Return from death, p.24
Return from Death, page 24
“Oh, be quiet, Constance.”
“Ah, love’s embrace is as cold as winter!”
“If it’s Marina you’re after, how about I speak to her for you?” Miguel suggested. He was sitting in the shade of the trees with Yana and Azraq, while Lucian and Vincent bathed in the sunlight.
Lucian launched himself at Miguel. “I knew I could count on you, Miguel, my friend!”
“Well, not surprising you’d take a liking to her. She does seem to be your type.”
Curious, Oriana couldn’t stop herself from asking. “What do you mean? What’s his type?”
“Fluffy black hair, always smiling, nice to everyone with no regard for gender…and she’s got a big chest.”
The mood in the air abruptly soured, but either not caring or oblivious altogether, Lucian clenched a fist and said, “Yes! I want to bury my face in those boobs!”
“This is exactly why virgin guys are so skeevy.”
“Could the word virgin perhaps be a euphemism for ‘scum of the earth’?”
“Even death couldn’t cleanse his virgin mindset.”
Edda, Heidemarie, and Constance shot cold looks at Lucian, their eyes like daggers as they disparaged him.
“I’ll introduce you,” said Miguel. “When do you want me to do it?”
“Miguel?!” Edda shrieked. “Are you an enemy of all womankind?”
Miguel grinned at her.
“You keep throwing the word virgin around willy-nilly, but you’re the one who doesn’t get it,” said Kai. He’d been silent up until this point, and even as he spoke, he continued thumbing through his book.
“Get what?”
“Yeah, so he’s a virgin, but he’s plucked up his courage to actually do something for once. Give him a break.”
Given the way Miguel continued to smile, apparently he was of the same mind.
Heidemarie stared blankly forward for a moment before dropping her gaze to Lucian, whose collar she still had a firm hold on. “Lucian, you…”
“Gaaah! Don’t say anything!” Lucian’s face lit up bright red. With the speed and nimbleness of a rabbit, he wiggled out of her grasp and took off.
Kai flipped his book shut with a noisy thud. “See you guys later,” he said before taking off after his friend.
Heidemarie gazed after them, dumbfounded. Once she recovered, she said, “Actually, me too! See you all!” and took off after Lucian.
“Chest, huh?” Yana mumbled to herself once the five noisiest members of their group were gone.
Oriana glanced over at her friend, only to see Yana’s eyes glued to her chest. Following her example, Oriana peered down at her own.
Silence hung in the air.
Neither girl was particularly well-endowed. Oriana’s were sized perfectly enough for her to wear all the clothes she wanted without trouble, while Yana’s exceedingly thin figure made the lines of her modest bosom stand out.
Vincent, Miguel, and Azraq were the only others still present, and they were smart enough to keep their traps shut as they waited for the girls to say something. In place of their silence, the elegant chirping of a bird echoed.
“Azraq,” Yana said at last.
“Yes?” Although the air was thick with tension, Azraq maintained perfect composure as he answered his princess the same way he always did.
“Breasts are like wealth in that bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better, yes?”
“Indeed, Princess Yana. You are correct,” Azraq answered cleverly, smiling at her. He often grinned when telling little jokes here and there, but it was a bit rare to see him make that kind of expression when answering one of the princess’s queries.
Yana, of course, must have realized it as well. She offered him a beautiful smile befitting her nickname of the Star of the Desert.
“In that case, which do you prefer?” she asked.
Summer was drawing near, and yet the chill that stretched through the air might have one wondering whether someone had placed a magic circle nearby with the rune for “Cold” written in it.
Miguel, Vincent, and Azraq exchanged unreadable looks. The former two were both relieved they weren’t facing scrutiny, but they almost seemed to look at Azraq with silent pity, as if praying for the safe return of a buddy going off to war.
Azraq fell into silent contemplation for a while. Oriana had never seen him take this long to answer one of Yana’s questions before. As if resigning himself, he finally said, “I retain my right to silence.” Never once did his smile falter.
