3. Corydalis’s Crush

Ever since bumping into her in the corridor, I couldn’t get that girl out of my mind. Soon, I found myself gazing at her whenever I could.

At first, this was because part of me had some lingering doubts about her being a spy, and I wanted to keep an eye out for whether the contents of the documents had been leaked to anyone outside our department—but that turned out to be a needless worry. She was just an ordinary lady-in-waiting from the royal palace.

What I learned after looking into her was that she was named Stellaria, and that she served as a personal attendant to the first princess, Artemisia. She had quite the reputation too.

Stellaria excelled at her job. Heck, she was so good at telling it like it is that she could actually get that selfish princess to listen to her. And it wasn’t just the eldest one either—I heard that Stellaria looked after the other two princesses and the crown prince too. She enjoyed the confidence of the queen as well, and rumor had it that she was on track to claim the position of chief lady-in-waiting.

Every rumor I heard was about how talented or capable she was—all pretty intimidating stuff. She hadn’t seemed so straitlaced the day I’d met her, though. If anything, she’d given off a sweet, gentle vibe. Was that just because she’d kept a smile on her face the whole time?

Everyone claimed that she was “a top-notch lady-in-waiting (in a no-nonsense kind of way),” but my impression from meeting her was “a cute, mellow girl (by my definition).” Which is the real Stellaria? Now I really want to find out.

As that curiosity grew, I took to watching her more and more often.

* * *

“Your Highness, it’s time for your lesson! Don’t even think about running off!”

“Ha! Catch me if you—ack!”

“Cheeky, aren’t we? Now then, it’s back to your chambers we go.”

“Fiiine...”

Playing tag with the naughty little prince today, eh? I mean, if you could even call it tag, considering she caught him the moment he started talking smack! You could put up a little bit more of a fight, Your Highness!

Upon watching that game of tag end in the span of a second, I burst out laughing. “Pfft—aha ha!”

“What is it? You’re giving me the creeps,” said the commander beside me, casting me a dubious glance.

“Oh, nothing.”

“Uh-huh. Say...it’s not the prince you were smiling at, was it?”

“Of course not.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

The prince may have a cute face, but there’s nothing cute about his behavior. Well, so long as I don’t join the Royal Guard any time soon, at least I’ll never have to worry about babysitting the brat. Being forced to deal with him on a daily basis can’t be much fun for her.

Still, I was surprised to see how quick on the draw she was. She’d scruffed the nimble little prince, tucked him under her arm, and carried him off to his room, all in the blink of an eye.

Not even His Fussiness is allowed a word in edgewise! She’s going to make a great mother someday... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What am I even thinking?! A great mother? Don’t get ahead of yourself, Corydalis!

When he saw me shaking my head furiously to rid myself of those stray thoughts, the commander gave me a really weird look. “Are you all right, Corydalis?”

“I’m fine. I’m feeling overworked by my slave-driver of a boss, but that’s nothing new.”

“Interesting. I’ll be sure to tell the commander of the chivalric order you called him that.”

“Hey, don’t you dare!”

He’s not the commander I’m talking about, and you know it!

* * *

The more I observed her, the more I noticed the disparity in her behavior. During moments like her recent prince-nabbing, she was downright authoritarian. But when she was, say, taking a break with her co-workers in the cafeteria, she’d always smile happily, with a gentle look on her features.

She was very good at switching between work mode and personal mode.

Now that I was actually keeping an eye out, I started spotting her in more and more places. Sometimes I’d see her in the corridors of the royal palace, and sometimes in the garden. Being the accomplished lady-in-waiting she was, it seemed she was always busy with something.

What’s more, I got her to remember me well enough to acknowledge me whenever we made eye contact.

“Whew! That’s it for today’s training session. Now that we’re on break, who wants to hit the cafeteria?” I suggested to my men one day.

“Me!”

“Me too!”

“Me third!”

“Good. Then wash off all that sweat and go get yourselves changed.”

“Yes, sir!” came the chorus of replies.

We cleaned ourselves off in the shared bath in the knights’ quarters, changed our clothes, and headed for the royal palace cafeteria.

“Hmm, now what should I get?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to stuff myself silly.”

“Sounds good to me.”

My men considered what to order while casting glances my way.

“You guys can pay your own way.”

