The moment I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the familiar beige-colored ceiling of the sick bay. A familiar-looking gold and white magic circle floated above my head.
When I sat up to take a look around me, I saw a ton of different magical protection devices both surrounding me and on the ceiling. A ton of snacks and foods were laid in a heap next to my bed. There were also cups of water around me, ready to drink at a moment’s notice.
My head felt like it was going to split in half. I didn’t have the slightest strength into my body and I felt like I was going to throw up, but I held it in. My head felt like it was ringing so I briefly closed my eyes and counted until the pain went away.
At the sudden rushing feeling of hunger and uncontrollable thirst, I stretched my hand towards one of the cups of water and gulped it down.
Thankfully, the injury on my lips were healed thanks to the ring on my finger. It was already gone by the time I was drinking my water, so it didn’t taste of blood.
I was drinking water just like that when somebody suddenly hugged me from my side.
I almost spit out my water because someone just suddenly hugged me while I was drinking water.
“…….”
Messy golden hair entered my vision. The person who had wordlessly hugged me close was none other than Cory. His arms were tight around me.
He buried his face into my shoulder and wordlessly hugged me for a long time. Maybe it was because he always had a blanket wrapped around himself, but he was warm.
I felt cozy and was just about to stay like that, but just as I regained my senses and was about to get him off, Cory spoke first.
“I though you wouldn’t wake up.”
His scratchy voice also kind of hoarse.
And after saying that one sentence, he hugged me tighter.
When he continued to cling to me unlike his usual self, I began to remember the things that had happened in the dream. After seeing real life Cory’s face, I couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional when I thought of his desperate, tragic situation in the dream. Cory was happy right now, but my heart hurt when I imagined that something like what had happened in the dream could happen to him, real or not.
I could see dream Cory’s regretful, self-hating gaze. I remembered how he had been lifeless until revenge made his eyes shed tears of blood as he lived through life, one grueling day at a time.
He planned revenge for his parents’ deaths and learned that he was part of the cause, and when he learned that he had failed his younger sister because of his own mistakes, he no longer could stay sane.
It was clear as day when he promised to help wholeheartedly to make Yves and the principal’s plan come to life.
Cory’s eyes had been emotionless and blank, like all of the other male characters. He just stared at the world with empty, lifeless eyes and stared as if it was nothing more than a burden.
I couldn’t meet the broken Cory from my dreams anymore, but I could still see real Cory, who hadn’t gone through all of those tragedies. I gave the real Cory a squeeze while imagining I was comforting dream Cory.
“…….?”
Cory flinched slightly when I hugged him back.
When I patted his back when he looked anxious, Cory soon pulled away from me and smiled awkwardly. We had hugged before while I claimed it was fan service before, but this was the first time we had hugged for so long.
Oh, but this wasn’t the time for me to get all emotional.
“What’s today’s date?”
I hurriedly asked Cory.
Apparently I wasn’t completely back to normal after being in the dream for so long; the world felt like it was circling around me. My head continued to pound and I still felt like I was seconds away from throwing up.
When I stared straight at Cory as I tried to hold on to my consciousness, I couldn’t even see him that clearly. I pnched my thigh to wake up.
“It’s the 23rd. It’s been five days since you fell asleep.”
I could see Cory’s worried face through my distorted vision.
I was surprised to hear that I had been asleep for five whole days.
“It was complete chaos while you were asleep.”
Cory looked miserable as he forced himself to smile for me.
“Yves is currently undercover in the royal palace to find out more information about the black magic you were under, and Swanhaden saw how injuries kept appearing while you were asleep and stuck by you for all five days and kept healing you. He just passed out earlier. Hylli’s currently in the Augran mountain to find out why you weren’t waking up.”
When I turned my head to look at the floor after listening to Cory, I could see that Swanhaden was lying on the floor.
He looked like he had just fallen asleep on the floor. He had on a broccoli blanket that I assumed Cory threw on him.
When I looked at Swanhaden’s wrist, I could see that there was double the amount of magic restraining bracelets on his wrist now. Cory said that Swanhaden kept healing me all throughout. Did he do that with all of those bracelets on his wrist?
If someone had a magic restraining bracelet on them, they were only allowed to use a certain amount of magic. If they went over that limit, the side effects would be severe. Some people said that they felt like they had been stuck by lightning, and some people’s magic ended up exploding inwards.
When I asked Cory if Swan was okay, he said that Swan was a monster and that he’d be back to normal after an hour of rest. I also agreed that Swanhaden was a monster so I nodded in relief.
