"Sometimes, the brightest flame isn't meant to burn others. Perhaps... it is merely silently chasing the shadow of another light, longing to stand side by side with it, even if only to illuminate a similar path."
Greg cleared his throat, breaking the stiff atmosphere along the tree-lined path in a tone that was slightly deep and gentle.
The words sounded somewhat profound, entirely out of character for him, and instantly captured the attention of everyone present, including Lilith.
The originally noisy chatter died down as curious gazes locked onto him, wondering what on earth the guy meant by those words.
Sensing that he had successfully commanded the crowd's attention, Greg's gaze settled calmly on Lilith, whose face was still sour. Cutting straight to the chase without beating around the bush, he said:
"Princess Lilith, in truth... you deeply admire your sister, Princess Vivian, don't you?"
"..."
The moment the words left his mouth, a brief silence fell over the surroundings, followed immediately by an even louder wave of skepticism.
"Huh? What is he talking about?"
"Princess Lilith admiring Princess Vivian? How could that be possible?"
"Aren't the personalities of the two princesses completely opposite? One is calm and rigorous, while the other is proud and dazzling..."
"Exactly! Besides, Princess Lilith is such a genius. Why would she admire someone else? Not even Princess Vivian, right?"
"Right! I suspect Greg Sass has lost his mind. Is he talking nonsense just to change the subject?"
Absurdity and disbelief were written across almost everyone's face.
In their eyes, how could Lilith Kahn, a once-in-a-century magical genius, admire a sister who, though outstanding, couldn't match her own talent?
It was something completely beyond their comprehension.
Meanwhile, Lilith, having her inner thoughts exposed so directly, bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Her delicate, beautiful face flushed crimson in an instant, the red spreading all the way to the tips of her ears.
As if hearing something entirely impossible, she shook her head violently, her voice rising in excitement and embarrassment, laced with obvious panic:
"W-What kind of nonsense are you talking about?! Wh-Who admires Dear Sister?! I don't! Absolutely not!"
She tried to cover up her guilt with a louder voice and a firmer denial, but her darting eyes and flushed ear tips completely betrayed her inner turmoil.
Greg had long anticipated Lilith's reaction and remained completely unmoved.
Taking a step forward, his eyes remained locked on Lilith. His tone was steady, carrying a certainty that came from knowing every detail:
"Is that so? Then why is it that... every time an event is held in the academy auditorium, whenever Princess Vivian takes the stage to deliver a speech as the student representative, you always arrive early? Why do you sit alone in the third row on the left side near the aisle—a corner where you can clearly see the podium without easily attracting the speaker's attention? And why do you lean forward slightly the entire time, the recording magic crystal in your hand glowing with a faint light from start to finish, more focused than any student taking notes?"
"And why, during the entrance assessment, when you successfully cast 【Flame Burst】 and drew gasps and applause from everyone around you, was your first reaction not joy or relief, but immediately turning to look toward the Student Council building, frowning slightly, and asking the instructing professor in a low voice: 'Professor, with my current control and power... about what level is this compared to Dear Sister when she was in the same year?'"
"Furthermore, whenever you visit the newspaper and periodical section of the academy library, you always make a point to detour to the shelf holding back issues of 《Academy Daily News》. You casually pull out the issues covering Princess Vivian receiving major honors, completing high-difficulty missions, or publishing specialized treatises. Though you only flip through them quickly, after doing it so often, even the work-study students organizing the newspapers noticed."
"Enough!!!"
Before Greg could finish, he was cut off by Lilith's scream of equal parts shame and panic.
She widened her beautiful red eyes, filled with utter shock, panic, and the sheer humiliation of having been seen right through.
She pointed at Greg, her finger trembling slightly:
"Y-Y-You... How do you know all of this?!"
Although these things weren't top secret, such small individual details shouldn't have attracted anyone's particular attention!
And how did he know every single one so clearly?
