Chapter 62: Kina is jealous!

"Ugh... what’s actually going on here?"

Unlike a normal day, Kina genuinely couldn’t focus at all. Her concentration kept getting disrupted every time she trained, and all of it traced back to her Master, who’d somehow, inexplicably, become this incredibly popular.

First of all, Kina always woke up in the morning. And, on her way to the training grounds, she’d pass by a group of students already awake, chatting away about the latest topic making rounds these days.

Then, when she went to the academy cafeteria for breakfast and lunch, she’d inevitably hear the same hot topic swirling around.

And once she finished evening training, planning to head back to her dorm, she’d once again catch the same viral gossip circulating everywhere.

Fine, whatever this hot, viral topic making rounds was, it thoroughly bothered Kina. Because every bit of it revolved around her wildly popular Master, spinning off into all sorts of different stories.

—Did you know? Apparently, Lord Julian and Headmaster Adelle have secretly become a couple.

—I actually saw Headmaster Adelle stepping out of a house in the Canelo residential complex, you know? And after looking into it, turns out that’s Lord Julian’s house! Kyaaah! I wonder what the two of them were doing together in there? They’re so sweet!

—Rumor has it, Lord Julian’s relationship with the headmaster keeps growing closer. But have you all heard about Eland Dimne?

—Oh, that one? I heard about it too. They’re saying that company’s now completely under Lord Julian’s control, right?

Several of these topics revolved around just how terrifyingly extensive the power her Master had quietly built up really was. But that was already fully expected, and entirely reasonable if her Master had actually wanted it that way, so Kina didn’t dwell on it much.

She only felt genuinely uncomfortable about the part where her Master kept getting linked romantically with Headmaster Adelle.

"Is Master really going to end up with the headmaster? Ugh... there’s no way...! Master isn’t someone interested in romance."

Of course, that conclusion came entirely from Kina’s own personal conviction. And wasn’t that exactly right?

Her Master never showed a single expression, looking at everyone with the exact same level indifference, no one had ever managed to genuinely stir any real emotion out of him.

So, watching him get paired off like this, Kina started feeling genuinely displeased.

She felt like she had to do something about it, so she went looking for her Master, and...

"M-master...!?"

Kina held back the urge to shout, lowering her voice as she spotted her Master standing in the park, feeding a group of herons some seeds, while behind him, the headmaster sat.

They seemed to be discussing something, and...

’Why does the headmaster’s face look so radiant?’

Genuinely curious now, Kina sharpened her focus, doing her absolute best to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Hard to catch, but...

"...When... are we going together?"

’Wait...! What? WHAT!?’ Kina jolted, freezing in place, had she just misheard something?

The headmaster had just said something about "when are we going together?" And that phrase, for Kina, already stewing in bad gossip, sent her thoughts spiraling further into chaos.

’"When are we going together" could apply to plenty of things, including...’

Kina hid behind a tree, her fingers digging into the bark hard enough to leave scrape marks trailing downward, her face draining pale.

’N-no, I can’t let this happen...! Whatever happens, I refuse to accept this!’

How dare she try to steal her Master away?

That greed left Kina genuinely furious as she suddenly stepped forward, staring at her Master, then broke into a light run.

Right then, her Master turned to face Headmaster Adelle directly, which meant her Master’s back was now turned toward Kina.

Without a shred of hesitation, Kina threw her arms around her Master from behind, wrapping both arms tight around his stomach.

"...!" Adelle looked visibly startled, but her Master simply stood there, frozen, without moving an inch.

Then, Kina suddenly shouted toward the headmaster, "Master belongs to me!"

"....."

"....."

"...."

"...Kina?"

***

’What’s gotten into this kid all of a sudden?’

Julian found himself completely frozen on the spot. Kina had wrapped her arms tightly around him from behind, as though terrified of losing him, and her shout had drawn every nearby student’s attention, all of them staring in pure shock.

Meanwhile, Adelle’s mouth hung wide open, clearly at a loss for what was actually happening right now.