But I couldn’t help but remember how the crazy dream Sawnhaden had slashed my arm earlier.
My arm had healed before I had even noticed the pain of it. I was surprised that it had healed even before Swan’s magic ring had reacted to it, but it had been Swanhaden pouring his healing magic into me from the outside.
I didn’t think we were too close, but he had healed me as it had actively harmed his own. I distantly wondered if Swanhaden had a good personality, but I shrugged off that thought after imagining dream Swanhaden’s personality. Thinking of dream Swanhaden reminded me that he had stolen my first kiss, but I erased it from my memory. It wasn’t a good one to begin with.
I continued to stare at Swan’s passed out form on the floor. Cory continued speaking.
“…..Hestia came over and cried day and night. Hestia’s crying was so loud that it disrupted the sick bay and the nurse’s office so she had to be dragged out by the teacher. Hazel, Harun, and Karim all visited you. They were all incredibly vexed when they saw how you couldn’t wake.
I imagined Hestia sobbing loudly as she called my name. I was sorry to imagine how Hestia cried so loud that she was forcibly dragged out by the teacher, but it was such a cute image that I couldn’t help but find it funny. But I didn’t have the energy to laugh so I just smiled internally.
Cory, who had been telling me everything that had happened while I had been asleep, suddenly stopped speaking and hesitated.
“But I was….. I.”
He pulled an expression full of regret and looked confused.
“If I had just found out more about that black magic spell that time…..”
He muttered quietly to himself.
“If I didn’t get you to sleep that time…..”
Cory continued speaking to himself.
The two types of magic within me seemed to be clashing. My body was a mess. Everything was blurry so I frowned as I tried to see his face.
It seemed like Cory also couldn’t sleep. His dark circles were darker and more prominent than before. His eyes seemed sharper and fiercer than before, but he also looked hurt and delicate at the same time.
“I put you in danger….”
Every single word he spoke was tinged with regret. He frowned as he barely continued to speak.
Cory’s words from earlier was less of a question towards me and more towards himself.
I could see dream Cory and real Cory meshing together.
When he felt like I, his close friend, had fallen in danger because of him, Cory began to dig. I wanted to say something kind but I couldn’t think of what to say.
“You feel sorry because you think you put me in danger?”
Cory just stared at me before nodding. As expected, Cory was pretty honest about his emotions.
“Then stay sorry. I’m going to use that feeling to work you to the bone.”
I said this with a joking tone, but my voice didn’t have any power in it. It ended up coming out as more of a drawl.
Cory listened to the words and my tone and hung his head low for a moment. He raised his head again.
“Okay. Use me as much as you want.”
He didn’t seem to know what expression to put on for a moment. Cory smiled sadly.
While I kept chatting with Cory, I peeked out the window. The sun was slowly setting outside.
Today was the 23rd. Then that meant that tomorrow would be Cory’s birthday. In the dream, that was when his entire family had been killed. In the dream, Cory organized everything about the marquis couple’s murder into a document. I had read it through.
If my memory was correct, the marquis couple took Viedielle, who had gotten a permission slip to go off campus for the night, to the city as the sun started to set. They had met their attackers on their way home.
The DuBois marquis was an incredibly powerful magician, so the attackers had planned meticulously to kill him. Thankfully, I knew a little bit about the assassination plans.
Seeing how the sun was barely setting, it hadn’t happened yet. I was glad that I could wake up right before Cory’s birthday. Even if the state of my body was a mess.
“Shushu, where are you going?”
I stood up, swaying, to get ready to leave. Cory grabbed my sleeve.
“Don’t get up.”
He dragged me back to the bed and sat me down.
“You’re not healthy enough to move.”
Cory said, voice strict. He wasn’t completely wrong. If I was weak enough to get dragged back to the bed and plop down like this, it meant that I was incredibly weak at the moment.
I turned around to look at the mirror next to me.
I couldn’t help but frown in shock when I saw myself. My dark circles had gotten worse, and there wasn’t an ounce of color in my lips. There was a bit of moisturizing gel applied on my lips, and I had lost weight on my face. I looked really, really sick.
I’d never known that faces could look blue before. I was so pale that I looked like a corpse. I kind of understood why everyone was making such a big deal out of it.
When Cory didn’t let me go, I made a circle that would make me look healthy again. I used a bit of my magic to add some strength buffs to parts of my body.
I spelled my appearance to at least look healthy. When I showed Cory, he narrowed his eyes at me. When I curled my arm to show him my bulging bicep, Cory narrowed his eyes even further.
“…….”
“What.”
He continued to stare at me, dead silent. I pouted.
