When I felt like some powder was about to get into my eyes, I raised my hands to try and touch my eyes. Hazel yelled at me right then.
"Don't rub your eyes!"
'kay.
I headed out of the room listening to Hestia's nagging.
I didn't really care how dolled up I got if I got to eat as much snacks as I wanted. I didn't really know, but Hazel was making a fuss about how pretty I looked, so I must've looked better than before, right? Honestly, Hazel always told me that I was pretty no matter what, so I didn't really know. But she did say I was pretty, so I must've looked a lot more normal to the other partygoers.
I hurriedly headed towards the hall.
Splash!
After walking outside of the girls' dorms, I heard a loud sound coming from the nearby pond, but there wasn't any time so I ignored it.
I bumped into a strangely familiar male student as I headed out. The student was pulling some of his green hair behind his ears and was waiting for his partner.
I wondered why he was so familiar, but he was the boy that shoved me away last time without an apology. He even scowled at me and called me a squid.
That male student seemed to have ended up going with another girl after being rejected by Hestia. He was wearing a clean shirt and pants, and was waiting outside of the girls' dorms, after all. He cursed his later partner as he tapped one foot in annoyance.
"...huh."
His scowling face met mine. His face slackened in surprise as his eyes grew wide. I checked to see what was behind me to see why he was so surprised, but there wasn't anything there. The boy was just staring at me.
What, what do you want me to do? I felt uncomfortable with the dumb look on his face, so I decided to walk faster.
I met my precious Karim on the way to the party. Karim also looked surprised at me as he just stared. At his compliment how I was always pretty but I was prettier than usual, I smiled and pet his hair a few times. Karim asked me who my partner was, but I couldn't do anything but smile bitterly. I dunno, I don't raise things like that.
When I told him that I had none, Karim tilted his head and said that was strange. He continued muttering about how the boys' dorm had an entire ruckus about who was going to be my partner or something.
Karim shrugged and handed me a rose.
"Nuna, you have to be my partner for my junior party, okay?"
I nodded furiously at Karim's blushing, smiling face.
I walked across the well-trimmed trail towards the hall.
To make this night one to remember, the school had shot up brightly colored orbs of light to the sky to make a beautiful scene. I looked at my reflection on the shiny shoes that Hazel lent me. My face turned big and small whenever I walked because of the slope of the heels.
When I headed to the hall, it was packed full of people. Both boys and girls were doing everything they could to look good to each other.
I was nervous that there wouldn't be a lot of snacks because it had been a while since the party began, but it looked like the academy had been well-prepared. There were cookies, and high-quality desserts like macarons and simple canapes lined up for the picking.
The orchestra that our school had requested was busy performing and getting the dancers more excited. In the center of the hall were people dancing together. Waltz music rang through the hall as the students danced with their chosen partners.
I looked at the dancers to see if Hestia was in there somewhere, but it looked like Hestia wasn't dancing just yet.
I couldn't see that fluffy pink hair of hers. When I turned my head to look at the terrace, Harun and Hestia were sharing something that looked like a camera and were talking amongst each other.
Hestia ended up partnering with Harun. It was really strange that Hestia was partners with my older brother. And apparently Hestia had asked first? It was probably because she was the most comfortable with him and knew him best. Anyway, my brother really lucked out. Know that you were blessed and treat her like a queen, Harun.
I was about to approach Hestia before letting them talk together. They seemed to be having fun.
If it was any other couple, then it would've been fair game to mess with them. But if Hestia and him worked out and she ended up joining my family, then we'd be blessed. If the two ended up together then she'd be my sister-in-law. That'd be a huge reason to celebrate.
We'd treat her with the dignity and respect she deserved, so please. I cheered on my older brother who was just a side character in the novel. He looked like he had stacked up more dating experience than the original novel characters, so Harun, go for it! If it was for my older brother, I could be the ojakgyo. Sorry, other characters.
I shoved away the smile that was threatening to form on my face as I headed to the snack area.
When I stared at the beautiful looking macarons on display, I couldn't help but drool. But right before I snatched them, I saw Hylli behind the display, sitting on a small couch with his arms around his chest.
Hylli was dressed up like a regular partygoer. He was fit from his years of swordsmanship, so his clothes looked great on him. HIs child-like appearance had long since gone, and he looked a lot adult-like, more mature. His red eyes glinted like jewels paired with his dark black hair.
Hylli watched people dance as he slowly sipped on his drink. Hylli, who was always excited and energetic in front of me, was looking on with a dead gaze, no hint of a smile on his face.
Anyway, I couldn't find Cory or Swan. Yves probably wasn't here because he was a senior, right?
