101st Confession

lying if she said she wasn’t hurt by their words, but she wasn’t particularly disturbed by the idea of Herwin and Arista getting together at will.

‘You have reason to be jealous.’

She was jealous of women who approached Herwin with a black heart, but she had no such feelings for Arista.

“Hah, my throat is burning from the duel.”

“It’s hot! I want something cold to drink.”

After class, the group slowly made their way over to Lucia’s.

Brian and Ethan approached the stairs first.

“You guys been waiting long?”

Brian laughed softly, wiping the sweat from his brow with a towel.

He was just as handsome as Herwin, and the girls around him let out a small cheer.

“We didn’t have to wait that long.”

“Good job.”

Bianca and Christine hailed them.

“It’s a shame you had to keep us pretty young ladies waiting in the sun.”

“Ugh, take your face-tickling to those girls over there.”

“……….”

Bianca flicked a goosebumpy arm away at Brian’s felt remark, and Christine looked him up and down with a rare glance of disdain.

He was the type of guy who liked women a lot, as evidenced by the way he acted and looked.

As a result, it was instinctive for him to do things to attract women.
That’s what he did on the first day when he caught Lucia as she was about to fall.

However, he never acted that way with his group, except in the beginning.

Maybe he knew his flirting wouldn’t work.
Or maybe he thought it was okay to be friends as it was.
He acted like a normal schoolboy, just like Herwin and Ethan.

Of course, sometimes he acted unconsciously.

This time, it was purely in jest, and Brian only smirked and shook his shoulders.

“You’ve both been through a lot.”

Lucia greeted them belatedly.
Wiping sweat from his brow, Brian glanced down at her.
In Lucia’s hand was a bottle of water.

“Can I have some of that, if you don’t mind?”

“This? My mouth just touched it, is that okay?”

“Of course, I don’t mind, I’m thirsty right now.”

“Well, you must be thirsty, so here.”

Lucia graciously handed Brian the water bottle.

“Don’t drink it all, and save some for me!”

Ethan, sweltering beside him, sagged against Brian.

“Okay, just give me a second.”

Brian unscrewed the cap and tilted the water bottle to drink, his lips about to touch the mouth.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, someone snatched the bottle.

He turned around to see Herwin standing there.

He gulped down the water Brian was about to drink.

Brian and Ethan looked at him in disbelief.

“He looks like he’s going to die.”

“What the hell is this?”

“What if he drinks it all!”

Brian and Ethan glared at him as Herwin sighed nonchalantly.

Herwin rolled his red eyes at the two of them, then turned his attention to Lucia.

He tossed the water bottle lightly into her hand.

“Whoever drinks first wins.”

“You’re a bastard.”

“You bastard, there’s only one bottle of water, how can you drink it all!”

Herwin listened to the raw accusations from one ear to the next.

By the time he realized it, the water was already gone.

“You’re wrong, Herwin.
Here, do you want to drink this?”

Arista appeared behind Herwin, a jug in her hand, and Ethan cheered.

“Arista, you’re no match for that narrow-minded bastard.”

“Thank you, Arista.”

As Ethan gulped down the water, Brian smiled seductively at her.

Arista smirked and gave him a warning swat, then turned her competitive gaze to Herwin.

“I may have lost today, but I’ll make sure I win next time.”

“Go ahead, try your best.
It won’t work for me.”

The corners of Herwin’s mouth quirked up tauntingly.
For a man of his blunt nature, the very fact that he could joke like this was proof that he and Arista were quite close.

Arista Lydia.
She’s in the same class as him, but they’ve never had much contact.

The boy had gotten to know her through swordsmanship class, but the other three girls hadn’t.
Just classmates who said hello back and forth?

Looking at Arista, Lucia could see why she was so popular with both sexes.

She was pretty, smart, athletic, and had a spunky personality.
There was nothing wrong with her.

As she stared at Arista, their eyes locked.

Lucia involuntarily shrank back.
Whenever she looked into her lilac-soft violet eyes, she was somehow drawn to her.

Usually, when they make eye contact, they look away or smile sheepishly, but for some reason, she always seemed to stare whenever they made eye contact.

This time, as Arista stared at her, Lucia finally gave in and asked.

“Hey… did I get something on my face?”

“Huh?”

“No, you kept looking at me, so I thought maybe I had something on my…….”

Lucia smiled sheepishly, but Arista just looked away.
She broke out in a cold sweat.

“I’ve felt it since my first day.”

After a long pause, Arista finally spoke up.
She bent down and leaned in close to Lucia.

“You look a lot like someone I know.”

“Someone, you know? Who……?”

“Well, I don’t know her name, just someone I ran into once… but for some reason, she looks like you, especially these eyes.”

Arista’s hand moved to the corner of Lucia’s eye.

Lucia flinched involuntarily as the beauty leaned in closer.
Arista’s violet eyes seemed to scan her entire body.

“I notice it every time I look at you, but your eyes are so beautiful, they’re like a clear lake.”

“Go, thank you…….”

She didn’t know if it was the compliment or her beautiful smile, but she felt herself blushing with embarrassment.

“Arista, we should get going!”

Just then, in the distance, Arista’s group called out to her.

“Oh, I have to go now.
I’ll talk to you later.”

Arista waved goodbye to Lucia and headed off to join the group.