Chapter 102

Another peaceful morning.

Yuria woke from sleep locked in battle with the monster called a hangover.

"Ugh..."

How much did she drink yesterday?

The stomach trouble raging like mad tormented her insides, while the dizzying headache made yesterday's memories flash through her mind.

- Let's... be friends again.

"Aaaaah! You crazy idiot...!"

Like a girl reliving her adolescence, Yuria kicked at her blanket as the embarrassing memories passed by like a panorama.

"Aaaargh!"

Yuria looked at the clock.

[10:10]

Wanting to hide her suddenly burning face, Yuria covered her flushed cheeks with the blanket and let out a sigh.

"Ugh..."

Yesterday's memories were vivid.

She drank.

Talked with Ricardo.

And Ricardo got hurt.

He was someone she hated, but the emotion she felt seeing him injured wasn't pleasant. It should be natural to feel good when someone you dislike suffers misfortune, but strangely, her heart ached.

And she hated how Ricardo kept getting hurt.

That's probably why she blurted out those embarrassing words to Ricardo-'Let's be friends again.' In that moment, those were the only words that came to mind.

She couldn't say harsh things.

And their relationship was too awkward to apologize for the past. If you apologized to someone hovering between stranger and acquaintance, saying sorry for stabbing you, who would take it well?

Though Ricardo would definitely say it was fine.

Yuria wanted to apologize.

She wanted to apologize to Ricardo for her mistakes in the dungeon. That's why she thought they needed to redefine their relationship once more.

To apologize, their relationship needed to develop, and deep in her hidden heart, she wanted to grow closer to Ricardo.

So she didn't regret it.

Though the words came out swept up in the moment, she was rather grateful they could clarify each other's positions.

And.

Ricardo's hand too.

On the way home.

Ricardo, carrying her on his back, kept telling her. That it wasn't Miss Yuria's fault, really not Miss Yuria's fault at all, so don't worry-he said it so many times her ears could have grown calluses.

She didn't believe his words, but thanks to his continued comfort, she felt like she could set down some of the heavy emotional burden.

Blinking vacantly under the blanket, Yuria hugged tight a handmade doll with hair made of red yarn and soothed her burning heart.

Her heart pounded.

Yuria wore a modest smile at the fact that she'd sprouted a seed of hope in a relationship she'd thought finished.

About ten minutes passed like that.

Lying in bed, Yuria threw off the blanket and stared blankly at the clock.

"I feel like I forgot some important appointment."

Watching the tick-tock of the clock hands gave her a strangely ominous feeling. An ominous feeling that she'd forgotten something very important.

Yuria looked at the round clock sitting on her desk.

The second hand, tick-tocking away as always, was silently doing its job like it always did.

10 o'clock...

"I feel like I had some important appointment..."

If she kept staring at the clock, it seemed like the forgotten memory would surface. Something related to time...

"What was it...!"

She just couldn't remember.

Feeling uneasy, Yuria frowned and had a staring contest with the clock.

She pondered for about five minutes like that.

"Ah..."

The forgotten memory surfacing, Yuria felt a chilling shiver through her whole body. A cold sweat breaking out all over, that kind of creeping dread.

Yuria quickly got up from bed and looked at the clock again.

[10:25]

"You... idiot...!"

- We've arrived.

- ...So you're not going to answer me?

- Answer what?

- About being friends again. You didn't answer.

- Mm...

The conversation with Ricardo on the way into the dormitory last night floated into her mind.

- That's a bit...

- Do you... not want to be friends with me?

- No. It's not that, I just wonder if it'll really be okay.

It wasn't okay.

Back then she spoke from heightened emotions, but the lingering resentment in her heart was something time would have to resolve.

So yesterday's me made a somewhat unreasonable request of Ricardo.

- Then... we can start tomorrow, right?

- Start what?

- Our relationship. Start from the beginning. And slowly become close again. If it still doesn't seem to change, then we can cut ties then.

- Hah... That'd be trouble. I'm so charming I might become closer than Mikhail or Ruin.

- I know...

- What?

- Nothing... So how about tomorrow?

- What?

- Tomorrow at 12... I'm suspended so I have time.

- That seems like a pretty impure reason to have free time.

- Anyway... how about it?

Yuria roughly yanked open her closet.

She had nothing to wear.

To be precise, there were plenty of clothes in the closet, but nothing suitable to wear out today.

Whatever she wore, any outfit chosen in such a rush wouldn't feel right anyway.

She should've started thinking about what to wear at least two hours ago. The time she had left was painfully short.