Meanwhile, the icy air rolling off Yana greatly intensified. Oriana took that opportunity to grab Vincent and Miguel by the hands, dragging them away from the courtyard.
❦❦❦
WHEN meal time came around, Oriana tried to hunt down Yana and Azraq, to no avail. Thus, she instead ate with Vincent and Miguel. There were more and more lightly seasoned dishes on the menu, and despite the increasing heat, she was having no problems polishing off her plate.
Oriana returned to her dorm room ahead of Yana, and when the princess returned later that night, Oriana was there to greet her.
Yana stood on the threshold, the door still half-ajar. When she spotted Oriana, her cheeks swelled in a pout. “I gave Azraq a thorough scolding.”
This was the first time Oriana had ever seen her make such a face. It was so adorable that she raced over to the door and shut it just to make sure no one else got to enjoy this side of her friend.
“What kind of scolding?”
Did she mean she physically beat Azraq, like with hitting and kicking? Azraq seemed the type to let her get away with it and not fight back, but it was hard for Oriana to picture Yana resorting to such violence in the first place.
“We went to the library and searched for a book on human anatomy.”
“Huh? A book?” Oriana gawked at her. That was the last thing she expected to hear when Yana mentioned scolding.
“We found a line mentioning that a woman’s breast size has no impact on her ability to breastfeed a child. So I had him copy that down a hundred times. Azraq hates little more than sitting and writing, so it was the perfect punishment.”
Azraq was extremely tall and muscular, making him quite bulky. Sitting at a tiny desk to write was miserable since it was always too cramped for his long legs, which was why he loathed doing it for any long period. He seemed to enjoy standing more than sitting, perhaps in part because of his job as a bodyguard. Having to sit and write the same line a hundred times probably would count as a scolding for him.
I kinda wish I had been there to see it. Yana, petite as she is, glaring at him while he hunches over a tiny desk and scrawls out the words one by one… It would have made for a bizarre scene, only possible because of the difference in authority between the two of them.
“My mother is relatively tall and voluptuous. But honestly, big breasts are little more than lumps of fat, aren’t they?” Yana grumbled tearfully. Considering how hard she worked every day in the pursuit of beauty, height and breast size were probably a complex for her, since no amount of effort on her part could help her attain them.
Oriana threw her arms around Yana and squeezed. “You’re so adorable.”
Yana was always cute, of course, but since she started speaking about her own romantic feelings, her cuteness had exploded exponentially.
“Oh, please! Just because you’re a little bigger than me!” Yana pouted at her.
“Ehehe!” Oriana proudly puffed out her chest, even though it had nothing to do with why she found her friend so cute. Though she had more to offer than Yana, hers weren’t ba-boing like Constance’s. More like…ba-bing or a small, simple boing.
Yana eyed Oriana coldly, bringing her hands to rest on the sides of Oriana’s chest. Apparently, she was using her fingers as a measure. Once finished, she brought her hands back to her own chest for comparison, but soon her whole body slumped dejectedly.
Oriana gently rubbed her back. “Hey, you’re participating in the dance lessons, right? So you should be able to get acquainted with that Rina girl Lucian mentioned,” she said.
Yana wasn’t well acquainted with Amanecer’s style of dance, so both she and Azraq were attending.
“And,” Oriana continued, “once you get close enough to her, you can ask her what her secret is to getting her breasts that big. Okay? Sound good?”
Yana’s whole face lit up, glimmering like a star—befitting, given her nickname.
She would later manage to safely befriend Rina and inquire about her secrets, to which Rina would respond, “Well, I drink soy milk every day.” Thus, from that day forward, Yana began drinking soy milk every lunch period.
❦❦❦
“HM? Where are Yana and Azraq?” Edda asked, peering about the room. They were probably only seconds away from the bell ringing, announcing the end of their brief recess.