The moment I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the familiar beige-colored ceiling of the sick bay. A familiar-looking gold and white magic circle floated above my head.
When I sat up to take a look around me, I saw a ton of different magical protection devices both surrounding me and on the ceiling. A ton of snacks and foods were laid in a heap next to my bed. There were also cups of water around me, ready to drink at a moment’s notice.
My head felt like it was going to split in half. I didn’t have the slightest strength into my body and I felt like I was going to throw up, but I held it in. My head felt like it was ringing so I briefly closed my eyes and counted until the pain went away.
At the sudden rushing feeling of hunger and uncontrollable thirst, I stretched my hand towards one of the cups of water and gulped it down.
Thankfully, the injury on my lips were healed thanks to the ring on my finger. It was already gone by the time I was drinking my water, so it didn’t taste of blood.
I was drinking water just like that when somebody suddenly hugged me from my side.
I almost spit out my water because someone just suddenly hugged me while I was drinking water.
“…….”
Messy golden hair entered my vision. The person who had wordlessly hugged me close was none other than Cory. His arms were tight around me.
He buried his face into my shoulder and wordlessly hugged me for a long time. Maybe it was because he always had a blanket wrapped around himself, but he was warm.
I felt cozy and was just about to stay like that, but just as I regained my senses and was about to get him off, Cory spoke first.
“I though you wouldn’t wake up.”
His scratchy voice also kind of hoarse.
And after saying that one sentence, he hugged me tighter.
When he continued to cling to me unlike his usual self, I began to remember the things that had happened in the dream. After seeing real life Cory’s face, I couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional when I thought of his desperate, tragic situation in the dream. Cory was happy right now, but my heart hurt when I imagined that something like what had happened in the dream could happen to him, real or not.
I could see dream Cory’s regretful, self-hating gaze. I remembered how he had been lifeless until revenge made his eyes shed tears of blood as he lived through life, one grueling day at a time.
He planned revenge for his parents’ deaths and learned that he was part of the cause, and when he learned that he had failed his younger sister because of his own mistakes, he no longer could stay sane.
It was clear as day when he promised to help wholeheartedly to make Yves and the principal’s plan come to life.
Cory’s eyes had been emotionless and blank, like all of the other male characters. He just stared at the world with empty, lifeless eyes and stared as if it was nothing more than a burden.
I couldn’t meet the broken Cory from my dreams anymore, but I could still see real Cory, who hadn’t gone through all of those tragedies. I gave the real Cory a squeeze while imagining I was comforting dream Cory.
“…….?”
Cory flinched slightly when I hugged him back.
When I patted his back when he looked anxious, Cory soon pulled away from me and smiled awkwardly. We had hugged before while I claimed it was fan service before, but this was the first time we had hugged for so long.
Oh, but this wasn’t the time for me to get all emotional.
“What’s today’s date?”
I hurriedly asked Cory.
Apparently I wasn’t completely back to normal after being in the dream for so long; the world felt like it was circling around me. My head continued to pound and I still felt like I was seconds away from throwing up.
When I stared straight at Cory as I tried to hold on to my consciousness, I couldn’t even see him that clearly. I pnched my thigh to wake up.
“It’s the 23rd. It’s been five days since you fell asleep.”
I could see Cory’s worried face through my distorted vision.
I was surprised to hear that I had been asleep for five whole days.
“It was complete chaos while you were asleep.”
Cory looked miserable as he forced himself to smile for me.
“Yves is currently undercover in the royal palace to find out more information about the black magic you were under, and Swanhaden saw how injuries kept appearing while you were asleep and stuck by you for all five days and kept healing you. He just passed out earlier. Hylli’s currently in the Augran mountain to find out why you weren’t waking up.”
When I turned my head to look at the floor after listening to Cory, I could see that Swanhaden was lying on the floor.
He looked like he had just fallen asleep on the floor. He had on a broccoli blanket that I assumed Cory threw on him.
When I looked at Swanhaden’s wrist, I could see that there was double the amount of magic restraining bracelets on his wrist now. Cory said that Swanhaden kept healing me all throughout. Did he do that with all of those bracelets on his wrist?
If someone had a magic restraining bracelet on them, they were only allowed to use a certain amount of magic. If they went over that limit, the side effects would be severe. Some people said that they felt like they had been stuck by lightning, and some people’s magic ended up exploding inwards.
When I asked Cory if Swan was okay, he said that Swan was a monster and that he’d be back to normal after an hour of rest. I also agreed that Swanhaden was a monster so I nodded in relief.
