Editor : Amethyst00



"I missed this! The dorm lounge sofa!"

"Let's go to the campus store!"

"Did the library get any new books?"

After the opening ceremony and the first day of classes, students gathered at the clocktower dormitory.

The shared space, used by all departments, quickly became bustling with students.

["You're here! Juniors!"]

["We were lonely without you!"]

["Let's have another fun semester together!"]

Former student council presidents, summoned as spirits by Leo, flew around above the dorm ceiling, shouting joyfully.

They were supposed to move on after resolving their lingering regrets, but they had chosen to stay as dorm spirits, satisfied with their current existence.

Of course, their ability to remain was due to permission from the headmistress, Rina.

'Not bad. No need to assign extra staff as dorm supervisors.'

As alumni who had graduated thousands of years ago, their strict adherence to rules—reporting students who broke school regulations without hesitation—was actually seen as a plus.

And whatever else may be said, they genuinely helped guide their juniors based on their experience, which led to positive reception from the current students.

Some students had even grown close to the former student council presidents, exchanging warm greetings.

Click-clack, click-clack—

Eliza entered the dorm, carrying her luggage, and made her way to the department dorm room.

Following closely behind was her younger sister, Freyna.

As they turned a corner in the hallway—

Thump—!

"Whoa!"

"Ah! Are you okay, sis?"

Eliza staggered after bumping into Carl, who came dashing from the opposite side.

As Freyna reached to steady her sister, Carl was quicker, grabbing Eliza's wrist to help her regain balance.

"Sorry, sorry. Are you okay?"

Carl apologized, but Eliza frowned.

"Watch where you're going."

At her sharp words, Carl scratched his head sheepishly.

"I was lost in thought."

"How long are you planning to hold her hand?!"

Freyna stepped between them, squinting her eyes with disapproval.

Carl chuckled, let go of Eliza's wrist, picked up the bag that had fallen, and handed it back to her.

"Well, later then!"

He turned and walked away, and Freyna sighed as she watched him go.

"The acting student council president is great and all, but he's just so careless."

She aired a bit of her frustration.

"He is like that," Eliza agreed.

Yet, she gently rubbed the wrist Carl had grabbed earlier.

"Hmm? Sis, is your wrist okay? Did Carl grab you too hard?"

Freyna asked, concerned, inspecting her sister's wrist.

"No."

Eliza curtly shook her head and walked off.

Trailing behind, Freyna grumbled.

"Carl needs to be more careful. Grabbing the wrist of the heir to the Hergin family so casually like that… What if another rumour starts like in the first semester?"

Back in the first semester—

Carl and Eliza, honored as the first guests of the punishment room, had briefly been caught up in a scandal.

It was a playful rumour spread by upperclassmen, so it faded quickly, but Freyna hadn't liked it one bit.

"Hmph. Me and Carl in a scandal? No one would believe that."

Eliza smirked.

'Even though we're actually dating.'

That thought passed through her mind, stirring strange feelings.

"Right. Any scandal would probably be with someone else."

"Carl?" Eliza raised an eyebrow.

"Would anyone really fall for that careless guy…? Well, maybe, but I doubt he'll get caught up in a scandal."

"He's charmed a lot of the freshmen, so who knows?"

Freeze—

"What do you mean by that?"

Eliza stopped walking, eyes wide.

Freyna, unaware of the reaction, casually continued.

"Carl's really kind, you know."

"That's just business. It's part of his merchant act. Not real kindness."

"Sure, but even then, he's a good guy, so there are a fair number of freshmen who have crushes on him. Plus, he became a hero at a young age, so his status isn't a problem. I even heard some royal-blooded first-year girls are eyeing him as husband material. The top student in the knight department is one of Carl's biggest admirers."

"…"

"He must be all smiles in front of those junior girls."

Eliza gave a cold, eerie smile.

"But he actually draws clear lines. He's good at that. I admire him for it."

"Hmph."

Eliza scoffed, but her expression softened.

"First-years are wasting their time."

"Maybe. But some are pretty bold. At one point, information about Carl's 'ideal type' was a big deal among first-year girls."

"What? That guy wouldn't say something like that."

"You're right. Apparently, it was leaked by his best friend."

"Hmm? And what did they say?"

"They said he likes girls with long, straight hair like Lady Lysinas."

Eliza absentmindedly touched her hair—glossy, silver, and slightly wavy.

Knowing Carl, his taste probably wasn't just about beauty like Lysinas's.

'Everyone likes someone as beautiful as her.'

Even she had been mesmerized by Lysinas's beauty.

'So he likes the pure, classic type?'

She sighed as they arrived at the summoning department dorm.

"Sis! I'll make sure to keep my top student title this semester too!"

Freyna clenched her fists with determination.

Eliza smiled gently.

"I'm counting on you."

"Yes!"

As her sister went to her room, Eliza entered hers, threw her bag down, and collapsed onto the bed.

"In the end, all I got at school was a brief hallway encounter."

She sighed, grumbling.

Of course, it wasn't Carl's fault.

After passing Lake Lumeira and arriving at the academy, their different schedules had kept them apart.

Eliza rubbed the wrist Carl had grabbed.

She still felt a lingering yearning.

'I never imagined I'd feel this way.'

He was someone she used to see all the time at school.