“Cheapskate!” the knights whined in perfect harmony.

C’mon, you guys are too obvious.

As soon as I’d made it to the cafeteria with my subordinates in tow, I happened to spot her enjoying a cup of tea. Maybe she and her co-workers were off the clock too. Seeing as my men were making enough of a racket to draw plenty of attention, she shot a glance my way.

Crap! Now that we’ve made eye contact, I can’t just ignore her!

I gave her a nod of acknowledgment, and she nodded back—with a lovely smile on her face, of course.

Knowing how dignified she acts while on duty just gives that dreamy smile of hers some extra oomph! I can’t get enough of it.

While I was struggling to keep a stupid grin off my face, her co-workers looked over at me. Oh no. Did they catch me smiling for a second there and decide I’m some kind of weirdo? I wouldn’t want them telling her, like, “There’s something wrong with that guy—stay away from him,” or something, so I guess I’d better offer them a genial (generic brand) greeting too. Though, uh, I’m pretty sure I’ve never met a single one of these maids besides Stellaria.

Since it was an odd time of day, there were plenty of open seats.

“Aww, man, what am I gonna do? My wallet’s in dire straits, and payday’s still a few days off.”

“Everyone else here is in the same boat.”

“Maybe I’ll just ask for water...”

My men peered at the menu with crestfallen looks on their faces.

“Oh, fine already! I’ll—aha!”

Just as I was about to say that lunch would be my treat, I spotted the commander just outside the cafeteria! Lucky me, here comes my walking walle— Ahem, that is, he really ought to be socializing with his subordinates more, so I should go ask him to join us!

“Commander! Come have a cup of tea with us!” I offered, a huge smile plastered across my face.

“You just want to use me as your own personal wallet, don’t you?” he shot back before sitting down next to me with an exasperated sigh.

The arrival of the mega handsome, mega elite Duke Fisalis prompted a stir among the seated patrons of the cafeteria. The women in particular went red in the cheeks as they ogled him, spellbound.

At least she isn’t like that, I thought to myself, but that belief didn’t last long.

She didn’t have hearts in her eyes or anything, but Stellaria was definitely gazing at the commander with a gentle smile on her face.

Oh, come on! Not you too, Stellaria!

All the warm fuzzies I’d just been feeling evaporated in an instant. I cast a sidelong glance at my boss-slash-partner-in-crime beside me. Ugh! The way he’s sitting with his legs oh-so-gracefully crossed is downright picturesque!

* * *

“Um, Sir Corydalis!”

“Yes?”

“I... I’m in love with you!”

“Uh-huh...”

The girl standing before me was some lady-in-waiting I’d never met before. She had called me out into the garden during my lunch break, and lo, here was the reason for the summons.

As far as looks went, I’d put her on the cute side, if you asked me. The way she was blushing and trembling from embarrassment was pretty endearing too...but considering she was a total stranger to me, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with this confession of love.

Besides, I’ve already got a girl I like. Not that she seems to return the interest, of course.

Thinking back on my last encounter with Stellaria was enough to make me tear up, so I did my best to forget about that for the moment.

More important right now was getting rid of this girl.

“Sorry, but I’m not interested in a relationship. I don’t know you all that well, and I’m too busy with work to think about anything else.”

Like, seriously, I’m swamped.

Now that the covert reconnaissance mission to our southern neighbor of Aurantia was officially underway, I had tons of prep work to do.

That country is a real pain in my ass. It doesn’t help that my perfectionist of a boss is always making one brutal demand after another either... Ugh.

Back to the point: I used work as an excuse and let her down gently. It wasn’t even a lie, really.

I was getting more and more of these love confessions as of late. Frankly, it was a headache to deal with.

Working in my department made relationships something of a hassle. Seeing as we were entrusted with a lot of top-secret missions, I couldn’t divulge the particulars of my work even to my family or closest friends. This wouldn’t be a problem if I found a partner who was okay with all of that, but there aren’t a ton of girls like that out there.

Any woman liable to start demanding, “Which is more important to you: me or your job?!” was a hard pass from me.

In most cases, if I put on my most convincing look of distress (to be fair, this was distressing) and apologized, the girl would say, “I-I get it!” and back off. That always made things a lot easier on me, since I wasn’t interested in being a jerk about it. Unfortunately, the girl of the day was more stubborn than usual.

