"?"

Delilah cocked her head in confusion. Grem-What? What are you saying? ...Or so her gaze seemed to say as she looked at me.

I could only keep my mouth closed and tilt my head in the same direction as hers.

She blinked.

I blinked.

And then...

"What are you doing?"

A certain voice attracted both of our attention.

Standing by the side of the door that led to the main hall was Kiera, her long white hair neatly tied in a ponytail as she wore a long white dress that seemed unusually extravagant for her, its clean fabric and intricate details contrasting with her typically understated style, making her stand out more than usual.

"You're here."

"....Am I not supposed to be here? I participated as well, you know."

"No, I know..."

'But I thought you were still recovering from what happened.'

I just barely managed to stop myself from blurting such words as my gaze fell on Delilah who looked at Kiera with her obsidian black eyes.

She was silent, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

No, maybe I could...

It was starting to get easier to do so.

"You're here with your daughter again?"

Kiera said, alternating my gaze between Delilah and me. Then, narrowing her eyes, she moved a little closer to Delilah.

"You know what? She does remind me of someone..."

"...?"

I felt my heart pause for a second.

It couldn't be that her disguise was seen through?! I was just about to open my mouth when my expression froze as Kiera reached forward to pinch Delilah's cheeks.

Pull~

"Hehe."

She laughed.

Stretch-

"It's like I'm pulling on a soft marshmallow. Sheee... I'd have given up smoking earlier if I had these cheeks to fiddle with."

Pull-

"Kekek."

11

After a certain point, I just gave up.

If Kiera wanted to die, so be it. I had already saved her before. If she wanted to throw her life away like this then I couldn't do anything about it.

Puuull-

"My god! Look at how much her cheeks stretch! It's like a fucdget rubber band."

Fucdget?

....She was about to swear but just barely stopped herself didn't she?

At least she was responsible.

"Haha, fucking hilarious."

"...."

No words came out as Kiera pulled Delilah's cheeks as much as she could.

I just looked at her with pity.

'Forget the Angel, you've provoked someone that could kill the Angel with a single slap.'

A pity I couldn't have asked for her help.

Things would've ended faster, but I would've been severely implicated in the process.

'I guess there's a reason why I got a quest.'

If it was so easy, I'd probably not receive it.

"Well, I've had my fun."

Kiera finally let go of Delilah's cheeks as they turned red.

She patted Delilah's head and ruffled her hair with her hands before turning to look at me.

"Right..."

Her expression turned somewhat complicated.

She seemed to struggle to get her words out, but she didn't need to. I could more or less understand what she was trying to say.

'...Thank you.'

For that reason, I just merely nodded at her.

She seemed grateful for the thought and her head lowered in appreciation.

"Congratulations on your fight. It was great."

"Thank you."

Kiera nodded once more before turning around. She had just taken a step when she paused,

turning her head to face Delilah once more.

I froze once more.

'Don't tell me she hasn't had enough fun yet...?'

What sort of...!?

"Here you go. I hope you enjoy it."

Contrary to my expectations, Kiera ended up giving Delilah several pieces of chocolate she retrieved from out of thin air. They were the same brand as the ones Delilah liked, neatly

wrapped in small paper wrappers that were rather colorful.

The scene was enough to shock me as Kiera raised her head to look at me.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"That..."

I pointed at the chocolate with my eyes as Delilah held her hands out.

"Oh, this."

Kiera gave Delilah another piece of candy.

"It's either this or the licorice sticks. Since I can't bring the sticks with me I usually bring this

chocolate that I bought from the store next to the Academy. I don't usually eat them, but

since I can't bring my sticks here, I brought these."

"....Ah."

It suddenly made sense as Kiera held one up for me.

"Do you want one?"

"Uh..."

I thought about it for a moment before extending my hand out.

"Sure."

"Here."

Kiera tossed it to me and I caught it with one hand.

"Nice."

Kiera popped one in her mouth before turning around once more and finally leaving. I stared

at her departing back for a few seconds before lowering my head to look at Delilah as she

stood frozen on the spot, silently staring at Kiera with her large obsidian eyes.

'Oh, no.'

The intensity at which she was staring at Kiera made my heart sink.

"That, I thi-"

"Good."

"Hm?"

Hearing Delilah's voice, I lowered my head. Good? Did she say good? I blinked in confusion,

trying hard to see if I had misheard or not.

Then, just as I was deep into my thoughts, Delilah turned her head to look at me.

"That girl."

She said, holding the chocolate with both hands.

"...She's a good girl."

1?1

Why did it feel like deja vu?

No, this really did happen before...

"Do you like have no other thoughts besides chocolate?"

Delilah blinked her eyes before nodding.

"Of course."

"Really?"

I found that hard to believe. If she could withstand such abuse and forgive it all for some chocolate, then I wanted to know how much she would let something slide as long as they

provided chocolate for her.

"....Do you really have any other thoughts besides candy?"

"Yes."

Delilah nodded again.

"Like?"

"Yo-"

"Julien."

A cool voice suddenly echoed from behind, cutting through Delilah. The voice sounded rather

unfamiliar and yet seemed extremely familiar to me as I turned around.

"....."

The moment I did my expression stiffened.

