An Unexpectedly Poor Player

Ensi tried his best to ignore the intense gaze burning into the back of his head. Thanks to his sensitive senses, it didn’t work very well. As a result, he couldn’t even focus on the simple task of wiping a sharp blade with an oil-soaked cloth.

“I feel like a hole is being bored into my skull.”

Lily felt the blatant stare just as clearly. Striving not to look back, she leaned slightly toward Ensi and whispered.

“…Your movement just now made the gaze even stronger.”

“Sorry. I was careless.”

Lily tried to suppress her irritation, but a sigh escaped anyway. If he was going to be like this, he might as well move boldly as he did the day he confessed at the training grounds. No, wait. On second thought, maybe that wasn’t a great idea either. She shook her head violently to clear her racing thoughts.

“So, what does he actually want?”

“If I knew, I’d tell you.”

“I want to tell him to stop staring. It’s getting on my nerves.”

“Lily.”

Ensi’s brow furrowed slightly as Lily’s language grew rough. At the warning tone, Lily bit her lip. No matter how much more rugged the Knight Faculty was compared to others, speaking coarsely in daily life was another matter entirely.

“Then, Ensi, are you just going to leave him like that?”

“I have no intention of approaching him first.”

“Could you please approach him first for once? Because of him, I can’t even perform basic swordsmanship properly.”

She knew the pleasure that came from moving a sword with perfect posture. She took pride in her ability to draw a sword path with the same form under any environment.

Until today, that is.

The posture she could maintain even during “outings” disguised as monster subjugations—under the pretext of being an aspiring knight—was shattered by a single person. Thanks to Agniele’s gaze, which pierced through her like the scorching sun, Lily’s confidence had crumbled to pieces. Even though that gaze wasn’t even directed at her, but at Ensi beside her.

“He’s truly relentless. My pride is taking a hit here.”

“Take this opportunity to practice so your posture doesn’t waver even in times like this.”

“I’m never going to encounter a ‘wooing’ gaze on a battlefield!” Lily vented her frustration to the utterly nonchalant Ensi—though she kept her voice low enough for only him to hear.

Lily wasn’t wrong. When would one ever face eyes full of love in the middle of a war? Ensi calmly set down the cloth and blinked slowly to organize his complicated feelings.

“Was this the last lecture?”

“Yeah. And it’s been about six hours since Agniele started watching us intermittently.”

Lily, shaking her head at his incredible passion, followed Ensi and set down her cloth. The blade, sufficiently oiled, reflected the light vividly.

“By the way, Lily. Was it like this in the original story?”

“In the original? Come to think of it… no, I don’t think so.”

Right. Thinking back, the Agniele of the original work didn’t act like this. Of course, they were in different departments in the original, so he wouldn’t have had the time to watch her all day, but still.

“Then what is the cause of this burdensome behavior?”

“Uh— maybe because when Agniele confessed, I hinted that he should find out what kind of personality his crush has first?”

As she answered his question, Lily realized she was in no position to complain to Ensi. Before meeting his icy-cold gaze, she quickly bowed her head and let out an awkward laugh.

“I mean, it is my fault. But still, isn’t observing someone this blatantly a bit much?”

“The sole heir of Lasias can’t exactly observe you gloomily like a stalker.”

“Ensi, whose side are you on right now?”

Ignoring Lily’s plea of “don’t fire on your own side,” Ensi clicked his tongue.

“He’s the one who suggested being friends in the first place! Then he shouldn’t just watch; he should do something!”

Seeing that Ensi’s mood wouldn’t soften easily, Lily turned her arrows back toward Agniele. This time, it seemed to have an effect, as Ensi glanced toward Agniele’s direction.

However, that glance became a sort of starting flare. Ensi’s eyes widened as Agniele moved the moment their gazes met.

“…Oh, wow. He’s coming.”

When the man who had been as still as a stone statue suddenly moved, Lily also sucked in a breath.

“Heck, come to think of it, this is my cue. Ensi, I’m leaving.”

“What?”

“Who knows what I’ll hear if I stay? As you know, I’m currently making a name for myself as ‘scum’ outside the Knight Faculty.”

If any more strange rumors started, Nocturne might actually grab her by the collar. Lily, who could never stand to see her lovely ‘Bambi’ get hurt trying to hold onto her rough, stone-hard body, quickly retreated.

“Wait, Lily!”

“Bye! I’m off to see Nocturne!”

Gathering her sword faster than anyone, Lily ran out of the training grounds before she could be caught. Honestly, romance might be fun to watch from a distance, but the kind of romance where she got entangled was zero fun.

“Ensius.”

Hearing the voice calling him from behind, Ensi hurriedly retracted the arm he had stretched out to catch Lily. For someone who wants to be a knight, her pace is certainly fast.

