-Asher Frostblade's point of view.
When the stalker entered the library, I did not feel her presence. However, before that, I heard some words and realized who it was.
How could I not recognize that person's voice?
It was definitely Oriana, along with someone else whose voice also sounded familiar, although I struggled to identify her precisely, as it had been a long time since I had heard her.
Still, when Oriana got into a dead end, I acted quickly and intercepted her.
She was doing something that I found quite curious, and besides, I wanted to know what she was looking for from him.
With this in mind, Asher asked her, trying to hide the fact that he still didn't know who exactly she was.
Of course, it all worked, and Oriana fell for it. However, his words were totally unexpected.
"She made up a story that she's in love with me."
At that time, I had a completely different appearance, due to an ability that possibly served to change anyone's appearance at will.
Oriana, not recognizing me, quickly improvised a story. The only thing she could think of was to say that she was an admirer in love with Asher and that she wanted to confess her feelings to him.
Then, an idea came to Asher's mind.
She was clearly trying not to be discovered, but Asher already knew it was Oriana.
He decided to play along, change his personality completely, and keep up the charade.
That's how the idea came about:
"So, would you like to hang out for a while?"
To make Oriana believe that Asher didn't know who she was. Apparently, she still didn't realize that he already knew.
So Asher continued his game, changing his behavior and expressions so differently than usual that it was difficult to pretend to be someone completely oblivious to his own nature. However, it was not impossible.
And he succeeded.
I left the library and headed for a restaurant, with Oriana at my side. It was then that a somewhat funny idea occurred to me.
"Let's go hand in hand."
"..."
Her puzzled reaction was to be expected. Oriana knew Asher wasn't behaving like this.
She realized he was playing a joke on her, but she still believed he didn't know her true identity, disguised as a cadet.
"Uh... it's okay."
I took his hand as I sketched a smile.
This whole situation was funny. Oriana was in disguise, pretending to be someone else, while I had been watching her since she left the dorms.
So, I decided to annoy her as much as possible. I had two goals in mind:
The first, to give her an awkward and funny time.
The second, to find out why she had disguised herself as a cadet with such a different appearance and why she had been watching me for most of the day.
We kept walking until we reached an almost empty restaurant on the outskirts of the academy.
We went in, sat down and just ordered some simple drinks.
It was already clear to Asher anyway that I didn't want to be with her at that moment, but he played along.
"So, what's your name?"
I knew Oriana was terrible at making up names or picking a good one.
Predictably, her expression contracted as she couldn't find the right words, and she finally blurted out:
"I... uh... my name is... Elisha..."
"..."
I looked at her bitterly, as that name was unusual. I had never heard it before, not even in my past life.
However, Asher couldn't help but laugh. Oriana's expression at the utterance of that name was hilarious, and her face turned pale.
It was bizarre.
Because of Oriana's personality, this was amusing.
She was enjoying this moment as a small revenge for the humiliations and beatings Asher had received from her in the past.
A mischievous smile appeared on her lips at the thought of that idea.
And he continued to tease her.
"You're quite interesting, Elisha..."
It was hard to maintain a personality so different from Asher's, but it was worth it to keep up the act.
After all, it was pretty funny.
"Hehe... you... make me... nervous."
"..."
"..."
"What a thing, right?"
Anyone would easily say she was being funny in her attempt to not get caught.
Anyway.
"After annoying her, I'll tell her the truth."
It would be even funnier to see her face when she found out that, in reality, I always knew she was Oriana and was pretending to be a cadet.
"So..."
"..."
She glared at me.
"Uh..."
"Did you want to tell me something?"
"Hehe... well... I actually told you before, didn't I?"
"That's right, you said you liked me, didn't you?"
"Yes..."
"Then, would you like to go out with me?"
"..."
"Uh..."
***
-Scene change.
-Gloriana Mengral's point of view.
It was still very early, and the meeting with Director Wilbek would be until noon.
So Gloriana decided to go to a restaurant, perhaps in the hope of meeting someone she knew.
If she met anyone, that is.
Her steps were steady but slow, and after a few minutes she arrived and entered the restaurant. When he looked for an empty table, however, he stopped short.
"..."
There stood Asher, next to... a completely unknown woman, someone he had never seen before.
His eyes widened as he heard a single word from Asher, directed at the woman in front of him.
"So, would you like to go out with me?"
"..."
Impossible.
That was impossible.
Asher would never say something like that, let alone make that expression as if he was actually willing to go out with this girl.
Black hair, gray eyes, and a similar height to his own. The cadet was very beautiful, but....
"I'm more beautiful."
Gloriana told herself, mentally comparing her reflection to that of the black-haired woman sitting across from Asher.
She decided to listen to the conversation, for something didn't add up. Asher's strange performance only added to her curiosity.
"You don't even say something like that to me..."
Gloriana thought, wishing those words were directed at her and not at that black-haired woman.
And even though she knew she was intruding, she didn't care.
Asher was hers, and no one else's.
"..."
He kept silent and waited for the girl's response.
"R-really... that would be great."
"..."
"Well, then let's go for a walk."
"..."
Gloriana watched without blinking.
Those words from Asher...
"Are you really Asher?"
She wondered if he wasn't the real Asher.
The Asher she knew would never say something like that, much less ask a girl out of the blue and ask her out.
"I'm here, you know."
Then Gloriana asked herself another question.
"Is he really the real Asher, but...?"
There was something strange about him and the girl, as if they were both trying to hide their true identities.
It seemed like the girl was trying to hide something, but Gloriana wasn't sure.
It was obvious that Asher was teasing the girl. Realizing this, Gloriana smiled in relief.
Finally, she understood that she had misunderstood everything from the beginning. She should have paid more attention.
Soon after, they both got up and walked towards the exit of the restaurant.
Although Gloriana had just arrived, it was possible that those two had been there for more than ten minutes.
She followed them at a considerable distance so as not to be seen, buying a drink quickly before leaving after them.
Once outside, she looked for them and saw them standing not far from the restaurant entrance, until....
"..."
Her eyes widened, and she felt her heart skip a beat.
Those two suddenly held hands, and Gloriana couldn't help but stare in disbelief.
"That... no."
She quickened her pace.
Soon she reached where Asher and the black-haired girl were standing. Without hesitation, she grabbed Asher's arm and pulled him away from the girl, pulling their hands apart. At the same time, she grabbed his hand and looked directly at the woman.
"This isn't right... you can't hold hands."
"..."
"..."
Asher and Oriana looked at her, perplexed, as their thoughts ran wild.
"Sister, why did you show up just now?" thought Oriana.
"This was unexpected...I guess I won't be able to play along or bother Oriana anymore," Asher thought.
However, Gloriana soon realized her biggest mistake.
Now, they both knew that she had been deliberately spying on them....