Chapter 490: Change (4)

Although the spell cast by Blue Winter Moon was reinforced, it was ultimately a temporary measure, far too weak to last an entire month.

Hong Bi-Yeon, who hadn’t received any infusion of cold energy from Baek Yu-Seol for nearly a month, was much hotter than he had anticipated. Because of this, he had to spend a considerable amount of time infusing her with cold energy.

— Her condition has improved significantly.

After some time, Baek Yuseol, drenched in sweat, finally caught his breath, and Blue Winter Moon spoke to him.

"...Has it?"

— Yes! I don’t know what happened over the course of this single month, but it’s clear you’ve made tremendous efforts. Rigorous training will greatly aid in absorbing the power of the Scarlet Summer Moon.

Hearing this, Baek Yu-Seol looked at the sleeping Hong Bi-Yeon.

Until just moments ago, he had worried whether she was truly asleep or merely pretending, but now, she seemed undoubtedly at peace, her eyes closed with a serene smile.

’So, I wasn’t the only one putting in the effort...’

It was, of course, to be expected.

Given how talented they were, the expectations placed upon them were immense, forcing them to endure relentless, grueling efforts that brought them to the brink of tears.

Compared to ordinary geniuses, they went through several times more intense training and life-threatening events. It reminded him of how quickly the protagonists of the ’original story’ grew stronger.

But still...

’Even so, had they ever pushed themselves this far?’

He couldn’t recall a time when someone pushed themselves to the extent of completing back-to-back missions rated as risk level 5 or higher, even with an injured body.

After tucking the blanket over Hong Bi-Yeon, Baek Yu-Seol stepped out of the infirmary and was met by Flame and Eisel.

Perhaps because of the earlier comment about artificial respiration, the atmosphere between them was unusually awkward, making it difficult to meet each other’s gaze.

In the past, he might have shrugged it off with a "So what?" attitude, but lately, even minor things felt strangely awkward.

"Flame."

"Oh, uh, yeah? What’s up?"

"Before I came here, I stopped by the faculty office to check the schedule. Why did you plan such an unreasonable timetable? What if someone collapses from overwork?"

When Baek Yu-Seol spoke in a slightly scolding tone, Flame frowned slightly and replied.

"What does it matter? And what about you, old man?"

"Me? Well..."

"You probably spent a tougher summer vacation than us, didn’t you?"

"..."

That wasn’t true.

In fact, he had barely left Stella and spent his time safely training in the gym with Scarlet.

’Do they think I’m some kind of thrill-seeker who always chases after danger zones?’

Absolutely not.

His dream was to live out his days comfortably in a safe haven. The only reason he was enduring all this hardship now was to secure that peaceful future. Once all the incidents were resolved, he fully intended to hole up at home and never come out again.

"..."

"..."

A moment of silence followed.

It was Eisel who eventually broke the awkward stillness.

"Uh. I have a question."

"Hm?"

"When did you start treating that arrogant princess’s curse?"

"..."

For some reason, he had a feeling this question would come up.

Logically, it wasn’t a reasonable question. Why ask that now? Was it necessary?

However, Baek Yu-Seol’s intuition, now sharper than a ghost’s, warned him of the danger in this question.

’You need to prepare to answer this, Baek Yu-Seol! You can do it!’

As if he had a second self, the words swirling chaotically in his head slowly formed into a coherent response.

"Well... it hasn’t been that long."

A vague, noncommittal answer that didn’t specify when or at what point it began.

But any further probing would make the questioner feel more awkward, a deflection tactic he had aimed for.

However, Baek Yu-Seol hadn’t accounted for one thing: Eisel’s persistence was so strong that she didn’t care if it made the situation awkward for herself.

"How recent?"

As if demanding a more precise answer, Eisel’s tone sharpened, prompting Baek Yu-Seol to quickly reply.

"Uh, a month?"

"A month?"

"Maybe two months...? I mean, does it even matter?"

Baek Yu-Seol had no choice but to take the cowardly route, attempting to shut down the conversation entirely. He figured that by responding vaguely, he could leave the other person with nothing more to say.

But Eisel was far too clever for that.

"Of course it matters."

"... Why?"

"Because I spend more time with that arrogant princess than you do."

"What?"

"From what I hear, you’re infusing her with cold energy. Wouldn’t it make sense for me to help out?"

"That’s... Impossible."

Eisel’s eyes narrowed in suspicion at Baek Yu-Seol’s firm response.

"Why not? I consider myself quite skilled in cold magic."

"It... it’s not just about simple cold magic!" Baek Yu-Seol stammered. "If it were that easy, someone would’ve resolved it long ago! Do you think the royal family of Adolevit has been struggling all this time because they’re too stupid to figure it out?"

"Hmm... Well, you’ve got a point there."

Even as he said this, Baek Yu-Seol felt a slight pang of guilt. Eisel’s father, Isaac Morph, had reached a breakthrough just before his death, discovering that the right kind of cold energy could indeed alleviate Adolevit’s curse.

Naturally, such a thing was beyond Eisel’s current abilities. And even if it weren’t... Baek Yu-Seol had no intention of sharing the method with her.

"Cold energy infusion... does it involve using the blessing of Blue Winter Moon?"

This time, it was Flame who spoke. Baek Yu-Seol nodded reluctantly, feeling like a criminal confessing a secret.

"Something like that..."

"Well, if that’s the case, it makes sense why we wouldn’t be able to help," Flame said, standing up.

There wasn’t much reason to continue sitting around outside the infirmary.

As Baek Yu-Seol awkwardly stood to follow her, Flame suddenly turned her head sharply and spoke again.