Standing not far from me, wearing a dark suit that stood in stark contrast to the bright lights

of the hall, a man that I had only seen in pictures appeared.

He was like a spitting image of me.

No, it would be more accurate to say that he was an older version of me with some slight

changes.

....I was no fool.

The moment I laid eyes on him, I already knew who he was.

"Father."

I was able to cool down my shock rather quickly as I lowered my head in greeting.

"Um."

He nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"It's good to see you again, son."

I pursed my lips, secretly feeling my back drenched in my own sweat. It was a good thing that

I had practiced with Leon beforehand on how to interact with my 'father' in the chance that he

did end up showing up out of nowhere.

He was elegant in every sense of the word, attracting the attention of those around him just

like I did.

His back was straight and his expression carried a certain indifference that made one question whether he truly was a baron or not.

He felt more like a high-ranking noble than a baron.

"....It's nice to see you too, father."

So far, I was doing exactly as Leon told me. Keep the words as short as possible and avoid eye

contact.

Apparently, the previous Julien was scared of his own father's gaze.

Perhaps noticing this, Aldric's tone became more solemn.

"You're still the same."

I could feel the slight disappointment in his voice as he spoke.

"....You may have reached the finals, but you still can't look me in the eyes. It makes me

question whether you truly managed to reach the finals without cheating."

11

"1

I held my words back.

'I suddenly understand why Leon told me to keep my interactions short.'

This guy...

He really didn't hold back with his words. He was as blunt as one could be. Well... not that I

was any different.

"Perhaps I did."

I answered flatly, keeping my head lowered.

Leonr's next set of instructions rang in my mind.

'Antagonize him a little bit'

"But it doesn't matter, right? I upheld the family's honor. Shouldn't you be happy? That's all

you think about anyways."

I did just that.

And as expected, silence followed after my words.

11

He kept his gaze fixed on me for several seconds before turning away.

"You will follow me back to the estate after this. I planned to leave a letter to tell you to come,

but knowing you, I'm sure you would just ignore it. That's why I personally came to pick you

up."

His tone carried a certain finality to it that made it clear that this was no request.

This was an order.

'Fuck, he's worse than Leon described.'

I had no plans on going back to the estate. I wanted to take a break after all of this. Focus on

my training and not deal with any crap until the start of the second year.

...I really needed a break.

And I wasn't going to let anyone take that away from me.

"Hm?"

Aldric suddenly paused, shifting his attention away from me.

"This is...?"

Finally, he took notice of Delilah who appeared strangely silent as she appeared somewhat

stiff. Blinking her large eyes, her gaze alternated between the two of us.

Her expression didn't change but I could tell she was shocked.

I pursed my lips and silently sighed.

"She's a lost child that I found wandering around. I was trying to look for her parents or

guardians."

"Hm."

Aldric's eyes narrowed silently.

He took a good look at Delilah before his eyes grew slack.

"I've memorized every guest present and their family. She doesn't fit any of the profiles I saw,"

"....Ah."

Could this guy get any more ridiculous?

Leon had warned me before that he was meticulous, but not to this extent. It almost felt as

though he had everything memorized.

'Who knows...? He might have already figured out something about me.'

The thought made me shudder but I could only keep my composure.

"Are you suggesting that she sneaked in?" "Hm, perhaps not." Aldric replied after a slow pause.

"The guards wouldn't make such a silly mistake. It appears as though I didn't study well

enough."

He lowered his head to glance at Delilah.

"What's your name? Perhaps I can help you find your parents."

"........"

Delilah stood in the same spot without saying a word. She was still stiff, almost out of it. I was

taken aback, and before I could do anything about it, her lips parted open.

Del-"

"Grem."

I cut through her voice.

"Grem?"

Aldric looked confused, his brows furrowing as he turned his attention back to me.

"Her name is Grem?"

"....Yes."

I bit my inner lip.

This...

It really was the best I could come up with on the spot.

I didn't seem to have done a good job at making up a name as my father's brows further

furrowed. But just before he got his words out, someone tapped him on the shoulder and

whispered something.

His furrowed brows tightened for a brief moment before relaxing.

"...If you would excuse me."

He then proceeded to leave without saying anything else.

I traced his back for a minute before it disappeared into the crowd of people. It was only when

I could no longer see him that I turned to look at Delilah.

"What was that?"

I asked in a low tone.

She appeared unusually stiff.

"....Do you know him?"

"No."

Delilah answered, her large eyes blinking. "First time I've seen him."

"Then why did you act like that?"

Delilah didn't answer.

Used to her personality, I could only massage my throbbing head.

"Well, fine."

There were more pressing issues at hand.

Like... Telling Leon about this.

'....father.'

"Did you say something?"

I thought I heard something and turned to look at Delilah who tilted her head back at me.

"What?"

".... You didn't say anything?"

"No."

"Okay."

Perhaps I was going crazy. Either way, I needed to find Leon. Putting the candy Kiera had

given me away, I moved away in search of Leon. He had to be here somewhere.

As I looked for me, once again, I heard the whisper.

'...because.. your... father...'

I couldn't make out the details again and turned around to confront Delilah. Only that...

"Gone."

She was gone before I knew it.

In the end, shaking my head, I forgot all about it and went ahead to look for Leon. Surely this

wasn't going to problematic, right?