Chapter 165

A long silence.

Amidst the festival-like music and noisy sounds ringing out, the two of us glared at each other without saying a word.

It was Serena who broke the silence first.

“Are you saying that seriously right now?”

“……”

“Answer me.”

“……”

But Iri didn’t answer.

Honestly, she couldn’t figure out what she should say. To tell the truth, she didn’t even know why those words had come out of her mouth in the first place.

Her line from just a moment ago had been half-blurted out in the heat of the moment. After cooling her head and thinking about it, she belatedly realized how embarrassing and strange it sounded.

I like him.

I like Aaron Stingray.

Sure, she had declared that without even realizing it herself, but suddenly this question began to creep up inside her.

What does it even mean to like someone?

The first time she saw his face, she had hated him just for the name “Stingray” and had once sworn revenge against him.

But as time passed, and after going through twists and turns, the empty space where those negative feelings had disappeared began to be filled with something else.

And Iri couldn’t exactly define what those feelings were.

‘What on earth is this……?’

It was true that she currently held a feeling of affection toward Aaron.

However, it was different from what she had felt toward the neighbors in Polen, different from what she had felt for her close comrades, and different again from the feelings she had held for her brother.

Whether it really meant the sort of ‘between man and woman’ thing that Raina spoke of—she couldn’t give a definite answer.

‘I don’t know either…….’

She definitely respected Aaron.

She thought he was an incredible person.

At times, he frightened her, and sometimes she hated him, but fundamentally, she wanted to see him happy.

When he frowned in anger, a heavy stone seemed to settle in one corner of her chest.

When he teased her with a smirk, she felt as though she were sinking into the comfort of a feather pillow.

And she grew curious.

How his expressionless, cold face would change if he were to truly laugh. What kind of eyes he would have when he was sad.

She wanted to stand tall and look impressive in front of him, and when she did something shameful, she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

To be blunt.

Throwing herself into the exhausting duties of the Student Council President had partly been driven by her desire to be acknowledged by him.

If she became stronger.

If she became more skilled.

If she became someone indispensable.

Then, just as it had always been until now, he would continue to treat her as a “special existence.”

“……”

But.

She didn’t know why those feelings came to her. No—more precisely……

‘I didn’t want to know.’

Like a flower blooming where no one’s gaze ever reached along the roadside. Like the everyday scenery one simply passes by without thinking. She just wanted to leave it alone, unacknowledged.

But she couldn’t.

—I like Aaron. Please step aside for me.

Serena’s single line had shone a blinding spotlight onto the shadowy place Iri had been trying so hard to ignore.

If it had remained unseen, she wouldn’t have had to care. If she hadn’t even recognized it existed, she could have lived on as though nothing was wrong……

But now she couldn’t.

“……”

Now she had come to know.

She had come to know what her true feelings for him were, and how massive a thing she had been hiding under her bed while pretending not to notice.

Yet realizations don’t always bring joy. Just as they say ignorance is bliss, Iri now couldn’t help but perceive the ravine that stretched between her and Aaron.

The difference in status.

The difference in ability.

The difference in wealth.

The difference in strength.

‘I’m not like Serena.’

Serena could stand at Aaron’s side.

She could not.

A hound may respect its master, but it can never be with them. That was the reality she had neither wanted to know nor admit, yet it now loomed in front of her.

“……”

She simply didn’t want to lose him.

She simply didn’t want to lose to her.

But for that single moment of impulse, she now had to pay an enormous price. For a single mistake, she now had to endure this crushing helplessness and sorrow.

From the day she first met Aaron, when she raged without restraint, she had not grown at all.

“I…….”

Should she take it back even now?

Pretend it was a joke, change her stance as if nothing had happened?

But the monster of emotion inside her had already grown far too big for that.

“……”

And so, Iri could not answer.

She was too ashamed.

If anyone else came to know she harbored such feelings for him, how ridiculous would she look?

Her cheeks burned so hot it felt like they would burst into flames.

If anyone saw her now, they’d surely notice her ears blazing red, turning her whole face into a beetroot. She had never expected that admitting she liked him could be this fatal.

And so.

Iri’s gaze, which at first had been proud and confident, gradually sank lower. At last, completely stripped of confidence, she finally made her decision.

‘I—I have to run away……!’

Iri suddenly shoved back her chair and sprang to her feet. She turned her back to Serena and tried to bolt out of there.

But in that instant.

Serena caught her wrist.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“……What?”

“Your makeup isn’t finished yet.”

“Wha—what are you—!”

“Sit back down.”

Serena’s sharp, intimidating gaze forced me to submit.

