An Expert’s Frustration

Clink. A slowly melting ice cube struck the side of the glass, creating a sharp, clear ring. From the moment that resonant sound reached his ears, Genea was certain of one thing:

The friend sitting across from him was completely preoccupied.

Genea had dragged Agniele out here simply to get him some fresh air and away from his tedious training, something he did often. Usually, Agniele maintained at least a minimum level of social etiquette. In short, he wasn’t the type to be this blatantly distracted while his friend was sitting right in front of him—until now.

‘Let’s see now…’

Where exactly was his rigid, sometimes painfully boring friend looking? Following Agniele’s gaze out the window, Genea spotted the subject of the academy’s most famous recent rumors. A flash of intrigue crossed his dark eyes.

“You haven’t given up yet, have you?”

Genea threw out the question without a clear subject. Agniele, miraculously understanding, flinched.

“……It has only been a week.”

“Fair point.”

Despite Agniele’s answer being tinged with a brief hesitation, Genea merely smirked and nodded.

“By the way, I heard Ensius Alemir was close with the Saintess. I guess those rumors were true.”

Technically, she was only a Candidate, but since there was only one, calling her the Saintess was common practice. Genea muttered as if reciting gathered intelligence and brought the condensation-covered glass to his lips.

At the end of their gaze stood the woman soon to be ordained as the Saintess and Agniele’s crush, Ensius, engaged in a lively conversation. To be more precise, it was the Saintess pouring out faint anger and worry while Ensius looked flustered, but from this distance, the details were lost.

“Are they famous?”

“Those two? Well, it’s a story known to anyone who’s anyone, so I’d say they’re famous.”

“I see.”

This was news to Agniele. He let out a subtle, somber aura—a nuance so slight only Genea, who had been by his side for years, could have noticed. However, Genea was too focused on the pair outside to catch Agniele’s mood. Instead, he began sharing what he knew.

“Some say the Eclipse Merchant Coalition managed to open trade with Saint Asgard thanks to the Saintess… so it’s likely more than a casual friendship. Man, I thought it was all just nonsense, but it might actually be accurate information.”

“……The Eclipse Merchant Coalition? I thought a man named Hesperon was the leader there.”

Because Eclipse was quite famous, even Agniele, who was normally oblivious to worldly gossip, knew the leader’s name. When Agniele’s brow furrowed at the discrepancy, Genea let out a small exclamation.

“Hmm? You didn’t know? Publicly, Hesperon is the head, but there’s a persistent story that the real owner is that Alemir fellow. Rumors like that don’t just spring from nowhere, so we should assume it’s true.”

After all, Ensius possessed a level of financial power that made no sense for a “disgrace” of a family, even considering his background as a Count’s son.

“The Eclipse Merchant Coalition is…”

This time, Agniele’s voice sank even lower. Listening to Genea’s casual briefing only hammered home how little he actually knew about Ensius. Realizing his mistake, Genea hurriedly added:

“Well, your family basically cut you off from worldly gossip so you could focus on your training. It’s only natural that you wouldn’t know.”

In truth, if Agniele really wanted to, he could obtain information much more private than what Genea knew. However, Genea’s efforts to smooth things over weren’t very effective. It was the first time since childhood he had seen Agniele struggle so much to control his emotions, and it left him bewildered.

Because of that, he made a blunder he normally wouldn’t.

“Still, didn’t you say you’ve been meeting him often lately? So you probably know more about Ensius than I do, or… maybe not…”

Was it his imagination, or were dark clouds literally forming over Agniele’s head? Genea shut his mouth, regretting his attempt to continue the conversation. A belated realization that silence would have been a better choice hit him hard. Meanwhile, Agniele looked utterly dejected, as if he were about to dig a hole in the ground and crawl in.

“……No. I know nothing. I feel like I know nothing at all.”

Hearing that response after a long, agonizing silence, Genea felt a sudden urge to flee the scene. While excuses to leave flashed through his mind, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for Agniele, who looked as pitiful as a puppy caught in the rain.

“Heh, ahem. Let’s retrace your steps. Maybe you missed something. What did you do when you met?”

Of all people, Genea thought, why fall for someone as shrouded in mystery as Ensius? Aside from visible facts—Second son of Count Alemir, male omega, Knight Faculty student, suffers from Utia disease—Ensius was a man of uncertain rumors, like being the secret head of a merchant coalition. Moreover, the man himself rarely appeared in social circles, and those few who were close to him shut their mouths as if they’d made a pact whenever his name came up. There was simply no way to get private information. In this situation, it was probably weirder to know him well.

“We did things friends would do.”

“……Things friends would do?”

Genea swallowed hard as a sense of foreboding washed over him. Agniele’s only real friend was Genea himself. To be precise, Agniele had zero interest in human relationships and only cared about sword training, so Genea—assigned to him by the family—was the only one left. Because of that, Genea knew exactly what Agniele considered “fun,” and a cold sweat broke out on his back.

“By any chance… just asking… you didn’t go horseback riding, did you? You didn’t duel him under the guise of training? And you definitely didn’t sit in total silence while concentrating on a game of chess that you aren’t even good at… right?”

He poured the words out like rapid-fire, hoping for a denial. Every single one of those was a textbook example of what a noble does when meeting someone they consider a “friend.” Agniele blinked, looking confused by Genea’s reaction.

“Those are things friends do.”

“In theory, yes! But not in this situation!”

Agniele’s brow narrowed at the contradictory response. What did he mean?

“You were the one who told me to start as friends.”

“Yes, but how is being ‘friends with ulterior motives’ the same as being ‘purely friends’!?”

They were different. Entirely, fundamentally different. How could a relationship that started with a love confession followed by a “let’s be friends if that’s too burdensome” disclaimer be the same as a normal friendship? The activities, the attitude, even the trivial topics of conversation were supposed to be different. At least to Genea, it was obvious.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t obvious to Agniele. He forgot his gloom and just blinked blankly.

“Did you talk much?”

“Not really.”

Agniele was naturally quiet, and so was Ensius. For different reasons, neither felt the need to force a conversation, so the lack of dialogue was inevitable.

“No, you’re blessed with a relationship where you don’t even need a translator, so why?! It’s not like you’re speaking different languages!”

At the shout—which sounded like someone who had actually tried to date across a language barrier—Agniele’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Genea.

“Genea, aren’t you promised to be engaged?”

“……Your intuition getting sharp now is a bit unfair. Besides, nothing is finalized yet, so give me a break.”

And that had happened before the marriage talks started. Recalling that his conscience was clear, Genea lifted his chin again.

“Anyway, why have you been keeping your mouth shut? You can ask what he likes, what he wants to do next time, or if he has any worries lately!”

How could he be moping about not knowing the guy when he was ignoring the most direct and simple way to get to know someone? Genea felt like a physical weight of frustration was settling in his chest. He pounded his own chest with his fist.

“Instead of pointless exercise or boring chess, just drink tea and talk!”

Overwhelmed by Genea’s passion, Agniele nodded vaguely and picked up his glass, which was still warm. Truthfully, Agniele didn’t understand the difference between “friends with ulterior motives” and “purely friends.” However, the advice to actually talk was something he could follow.

He was puzzled by the command to stop “pointless exercise or chess,” but since Genea was clearly the expert in romance, he figured he should follow it. He felt more lost than ever, but he hadn’t expected this to be easy. More than anything, he suddenly missed Ensius.

Driven by a sudden impulse, Agniele turned back toward where Ensius had been and his eyes went wide. In his faintly trembling pupils, he saw Cyril and Ensius, whose distance had suddenly closed significantly compared to moments ago.

He ended up dropping the glass from his hand.