"Huaaam…."
I kept yawning because of last night’s incident.
Damn that father of mine.
He couldn’t even dote on his cute daughter after meeting her for the first time in ages.
Instead, he had to come at me for a “skill check.”
"Nngh, my legs…."
If someone hadn’t stopped me, saying I had things to do tomorrow, I’d probably be sprawled out right now.
They did give me medicine, saying it would make me better…
But giving me the injury in the first place and then the cure? Ridiculous.
Seriously, that’s going too far.
Even if I *did* expose his preferences.
If he’d just listened to my request from the start, none of this would’ve happened!
"…Oh, this works fast."
The trembling pain in my legs started to fade almost instantly after taking the medicine.
I guess being on the front lines means they always carry good stuff like this.
Amazed by the effect of the medicine Dad had given me, I looked around.
She had to be somewhere nearby.
"Dorothy? Already up? You’re fast."
"A-Amelia. Good morning."
"Morning. Why are you up so early?"
"Teacher Haryul left early for a meeting with the others. The noise woke me up too."
Huh. So Dorothy and Teacher Haryul were sharing a room.
…Wait a second.
"Where are Arte and Siwoo?"
"…."
Dorothy turned her head toward another room, and I instantly knew what she was thinking.
Ah. So they’re in there.
"I think I know what you’re thinking."
"Me too. I’m not the only one, right?"
"…Should we take a peek?"
"Sure. You always get me."
"That’s *my* line."
Dorothy and Amelia already knew.
That Siwoo and Arte were living together.
And they also knew.
How Siwoo felt about Arte.
And that while Arte wasn’t in love with him, she *did* have… special feelings for him.
"I don’t know why, but they ended up in the same room, right? So…"
"We can’t let this chance slip away!"
Heheh.
Dorothy didn’t even try to hide her grin.
…Well, I wasn’t any different.
"I’ve always been curious… what they do in there…!"
"Maybe they’ve been making progress without us knowing? Like, maybe they’ve already—"
"N-N-N-No way! That can’t be!"
Eek, eek.
What if someone else woke up? What if Arte or Siwoo heard us?
Our voices were quiet, but our footsteps were light.
"O-Open it…?"
"Y-Yes…!"
Thump, thump.
We were so focused that I could almost hear each other’s heartbeats.
We knew they were living together, but we’d never heard what they actually *did* inside that room.
Then again, they’d never have a reason to tell us.
But we *were* curious.
Memories flooded back—all the times we’d schemed and worked so hard to push Siwoo and Arte together.
Siwoo, who wore his heart on his sleeve for Arte, and Arte, who was completely oblivious to it. It had been *so* frustrating.
No, trivial details like that don’t matter right now.
This was a rare—maybe even the only—chance to secretly peek into Arte and Yu Siwoo’s love nest…!
"What are you doing?"
"Ah."
"Uh, well…"
But the scene we’d hoped to witness simply didn’t exist.
I thought this was my one and only shot.
When we opened the door, Arte was already staring right at Dorothy and me, as if she’d somehow sensed us coming.
"Ah, I just thought you might be hungry! It’s about time for breakfast, so…!"
"…Sigh. Fine. We’ll be out in a minute, so wait for us."
D-Did we make it…?
A chill ran down my spine, and even after Arte closed the door, I stood frozen for a long while.
"Phew… phew… That scared the hell out of me."
"Nice reflexes, Dorothy…"
That icy glare of hers had sent a shiver through me.
What kind of eyes were those?
We *were* caught off guard, after all.
I thought I’d grown used to Arte’s suspicious smiles by now.
But maybe once I got used to those, she’d brought out a new kind of smile.
Her eyes were smiling, but her mouth stayed still—almost like…
"It felt like if we’d touched the wrong thing, we’d get sliced in half on the spot…"
"Yeah…"
Dorothy and I agreed.
We’d have to postpone the peeping for another time.
"…What’s wrong?"
"It looks like Dorothy and Amelia came by."
"Those two? That was fast."
Sigh.
I watched the two of them head back to their room with a sigh.
