Chapter 33: Breaking the News
IRIS availed herself of an empty conference room and invited Reseda to meet her there. Generally speaking, girls were not permitted inside the boys’ dorm and vice versa, and since Reseda attracted a lot of attention, there weren’t many places on campus where they could speak privately. When he arrived at the conference room, he had a giddy grin on his face.
“I think this is the first time you’ve ever asked me to meet with you.” He quietly shut the door, then walked directly to the chair beside her and sat there. “And it’s just the two of us too! I feel special.”
You know this attitude of yours is why the game made you into a playboy character, right? Iris let out a small sigh. “There’s something I want you to know.”
“Me specifically? So I am special?” Smiling playfully, he tilted his head.
Iris smiled back. “I have no mana!”
“What? None? Not even a little?” He frowned dubiously.
“That’s right—not even a little! Zero. Zilch!”
“Oh…”
Iris was so delighted, she didn’t notice his tone went flat.
“So, I’ll never be the Holy Maiden. I wanted you to know because…well, you may have forgotten by now, but…when we were younger, we had a conversation about you wanting to marry me if I— On second thought, if you don’t remember, then don’t worry about it. You don’t need to remember it!”
“You mean how I said I’d formally propose if you became the Holy Maiden? Of course I remember.”
“Well, in that case, you don’t have to worry about it any longer! I can’t be a Holy Maiden, so just forget about the competition and focus on having fun here at school.”
Reseda smiled darkly. “Why are you trying so hard not to be the Holy Maiden?”
“What?” Iris blinked at him, confused. “No, I…physically can’t do the job…”
“You’re not just making excuses so you can get out of marrying me, are you?” His dark aura melted away as he looked at her with puppy-dog eyes.
“Nngh…!” She staggered. I’m so weak for those eyes! They’re too cute! “L-Listen, I…”
“Yeah?” He cocked his head.
Aagh, he’s doing this to me on purpose! Iris averted her gaze. “I’m not…opposed to marrying you. But—”
“You’re not?!” He grabbed her hand and fixed her with a smile more radiant than the sun itself. “So you want to marry me?!”
“That’s not what I—”
“Oh, what a relief! Here I thought you hated me so much, you were planning to lose the Holy Maiden race on purpose just to get away from me!”
At this, Iris pressed a hand to her chest. Ugh, I feel awful… No, I don’t hate you! I just… I don’t know… How do I explain it?
“But I was wrong. Right, Iris?” he pressed.
Iris nodded weakly. “…R-Right.”
“Well then, I don’t care how much mana you have—or don’t have! Because I love you anyway.”
His smile was so flawless, Iris could practically see roses blooming all around him. Big, pink roses. God, he’s sparkling… How can you be so sweet and charming?! It made her stagger all over again.
Somehow he always knew exactly what Iris wanted to hear…but that was precisely why she needed to hold it together. She couldn’t let herself fall for him. As the villainess, she needed to reject all the happy-bad endings!
“Do I make myself clear, Iris?”
Wordlessly, she nodded.