After the meal, Sophia lay on the hammock with a blanket, feeling refreshed from her bath.

‘Is this heaven? Yeah, it’s definitely heaven. I must have lived virtuously to end up here.’

She mumbled to herself with a relaxed expression.

The refreshing water to quench her thirst.
The invigorating bath.
The warm bed.
And the hearty… er, meal…?

Hmm, should that even be called a meal?
Or would it be more appropriate to call it a mess?

For a moment, Sophia’s mind wandered to impure thoughts about the meal she had just eaten, but she quickly shook her head to dispel those thoughts.

At first, she had worried that he might be indirectly expressing his dissatisfaction with her sudden intrusion!
But that wasn’t true!

After she put down her spoon, Jin Yuha finished the rest of the dish himself, so he couldn’t have had any ill intentions.

And after that, concerned about the possibility of an upset stomach from eating raw freshwater fish, Jin Yuha gently smiled and gave her medicine for parasites.

That was… what should she call it…

‘Well, no one can be perfect in every way!’

Yeah, that was a part she shouldn’t dwell on.

Anyway.

As the saying goes, people only appreciate the little things in life after they’ve endured hardship, and Sophia’s current state of mind perfectly fit that description.

A warm feeling permeated her entire body.

To be honest, just encountering Jin Yuha in person was enough to make her want to do backflips and somersaults in the air, but the fact that he was so considerate and went out of his way to make these thoughtful gestures for her…

Sophia squirmed in the hammock, kicking her legs so vigorously that she almost fell off.
She quickly adjusted her position, startled.

‘It’s not just his face that’s electrifying.’

Could a person’s heart be this beautiful?
He was a man with an onion-like charm, revealing more layers the more you peeled away.

The dip in her fan heart caused by the meal quickly deepened again.

Sophia casually glanced at the tent next to her, where Jin Yuha had gone inside.

‘He even insisted on letting me sleep in the tent while he slept in the hammock.’

Of course, she had adamantly refused.

To be honest, she was an uninvited guest.

While her situation of being kidnapped by the Academy without any explanation might garner some sympathy, It didn’t mean she deserved special treatment. In the end, Jin Yuha and she were strangers to each other.

The fact that he showed such consideration anyway was proof of his outstanding character!

Sophia praised Jin Yuha in her heart, secretly gushing.

Suddenly, the arm she had raised high in the air fell limply back down.

‘I heard that the exams at the Velvet Academy are really important…’

Even someone like her, who didn’t know much about the Academy, knew that the exams at the Velvet Academy were a big deal.

Moreover, Jin Yuha was no ordinary cadet.

Currently, countless people were watching him.

While there were many like her who supported him from behind,
There were just as many people who questioned his abilities, envied him, or hoped for his downfall, citing the male quota system.

‘But instead of being helpful to Yuha…’

A burdensome weight rested on his shoulders.

And that weight was none other than herself!

‘Yuha, I’m sorry.’

Sophia’s expression was filled with gratitude and remorse for her favorite person.

Even so, she didn’t feel confident about leaving right away if he asked her to.

‘I need to do something… Even if I can’t be helpful, I should at least make sure I’m not a burden!’

In the depths of the cave, where darkness had settled, Sophia’s eyes also lowered.

.

.

.

The next morning.

Tok-tok-tok—

‘Huh?’

I woke up to an unfamiliar sound coming from outside the tent early in the morning.

‘What is it?’

When I opened the tent,

Sophia was standing there with a pot in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other.

‘Sophia was cooking?’

“He’s B…”

She locked eyes with me and widened her eyes, letting out a sigh.

‘He’s B? Isn’t that a curse?’

I frowned.

“Ah, no, no, I’m sorry! But, are you awake?”

“Oh, yeah. Were you cooking? Just leave it. I’ll take care of the cooking—”

“No!”

Sophia’s voice cut me off.

“I can’t let you do that! I already imposed on you so much yesterday!”

She spoke with an unusual firmness.

Her eyes were so determined that I involuntarily shrank back a little.

“…Oh, okay?”
“Yes! Please let me prepare the meal! Just go and wash up. It’s almost ready, and I have something to tell you.”

Her gaze was so intense it was almost piercing.

“Alright, I will.”

I nodded reluctantly and went to wash my face and hair with the water that had been prepared. As I came out, towel-drying my hair, Sophia once again covered her mouth.

