Chapter 167: Interlude – Warmth

The mentoring program, filled with more chaos than usual, had finally come to an end. By all rights, I should’ve been suspended or received an even harsher punishment for what had happened in my group. After all, I had beaten a senior so badly he could barely move. But thankfully, Aaron, Bella, and Raios agreed to the same story, that we got injured fighting a demonic monster during the session. And so, the whole mess was swept neatly under the rug.

It was not like Aaron could tell the truth. How could he proudly admit he got three of his ribs broken by a junior from the year below? Still, I had been worried for a bit that Aaron would hold a grudge and try to take it out on Laneige. However, it seemed he wasn’t that stupid. After returning to the academy, he had shut himself in the infirmary and hadn’t shown his face.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but worry. I had stopped by the fourth-year lecture hall a few times, just to make sure Bella didn’t pick on her either. Luckily, I didn’t see any signs of direct bullying. Sure, the other cadets still ignored Laneige, but at least no one dared to touch her now. Moreover, Laneige no longer looked so small and withdrawn. She faced their coldness with a calm, steady expression.

“It’s not exactly a happy ending, but it’s close enough,” I muttered.

She was doing far better than before, but the real issue, her Blessing of Frost, hadn’t been resolved. A terrifyingly powerful blessing slumbered inside her. As far as I knew, few blessings could match it in sheer strength. It was a power capable of freezing half the continent.

Usually, a blessing acted as an auxiliary ability for a hero. Their main strength came from the mana in their soul stigmata. They used mana for their main fighting style, be it magic, swordsmanship, or other combat arts. The blessing merely enhanced those powers.

Yurina was the same. Even though she had awakened the Blessing of Moonlight, she didn’t rely solely on that to fight. But there were always exceptions, depending on the nature of the blessing itself.

In my previous life, Laneige fought using nothing but her blessing—no spells and no sword techniques, just pure, overwhelming force. Of course, the true power of a blessing depended on how it was used, but for Laneige, the Blessing of Frost was both her Alpha and Omega.

Right now, I could only hope that her blessing wouldn’t awaken at all. Her power was so strong that even she couldn’t control it. It was the same reason Aaron couldn’t handle his Blessing of the Meteor. In her case, however, it wasn’t just her body that paid the price; everything around her would too. Suppressing her own gift instead of drawing strength from it, what a cruel paradox it was.

“Ugh!” I groaned at the thought of it.

As for whether it was even possible to stop a blessing from awakening, truthfully, I didn’t know how blessings awakened in the first place. Some heroes awakened naturally by chance, and some after long years of training; others only at the brink of death. In short, there was no rule.

“Haaah! This is driving me crazy.”

I was deep in thought when a quiet tapping echoed through the room. When I opened the door, Laneige was standing there, holding a large pot.

“Um, are you feeling better?” she asked shyly.

“Why are you being so polite?” I replied.

“Ah, I-I just… you’re my savior, so…”

“You don’t have to speak so stiffly. Just talk normally.”

Her cheeks flushed as she looked up at me hesitantly. “R-really? Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“T-then, you should talk casually with me too, Dale.”

“That’s a little…”

She suddenly stepped close, eyes glimmering with determination. “P-please?”

I couldn’t help but nod in surrender. “O-okay. Fine. I’ll talk casually.”

“Mm-hmm. Hehehe.”

“By the way, what did you bring?”

“I heard you weren’t feeling well, so…”

“Ah.”

Since Aaron had been hospitalized, it would’ve looked strange if I had walked away unscathed. So, I had told everyone I got hurt too.

Laneige continued, “You’re from the Republic, right, Dale? I looked it up, and apparently, people there eat warm porridge when they’re sick. So, I made some chicken porridge.”

Chicken porridge, huh.

It was a thoughtful and fitting choice.

“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it,” I said.

She peeked into my room, curious. “Um, is it okay if I come in for a bit?”

“Ah, sure.”

“Hehe.” Laneige stepped inside with a bright, innocent smile. Her eyes darted around, as if they were studying a fascinating new world. “So, this is your room.”

“There’s not much to see,” I replied.

“That’s not true. If I look closely, I can learn a little about you.” She walked over to the shelf, picked up an empty wine bottle, and smiled faintly. “You like wine, huh?”

“Just once in a while.”

“Mm, I see.”

She pulled a small notebook from her pocket and began scribbling down. “Drinks wine sometimes. Owns two sets of casual clothes, prefers darker colors, right-handed, likes comfortable cloth sneakers.”

What the hell? Is she conducting a crime scene investigation? I thought.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She laughed nervously. “Huh? Oh, n-nothing! Ehehe.”

She placed the pot on the table, scooped a portion into a small bowl, and handed it to me. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

“Um, should I feed you?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Her sparkling eyes dimmed a little, and she lowered her head. “Oh!”

As I ate, I studied her quietly. Her long violet hair shimmered under the light. Her skin was smooth and pale, her nose high and straight, and her chin delicately shaped. Back when she was always withdrawn, it was easy to miss it, but up close, Laneige looked stunning.

Even in my past life, some heroes had sided with the Witch of the Night because of her beauty. Most of them, of course, ended up frozen solid for their trouble.

“How is it? Does it taste okay?” she asked.

“It’s good.”

Just like the soup she had made before, she did have a talent for cooking.

“That’s a relief,” she said softly, smiling in that gentle, slightly awkward way of hers.

