...
They had agreed to go shopping together the next day, but since they had slept very late the previous night, Lucian ended up waking up quite late.
When he opened his eyes, Silence Suzuka, who had been sleeping beside him, was nowhere to be seen—only the lingering fragrance of her scent remained in the blankets.
Even though they had stayed up past 1 a.m. the night before...
Lucian still couldn't fathom where Silence Suzuka had gotten all that energy from.
"It's already past nine..." Lucian ruffled his messy hair, got dressed, and stood up.
After finishing his morning routine, he heard the chatter of the horse girls.
They were all gathered in one room watching TV—Silence Suzuka was there too.
Lucian knocked twice on the door, drawing everyone's attention. "When did you all wake up?"
"Trainer, you sleep way too much! Weren't we supposed to go shopping today?" Tokai Teio, who had woken up the earliest, voiced her protest the loudest.
"Sorry about that, last night... I somehow couldn't sleep." Lucian subtly glanced at Silence Suzuka.
Seiun Sky, however, thought he was referring to her and gave a slight nod.
Dextrous Bailey was feeling a bit frustrated—why hadn't she been the one to suffer from insomnia last night?!
In fact, she had practically fallen asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
"If you all woke up so early, why didn't anyone come wake me?"
"Because we didn't want to go into the trainer's dorm!" Tokai Teio retorted.
Special Week, however, smiled and answered honestly, "Actually, it was Teio who said that Trainer-san needed rest too, so she suggested we shouldn't wake you up."
"That's not true! Spe-chan, don't make things up!" Tokai Teio pounced on her, her face flushed with embarrassment as she covered Special Week's mouth.
"Well then, how about everyone gets ready and we head out now? We can have lunch outside too—how does that sound?" Lucian thought for a moment before making the suggestion.
"Agreed~"
"I'm in!"
"Sure."
"Sounds good~"
...
After hearing everyone's responses, Lucian nodded.
But something felt missing... Ah, right—there was one lively figure absent.
"Where's Urara? Where did she go?" Lucian directly asked Rice Shower, who was closest to Haru Urara.
"Urara's still sleeping."
Lucian frowned. "Still sleeping?"
"Yeah, I tried waking her up earlier, but she said she wanted to keep sleeping."
"Alright."
Could it be that Urara had also suffered from insomnia last night?
Otherwise, there was no reason for her to wake up this late.
Of course, there was another, worse possibility—that Urara was sick.
But regardless of which it was, Lucian felt responsible for checking on her. "You all go ahead and get ready. I'll go see Urara."
...
The door to her room was slightly ajar. Before even stepping inside, Lucian could see Haru Urara bundled up in her blankets, only her head peeking out.
"Urara?"
Lucian walked to the side she was facing and called out softly.
However, she was sleeping so soundly that there was no sign of her waking up.
Worried that Urara might have caught a cold or fever due to temperature changes, Lucian gently pressed his hand against her forehead.
It wasn't burning up, but a low-grade fever couldn't be ruled out.
He stepped out to find a thermometer, then returned and lightly shook the sleeping Urara. "Urara? Urara?"
"Mmm..." Urara finally stirred, slowly opening her eyes.
Lucian's face came into view, but Urara's expression remained blank.
She didn't sit up, only tightening her grip on the blankets as if she felt cold.
"Urara, are you feeling unwell?"
"No, I'm just really tired. I want to sleep."
Her tone was completely flat, which only made Lucian more concerned. "Can we check your temperature? Otherwise, Trainer won't feel at ease."
"No. Trainer, please leave. Urara wants to sleep." She had initially been about to agree, but the voices from last night resurfaced in her mind, making her refuse Lucian instead.
Lucian was momentarily at a loss—this was the first time Urara had ever spoken to him like this.
He pressed his lips together, his expression tightening slightly.
Because of past experiences, Lucian was overly sensitive to even the slightest hint of rejection or dislike—it made him deeply uncomfortable, even fearful, just like when he had overlooked Seiun Sky's feelings before.
But why would Urara suddenly act like this? Lucian couldn't understand. Was it really just physical discomfort?
Even if that were the case, she shouldn't take it out on him like this... For a moment, Lucian felt a pang of hurt.
But he suppressed that feeling and maintained his gentle tone.
"Urara, let's just check your temperature, okay? If you're sick, we can't just ignore it."
"I'm not sick." Urara pulled the blanket up to cover half her face. "If I let you check, will Trainer stop bothering Urara so she can sleep?"
"Mm."
"...Fine."
Urara took the thermometer, sat up, and tucked it under her arm.
During the ten-minute wait, Lucian tried to make conversation. "Urara, weren't we supposed to go shopping today? If you're not sick, will you come with everyone?"
"I don't want to."
"Why not? Weren't you saying yesterday that you'd help Trainer pick out clothes?"
"Seiun and the others can do it."
Lucian immediately picked up on the hint of jealousy. "So why don't you want to go?"
But he couldn't recall Urara acting strange after they'd returned last night.
Could it be that she was jealous because everyone was going shopping together? That didn't seem right either—Urara had been quite enthusiastic about it yesterday.
"I couldn't sleep last night, so I just want to rest."
"Alright." Lucian decided to take her at her word for now.
...
Before long, the thermometer was ready.
Lucian checked the reading—it was within the normal range. No fever.
Urara burrowed back under the covers. "See? Urara told you she wasn't sick."
"We couldn't have known for sure without checking."
"Then can Trainer leave now? I want to sleep." She issued another dismissal.
Lucian let out a quiet sigh. "Okay."
Once she was certain Lucian had left, Urara turned over and opened her eyes.
"Urara doesn't want to be like this either... But, but..." She bit her lip hard, her eyes suddenly reddening.
It was precisely because she liked Lucian so much that the sudden "growth" she had experienced overnight had left her more distressed than anything.
But in a way, it was still growth. The current Urara just hadn't figured out how to handle it yet.
...
With Urara's situation unresolved, Lucian no longer felt like going out to have fun.
Helping his team member—no, helping someone important to him sort out her emotions was far more important than shopping.
Using work as an excuse, he apologized to the horse girls who were already ready and arranged for a car to take them down the mountain to enjoy themselves.
As for Urara, Lucian decided to appeal to her emotions—he needed to figure out why she had suddenly become like this.
...