“Hmph! Crazy…”

‘…Why does she keep cursing whenever she sees me? Did I do something wrong yesterday?’

As I gave her a suspicious look, Sophia quickly composed herself and spoke.

“Um, well, this is nothing compared to the unique dishes Jin Yuhua prepared yesterday, but I did my best.”
“Thanks.”

I sat down in front of the meal Sophia had prepared.

‘Well, it’s definitely plain.’

It was a simple meal of bear meat stew made with corn flour, grilled fish seasoned with salt and pepper, and bread with mustard sauce.

I speared a piece of meat with a wooden fork and brought it to my mouth. Sophia watched me intently.

“…How is it?”
“It’s good.”

To be honest, by my standards, it lacked a bit in terms of color and uniqueness, but since Sophia seemed to have some concerns, I nodded my head refreshingly.

Sophia visibly relaxed at my response.

“Hehe, that’s good.”
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I… I wouldn’t dare to eat with you.”
“What are you talking about? Let’s eat together. It’ll save on the dishes. And you said you had something to tell me.”

“Alright, I will.”

Sophia sat down demurely in front of me and began to eat, her head bowed low. The silence stretched on, filled only by the sound of our forks and spoons.

Clink, clink-

After a while, I was the one to break the silence.

“So, what did you want to tell me?”
“Well, um…”

Sophia looked at me with a spoon in her mouth, as if asking if it was really okay to say what was on her mind.

“Go ahead, it’s free to listen.”

I said with a smile, trying to ease her tension.

“Yes, it is free to listen and speak.”
“Yes.”

Sophia then knelt in front of me, her fists clenched tightly on her knees, her eyes meeting mine with determination.

“Jin Yuhua, I’m an outsider who got caught up in the mid-term evaluation.”
“I see. And?”

To be honest, she wasn’t really an outsider, but I nodded anyway.

“But I don’t know what to do here. I don’t know how to request help or how to navigate this situation. So, to be blunt, I want to rely on you.”
“Rely on me?”
“Yes! Although I may not have much to offer, I am confident in my physical strength! Whatever you ask of me, I will do it with all my heart! Cooking, laundry, cleaning, any menial task, just give me a chance to prove myself!”

Sophia spoke like an eager new employee at a large corporation.

‘She’s definitely a straight-shooter.’

I smiled at her as I observed her character traits: ‘straightforward’, ‘active’, and ‘confident’.

She didn’t hide or feel ashamed of her lack of possessions; instead, she was proud of what she did have and was willing to work hard.

Her willingness to take action and her boldness were typical of her character.

‘Hmm, this might make things easier for me.’

I stroked my chin, thinking about how to bring up the topic that had been on my mind.

Originally, Sophia was supposed to have a fierce battle with a wild bear here yesterday. In the process, she would have awakened her abilities, healed her body, and ended the episode by embedding her high heels into the bear’s forehead.

‘But since I came here first and took care of the bear, that initial awakening scene never happened.’

This was something I had thought about for a long time, but there was no other way.

‘The scar that forms on her body from this incident remains until the latter part of her personal story.’

It was a scar from using magic to its limit, one that wouldn’t easily heal with ordinary recovery methods. Of course, if she had quickly treated the wound right after the fight, it might not have scarred, but she had already exhausted all her energy in the battle with the bear.

Because of this, Sophia loses her value as a model and reluctantly enrolls in the Academy.

The scar on her body causes her to always wrap herself up tightly, and her depressed face hidden behind her lively demeanor is revealed whenever she is at the Academy.

-Everyone is wearing such pretty clothes… If only I didn’t have this scar…

Of course, this gap in her character created a unique color, but as someone who knew the full story, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was really right to let things play out this way.

After much deliberation, I decided to take care of the bear myself, but the problem was that I had also taken away her motivation for enrolling in the Academy.

‘So, I was wondering how to get her to enroll, and now she’s offering to repay me… This makes things much easier.’

“You really want to help me?”
“Yes! If there’s anything I can do to be of assistance to you, Jin Yuhua, I will do it!”

Sophia replied with a military-like posture.

“Did you just say that you would do anything?”
“……Yes?”

Sophia looked confused, as if she hadn’t expected that question.

Well.

Didn’t you just say that you would do anything?

Yes, once you’ve spoken, there’s no going back. A woman can’t take back her words, right?

Ah, I really didn’t want to do this, but…

I smiled at Sophia, who looked anxious, and slowly raised the corners of my mouth.