Chapter 19

Here begins the extra chapter.

There are many crude remarks. Slightly erotic flavor.

Those who are not comfortable with this content, please refrain from reading.

The path to Fiona and Matthias finally confessing their feelings for each other is inexplicably long. Please bear with it.

Fiona stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring intently at her reflection.

Her sky-blue hair was tied up in a ponytail today.

When she asked Muriel, "How can I look more alluring?" Muriel advised, "Why not subtly increase your exposure? Your cleavage, legs, and even your nape?"

"Is this alluring?"

She turned her head to look at her nape, but she couldn't really tell. It seemed more energetic than alluring.

But since practice makes perfect, she decided to go with it today and mustered her courage.

Next, she stared at her cleavage and squeezed it with both hands.

It was smaller than Rayla's but bigger than Nina's, and about the same as Muriel's.

She thought it was a very average size, but she wasn't sure.

"I wonder if he prefers bigger ones..."

If that was the case, what should she do? Could she do anything about it? She decided to ask Rayla later.

She was a bit embarrassed about increasing her exposure. Besides, she had a mission today, so she was wearing her usual white shirt and black pants, leaving no room for more skin.

She would ask Muriel another time how much skin to show and try it out.

After worrying about all sorts of things in the morning, she concluded that it wasn't much different from usual. She sometimes wore a ponytail, so it wouldn't make much of a difference.

After finishing her morning preparations, she headed to the dining hall, where Matthias was waiting at the entrance.

Meeting her favorite person first thing in the morning made her face naturally light up.

"Good morning, Matthias."

"Good morning. You're wearing a ponytail today, even though you have a mission this morning."

To her surprise, he immediately commented on her hairstyle.

On mission or training days, she usually wore her hair loosely braided, and on days off or after training, she wore a ponytail after taking a shower in the afternoon.

She didn't have any particular reason for doing so, but Matthias had noticed.

She felt a mix of happiness and embarrassment, a tickling sensation in her chest.

Why was she wearing a ponytail today? There was no way she could tell him the reason, so she fidgeted and looked away, her cheeks turning a light shade of red.

"Um... just because. It doesn't mean anything."

"Okay."

Matthias didn't ask any more questions, and Fiona felt relieved.

They entered the dining hall and headed to the order counter, where she ordered her usual sweet breakfast.

"Here you go, Fiona. I put in plenty of syrup for you."

"Thank you, ma'am."

After receiving her meal, she sat down, and Matthias took the seat next to her.

He usually sat across from her, but occasionally he would sit next to her.

Sitting next to him made her happy. Fiona started her breakfast in high spirits.

She cut her French toast into small pieces with a knife and swirled them in the syrup-filled dish before putting them in her mouth.

She realized that dipping them was more efficient than pouring the syrup.

The extreme sweetness made her face melt.

"Wow..."

"Ugh..."

She heard voices behind her and turned to see Muriel and Graham holding trays of food, their faces twisted.

"Good morning."

"Morning. Hey, did you increase the syrup?"

"Yeah, isn't it a bit much?"

"I've been using a lot of magic lately, so I really want a lot of sweets."

After explaining, they reluctantly accepted it.

Muriel and Graham sat in front of Fiona, whispering to each other while eating.

Fiona absentmindedly thought about how close they were as she dipped her fruit in the syrup and ate it.

As she continued eating, Fiona gradually became less at ease.

She could feel a constant gaze from the side. Though she hadn't looked to confirm, she could clearly feel it.

What was going on?

Was there something wrong with her?

She couldn't concentrate on her meal, and her cheeks and ears gradually turned red.

Of course, she didn't mind being looked at by Matthias, but it was distracting.

"...Hey, Matthias. It's embarrassing, so please don't look at me so much."

Unable to hold back, she looked at Matthias, who was slightly looking down. She spoke in a thin voice, and he groaned.

Then he cleared his throat.

"Ah, sorry."

He immediately returned his gaze to his meal, and Fiona finally felt relieved.