But I couldn’t help but remember how the crazy dream Sawnhaden had slashed my arm earlier.
My arm had healed before I had even noticed the pain of it. I was surprised that it had healed even before Swan’s magic ring had reacted to it, but it had been Swanhaden pouring his healing magic into me from the outside.
I didn’t think we were too close, but he had healed me as it had actively harmed his own. I distantly wondered if Swanhaden had a good personality, but I shrugged off that thought after imagining dream Swanhaden’s personality. Thinking of dream Swanhaden reminded me that he had stolen my first kiss, but I erased it from my memory. It wasn’t a good one to begin with.
I continued to stare at Swan’s passed out form on the floor. Cory continued speaking.
“…..Hestia came over and cried day and night. Hestia’s crying was so loud that it disrupted the sick bay and the nurse’s office so she had to be dragged out by the teacher. Hazel, Harun, and Karim all visited you. They were all incredibly vexed when they saw how you couldn’t wake.
I imagined Hestia sobbing loudly as she called my name. I was sorry to imagine how Hestia cried so loud that she was forcibly dragged out by the teacher, but it was such a cute image that I couldn’t help but find it funny. But I didn’t have the energy to laugh so I just smiled internally.
Cory, who had been telling me everything that had happened while I had been asleep, suddenly stopped speaking and hesitated.
“But I was….. I.”
He pulled an expression full of regret and looked confused.
“If I had just found out more about that black magic spell that time…..”
He muttered quietly to himself.
“If I didn’t get you to sleep that time…..”
Cory continued speaking to himself.
The two types of magic within me seemed to be clashing. My body was a mess. Everything was blurry so I frowned as I tried to see his face.
It seemed like Cory also couldn’t sleep. His dark circles were darker and more prominent than before. His eyes seemed sharper and fiercer than before, but he also looked hurt and delicate at the same time.
“I put you in danger….”
Every single word he spoke was tinged with regret. He frowned as he barely continued to speak.
Cory’s words from earlier was less of a question towards me and more towards himself.
I could see dream Cory and real Cory meshing together.
When he felt like I, his close friend, had fallen in danger because of him, Cory began to dig. I wanted to say something kind but I couldn’t think of what to say.
“You feel sorry because you think you put me in danger?”
Cory just stared at me before nodding. As expected, Cory was pretty honest about his emotions.
“Then stay sorry. I’m going to use that feeling to work you to the bone.”
I said this with a joking tone, but my voice didn’t have any power in it. It ended up coming out as more of a drawl.
Cory listened to the words and my tone and hung his head low for a moment. He raised his head again.
“Okay. Use me as much as you want.”
He didn’t seem to know what expression to put on for a moment. Cory smiled sadly.
While I kept chatting with Cory, I peeked out the window. The sun was slowly setting outside.
Today was the 23rd. Then that meant that tomorrow would be Cory’s birthday. In the dream, that was when his entire family had been killed. In the dream, Cory organized everything about the marquis couple’s murder into a document. I had read it through.
If my memory was correct, the marquis couple took Viedielle, who had gotten a permission slip to go off campus for the night, to the city as the sun started to set. They had met their attackers on their way home.
The DuBois marquis was an incredibly powerful magician, so the attackers had planned meticulously to kill him. Thankfully, I knew a little bit about the assassination plans.
Seeing how the sun was barely setting, it hadn’t happened yet. I was glad that I could wake up right before Cory’s birthday. Even if the state of my body was a mess.
“Shushu, where are you going?”
I stood up, swaying, to get ready to leave. Cory grabbed my sleeve.
“Don’t get up.”
He dragged me back to the bed and sat me down.
“You’re not healthy enough to move.”
Cory said, voice strict. He wasn’t completely wrong. If I was weak enough to get dragged back to the bed and plop down like this, it meant that I was incredibly weak at the moment.
I turned around to look at the mirror next to me.
I couldn’t help but frown in shock when I saw myself. My dark circles had gotten worse, and there wasn’t an ounce of color in my lips. There was a bit of moisturizing gel applied on my lips, and I had lost weight on my face. I looked really, really sick.
I’d never known that faces could look blue before. I was so pale that I looked like a corpse. I kind of understood why everyone was making such a big deal out of it.
When Cory didn’t let me go, I made a circle that would make me look healthy again. I used a bit of my magic to add some strength buffs to parts of my body.
I spelled my appearance to at least look healthy. When I showed Cory, he narrowed his eyes at me. When I curled my arm to show him my bulging bicep, Cory narrowed his eyes even further.
“…….”
“What.”
He continued to stare at me, dead silent. I pouted.