If it were purely a matter of strength, as an Adaptee I could have easily shaken off the arm she was holding and dashed away. With just a little force, Serena would have gone tumbling.

But somehow.

I couldn’t bring myself to brush her hand away.

In the end, Serena forced me back into the chair, picked up the brush again, and spoke.

“Close your eyes again.”

“……?”

“What are you waiting for? I said close them. And don’t even think for a second about tearing up. If you do, I’ll have to start all over.”

“……”

Unable to resist her words, I shut my eyes, and Serena’s hand once again moved, applying makeup onto my face.

What was she even thinking?

Wasn’t she the one who wanted me gone? Just as I was about to ask, Serena’s sharp voice warned me.

“If you want to fight me, then do it properly.”

“……Why?”

“Will you run away like this if you face monsters? No, right? Then do it properly if you’re going to.”

Serena continued.

“From now on, learn to do your own makeup, watch your manners, fix your tone, and give it your all. Then, after you’ve given it everything and lost, surrender. I don’t want some hollow victory without a fight either.”

“……”

I couldn’t say anything back.

Instead, I recalled an old memory.

When was it again?

When Serena, who had known nothing, had suddenly appeared in the area where I lived.

At the time, it had been obvious at a glance that she wasn’t from around there—she was awkward, ignorant of how the world worked.

Honestly speaking, looking after someone like Serena had been no different from carrying around a heavy burden in a place where just surviving each day was already hard enough.

And yet, I had accepted her.

We ran together through the filthy backstreets, slept side by side in a cramped room, stole bread together, and when she disappeared without a word, I cried my eyes out.

Looking back, that was probably why I liked Serena so much.

Her boundless trust in me.

Her unyielding self-respect, lofty to the point of seeming arrogant.

“Serena……”

“Shut your mouth. I’m putting on lipstick now.”

Forcing me into silence, Serena quietly focused on her work.

How much time had passed? I felt her hand, which had been working on my face, finally withdraw.

“There. All done. Here’s a mirror.”

“Mm……”

I carefully took the mirror Serena offered me. A part of me worried she might have scribbled something ridiculous on my face, but as expected, Serena wasn’t that petty.

“Your skin tone is really pale, so picking the right color was a pain. Since Aaron hates the flashy Macaw Makeup style, I went as natural as possible.”

“……Thanks.”

“No need.”

Serena replied curtly.

“Think of this as the last token of friendship I’m giving you. The only reason I’m still alive is because you and your brother helped me when I was lost in Sector E.”

“Yeah.”

“And if an Adaptee like you were to really hit me here, my life would be in danger. Got it? Let’s not resort to violence and stick to fair play like civilized people.”

“……Fine.”

“I really mean it, this is the last time.”

“I got it, really……”

At my half-hearted reply, Serena snorted, packed away her cosmetics, and though she frowned, she didn’t look all that unpleasant to me.

I glanced in the mirror again to check my face. Just as she had said, the makeup was light, subtle—so much so that for the time spent, it wasn’t overly obvious.

But the dark circles I’d gotten from overwork seemed a little less noticeable. In short, I looked a bit more… pre—prett—no, I was too embarrassed to use that word. Let’s just say I looked a bit more “presentable.”

“Put the mirror down and wait outside.”

“Okay.”

Before I knew it, I was obediently following Serena’s words. For a brief moment, I wondered if it was okay to act like this toward my rival, but since she’d given me free makeup, I supposed I could let her have this one moment—

“Oh, right. Pay me 10,000 Credits.”

“What!? You’re charging me!?”

“Of course. Do you think we run our business on thin air? Normally I give friends a discount, but for you, I’m charging full price.”

“……That’s dirty.”

“Excuse me, what was that?”

“Che.”

I clicked my tongue but still obediently transferred the Credits to the account number listed on the price board. 10,000 Credits for one makeup session—seriously, where did people get the money to spend like this?

Luckily, I had saved some of the scholarship money I’d received earlier this month. Otherwise, I would’ve had to sit around doing nothing today.

Thinking that, I checked the price board again—there wasn’t a single menu item that exceeded 10,000 Credits.

Which meant I’d been scammed.

“Hey! Serena Beresford!”

“It was a mistake, a mistake.”

“You said fair play!”

“I told you, it was really a mistake!”

Her face didn’t look like it was a mistake at all.

She really was someone I couldn’t afford to let my guard down against.

Thinking that, I hid a faint smile beneath my angry expression.

And from that moment on—

To me, “Serena Beresford” became the woman I cherished most as my “enemy” in this world.

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