”

For some reason, my pride was hurt. I thought I knew more about Leto than anyone else! Is this a provocation? Senior looked at me and sighed a little.

“She seems to like you a lot.”

“I like Leah, too.”

“……That’s good, I guess.”

Afterwards, Senior Jimbo sighed and moved on to another topic.

It was mainly about the cricket tournament, he said he wasn’t able to concentrate as much as he thought this time. He said he often missed the ball because he was occupied with a strange thought, and he regretted it. In particular, he said he couldn’t get his head out of it since he didn’t perform as well as expected against the Swordsman team, even after the match was over.

“I wanted to do better than that.”

I was surprised to see senior so motivated.

“Really?”

“I was aiming to be the MVP.”

“Come to think of it, I heard you gave a great speech as the MVP last time.”

“I don’t even remember it.”

That was very much like Senior Jimbo. Even if he touched a lot of people’s hearts, he was unaware of it.

“But why did you want to do so well?”

When I asked, senior wiped off the smile on his face. He suddenly stared at me and slowly opened his mouth.

“Why?”

Senior’s face was serious as he echoed that question. I was startled by that gaze that seem to pierce right through me that I couldn’t say anything casually. It wasn’t the right mood to throw a joke. A wind blew in our silence. Both our hair fluttered. Then, my long hair covered my eyes and senior gave a small laugh before tucking my hair behind my ears.

Our eyes met again with senior’s careful hand gesture. Senior removed his hand and touched the tip of my head.

“You.”

“…….”

“Your hair colour is pretty. It shines.”

His words were sincere

“Pretty.”

“…….”

“Really.”

What’s going on? Senior was being more honest with himself than unusual and he was only uttering embarrassing words. Awkwardness floated in the air and senior’s hand which was touching my hair fell off. Fireworks exploded in the sky again. We turned our heads and focused our gaze on the blooming flower in the dark sky.

I vividly remembered seeing fireworks with Leto in the past. Now, I really wanted to see Leto. Will he be able to come to the ball today? I wanted to dance with him at least once.

“What are you thinking about? Leaving me beside you.”

Senior’s words brought me back to my senses.

“Ah, come to think of it, the study will start again after the festival.”

“So you don’t like it?”

“No, I like it!”

When I spoke firmly, senior laughed a little. It hadn’t been like this before, but maybe because we were both dressed up now, it felt a little awkward. Perhaps senior noticed this, so he scratched his head and glanced at me.

After a while, the music, which indicated the climax of the masquerade ball, started playing. It was time to find a partner and dance together. As soon as the elegant melody appeared, the atmosphere completely changed. Everyone decided on a partner, held each other’s hands, and began to sway their bodies.

I was watching the people dance when a hand popped out in front of me. When I looked up, Senior Jimbo was inviting me to dance. He looked a little nervous, bowing down slightly and politely asking me to be his partner.

“Um……”

I hesitated a little. My partner was Leto. However, I couldn’t refuse Senior Jimbo’s offer. I didn’t think Leto would come anyway.

At this rate, I wouldn’t have a partner and the ball would come to an end. My best option was to accept Senior Jimbo’s hand, dance, and have fun at the last ball. I held out my arm to hold Senior Jimbo’s hand, but I was hesitating for some reason.

I tried to hold senior’s hand with a slight hesitation, but someone grabbed my shoulder. Surprised, I looked back.

“Hi, Bree. Remember me?”

A familiar scent wafted over me along with a deep voice. Alluring red hair fluttered, and deep black eyes captured my gaze.

“!”

It was Leto.

He stood there, not as Leah Arsene, but as his real self, Leto Arsene. I could see his face sweating slightly and his outfit a little crooked, probably from running. He glared fiercely at Senior Jimbo in front of me, then grabbed my hand. His voice, which I had missed, was heard along with the sound of his heavy breathing.

“Please come along with me.”

I nodded involuntarily to his threatening but courteous voice. He instantly grabbed my hand and dragged me away. I tried to bid Senior Jimbo goodbye belatedly, but there was no chance. Senior looked at me with a stunned look on his face, and I was dragged away by Leto without being able to give an apology.

Leto led me to the bottom of the clock tower. The place was quiet and dark, and there were no people around. Leto was still breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath, and wiped the sweat off his face. I could see how quickly he had run all the way here.

“A-Are you okay?”

When I asked, Leto slipped off his mask and brushed his bangs. I stood by his side and fanned him with my hands, feeling sorry for Leto, who was suffering from the heat. Leto looked at me like that and laughed as if he was dumbfounded.

“What are you doing?”

“…Well, isn’t it hot?”

At my words, Leto took my hand.

“Your hands are cold, can I use them to cool down?”

Ah…I stiffened at Leto’s cheeky behaviour. Was he always this passive? Somehow he seemed to be demanding but also shameless. I wondered if a person’s personality could change when they became their original form, but Leto took my hand and breathed slowly for a while.

“Ah, sorry. Have you been waiting for long?”

Leto felt my gaze and immediately removed his hand. It was a little disappointing, but Leto’s earlobes were completely red. In the end, Leto was still the same Leto. Leto had already acted that way and avoided my gaze, probably feeling ashamed.

“Do you……remember me?”

When he dragged me, he seemed to be worried that I wouldn’t remember him.

“The last ball…….”

“Right, and you’re Briseis Pierre.”

Leto said my full name, as if he just recalled me. Oh, so he was pretending not to know me. It was cute to see Leto deliberately avoiding it. I thought I should talk about it to him and move on, but I held it in since I was afraid it would make Leto in trouble.

“So why did you drag me here? Haven’t we just met once?”

When I asked, Leto placed his mask back on, feeling embarrassed. Huh? I wanted to see your face more! Leto’s eyes widened when I grabbed his mask unconsciously. I didn’t stop there. Poking out my head, I took a closer look at his face.

As if I were looking at a statue, I observed his face closely, secretly admiring it.

“Wh, W-What are you doing?”

“Actually, I don’t get it.”

“What?”

“They say it shines. People say if you look at that one person, they will shine, but do they really? I’ve been thinking about it. But your face is shining like glitter.”

Leto’s eyes trembled slightly. He was shaking now. It was the same for me. As I continued to stare, he seemed to feel a little pressured so he pushed me by my shoulders and hurriedly wore his mask.

“……Didn’t you like girls?”

Huh?

“N-No. Leah Arsene is my little sister, and……I’m Rainier, her brother.”

He made a hasty excuse. Oh, so he decided to lie. I was willing to fall for it.

“No wonder you guys look alike!”

“Leah…will be coming late today.”

I laughed at Leto, who was really bad at lying. He looked at me as I laughed.

A new song began to play. I bent down a little and put my hand out in front of him, just like Senior Jimbo did to me earlier.

“I’m Briseis Pierre. I wish to have this dance with you, Rainier Arsene!”