“……How was it? Did it go well?”

The morning after the ball ended.

A group of second-year students wearing blue ties gathered in the classroom, whispering secretively.

A student from the support team who had directed the operation from outside for the grand love strategy poked the side of a student from the on-site team in charge of the ballroom.

“Well, with the magic fireworks we shot yesterday, there’s no way it couldn’t have worked out. Do you know how hard our support team worked?”

“We calculated the complex coordinates for the most ideal magic fireworks visible from the palace ballroom balcony, borrowed a classmate’s mansion under the pretense of a project to set up the fireworks……”

“And we even designed magical flower rain tools for use on-site. Ha! Where else can you find such a support team?”

“To be honest, it was even harder than Professor Heres’s assignment.”

The on-site team students who had been listening silently began to boast about their efforts, not to be outdone.

“Hey, it can’t compare to my effort of chatting with Lady Randy, the biggest gossip in high society, throughout the ball? My ears are still ringing.”

“Exactly. Do you know how much of an ordeal it was to forcibly ask for dances from all the men trying to approach Nigel?”

“We couldn’t even dance once, just waiting on the balcony to give the two of them space.”

As the atmosphere between the on-site and support teams heated up, one student mediated.

“Now, both the on-site and support teams worked hard carrying out the operation. So how did it turn out, Allen?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Allen.

“Was Noah Beselion smiling when he came back from the ball, or was he crying?”

Just as all the blue ties in the classroom were praying with all their hearts for their assignments to be reduced, waiting for Allen’s mouth to open.

The door creaked open and Nigel with black hair entered.

The students scattered to their seats like a flock of small birds fleeing at the sound, as if running far away.

Then they pretended to read textbooks or chat with friends while secretly stealing glances at Nigel.

“……What’s wrong with Nigel’s complexion?”

Small murmurs spread throughout the classroom.

Allen approached Nigel, swallowing his guilt.

Up close, Nigel looked pale and gaunt. The light had disappeared from his purple eyes that were always clear, as if showing his intelligence.

“Nigel, are you… alright?”

“……Yeah.”

Nigel barely nodded, then staggered past Allen. And sat down to the left of where Allen’s bag was placed.

The door creaked open again not long after, and a fresh soap scent wafted into the classroom.

It was Noah Beselion’s distinctive scent, who never missed his morning training.

Once again, everyone’s eyes turned to Noah.

“……Noah, did you sleep well?”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

Though not as bad as Nigel, Noah’s face was also a mess. His eyes were red and swollen from crying so much.

Noah also brushed past Allen and walked steadily to sit on Allen’s right.

Allen put his hand to his forehead, sighed, and took his seat between the two.

“……It seems to have failed?”

“Completely failed.”

The two students who had been hostile as if about to grab each other’s hair and fight, now muttered in agreement.

As class began, notes were secretly passed among the students, excluding Nigel’s trio.

Thanks to various magics from the Magic Department, the delicate throwing skills of the Swordsmanship Department, and the Political Department’s well-timed questions distracting the professor, the notes circulated smoothly.

The note that started with [So, what happens to us now?] had an answer by the end of class.

[What else can we do but consider it a memory of doing something strange among ourselves? We’ll have to keep it a secret from those two for life though.]

Thumbs up doodles, circles, and check marks indicating agreement were added to someone’s words.

And so, the second-year students decided to keep secret what happened in Flores, swallowing their bitter feelings.

[This is the timeline separator]

And, one week after that day.

The wish of the second-year students, excluding Nigel and Noah, was resolved in a strange way.

“……Nigel collapsed?”

Heres, who couldn’t see straight, grabbed Roneh’s collar.

“Professor Roneh, how did you push the child to collapse during regular class hours?”

Roneh continued speaking steadily while being shaken about by Heres’s slender wrist.

“Heres. That’s not it, Nigel’s complexion looked so bad that I told him to rest, but Nigel insisted on attending class till the end, and as a professor how could I refuse such passion?”

“……That child does tend to overdo things. I apologize for being rude when you must have been flustered too, Professor Roneh.”

Heres, having regained his senses, let go of the collar and bowed politely. Roneh patted Heres’s shoulder as if to comfort him.

“Don’t worry too much. For now, the Dean has taken him away, so let’s just quietly observe the situation.”

Nigel, who was thought to be able to handle anything and just do assignments, suddenly collapsed during the Imperial Swordsmanship class.