"After clearing your personal story line a few times, not only do I know these, but I even know your favorite... cough, positions like the back of my hand."
Naturally, Greg could never say those words out loud.
Meeting Lilith's shocked gaze, a complex and unreadable smile appeared on his face—one that seemed to carry a hint of understanding, a touch of a sigh, and a bit of... depth.
"Because..."
He deliberately slowed his speech, making his voice sound deeper and more magnetic as he stared intently at Lilith:
"I've been... watching you all along, Lilith."
These words were like a pebble dropped into a calm lake, stirring ripples once again.
The surrounding students showed even more surprised and curious expressions, their gazes darting back and forth between Greg and Lilith.
"W-Watching me?!"
Lilith's face grew so red it looked ready to bleed. She shook her head violently, attempting to dispel the strange fluttering and confusion in her heart:
"W-What nonsense are you talking about?! What do you mean by watching me all along?! Besides... besides, what you said just now... doesn't prove at all that I admire Dear Sister! That... that was just... just..."
She scrambled to find a reasonable explanation, but her mind was in complete disarray from extreme shock and embarrassment, leaving her stuttering and unable to form coherent sentences.
"No."
Greg shook his head, interrupting her futile defense.
His expression turned uncommonly solemn, even taking on a trace of empathetic loneliness.
"You can't fool me, Lilith."
He paused before dropping a massive bombshell that took everyone completely off guard:
"Because... the truth is, I've also been admiring Princess Vivian all along."
"..."
"!!!"
This time, the surrounding silence was even more absolute than before, as if even the sound of the wind and distant birds had vanished.
Everyone's expression shifted instantly from curiosity and doubt to unbelievable shock, as if they had just heard pure fantasy.
"Wh... What did he say? Greg Sass... admires President Vivian?!"
"The same Greg Sass who once looked down on the engagement and was even stripped of it by the royal family?!"
"If he admires Princess Vivian, why did he agree to break off the engagement in the first place? And during his two years at the academy, he's clearly avoided her like the plague and never had any direct interaction with her! What kind of admiration is that?!"
The immense sense of absurdity and cognitive shock caused everyone's minds to temporarily freeze up.
Yet looking at Greg's affectionate and lonely expression, for a moment they couldn't tell whether he was joking or had genuinely gone mad.
Even Lilith, who had been dying of shame and anger, was so stunned by his claim that she temporarily forgot her own embarrassment and stared at Greg in astonishment.
However, just as the crowd's discussion over these successive bombshell statements was about to heat up again, it felt as though an invisible hand instantly clutched everyone's throats.
All the chatter, gasps, and doubts stopped abruptly within less than a second, as if muted by a button.
Only the rustling of the wind through the leaves remained, harsh and distinct.
Greg was currently immersed in the devoted persona and empathetic emotions he had meticulously crafted, channeling all his energy into brewing his next performance, completely unaware of the eerie silence around him.
He was even smugly calculating in his heart:
Anyway, Vivian isn't here to see this in person.
By the time word reaches her ears, I'll just firmly deny it or claim someone was spreading rumors. After all, with my terrible reputation, people could say anything about me.
As long as there's no concrete proof, what can a stickler for rules like her do to me?
Holding onto this shameless, dead-pig-doesn't-fear-boiling-water optimism, Greg took a deep breath. The loneliness on his face deepened as he slowly shook his head, continuing his monologue in an even lower voice:
"This... can't be helped, right?"
"Princess Vivian... she is so strong, so beautiful, like unmelting ice and snow atop a high peak—calm, self-disciplined, always knowing what she ought to do and where she ought to go. She carries the expectations of the kingdom and the duties of the academy, yet she has never shown a single moment of cowardice or hesitation before anyone."
He looked sincerely at Lilith, his tone vibrating with strong empathy:
"But it is precisely because of this that I understand you, Lilith."
"Stop fooling yourself. You and I... are actually the same."