“In that case, can I come see you on your days off?”

“I’d rather spend those days getting some actual rest.”

“How about on your way home from work?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever left the office on time.”

“During your breaks, then!”

“My subordinates will butt in to tease us.”

Just take the hint already!

She was digging her heels in so hard it was exhausting. C’mon, wouldn’t you be disappointed if I only agreed to this under duress? Jeez, my gut is telling me that she’s exactly the type of girl to bust out my least favorite line.

“We can start as friends!”

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind something platonic.”

“I said we could start as friends.”

“And I’m saying we can be friends.”

Leveling up from friendship isn’t gonna happen here. No offense.

“Fine.” She finally backed off.

Of course, “friends” in this case basically amounted to “acquaintances,” and I doubted I was going to run into her too often.

Feeling worn out from that whole exchange, I wandered down the corridors of the royal palace. My attempts to talk her down had taken up almost all of my precious lunch break.

Guess I’ll just grab a sandwich for takeout and eat while I work.

I decided to stop by the cafeteria before heading back to the office. Just as I picked up my pace, feeling the hunger pangs start to hit, I heard a voice call out to me from behind.

“Pardon me, but are you feeling tired?”

Not another girl!

After my most recent encounter, the last thing I wanted was to talk to yet another woman. Besides, if you can tell I’m tired, don’t start a—hm?

Feeling an odd sense of déjà vu, I cast a lazy glance over my shoulder only to find Stellaria standing there.

Ahhh, I’m such a jerk! That definitely came off as super nasty! I couldn’t have looked more annoyed! What was I thinking?!

“Err. That is, uh...”

I was in total panic mode, berating myself for my behavior and suppressing the urge to tear my hair out.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help but notice you looked exhausted from behind, but I suppose that was rude of me to ask. I’ll be on my way, then.”

Though her smile was strained, she offered me a graceful bow before turning to go.

Wait! That one was my bad!

“No, you were totally right! I’m drop dead tired, that’s all!” I stressed with all my might. I probably sounded a little too intense for someone who was supposedly tired, but who cares?!

Her eyes went wide for a moment at my sudden burst of energy, but a giggle soon spilled from her lips.

“Dear me... Hee hee. In that case, feel free to have this.”

Just like last time, she produced a wrapped candy from the pocket of her maid uniform, then pressed it into my hand.

It was the same type of sweet too: a caramel.

“A treat is the best remedy when you’re feeling worn down, right?” I said, staring down at the candy.

“Precisely,” she responded with a soft smile.

Yeah, that’s the smile I like to see.

That smile made for better medicine than caramel or anything else.

“Thanks for the one you gave me the other day, by the way. It was delicious.”

“Oh, I’m glad you liked it.”

“Its mellow sweetness melted away all my fatigue, just like you said it would.”

Just seeing your smile gives me the strength to go on... is what I’d like to say here, but that’s never going to happen! I bet a certain boss of mine could say that without batting an eye, but not me! Wait, now that I think about it, wouldn’t a guy dropping a line like that out of nowhere be a total turn-off? Yeah, it definitely would. Thank god I didn’t go for it. It would’ve been pretty out of character, anyway.

“My, that’s good to hear. Please do enjoy the second helping. Well then, if you’ll excuse me.”

While I was busy working through my internal conflict, she gave a quick bow and turned to leave—for real this time.

That was quick. Well, I don’t know what more I was expecting, if she’s a Cercis fangirl. Wait, don’t tell me... Is she just being nice to me so she can get at the commander?!

Shocked by the thought that had just crossed my mind, I glanced down at the caramel sitting in my palm.

It’s the same delicious candy as last time. And the caramel isn’t the problem here!

I unwrapped it and popped it into my mouth.

I can’t believe how good it is. There’s something almost nostalgic about the taste.

As I savored the candy, I slowly recovered from all the exhaustion and psychological damage I’d suffered that day.

4. The Rumors About Corydalis

The latest stream of love confessions abruptly ground to a halt.

That meant I didn’t have to worry about wasting my precious break time or struggling not to hurt some poor girl’s feelings when I turned her down, so it was a huge weight off my mind. It felt like some peace had finally been restored to my life.

As for the object of my affections?

The two of us had yet to grow any closer, but we were on good enough terms to have a short conversation every now and then.

