125 – Side Story – 2

#It’s hard to be a woman – 2

Arcana’s indefinite school closure has ended.

That too, after winter, in March when spring begins.

Originally, this is the time when the third graders graduate and the new first graders enter.

However, the school closure period last year due to the Avatara incident was too long for that.

So the conclusion came out.

“Once you get promoted to the third grade, you mean all the classes you had to take in the second grade are supplementary?”

“Yes. The exams were said by the professors to end with a paper exam during make-up time.”

Well, of course it was supplementary.

Still, I’m glad it’s not a combination of midterm and final exams like last year.

“Then what about the existing 3rd graders?”

“I heard that you go to school autonomously. For two years, you go to school whenever you want, take classes, and take the graduation exam at the end.”

It was a plausible method.

Even in Arcana, we can avoid the problem of grade conflict, and all the 3rd years will be able to graduate properly.

If there’s anything I regret, I wonder if the graduation ceremony has disappeared.

Andrew sunbaenim said it was okay and smiled lively, but he couldn’t help feeling regretful.

“By the way, Ike, are you okay?”

“Yes?”

When I questioned that question, Leon scratched his head and continued.

“It would be a bit difficult to practice with that body, but wouldn’t it be better to apply for a leave of absence until your body is completely healed?”

“… Ah. It’s okay. Miss Sophia said that moving her body steadily would be more helpful for her rehabilitation. Well, I won’t be able to do it like before.”

It is said that after the fight with Dite, my body was literally as good as a corpse.

Muscles throughout the body were ruptured, bones were nowhere to be found, and even the internal organs were all twisted. It was a miracle to be alive.

I heard that even most of the magic pathways in his body were on the verge of being torn apart, and he couldn’t use healing magic recklessly. Eventually, after protecting himself with minimal magic, he was moved to the Martires Church’s treatment facility.

‘If Prince Ike hadn’t trained even a little less, he would have been really dangerous.’

Sophia said that too.

Well, taking that into account, treating the body in such a situation so that there is no problem at all.

It’s magical.

Unfortunately, healing magic wasn’t all-powerful either, and it left me with aftereffects.

I can no longer use body strengthening magic with the same output as before, and I get tired before finishing 10% of the training I used to do.

Most of all, my left shoulder still occasionally gets a sharp pain with a creaking sound.

I said this would all get better with time, but I said it would take at least 10 years.

At first, couldn’t everything be resolved with healing magic? I did.

‘Healing magic is, in the end, accepting other people’s magic, so excessive use of it can cause conflicts with one another. Not only does it put a strain on the magic furnace, but it can even cause magic poisoning.’

So, at the silent pressure from Sophia to return my body to its original state through rehab, I had no choice but to quietly nod my head.

“Well, that would be good.”

“… By the way, Prince Ike, are you okay with that job?”

Leon nodded, saying he was happy, and Atal, who had been quietly listening until just now, opened his mouth.

Athal didn’t even tell me exactly what was okay, but I understood the meaning at once.

“… No.”

At my answer, Leon and Atal sighed at the same time.

“Did you share the story properly?”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t do anything wrong?”

“… Yes.”

It’s already been over 5 months since I haven’t been able to talk to Reina properly.

Why?

I don’t know why.

What did I do wrong?

“You said in your letter that you talk normally, right?”

“Yes. So, I don’t know what the problem is.”

I wondered if I had done something wrong, so I sent a letter asking if there was a problem, but the reply that came back was that there was no problem.

Does Reina want to kill me?

“She was obviously happy when I gave her a ring, but the next day, the atmosphere became cold and she stopped talking to me.”

“… Maybe it’s because I made you wait too long.”

Right away, she was happy that the ring was pretty, but when she went back, she thought it was too much to keep her waiting three months.

“Still, I hope you don’t hate me.”

“There’s no way Miss Reina would be like that.”

“I don’t think that will ever happen.”

The meeting ended with the two of them comforting me in my lamentation.

I hope everything will be fine from tomorrow.

With such a wish, I quietly sighed and returned to my dorm room.

A week has passed since Arcana’s class started.

And the number of times that Ike and Reina have had conversations has been so small that I can count them on my hands.

Of course, if exchanging letters as a conversation, it would increase a little, but that wasn’t the point.

“… What should I really do?”

In Sofia’s room, Reina sighed and told her of her troubles.

And Sophia, Helen, and Michel, who heard that story, are still today.

‘A woman in love is annoying.’

I swallowed those thoughts in my head.

“Reina senior. No matter what, the fact that we haven’t had a proper conversation for 5 months….”

“As expected, it must be my fault, right?”

As Michelle said with an awkward smile, Reina’s eyes became wet.

Reina, who looks at Michelle with her eyes slightly raised upwards in that state, has enough destructive power to bring about motherly love that she lacked.

“No, no! You haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Sure, are you going?”

“Yes, yes! Because people were originally taught to live faithfully to their emotions!”

In the end, Michelle had no choice but to fizzle out again this time.

“But since Prince Ike could misunderstand, wouldn’t it be better to have a little conversation?”

But now, five months have already passed.

Sophia, who decided that it would be difficult to watch anymore, brought up the story first.

“Ha, but just looking at Ike’s face makes his heart pound….”

Yes.

She wasn’t avoiding Ike because Reina was upset or because she had some other problem.

Rather, just looking at her face made her heart pound, so she was avoiding it.

The day after I got the ring from Ike.

“Ah, big… ?”

Raina came to Akkad as usual and waited for Ike in her parlor while drinking tea.

And the moment Ike opened the door to the drawing room and came in.

“Hello, Reina.”

“… Uh uh.”

I had only exchanged her greetings, but Rayna’s fever rose and her face turned red.

