Yves had seemingly caught on to my worries and supported me. He brought me medicine that was going to make me taller from god knows where and handed it over to me.
When I refused to take anything expensive, Yves explained that he purchased this through the fruits of Harun's labor and not to worry. I graciously took it after hearing those words.
Hylli seemed to have told the people around him something. Passersby threw me compliments like, "So cool," "So handsome," "So fierce," etc. whenever they walked by me.
That wasn't all. When our cafeteria food included any milk, all of the swordsmanship class students would get one and handed them over to me. Because of that, my desk always had a mountain of milk. My female swordsmanship juniors also told me to cheer up and gave me dried anchovies as well.
Even the people serving the cafeteria food recognized me. Whenever I came over to have a meal, they always gave me foods with high calcium like anchovies or milk.
This was the first time I had received so many people's cheers and good wishes, so I was embarrassed at first. But when I got used to it, I just felt extremely grateful.
Anyway, the boys weren't the only ones that had betrayed me by growing up when we began our second year of school. Hestia had also grown rapidly during break.
During our break, Hestia had grown in height, breasts, and even hips. Hestia, who had looked like a little girl before, had matured and now looked more like a grown woman.
Of course, they had probably taken time to grow little by little, but I had just realized it so the difference felt stark.
All of us were still children, but they were taking the steps toward maturity. Everyone but me.
There wasn't a single thing that had changed for me. If my face had matured even slightly, I would've felt reassured. But nothing had changed. My face still had baby fat.
Hestia looked at my depressed form and opened her mouth to speak.
"Shushu, do you just want to grow taller?"
"...….I just want to get bigger."
I replied, sighing. I still looked like a little kid.
"It's okay if you're small! Small girls make guys want to protect them, you know?"
"Yeah, I don't want that. I don't want to be protected."
I wanted to be relied on. I wanted to be someone that wasn't protected, but protected others instead. I wanted to be someone that was trusted. Like a comrade on a battlefield.
"Really? Oh, that's right. Shushu, you said you weren't going to date, right?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Honestly, because I don't think I'll be able to. So I want to live by myself and eat well and be happy."
If I wanted to date, I needed to stay away from Hestia but I didn't want that. I didn't want to sell over a happy relationship to gain something that was only a possibility and was unknown to me.
Moreover, I was pretty content with my life as it was, and dating was just something that I was curious about. Dating was, well, our world-famous, popular Hestia could do my part for me. Hahaha.
Anyway, Hylli wasn't asking to get closer to Hestia these days. Well, he was probably trying his best on his own. Cory and Yves seemed to be interested in Hestia as well. Good luck to all of them.
Anyway, if all of the male characters ran over to me and asked me to help them get closer to Hestia, whose side was I supposed to take? Well, Cory was the most trustworthy. Should I pick Cory?
If it was Cory, I could entrust Hestia to him. He would be a good husband. No, but I couldn't just ignore Hylli's wealth and power. Hylli was kind and easily trusting of others, so he probably wouldn't cheat on Hestia.
On the other hand, I worried about Yves slightly. It looked like Yves was going to have Hestia wrapped around his fingers, that's why. Yves would probably treasure Hestia, but I still felt uneasy. Yves was good at manipulating people, so he would probably hurt Hestia's feelings often. Well, then Yves was a no-go.
When my mental calculations began to get more complicated, I sighed. Man, whatever. It wasn't something I needed to think about. She'd be fine.
"Dating as a student? Just study instead, Hestia."
When I whined, Hestia smiled and nodded.
Hestia and I walked near the school and began to chat. While we were busy with our conversation, someone walked in front of us.
That person was also carrying a ton of stuff, but they also seemed to be focusing on something else: their head was pointed downwards and they were walking while staring at their feet, seemingly deep in thought.
Hestia accidentally bumped into the person in front.
"Goddamn it."
That person muttered, voice tinged with annoyance. The person who had bumped into Hestia was someone I was used to seeing from before.
Silver hair and jewel-like eyes, it was the beautiful boy, Swanhaden Blanche. Swanhaden was a bit taller than when I had last seen him.
Thinking of, he had said that he would be transferring in as a second year…. It did seem late, it looked like he was entering today.
It looked like Swan's belongings had fallen to the ground. Most of the items were weapons and potions.
I helped Hestia stand back up and began to collect the items that had fallen onto the floor. When I handed them to Swan, he didn't even look at me as he snatched up his belongings.
Swan, who had stood back up, stared briefly at the floor and then turned his head to look at Hestia. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but snapped his mouth shut.
Then, he briefly stared at Hestia.
"It's been a while."
Swan was smiling, looking at Hestia. He wasn't one for smiling often, but he was forcing himself to smile.