She cut her French toast into small pieces again, swirled them in the syrup, and let the dripping syrup fall into the dish before putting it in her mouth, her face melting.

After finishing breakfast, Fiona returned to her room and took out a deep green robe from the closet and put it on.

She didn't wear the golden bracelet.

After being taken by the imperial prince and rescued by Matthias and Luke, she had entrusted it to Luke, who sealed it in the royal treasury.

The king had given her permission to use it at any time, but she felt it was unfair and declined.

She wanted to be on equal footing with her companions and not rely on the power of the bracelet, and her intentions were understood.

***

"Fiona, Rita, don't let a single one escape. Surround them."

"Understood."

"Got it."

In the deep forest, where dark conifers grew densely, Fiona and Rita, following Graham's instructions as the leader of the extermination team, created several tall earth walls to enclose the group of monsters.

Rita was a female magician in her late twenties. She had long, chestnut-brown hair tied back and was a cool beauty.

Unlike Fiona, she was cool both in appearance and personality, and Fiona admired her as a cool older sister.

The walls they created were about 40 cm apart, but the target monsters were large, four-legged creatures over three meters long, so it wasn't a problem.

They couldn't afford to be hit by a fatal charge, so they planned to attack from outside the walls and finish them off.

"Aran! You're up first."

"Sure thing!"

Aran, who was responsible for the first attack, responded energetically. He stepped forward, his slightly long reddish-brown hair swaying, and unleashed a lightning strike from above the monsters' heads.

"Muriel, you take care of the rest."

"Leave it to me."

Following Graham's orders, Muriel surrounded several of the lightning-struck, slowed-down monsters with a vortex of flames, which she made larger with the wind, being careful not to burn the forest.

She had only been in the First Magic Corps for a year and a half and was the youngest in the group. However, she was an extremely rare individual who could handle the four elements of fire, wind, water, and earth.

Having been praised as a genius since childhood, she had become a bit competitive and quick to anger, but she was a reliable force when she followed instructions and remained calm.

Graham circled around to the opposite side and rained ice arrows on the group of monsters, slowing them down. He threw water spheres into their mouths and froze them from the inside, suffocating them one by one.

Fiona reinforced the walls every time the large bodies charged at them.

"Ugh..."

Rita, who was also maintaining the walls, looked a bit strained, so Fiona sent her magic power. She also supported everyone else, and by the time all the monsters were finished off, her magic power was almost depleted.

"You... Your support is really helpful, but don't overdo it. Everyone still has some left."

Graham frowned in exasperation but gently patted Fiona's head.

"I know, but... I couldn't help it..."

"Be more careful. You can't use it freely like before, you know."

"Stupid Fiona! You might encounter monsters on the way back!"

Muriel scolded her while poking her, but added, "But if that happens, I'll protect you, so don't worry!"

***

"Hey, what kind of gesture does Graham find sexy?"

"Huh?"

On the way back from the monster extermination mission, Fiona suddenly asked Graham, who was walking next to her, in the muddy path from the rain the day before.

Muriel and the other two were walking a bit behind.

Graham narrowed his eyes and let out a low voice, but quickly understood her thoughts.

"Ah... You want that pervert to notice you, right?"

Caught off guard, Fiona was taken aback and looked down, embarrassed.

She didn't particularly comment on the "pervert" part, knowing that Graham was referring to Matthias.

She knew that Matthias, who was kind to her, had been doing things that deserved to be called a "pervert" to Graham.

Despite this, she was embarrassed that her thoughts were so obvious.

Struggling to find a response, Fiona felt exasperated.

"That pervert already likes you. Anyone can see that."

Graham said it straightforwardly, but Fiona looked downcast.

"That's just because he always cares about me. He's just being kind and sympathetic. Recently, I've started to think he might have a little bit of affection for me, but it's still far from enough. I want him to really like me."

Graham was filled with disbelief.

(Not just a little... Has she really not noticed at all? Seriously? She's too dense...)

Fiona, who was often absent-minded and lacked emotional expression, always interacted with Matthias with a calm face.

From Graham's perspective, Matthias was an incredibly popular man.

