A Divine Scolding and a Misunderstood Kindness

Meeting Cyril was a matter of pure coincidence—at least from Ensi’s perspective. Unlike him, Cyril had anticipated the path he would take with the help of Lily and the other members, and she had been standing right in the middle of it, waiting for him.

“Ensi.”

It was a simple call, yet it hummed with indignation. Ensi immediately began to mentally retrace his recent actions, searching for anything that might have triggered her ire. Realizing there were far too many points of contention to count, he decided that silence was his most prudent ally.

“Did I not tell you, time and time again, NOT to burn your herbs inside the Sun Grass colonies?”

Cyril’s expression was icy as she emphasized each word with sharp finality. He had certainly done it in secret; how could she have known? He instantly pinpointed the culprit who had tattled on him, but he didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on resentment.

“Ensi—?”

The way she dragged out the syllable was a clear warning. Under the silent pressure to confess, Ensi finally spoke.

“It was only once.”

“The frequency isn’t the point right now!”

Could he not understand that his lungs could be scorched in a single instance? Cyril’s hands trembled with frustration. She let out a heavy sigh and pressed a hand to her forehead.

“Give me your hand.”

“It’s not so bad that I need divine power—”

“Hand. Now.”

He could almost hear the sound of her grinding her teeth. Realizing it was better to comply, Ensi slowly reached out. Cyril didn’t wait; she snatched his hand mid-air and immediately began channeling her divine power.

As the sole Saintess Candidate, her control over the holy light was masterful, but soon her brow furrowed in concern. When utilizing the power of healing, divine energy tends to rush toward damaged areas like a puppy greeting its master. Consequently, the healer becomes acutely aware of every ailment. In Ensi’s body, the energy reacted at every turn.

“……How much have you been overworking yourself while I wasn’t looking? You’re a mess.”

“I’ve been trying to take care of myself.”

“This is you taking care of yourself?”

Snorting at the absurdity, Cyril stopped holding back and poured her divine power into him. If the entire body was in such disarray, there was no point in being surgical about it.

“I heard you’ve been meeting Young Lord Lasias often lately.”

“Did you hear that from Lily?”

“Not just Lily, but everyone. You two are the most interesting gossip we’ve had in a long time.”

The rumors wouldn’t die down easily. The people of this world had a knack for digging up decade-old stories for entertainment; they certainly wouldn’t let a real-time drama slip through their fingers.

“Anyway, did you miss your timing for the herbs because of him? You have more frozen areas than heat-damaged ones…”

Knowing that Ensi rarely burned his herbs in front of others, Cyril expressed her worry. While he was now comfortable doing so in front of the club members, it hadn’t always been that way. Remembering how much time and effort it had taken to bring his body back to a stable state when they first met, her anxiety was only natural.

“That’s not it. I burn them even when the Young Lord is there.”

“What? Really?”

Startled, Cyril looked up. When Ensi nodded to confirm, she let out a gasp of surprise.

“What brought that on?”

“We’ve been spending more time face-to-face than I anticipated.”

He simply hadn’t been in a position to be picky. Moreover, unlike an ordinary person, Agniele was someone capable of handling the intense heat of Sun Grass on his own.

“Well, that’s a relief, at least. But Ensi, can I ask you one thing?”

“……Are you going to ask what we do when we meet?”

“Oh my, how did you know?”

The faint curiosity and excitement in her voice made it obvious. Besides, she wasn’t the first person to ask that question.

“Nothing particularly interesting happens.”

“Tell me anyway. I’m curious.”

“Didn’t you all tell me Agniele was a bad choice for a romantic partner?”

“I said that regardless of what we think or judge, what matters most is your own will, Ensi.”

Come to think of it, she had said something like that at the end of their last meeting. Ensi scratched his forehead and let out a sigh.

“First it was chess, then a duel, then horseback riding.”

“……Excuse me?”

“What was next—billiards? Of course, there wasn’t much conversation. No, wait, we did talk during the duel.”

Even then, it was entirely feedback for skill improvement. He had mentioned that since Ensi seemed relatively weak in strength, focusing on agility would be better. He had even added that if Ensi focused more on the blade, he could draw a better trajectory—noticing that Ensi was moving lazily out of boredom.

“What on earth—didn’t you say Agniele confessed?”

“He did.”

“And didn’t he say he wanted to start as friends?”

