I picked up the nu, mostly for show, still trying to steady my heartbeat.
"So," I said, keeping my voice casual, "you wanna tell why you were grabbing that fork like it owed you money?"
Nora didn’t miss a beat. Her smile didn’t even twitch. If anything, it got sweeter—so sweet it could give soone diabetes.
"Oh? Fork? What do you an, Rin?" she asked, tilting her head ever so slightly. "I was just about to take a bite of my cake."
She even gestured toward the untouched slice on her plate, like a model student pointing to her perfect howork.
Anyone else might have bought it.
Hell, they’d probably feel bad for accusing her in the first place.
But I wasn’t anyone else.
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Right. So your plan was to stab your cheesecake. Not those two idiots."
She blinked slowly. Her eyes shimred, perfectly innocent.
"That’s such a strange accusation," she said softly. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
I leaned forward, resting my arms on the table.
"Nora."
"Hmm?"
"You picked up the fork upside down."
That cracked the mask.
Barely.
Her eye twitched.
A flicker. A heartbeat.
But it was there.
Then, just as quickly, she smoothed it out again, pressing her fingers delicately together on the table like a perfectly composed doll.
"Maybe I was just being quirky?" she tried.
I stared at her flatly.
She finally sighed, the performance slipping away like mist off glass. Her shoulders relaxed and she dropped the sweet act with a small shrug.
"I wasn’t going to stab them," she said, honest now. "Just... nudge. Firmly. In the ribs. Maybe once or twice."
I rubbed my temple. "You do realize that’s not how normal people deal with flirting strangers, right?"
Her eyes narrowed in mock thought. "But what if I’m not normal?"
"You don’t have to say it like that’s a badge of honor."
She gave a small chuckle and took a sip of her drink. The fake smile was gone now.
What replaced it was still composed, still calm—but real. It was the face she only showed when the act slipped and she didn’t care to fix it.
"That seat’s taken," she said, quietly now. "That’s all I was trying to say."
I stared at her.
There was nothing romantic about it. No blushing, no shy glances. Just a calm, quiet territorial statent.
Clear. Final.
Honestly, it was almost scarier that way.
"You could’ve just said that to them, you know."
"I did," she said. "With my eyes."
"...You really need to work on your communication skills."
She humd. "And you need to show up on ti."
I opened my mouth to reply, but honestly, I had nothing.
She had a point.
I sighed and leaned back in my chair.
"You’re impossible."
"Am I ?" she said, setting her cup down with a quiet clink.
I looked at her for a mont... then let out a quiet chuckle.
"I swear, I should start charging hazard pay every ti I et with you."
At first, it felt like just another light jab—typical banter between not—so—freinds. But then, her expression shifted.
It was subtle, but distinct. A flicker of sothing serious behind her eyes. Most people wouldn’t have noticed it.
But I did.
And my stomach dropped.
Wait. Did she not like the joke? Was I pushing too far?
Don’t tell ... is she about to kill with her forks?
"Rin."
Her voice was calm, but there was a weight to it.
"Y-Yes!" I straightened up instinctively.
Damn! My voice break there for mont.
"Let’s cut to the chase." Her tone dropped, the playful edge gone. "No more joking around. I’m serious now."
Oh no.
The real conversation was starting.
"I’m not one to dance around a question, so I’ll get straight to the point."
"Sure, go ahead," I replied casually.
"Do you think Rachel—your sister, the one who’s here as an inspector—might be interested in Ryen?"
I blinked. "...Why are you asking that?"
"Well, you’re her brother. Wouldn’t you know her type? Or at least have an idea of what she likes in a person?"
Now, here’s the problem.
I had no clue.
Because I’m not actually her brother. I only beca Rin after transmigrating into his body.
The real Rin—whoever he was—is gone.
So unless he left a diary titled ’My Sister’s Romantic Preferences and Pet Peeves’, I’m working with nothing here.
In the original novel, Rachel only ever clashed with Ryen—fighting him like it was her full-ti job. But by then, she’d already fallen to villainy. Earlier in the tiline, she was Leo’s first love. So technically, wouldn’t that make her Leo’s heroine?
...Except she shot him down so hard that Leo developed a deep-rooted fear of older won.
Poor guy wouldn’t even look at anyone above twenty for a whole arc.
