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Today, unlike yesterday, I relaxed a bit and prepared to go out after all my friends had left to run their errands, just Selian and I left in the room.

“How is the Celestial Festival? Are you having fun?”

After Anne and Yuli, it was finally my turn to stroll through the festival streets with Selian. Tomorrow I had plans with Frecia, and the day after with Mariel.

I felt a strange sense of pleasure being like a Casanova, switching from girl to girl, but hey, I was just the same kind of girl.

Still, I should be satisfied that I got to indirectly experience what it’s like to be a popular guy, if only for a moment.

“Of course, it’s fun! There are so many different foods to try and interesting sights to see… It’s my first time experiencing a festival like this, so everything I see is just entertaining.”

I had no memories from before joining the Assassin Guild, and for the most part, I had been living as a prospective assassin where festivals were more of a luxury than an experience, so this was my first time truly enjoying one.

“Hehe… I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying it. What did you do while enjoying the festival with Yuli yesterday?”

While I did many things while walking through the festival streets with Yuli, the first thing that came to mind, thanks to Selian’s question, was not the festival street but rather something that happened inside the dorm room, specifically in the bathroom.

“Uh, yesterday? With Yuli?”

The moment I was taken aback, instead of answering the question, I stammered and responded in a voice way too loud to be natural.

There was no way I could tell Selian that Yuli discovered the Master-Servant Mark on my lower abdomen.

Selian must have noticed something was off in my voice because she squinted her eyes and looked at me with a suspicious gaze.

“Ely? What did you do alone with Yuli yesterday?”

Selian, who had been sitting on the bed putting on her socks, stood up and, with each stilted word, took a step closer to me.

Though Selian’s expression was definitely smiling, an eerie chill seemed to drop the temperature around us several degrees.

She drew near, as if demanding an answer with her expression. However, the weight of that pressure was too great for me to simply yield and let out such a massive secret.

“Ah, nothing! There was nothing to discuss.”

When people lie, an essential aspect is to avoid the other person’s gaze.

Of course, even in casual conversation, some people avoid eye contact, but it’s more pronounced in the case of someone lying.

Thus, maintaining bold eye contact while lying can often make the other person think, “Hmm? Maybe it’s not a lie?”

How long had I been engaged in an eye duel with Selian?

In the end, Selian sighed and took a step back, signaling her surrender.

Phew. Thanks to the acting skills that got me through the situation with Yuli, I managed to dodge another crisis.

Honestly, if things go south later, I should consider living the life of an actor.

Though I hate to admit it, I am quite a pretty girl, and with my acting skills, I’d probably be in demand at every theater.

“Well… Yuli wouldn’t break any rules, right? It was just unnecessary worry.”

Rules. Does Selian really think Yuli and I broke school rules or anything?

“Come on, do you really think Yuli and I would do anything against the rules? You worry too weirdly, Selian.”

Just because I used to be an assassin doesn’t mean I break rules as casually as I eat meals; aside from sneaking out of the dorm on the first night, I haven’t exactly broken any rules.

And as for illegal stuff? Definitely never!

Believe it or not, I’m the model student and citizen. Ahem!

“…Right. I was just joking. Forget I said anything… Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s just… the uniform you’re wearing looks like someone else’s. No matter how I look at it, it’s definitely not the Ely jacket…”

Upon hearing Selian’s words, I took off the jacket I was wearing and looked around. The part that was fraying or loose thread was not to be found.

I hadn’t noticed when it was casually worn, but after Selian pointed it out, I could confirm it wasn’t mine.

However, it didn’t seem like it would be common for our uniforms to get mixed up…

“Ah, maybe it got swapped when Yuli and I went into the bathroom yesterday.”

Since I had entered the bathroom first, I should have assumed that the jacket lying on the sofa below was mine, but without thinking, I just picked up the one on top.

If it were something tight like underwear or a shirt, it would make sense, but with jackets being loose, I didn’t feel a difference. Plus, this was a jacket Yuli used to wear.

Yuli probably left the bathroom wearing the swapped jacket without realizing it too.

If I couldn’t notice while wearing it, it was impressive that observant Selian figured it out and pointed it out to me.

“Wait…? You went into the bathroom together…?”

…..

It’s chilly.

