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Chapter 36: Dream (7)
Asena looked in the mirror and finished her makeup.
Perhaps because of the black student council uniform, she looked duller today.
Besides, it was hard to even get dressed. Her arms were tired and heavy, and she wanted to rest again, but she knew well that Duchess Pryster couldn’t.
She knew, but… Asena eventually sat down on the bed.
It was something she would normally never do.
But today, she really didn’t have any strength in her legs. A short break would be ok.
There were two moments when she could forget about her position as a duchess:
One, when she was alone in her bedroom, like now. Since no one was watching her, it was okay to not hide her emotions or pretend to be strong. There was nothing wrong with showing a sad expression on her face.
Two, when she and Cayden were alone. At that time, she could always return to be his younger sister.
But now that opportunity was about to disappear. Her only salvation was about to leave her.
Asena touched her face. She had been thinking about it since a day ago, but nothing worked. She couldn’t think rationally when Cayden was involved in the problem. Every plan that came to mind had one flaw or another.
It was difficult.
If Cayden was not the target, she could borrow the power of the family. She could think mechanically and pursue only profit.
But as the matter was related to him, she could not move freely.
If she used force to have Cayden, she would gain only his body and she would lose his mind and soul, but if she let him go like this to gain his mind, she would lose his body.
“……”
Also, even if she took everything into account and came up with a plan, it was quite clear, like always, she would act impulsively in front of him.
It looked like a thread that could not be untied was tied up. It was clunky and troublesome.
Asena sighed.
…she hadn’t come up with any plans yet. Still, she got up.
It was time to go to school.
With such thoughts, she left her room and entered the living room.
“…”
Keirsey was also there. The subtle scent of soap informed Asena that Keirsey must have been washing her body since morning.
Keirsey was sitting on the sofa and drinking tea.
Asena could see that Keirsey was trying to calm her heart in her own way. She was holding a teacup with a blank expression and inhaling the fragrance.
She seemed to have lost her soul and looked like a doll, but her hands were trembling slightly, unlike her dazed expression. She seemed to be in deep thought, thinking of Cayden.
“…Keirsey.”
Asena called out to her sister. Thinking about Cayden now would only make her sick. Now was not the time to be doing this. Asena had to bring her out of her delusion.
“….uh?”
A distinctive look returned to Keirsey’s eyes. Her eyes, which had lost focus earlier, turned to Asena.
“…is Unnie ready?”
Her voice didn't even try to hide that she cried a lot.
Putting down the teacup, Keirsey got up and walked slowly towards the door.
The two did not share another conversation. They couldn’t afford to do so.
Asena looked at Keirsey’s back who was walking helplessly, and she moved her feet too.
The two opened the door at the same time and left the dormitory.
Judy Ice was standing right in front of their door.
After a brief greeting to the twins, she stood modestly. There was definitely a sense of intimidation as she was wearing a sword around her waist.
Asena spoke first.
“Since when have you been waiting?”
“Not long ago.”
Judy answered in a steady, knight-like voice.
To Asena, Judy was a member of the hostile Ice family, but she didn’t want to growl as soon as she saw her face. She didn't like her…but Judy was already Cayden’s friend. If she treated her badly, she could again get into Cayden’s ears.
Judy didn’t misbehave as soon as she saw Pryster either, as she did on her first meeting with Cayden. Having already become close with Cayden, she realized that there was no need to fight each other, and it was impossible for a knight who confronted her master to receive good reviews.
And another thing… Judy started hearing rumors about Asena while attending the academy that how cold Asena was. So she didn’t want to cause any problems for herself.
Finally, Asena was the head of the Prysters. There was no way she could treat this woman normally who was in the same social position as her father.
Immediately after such a short conversation, Asena was staring blankly at Judy, who had expected her to head to the academy.
Judy naturally lowered her eyes to the same height as Asena's and made eye contact. There was a little tension, but Judy didn’t show it.
“…any problem?”
“…Have you seen my Oppa?”
Asena asked calmly.
“…..”
Judy nodded her head. Because he had waved his hand from afar some time ago when she was waiting in front of the twins’ door.
Asena also nodded, then moved forward without saying a word.
