CH 72

Rival (1)

What I thought was a good sign was a bit out of line than I wished for. Could it be that Leto’s personality was affected by changing many times? Or was it because he suddenly became a celebrity, so he became careful with his words and actions? He refrained from swearing occasionally and erased the frown from his face. It was a real surprise from his usual fierce and blunt personality.

Yeah, that was certainly a good sign. If only that applied to everyone……

“Damn it! Bona Bellion!”

He frowned at Bona, who secretly stole his strawberry jam. His grim expression that was directed at Bona was different. The sight of him getting angry was like the usual Leto. Figuring that this might lead to a big fight, I handed him a sausage from my plate.

“I’ll give you mine. Here, want my strawberry jam?”

As usual, I was also showing my endless affection for Leto. If it were like usual, he would have either blushed or refused, saying he was fine……

“No need. Bree, you eat. You should eat more since you’re so small and light. Okay?”

In contrast to what I thought, this was how he responded. What do you mean small and light…did those words come out of Leto’s mouth?

“Crazy…”

Bona and Vivian, who were sitting next to each other, dropped their forks, unable to hide their astonishment. Then, Leto glanced at them as if they were a nuisance before placing back the sausage and strawberry jam on my plate.

“Eat, Bree. Chew it well.”

Yes, he was only sweet and kind towards me. It wasn’t just that. When he and I were in the dormitory, his display of affection towards me became a little more blatant. It happened this morning.

“Bree.”

The sweet and tender voice drew a smile before I realised it. Soon, a soft gesture touched my hair.

Someone stroked the ends of my hair, and the mystery hand eventually came up to my cheek. It had been fine up until there. Until the hand touched my lower lip. At the strange touch, I naturally opened my eyes right away and saw Leto’s face smiling like a child. Leto, smiling softly, noticed my gaze and took a few seconds before erasing his expression. A moment of silence passed.

“…Can you smile again?”

Leto was stunned when I made that bold request. Oh, I knew he would refuse……

“Okay.”

……Huh?

“Do I look pretty when I smile?”

He even flirted.

“Pr, P-Pretty.”

Rather, it was me who was embarrassed. At my stuttering, Leto smiled brightly like a child just like before, then pinched my lips and lightly tugged them. 

“It’s late. You’ll be running late at this rate.”

Putting aside my embarrassment from Leto’s words, I raised my head in surprise to look at the time. As he said, there were only about 10 minutes left before this morning’s major class. Jumping up, I began to undress in a hurry. As I habitually lifted my pyjamas over my head, Leto pulled down the ends of my clothes.

“Leah?”

“Bree. Please don’t take off your clothes everywhere!”

He cried out. He had already kissed my cheek without hesitating, so why was he ashamed of this? Seeing Leto like that, I wanted to play around a little, but I didn’t have time to make Leto’s face blush this morning, so I went to the bathroom and quickly got ready.

“Leah, what’s the time…Omph!”

“Now, say ah.”

As soon as I got out of the bathroom, Leto shoved a spoonful of soup into my mouth.

“Mhmm.”

I accepted the spoon that appeared out of nowhere and simply gulped it down. Even then, Leto wasn’t content and continued to feed me soup several times, and cleaned up my tousled hair. After fixing up my crooked cloak, he even took care of my books. What was going on? As if that alone didn’t shake my heart, Leto also called my name affectionately. It was even my nickname.

“Bree.”

Seeing me standing motionlessly, he gestured to hurry up. Oh my god, I guess the world was about to split in half. Or did Leto have a big crisis or something? I left the dormitory with an uneasy feeling.

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After classes were all over, I headed to the study room after a long time. There were only a few days left before summer vacation. Students often headed to the library to study hard even during this time. Even though I had come to the library right after class, I could see the seats were all filled.

I went up to the floor where the study room was located, but it was quiet as if the other study groups had already gathered and started studying. After walking carefully to avoid disturbing them, I opened the door to the study room and noticed Senior Jimbo was already at his spot. Senior, who was reading a book, smiled the moment he saw me, then hardened his expression when he saw Leto beside me.

