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“BE careful. If it seems too difficult to do by yourself, I’ll do it instead.”
“No! Absolutely not! I will never allow it!”
As Vincent supported the ladder from down below, he made the most ridiculous offer she’d ever heard. The two had retrieved said ladder from the conservatory’s storehouse before bringing it here, and Oriana had promptly climbed up, hand outstretched toward her wayward underwear. Her face flushed bright red as she peered down at Vincent.
“Close your eyes! I mean it, close them!”
“Yes, yes. I hear you loud and clear.” Vincent had kept his gaze aimed at the ground from the beginning, but by her request, he obediently closed his eyes as well.
Oriana had been on the verge of tears all morning, wondering why in the world this was happening. It was supposed to be an ordinary, uneventful morning. And it was, at least until she went out to retrieve her laundry that she’d left hanging out, only to find a piece of it missing.
The dorm mother took care of most of their laundry for them, but some of the students preferred to wash their own underwear. Oriana was among that group.
It had been raining continuously recently, but she was desperate to get her underwear dried by today, so she hung them just outside the window overnight. That hasty decision was her undoing. While she was fast asleep, a pair of her underwear had apparently gone on a little adventure.
Oriana had been in such a panic this morning that she’d sped around the school grounds like a madwoman, trying to find it. Luckily, she had managed to locate her runaway undergarments. She did try to search out a janitor at first, to no avail, and driven by impatience, she finally ran to the boys’ dormitory for help.
I figured, knowing Azraq, he’d be able to hop right up the tree and snatch them for me.
It had occurred to her to wait outside for him, but as soon as she realized the male students were already beginning to bustle about, she couldn’t bring herself to hold on even another minute. That was how she ended up knocking on their door.
As if this wasn’t already the worst morning ever, I still look like a mess from having just woken up, and the man I have feelings for is holding the ladder I’m standing on while I try to grab my own underwear off a tree! Ugh, I want to cry.
Oriana’s underwear was actually a pair of short bloomers. Given their shape, they were often referred to as pumpkin underwear. They were splendid quality and made of silk, and of course the pair that flew off had to be red, of all colors.
I normally wear white! Why did a red one have to fly off? No! It doesn’t matter what the color is, I’d still rather they stay put!
Sensual and alluring as Azraq was in his own way, Oriana didn’t see him as a man so much as a friend, and Azraq was the same way; neither regarded the other as a potential romantic partner. That was what made it easy for her to enlist his help. In fact, it was no different to her than asking a teacher who was twenty or even thirty years older for help. Sure, it was still a bit awkward, but that was rather minor.
I can’t believe Vincent asked me why I was fine with Azraq and not him. As if I could ever tell him the truth. Answering honestly would essentially mean admitting she did consider Vincent a romantic interest.
“Did you get it?” Vincent asked.
“J-Just a bit further!”
His voice brought her out of her brief reverie. For the moment, the most important thing was retrieving her underwear and putting it back where it belonged—safely in the closet of her dorm room.
Oriana pressed her hand on the trunk of the tree to support herself while she stretched forward with the other. Only a little bit farther, and she’d be able to snag it on the broken branch she was holding. She maneuvered it ever so slowly and carefully, until it caught on her bloomers.
“Ah!” Oriana gasped in surprise as her underpants came loose from the tree. They fluttered down to the ground below.
“What’s the matter?”
“Wait! Don’t open your eyes yet!”
It had fallen in just the perfect spot that if he did peek his eyes open, he’d see them. Oriana hastily started scrambling down the ladder, anxious to retrieve them, but her foot somehow missed a step. Before she could shriek in dismay, her whole body was thrown from the ladder. She braced herself for impact, but the pain of slamming into the ground never came. Instead, Oriana found herself enveloped in warmth. The ground was much softer than she’d expected. Confused, she slowly pulled herself up.
