I received a confession from Chris.
It was a bit sudden, but getting a confession from her was my original goal anyway.
I calmly composed myself.
I intended to refuse.
But then.
"Uwaaaaaaah━!!"
She ran away.
'Damn it….'
I finally received the confession, but I missed completing my objective right in front of me.
I looked at her back and pondered.
Should I chase after her and refuse?
'No, that would be a bit strange.'
Of course, I could complete my objective that way.
But even so, chasing after her to reject her confession when I wasn't going to accept it anyway…
…it still felt odd somehow.
If I did that, Chris might start thinking I'm a weird guy for no reason.
If I'm a weird guy, would she truly regret it?
Honestly, I'm not sure.
So.
'Do I even have to wait for an opportunity just to reject her….'
I walked back to the dorm, dragging my feet, feeling dejected.
Compared to Mari, Chris was a much more demanding target for conquest in many ways.
***
"Ugh, ugh, uwaaaaaah…."
Chris returned to her room and immediately collapsed onto her bed.
On the bed, she pulled the blanket over her head, hugged a pillow, and blushed profusely.
'I'm crazy, I'm crazy, I'm crazy…!'
I said it.
I had intended to say it from the start, but.
Looking at Emil, who was suddenly smiling gently beside me, I inadvertently blurted out the feelings I had kept hidden.
"He's definitely going to think I'm weird…!"
Chris buried her face in the pillow and screamed.
Confessing didn't matter.
Yes, I had mustered the courage to convey my feelings from the beginning.
But.
But I ran away after confessing.
I screamed and ran away with a pathetic look on my face.
"He's definitely going to think I'm weird…!!"
Her voice, muffled by the pillow, echoed through Chris's room.
And, peeking out.
Chris poked only her eyes out from the pillow and stared into space.
Her eyes were still spinning with confusion.
'How am I going to face Emil tomorrow…?'
Should I not have said it?
I said it for nothing.
I really shouldn't have listened to other people's advice.
Her head was filled with such trivial regrets.
"..."
And so, a little later.
As the sun set and the outside began to darken.
"What's done…, is done…."
Chris, with a flushed face, mumbled as if determined.
As time passed and her mind calmed, her thoughts became clearer.
Of course, even now, when she recalled that moment, she wanted to kick the blanket around in embarrassment.
'I…, I like Emil….'
More than that.
She wanted to have a good relationship with Emil.
…She wanted to be his woman.
Her calm mind told her that this embarrassment was something she had to endure for the sake of that outcome.
"Starting tomorrow…, I'll properly seduce him…."
Chris recalled Sierra's face in her mind.
Thinking it over carefully now, Sierra definitely had feelings for Emil too.
Her instincts, honed by her mercenary life, couldn't be wrong.
So, now that she had already confessed.
Chris resolved that, starting tomorrow, she would definitely appeal her feelings to Emil.
"Good…."
Thud.
With a determined look, Chris hugged the pillow and flopped onto the bed.
And the next day.
"Ugh…."
Chris sat at her desk in her classroom, feeling dejected.
'I ran away again….'
She had definitely resolved to appeal her feelings, but.
She watched for an opportunity, and even waited in front of the dorm from the morning to go to school with Emil.
The moment she saw Emil, she instinctively ran away to the academy.
She even heard Emil's flustered voice calling her from behind.
…It's shameful.
Chris thought so.
'Perhaps the confession was too hasty…?'
Maybe if she had seduced Emil without confessing, it would have gone well.
Such thoughts bloomed in her mind.
"Haa…."
Chris bowed her head during class and let out a shallow sigh.
And so, the morning and afternoon classes passed without any significant action.
Thwack━.
Thwack━.
It was after school again.
'I'm an idiot….'
Chris, unable to do anything, habitually came to the training ground.
In fact, today she felt like she encountered Emil less than usual.
Before the confession, she had been following Emil around to see his face, so it wasn't just her imagination.
Thwack━!
Thwack!
"..."
Chris, as before, hit the dummy alone, lost in thought.
The training ground where she had been with Emil just a few days ago.
For some reason, the training ground felt particularly vast today.
Surely, she had used it alone for much longer than she had spent with Emil.
"...Emil."
Chris let her wooden sword droop and mumbled.
And then.
"Chris."
"Eh?!"
The voice of an unexpected person came from behind her.
Thanks to that, she let out a foolish scream, and Chris, her face flushed, gently turned her head.
Emil was standing there.
"W-when did you arrive…?"
"Just now. …Good. You were training today too."
"Uh, yeah…."
If "just now," then.
…Did he hear me mumble his name?
Chris's mind was filled with that question.
But.
With a glance.
Soon after, the question of why he had come here arose.
'Surely, yesterday…, he must have heard my confession.'
I said I liked him.
I said it three times.
There's no way he didn't hear it.
So.
The reason he came was probably.
"Chris, there's something I want to say. Do you have a moment?"
"Uh, huh? Uh, yeah…."
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
As hope filled her, her chest began to pound.