Wait just a second—that doesn’t even really qualify as a friendship! I’m just a plain old acquaintance! Bummer...

Exemplary hard worker that I was, no amount of disillusionment could keep me from doing my job. Both arms full of documents, I was just on my way to deliver them to the commander.

“Hard at work, sir? The commander’s not in his office, if that’s who you’re looking for.”

Since both of my hands were occupied, I’d “knocked” on the door by slamming my whole body against it. A subordinate who just so happened to witness my struggle in passing had offered me that helpful tip.

“Huh? Why not?”

“He stepped out. Said he was going to the Royal Medicinal Garden.”

“The Medicinal Garden? What business has he got over there?”

“From the sound of it, his wife has been stuck in bed with a stomachache since morning. He said he was going to pick up some herbs for her.”

“His wife?”

“Yeah. His wife.”

I can hardly believe it! I was so sure I’d misheard him saying “girlfriend” that I had to ask him to repeat himself! The commander’s actually thinking about his wife for once? Are we talking about the same guy who said all that horrible stuff about him and his mistress being a package deal? Well, if he’s finally taking an interest in his actual spouse, I’m not about to knock that.

“Huh...”

None of that helped me with the task at hand, however.

I slammed myself against the door to the commander’s office yet again, this time flinging it open. Once inside, I unceremoniously dropped the heap of papers on top of his desk.

Have fun with these once you’re done picking herbs!

Having left the documents for the commander to find, I went back to my own desk. In the short time I’d been away from my seat, all sorts of new work had piled up already: another research project, new scheduling requests, applications for travel expenses, you name it.

“It never ends!”

“Aww, isn’t that a good thing? It’s a sign that we’re all hard at work! Speaking of which, here you go.”

“Not you too, Chamomile!”

“Thanks in advance!”

Chamomile dropped the latest business trip report on my desk, then turned and left my office with a swish of her blonde hair.

“Jeez.”

For now, I figured I’d go down the list and knock out anything I could get done on my own.

* * *

After an epic battle against the towering stack of papers, a handful of my subordinates showed up to invite me to lunch. I could hardly believe it was already noon. I’d been focusing so hard on my work that I’d completely lost track of time.

“Sure, let’s go.”

I got to my feet, doing a few light stretches to loosen up my stiff muscles.

For lunch, we always went to the cafeteria, where we could eat to our hearts’ content.

As my men and I walked down the corridors of the royal palace, I spotted a maid walking toward us from the opposite direction. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Stellaria.

Come to think of it, I haven’t seen much of her lately.

Seeing this random lady-in-waiting made me think of Stellaria—since they wore the same uniform and all—so I ended up staring at her long enough for our eyes to meet.

We’d made eye contact now, sure, but considering we didn’t know each other at all, there was no real reason to bother with a greeting. Just as I was about to breeze past, acting like I hadn’t noticed her, a huge smile crept across her face.

Huh? What? What’s so funny?! Did I do something wrong?! Seeing a total stranger grin at you like that is downright alarming!

I looked over my whole body to check if anything was amiss, but everything seemed normal enough.

What was that all about? I haven’t got the slightest clue... Guess I’ll just put it out of my mind for now.

With that newfound resolution, I averted my gaze and walked off as if nothing had happened.

Similar incidents would occur several times after that.

* * *

“Ugh...”

I’m lost.

Lounging in the break room of the knights’ quarters, I heaved a dramatic sigh.

“What’s wrong, Lieutenant Commander? That was quite the sigh.”

“Looks like ennui to me!”

Two of my subordinates struck up a conversation with me.

“Nah, I’m not that tired.”

“What happened, then?”

“Did your girlfriend dump you?”

“No! I don’t have one in the first place, you dope—I’m still on the hunt! Er, ahem. I can’t make heads or tails of what’s going on, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh,” they both mumbled, equally lost.

“A lot of girls seem to be locking eyes with me as of late...”

It would happen whenever I passed them in the halls. Or when I went to hand in my paperwork. Or when I was on break... You get the picture. Just when I thought I was finally free of those pesky confessions, now I had a new, unspoken kind of pressure to deal with!

Oblivious to my weariness, one of the men naively commented, “C’mon, isn’t that a good thing?! I’m super jealous!”