“Sor—”
She lifted her head to find Vincent staring down at her, his face blank. There was no concern in his eyes for her sudden fall, nor panic at being pinned to the ground beneath her. In fact, his expression was so out of place for the situation that, even though her heart should have been pounding because the man she loved was holding her in his arms, she was instead left flabbergasted.
“Vincent?” Oriana squeaked.
“Sorry. Would you mind getting off of me?”
“Uh, sure.” Oriana quickly scooted off of him.
“You aren’t injured, are you?”
“No, I’m fine thanks to you catching me.”
“Glad to hear it.” His voice was low and lacked any intonation. Perhaps she’d made him angry.
Oriana could hardly blame him if he was; her attitude today had been most unbecoming. It wasn’t like he hugged her because he wanted to, either. Perhaps anyone would have this kind of reaction if a noisy, annoying girl suddenly flung herself on them.
“I’m so, so sorry,” Oriana muttered meekly.
“Hm?” Vincent sat upright and glanced at her. The back of his robes and sleeves were covered in mud. The days of endless rain had turned the ground into a goopy mess.
“I made such a fuss, then I managed to trip, too…”
“Yeah. That’s dangerous, so for your own sake, be more careful.”
His voice didn’t sound angry at all. Oriana sneaked a glance at his face to gauge his mood.
“What is it?” Vincent asked.
“Uh, um, well…” She hadn’t meant for him to notice, but clearly she was more transparent than she realized. “It’s just, you were making a scary face, so…I figured I must have made you angry.”
“A scary face?” Puzzled, he reached up and pressed his fingers against his face. “Ahhh… My apologies. That pose brings back some old memories. It’s a point of trauma for me.”
“Huh?”
“That was how my dignity died once in the past.”
“Sorry?”
“I’m speaking of my previous life. If it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer you forget I ever mentioned it,” Vincent said, looking deeply bitter and displeased. Oriana never dreamed he’d try the same ridiculous joke again about having a past life. Since it was said in jest, perhaps she was better served laughing it off?
“Ahaha.” She forced herself to giggle, which only prompted Vincent to scowl. That was the first time he’d ever made such an expression at her. A chill ran through her, and she flinched.
“Don’t laugh,” he said.
“Uh, right. Sorry about that.” Oriana immediately apologized. She still had no idea how to react to his strange jokes. “Anyway, so you weren’t angry with me?”
“I was worried, but I wasn’t angry.”
It did sound as though he was being genuine. Oriana sighed in relief. Only after that did she finally remember the one thing she wasn’t supposed to forget.
Oh yeah, my bloomers!
“There they are!”
She had completely spaced them out. Flustered, she snatched them off the ground. They had a bit of mud on them thanks to the fall, but she planned to wash them anyway upon discovering they’d flown off. Now safe in her grasp, she tucked them into the sleeve of her robe.
Thank goodness I got to them before they managed to fly off again, or before someone else managed to snatch them up!
Unable to contain her joy at having successfully retrieved them, she raced back over to Vincent.
“Vincent!”
“Hm?” Vincent had slipped off his robe and was trying to dust the mud off of it when Oriana came flying into him. He stumbled a bit, but he still managed to catch her in his arms. Confused, he started to say “What’s the ma—”
“Thank you for helping me! I love you!” Oriana grinned at him.
Those three words were something friends used among one another, she was certain of it. At least, she was pretty sure someone had told her as much. So surely Vincent wouldn’t hold it against her for saying that. At least, he shouldn’t, right? She hoped not, anyway.
As much as she wanted to cling to him forever, she feared he might discover her feelings if she lingered too long. Oriana extracted herself and turned to retrieve the ladder. “Let’s get this back to the storehouse, then shall we go have breakfast?”
Well, before we do that, I need to go get ready first, Oriana reminded herself. As she pulled the ladder away from the tree, she reasoned that today she could get off by quickly throwing on some light makeup.
When she turned around to look at Vincent, he was frozen in place with his robes still in his hands.
“Vincent? Hello? Are you listening?” For as much as she tried to call out to him, it took a while for him to finally defrost and respond.