It was foolish, but she couldn't help but think hopefully.
Because love is like that.
'No way…, no way….'
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
Chris looked at Emil with soft, sparkling eyes like a young girl, not her usual sharp gaze.
He seemed shy, blushing and avoiding her gaze.
That action made Chris's expectations grow even larger.
"Yesterday, you know…. What Chris said to me."
"Uh, yeah…."
"That you like me."
"...Yeah."
When the person she liked brought up the confession, she became uncontrollably embarrassed.
Chris couldn't bear it and bowed her head.
Because she couldn't find the courage to face him.
'Ugh, my heart feels like it's going to burst….'
She secretly prayed for his answer to come quickly.
Because only then would this fidgety moment pass.
But.
"I'm sorry."
"..."
When she heard his reply.
"...Huh?"
The fidgety situation from just before.
She realized it had been much better.
"Chris, your feelings for me. Thank you. …But I'm sorry. I don't think I can return those feelings."
"..."
"This is what I wanted to say. Sorry, I thought it would be bad for both of us if I dragged it out."
"Yeah…."
"Still, I think Chris is a good friend."
"Yeah…."
"See you tomorrow then."
Step, step.
Emil showed a regretful smile, turned around, and walked away from her.
'Huh…?'
Chris stared blankly at his retreating back.
'Is this a dream…?'
She had just been rejected by him.
That fact felt too unreal.
'Huh….'
Drip, drip….
But her body seemed to acknowledge the fact accurately, letting tears fall one by one.
Drip, drip….
Chris stood blankly, watching the teardrops fall to the floor.
She was rejected.
"Is it over…?"
How long had she liked him?
It didn't seem as long as she thought.
Perhaps about a month?
'Only, a month….'
It was over in just a month.
The time she spent liking him, feeling excited, ended so futilely.
***
Chris lay on her bed in her dorm room, just like yesterday, on a night when the sun had set.
With the blanket pulled over her head and a pillow hugged to her chest.
However, her gaze was different from yesterday.
Just yesterday, she had been filled with enthusiasm, thinking, 'Let's seduce Emil, let's do this right.'
"..."
The Chris of now had a dejected face, as if everything was over.
"Ugh…."
Tears simply welled up ceaselessly.
Her nose tingled, and tears streamed down her cheeks, dampening the bedspread.
"Hoo, ugh…."
Why was she so sad?
No one had died.
She was just rejected.
Emil was fine.
She was safe too.
But why?
Why was she so sad?
An unknown pain jabbed at her chest, tormenting Chris.
She still liked Emil.
It was just that Emil said they couldn't be lovers.
It wasn't like she couldn't see Emil anymore, was it?
"Hoo, ugh, hoo…."
Even as she kept repeating that to herself.
Chris's sadness only grew.
And then she.
Became exhausted from continuous crying and fell asleep without realizing it.
━Ding!
"..."
For some reason, it felt as if such a sound had echoed in her ears.
***
Chris opened her eyes.
'Huh…?'
When she opened her eyes, she didn't see her own room.
The place she was in was the training ground.
The familiar training ground of the academy.
"You're late!"
'Huh…?'
Just then, a voice identical to her own came from beside her.
When she turned her head.
'...What is this.'
She was there.
Chris Bellmore.
The familiar sharp and stern-looking her was holding a wooden sword and staring at someone.
And then.
"Sorry…! Did you wait long?"
"There's no need to apologize. I'm just going to train you hard for being late."
"Eek!"
Emil approached the training ground.
'This is….'
The two soon began sparring.
The version of herself before her eyes radiated fierce energy and attacked Emil with a wooden sword.
And Emil received the wooden sword, sometimes taking hits to his body, and struggled to continue the spar.
'A dream…?'
Chris immediately recognized it as a dream when she saw it.
The reason was simple.
Emil's skill was terrible.
'No matter what, he wasn't that bad.'
Of course, Emil was someone who had won the opportunity to ask her for training through a wager.
He was skilled enough to land five hits on her.
He was a person with that level of skill.
But the Emil sparring in front of her now had a skill level far below that.
"..."
"Can't you move properly?! Don't close your eyes!"
"Y-yes!"
He struggled with her attacks, barely managing to block her sword.
'…Heh.'
Chris sat on the ground, watching the scene, and let out a chuckle.
He was clearly terrible.
He was pathetic and insignificant.
But.
'He's handsome….'
Even that Emil, Chris liked him.
'Have I really become strange….'
Why was she having such a dream?
A question arose, but Chris didn't dwell on it.
She clearly remembered being rejected by Emil before falling asleep today.
Yes, she was rejected.
So perhaps she just wanted to watch Emil like this, even in a dream.
Since it had come to this, even though her heart ached, Chris decided to enjoy this dream.
She would have a good time watching him, even if it was just in a dream.
That's what she thought.
But then.
'Huh...?'
"I like you, Chris."
"..."
"Be my lover."
'Huh huh huh…?'
The version of herself in the dream and Emil.
Became lovers.