They continued to walk.
"I... I like sweet things," she began quietly. "Chocolate especially. And cakes. Anything with a rich, sweet flavor, really. I can never say no to them.
"She paused, then continued. "I also love reading. Mostly history and old records about the Holy Region, but I enjoy poetry as well, there’s sothing about well-chosen words that stays with you long after."
She thought for a mont more, then added, "I enjoy taking care of plants too. There’s a small garden behind the temple that I tend to sotis. It’s nothing impressive, but... it makes feel calm. Grounded."
A faint smile touched her lips. "And stargazing. When it’s quiet at night and the sky is clear, I sotis just sit by the window and look up. It helps think."
Noah listened to every word without interrupting. Not with the casual half-attention of soone waiting for their turn to speak, but genuinely, like he was filing each detail sowhere it wouldn’t get lost.
He was trying to store it in his mory clearly. Not wanting to forget it.
"I’ll rember all of that," he said. "Every single thing....afterall a good friend should know about their friend’s likes."
Sothing about the way he said it, without any decoration, without a smile attached to make it sound lighter. It made her turn and look at him.
He was already looking at her.
They were still walking, the breeze moving gently between them, carrying with it the last of the day’s warmth. His pale white hair shifted slightly with the wind. His blue eyes caught the evening light and held it in that quiet, crystal way they always did.
He smiled. His lips curved slightly.
Not the playful kind from inside the temple. Not the teasing kind that always made her cheeks heat up.
It was softer than that. It was simple and charming.
’He looks...’
Her heart moved before she could stop it.
Badump.
Badump.
Lyria quickly looked away.
’What are you doing, Lyria? Why are you reacting like this? You are not soone who gets swept away just because a man has a handso and charming face. You are not that kind of girl. You have never been.’
She took a quiet breath and steadied herself.
Her heart gradually cald.
They continued walking in silence. The academy gates were visible now in the distance, lit warmly against the dimming sky.
But even as she walked, a thought drifted in and refused to leave.
’Everything he confessed in there... was it really just desire? Just sothing shallow that would pass? Does he feel that way only because I am beautiful...and my body is...little more mature and attractive. ’
She turned it over quietly.
’Or does he... actually feel sothing? Does he have feeling for ?’
She couldn’t tell. And that uncertainty itself was unfamiliar to her, she who had always known her own mind so clearly.
But that smile. That one unguarded, honest smile he had given her while the evening light fell on his face.
She had never felt her heart move quite like that before.
’It must just be a passing thing,’ she told herself firmly.
’Yes...it must be that.. young girls tends to feel like that...it’s nothing much. Also Noah is pervert. I don’t need to feel sothing like that for him...yes I don’t need to...’ she tried her best.
She put her hands behind her back as she walked, eyes on the road ahead.
The city around them had grown quiet. The footpath they were on was nearly empty. The orange sky above was slowly deepening into sothing darker and softer.
She didn’t feel particularly calm right now.
That was strange for her.
But she realized, that she didn’t feel uncomfortable either. More like....she didn’t hate this feeling.
It was weird. This was her first ti feeling sothing like this.
Maybe it was just for today. She would be back to normal by tomorrow.
At least she wished to.
For now she tried to keep her heart calm while walking beside him.
anwhile Noah walked calmly beside her not knowing what kind of storm he had brought to Lyria. Just because he wanted to have so fun.
---
"See you later at the cafeteria," Noah said.
"Yes," Lyria replied simply.
He gave her a small wave as she turned and walked away, her braid swaying gently with each step. He stood there for a mont, watching her go.
"She really is sothing else," he murmured quietly to himself.
He ant it genuinely.
What he had said inside that confession room today, any other girl would have walked out furious. At the very least, she would have given him the cold shoulder for the rest of the evening.
Yet Lyria had still walked back with him through the streets, still spoken to him normally, still answered his questions with that sa quiet warmth she carried everywhere she went.
Just a little red in the face. That was all.
He watched her figure grow smaller down the path until she turned the corner and disappeared from view.
’No wonder,’he thought, the faintest smile lingering on his face. ’She’s going to be a Saintess.’
He rembered it clearly, her character description from the ga. That title had been written right beside her na. At the ti it had just been text on a screen. But standing here now, having spent an afternoon with her, it felt less like a label and more like sothing she had simply always been.
He turned and started walking in the opposite direction, toward the n’s dormitory building.
’Though I hope she doesn’t start developing feelings because of today.’
He thought about it for a mont, then shook his head slightly.
’Probably not. She already knew what Noah was like before the academy. A drunkard. A womanizer. Soone who chased skirts and caused trouble without a second thought.’
’She likely assud today was just more of the sa, a man who noticed a pretty face and let his mouth run ahead of his brain. Thought so bad and dirty things about woman...Nothing deeper than that.’
He exhaled.
’Which is fine.’
His hands slipped into his pockets as he walked through the dimming evening, the last of the orange light fading from the tops of the buildings around him.
’Anyway.’
He rolled his neck once, letting the thoughts settle.
’I need to get back and absorb mana from the mana core. That cos first.’
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