“Yes, he did.”

“But that’s really how it’s going? Don’t lie to me. How could he skip normal conversation and pick only the things you don’t even like—”

Cyril’s rambling stopped as she saw Ensi nodding with a serene expression, as if he understood her confusion completely. He was being serious. Cyril could only gape in disbelief.

“He is a remarkable man in many ways…”

Even if the entertainment culture of this world wasn’t highly developed, this was a bit much. As someone who had managed to find romance even in this dull world, Cyril felt the gravity of the situation more than most. She wondered how such a man had ever been cast as a romance fantasy protagonist.

“See? Nothing much,” Ensi said, shrugging at Cyril’s hollow murmur. Lily had reacted the same way after her initial disbelief.

“No, I think there’s actually quite a lot to unpack there.”

Cyril shook her head firmly. She had plenty to say about Agniele’s behavior, but Ensi’s attitude also bothered her.

“Didn’t you like Agniele? I thought that was why you were giving him a chance.”

“I know he’s a good person.”

“Then why don’t you try leading him yourself?”

“I don’t know. Do I have to?”

“……Fine, do whatever you want, Ensi.”

Thinking that Ensi, with his past-life memories, would be better at this than Agniele, she had offered a nudge, but Ensi was utterly indifferent. Realizing he didn’t seem to have any special feelings for Agniele, Cyril decided not to interfere further. He was someone who took care of himself; if he needed help, he would ask.

“Still, Ensi, don’t force yourself to do things you hate. You might tolerate riding, but you hate things that make you sweat, like dueling.”

She knew it was because of the chill that sets in once the sweat cools. In fact, Cyril had subtly suggested he transfer to a different department to avoid the physical strain of the Knight Faculty, but Ensi had been unyielding.

“I know. Anyway, isn’t this enough for now?”

“Be quiet. I should be pouring even more into you, not stopping.”

Ensi tried to pull his arm back, noticing she was using more divine power than usual, but he failed. Cyril gripped his hand firmly. If he truly wanted to pull away, he could, but he chose not to be stubborn and left his hand in hers. Instead, for her sake—as she was likely fatiguing from the consumption—he began to circulate his mana to open the path for the divine energy.

Because of the Utia disease, his internal pathways were often frozen solid; it was lucky if even a narrow path existed. Consequently, manipulating energy within him was an incredibly delicate task. It had taken Ensi a long time to get used to it himself.

“You don’t have to do that.”

Cyril, her senses sharpened, immediately noticed his consideration and squeezed his hand.

“You’re getting tired.”

“If you knew that, you should have taken better care of your body.”

He pretended not to hear the last part. Cyril glanced at him with a look of disapproval at the blatant avoidance, but as Ensi had pointed out, she was becoming too preoccupied with the energy output to keep talking.

As they stood slightly off the main path—Cyril focused on the healing and Ensi quietly receiving it—many eyes fell upon them. However, since the Academy was a vast place where strange things happened daily, most people quickly lost interest and looked away.

“By the way, Lancelot is going to be jealous later.”

“Lately, his ‘knight-protecting-the-saintess’ ego seems to be working overtime. He’s been hesitating a lot lately.”

“Am I being used without my knowledge right now?” Ensi tilted his head, realizing that Cyril’s healing might have a secondary motive of piquing Lancelot’s jealousy.

“Since you kept doing exactly what I told you not to do, surely I can have a little fun of my own?” Cyril wrinkled her nose and smiled. It wasn’t a serious issue, just a bit of mischief, so Ensi simply let out a chuckle.

Just then, a spring breeze fluttered by. It tangled in his long hair and blocked his vision, so Ensi frowned slightly and brushed the strands back. As his sight cleared, he noticed a stray lock of hair tickling Cyril’s eyes. It seemed the wind hadn’t only ruffled his own hair.

The hair was sitting precariously close to her eye, and it bothered him; Cyril seemed to feel it too, as she was blinking repeatedly. However, her hands were occupied. So, Ensi reached out his free hand and tucked the hair back for her.

Of course, it was also a way to play along with her plan to make Lancelot jealous. If they were just going to stand in the street for a healing session, they needed a bit more flair to trigger jealousy, didn’t they?

To Ensi and Cyril, the gesture meant nothing more than that.

Regardless of how a certain person watching from afar might have misinterpreted the scene.