‘I love you. Next year, when I graduate from Arcana, please marry me, Reina.’

‘It’s really stupid to have to wait three months for an appointment because of this. She didn’t have to go this far.’

‘So, don’t you like it?’

And what comes to mind is the shame that rushes in an instant along with the memories of yesterday.

Of course, it was a happy memory the more I remembered it.

Just yesterday, it was Raina who returned to Heros and showed off her ring to Anna all day long.

But emotions eventually subside slowly.

‘No, that’s why I like it more. Good luck in the future, Ike!’

The heightened emotions subsided, and the moment I remembered that I cried out and hugged Ike at the end.

‘My, what the hell am I doing?’

It was a great shame.

Thirty minutes later.

“Reina, are you okay?”

Ike asked Reina, who was clearly in a different mood than usual, with a worried expression.

“… Huh. Are you okay.”

Reina answered with the most calm atmosphere, but of course she wasn’t like that at all.

Even now, if you’re slightly careless, you’ll feel ashamed right away.

And somehow, her heart pounded at the thought that Ike looked more handsome than usual.

Even.

‘Look, I thought I was doing the same thing as usual, but are you noticing and worrying about me?’

The corners of her mouth seemed to go up with joy at the thought that such words were kind.

Yes.

Raina was seriously ill.

In the end, Reina avoided talking to Ike to hide her embarrassment.

“Did I do something wrong….”

“Ha ha. I avoided it today. What should I do, Anna?”

“My lady….”

Just like that, five months have passed.

‘Oh, I see. I’ll be sure to talk to you first tomorrow.’

At Sophia and Helen’s appeal that 5 months is too much, Raina nodded and made up her mind.

This time, I will definitely have a proper conversation with Ike.

Ike’s favorite cafe after class.

There, Raina sat down with Ike, and she each ordered black tea and iced chocolate.

Ike made an expression that she was happy that Raina invited her to meet her first after a long time, and Raina still tried to stay calm while preventing the heat from rising in her chest.

“Oh, Ike.”

“Yes.”

“That…. Now, how are you?”

Ike tilted his head in embarrassment at the sudden greeting.

And the embarrassing thing was the same for Reina.

‘Pyeol, what kind of conversation did you usually have?!’

No matter how calm she was inside, Reina’s feelings were honest no matter how much she promised.

The mere fact that she sat across from Ike and had her conversation made her heart tremble, and her feelings of shame surged as she remembered her memory of that day.

In other words, Reina’s reality was that she couldn’t think normally.

In the end, there was an awkward silence.

“… Hey, Reina.”

It was Ike who broke the silence.

“I think the reason you called me like this is because you have something to say. I’m an idiot, so I don’t know why, but I haven’t had a proper conversation for over five months.”

And that was a pretty serious story.

“Perhaps it is because I did something wrong. As I said before, I haven’t had any friendships since I was young, so I’m really lacking in this area. I’m just guessing that my thoughtless actions must have hurt you.”

“… Uh?”

Listening to Ike’s words, Reina remembered.

“So can you tell me if I’ve done anything wrong? I will definitely fix it.”

What kind of life did Ike, or more precisely, Yeon Seol-hwa, lead?

A life confined to a treatment facility all day long to cure one’s illness, without being able to communicate with anyone.

For someone who has such a past, he has been avoiding it so far because he is ashamed of himself.

‘But since Prince Ike could misunderstand, wouldn’t it be better to have a little conversation?’

Ike’s misunderstanding was inevitable, not coincidental, and the beginning of that misunderstanding was clearly Reina’s actions.

“I’m sorry, Reina.”

“It’s not like that!”

To Ike who bowed her head and apologized, Reina immediately stood up and waved her hands from side to side and shouted.

“I was wrong. I did it because I was ashamed to accept that bar and ring for no reason! Ike did nothing wrong!”

Ike just quietly looked at Reina, who raised her voice to the point that she would have looked away if she hadn’t opened the soundproof barrier out of habit.

And tell the whole truth, Ike asked Rayna, who was blushing.

“… Really?”

“Yes. Really. I was very happy at that time, but I was embarrassed because I remembered every day that we hugged each other because we were so happy. That’s why whenever I see her face, her heart trembles for no reason….”

“Thank God, it is.”

After hearing Raina’s explanation, Ike let her sigh out and was relieved.

“I really thought I had done something wrong and hated me.”

“That can’t be. It’s impossible for me to hate Ike.”

On the contrary, Reina was troubled because even at this moment, Ike didn’t blame her, so things would get better.

“Reina.”

“Yes.”

“This is the first time you and I have had a relationship like this, and we will continue to be together, right?”

“Yes.”

“So, in situations where misunderstandings are likely to arise, let’s talk as quickly as possible to resolve them. Misunderstandings will eventually cause problems.”

Ike was right.

In the end, the reason Ike was nervous during these five months was because, after all, there was no conversation.

Thinking of that fact, Reina quietly nodded her head.

“… Huh. Okay.”

“Oh, but I’m really glad. I really thought I had done something very wrong.”

Saying that, Ike smiled with a sigh of relief.

“Please take good care of me in the future.”

“….”

‘I love you. Next year, when I graduate from Arcana, please marry me, Reina.’

‘It’s really stupid to have to wait three months for an appointment because of this. I didn’t have to go this far.’

‘So, don’t you like it?’

‘No, that’s why I like it more. Good luck in the future, Ike!’

When Reina saw that smile, the memories and shame of that day came flooding back to Reina.

“Mi, sorry!”

Eventually, Raina got up from her seat and left her cafe.

“… Being a woman is difficult.”

Ike looked up at the ceiling and sighed quietly.

And it was two weeks later that Reina was able to talk normally with Ike again.

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