It was in the opposite direction to the exit. Judy quickly figured out that Asena was going to see Cayden.
As if Keirsey noticed it too, she followed Asena.
Judy was troubled.
Suddenly, thoughts about Cayden grew in Judy’s mind. They could be seen as friends. They sweat and grow together in every training session, so it was inevitable that they would become friends.
Hence her mind was complicated now.
Recently, Cayden has been reluctant to hang out with the twins. He had shown her how many times he had been hurt, so it was understandable.
Cayden didn’t dislike the twins…but he certainly wanted to keep some distance. There was also the fact that he had asked if he could enter the Ice family as a vassal.
So the steps towards him now were quite heavy. She just didn’t want him to get hurt again.
Judy knew the feeling of being a loner in the family better than anyone.
“…..”
While escorting the twins, Judy looked at them.
They were people who matched their family symbol very well. Really, in Judy's eyes, they were really like snakes; No one could figure out what they were like from the inside.
Keirsey seemed to like Cayden, but she did a lot of things behind the scenes that made Cayden feel betrayed.
Just by looking at Asena’s cold expression, Judy could tell that she didn’t like Cayden. But at the same time, Asena tried to stick with him.
Whether she was trying to keep an eye on him or not, the observer could not find out.
The twins walked around the dormitory, various young girls greeted them. Judy was able to experience the world they lived in indirectly.
The Ice family was also a ducal family who was as strong as Prysters, but was it because Asena was the head of the family? Or was it because Judy was an illegitimate daughter? The gazes of the young girls were quite different from when they were pointed at her.
Asena walked for some time and turned. And then, she stopped after a distant hallway came into view. No one was there.
Judy didn’t know where Daisy Hexter’s dormitory was, but she could figure out it was somewhere in the hallway Asena was looking at.
“…No, Oppa…”
Keirsey muttered quietly.
Asena looked at the empty hallway like that and turned around without saying a word. In a direction that leads to the academy.
– Click.
At that moment, the sound of the opening of a door echoed.
“No. You can stop thanking me now.”
“…But still. You're a lifesaver, really.”
Cayden, who had caught Asena’s eyes, was coming out of Daisy’s room.
A fire blazed in Asena’s heart. Her beloved… her man... No one would be able to stay sane to see their crush coming out of another woman's room.
All reasons broke again.
✧ ✧ ✧
I stood at her dorm's door, waiting for Daisy.
After giving a light greeting to Daisy’s roommate, who was leaving the dormitory early in the morning, I stood as if guarding the door.
The conversation I had with the twins last night gave me a headache. Thanks to that, I went to bed late, but because of the escort training, I had to wake up earlier than usual, so I was still tired.
I yawned.
Whenever I was bored, I tapped the handle of the sword on my waist.
-"Hey! Ahh! go away!"
At that moment, Daisy’s scream was heard from the room.
My mind, which had been still drowsy, suddenly became sharp.
I asked loudly:
“Daisy? Are you okay?”
-"Ah..! Yes..! No…! Yes..! I'm okay! F*ck!"
Daisy’s voice, pretending to be okay, continued to be heard. There was no credibility in saying such words in such an urgent voice though.
“Daisy? May I come in?”
I felt like I had to go in quickly to figure out the situation. I knocked on the door and urged her to answer.
-"That…! No..! Yes..! Ahh..!"
Daisy seemed very confused. She needed help, but her own personality was refusing to reach out.
“Answer only one thing! Are you dressed properly?”
-"Oh, yes! I'm well dressed!"
– Click.
I didn’t need any more words. It was my job to help her when she was in need.
Daisy was swinging a thick book in the air.
She took hurried steps here and there, and was running.
A huge wasp was chasing her. Just flying around the room was intimidating enough, but it was following Daisy and threatened to shoot her at any moment.
“Uh, what!”
Due to the size of the wasp being larger than expected, I also picked up a book that was lying around.
I ran to Daisy, hid her behind me, and followed the wasp with my eyes.
And as soon as it entered my reach, I quickly swung the book, swatting it.
-Tick!
Considering it was an insect, it was quite heavy. It made a pretty loud sound and was thrown to the floor. Its head fell off in a single blow.