The two competed together during the game but still did not get along well. When I sat down, Leto quickly took the seat next to me, even though no one would take it anyway.

“If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have accepted any more mentees……”

Senior Jimbo muttered quietly, but I could hear it all. Could it be that he was talking about Leto? I noticed the strange tense atmosphere and smiled awkwardly.

“But it’s nice that it’s merrier. Bona and Vivian will be here soon.”

“Thinking about it, I liked it better when it was only you.”

No, how could he say something so frankly in front of Leto? At that time, Leto placed the book in his arms on the desk. The sound was quite loud and sharp, that our eyes faced that way.

“Excuse me, Senior Nimbo. Won’t anyone who hears that would think you like Bree?”

Leto said in a rather sarcastic tone. At his bold remarks, I quickly poked Leto on the side, but it was futile. Somehow, he was grumpy like his usual self. The way he stared at Senior Jimbo with his arms crossed and wearing a bitter expression was even arrogant. Senior Jimbo’s expression also gradually began to harden.

The two of them weren’t going to fight, right? Senior Jimbo was not usually someone who would easily fall for Leto’s provocation, nor was he the type who would seriously respond to his junior’s mischief. He would simply gloss over it.

“So what?”

……Ah, great.

“Bree likes me more, right?”

“A dull, weird-tempered kid like you?”

“Isn’t senior the one who is dull?”

“So you agree that you have a weird personality.”

Even Senior Jimbo was acting weird. In the past, he would simply ignore or pretend not to hear Leto’s words, but now he was seriously arguing with him. It would have been better if the argument had been about magic or a debate about an issue. This was the same level as two children running to their mother and asking ‘Mom, do you like him more? Or me?’.

“Then why don’t you ask Bree.”

And my prediction was spot on. I was stunned by Leto’s firm tone. This can’t be serious.

“Bree. Senior Nimbo or me?”

I was hoping that Senior Jimbo would come to his senses soon and stop Leto’s behaviour, but for some reason, he was also looking at me with anticipated eyes. In an instant, the eyes of the two men turned to me. I was overwhelmed. One wrong word and it would severely ruin the relationship with one person.

‘Then, I have to wisely choose both……’

“Only one. Just choose one.”

Figuring out my nature, Senior Jimbo exclaimed first. What made it even more difficult was that Leto and Senior Jimbo were full of confidence that I would choose them.

“Quickly.”

“Hurry up.”

When I hesitated, the two of them urged me even more. Normally, Bona and Vivian would show up around this time. However, there were no signs of them anywhere.

“I’ll count to three.”

“Why are you taking so long……!”

When I didn’t give a definite answer, the two spoke in a somewhat furious tone. I wanted to get along with both of them……

“Actually…”

As I spoke, the two of them concentrated. I gulped. I could even hear the sound of my saliva pouring down. Was this something to be so nervous about?

“Recently……I think I like Bona.”

At my words, Leto and Senior Jimbo looked stunned as if they had been struck hard in the back of their heads.

“……Bona? Bona as in Bona Bellion?”

When Leto asked, I nodded. Sorry, Bona. But it’s true that your favorability has risen exponentially these days.

“Does that mean that……Nevermind.”

Senior Jimbo also laughed in vain. That was when Bona and Vivian opened the door and entered. If they were going to come, they should’ve come earlier. Why did they only appear now after the atmosphere had become weirder?

“Sorry, I’m late……Did something happen?”

Vivian was about to greet us before he paused, noticing the tense atmosphere. The main victim was Bona. As soon as Bona entered, she had to face Senior Jimbo and Leto’s fierce eyes.

“What? Is she back to normal?”

Of course, Bona didn’t care about the gaze at all. She sat down, opened her book, and frowned when the gaze of the two guys was still directed at her. Oh, no matter how she seems, of course, she’ll be bothered if someone keeps staring at her.

I felt guilty for Bona and couldn’t bear to lift my head.

“What? Am I that pretty? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Bona flicked her hair back as if to emphasise. Wow, I really felt like I was going to fall for her. The problem was that Senior Jimbo and Leto were staring at me.