“He’s gay? Really, I never would have imagined it.”
Since finding out, Helena has been unable to focus on her studies at all.
At this rate, she might not be able to properly take the exam.
No matter what, she couldn’t shake the thought from her mind, so as soon as the fifth period ended, Helena immediately headed to the restroom.
– Shaaaa…
She turned on the faucet and just stared at the water flowing out.
Observing the water flow seemed to have a calming effect on her.
“Hmph…”
This was Helena’s own method of finding concentration.
When she watched the water, no other thoughts would come to mind.
Once she steadied herself this way, it became easier to refocus.
“Alright.”
Helena splashed the water on her face to cool herself down while looking in the mirror.
As she gazed at her reflection, Luke’s words began to echo in her ears.
“Someone like Rienne Arinseia, with strong willpower, a beautiful appearance, and a hint of red could probably be considered my type.”
Then suddenly, an unexpected thought struck her.
“No, wait a moment…!”
Helena was astonished by her own thoughts.
It was obvious now that all of Luke’s statements could be referring to her own reflection in the mirror!
Willpower? Her willpower was certainly on the strong side.
Granted, some might call it stubbornness, but if considered willpower, she fit the description perfectly well.
Appearance? Of course she considered herself to be quite beautiful.
She spared no expense or effort in taking care of herself, and objectively speaking, there weren’t many girls more beautiful than her.
Hair with a red hue?
Her hair was pink.
If it were a bit darker, it could be considered red.
Only now did Helena fully realize why she had been so preoccupied with Luke’s ideal type.
Unconsciously, she had been thinking that Luke’s ideal type was her!
And this wasn’t mere fantasy!
Certainly, there were enough suspicious circumstances to warrant such thoughts!
‘Come to think of it…!’
Upon reflection, Luke had been unusually kind to her.
Bringing her homemade bread despite being in different classes or continuously complimenting her kindness and appearance!
And now she noticed that Luke’s gaze towards her was different from how he looked at others!
Even at the birthday party the other day, he occasionally met her eyes with a smile or tried to talk to her using Shirud as an excuse!
Could all of this be because…
‘Because I fit his preferences?!’
Still, even if it was true, it was problematic.
She wasn’t attracted to women, after all.
As she returned to the classroom with these thoughts, she was startled out of her musings by a familiar voice.
“Ah, Helena! I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Hiiik! L-Luke!?”
“Why are you so surprised?”
Luke tilted his head curiously at Helena’s overreaction, but Helena waved her hands dismissively in response.
“Ah, it’s nothing! H-How did you know my class?”
“Well, I just asked around.”
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Everyone knows which class someone is in.
“S-So, why were you waiting in front of my classroom?”
“I just wanted to give you this.”
When Helena asked the reason, Luke smiled brightly and handed her a notebook.
“W-What is this?”
“Remember when you said you’d teach me, but you left without listening to the magic section? So, I compiled the concepts to help you prepare better for the exam.”
“Uh… Oh, I see. T-thank you.”
Helena thought to herself as she took the notebook.
‘This is really happening…’
Even if it wasn’t true, why was he being so kind?
Her suspicions only deepened.
At that moment, Luke bowed his head and said.
“Anyway, thank you, Helena.”
“H-Huh? For what?”
“For helping me understand Shirud’s feelings. Thanks to you, I managed to deal with his feelings before they deepened further. Without you, I might never have realized.”
“Oh.”
Of course, Shirud’s feelings and rejection were truly a stroke of luck for Luke.
Luke, being gay after all, couldn’t love boys!
So, it made sense that he would express gratitude this way.
Hmm, probably.
“And I’m also thankful for your suggestion about the pool.”
Luke truly expressed his gratitude.
It was a fact that swimming was his weakness.
Ideally, one should reduce their weaknesses if possible.
Besides, swimming wasn’t something Luke disliked; rather, he actually enjoyed it.
Thus, Luke had begun looking forward to going to the pool after the exam.
‘Ah!’
However, upon hearing this, Helena was reminded of the promise.
What to do? She had completely forgotten about it!
“Uh… If you find it burdensome, you don’t have to go…”
“Huh? There’s no need, I’m fine.”
“No, when I think about it, you do have the International Magic Competition to prepare for, right? I was just worried you might feel pressured…”
“Hahahaha. You’re such a thoughtful person. Don’t worry about me unnecessarily, my dear.”
“!”
Helena was startled when Luke patted her head while praising her.
Considering that Luke was gay, his actions and gaze felt different now from how they used to.
“By the way, why have you been so pale since a while ago? Is something troubling you?”
“Uh? Ah, no! Nothing’s wrong!”
“Alright?”