This fact spread through the academy in an instant, and with Widrun personally nursing Nigel, eliminating any direct way to see Nigel, the atmosphere at Sienna gradually changed.

The professors slightly lowered the difficulty of assignments, reflecting on whether they had made them too hard in the past.

Among the students, rumors spread that someone jealous of Nigel’s grades had done something strange to snacks given to Nigel, so they looked at food given by others with suspicious eyes before eating.

And the one most affected was Noah, who knew the truth about Nigel’s situation most closely.

“Hey, how long are you going to blame yourself? I’m telling you it’s not your fault, Noah.”

“It is my fault. Instead of helping lighten Nigel’s burden, I only added to it and pressured him to resolve things.”

“Enough, let’s just go eat. At this rate, we’ll go from one patient to two.”

Noah’s eyes sparkled at Allen’s words mixed with a sigh.

“If I become a patient, could I lie down next to Nigel?”

“You know you really seem crazy sometimes, right?”

“Yes…… Mary and Carl often say that like Allen. That I’m completely insane.”

It was now the third day since Nigel had been recovering under Widrun’s protection.

In other words, Noah’s eyes had been dull and listless all day, not having seen even a glimpse of Nigel for three days.

It was really fortunate that Yenika had gone to the Kingdom of Krena for a while in this situation. If Yenika had been here too, Allen wouldn’t have been able to keep his wits about him, having to listen to both of them.

As Allen looked around, swallowing a sigh of worry and frustration about Nigel, that’s when it happened.

“……Huh?”

A familiar face that shouldn’t be here was leisurely walking through the academy.

Allen stood up abruptly and approached that person.

“Mr. Zeronin?”

“Allen Evans? It’s been a while since graduation.”

The two who had met at graduation exchanged greetings.

Just then, Noah, who had been sitting weakly on the bench, quickly approached. His gaze, which had been gentle next to Nigel, was now so sharp as if about to devour someone that Zeronin momentarily mistook him for someone else.

“You came to see Nigel.”

“Well, that’s right.”

Zeronin shrugged and adjusted the large box he was holding.

“But what’s that?”

“It’s fine, you can open it.”

With Zeronin’s permission, Allen opened the box. Inside were a few pieces of clothing, three or four unidentified medicine bottles, and most of the space was occupied by textbooks and writing materials.

“He asked me to bring these for him. Since he’s thinking about studying, he’ll be fine soon. Don’t worry too much, everyone.”

Zeronin spoke gently to the two boys who were still full of concern.

“Ah, do you have anything you want to say to Nigel? I can probably smuggle in notes, though not items.”

As Zeronin rummaged through the box and handed over a pen and paper, Allen and Noah snatched them and quickly scribbled some words.

“Please make sure to deliver them.”

Zeronin smiled kindly as he looked at the two small notes placed in his palm.

Zeronin’s face darkened after parting with the two boys. The claim that Nigel had asked him directly was a white lie he had made up for the children’s sake.

Thinking that perhaps he had made it up for his own sake, Zeronin walked quickly.

Knock knock. When he knocked on the dean’s office with a stern expression, Widrun came out from the adjacent room.

“Ah, it’s been a while, Zeronin.”

“Nigel……”

Without even time to exchange greetings with Widrun, Zeronin entered the room Widrun had guided him to, unable to hide his urgency.

Nigel, lying exhausted on the bed, had clearly visible tear tracks on his cheeks from how much he had cried, and his face was flushed red with fever.

Zeronin quickly closed his eyes and measured the magical power. Fortunately, it was only slightly depleted, but stable.

“He just fell asleep after crying and suffering for a long time.”

When Zeronin belatedly looked around, there were various cloths and bowls of soup.

“……I heard the situation in advance from the letter the Dean sent. Thank you for accommodating Nigel knowing he’s a saint, and even nursing him personally.”

“It’s nothing.”

“But why has a child who’s a saint ended up in this state? She had never been sick even once since her magical power manifested.”

Zeronin gently stroked Nigel’s cheek as he slept. Since inventing Reparo, he had never been seriously ill or cried out loud.

“Well, even a saint cannot heal wounds of the heart.”

At those words, Zeronin’s eyes widened.

“……What on earth happened?”

“As much as I’d like to tell you, I don’t think it’s something I can easily bring up. If it’s alright with you, Zeronin, would you stay by her side until Nigel stabilizes?”

Just then, Nigel reached out her hand, softly murmuring “I’m sorry.” Zeronin grasped that hand tightly and nodded.