Editor : Amethyst00



Chloe smoothed her hair a few times in front of the full-length mirror in her room.

Blinking her lake-like eyes, she carefully opened the door.

"Huh? Chloe?"

A female student who happened to be passing by tilted her head in curiosity.

"Where are you going? Wearing your uniform at this hour?"

Chloe, momentarily at a loss for words, gave a soft smile.

"I just thought maybe the uniform got too small, so I tried it on."

"Out of the blue?"

Though puzzled, the female student shrugged it off and returned to her room.

'Of course, wearing a uniform at this hour would stand out way too much.'

Thinking that, Chloe changed into comfortable everyday clothes and packed the uniform into her bag.

Then she nonchalantly left the girls' dormitory area.

In the lounge, students were relaxing in their own ways.

"Chloe, want to play chess?"

Abad, who was playing chess with others, smiled as he asked.

At his smile, nearby female students let out faint sighs.

"I've got something to do today."

As Chloe made her way toward the entrance of the Magic Department dormitory, Abad looked puzzled.

"Wait, are you going out now?"

"Yeah."

Leaving the dorm during curfew hours was a violation of the school rules.

However, it wasn't entirely unheard of. Some students still went out, despite the risk.

For instance, to search for the countless secret passages and hidden rooms in the clock tower dormitory.

Discovering a location that hadn't been found yet would earn dormitory merit points.

Of course, the risk was significant.

Getting caught by the professor on duty meant not only demerits but also being sent to the punishment room.

Because of that, most students avoided going out after curfew unless absolutely necessary, as it could bring trouble to the entire department.

That said, students who were skilled enough to avoid the eyes of professors did sneak out from time to time.

Abad had done so before.

But seeing Chloe, who was known for strictly following the rules, go out was surprising.

Other nearby students also looked curious.

But soon they accepted it.

They figured if Chloe was going out, it must be for something beneficial to the Magic Department.

"Need help?"

"I'm fine."

Chloe shook her head at Abad's offer and confidently left the dorm.

'I feel a little guilty.'

She felt bad toward her fellow students who didn't question her and was also uneasy about breaking the rules.

As she walked down the hallway, checking her surroundings, she briefly entered a bathroom and changed into her uniform.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she took a deep breath and pulled out a key from her inner pocket.

She exited the bathroom and inserted the key into a random door nearby, then turned it.

Click—clack—

With the sound of the door unlocking, the scenery changed.

Suddenly, Chloe was standing at the top of the clock tower dormitory, in Leo's room.

Leo, who had been sitting on the sofa, looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Why the uniform?"

"It's student council business. Since it's serious, wearing the uniform makes sense, right? You're wearing yours too."

Though his tie was loosened and the top buttons undone, it was still the uniform.

"I just didn't bother changing."

"Doesn't matter."

She felt that wearing casual clothes would make her too relaxed.

So she wore her uniform to stay focused.

Watching her, Leo lightly scratched his temple with his pen.

"Should I go ahead and get you an official permission slip for going out?"

It would be a hassle, but if she had that, Chloe could officially help Leo and wouldn't be restricted by curfew.

"It's okay. No need to get the professors unnecessarily involved."

'Ugh—do I sound like I'm making weird excuses?'

Chloe tried to remain composed on the sofa, but inside, she was anxious.

Since Leo had asked her to come help with student council work, there wasn't much room for misunderstanding.

That's also what Chloe believed when she first heard his request.

Of course, Leo could've just gone to Chloe's room, but as a male student, he couldn't enter the girls' dorm. That's why he gave her the key.

Leo even offered to get her an official permission slip when he handed her the key, but she declined.

If they went through official channels, more student council members might be involved—or a professor might oversee the meeting.

Chloe didn't want to give up this one-on-one time with Leo.

There was a strange thrill in being alone at night in a private space with someone of the opposite sex.

She knew nothing would happen, but still, there was a hint of nervous excitement.

"Ahem! Anyway, I'll brief you on what's happened while you were gone."

Trying to shake off her stray thoughts, Chloe cleared her throat and began going over the student council documents with Leo.

As Leo read through the documents Chloe explained, he asked,

"By the way, how did you end up doing the student council president's work?"

"Elena-sunbae appointed me before going on her mission."

"She did?"

"Yeah. She even suggested I consider becoming vice president."

"Elena-sunbae said that?"

