CH 146

Around this time, the fresh green of spring brightly colors the forest. How are you doing?

I always pray that you are spending peaceful days in a beautiful place where many flowers are in full bloom under the endless blue sky, even if we are far apart. 

Well then, as for my situation, I’ve spent my days without faltering.

Speaking of which, regarding Gerald Forsius whom Lana onee-sama is curious about, he seemed to be very busy at the moment, and I’ve often seen his figure, seemingly looking for someone.

I wonder who was the person he was looking for.

This ignorant self couldn’t come up with an answer, but I’m sure it is an important person.

Perhaps he is looking for his fated person—

Well, I sent such a letter to my onee-samas, but what do you think about it, Tenma?

No, I didn’t mention any lies there!

After all, I certainly often saw GeraGera walking around the academy as if trying to look for someone, and I have no idea who he was looking for either.

That’s why there is no proof that the person he was looking for isn’t his fated person…

In other words, it is something I could talk about!

Indeed, perhaps it was a little different from fact, but the things I said barely didn’t count as lies.

After all, Lana onee-sama will be happier that way, and she would value me more, wouldn’t she?

—Tenma, please do not mistake me for a terrible person.

Even I—despite GeraGera being the hateful handsome dude that happens to be Lana onee-sama’s taste—still hesitate to declare that his fated person is a man.

I wouldn’t worry that much if the other person were Lilina-sama, but since it is Lana onee-sama, my conscience would hurt. [T/N: Lilina would at least just enjoy it in her imagination, but Lana would document it into writing, which is more likely to spread to the world in the future to come.]

After all, Lana onee-sama is… well… you know…

How to say it, I have a feeling that Lana onee-sama’s expertise in things between the lines is on a completely different level than Lilina-sama.

If it’s Lilina-sama, she would just blush in a lovely manner, but things that Lana onee-sama would say are more vivid depictions or something…

Words that came out from that sweet fruit-like lips and with a lovely voice reminiscent of little birds often made me tilt my head in wonder. There were even times when I almost spit out the tea I was drinking.

Lana onee-sama had a friendly smile worthy of a beautiful girl, but I guess it’s as expected of friends of Christina onee-sama and Celine onee-sama, her mind is quick to process things and she is also good with words.

Perhaps that was why, when I heard it from Lana onee-sama, even though I didn’t have any interest in things between the lines, I could still get dragged into the boundary between delusion and reality, and even though I was well aware it was definitely not reality, it would confuse me and I thought it might be real sometimes.

The scariest part of Lana onee-sama is her talking skill. The doubt that made me think it might be true would grow day by day and by the end of it, the thought “It must be true” would dominate my mind.

It was brainwashing! The brainwashing about things between the lines!

If I were to send that letter, GeraGera in Lana onee-sama’s mind would be paired with the fated person that I had no idea if they existed—perhaps, or rather, I think they definitely did not exist—and such topic would become lively talk over the next tea party.

It was easy to imagine girls getting heated up at a tea party, so Sophie put on a straight face before she knew it.

“From a man’s perspective, it would be a hellish picture.”

Because Sophie had memories as a man, she tried to put herself in that situation, which made her imagine herself begging in tears to be spared from that.

“But I didn’t lie about GeraGera looking for someone.”

Indeed, that wasn’t a lie. It really wasn’t a lie.

Sophie had no idea about Ferio’s order for him, but she had seen Gerald’s figure seemingly looking for something. That movement was so minimal that one would only think he was walking normally at a first glance.

Sophie quickly realized from Gerald’s atmosphere and little gestures that he was looking for someone because the paladins that guarded her dorm had similar eyes.

It should be a peculiar movement of paladin that made them alert yet didn’t seem to be doing anything but guarding in the eyes of others.

They had peculiar movements when they were trying to find something, when they were investigating something, and when they were checking for danger.

Then Sophie suddenly recalled a certain person in her mind.

“By the way, was Al a paladin?”

Even when compared to Gerald, Al didn’t feel like a paladin. Seeing as he was escorting Ferio, the first prince, it meant he was a black star and a paladin without a doubt.

However, his smiling figure that Sophie recalled from her childhood made it hard to think he was a paladin.

Al’s attitude and atmosphere were too different compared to Gerald and the paladins that defended her dorm.

Al was more of a person who would loiter around looking for weird things after all…

When Al found a peculiar fruit, he would ask what it was as he walked in that direction, to which Ferio would retort, “You are my escort right! Do your job properly!” in anger.

Sophie giggled when she recalled that.

Ferio didn’t tell Sophie where Al was.

However, Sophie thought Al would eventually appear out of nowhere, wearing a smile that was no different to back then, and say, “It’s been a while,” to her

For some reason, Sophie was sure Al would eventually come to meet her.

“Al, I wonder when you’ll come to see me?”

She muttered with a little loneliness.

“I haven’t thanked you yet about the amane… if I get a chance, I guess I’ll ask Ferio once again.”

As Sophie recalled Ferio’s disgust when she asked about Al, she doubted Ferio would tell her easily, but perhaps he would if she tried several times.