Oriana had never run alongside a boy before. It had taken everything she had to keep up with his pace. She’d sprinted so hard she felt like she was floating on air. Still gasping for breath, she used the sleeve of her robe to mop away the sweat on her face. Her knees trembled, threatening to buckle and send her crumbling to the ground at any moment.
“You can sit here,” he offered.
“No, I…I couldn’t possibly…plant my bottom…on luggage belonging…to the future Amethyst Dragon Duke…!” Oriana managed to wheeze out in response, hunching over.
Seeing how exhausted she was, Vincent refrained from forcing her. Instead, he took out a handkerchief and spread it on the ground. Unable to firmly refuse him, Oriana gratefully plopped down.
Vincent settled down beside her. He kept one knee bent, resting his arm on it. His gaze was focused straight ahead, never straying over toward Oriana. That came as a relief, since she didn’t want him to see how pathetic she looked, desperately trying to drink in air like a madwoman.
“…Calmed down a little now?” he asked.
“A little. I’m embarrassed at how little endurance I have.”
“I’m the one who suddenly sprang this on you. Please don’t act so ashamed,” Vincent said with a smile, relaxing his shoulders. His expression was completely different now than it had been earlier when he spoke to those other girls. For whatever reason, that made her chest tighten.
“Anyway, are you sure that was a good idea?” Oriana asked. They had made no such promise to one another. For him to claim otherwise and pull her away like that could only mean he wanted to escape.
“I gave them the slip for a reason,” he said.
“Yes, but that was a good opportunity for you to get close to them.”
“…It would only cause issues if they developed a liking for me,” Vincent answered after a short pause, voice thick with determination.
Oh. Yeah, I guess. Sure. Right… Yeah.
Her noisy heart suddenly went completely silent. It was shocking how effective his words had been. If they sold heartburn medicine that potent, it would surely fly right off the shelves.
That makes sense. It would only cause him issues if someone were to fall for him.
Thinking about it, it was obvious. Vincent already had feelings for someone. It would only be a burden for him if someone were to show a romantic interest in him.
It’s fine. I’m Vincent’s friend, after all. I’m not the one causing issues for him.
Oriana wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging her legs tightly to her chest, as if trying to protect her aching heart. She didn’t want to trouble Vincent, and she didn’t want her world to be any more shaken up than it already was either.
“Oriana?” Vincent must have been worried since she’d fallen silent. He dropped a hand to the ground and twisted his body, peering into her face. “What’s the matter?”
Unable to resist his gentle voice, she lifted her gaze. The wind softly buffeted his golden hair, and those violet eyes were staring straight at her. Thanks to their little sprint a moment ago, Vincent’s forehead was covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
Why is it that…I want to throw myself at him and wrap my arms around him? Oriana kept her eyes glued to his as she resisted the strange, mysterious urge that overcame her. As if confused, his eyes seemed to waver. His hand reached toward the outer corner of one of her eyes.
“Oriana—”
“Vincent?” interrupted a voice.
A loud gulp rang in Oriana’s ears, but it wasn’t hers—it was Vincent who jolted.
“Sharon?” he said. “Do you need something?”
Standing there was the same female student Oriana remembered from before. The one who had laughed together with Vincent and Miguel in the Special Class, who had attended the opera together with the Amethyst Dragon Duke and his family. She was only now learning for the first time that this girl’s name was apparently Sharon. Fearing it rude to continue sitting, Oriana planted her hands on the ground to support her weight as she tried to climb to her feet.
Vincent quickly turned back toward her upon noticing. “You don’t have to force yourself to get up.”
“No, I’m fine now,” she said with a smile.
His lips curled as well, albeit faintly.
Sharon glanced between the two before saying, “I was worried since I heard you still hadn’t returned to your dorm yet, Vincent.”
“I’m not a kid. There was no reason for you to search for me.” Vincent turned back toward Sharon, grumbling like a petulant child.
There was something so indescribably intimate about the way he spoke to her that Oriana froze up.
“No need to pout,” Sharon teased.
“I’m not the one pouting.”
“True. I’m pretty exhausted after hunting around for a certain someone,” she said, giving him a pointed look. “You’re always like this. You haven’t changed since we were children. Remember? How you would suddenly disappear, and everyone would be looking for you only for you to—”
“You have told this story countless times before, and it’s not as though I’ve forgotten. There’s no need to bring it up again.”
“You don’t have to act all embarrassed about it.”
Judging by the way Sharon spoke, Vincent often acted this way. It didn’t take long for their conversation to devolve into stories of a past that Oriana wasn’t privy to. She stood there awkwardly, feeling completely alienated.
He’s never talked to me like that before. I thought the only person he bantered like this with was Miguel… Which was why him barking at Sharon the way he did was proof of how special she was to him.
Could it be… Oriana suddenly remembered the conversation she had with Vincent before, when he told her about the girl he loves.
“She’s extremely cute.”
“Yeah, I bet. What else, huh? What else?”
“We’re the same age.”
“Right, okay.”
“…and she’s cute.”
As far as Oriana knew, the only girls at Lagen Magic Academy that Vincent had gone out of his way to be close to were her and Sharon.
I never planned to dig into who it was he liked, she thought to herself, absently peering at Sharon.
Sharon noticed her probing gaze and said, “Hello there. Oriana, right? I’ve heard the rumors. You’re Vincent’s lover, yes?”
“No,” Vincent corrected immediately. “Oriana is a friend. We’re not in that kind of relationship.”
We’re not in that kind of relationship… Oriana rolled the words over in her mind. She knew he was right, and it was an obvious reaction to have. But for some reason, her heart throbbed. She had to force herself to smile to distract from the tears that threatened to spill otherwise.
“Hello. My name is Oriana Elsha,” she greeted.
“Sharon Beezel. I’m glad to hear you’re not his lover. We’re engaged, after all.”
Engaged? Oriana had barely outstretched her hand when she heard that, and her body seized. Her arm instinctively jerked back as if to pull away, and she had to force herself to remain still. Sharon smiled and shook Oriana’s hand.
“We used to be engaged,” Vincent corrected bitterly. “Oriana, this is my cousin.”
Ex-fiancée? Oriana thought as she gawked at Sharon. Again, her previous conversation with Vincent replayed in her mind.
“You’re not going to tell her how you feel?”
“…It’s complicated. The two of us were separated, so now I’m not sure how to maintain the appropriate distance between us.”
There before her was a girl the same age, who was unbelievably cute, whom both his parents had accepted. They also had a special dynamic between them, and she’d been separated from him once before, as indicated by their previous engagement status.
“I’d thank you not to spread false information,” Vincent warned Sharon.
“I’m not spreading anything. She’s the first person I’ve ever told.”
“And that’s all the more reason why it was unnecessary to tell her.”
The way he put up a wall there was like a bucket of cold water to the face. Oriana suddenly found the ground beneath her unsteady—or was it her knees threatening to buckle again?
Vincent had positioned himself between Oriana and Sharon, and as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Sharon stood right next to him.
So what he’s saying is that since we’re just friends, there’s no need for me to know that kind of information. As she digested what was happening, Oriana finally understood what the excruciating pain in her chest really was. It suddenly made sense why it bothered her so much that he was introducing her as a friend to a girl he spoke so intimately with—a girl he was probably in love with.
It hasn’t been that long since I was confronted with the reality that we live in different worlds, and he literally just told me he doesn’t want anyone developing romantic feelings for him.
Oriana stood still as a statue, rocked with despair as the new love she’d barely borne withered away before her.