Helena couldn’t possibly tell him that she overheard him being gay behind the lab storeroom.
Eavesdropping is something perverts do, and she had no idea how Luke would react if she told him openly.
Luke observed Helena’s expression for a while and then spoke.
“Hold on, your neck scarf is crooked.”
“Eh? Oh, it is?”
As Helena looked down at her neck scarf, Luke’s words turned out to be true.
Even Helena, who always kept her clothes tidy, had neglected to adjust her scarf today, distracted by her thoughts.
At that moment, Luke naturally reached out and began fixing Helena’s scarf.
“Dear me, how could someone usually so neat make such a mistake?”
Luke carefully retied the scarf and skillfully smoothed out the wrinkles, spreading it neatly.
It was rather elegant work.
However, Helena didn’t feel entirely happy about Luke’s kindness.
Rather, it made her feel awkward and uncomfortable.
But thanks to Luke’s practiced and efficient movements, there was no time to protest before the job was done.
“There. All set.”
Missing her chance, all Helena could do was express her gratitude.
“Uh… Y-yeah! T-thank you…”
“Then, study hard for your exams, my dear.”
Luke praised Helena once more with a wave and left.
In truth, Luke realized Helena wasn’t used to compliments and tried to offer them often.
Indeed, Helena was quite adorable, but she couldn’t receive his praises the same way as before.
‘Really, he seems to like me! What should I do? How do I tell Luke I’m not interested in same-sex relationships?’
Watching Luke walk away, Helena looked down at the notebook in her hands.
“And what am I supposed to do with this…?”
Should she really accept this as pure kindness?
—
After completing his patrol in Luke Forest, Dayton approached the rest area and saw quite a few unfamiliar faces.
However, the patrol preparations of the forest keeper were much more skilled than those of new recruits.
Though he hadn’t seen these faces before, they weren’t rookies but forest keepers transferred from Rienne Forest.
Passing by them casually, Dayton entered the office and asked the elf buried under piles of documents.
“There are more reinforcements from Rienne Forest than I expected?”
At this, Yerna lifted her head slightly from the documents.
“Yeah, it seems like there’s still a surplus of manpower over there due to the aftermath of the situation in Rienne Forest.”
“Are these all the reinforcements?”
“Right. We’ve received quite a number of soldiers this time.”
“Wow, there really are a lot…”
While he anticipated seeing more people, Dayton hadn’t expected this level.
The number of people was being fully realized through these documents—Dayton found it quite an unusual experience.
As Yerna perused the documents, she let out a sound like “Hmm…” and stroked her chin.
This habit didn’t belong to her originally; perhaps spending too much time around Luke had rubbed off on her.
“Shall I help?”
“Have you helped with something like this before? You don’t have to. Anyway, I’ll just go over the basics and then hand it to Daphne.”
“Oh.”
Though he wanted to help with something, Dayton wasn’t particularly skilled with paperwork.
Just avoiding mistakes would be lucky.
If he were good with paperwork, he probably wouldn’t be a forest keeper.
“Anyway, sit down here for a moment?”
Yerna pointed to the chair in front of her with a light smile, and Dayton instinctively sat down.
“Anyway, when do you think our wedding would be best?”
Caught off-guard, Dayton was startled.
“Wha, wedding?”
“Yeah, the wedding.”
“Why bring up the wedding out of the blue?”
They were already married on paper.
Dayton had thought it would be nice to have a wedding, but he didn’t expect Yerna to bring it up so spontaneously and out of the blue.
Startled by Dayton’s confused question, Yerna hesitated, averted her gaze with a blush, and continued.
“Because…the last time Luke had a birthday party at his friend’s house?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“At that time, seeing Luke in a dress made me feel…”
“Ah, I see.”
Yerna didn’t finish, but Dayton immediately understood what she was implying.
That was talking about a “wedding dress.”
“…”
Realizing her inner thoughts had been uncovered, Yerna’s cheeks grew even redder.
Upon seeing this, Dayton couldn’t help but tease her slightly and asked with a teasing tone.
“Even though you said you wanted to keep our marriage a secret from the other forest keepers?”
“Not exactly…but…”
This wasn’t a corporation, and there wasn’t a ban on intra-office relationships, but it wasn’t particularly encouraged either.
Given her position as a role model, Yerna couldn’t simply disclose her marriage to the other forest keepers.
“Well, I think anyone who needs to know already knows.”
Scratching her cheek in embarrassment over contradicting her previous statements, Yerna then rubbed the back of her neck, twisting her body around in an endearing manner.
It was such a cute scene that Dayton couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Ahahaha! Got it. So, about the wedding date?”
Dayton’s enthusiasm for the day surged.