“They have yet to return since leaving to commence a duel,” said Constance.
Oriana supplied, “They might have stopped by the infirmary on the way back.”
There were few instances of Azraq sustaining any injuries during a duel, but that wasn’t to say it never happened. Yana was always sure to drag him off to the infirmary if he received so much as a scratch.
“Lucian, you should give dueling him a shot. Might be a good chance for you to lose your virginity finally,” Edda teased.
“Hey, don’t even joke about that! He’d take my head, and you know it! Besides, I don’t want Azraq to hate my guts, okay?!”
“Jeez, sorry.” Edda frowned.
To Oriana and the other girls, Azraq was little more than an older pupil who was kind yet taciturn, but perhaps the boys had a completely different impression of him.
It wasn’t until a half hour after class had started that Yana and Azraq finally strolled in. Apparently they had stopped by the infirmary, after all. When Oriana asked to see his injury, all she saw was a scratch about the length of her pinky nail. Azraq kept his emotions locked up tight, but even he had to be pretty embarrassed to go to the infirmary for something so minor.
Once their first class was over and everyone left to head to their next one, Oriana parted ways with them so she could run to the bathroom. She was lucky that Lagen Magic Academy enjoyed the luxury of flushing toilets, thanks to being equipped with special magic implements.
“…about Elsha, don’t you think she’s pretty cute?”
She was on her way back from the restroom when she heard a voice and froze in her tracks. A number of boys were chatting in the corridor. Oriana didn’t know how many other Elshas attended the Academy, but she certainly didn’t have the courage to peek her head around the corner where those male students were gathered.
She hugged her books to her chest, still snuggly fastened together by her book band, and pressed her back against the wall, sliding down onto her butt. At least where she was, she was hidden from them. Much as she wanted to head to her classroom, the fastest way was through the hall where they were standing.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Although, Miss Mahathin is ridiculously hot too, ya know.”
“Bälz is pretty cute, but her height and personality are kind of a turn-off.”
Considering the boys had mentioned Yana and Constance as well, it was safe to assume she was the Elsha to whom they referred.
“Remember how we had fieldwork yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“Elsha had her hair tied back, and I could see the nape of her neck.”
The nape of my neck? What about it? Oriana instinctively reached behind her, feeling the back of her neck. She never would have thought the boys would look there, of all places.
“She had a mole there. I couldn’t stop looking.”
“Seriously? That’s sexy.”
“Yeah. You know, I’d like to do it with her and make her cry.”
“Nah, she seems the ugly crying type.”
“Aw, don’t say that.”
“Well, she seems like she’d be pretty easy. You might be able to enjoy a night with her if you shoot your shot.”
All the color drained from Oriana’s face. Like her, many of the girls who attended Lagen Magic Academy were sheltered. Many were brought up quite strictly and kept away from any information pertaining to sex. Professor Wilton had conducted a special class on flower reproduction, with stamens and pistils, but never did they delve into human intercourse.
Oriana, likewise, would probably go without hearing even a single word about it until she got married. Mothers were supposed to be the ones responsible for teaching their daughters about it the day before their first night with their husband. In truth, Oriana had long wondered what she would do about that since she’d lost her own mother at a young age.
Yet for as much of an amateur as she was when it came to sexual discourse, the voices echoing through the corridor made it clear exactly how those boys looked at her. She could just feel the lewd way they’d been scrutinizing her. A visceral disgust crept over her, giving her goosebumps. She’d experienced the same thing before when Rysted was making persistent advances.
Not wanting to listen to this drivel any further, Oriana took to her feet. She could at least get them to stop talking by popping her head around the corner, even if she didn’t make any complaints to them directly. It was easy to reason that in her head, but it required no small amount of courage to be able to appear in front of boys now knowing how they’d been looking at her.
Oriana tried to walk forward, but her feet wouldn’t budge. Her legs were actually trembling. She clenched her hands into tight fists.
Out of nowhere, a voice echoed from around the corner.
