7. See You Tomorrow

As the sun fully set, the mage-stone lanterns flickered to life across the academy grounds.

A cool breeze rolled down from the mountains, carrying a pleasant chill through the air, and we walked with our hands clasped together.

"…"

"…"

No words passed between us.

Was it just my imagination that the path to the dining hall felt unusually long tonight?

"Rutess."

It was Elline who broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"… Did you wait long?"

"No, not really."

"I see."

End of conversation.

Silence wrapped around us again, and this time I was nearly going out of my mind with anxiety.

My heart kept pounding, and every time I glanced sideways at her—just walking straight ahead, eyes forward—I couldn't quite get used to it.

Naturally.

Naturally.

That's what I kept telling myself as I tried to inch things forward.

"Elline."

"Mm."

"What do you usually… do? In your free time?"

What do you do?

Asking someone you're dating what they do in their free time—

Great question.

That was sarcasm, obviously.

"Study."

A perfectly predictable answer.

"… And then?"

"Eat."

"After that?"

"Review what I studied."

…

No wonder the Mage Tower was already calling for her.

So her routine was: wake up, preview—lecture—review.

I was quietly impressed by the sheer discipline of that schedule.

"Even on weekends?"

"Yes."

Hm. I see.

"Sometimes I take walks."

Walks, huh.

So that's why she'd been calling me out on weekends for those walks.

…

The more I listened, the more I found myself thinking.

I'd always had a vague image of what a model student's schedule looked like, but hearing it laid out in reality left me genuinely stunned.

And knowing she'd been living like this for two years straight—and fully intended to keep doing so—

It sounded exhausting.

Then again, we probably just see things differently.

She had some greater ambition driving her, or maybe she was looking at a world I simply couldn't see.

*Well, she is heading to the Mage Tower.*

The Mage Tower was, without question, the most distinguished academic institution in the empire.

Even prodigies who made the rest of us look ordinary apparently struggled there—and yet they were already reaching out to her.

I'd known it before, but hearing it again made it feel all the more remarkable.

What was she working so hard for?

… Was it for her family?

*'Come back as soon as you're done.'*

I suppose I wasn't so different.

From what I knew, House Pailless was small in scale but had always produced exceptional talent—so that was probably a big part of it.

"What about you?"

And now Elline turned the question back on me.

Alright, this one should be easy.

"I just mess around."

Easy question, I said. Didn't say anything about an easy answer.

I needed to keep the conversation going. To break this silence.

"Sleep, play games, drink… play chess at lunch sometimes…"

Listing it out like that made me sound like I did absolutely nothing with my life.

"Sounds fun."

It was clearly meant as a neutral comment, but it came out so flat that it almost sounded like pity.

Not that she meant it that way, of course.

Still, I thought I'd gotten better at reading her by now.

Apparently not.

"You'll be busy tomorrow, right?"

Third year meant it was time to seriously start preparing for graduation—things would be hectic all around.

She gave a small nod.

"Then it'll be hard to see each other."

For just a moment—maybe it was my imagination—I felt a faint pressure from her hand tightening around mine.

"… I have time on the weekend."

"Hm?"

Oh.

"If you're busy, it's fine. You don't have to push yourself—"

"I'm not busy."

"Okay."

She said it firmly.

It was a little scary, honestly.