CH 29

“Huh, they rented a mansion this big?”

“Yes, it’s much bigger than I expected…….”

“Isn’t it? This is why I was trying to convince Herwin somehow.”

Just before entering the academy, Lucia and her friends followed Bianca’s lead and went to see the mansion they had reserved in advance.

It wasn’t much compared to their own homes, but at least it was on the larger side of the mansions on the streets of Tervan.

“If you don’t mind, do you want to go inside and look around for a while?”

“What? Can we do that?”

“Yes, I have permission, and sometimes a few people come to look around, so it’s okay.”

They followed Bianca inside and saw a beautifully landscaped garden in the distance. The mansion was in good shape.

“This place must be able to accommodate a lot of people.”

“Yes, and the halls are spacious.”

As Christine and Arista looked around the interior of the mansion, Lucia looked around as well.

Just then, Bianca nudged Lucia.

“Did you get a present for Herwin?”

“Yes, of course, I did.”

“Well, what did you get him?”

Bianca lowered her voice in case anyone else heard, and Lucia burst out laughing.

It was like she was back to her old self after all these years.

“That’s a secret!”

“Come on, you can tell me.”

“Haha, check it out later. I just bought something perfect for Herwin.”

“Hmmm, now that you put it that way, I’m even more curious.”

Bianca narrowed her eyes. They locked eyes for a moment, then burst out laughing at the same time.

“Herwin said no, but I’m sure it’ll be the best birthday ever, with so many people wanting to celebrate with him.”

Bianca smirked as she stared into her bouncing brown hair.

“As you said, it’s going to be a great day, don’t you want to confess to Herwin?”

Lucia whirled around, shivering.

She glanced around, wondering if Christine and Arista had heard. Thankfully, they were far away.

“You can’t say that out loud.”

“They’re far away. Are you sure you don’t want to confess? Even though it’s Herwin’s birthday party, it’s also an end-of-year party, so most people will be dressed in nice, and that includes you and Herwin, right?”

Bianca is right, the focus of the party is on Herwin’s birthday, but it’s also an end-of-school party because it’s almost vacation time.

Most of the students will probably show up in their fanciest clothes to enjoy the party.

Lucia had also prepared a light blue dress for Herwin’s birthday.

“Isn’t it too much of a waste not to confess on such a good day? It would be a shame to let it slide when you’re so beautifully dressed.”

“That’s…….”

“I’m sure you’ve prepared a gift for Herwin, give it to him and confess, maybe he’ll accept it this time.”

“But, Herwin likes Arista……….”

“He likes her, but they’re not dating yet. Are you going to give up on him?”

“I don’t think so ……….”

Lucia clamped her mouth shut. She was a little swayed by Bianca’s words, but she still had no intention of confessing to Herwin.

Bianca looked around for a moment, then took Lucia’s hand and led her out of the mansion.

“Lucia, I’m in charge of this party.”

“In charge? I thought you were just helping the people.”

“Somehow it came to this, but that’s not the point. Since I’m in charge, I can make sure you and Herwin have your table.”

“……How?”

“Come here.”

Bianca led her to the garden at the back of the mansion.

“When the party is in full swing, I’ll lure Herwin here. You wait here and confess to him, and I’ll make sure no one else comes in here.”

“It’s a nice place, but… isn’t it a little too open?”

“By the time of the party, it’ll be dark, so you won’t be able to see much from inside, and I told you, I’m in charge of the party. We can put a sign up here that says no trespassing, and the kids won’t come this far, and we can put curtains in the hall. What do you think? Isn’t that a good idea?”

It was a tempting suggestion. Unlike the usual confession, it would be a memorable one, especially if it was done in a fancy place and with gifts.

But she also wondered if it would be a good idea to do it on his birthday, which only comes once a year.

“Think about it. For now, I’ll make sure no one comes in here.”

“Yeah…okay.”

“Lucia! Bianca! There you are, we should probably get going.”

Christine spotted Lucia and Bianca and urged them to hurry.

The sun was beginning to set in the sky.

Lucia hurriedly wrapped up her conversation with Bianca and approached them.

It was only a week until Herwin’s birthday.

* * *

“Whoa…….”

Lucia let out a nervous sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

She had been standing in front of the mirror for what seemed like half an hour already, but she couldn’t seem to leave it.

“Lucia, what are you doing? If we don’t go now, we’ll be late!”

“Huh? Huh! Wait!”

There was a knock at the door, and Arista urged her to hurry.

Lucia hurriedly gathered up Herwin’s gift and her purse.

Before she left, she stood in front of the mirror again and ran a hand through her hair.

“……I hope this isn’t too much?”

In the mirror, Lucia’s rich brown hair was pulled back into a single braid and adorned with tiny beads, and her face was made cheerful with simple tinted makeup. She was dressed in a cool, light blue dress that was perfect for summer.

She was a little worried that she had gone a little overboard with her makeup.

“Lucia!”

