Helena and Luke arrived at a café.
Luke casually took a seat and approached the staff.
“Mine, how have you been?”
“Oh my, it’s been a while since you came by! What can I get for you?”
The staff member recognized Luke immediately upon seeing him. This café was one they often visited while waiting for the Third, and there were not many memorable customers like Luke.
Always polite for her age, the girl stubbornly spoke in an elder’s tone, so it was hard to forget her even after not seeing her for a month or two.
“I’ll have what I always drink.”
“Mint chocolate frappe, right?”
Since Luke always placed the same order, it was impossible for her not to remember.
“By the way, who’s that next to you? A friend?”
“Yes, a friend from the same academy. We were looking for a place to study together, and this café came to mind.”
Luke nudged the staff as if introducing Helena.
Helena looked a bit flustered by his gesture and asked Luke, “Are we studying here?”
“Yeah, the atmosphere is quite nice, don’t you think?”
Helena glanced around the café at Luke’s words. Indeed, the soft lighting and quiet ambiance made for a rather pleasant café.
“However, I still wonder… Do we really need to come to a café to study? There are people around, isn’t that uncomfortable?”
“Aren’t we studying at your house?”
At Helena’s comment, Luke shook his head. “My place is small, and with Pyris there, it would only be harder to concentrate. She loves to meddle.”
“Oh, right. You have a younger sister.”
Helena recalled Luke’s younger sister, who had played on stage at a party. She had quite a talent, impressive for someone younger than her.
She could not quite empathize with the idea of a small house.
‘But I don’t particularly want to invite her to my house either…’
Helena decided not to get too emotionally attached to Luke. They wouldn’t reach the point where she invites him to her house like friends.
And, considering that this place could be thought of as a less formal academy environment, she nodded slightly, thinking that cafés like this weren’t so bad after all.
“Then let’s order your drink. Is there a tea or beverage you want?”
Helena carefully examined the menu board behind the staff. However, she found none of the names of the fancy teas she usually drank, only some drinks whose names she couldn’t recognize.
‘Luke certainly enjoys frequenting such a plebeian café.’
What a peculiar taste.
Helena sighed and responded, “…I don’t really know. Just order something. You probably know better than I do.”
“Alright, Helena. Will you wait at our table? I’ll grab your share too.”
“Okay, got it.”
Following Luke’s suggestion, Helena sat down. Despite what she expected, the chair was quite comfortable. She felt a bit disappointed that it wasn’t as luxurious as she had initially thought, but since this was her first time in such a place, it felt refreshing.
Helena’s life had mostly been a series of repetitive patterns.
From birth, she had lived a planned life aiming to be the heir of the Rusfind family.
Thus, visiting places like this was quite rare for her.
‘It looks much different from outside.’
To be honest, she wouldn’t have thought to step into a place like this if it weren’t for Luke. The building, which she had only seen as part of the city’s decoration, turned out to be a real place for people to spend time, which felt surreal.
Always viewed only through the car window or from the heights of tall buildings, the scenery.
So the café felt like a fish tank to Helena.
But looking at it this way made her wonder which side of the tank was truly inside it.
As Helena quietly gazed outside the café, smiling, she suddenly realized and covered her mouth, muttering, “Hah, what am I thinking?”
‘I shouldn’t be thankful. This is just a transaction.’
Luke was merely fulfilling a promise. He was just keeping his word to invite her to the party, and even though there must be better places, he brought her to this humble spot!
Thinking this way, any momentary sense of gratitude she had towards Luke vanished without a trace.
‘Right, this is just business.’
Her father always said to distinguish between personal and professional matters.
So, she must learn to sort this out too.
Because she would become the heir to the Rusfind family in the future.
Helena started to take out the materials she would study.
While she was doing this, Luke returned with the drinks.
Looking at the neatly prepared table for studying, Luke smiled pleasantly and said, “All ready? You’re really enthusiastic about studying. That’s a good attitude.”
“Hmph, stop chatting and quickly tell me the exam scope.”
“Okay, okay. But there’s no need to rush, is there? Here, take your drink.”
Helena received a slightly reddish drink from Luke.
It felt unfamiliar.
When she brought it to her nose to smell, it didn’t seem bad at all.
‘Well, I do like the color.’
The pinkish hue resembling her hair color was indeed nice.
“What is this?”
“Grapefruit aid, I believe. Want to try it?”
“Really?”
Following Luke’s suggestion, Helena took a sip but immediately grimaced and exclaimed, “Ack, this is so bitter!”
Did he actually bring her something like this to drink?
Luke must have brought her here to make fun of her!
————
Luke quietly watched Helena, who now instinctively reached for the grapefruit aid, before suddenly speaking up.
“It seems you like the grapefruit aid? You were furious at me for it being bitter at first.”
Helena avoided Luke’s gaze as she noticed her drink was over half-empty and cleared her throat.
“… I guess as I drink it, the bitterness isn’t so bad…”
She never thought she would come to like bitterness, but maybe it was not entirely bitter?
As she kept drinking, something kept drawing her in.
It felt even smoother than other fancy teas.
Why was that?
Had she eaten too much bitterness to damage her taste buds?
“Right? It’s apparently the best-seller among non-sweet flavors.”
“Mm.”
Helena lifted her drink and nodded slightly, glancing at her glass. If everyone liked it, it seemed she hadn’t developed a weird taste after all.
Watching Helena’s expression, which reflected she had found a new enjoyment, Luke smiled lightly and cleared some books off the table.
“Let’s take a break. It seems hard to maintain concentration for too long.”
“… Okay, sounds good.”