Even at top speed, showering and drying her hair would take thirty minutes. Makeup, an hour.

And it took thirty minutes just to get to the meeting spot at the fountain-there was absolutely no time to leisurely pick out clothes.

Yuria grabbed her hair, cursing her past self for dawdling, and dashed into the bathroom.

"Haa...!"

This is the worst.

Really.

"Idiot...!"

***

12:30 PM

The grand clock tower standing tall pointed to 12:30.

Standing alone in front of the fountain, I faced the cold winter wind in solitude.

I'd arrived thirty minutes early just in case, but as Yuria showed no sign of appearing, I let out a deep sigh.

"Did something happen?"

Yuria, who was always punctual to the minute, was now thirty minutes late-a situation that sent me into serious contemplation.

"Hmm..."

I wondered if maybe she'd overslept from drinking too much yesterday, or perhaps she'd forgotten our plans due to alcohol-induced memory loss. Blacking out after drinking was common enough, after all.

The worst-case scenario would be that Yuria had changed her mind and simply wasn't coming...

Since I hadn't gotten my hopes up too high, I decided not to blame her if that was the choice she'd made. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and blew warm breath into the cold wind.

"A bit chilly."

The outside world really is dangerous compared to staying under the covers.

Plenty of people passed by the fountain.

It was near the Academy and in a bustling commercial district, after all. With so many couples passing by and students coming and going, standing alone at the fountain made me feel conspicuous.

The people who'd been waiting alongside me met their companions one by one and left, but here I was, alone for an entire hour now. I could even hear whispered gossip.

- Hey, look at that guy... He's crazy.

- Is he waiting for his girlfriend?

- Must be... With a face like that, it'd be weird if he didn't have one.

- But he's been standing there for a while now. Think he got stood up?

- Really? Should I try hitting on him?

- Are you insane?

- Why not? You never know. He might be a lifelong single who's never had a girlfriend.

'That stings a bit.'

The whispering of the female students passing the fountain made the corners of my mouth lift. The "lifelong single" comment grated on me, but since it was true, I couldn't really help it.

But they did say I was handsome.

So I'll let it slide.

'Being good-looking really is the best.'

For the first time in a while, I wasn't wearing my butler uniform but casual clothes instead. A black suit with a black coat. I'd bought clothes that young people wear these days on my way here.

I'd earned plenty of money, after all.

And when making plans to meet Yuria, showing up looking exactly the same seemed impolite.

I'd even secretly spritzed on some of the Young Lady's perfume before leaving, and now, worried the scent might be too strong, I brought my sleeve to my nose to check.

'Seems fine.'

The subtle lilac fragrance made me nod slightly.

'When will she get here?'

It was already 12:45.

The effort I'd put into dressing up was on the verge of becoming meaningless.

"Is she not coming...?"

If I'd known this would happen, I should've just gone with the Young Lady.

The Young Lady had gone out for a walk with the Head and the next head. They said they'd visit the hospital and spend some money while they were at it. I'd been invited to come along, but I'd declined because of this prior engagement. Now I was starting to think I should've just gone with them.

Not because I wanted to tag along.

But because I was worried they'd cause trouble.

I wondered if I should head over even now, concerned the Desmond family might do something strange-but I figured with the next head going along, nothing too serious would happen.

Kyle, with his rational judgment and cool personality, would handle things properly.

Time flowed on.

Ten minutes passed.

Fifteen minutes passed.

Thirty minutes passed, and when the hour hand on the clock tower standing tall in the center of the fountain pointed to 1:00 PM, I realized I'd been stood up.

It was a suddenly arranged meeting, so maybe Yuria didn't remember, or perhaps she wasn't mentally ready and chose not to come.

'Maybe I'll just go see the Boss.'

With nothing else to do, I was thinking I might as well work a part-time shift as I turned to head home.

"Wait!"

Huff, huff...!

Breathing roughly, the person I'd been waiting for came running from across the fountain.

Pink hair reaching down to her waist.

Wearing a white turtleneck that hugged her body.

With a pink cardigan over it, Yuria called out to me between ragged breaths.

"I'm so sorry...! I'm really late, aren't I?"

I smiled slightly and said,

"Not at all. I just got here myself. Ah... more importantly, I'm freezing to death."

"What?"

Yuria looked at me with flustered eyes.

"You dressed too lightly for this weather."

I slipped off the coat I was wearing and draped it over Yuria's shoulders.

"You look beautiful. Very much so."

Yuria's cheeks flushed as she murmured quietly,

"You're dangerous..."