"But..."

"Hmm?"

"It really is just a medical procedure, right?"

"Of course it was... obviously."

"Alright then. I get it."

Whether she was satisfied with his answer or not, she turned her head sharply and scurried off, her short legs moving quickly as she took the lead.

Behind him, Eisel was closely following, her gaze so piercing that it was hard for Baek Yu-Seol to turn around and look at her.

’Why are they acting like this...?’

He felt like he might understand, but at the same time, he didn’t want to. That was his current state of mind.

***

As evening fell and the sun dipped below the horizon, Hong Bi-Yeon finally woke up.

Baek Yu-Seol, Eisel, and Flame, who had been chatting with the Tower Master, immediately prepared to leave and returned to the infirmary.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

It was a remarkably bland exchange, but her expression said otherwise.

Hong Bi-Yeon’s lips were subtly curved upward and there was an unusually bright expression for her. It was so different that she could almost be mistaken for someone else.

Baek Yu-Seol refrained from asking foolishly what had put her in such a good mood. He trusted that she wouldn’t remember the medical procedure from earlier.

"Judging by your bright expression, I guess you’re all better now."

Hong Bi-Yeon shrugged her shoulders.

"Who knows."

"You’re still in pain?"

"My head hurts a little."

"...That doesn’t seem right," Eisel interjected. "That annoying smirk of yours only comes out when you’re completely fine."

"My face being annoying is just a given. Where else are you going to find someone who looks like me?"

Her confident words had enough merit to back them up.

Of course, Eisel herself possessed a beauty comparable to Hong Bi-Yeon, but since she didn’t care much about her appearance, she was almost defenseless against such provocations.

"You little...!"

Clenching her fist silently, Eisel trembled with frustration.

Looking back, it was amusing. In the story, Hong Bi-Yeon and Eisel had always been neck-and-neck in character popularity polls...

"Anyway, I’m still sick, so go grab my stuff for me."

"Ugh. I can’t even punch her because she’s a patient."

When Flame threw the suitcase roughly in her direction, Hong Bi-Yeon casually caught it midair using telekinesis.

’So, the whole "I’m still sick" thing was obviously a lie.’

Just observing the flow of her mana was enough to tell that she was perfectly fine. Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t help but wonder when the proud Princess Hong Bi-Yeon had become someone who would even resort to lying like this.

Hong Bi-Yeon pulled out some casual clothes from the suitcase, laid them on the bed, and suddenly stood up, reaching to lift her hospital gown.

"Hey. Are you crazy?!"

Baek Yu-Seol was unfazed and simply turned away. Though he couldn’t miss the subtle, mischievous smile that appeared on her face at the last moment.

"I’m still wearing underwear."

"That’s not the point! You’re a princess. Should you really be so casual about showing yourself to others like this?"

"I’m not showing myself to just anyone. I knew you’d turn around anyway."

"Ugh."

For Baek Yu-Seol, this was just another odd moment in his life.

’... This feels like something straight out of a Japanese manga.’

He never would’ve imagined Hong Bi-Yeon would change so much.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he waited as if none of this fazed him. A moment later, Hong Bi-Yeon, having changed into her casual clothes, spoke up.

"Let’s go."

When he turned around, he saw her carefully stepping off the bed and putting on her sneakers. She was wearing a white shirt with some random phrase ’Ardi’ or something like that... printed on it. Even though Baek Yu-Seol wasn’t well-versed in fashion, he could tell it was a trendy T-shirt.

The lightweight jacket she had thrown over it suited her perfectly, but that wasn’t the real surprise. It was rare to see her in casual clothes, so even Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t help but pause and silently wait for a moment.

As Hong Bi-Yeon stood up, she stretched out her long legs in a pair of jeans, as if to flaunt her figure. To anyone unfamiliar with her, she could easily pass as a model without much effort.

"Heading back? Then let’s go together."

Hong Bi-Yeon said cheerfully, but Baek Yu-Seol shook his head.

"No, I have something to take care of here. The dark mages are showing some suspicious movements. I need to deal with it."

"Is that so...?"

Flame gave Baek Yu-Seol a curious look.

"You talk about these things so casually now? You used to keep them tightly under wraps."

"Did I?"

It wasn’t like he’d ever gone out of his way to hide anything. He simply hadn’t seen the need to bring it up.

"In that case, can’t we go with you?"

"No."

On this matter, Baek Yu-Seol was firm.

"You’ve already exhausted yourselves juggling multiple level 5 risk missions. Go back and rest. Especially you, Hong Bi-Yeon. You’re still technically a patient. You even said yourself earlier that you weren’t feeling well."

"That was..."

At this point, there was no way for her to retract her earlier lie without diminishing the weight of her words as a princess.

In the end, Hong Bi-Yeon’s own attempt to play around had backfired on her.

"So all three of you, go back quietly."

"Well... if you insist that strongly, I guess we don’t have a choice."

"Yeah..."

If not for Hong Bi-Yeon’s earlier claim, Eisel and Flame might have stubbornly insisted on going with him. Now, however, they simply shot subtle glares at Hong Bi-Yeon, who remained unfazed and maintained her confident smile.

"Anyway, don’t wander off and go straight back, got it?"

Baek Yu-Seol’s firm tone carried an odd weight that made it hard to argue.

After emphasizing his instructions several times, Baek Yu-Seol disappeared somewhere, leaving the three of them standing there in silence.

Then Flame glanced at the calendar and casually suggested,

"... There’s still a bit of time before classes start. Should we swing by the beach for a while?"

No one objected.

It was an unfortunate story for Baek Yu-Seol, but these girls truly didn’t know how to listen.