They really startled me. So it was Dorothy and Amelia.
Those two are always up to something, huh?
Were they trying to scare Siwoo and me? The way they’d snuck up on us, silent as assassins targeting Siwoo, had me so on edge.
[I have no idea what you’re so worried about…]
I ignored the author’s muttering.
If they actually looked back on what they’d done, there’s no way they could say something like that.
Assassins? Please. I was half-convinced this was going to spiral into something even more absurd.
Like, what if one of this world’s heroes turned out to be a secret member of the hidden Weaver Mensch organization, seeking revenge…
Or some nonsense like that.
Whether it made sense or not didn’t matter.
The author would just do whatever seemed fun, consequences be damned.
If something looked dangerous, the safest move was to assume it was and stay on guard.
"By the way, Arte, about yesterday…"
"They said it’s almost time for breakfast. Should we head out?"
"…Ah, yeah. Got it."
Siwoo glanced at Arte, recalling what had happened the day before.
Did she not want to talk about yesterday?
Siwoo stared at her.
"Aren’t you coming?"
"…I’ll be right there."
At this point, sharing a room with Arte didn’t embarrass me.
We’d done it so many times before that it was old hat.
This new place gave a slightly different vibe, but that was just temporary.
Living with Arte was familiar, so I unpacked and moved around like I always did.
Yeah. I acted normal. Because I thought nothing had changed.
But apparently, Arte didn’t feel the same way.
"···."
She looked the same as always. I watched her back, which showed no sign of unease.
She had always been like this. Hiding her weaknesses, hiding her fears, hiding her worries.
Arte had always hidden something to avoid looking weak.
Her feelings about the Author. Her belief that people were puppets.
And her obsession with me.
I had started to think that maybe it was okay to share small things with her now, but Arte didn’t seem to agree. That thought made my mood sink slightly.
Did she still not trust me enough?
Yesterday, when that person had warned us this place was dangerous.
She had confidently said we’d be fine.
That no one would get hurt.
But had Arte really believed that?
She was the type to worry over the smallest things, to be consumed by anxiety the moment I disappeared. Did she truly think we’d be okay?
That night.
As I lay awake, troubled by the unfamiliar bed and the uncertainty of what was to come.
Arte had come to me.
With a voice that trembled as she whispered, *Siwoo… can I…?*
I hesitated for a moment, unsure how to react.
Then, as if deciding I was asleep, she burrowed into my bed.
I was startled at first, but when I felt her trembling against my back, I closed my eyes.
Now I understood why she had to cling to me like that in the middle of the night.
"···You were scared."
Right.
Arte had been scared too.
In front of that person, she had acted fine. She had boldly declared we wouldn’t die. But that was just a facade.
As always, she had hidden her weakness, putting on a brave front.
She had shown confidence in front of that person, but in truth, she had been afraid.
Afraid that I might get hurt. Afraid that Amelia or Dorothy might get hurt.
That must have been what she was thinking.
"···."
Words of comfort wouldn’t mean much to her.
So the solution was simple. All I had to do was make sure all the training up to now wasn’t for nothing.
Siwoo had worked tirelessly for this.
To protect people.
When I first enrolled in the Academy, that had been my only motivation.
A lighthearted desire to become a hero.
For that lighthearted dream, I had worked hard to protect others.
But now it was different.
There were people I wanted to protect. People I wanted to help.
That was why I kept trying.
To protect Amelia. To protect Dorothy.
…And above all, to protect Arte.
"Don’t worry, Arte."
Even if I said it to her face, she probably wouldn’t believe me.
She was the worrying type, after all.
So instead of telling her, Siwoo made a silent vow.
I wouldn’t let anyone get hurt.
Not Arte. Not Amelia. Not Dorothy.
No one.
Siwoo took a step forward.
My intuition was screaming again today.
That a powerful enemy was here.
That a great threat loomed. That we should run, now.
But Siwoo didn’t run.
No threat would harm us.
No hardship would torment Arte.
Because Siwoo had decided to be her shield.