Now, just being apart made her think about him constantly.

And she knew the reason.

At the coronation eve celebration for Leo—

Carl had called her, saying he wanted to talk.

'What? I'm busy.'

As the family's representative, Eliza had many formalities to handle.

Given the Hergin family's influence, she had to meet many dignitaries.

But what really made her treat Carl coldly was her lingering frustration over his indecisiveness between her and Duran during summer break.

Though in Carl's defense, it made sense.

They were friends.

And strictly speaking, Duran was Carl's liege.

Of course he'd be torn.

But Eliza had still resented him a bit.

She had wanted to be someone special to Carl.

When she spoke, Carl hesitated, then pulled something from behind his back.

'A flower? Is he trying to apologize?'

Eliza chuckled.

At least he's trying, she thought.

But then—

"Eliza. I've thought about it seriously. I think I like you."

"What?"

"So I want us to be something more than what we are now."

In that moment—

Eliza froze.

Carl's face, red with embarrassment, eyes squeezed shut, and not knowing what to do—it had looked pretty cute.

"He's a year younger than me, after all."

Thinking back, Eliza chuckled softly.

She'd been blushing too, panicking and fumbling her words.

Her heart had raced like crazy, and her voice had trembled.

'Hmm.'

Still, she pretended to stay calm.

She took the flower from Carl's hand and gave a brief answer.

"I like you too."

"Whoa! Really?! You're not messing with me?!"

Carl's eyes lit up.

"It's just casual dating, nothing serious."

"Ooooooh!"

She'd tried to save face, but seeing Carl's genuine joy only made her feel like the fool.

"Thank you! For accepting my confession!"

Grab!

He grabbed her hands and leaned close, nearly stopping her heart.

An awkward silence followed.

"U-uhm. S-sorry…"

As Carl began to pull back—

"Looking back, that was insane."

Eliza buried her face in the blanket.

She had closed her eyes in that moment.

Carl, after a beat, leaned in even closer.

'Why was he so bold at a time like that?'

She wasn't upset about his courage.

Just—

"Um… excuse me."

Cough?

"Eep?"

"I'm really sorry, but I felt bad watching from here. Could you… maybe continue after I leave?"

Thanks to Chen Xia's awkward interruption, things didn't progress any further.

Anyway, that's how Eliza and Carl became a couple.

Since then, Carl had never left her thoughts.

'…What would that kiss have felt like?'

Eliza subconsciously touched her lips and frowned.

'What the—? I sound like I'm obsessed!'

She shot up and reached for her bag to unpack.

'I got swept up in the moment back then. If he tries to sneak a kiss again, I'm not letting him off easy.'

She scoffed and opened her bag—then froze.

Right on top were a small envelope and a silver flower.

She had never put those in her bag.

Opening the envelope, she found a note written in handwriting that was clearly trying hard to be neat.

[Doesn't this flower remind you of my girlfriend? –Carl Thomas]

It was the flower Carl had given when he confessed.

It resembled Eliza's hair.

"Hmph. Look at him, acting like I'm already his girlfriend."

She chuckled and sat at her desk.

Opening a drawer, she grabbed stationery and scribbled back.

[Don't get cocky.]

She paused.

'Does that sound too harsh?'

Normally, she wouldn't care, but now she kept mulling it over.

Her eyes drifted to the recovery candy Carl had gifted her—individually wrapped, colorful sweets.

She picked out an orange one, grabbed a fresh sheet, and wrote:

[Doesn't this candy remind you of my boyfriend? –Eliza Hergin]

"…This is just as cheesy as Carl."

She grimaced, then flipped Carl's letter and noticed a postscript.

[P.S. – Never mind. My girlfriend is way more beautiful.]

"Pfft."

Eliza burst into laughter.

"Hahaha!"

She hummed a tune as she slipped her letter into an envelope and placed the orange candy on top.

Then she noticed her reflection in the mirror.

She walked over and played with her hair.

'Straight hair, huh…'

"Hm-hm~ hmm~"

She hummed, touching her lips again.

'What would it have felt like?'

Caught in her thoughts—

Knock knock—

"Gah—!"

Thud!

Startled by the sudden knock, she jumped and stubbed her toe on furniture, tumbling to the floor.

"Sis? Are you okay?"

"Nothing's wrong."

Eliza replied calmly, though her eyes welled up with tears.

"What is it?"

"Let's go eat dinner."

"Alright. Give me a second."

She limped over, hastily stashing the letter and candy in a drawer, and left the room.

Click— As the door locked, silence fell.

Clack—

The window opened, and a small fairy cautiously peeked in.

After scanning the room, the fairy opened the drawer and bit into the orange candy—wrapper and all.

Crunch—crunch—

"Ptui!"

Spitting out the wrapper, the fairy reached for the next candy—

Tap tap tap—

Clink—

"Freyna, wait. I left my wallet."

Hearing footsteps, a key turning, and the room owner's voice—

Startled, the fairy quickly opened a pocket dimension and shoved all the candy inside—along with Eliza's letter.

Clack!

The sound of a key in the lock.

The fairy slammed the drawer shut and dashed out the window.

Bang!

Eliza entered, grabbed her wallet, and glanced at the open window.

"Huh? Did I open that?"

It was summer, so she didn't think much of it and left for dinner with her sister.