Then, he kept staring at Hestia after we passed. With an unfathomable look in his eyes, Swan soon walked towards the male dorms.
Anyway, why did he not even pretend to see me? It probably wasn't because I was so short that he didn't see me. I even helped pick up his belongings.
I understood him pretending to recognize Hestia because he liked her. But regardless of how much he liked her, he knew me from the past too. Couldn't he pretend to recognize me?
Oh, maybe he forgot? If so, I could understand. It wouldn't matter too much, but it was just slightly sad. Was my presence that forgettable?
I stared as my childhood friend, Swan, disappeared from my sight. I remembered how horrible his personality was from before, I probably needed to keep my guard up. If he asked me to help get closer to Hestia, I would definitely reject him.
But what if he stabbed me in the back if I didn't approve of him? I rubbed the back of my head warily.
The swordsmanship teacher called all of us to one spot. Next to the teacher stood Swanhaden, who we had seen yesterday.
"Here's a new student who's entered the swordsmanship class this year. He's new and may need guidance, so please help him out."
The teacher said he was a new student and introduced him to us. Even though Swan was the one getting introduced, he seemed uninterested, preferring to look at an ant on the ground instead. His wide eyes were slightly closed, as if sleepy.
The swordsmanship class students started whispering amongst themselves.
The Blanche Dukedom was a very private group. Although the dukedom held an incredible amount of power, they never really came out of their home.
Swan's family was famous for producing white magic users time and time again, so they were only really at battlefields. The Blanche family members would don white robes and treat bloodied soldiers on the battlefield, almost resembling a saint.
And that kind of family, famous for their healing abilities, had a child in the swordsmanship class? It was obvious that everybody was shocked. Well, Swan's pretty face also shocked everyone too.
I listened to Swanhaden's introduction and looked at Hylli who was right next to me.
Hylli hadn't spoken a word since a few moments ago. When my mood seemed to plummet, Hylli would always try to start a conversation, but he was strangely quiet today. No, to be exact, Hylli had started to shake minutely the moment Swanhaden had entered the hall.
Swanhaden listened to the teacher introduce him to the class with a bored expression, but seemed to meet eyes with Hylli. He smiled brightly at Hylli.
Then, Hylli began to grind his teeth. He seemed to also realize just how mean that smile really was.
"Ugh, he really ended up coming. And he's smiling so brightly too, unlike his usual self. Why is he doing that?"
"Why are you shaking like that? Hylli, are you weaker than Swanhaden?"
"….that's not true. But anyway, him and I are absolutely incompatible."
At Hylli's words, I began to think of the times I had met Swan when I was younger. Swan had taken on the sword from a very young age. He had used our training hall after following his father to our home, and we had bumped into each other a few times before. Even though we probably didn't talk much.
I remembered seeing him practice the sword just once when I was younger. Unlike Hylli, his movements were both sharp yet gentle. But it was so long ago. I didn't know his current style.
I asked Hylli about Swan's fighting style. Hylli frowned.
"His sword style? It's just beating someone up. He just attacks without any defense, so he's an absolute pain to fight."
....he doesn't defend? I became curious at Hylli's statement. Wasn't defense a part of swordsmanship>?
Anyway, Swan, he was wearing a turtleneck shirt with a long-sleeve like before.
When he was younger, he had a lot of scars here and there and wore turtlenecks with long-sleeves to hide it, but it seemed that he had more scars than before.
When the teacher's short speech was over, the students all split to continue practicing.
Hylli was also preparing to escape.
"Hylli, where are you going?"
But Swan's voice rang from behind us. When I turned around, he was looking at Hylli with a pretty smile on his face.
Swanhaden grabbed a wooden sword and twirled it around. It looked like a windmill.
"It's been so long since I've seen you. You're going to hurt my feelings like this?"
Hylli turned around, grabbed my shoulders, then walked in front of me. At first, he walked, but when Swan said something laced with a smirk, he began to run.
I'd never seen Hylli run so fast. As he grabbed me and seemingly ran for his life, Hylli whispered quietly to me.
"Shushu, is he still following us?"
At Hylli's question, I turned around to check.
Um, it seemed like Swanhaden had gotten bored of Hylli and had turned around to walk towards the teacher. Looking closer, it seemed that the teacher had called him.
I felt bad for Hylli, who had puffed up in warning like a pufferfish.
A prince, scared of a duke. I patted Hylli's hair as I tousled it.
When I promised Hylli that I would protect him, Hylli first seemed to relax but then told me that he could protect his own body. His pride seemed to have been damaged.
Thinking of, Hylli, Swan, and Cory had known each other from before.
And also, Swan and Yves seemed to know each other from before, too. I wondered if all of the male characters had been as close in the novel, but I couldn't remember it. I just let it slide.