I wonder if he ever recovered from that trauma?
But obviously, I couldn’t say any of that out loud.
"Honestly, most little brothers don’t really go around morizing their sister’s type, you know?"
"...Hmm. I see," Nora replied, voice unreadable.
Ah crap, did I ss up? Should I have taken the serious route? Like, bowed my head and solemnly promised, ’I will personally see to it that my sister never lays eyes on your precious Ryen’?
Too late now.
And sohow, I feel like this is going to co back and bite .
Hard.
Nora stared at for a few monts longer, eyes unreadable, fingers steepled beneath her chin.
She gave no reaction. No smirk. No witty follow-up.
Just that unreadable, calm expression.
"...You’re right," she finally said, her tone slow and deliberate.
Wait. That was too easy.
"I am?" I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.
"You are," she confird, nodding once. "Most brothers wouldn’t pay attention to sothing like that. Totally understandable."
There was a pause. A long one.
A trap-shaped pause.
She took a sip of her drink and said, almost too casually, "So, does she have a thing for guys with swords?"
Oh.
Oh no.
"That’s... really specific."
She blinked, feigning innocence. "Is it? I thought it was a normal question."
"No, it’s not!"
Her expression didn’t budge.
That wasn’t even slander. That was a fair assessnt.
I sighed. "She’s not staying long. She’s just inspecting classes and making my life miserable in the process."
"Right," Nora said, tilting her head. "But she did follow you to class, sat in the back, and stared at you for forty-five minutes like a mother owl watching her chick leave the nest."
"...Please stop describing it like that."
"She’s terrifying," Nora muttered under her breath.
"She’s really not that bad."
"She threatened our professor with a performance review in the first five minutes."
"Okay, fine. She’s a little intense."
"You call that a little?" I muttered, glaring at her teasingly.
Before I could say anything else, a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over .
Just for a mont.
It passed quickly.
I exhaled, steadying myself.
Everything’s fine... I think.
Then, out of nowhere, I found myself staring at Nora again.
Huh.
Now that I was looking properly... she really was beautiful.
Too beautiful.
My eyes lingered on the way she held her drink, how her lips lightly touched the rim of the cup.
And then—
Gulp.
Damn it. Did I just...?
If only I were that cup... maybe then I could—
—Rin! Snap out of it!
Zaho Yuren’s voice exploded in my head like an alarm bell.
’Ah! Thanks...’
I ntally thanked him. If he hadn’t intervened right then, who knows how far my imagination would’ve gone.
—You need to train your mind more! How could you fall for her ability this easily? Have you learned nothing?
’Yeah, yeah, I get it. So please... shut up now.’
I sighed and forced myself to focus back on Nora, shaking off the haze.
I knew about her talent. I should have been prepared.
But clearly, I wasn’t.
"...What’s wrong?" she asked, eyeing with mild curiosity.
"Hmm? Ah, it looks like your drink’s gotten a little watered down."
She glanced down and stirred the ice-lted cherryade with her straw.
"Ah, you’re right. Well, it happens. Anyway..." she leaned back slightly, "you don’t have any general info to share, then? I’m fine with that."
Right.
Allure.
That was her innate talent.
B-rank on paper, but deceptively dangerous—easily on par with so A-ranks in how much it could screw with your head.
It wasn’t sothing she could control, either. It ca from her bloodline, a passive and insidious pull that attracted people to her.
Ever since she was a child, people had fallen for her without even realizing why.
Admiration. Obsession. Worship. It ca uninvited, and always left her isolated.
She never trusted anyone.
Not until she t Ryen, the one person who looked at her without falling under the spell.
Even then, it didn’t an she was healed. She still carried that hurt inside—quietly, carefully.
And here I was, the supposed mastermind, nearly losing it over a cherryade and her lips.
Pathetic.
"Let’s just say I’ll be more cautious next ti," I muttered under my breath, half to her and half to myself.
Nora didn’t seem to hear —or if she did, she pretended not to.
She just smiled softly and took another sip, eyes never leaving mine.
This ti, I made sure not to stare.
----
Author Note:
Thank you for reading the Chapter. I hope you continue to do read more in future.
It’s my first novel so if there’s any kind of mistakes you find in the novel related to grammar please tell and I’ll edit it as soon as possible.
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