I feel as though every drop of blood has drained from my body, making what I earlier considered chilly feel like child’s play.

Ah… I just dug my own grave. And deep too…

I had been finding excuses to avoid when friends would try to enter the bathroom with me or to take me to the bathhouse.

But now that Selian found out I went into the bathroom with Yuli yesterday, making excuses to dodge was bound to reach its limits.

Just yesterday I made the foolish mistake of not locking the door when I entered the bathroom, resulting in Yuli and I washing up together, which led to the disaster of Yuli finding the mark. Now I’d made the same mistake and opened the door for Selian to discover the Master-Servant Mark.

If one day Selian asks why Yuli could wash up with me but she couldn’t, I wouldn’t have any way to refuse.

“…You weren’t doing anything strange in the bathroom, were you?”

“Hey, what’s there to do in the bathroom? I just needed to wash off some sweat. Yuli was just trying to save some time by coming in with me.”

“Sweat…?”

“Yeah. I was working up a bit of a sweat since morning.”

There’s no way I could goof off while facing a Sword Master.

Doing battle like that teaches you a lot, so it’s only proper to give it my all.

“Working up a… sweat?”

“Yeah. I moved around a bit more vigorously than when I went to Yuli’s mansion during summer break.”

When I practiced with Craig that summer break, I was way weaker back then, and Craig went easy on me, but yesterday he pushed me really hard, and I struggled quite a bit. Of course, I had also learned a lot because of that.

“What on earth did Yuli agree to…!”

Selian’s sudden indignation was perplexing.

After some time stomping her feet in frustration, Selian suddenly halted, then moved to open her underwear drawer and began rummaging through it.

“Yuli was the one who broke the rules first, so this much is…”

Peeking into a girl’s underwear drawer made my conscience twinge, so I turned my head away, but I could hear Selian murmuring some words that I just couldn’t comprehend.

After a brief interval of rummaging, it seemed she found what she was looking for, and the sound stopped.

In the prolonged silence, I turned around using my “blurred focus” and saw Selian quietly sitting with something in her hands.

“Uh… Selian?”

“Ah!”

In a panic, Selian hastily shoved what she was holding into her pocket as if it were something she shouldn’t have been caught with.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“…Huh. Even so, this just isn’t right. I think it’s best to confiscate Yuli’s turn for a week.”

“W-wait! I don’t know what it is, but even if Yuli did something wrong, please don’t be too angry. It looks like it might have something to do with me, so I’ll apologize on her behalf.”

Of course, it’s normal for friends to argue occasionally.

But even if it could happen, it’s not something I want to see happen between two friends I care about.

If anything, it’s the true friend’s job to mediate and help two individuals bring peace to their conflict.

“Don’t worry too much. I’m not angry. It’s just that Yuli broke a promise, so it’s merely a punishment.”

But perhaps I had gotten ahead of myself too much.

Wondering if Selian was lying merely for my sake, I carefully scrutinized her face, but she didn’t seem to be lying at all.

Phew, thank goodness.

“So what’s that thing you put in your pocket?”

Having let out a sigh of relief, I tried to shift Selian’s focus from Yuli to something else.

“W-what!? M-my pocket? No way! You must have seen wrong!”

Selian seemed to be trying to deflect, but a true gentleman—or gentlewoman—should have that kind of grace in letting things slide.

“No, it’s nothing. By the way, it’s already this late; shouldn’t we head out?”

Acting totally uninterested and bringing up another topic seemed to ease Selian’s tension because she let out a sigh of relief.

If she wanted something hidden, staying calm would be the best way, but seeing Selian showing her relief was almost cute from my perspective as a master of disguise.

Of course, I didn’t point fingers at Selian for such a foolish act.

Feeling indecisive about whether to hide what she threw in her pocket or put it deep back into her underwear drawer, Selian shifted her gaze between her pocket and the drawer but thankfully didn’t make the foolish choice of shoving it back into her underwear drawer in front of me.

Well, of course, Selian isn’t dumb enough to do something like that.

And I’m not rude enough to steal a glance at something Selian wants to keep private, so I don’t mind.

“Then shall we get going? Let’s stop by Yuli and get the details and deliver the punishment as well.”

Sadly… Whatever punishment that is, good luck Yuli! After all, I offered her a shield, and I’ve done my part!

 

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