An unknown amount of time passed.
Yelena slowly opened her eyes.
What greeted her vision was the all-too-familiar, pure white ceiling of a hospital ward.
“Ah... the hospital ceiling...”
An indescribable sense of relief instantly welled up in her heart, nearly bringing tears to her eyes.
“Thank goodness... I'm still here, I haven't been discharged yet... What happened earlier... the Student Council, the President, and... Greg Sass becoming a Disciplinary Committee member, with me having to guide him... All those terrifying things really were just an overly vivid nightmare... Yes, it must be a nightmare! Thank goodness...”
She secretly let out a long breath of relief, her tense nerves finally relaxing.
However, this feeling of surviving a narrow escape lasted for less than three seconds.
“Yo, Tiny, you're awake?”
A male voice came from the other side of the hospital bed.
This voice...
Yelena's petite body instantly froze as if turned to ice.
Very slowly, painfully so, she turned her neck notch by notch toward the direction of the voice.
Then, she saw.
Sitting on a chair beside the bed was the face that was the source of her nightmare—overly handsome, yet currently making her feel as if plunged into an abyss of ice. With one hand propping up his chin, he was watching her with utter boredom.
Greg Sass.
“Eek—!!”
Yelena let out a squeak like a frightened little animal and abruptly pulled her head under the thin white blanket, curling into a ball and trembling violently.
A tearful, terrified voice drifted out from beneath the blanket:
“W-W-W-Why... are you here?!”
Greg looked at the violently shaking roll of blanket on the bed and answered, “Why can't I be here? I carried you all the way here from the Student Council room.”
“Y-You brought me here?”
Yelena's voice came through the blanket, filled with clear doubt and trembling.
“Who else did you think? There were only three of us in the Student Council room. The President manages a thousand matters a day; did you expect her to personally carry a passed-out Tiny like you over?” Greg said helplessly.
Hearing this, Yelena carefully pulled down the blanket just a tiny bit, revealing only a pair of moist, round eyes to secretly steal a glance at Greg.
With this glance, she realized that Greg's current appearance seemed... a little disheveled?
His dazzling blond hair was currently somewhat messy, no longer meticulous like usual, with a few rebellious strands sticking up.
Most striking of all, on his exposed skin—such as his cheeks and the back of his hands—were several fresh, small scratches. Though not severe, they stood out glaringly on his perfect face.
“Th-The injuries on your body are...?”
Yelena temporarily forgot her fear, subconsciously sticking more of her head out from under the blanket, her round eyes filled with genuine surprise and a trace of concern.
She was deeply worried that her unlucky constitution had flared up and dragged someone else into trouble, as the marks of these injuries looked just like the ones she used to get.
“Uhh, these...?”
Greg didn't seem to expect her to notice. Stunned for a moment, he lowered his head to look at the scratches on his hands, his expression turning somewhat subtle.
He hesitated for a moment before waving his hand, speaking in a tone as relaxed as possible:
“Well... it's nothing. Just on the way here, there were a few... um, minor accidents. Don't worry about it at all, it has nothing to do with you anyway. Just lie back and rest, don't overthink it.”
He tried to gloss over the matter nonchalantly.
However, the more he brushed it off, the more it confirmed the most terrifying guess in Yelena's heart.
“As I thought... it really is because of me!”
The injuries on his body must have been caused by getting too close to me and being affected by my misfortune!
On the way carrying me to the hospital, he definitely encountered bizarre accidents as well!
And yet... even though he got hurt because of me, he didn't blame me at all. He's even taking care of my feelings, telling me not to overthink it...
A strong wave of guilt swept over Yelena like a tidal wave.
She remembered how, before passing out, she had felt such deep fear and disgust toward Greg, believing he was an irredeemable villain.
But now, he...
“Is he... really that bad?”
Thinking back to the academy news about how he saved the first-year freshmen from the Demon King Cult...
Could a person who did something like that really be a pure villain?
Could it be... all this time, I had such deep misunderstandings about him just because of prejudice toward his appearance and some of his past behavior?
Deep down... he isn't actually bad?