“Yes! I’ll get out!”

Lucia hurried out the door. At the front of the room stood Arista and Christine.

Christine looked like a forest fairy in a pale light-green dress that suited her, and Arista, for some reason, was wearing a knight’s uniform instead of a dress.

It didn’t seem out of place, as it suited her perfectly.

“Sorry, you’ve been waiting a while, haven’t you?”

The two people in conversation turned to Lucia and their eyes widened.

“…… cute.”

“Lucia, you look so beautiful!”

Arista gazed at Lucia in awe, while Christine gushed about how pretty she was.

“Is it too…overdone?”

“No, you’re too pretty!”

“Yeah, you’re going to have all the guys falling for you.”

Lucia blushed as Christine and Arista, the most beautiful woman in the academy, complimented her.

“Where’s Bianca?”

“She left early to get ready for the party.”

“The boys have left too, so we’ll just have to go.”

Lucia and the two hurried out of the dorm.

Today was Saturday. Quite a few students were wandering around the normally quiet academy.

They were all dressed up, men and women alike, to attend Herwin’s birthday party.

There was a strange air among the students.

“Gee, for some reason I feel like a lot of couples are going to be born today.”

“Maybe that’s what this party is for.”

Lucia looked around as the two whispered.

As they suspected, a few girls and boys were already talking.

The boys were cautiously approaching and the girls were shyly responding.

Lucia projected herself and Herwin from two strangers, whom she didn’t recognize.

The way they smiled in response to the questions felt wonderful.

“Lucia, why aren’t you coming?”

Lucia turned at the sound of her name being called. Before she knew it, Arista and Christine were standing in the distance.

She turned her head once more and saw the two strangers engaged in a pleasant conversation where she’d seen Herwin and herself.

“Yeah, let’s go!”

Her steps were light as she turned and walked away.

* * *

“Happy birthday, Phoeneaus.”

“I have a gift for you, please accept it!”

“Happy birthday, Herwin! Wow, I thought you were popular before, but this is beyond my imagination. I’m glad you’re popular!”

Herwin looked tiredly at the many people passing in front of him.

They were all classmates from the academy, celebrating his birthday or just enjoying the party.

When Bianca sent him the guest list, he thought it was going to be crowded, but he didn’t expect this many people.

If he had known, he would have made any excuse to be late.

Vowing never to be a part of something like this again, Ethan came up beside Herwin.

“Herwin, I’ve already made a mountain out of your gifts, and it’s going to be a chore to tear them down later.”

He looked over to where Ethan was pointing and saw the mountain of gifts he had received so far.

It was enough to make any normal person happy, but Herwin scowled.

“Ha, I want to go to my dorm.”

“Hang in there, you’re the life of the party, don’t you think you should at least dance?”

“Yeah, right, there’s a bunch of pretty girls over there waiting for you to dance.”

Brian, who was having a good time with the girls, smirked.

“Why do you look like you’re having more fun than Herwin?”

“Hoo-hoo, the ladies just won’t leave me alone. Such is the popularity of this body.”

“Ugh, that cheesy fellow.”

Ethan snorted at Brian’s smugness. It was business as usual, but there was a hint of excitement between them.

Herwin sighed heavily, wondering if he was the only one who hated this party.

“Why are you sighing? You don’t like the party?”

“……Bianca.”

Bianca appeared, smelling faintly of perfume and clutching a guest list in her hand. Brian whistled as soon as he saw her.

“Oh, you’ve been working out a bit today.”

“Heh, what do you think? Isn’t it pretty?”

Bianca replied to Brian’s comment, flipping her reddish-brown hair back.

Bianca was quite a beauty herself, so she looked even more mesmerizing in her red dress than usual.

She looked around and saw several men staring at her.

“Bianca, it looks like there are more people than on the list you gave me.”

“Really? I think it’s only 10 more people at most.”

“Come on, it’s more.”

“Aww, that’s not a lot of axes, and the more people the better.”

“Hah, so when does the party end?”

“Well, we’ll start the party in earnest once everyone’s here, and we’ll have about an hour of dancing, and then we’ll have a small event… so it’ll be at least three hours before it’s over?”

“No, that’s too long. Cut it down now.”

“What? Of course not. I’ve prepared so much for this night.”

“If the party ends in three hours, it’ll be ten o’clock. We can’t go out until nine o’clock, and the academy will sanction us if we bring this many people in this late.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve already arranged with the academy to stay until midnight, so there are some professors over there.”

Ethan looked in the direction Bianca pointed and frowned.

“Kek, are you serious? I thought I was looking at the wrong place…….”

“Aren’t the professors here to monitor students for accidents? By the way……”

Brian trailed off.

The professors, who must have been there to keep an eye on things, had wine glasses in their hands.

“I see they’re enjoying their first break from …….”

Boom!

As he watched the professors laughing and talking with nervous expressions, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back.

Herwin’s eyes widened and he turned around, holding his back.