"We are both, in our own ways, uncontrollably... admiring that dazzling Princess Vivian. We long to draw close to that light yet fear being burned by it; we crave her approval yet feel timid due to our own shortcomings. This feeling... I understand it all too well."
Greg pressed forward step by step, his words earnest, giving a flawless performance of mutual resonance and understanding between fellow secret admirers.
Facing Greg's relentless pressure, Lilith felt her last line of mental defense on the verge of collapsing.
Finally, she glanced behind Greg, then looked back at Greg, and in sheer desperation, shouted at him with all her might:
"I-I don't! I don't admire Dear Sister like this idiot does! Th-This is just him talking to himself!!!"
Then, unable to stand staying here for even one more second, she whirled around, wiped the corner of her eyes with her arm, and sprinted off toward the dormitory area at a breakneck speed as if running for her life, skipping class entirely.
"..."
Watching Lilith's retreating figure as she fled in panic, Greg stood where he was. The affectionate, forlorn expression on his face faded rapidly, reverting to his usual laziness.
"Sigh, that girl... really is a textbook tsundere."
"Though I did intend to get a little revenge on her, is this effect a bit too over-the-top? Did I actually make her cry?"
He silently complained and reflected in his heart.
But soon, he acutely sensed something off.
Wait...
Her last sentence... why didn't it sound like it was directed at me?
And... why did it get so quiet around here?
Greg finally pulled himself entirely out of his performance, belatedly realizing the anomaly in his surroundings.
He slowly turned his head, casting his gaze behind his side.
The previously gossiping crowd had somehow vanished silently like a receding tide, completely gone without a trace.
The tree-lined path was deserted, with only a few stray leaves blown down by the wind swirling past.
And standing silently against the backdrop of that empty scene, roughly ten paces away from him, was a young girl.
Her lake-blue hair was meticulously bound into a ponytail. Her ice-blue eyes were calm without a ripple, and her delicate face bore no expression whatsoever. She was simply... watching him quietly.
Vivian Kahn.
She stood there, her posture straight like a flawless ice sculpture.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps between leaves, casting mottled shadows upon her, yet it failed to melt even a fraction of the chill radiating from her whole body—a chill cold enough to freeze the very air.
Greg's eyelids twitched violently and uncontrollably several times.
Holy... crap!
How could it be this coincidental?! When did she arrive?! How much did she hear?!
A chill shot straight from his tailbone to the top of his head.
He opened his mouth, feeling his throat go dry. Forcing a smile on his face that looked uglier than crying, he tried to fix the situation in a dry voice:
"Uhh... well... let me explain... things aren't what you just heard... this is actually... really just a misunderstanding... do you believe me?"
His defense sounded pale and feeble; even he found it utterly unconvincing.
Vivian listened quietly until he finished, her ice-blue eyes still without a ripple, as if watching a clumsy monologue that had nothing to do with her.
She didn't say a word.
There were no questions, no scolding, not even a frown or a cold glare.
She simply... gave Greg one last calm look, turned around, and walked away.
Her blue ponytail swayed gently behind her. Her back was as straight as a pine, with no backward glance or intention to linger—though her pace seemed slightly faster than usual.
"..."
Greg stood frozen in place, watching the blue silhouette gradually recede into the distance until it vanished at the far end of the road.
A gust of wind swept through, rustling the fallen leaves on the ground with a soft shhh, accentuating the desolate silence of the surroundings.
The awkward smile on his face slowly crumbled, finally turning into complete numbness and an utter loss of the will to live.
After standing dazed for a few seconds, he seemed to suddenly lose all his strength. He stumbled back a step, leaning against the thick trunk of a plane tree, then slowly slid down, plonking his butt right onto the cold stone path.
He raised his head limply, gazing blankly up at the far autumn blue sky fractured by the branches and leaves of the plane tree. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he let out a sigh:
"Heh... heheh..."
"Look at that..."
"Now... a world where nobody got hurt... has been achieved."
Rate on N.U.