Grumbling internally, he turned around as slowly as possible and faced Agniele, who was visibly nervous.

‘…Nervous?’

Agniele?

Ensi watched Agniele’s prominent Adam’s apple as he swallowed hard. His face, which hadn’t shown much change even when confessing at the training grounds, was now holding a wide variety of emotions. That fact strangely knocked on Ensi’s heart. Turning away from his fluttering chest, Ensi composed his expression and tilted his head slightly.

“Yes.”

“I would like you to grant me a moment of your time—”

A polite attitude and a careful tone, with a hint of fear tucked inside. His fingertips were trembling slightly, as if he were dreading a rejection.

“Is it alright?”

“If we move to another place.”

Ensi spoke reflexively and realized only too late what he had said. He felt a pang of regret, but seeing the man’s face brighten instantly, it was hard to take back the words. He closed his eyes and added.

“…I have plenty of time, so I will grant it. The stares here are quite sharp.”

Somehow, whenever Agniele was involved, he seemed to move driven by impulse.

After showing a flustered look—despite trying to hide it—at the suggestion of moving, Agniele soon led Ensi somewhere with a look of resolve. Ensi had only said it because he found the eyes watching them in the training grounds annoying, but he hesitated when Agniele looked so solemn. He wondered if it was really okay to follow him. Still, having already given his word, Ensi followed Agniele quietly.

The place they arrived at was the drawing room assigned to Agniele.

…Right, a drawing room. One of those rooms assigned to students to encourage active social activities. Why did I worry so much about this? Ensi was curious about his own hesitation, but for now, he sat down at Agniele’s invitation.

Since it was an unprepared invitation, Agniele moved busily. Ensi took the chance to look around. Usually, a drawing room reflects its owner’s personality, but this place was more than just frugal—it was desolate. Most of the decor looked almost unused. Since he hadn’t heard anything about Agniele hosting social gatherings, it was a natural sight.

Meanwhile, Agniele returned with something.

“—Chess?”

Ensi frowned slightly at the unexpected object placed on the table with a soft thud.

“Do you dislike it?”

“No. It’s not that.”

Though he didn’t like it either. Ensi swallowed the thought. Unaware of his feelings, Agniele showed a hint of relief as he set up the board.

“Ah, right. Ensius, you may burn your herbs here comfortably.”

Even at the hasty addition—as if he’d forgotten—Ensi just nodded. Even with permission, he didn’t intend to burn his herbs just yet.

And with those words, the conversation cut off abruptly. Like people who had met solely for chess, the two sank into the world of black and white before them.

Ensi thought the situation was strange, but didn’t feel the need to speak first. Conversation between awkward people required more courage and energy than one would think, and Ensi, having faithfully attended his lectures today, had no energy left. Thus, the chess game continued without issue in a silence that felt surprisingly comfortable to him.

However, as the game progressed, Ensi began to feel a sense of oddity. To put it simply… for someone who suggested chess first, Agniele was terrible at it.

Was he so nervous that his vision had narrowed? But looking at him, his eyes on the board were serious. He seemed focused on the game, almost forgetting Ensi’s presence.

Clack, clack. As the pieces moved within the uniform squares, Ensi’s doubt deepened. Even when he subtly ignored his opponent’s weaknesses or intentionally made a bad move, he couldn’t draw any reaction from Agniele.

Finally, as the wholesome game neared its end, Ensi couldn’t help but ask.

“Do you like chess?”

He was so bad at it—even though chess is considered a basic social skill… but come to think of it, there was no guarantee one would be good at what they like. Agniele was startled by the question breaking the quiet silence. As proof, his hand slipped while trying to pick up a bishop, knocking over the piece.

He clenched and unclenched his hand, then stood the fallen bishop back up.

“It’s… not that. Perhaps because I’m not good at games like chess… I’ve never felt an affinity for it.”

Ensi couldn’t help but let out a sigh as he saw Agniele’s cheeks flush slightly in embarrassment. Somehow, he felt he knew why Agniele had hesitated to suggest moving to another place. He had brought something he neither liked nor excelled at probably because of Ensi—since Ensi was the one who suggested moving when Agniele asked for his time.

“If I hadn’t suggested moving… what were you planning to do?” Ensi asked softly, making sure to imply that he didn’t have to answer if he didn’t want to.

“I was thinking of suggesting a duel.”

Wow…

Suppressing another sigh of a different nature, Ensi almost reached for his forehead. He lowered his raised arm and clenched his fist instead.

How could a man like this be the male lead of a romance fantasy novel? Usually, male leads in that genre act like experts even without dating experience. Facing such an impressive clumsiness, Ensi habitually raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.

A gut feeling told him that a frustrating situation was likely to continue for a while.