I’m sure the images floating through his head were of beautiful ladies with stars in their eyes, but he couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“No, the issue is...uh, how do I put it? The intensity of it? There’s this almost predatory glint in their eyes, and it’s giving me the creeps. I’m afraid I’m going to get hunted down and eaten alive one of these days.”

Imagine, like, some random girl staring you down reaaally hard, only to flash you a giant grin! It’s pretty terrifying!

Gripped by an unspeakable terror, I turned white as a sheet.

The same subordinate who had been looking so envious just seconds ago seemed to abruptly remember something. “Now that I think about it, one of the ladies-in-waiting asked me about your type the other day!” he said, clapping his hands together in a eureka moment.

“What?”

Why was some random maid going to my subordinates to ask about my tastes?

As I sat there with a blank look on my face, the guy went on excitedly. “I didn’t have any idea, so I just told her, ‘If you gaze at him with enough passion, I bet he’ll eventually smile back and give in to your charms!’”

“Say WHAAAT?!”

What kind of advice is that?! It’s got nothing to do with my type! Do I really seem that shallow?! Great, I guess I’m just some womanizer now!

“Oh, now I’m seeing the picture! Lieutenant Commander, you’ve been rejecting girls left and right lately, haven’t you? To think she’d put in all that effort to become your perfect woman—I have to commend her dedication!”

Nooo, I think I’ve dug my own grave... Uh, NOT! And there’s nothing commendable about it!

“Don’t go around making stuff up about me! ‘If you manage to lock eyes with him, I bet you can seduce him’? Seriously? Just how easy do you think I am? I can’t believe you made me out to be such a sleaze!” I’d blown my top so hard that I sprung right up out of my chair.

“Eek! The lieutenant commander’s lost it!”

“Sorryyyy!”

The knights made a show of running away in a panic.

“Hold it right there, you scoundrels!” I shouted, chasing after them.

With how noisy our antics were, it wasn’t long before the commander himself poked his head into the break room. “What’s all the fuss about?” he asked, raising those gorgeous eyebrows of his in question.

Oops, is he actually mad? This is the break room, but maybe we were being too loud.

“These guys made me out to be some kind of playboy!” I pointed at my subordinates in accusation, then explained the whole “eye contact” debacle to the commander.

“I had nothing to do with it! I just got caught in the crossfire!”

“I couldn’t help myself! It’s not fair that the lieutenant commander gets all the girls!”

“So it was just a fit of jealousy!”

Look, the culprit behind the rumors is owning up to his crimes with a smug smile! Meanwhile, his friend is flapping his hands furiously and pleading his innocence.

The commander shot us an unimpressed look before suddenly breaking into a grin.

Huh? Why is he smiling?

It only lasted a second, so the other two might not have noticed it. I cocked my head to one side, suspicious, but the commander was quick to slip back into work mode.

“I see. Sounds rough. So anyway, about all these papers you left on my desk...”

He went ahead and showed me the documents in his hand. It wasn’t hard to tell he had zero sympathy for my plight.

“Way to act like it’s not your problem!”

“It isn’t my problem.”

What an honest guy, admitting that without missing a beat. Jeez.

“Fine. I’m not explaining the materials to you.”

“Well, that’s a shame. Stop by my office later, then.”

“Did you even hear what I just said?!”

Completely forgetting our workplace hierarchy for a second there, I slipped into my usual laid-back banter with Cercis. Our subordinates knew about our history, however, so they didn’t seem to mind it.

Unfazed, the commander ignored my shouts of protest, shot me one last grin, and left the break room.

Uh...why does he keep smiling at me like that?

* * *

Not long after that conversation, the ladies-in-waiting and female staff laid off their constant eye assaults.

As glad as I was for all that to be over, now they were averting their gazes from me. To be fair, I guess there were a handful who would glance at me with pity in their eyes too.

Also, I’d stopped getting stares from girls, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t getting any at all.

“Things are just getting worse,” I groaned, clutching my head in the break room.

You guessed it. Ever since the conversation, well...

“Huh? What ‘things’? Is it the same problem as last time?” one of the knights from the previous incident asked, having overheard my grumblings.

“Damn right it is. Was it you again? Did you do this?!” I glared daggers at the previous culprit.