However, the warmth in her expression soon faded. Her face grew tense as she asked in a trembling voice, “Um, D-Dale, are you okay?”

“About what?”

Her words quivered, her eyes filled with fear. “Because I… I’m the daughter of a demon.”

She wasn’t wrong. Demonic blood did flow through her veins, and it wasn’t just any demon’s blood; it was the blood of the one once called an Archbishop.

I replied, “If I said it doesn’t bother me, that’d be a lie.”

She kept quiet.

I continued, “But even so, I want to believe in you more than I want to fear you.”

“You want to believe in me?”

“Yeah.”

Because I knew she hadn’t chosen to become the Witch of the Night. I knew she hadn’t wanted to become the monster that froze half the world. I believed her. Moreover, since I was the one who had reached out to take her hand, I would do everything in my power to make sure that hand never turned to ice again. That was the destiny of the hero who had decided to hold the witch’s hand.

Tears welled up in Laneige’s eyes. “Ah! No one has ever said that to me before.”

She bit her lip hard and, then, like a dam breaking, began to sob. “Thank you. Thank you, Dale. For believing in me.”

How much pain had she endured? How many nightmares had she lived through? All simply because she was born as a demon’s daughter? Without realizing it, I placed a hand gently on her trembling shoulder.

Laneige let out a quiet gasp, then carefully clasped my hand between both of hers. “It’s warm.”

She pressed her cheek softly against my palm, smiling through her tears. It was a smile I had never seen before, not even once in my past life.

Why? Why does it make me feel so relieved to see her smile like that? I wondered.

“I’ll. I’ll do my best,” she said suddenly.

“Do your best at what?”

Her eyes sparkled with determination as she clenched her fists. “I’ll work hard so that I can live up to your faith in me! R-right now, my grades are terrible, and my magic’s a mess! But I’ll get stronger! Strong enough to protect you one day!”

No, Laneige. You’re not supposed to get stronger.

I swallowed the words rising to my throat and forced an awkward nod instead. “Just… don’t push yourself too hard.”

“No! Even if it hurts, I will get stronger!”

No, you really shouldn’t, I said internally.

She continued, “Actually, um, it’s kind of embarrassing to say this myself, but I’ve been suppressing my power all this time.”

“Suppressing it?”

“Y-yeah. Because if I used it, everyone would call it a demon’s power. B-but now I don’t need to hold back anymore! Because I have you, Dale!”

I kept silent.

Her voice trembled. She tugged softly on my hand, her eyes filled with desperate fear. “I-I can do anything for you! So please. Don’t abandon me.”

A sigh slipped between my lips. “People aren’t things, Laneige. There’s no such thing as throwing someone away. Anyway, fine. Having a goal isn’t a bad thing. But promise me one thing.”

“What promise?”

“Put your safety above everything else. And if that power you’ve been suppressing ever goes out of control, you come to me first. No matter what. Got it?”

Her eyes widened. “Ah!”

Then, in a trembling whisper, she murmured, “You really… care about me. Dale…”

“Yeah?”

“Dale. Dale. Dale. Haa!Haa!”

She kept repeating my name until she turned breathless, her voice trembling more with each word.

Suddenly, she stood up, flustered and red-faced. “I-I should go!”

“Ah, okay.”

I walked her to the door.

As we reached the door, she turned around. “Um, Dale?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I, uh, get your Hero Watch number?” she asked.

“Of course.”

Honestly, it was a good idea. If I wanted to keep an eye on her, on a walking time bomb that could explode at any moment, I needed a way to contact her.

She turned on her Hero Watch, grinning like a fool at the empty contact list, which now had only one entry: me. “Hehe! Dale’s number.”

Laneige waved. “T-then, goodnight, Dale!”

She hurried away, her footsteps oddly frantic.

I tilted my head, watching her disappear down the corridor. What’s with her? Did she suddenly need the bathroom or something?

Closing the door, I flopped back onto my bed. “Phew!”

After everything that had happened, exhaustion hit me all at once. I decided to just rest a bit. Maybe it was because I had used the Primordial Flame against Aaron, but a heavy, irresistible drowsiness washed over me. Without fighting it, I drifted off into sleep.

For some reason, I dreamed I was wandering through a strange room, trying to escape from a place filled with dozens of tiny bells hanging all around me.

***

The next morning, I woke up, stretched, and reflexively checked my Hero Watch.

[You have 257 unread messages.]

“What?”

I frowned and opened my inbox.

Laneige: U-um, Dale.

Laneige: Thank you so much for today.

Laneige: If it weren’t for you, I’d never have felt this way in my whole life.

Laneige: Ah! Am I bothering you by messaging like this?

Laneige: I’m sorry.

Laneige: I wasn’t thinking straight.

Laneige: I guess I shouldn’t have contacted you without asking first, right?

Laneige: I’m really sorry. It’s just that I’ve never texted anyone before, so I didn’t know what to do.

Laneige: Dale, are you mad at me?

Laneige: Why aren’t you replying?

.

.

.

Laneige: Oh, or is it because I thought of you while doing something bad?

Laneige: I’m sorry. I won’t ever do it again.

Laneige: I didn’t think you’d notice.

Laneige: I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

Laneige: It’s my fault.

Laneige: Please, don’t abandon me.

On and on it went, in that same frantic tone, a flood of desperate, rambling messages.

“No. Wait. What the hell is this?” I muttered.

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