Chapter 9

Chapter 9

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – ChiSync]

Chapter 9

[Selena? Selena? Selena!]

No matter how much her brother called her name through the communication device, Selena was just rolling her eyes in confusion.

‘Oh my god. Oh my god! What have I...!’

Three years and six months ago, when I had just joined the Academy.

I received all sorts of confessions from my seniors during the freshmen welcome party.

At first, I politely declined with a smile, not hiding my apologetic tone.

But as one turned into two, and two turned into four, she grew tired.

My reactions became sharper, and I finally cut them off coldly.

That was the case with Karl, who confessed when I was at my coldest.

I was so angry at the outpouring of confessions that it was impossible to stay in the academy.

It was never about Karl, af if I was annoyed.

I ended up being overly cold-hearted than necessary.

“Well. Sorry. But, can we still be friends?”

I never saw Carl again at the Academy after that day.

I was a little worried, so I looked into it and found out that he had taken a leave of absence, but I never heard from him again.

Even after Karl disappeared, the confessions continued to come from other students.

Among them were students from the same year like Shulifen, Wilhelm, Alexander, and Joachim.

Naturally, I rejected all of them, but not as sharply as before.

I had grown accustomed to it.

And I felt sorry for having been too harsh on Karl.

As time passed, on a busy day preparing for graduation in the second semester of my fourth year.Finnd new chapters at novelhall.com

“Selena. That guy came back to school.”

“Huh?”

“Karl. He’s back.”

Unexpected news from Etvin. Karl, who had been missing for over three years, had returned.

I met him. It was indeed Karl. Something seemed different about him, but regardless, it was him.

And then I heard the shocking news right there.

“He enlisted?”

He denied it, but the timing was too perfect.

His confession was met with a sharper reaction than it needed.

And the fact that he immediately took a leave of absence from school, enlisted as a soldier despite being a nobleman, and fought in a war.

No matter how I think about it, I’m sure I’m partly to blame for what he’s been through.

But that wasn’t the end of it. He saved my brother in the midst of the war.

The overflowing sense of guilt I had been carrying unknowingly came rushing out.

[Selena. Are you listening to me―]

I quickly got up from my seat and went straight to find Karl.

Was he really the unnamed hero who saved my brother?

If so, why didn’t he tell me directly that it was him when I was talking about it?

Was he worried that I would feel guilty or burdened?!

‘Idiot. Idiot! You idiot!!’

Not knowing he was such a good person, I vented my accumulated frustration on him.

I had to speak up. Apologize. Thank him. It was necessary.

But despite searching for him all day, I couldn’t find Karl.

Things to do. Let’s bail for now. If caught, they’ll ask how many elf ears I’ve cut off. I don’t need that.

“Karl! Wait, wait!”

“...Selena?”

Turning around, I saw Selena, who demonstrated tracking skills of a stalker.

“Stop right there. Freeze. Hands up. I won’t move so please don’t shoot.”

“It was you?!”

“I said I won’t move so... huh?”

“The person who saved my brother. The nameless hero. That was you, Karl?”

As Selena spoke, I suddenly felt intensely embarrassed.

I don’t know why. It just felt like my secret, which I wanted to keep hidden, had been exposed.

I didn’t do anything bad, in fact, I did something really good.

And yet, I don’t know why I felt that way.

“Sigh, sigh.”

As Selena approached, breathing heavily, she looked at me.

“Honestly.”

“Huh?”

“Tell me honestly. Karl. Was it really... not because of me?”

“What... No way. Me enlisting as a soldier?”

“Yeah. That. You, a noble, not even an officer, choose to live the life of a soldier. And even being deployed to war, experiencing those difficult times. All of it.”

I couldn’t answer right away. Selena’s words were true.

Why did I do such a crazy thing? It was to forget the pain and embarrassment of what had happened.

It’s not something a sane person could do, but in any case, she was the cause.

It was impossible to say that there was no connection at all.

To be honest, I’m a little hurt. You could have rejected me in a way that didn’t hurt so much.

I heard that you smiled and rejected other humans, so why did you give me the cold shoulder?

I understand everything else, but I’m sad that I was the only one who was treated so coldly! Selena!!

“I told you, Selena. It wasn’t because of you.”

Despite that, I once again gave her a definite answer.

It wasn’t because of her. Her actions weren’t the cause of my unhappiness.

My response to Selena wasn’t just due to pride.

If I admitted it, all my suffering and memories would be reduced to nothing.

I thought it was right for me to bear everything because it was ultimately my choice.

“Really...? Are you sure, it was not because of me...?”

“I told you. I might seem a bit strange, but I’m not some crazy guy who enlisted just because he got rejected. I just wanted it. It was my decision, my action. That’s all.”

* * *

Until the end. Karl never blamed me.

He told me once that it was okay. I told him it was okay to be honest.

He always protected me. He smiled at me, just like he did back then.

Looking at him like that, I couldn’t help but smile vaguely.

Why did I reject his confession more adamantly than usual?

Was it because I considered the subsequent advances from men unworthy of consideration?

Over time, I couldn’t forget Karl and kept him in a corner of my heart.

It wasn’t simply because I felt sorry.

It was just because I couldn’t forget him, because he kept coming to mind and bothering me.

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – ChiSync]