Faced with that awkward silence, Julian blinked a few times and finally opened his mouth.

"Did something happen?"

’Right, first, let’s approach this rationally. There has to be a clear reason why Kina’s suddenly acting like this.’

Kina showed no sign of letting go, her body pressed tightly against his back, leaving Julian standing there stiffly, bearing the full weight pressing against him.

"Master...! You’re not actually going to marry the headmaster, are you? Tell me you’re not marrying her!"

".....?"

’Marry? Me? How exactly?’

Even Julian himself was stunned, when exactly had he arranged to get married anytime soon? Was he suffering from amnesia?

And to the headmaster, of all people?

’No way! The headmaster’s clearly no ordinary person. If she were to get married, she’d surely have exceptionally high standards, especially given how beautiful she is.’

Julian had no idea what was going on, and before he could even say anything, Adelle spoke up first.

"Student Kiena? I’m sorry, but I think you might be misunderstanding something?"

Without relaxing her guard in the slightest, Kina’s brow furrowed, pouting as she glared at Adelle with unmistakable hostility.

"Explain... where exactly am I misunderstanding this? Don’t you have feelings for Master?"

"...W-who said that!?"

"Everyone’s saying that, Headmaster."

Adelle looked visibly troubled, clearly aware of just how far that rumor had spread. But there was nothing she could do to stop it, and strangely enough, it just kept growing on its own.

"That really is a misunderstanding, Kiena."

It was only once Julian spoke up that Kina finally looked up, meeting his gaze as he glanced at her sideways with obvious difficulty.

"Really? Then, what were you two talking about here?"

"It’s about the Academy’s new program. The headmaster and I were deciding when exactly we should implement it."

"Hmm..." Kina narrowed her eyes sharply, staring at Julian with suspicion. "Then, what did you mean by ’we’re going together’? I heard you two say something like that."

Julian blinked. "Oh, that, the headmaster’s planning to invite the staff and other Academy officials out to a restaurant together, and that includes me too."

Julian hesitated for a moment, looking at Kina. "Do you want to come along?"

But what Julian found instead was Kina, frozen completely still. The girl had gone entirely silent, her face flushing red while simultaneously looking pale.

’E-eh... so it really was just a misunderstanding?’ Then, she suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of embarrassment mixed with guilt. Realizing how many people were watching only deepened her humiliation further.

Kina flinched where she stood, glanced briefly at the headmaster, then, embarrassed, bowed her head low.

"U-um... Headmaster, I-I’m sorry for the misunderstanding..."

Fortunately, Adelle was a woman with a fairly generous heart. So, once Kina admitted her mistake, even though she herself was startled and equally embarrassed, she nodded and forced an awkward smile.

"Of course... besides... it was just a misunderstanding."

Still, her heart pounded far too hard.

Meanwhile, on Kina’s side, she felt an overwhelming wave of relief the moment she realized it had all just been a misunderstanding. She’d nearly convinced herself her Master was about to be stolen away.

And just moments ago, Kina had felt genuinely fired up, ready to fight to win her Master back.

But now, that fire had completely died down, replaced instead by an empty, incomprehensible feeling Kina couldn’t quite make sense of.

’What is this?’

Right... Kina felt hollow. Sure, she still loved her Master, but the problem was, she felt like something was missing, as though something had just slipped away from her.

That fire... why did she feel this way?

Kina fell silent, staring at her Master, then glanced at Adelle, and her thoughts began to wander.

She imagined her Master marrying the headmaster, living together under the same roof. Then, she imagined herself, sneaking into her Master’s room, right as the headmaster lay asleep in the very same bed as her Master.

And... after that...

’I-I’d become Master’s mistress...’

Kina felt her heart pound, that twisted feeling and desire stirring up excitement inside her as her face flushed entirely red with embarrassment, and she lowered her head, hiding it against Julian’s back.

’Becoming his mistress... doesn’t sound so bad, actually.’

She felt the urge to steal her Master back, once he already belonged to someone else.

What kind of twisted feeling was this?