‘Time flew by as we studied…’
Listening to Luke while studying, she realized how much time had passed.
Indeed, she felt much more focused than usual.
Though she didn’t want to admit it, his lecture was exceptionally good.
He explained things at a level based on her perfect understanding.
Compared to academy teachers, his depth was not lacking at all.
Rather, attending the same school and receiving the same education made it feel even more thorough.
No matter how much studying she did at the academy, eventually, it was the Tigr Academy teachers who prepared the exam questions.
Thus, it was Luke, who attended the school classes, who had a better grasp of predicting the questions compared to the others.
His ‘study guide,’ which analyzed teacher tendencies, personalities, and habits, felt incredibly novel to Helena.
‘I never knew Luke was this talented…’
She had no idea Luke studied so thoroughly based on analysis.
She always thought he just played around at home…
Helena swallowed nervously.
Even if she scored high marks this exam, it didn’t really matter if she still couldn’t surpass Luke.
If that happened, she would end up second again.
-Crack.
Helena quenching her slightly dry throat with grapefruit aid again.
It was, without a doubt, addictive.
With the slightly noticeable sourness and sweetness, followed by a subtle bitterness, it made the drink enjoyable without growing tired of it.
As she drank the grapefruit aid and watched Luke tidy up the table, she suddenly noticed the blue gemstone necklace around Luke’s neck.
He never seemed to have worn something like that before.
Helena pointed to Luke’s necklace with her finger and asked.
“But what’s that necklace?”
“Oh, this? As you can see, it’s a Moonlight Stone necklace. Shirud gave it to me as a birthday gift. What do you think? It’s quite pretty, isn’t it?”
“What? Shirud gave it to you?”
Helena exclaimed in surprise.
After all, the only relationship she could think of that involved gift exchanges was only one!
‘Did… she give him a necklace? Surely, they’re not engaged already?’
If they were at that level of gifting necklaces, it was almost an undisputed fact, wasn’t it?
Perhaps Shirud liked Luke much more than she had thought.
‘No, maybe it isn’t that serious.’
There was no proof that it was a real gemstone, right?
Yes, it definitely must be a replica.
But the way it sparkled beautifully, if it were a replica, it was still quite an impressive object.
Moreover, what mattered was that Shirud gifted a gem to Luke.
And Luke received it willingly.
But Luke, blissfully unaware of Helena’s feelings, smiled brightly and asked,
“What do you think? Doesn’t it match well with the color of your scarf?”
Helena replied in a slightly trembling voice, “Y-yeah, I think it looks nice…”
“Right? I really didn’t expect to receive something like this… Haha. Thanks to this, I’m actually enjoying studying more than I have in a long time.”
“Yeah, that must have been great…”
Helena felt even more intimidated by Luke’s vibrant voice.
How much more enjoyable could Luke’s study sessions be, considering that he claimed this gift from Shirud brought joy to him?
Luke’s trust in Shirud clearly wasn’t just a coincidence.
Luke suddenly realized Helena’s voice had lost its strength and stepped a bit closer, asking,
“Why do you seem off? Are you feeling unwell? Is it indigestion? Or is the air conditioning here too strong? Should I go to the counter and ask for a blanket?”
Seeing his genuinely worried demeanor, Helena evaded Luke’s touch and replied.
“It’s nothing… I just suddenly started feeling uneasy.”
“Feeling uneasy just like that… Do you think you can still finish studying? We’re about to move on to the most important magic part…”
That magic part was certainly going to be impossible for Helena to concentrate on, especially with that necklace in her view.
“I don’t know, I want to go back now.”
“Wait, Helena. Just a moment!”
As Helena stood up from her seat, Luke grabbed her.
“Why are you holding me back? I’m leaving.”
“Just hold on, it will only be for a moment.”
Luke rummaged through his bag and handed her a small container and a piece of paper.
“What is all this?”
“A gift regarding the swimming pool membership. And this is a tea leaf that’s good for regulating your condition. I’ve been picking and drying it myself for you for days. I’ve written the way to brew it on this note, so make sure to drink it when you get home. Definitely!”
Luke replied with a grin at Helena.
A gift specifically prepared for her.
Helena absentmindedly accepted the items and looked down at them.
It didn’t seem like he was mocking her.
The beautifully wrapped packaging in the container and the careful handwriting on the note all conveyed Luke’s genuine intention to gift her.
Moreover, his voice—filled with the concern a doting grandmother might show—further added to the persuasiveness of the gifts.
‘How can I compete with this…’
She genuinely felt like she was no match for someone who was perfect in every way compared to her, who could only study.
Not only was she a diligent studier, but she also had a soft tone, a knack for cooking, was well-versed in etiquette, and had an air of maturity.
In contrast, she felt they had nothing in common, with her personality not being particularly cute, and not knowing anything about cooking.
She never thought that merely being good at swimming would attract Shirud’s interest.
Besides, Luke was already someone Shirud liked well enough to give a gemstone necklace.
It felt like a completely lost battle.
No matter how hard she tried, there seemed to be no way to snatch him away from her.
Caught between two happy people, she felt a sense of injustice, knowing that she would just come out as the “bad girl” in the scenario.
It seemed, no matter how much she wanted to, she could never become a viper.
Her mouth felt bitter.
Helena thought, trying to hold back tears that threatened to spill out.
“Ugh… Why did Shirud have to fall for someone like her…”
If it hadn’t been for Luke, she might have figured out what to do.
Even if it were only being in the same class…!
“Huh? What do you mean Shirud fell for someone? Is she falling for me?”
“… Oh.”
Thinking those words, she had accidentally let them slip out loud.