“…..ha…”
Daisy sighed, as if relaxed. She put down the heavy book she was carrying on the nearby desk and made herself look neat.
“…thank you, Cayden—”
“—Call me quickly if something like this happens.”
I cut her off.
“….Sorry. I didn’t want to trouble you for nothing…”
“If you get hurt, I'll have more trouble with that.”
Daisy opened her eyes in surprise and nodded slowly.
“Ah…I guess. It’s escort training. If I get hurt… Yeah, I didn’t think of that.”
“Not just that... I told you, I will do my best for the duration of the escort training. If you don’t tell me because you just think I'll take it as a nuisance, how am I going to do my best?”
Without realizing it, I started nagging Daisy, as if I was dealing with twins.
“…..”
Daisy looked at me and smiled.
“Is this how you feel when you have an older brother?”
At that one word, I shut my mouth. I was embarrassed to say more here.
Without answering, I threw the corpse of the fallen wasp out of the window.
Daisy laughed even more seeing me not answering.
“Ahaha, it’s a joke. Anyway, thanks Cayden. Let's head to the academy now.”
“The wasp... but where did it come from? We’ll have to find out if there’s a wasp nest nearby.”
“Today is the first time it came into the room. Next time if it comes again, I’ll ask for your help, so I think it’s okay if you don’t bother looking for it now.”
“…Well.”
I headed for the door. Daisy spoke behind me.
“Thank you again. It’s definitely nice to get help.”
Still walking, I turned to look at her.
“No. You can stop thanking me now.”
“…But still. You're a lifesaver, really.”
I felt like I was going to bump into someone, so for a moment, I stopped and looked ahead.
“Oh.”
Fortunately, I didn’t bump into the person in front of me, but I almost jumped in surprise at seeing who the target was.
It was Asena. Keirsey too was behind her.
Judy stood behind the twins, looking uncomfortable and sorry.
“Guys…how are you here…”
Asena ignored my words.
“Why are you here?”
She asked coldly.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a cold expression on her face. I wasn't sure if it was because of yesterday’s quarrel or because there were people around.
“Of course, I know… escort training is started from the moment you leave the dormitory until you safely go back in. But why is Oppa coming out of the room?”
Asena’s cold gaze extended to Daisy.
“Daisy. What were you both doing in the room?”
I cut between Daisy and Asena.
“It was just because of a wasp. I don’t know why the atmosphere has to be so dark, Asena. Calm down, let’s go to the academy.”
I gently tried to comfort her, but Asena’s expression didn’t change. Keirsey, who was next to her, was the same. She was becoming more and more like Asena.
Keirsey didn’t even seem to know what I was thinking. Her expression was also hardened and she was staring coldly.
“….Calm?”
Asena’s eyebrows twitched subtly.
“…Oppa, you still don’t know? Do you think it’s so easy to go into a noble girl’s room?”
“…if you say it like that, of course, it sounds weird.”
Did you learn this in political science? Asena was a master at twisting words skillfully. But I did not lose my focus and carried out my argument.
“I didn’t say ‘like that’, Oppa. It’s true.”
“No. The ‘fact’ was I was just protecting Daisy from a wasp because of the mission I was given.”
“You said your job starts when Daisy walks out of the door, right?”
“Why are you making such a distinction? Then if I hear the sound of danger, should I just ignore it? Loyalty is as important as mission, Asena.”
She took one step closer to me. She did not seem to be in a hurry. Instead, she pressured me slowly. It was like a snake crawling with a subtle threatening sound.
“…So a knight must always be loyal, without any reason, right?”
Quietly, she asked.
She looked at Daisy hiding behind me.
Daisy, presuming it was a family matter, remained silent.
“True.”
I dismissed it.
I didn’t want to cause trouble by stating the reason why I decided to be loyal to Daisy here. Because in the process, the topic of twins was almost certain to come out.
“…okay?”
Asena closed her eyes for a moment, exhaled softly, and looked at me with straight eyes. And in that state, she said in a voice as cold as ice.
“Judy, get down on your knees.”
“…What?”
And only then, I realized how cold Asena’s eyes were while looking at me.