“If you gentlemen are in the middle of heading somewhere, might I be allowed to join you? I am quite close with Oriana myself, you see.” The words themselves were kind enough, but there was a barely restrained anger bleeding through his cold voice.
Oriana’s entire body suddenly felt lighter, and in an instant, the trembling in her legs was gone too. When she peeked around the corner, she saw the four boys, and behind them stood Vincent.
“Err, no, we were just messing around, you see.”
Vincent only grew harsher when they tried to make their lame excuses. “Oh? Well, allow me to be frank with you: It’s extremely displeasing to hear you discuss my friend in such a degrading way.”
The boys kept their mouths shut and flinched. There weren’t many students at the school who could talk back to Vincent. Perhaps the main reason was Vincent’s status, but that wasn’t all of it; they saw how strict he was with himself, devoting immense time to his studies, on top of having a dauntless attitude no matter who he interacted with.
Amid the awkward silence that fell between the boys, Vincent added, “And one more thing…” His lips slowly pulled into a smile. “Oriana is quite adorable when she cries.”
The boys gulped, still at a loss for words. Some of them even started blushing in embarrassment.
“So, um…sorry about that.”
After that brief apology, the group scrambled out of there as fast as they could, fortunately heading in the opposite direction of where Oriana was hiding.
“Oho, Vincent, that was awfully naughty.” Miguel grinned from behind his friend.
“Quiet, you.”
As the two bantered with each other, they started in her direction, only for Vincent to freeze in place after a few steps. Their eyes met, and Oriana gave him a small wave.
“You were listening?” he asked.
“Thanks for stopping them. That whole conversation really creeped me out, so you were a lifesaver.” Oriana spoke with a level of annoyance that almost suggested she’d been dealing with a bug landing on her shoulder.
Vincent gave a short chuckle. “Well, happy I could be of service.”
The smile on his face made her heart squeeze. Her lips trembled ever so slightly. You’re always helping me out like that. Always lending me your strength, Vincent.
“Yeah, thanks again,” she said.
❦❦❦
“I’M telling you, it was definitely underwear!”
The boys’ dormitory received quite a shock one early summer morning. After going out running that morning, one boy raced back, mopping up the sweat on his own face with his t-shirt and blushing like crazy as he reported the news.
“It was hanging from one of the trees further back. Since it was close to the girls’ dorm, I’ll bet it was one of theirs. Probably fell after they hung it out to dry.”
“What color was it?”
“Red!”
People were already gathered in the lounge right outside of Vincent’s bedroom door. It was morning routine for him to finish getting ready and climb down the stairs so he could stop by the study hall before classes. Since it was still too early for most of the other inhabitants to be in uniform, they were still clad in pajamas as they clamored together.
Miguel faithfully accompanied Vincent every morning to the study hall. He groggily tottered along beside Vincent, yawning like a sleepy cat.
“Oh, yeah. Dance lessons were running you ragged, so you started running every morning, right?”
“Yep, and thanks to today, I’ve never been more glad I decided to do that.”
“What kind of fabric was it made out of?”
“You seriously think I could see it that well? It was on top of a tree!”
“Then climb it, dummy!”
“Which is why I came back here to search for a ladder, duh!”
Vincent furrowed his brows as he listened in on the conversation. He passed right beside the boys who were deeply invested in the topic, their faces lit up.
“I’m pretty sure the dorm should have a ladder, so I came to grab one.”
“What about asking a janitor?”
“I tried to stop by their office, but no one was there.”
The janitor is missing? And they’re looking for a ladder? Vincent faintly recalled overhearing this same conversation before.
Bang, bang, bang.
Someone was rapping on the door. A sudden silence fell over the boys who’d been gushing about girls’ underwear. Since Vincent was closest to the door, he cracked it open. Much to his surprise, standing on the other side was a completely makeup-less Oriana, her robe barely hiding the casual loungewear she wore beneath.