After staring at me blankly for a moment, he insisted, “I haven’t done or said anything else since then, I swear!” He rushed to deny my accusations, flapping his hands and shaking his head back-and-forth.

Then who did?

“How did it get worse? What happened?” the other knight asked when I went right back to holding my head in my hands.

Great, I’m glad you asked!

“Something so dreadful, it makes me long for the days when girls would constantly catch my eye and smile at me.”

“Yeah?” the two knights prompted me in stereo.

“Now the guys are looking at me!”

“Uhhh...”

Both subordinates looked scandalized. No surprise there. If I were in their shoes, I would’ve reacted the same way.

“You try having some super buff dude gaze at you all misty-eyed! It’s like something straight out of a horror story—not that I’d want a pretty boy doing it either! What is this, some new form of torture?! Am I being hazed?!”

“Oh, wow...”

I slammed my fists against the desk with all my might.

The other two guys must have pictured it for themselves, seeing as they’d each broken out into a cold sweat.

“It’s terrifying! For all I complained about the intensity of the women’s stares, that didn’t even compare! No, don’t let this get the best of you, Corydalis! I’ll beat back anybody who comes for me, no questions asked!”

“Whoa...that’s badass, Lieutenant Commander!”

My hands still clenched into fists, I found my resolve. No matter what happened next, I would be sure to defend myself!

Judging by the way they were shivering in fear, I guess the two knights really were imagining it.

“Oh, there you are, Corydalis.”

The commander once again poked his head into the room. What’s up? Was he looking for me again?

“Do you need something?” I responded, shifting back into work mode and putting a lid on my raging emotions.

“Not exactly. I just wanted to check on how you’ve been doing since then.”

“Huh? Since what?”

“Oh, you know, since you told me about the rumors of your debauchery and all those women leering at you because of them. Has your good name been cleared yet?” he asked, grinning.

Cleared? Why would it be? The guy responsible said he hasn’t done anything about it since, and I certainly haven’t either.

Yet somehow, the situation had only gotten worse, and it kept getting more and more dire with each passing day. What a coincidence that the commander would inquire about it with such perfect timing—and with a grin on his face, to boot. I was getting a bad feeling about this.

“Cleared? Why?” I ventured to ask.

“I set the rumor straight. Each time someone brought it up to me, I told them it only applies to men.”

Hey, Commander! Is that something to confess with that dashing grin you never use while on the clock?! Look, all the girls around us are squealing over your sparkling smile!

...Wait, no, that’s not the issue! I can’t believe this! The commander was the one powering the rumor mill this time around!

“Listen here, you little...!”

“Hm? Was I wrong? You’re always dallying with other men, so I just assumed...”

“That’s not why!”

“And it would’ve explained why you’re so fed up with women making passes at you.”

“That’s not why!”

The commander put on his most convincing look of surprise, but it was obviously an act. I’m onto you. You may be playing dumb now, but you knew exactly what you were doing!

“So it’s your fault why the guys have been acting so weird around me lately...”

“Oh? Has someone already started putting the moves on you? That was fast.”

“Don’t sound so impressed! C’mon, why don’t you meet me out back so we can let our swords do the talking?!”

“What’s wrong, Corydalis? You’re so hot-blooded today.”

“Shut up!”

I dragged the commander to the training grounds, and boy, we sure did let our swords do the talking.

* * *

Normally we were pretty evenly matched, but my fighting spirit was on a whole other level that day. It was enough to make the commander complain that I’d been “overtaken by a demon.”

How’s it feel to reap what you sow, Cercis?

After that, the commander went to work setting the rumors straight.

Honestly, though, not even one person called him out on his lie?! You guys are killing me here!

“Considering you turned down almost every girl in the palace, can you blame anyone for getting the wrong idea?”

“I mean, you do spend all your time with us...”

My two subordinates shot me looks of sympathy, and I really wished they’d cut it out.

* * *

Soon enough, women and men alike ceased to spread any weird rumors about me.

I came across Stellaria in the hallway for the first time in a while. When our eyes just happened to meet, I gave her a smile and a nod.

As for her? She returned the nod, but refused to make eye contact.

She couldn’t look me in the eye! Oh god, this hurts... She’s the one girl I wouldn’t mind coming on to me as strong as she can! Ugh... I guess she really is a Cercis fangirl... No point in getting my hopes up.

Talk about depressing.