If a man with such qualities had devoted himself to her, it wouldn't be surprising if she were overwhelmed. However, Fiona showed no signs of caring.

From this, he had assumed she had no interest in romantic matters.

The fact that she hadn't even noticed Matthias's feelings...

Graham, beyond surprised, decided to give her the most direct and efficient advice.

"Instead of trying to be sexy, just strip and force yourself on him. It's too much trouble otherwise."

"That's something you do after you're in a relationship. It's not right."

Fiona was unfazed by Graham's crude suggestion. Having witnessed countless intimate scenes in the empire, she was no longer shocked by such topics.

She calmly stated her thoughts.

"What? Even if you're not in a relationship, if you have sexual desire, it's fine, right?"

"Really? It's really... normal?"

"It's normal. Nowadays, there's no need to be so formal. Otherwise, most people would still be virgins—..."

Fiona was surprised by the "normal" statement, so much so that she didn't hear the rest of Graham's comment.

(Normal? So that was normal...?)

The imperial prince's habit of indiscriminately taking people into his room for intimate activities wasn't because he was crazy.

Was that normal? Was it a common practice? The realization shocked her.

Her common sense had been completely overturned.

She knew she was naive, but she thought she had a basic understanding of general common sense.

She had learned about relationships from Muriel, who seemed to have high "girl power," and even borrowed books to study, but...

With this new knowledge, she carefully considered Graham's crude suggestion.

If she forced herself on Matthias and he accepted, of course, it would be wonderful. She would be willing to give everything.

But if there was no genuine feeling behind it, it would only leave her with emptiness.

(I don't want that...)

She still wanted him to genuinely like her first. She would offer herself after that.

Thinking about how to achieve this, she continued walking on the muddy path.

"Hey, Fiona!"

"Huh?"

She heard Graham's panicked voice from a distance and turned around. They had somehow drifted apart.

– Slurp

By the time she realized it, she had already slipped.

This was not just a little, but a very serious situation. Even Fiona felt her blood run cold.

The path she had been walking on was next to a cliff. She fell from a height of several meters.

She had used too much magic today and didn't have enough left to levitate. All she could do was cover her head with her hands to protect it.

She braced herself for the impending impact and pain, closing her eyes tightly.

A large earth wall suddenly appeared on the steep slope, and a large water sphere appeared to cushion her fall between the wall and her body.

After the fall stopped, a wind enveloped her.

Fiona was gently lifted and carried back to her companions.

When she safely touched the ground, she collapsed in relief.

"Hey, that was dangerous! Watch where you're going!"

Muriel, who had used wind magic to carry Fiona, checked on her with a racing heart and scolded her with raised eyebrows.

"Please, be more careful."

Rita, who had created the earth wall to stop Fiona's fall, spoke with a trembling voice.

"Thank you, everyone. I'm sorry for the trouble. I was lost in thought and fell..."

She apologized weakly, and the four of them sighed and smiled wryly.

She felt so guilty that tears welled up in her eyes. Seeing this, Muriel quickly spoke up.

"Don't cry! I said I'd protect you. You still have plenty of magic left, thanks to you!"

"Thank you... Muriel is so kind."

"..."

Seeing Fiona's teary, weak smile, Muriel blushed and turned her head away.

After that, Fiona was surrounded by her four companions as they returned.

"Hey, what were you thinking about that made you fall off a cliff?"

Muriel, on her left, asked. Fiona replied, "Well...," and told them about the shocking facts about relationships she had heard from Graham before she fell.

"Whaaat!?"

Muriel and Rita's voices overlapped, and both of them grimaced in disgust.

"No, I think it really depends on the person. Don't take Graham's words at face value. He's a hopeless type of guy."

"Right. Don't listen to what that guy says! And don't even consult him!"

"Okay... That's good to know..."

Fiona listened seriously to the endless criticism of Graham's crudeness from both sides.

Occasionally, she heard complaints from the front, "You guys are so noisy."

Fiona realized she had asked the wrong person and decided not to consult Graham in the future.