Nighttime.
Megna was in the kitchen, wearing an apron.
"L, like this?"
She clumsily sent the knife down and tried to chop the end of the skinned carrot, only for the knife to get stuck inside.
Noele chuckled a bit. "Just push it down a little more--there you go!"
On the chopping board lied two pieces of the carrot.
"Now, just repeat that process multiple times."
"Where?"
"Over... here. Chop at this part."
"Here?"
"Wait, why are you slanting the knife? Keep it straight--ah, not like that, like this..."
Noele had no choice but to put down the ladle that he was holding and stand behind Megna. He held her hand holding the knife and guided her.
"Like this... chop. Then, chop. Do you get it?"
Even without looking, Noele's visage gave Megna warmth from behind.
As Noele held her hand all the way through the process, Megna felt comfortable inside.
'As I thought, I made the right choice by letting him live a normal life.'
She could still remember his infinitely lonely image on the throne that he sat on.
'...That'll never happen. I'll make sure of it.'
They continued to cook the dinner that they were going to eat together.
-----
A week silently passed by.
Noele headed towards the school, yawning.
"Hey! Noele!"
A heavy hand suddenly placed itself on Noele's shoulders, pushing the latter down. "Ah, what the...!"
He looked behind him, and right in front of his eyes was a striking patch of red hair.
"What'd you do that for?" Noele sent annoyed glances.
"This is one of the advantages of being a tall person. I get to bully short people like you."
"I'm not short! You're just too tall."
"Huh? 6 foot 5 isn't that tall."
"To hell it isn't!" Noele stormed off angrily.
"Hey, wait up!"
While Felum chased after Noele, they arrived in the classroom.
Noele's eyes couldn't help but drift towards Vinny's seat.
'Still empty, huh.'
Felum pushed Noele's head, forcing him to look away. "What are you feeling sad for? Don't tell me you miss your bully?"
"...That joke really isn't funny."
"Well, if you're not sad, why do you keep checking her chair?"
"I just feel... surreal."
"Surreal, is it." Felum rolled his eyes as he headed to his chair.
Behind Vinny's chair was where Carra was seated, and beside her was Felly.
The two had dark expressions on their face.
"Is that bitch... really ghosting us right now?" Felly clenched her fist.
Carra pulled her hair. "Argh!! She must've traveled to Ramecia, or something! And she's super having fun without us!"
"Why did she leave without saying anything??"
Noele stopped observing them and sat on his seat, sighing. Immediately after, he felt a chill run down his spine. He decided to ignore Carra and Felly's glaring toward him.
In retaliation, Felum looked towards Carra and Felly, smirking as he had a ball of flame in his palm.
Both of them clicked their tongue as their attention went back to Vinny's empty seat.
Before long, Carra abruptly stood up. "That's it! I'm going to ask Mr. Harthers her address! I don't care if she told us never to visit her at her home, I'm going!"
"I seriously doubt he's telling you. Aside from his ranting, that old man keeps his lips tightly sealed."
Felly recalled the time she asked for her crush's address from Mr. Harthers.
"Are you two friends?"
"Mmm, no?"
"Acquaintances?"
"No."
"...Have you even talked to him?"
"I'd like to~"
He looked at her like she was crazy and drove her out of the office.
Carra thought about it. "Hm, it should be possible? We just need to find someone to ask for us. Someone reputable."
"...Noele? He's the one the teachers are concerned about the most, after all."
"Haah?! Are you suggesting that we ask for a favor from Noele?" Carra creased her brows.
"No probs. We just gotta, 'return the favor' to him, and we'll be back to square one."
"LOL, you're such a slut, OMG!"
'I can hear you, you know...' Noele's face turned red.
He quickly turned away from the two and covered his ears to prevent himself from hearing more of their conversation.
However, as soon as he did so, they turned silent.
'...Weird. Even if I cover my ears, I should still be able to hear their loud mouths.'
He lowered his hands and peeked at the direction of the gals. Little did he know... they were right in front of him.
"W, What the hell!" Noele heart almost jumped out of his chest. "You, you shouldn't sneak around like that!"
He clenched his chest as he tried to regain his composure.
At that moment, he felt Carra staring daggers at him from the side, making him lose his calm once more.
Right in front of him stood Felly, who Noele found pretty, despite her fashion sense.
She blew away the dark blue bangs that blocked her eyes as she flashed a suggestive smile with her lips, covered in a sickly sweet red lipstick.
Noele could smell the nauseating fragrance coming from her collar, prompting him to lean back.
"Oh? You flustered?" Felly grinned.
Remembering what the two were talking about earlier, Noele was unable to look either of them in the eye.
The irritated Carra pushed Felly a little. "Just get on with it."
Felly's eyes drooped before blowing a gust of wind directly towards Carra's face.
"Don't be such a killjoy, you know."
Carra slowly felt the top of her head, and felt that it was all messy. "You...! Do you know how long it takes me to fix this up?!"
"30 secs?"
"...You're right."
While Carra was distracted fixing her hair up, Felly started talking to Noele.
"Noele~ What would it take for you to ask Vinny's address for us?"
"A, are you kidding? Even the normally ignorant Mr. Harthers knows that you guys bully me. It's gonna be really suspicious if I do it."
"Hmm? Then what if I..." Felly did a couple of hand gestures.
"No, no! Stop. I'll do it, fine. You don't need to... do that."
"Aww, okay."
Noele sighed. Right as he stood from his seat, the teacher walked in the classroom, a student following along behind him.