"Yup."

There were many candidates for vice president.

One of the more prominent ones was Lyl, who had her eye on the position.

'Though to be honest, Lyl doesn't really have the vice president vibe.'

The vice president's role was to assist the student council president.

The president didn't necessarily have to handle all the work themselves.

Sometimes just being a strong, representative figure was enough.

In that case, the vice president handled the actual work.

From that perspective, Lyl suited the president role more than the vice president.

Of course, with Leo as the current president, that wasn't possible.

"With her personality, it's surprising she pointed you out specifically."

Chloe clicked her tongue and replied.

"She said I'm the model honor student and unlikely to slack off."

'What does she even think the vice president's role is?'

"What do you think?"

"Watching Carl do the job makes me hesitant, but still…"

Chloe smiled softly.

"If you asked me, Leo, I'd consider it positively."

Even though it had only been a short time since she took over, her work was meticulous.

It was exactly what you'd expect from Chloe.

"Please do."

"Hehe."

Chloe laughed and continued helping with Leo's council work.

"I wanted to finish tonight…"

Hearing the fatigue in Leo's voice, Chloe checked the time.

It was already late into the night.

They had gotten so absorbed in the work that she had forgotten all her earlier thoughts from when she first arrived.

"Let's stop here for today. You must be tired."

Chloe began organizing the stacks of paperwork.

Leo had just returned from a mission earlier that day.

She didn't know the details, but if he had fought a fragment of Erebos, he would be physically and mentally exhausted.

Even with his superhuman stamina, he was clearly overworked.

"Yeah, we probably should."

Leo nodded, rubbing his neck.

"Chloe, sorry, but I can't see you off."

"No need. Just go to sleep."

Chloe gave him a gentle shove on the back.

"Alright, good night."

"You too. Rest well."

Chloe smiled and headed for the door.

Flop—

She heard Leo collapse onto the bed.

Before leaving, Chloe turned back to look at him.

He was lying on the bed, breathing steadily.

'He really must be tired.'

Chloe looked slightly amazed.

Leo rarely showed fatigue, even after tough situations. The fact that he passed out the moment he lay down was unusual.

Just as she was about to leave the room, she hesitated and swallowed hard.

Then, she cautiously walked up to Leo.

'Wow, he really is exhausted.'

Under normal circumstances, Leo would've woken up immediately.

But even as Chloe stood right next to the bed, he didn't stir.

'…He must've had a rough time.'

His sleeping face, so deeply relaxed, bore clear signs of exhaustion.

'Chelsea said it too. This mission was probably harder on Leo than usual.'

Thinking that made her feel sorry for him.

Without realizing, she sat down on the bed and looked at his face.

'You worked hard, Leo.'

Silently comforting him in her heart, Chloe stood up and turned her head.

And nearly screamed.

But the other person was faster—covering Chloe's mouth before she could react.

"Mmph?"

Pink eyes narrowed.

As her beautiful face tilted, radiant golden hair cascaded down.

Elena, looking very displeased, smiled coldly.

"Chloe, do you know how I'm feeling right now?"

She continued as she looked at the frozen Chloe.

"Like I just got stabbed in the back by someone I trusted. The top honor student with clean conduct, Chloe MĂĽeller, sneaking into a boy's room in the middle of the night and being in the same bed with him. Do I, your trusted senior, really need to see this?"

"L-Leo asked me to come…"

"So, you're the kind of girl who just runs over when a guy tells you to come to his room?"

"Please don't twist things! I was only helping with student council work!"

"Yeah, stop teasing her."

Leo, now awake, scratched his head as he spoke.

"Anyway, how did you even get into my room?"

"I decoded the coordinates to the student council president's room during summer break."

Elena looked back and forth between Leo and Chloe.

"So? What is this situation? Were you using student council work as an excuse to make a move on a girl?"

Her eyes gleamed with playful malice.

Leo grabbed her by the back of her neck and dragged her out of the room.

A flustered Chloe followed after.

"Good night, you two."

After getting Elena out, Leo closed the door behind her.

Clicking her tongue, Elena stared at the door.

"You changed the coordinates."

Over a semester's worth of effort had gone down the drain.

"So?"

Elena turned to Chloe.

Looking at Elena's serious expression, Chloe looked puzzled.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm debating whether I should appoint you as vice president."

Hearing that, Chloe let out a small sigh.