Chapter 8: Allen's Advice
Back in the men's dorm, Room 32.
Kael immediately collapsed onto his bedside, feeling every muscle of his body aching, even though he did nothing worthy that could make his body feel tired like this.
He could barely muster the will to move, let alone to think. His eyes drifted to the side, where a single letter lay waiting... it was a letter he'd written for the baron; his father.
Somehow, in all the chaos, he'd completely forgotten to drop it in the mailbox, even though he promised himself that he would be productive today.
Kael knew that he really should do it now while it's early... But the tiny monkey called "brain" inside his head refused to cooperate.
"I'm not in my right mind, do I?" Kael murmured to himself, visibly exhausted.
Meanwhile, his roommate, Allen, watched him silently. He had been sitting there alone the whole time, observing as Kael came in and flopped onto the bed without even bothering to change into his pajamas.
It wasn't anything new.
Allen was well aware of how lackluster his roommate could be. After all, they have been roommates for 2 years, even though they barely talk to each other, Allen had a lot to say about what he thinks of Kael.
For him, his roommate is the symbolism of an animal called Sloth. Doing nothing all day but fooling around and sleeping, scattering trash and mess all around, he even takes too much time to walk and prepare himself.
It wasn't surprising that this guy barely passed his exams. But, surprisingly, this guy is still able to be enrolled in this academy.
He truly dislikes him.
Normally, Allen would have ignored him and gone back to his work — there was rarely anything worth discussing anyway.
But tonight felt… different.
For the second time that week, Allen was the one to start the conversation.
"You look stressed," He spoke casually, as he continued doing his thing, scribbling with a fountain pen.
Kael immediately turned around and faced him, completely shocked. He had to pinch his own cheeks to see if what he heard really came from Allen's mouth.
Then with a smile, he responded.
"Oh? You can tell?"
"Just a gut feeling," Allen replied shortly.
Minutes passed, and silence lingered in the room. Just when Kael thought his grumpy roommate had finally grown a heart, it seemed Allen had gone right back to his usual self.
('How disappointing') Kael had actually been hoping for a longer conversation.
Now, he had two options: stay quiet… or ease his boredom by annoying Allen.
Naturally, Kael chose the latter.
"Hey-"
Allen had no significant reaction.
"Oii~"
A muscle twitched in Allen's brow.
"A-lleeeen?"
'Crack'... The handle of Allen's fountain pen broke clean in two.
"aaaalleeeen"
Allen finally snapped, hurling an ink bottle straight at Kael's head.
Fortunately, Kael managed to dodge, jerking his head to the side.
He didn't dodge it intentionally; it was just pure luck that he moved his head at the right moment. His eyes turned slowly, where the bottle shattered against the stone wall with a sharp crack. Leaving a dark smear and a faint trail of smoke.
('Holy shit, I'd be dead if I hadn't moved') Kael's thoughts screamed.
Seeing his roommate unscathed, Allen clicked his tongue in irritation; though his expression remained calm, it was unmistakably murderous a second ago. He looked rather disappointed that his aim had missed.
Perhaps it was a warning that Kael should not talk to him.
Kael understands that message, but he's more shameless. There's no way he will back out now, right?
"Aren't you gonna ask what happened?"
"Why should I?"
"Are you really... really... realllyy not curious?"
"Absolutely not."
"Are you REALLY not curious?"
Allen sighed. He already knew where this was going.
Setting his textbooks aside, he swiveled his chair toward Kael, crossing one leg over the other and resting his arm lazily on the chair's armrest. With a tired voice, he muttered, "Fine. What happened?"
In his head, Allen had it all planned out... just listen, nod a few times, pretend to understand, then get back to work. Simple, it should be really easy.
But what he didn't expect was for Kael to drop a bomb.
"I can't bring myself to look at my fiancée."
"Fiancée?" Allen's mind blanked for a moment. "You have a fiancée?" he asked twice, just to be sure.
"Yeah, I do."
"How?"
"What do you mean how?" Kael's brow furrowed.
Fair point.
Allen then remembered that engagements weren't unusual in this kingdom. Even if that person was... ehem... 'Lazy normie'... Still, Allen couldn't help but feel baffled. Trying to calm his thoughts, he pressed on.
"So… who is it?"
Kael hesitated for a moment before answering. "Well… Marionette Lorentia."
It was a double bombshell.
Allen froze, and his mind went completely blank.
('A- what now?')
Fast forward — Kael talked about the dream, Mary's death, and the incident at the boutique.
Allen's usual calm expression slowly turned grim as he listened. His posture straightened, and his mind began to work carefully through the details. When Kael finally finished recounting the events, Kael hesitated before asking.
"So… what do you think?"
Allen paused, tapping his fingers on the table before replying.
"It's a witch's work."
"Witch?" Kael frowned. "It could've just been a normal dream, you know."
"I doubt it," The green-haired lad replied without missing a beat. "A vivid dream like that is extremely rare. And besides, you already have clues that suggest it might be real... the covered book, the bloodstains on your clothes, and your instinctive reaction when you saw her."
"But witches are just legends. They can't be real,: Kael murmured, refusing to accept Allen's explanation.
"Perhaps it was just a meaningless dream," Allen replied calmly. "Or maybe witches truly exist… or…" He paused. "You might be experiencing a 'future sight.'"
The two exchanged glances. Kael could see how serious Allen was, and he wasn't sure whether to believe him or not.
Deep down, though, he wanted to deny it.
Witches, magic, miracles... it had never been real.
Or perhaps he simply didn't want to believe that Mary could be a witch.
Shaking his head, Kael stood up, grabbed the letter he'd written for his father, and headed for the door.
As he opened it, Allen spoke again.
"Kael, trust your instincts above all else."