Hestia was busy, I didn't have a partner, and there was a bored Hylli, right there. Hylli, I guess I'm gonna head over to you. I walked over to the sofa Hylli was sitting at. In hand was a ton of macarons and chocolate.
"Why aren't you eating anything?"
Hylli's eyes were glazed over as he stared at the dancers before he turned to where I was.
"Shuraina? Where...…!"
Hylli recognized my voice and turned to look at me.
He would've said something right then, but he couldn't seem to speak.
"…..?"
Hylli's already big red eyes grew even bigger.
His eyes seemed to shake slightly.
"Said, that, first Swanhaden you went?"
"….what?"
"Huh?"
Hylli's sentence was all messed up. Hey, wake up. Why can't you speak? Hylli looked away from me and seemed to think about something for a long time as he frowned.
"Did I speak properly just now?"
"No. I didn't understand a single word."
"I know."
Then why'd you ask? I couldn't help but grow suspicious at Hylli's awkward expression and the glances he kept shooting me every few seconds. But Hylli was alone too. I guess he didn't have a partner either. Hylli's handsome so I thought he would have an easy time getting a partner. I wonder why he was alone. He was tall, his personality was okay, and he was also cute in his own way. And even if it wasn't Hestia, there were tons of girls chasing after Hylli.
I suddenly became curious about Swan and Cory's partner. Cory's sharp, intimidating feel made it hard for girls to talk to him, but I didn't know about Swan. Swan had a confident, ruler-like feeling to him so there must've been a few people begging on their knees for him to be their partner. Then once Swanhaden picked someone they'd burst into tears and speak about how honored they were and that they'd serve him forever. Hmm. That was a bit too imaginative, I think.
After getting over my weird mental scenarios, I turned to look at Hylli who was just staring blankly at me. When I turned to look at Hylli, he turned his head the other way and looked away. Hylli also seemed confused as to why he was turning his head around. When he turned to look back at me, he looked at my forehead instead of my eyes.
"But I don't see Cory or Swan. From what I remember, attendance was mandatory for the party."
"....Cory left to look for you because Swanhaden said that you were already at the party but we couldn't find you. I stayed because I was worried that we'd all get lost."
What was all that about? I barely arrived at the hall.
There seemed to be some sort of misunderstanding, but I decided not to worry.
But what I was worried about right now was Hylli's behavior. He kept on staring at my forehead. I worried that he had gone crazy.
"Um, where are you looking right now?"
"Your forehead?"
"….?"
Maybe something was on my forehead. I rubbed my forehead once and even took out a mirror from my dimension pocket, but it was clean.
"Why are you staring at my forehead?"
"…..uh, um. Well. I don't know either."
Hylli still looked stunned as he looked down. He stared at his shoes for a while with a thoughtful expression on his face before tilting his head slightly. I could see a question mark form on his face.
"I have somewhere I need to be, so I'll be leaving for a bit. Eat lots of delicious snacks while I"m gone."
Hylli just stared somewhere for a while before he stood up. His feet were already moving as he said that he'd take his leave. I watched his retreating back as I remembered something he said earlier.
I didn't know what had happened, but apparently Cory was out looking for me. Then did that mean I had to look for him now? Well, considering that I couldn't see him in the hall, it looked like he was still looking for me.
I stood up and headed out of the hall. I bundled a bunch of macarons and candy to eat with Cory when I met him.
There was a neat walking trail outside of the hall. On each side of the trail were burgundy 'Augran' flowers, the symbol of our school.
This flower was a special kind of flower that was exclusive to the Augran mountain area, so the flowers took on the name of the mountains. The flowers bloomed for all four seasons, so this trail was always a dark, reddish burgundy color.
Above the fully bloomed Augran flowers were magical lights of all colors. It made me think of a fantasy novel illustration of an elf's secret garden, or something like that. The combination of the burgundy flowers and the bright colors of the lights made a scenic, almost dreamlike view.
I stared at the beautiful scene in front of me before I discovered Cory walking from far away.
Cory was wearing a crisp white shirt and black pants. It looked like he also had a tie on, but the knot was loose. He let his shoulder-length blond hair down instead of putting it in a ponytail.
"Shushu, where are you?"
Cory shoved his hands in his pockets as he kicked a rock as he moved.
"Has anyone seen our Shushu?"
I suddenly remembered my first meeting with Cory. Wasn't he looking for me back then, just like he was now? Of course, he was a lot shorter and a lot cuter back then. His voice was a lot scratchier back then, too. Now, at the tail end of puberty, his voice was a lot deeper and cleaner. I began to reminisce.