Once this thought surfaced, it grew wildly in Yelena's mind like weeds.
When she looked at Greg again, though she was still somewhat timid, the fear in her eyes had faded significantly. It was replaced by a mixture of guilt, emotion, and reevaluation.
He chose to join the Disciplinary Committee... maybe he really wants to change, to fix his image in everyone's eyes, and do something proper?
And yet I passed out directly because of my own prejudice and cowardice, even causing him to get hurt... I'm truly a terrible senior!
Greg had absolutely no idea that inside the mind of this Tiny in front of him, a whole inner drama about the reformation of a prodigal son had just played out.
What he was thinking about right now was a completely different matter.
Greg was actually quite grateful for Yelena's sudden faint, as it provided him with a perfectly valid excuse to skip class, saving him from listening to magic lessons he couldn't understand at all.
Furthermore, if she kept lying there like this, he wouldn't have to do any Disciplinary Committee work at all. All he had to do was wait until the time was up, and then he could return to the dungeon immediately.
Thinking of this, Greg's gaze toward Yelena even softened a bit, and his tone became considerably more sincere:
“It really was just a few minor accidents, don't worry about it at all. Just keep resting well; there's no need to overthink. Your health comes first.”
Hearing this, Yelena was moved to tears inside.
He really is a good person! Even at a time like this, he's still caring about my health!
No! I can't let down his kindness, and I certainly can't fail the task assigned by the President!
Student Greg wants to start fresh. As his senior, and as the Disciplinary Committee member responsible for guiding him, I must help him!
Driven by a strong sense of responsibility and a determination to correct her past prejudice, Yelena suddenly sat straight up from the hospital bed.
She threw back the blanket and nimbly made to get off the bed, a rare expression of resolve on her small face.
“Ex-Excuse me, what time is it about now?”
She asked eagerly while bending down to put on her shoes.
“I-I'll take you right now to familiarize you with the Disciplinary Committee's workflow and precautions! We must get you a basic understanding today!”
The warm expression on Greg's face instantly froze, the corner of his mouth twitching almost imperceptibly.
Wait... this isn't how it's supposed to go, Tiny! Shouldn't you lie back down weakly and say, “Student Greg, I'm feeling a bit unwell today, can we do the work another day”?
Glancing at the sky outside the window, his brain whirred at high speed as he tried to come up with a reasonable excuse to stall:
“Ah, well... Senior Yelena.”
He deliberately used honorifics:
“You see, it looks like the time is... uh, actually, the last class of the afternoon is already over. Plus, it's almost time for the Student Council to dismiss for the day. You had a scare today and just woke up from a faint, so there's really no rush for work. You should rest up first and get better before anything else. I'm really in no hurry—not at all.”
He tried to make his tone sound incomparably sincere, overflowing with thoughtful consideration for her.
However, the more Greg appeared to be considering her well-being, the more Yelena believed he was being considerate toward her.
The sense of mission driving her to take responsibility burned even brighter within her.
“No!”
Having put on her shoes, Yelena stood her petite body straight up, her round face filled with resolve, even taking on a rare air of undeniable authority:
“Today! We must! Familiarize you with the work! This is a task the President entrusted to me, and... and it's my responsibility as your senior!”
Her eyes shone brightly as she looked at Greg, as if fulfilling a sacred mission.
Greg: “...”
The smile remained on his face, but upon closer inspection, the arc of that smile had turned stiff, and the final glimmer of wishful thinking in the depths of his eyes went out.
Looking at the Tiny Senior in front of him who had suddenly become brimming with energy, his grip on the brick hidden beneath the wide sleeves of his academy uniform involuntarily tightened.
No, calm down, Greg, calm down.
Violence won't solve the problem right now, especially since she's with the Student Council, and she seems a bit mentally impaired...
Taking a deep breath, he finally hung an impeccable smile back on his face, nodded to Yelena, and said in a voice that sounded squeezed through his teeth:
“Al...right. Senior Yelena. Then... I'll be in your care.”
Fuck! You useless Tiny!
Rate on N.U.
