Chapter 49
【 Change of Heart 】
After all the afternoon classes ended.
I headed to the gym where the second-year swordsmanship class was held.
It didn’t take long before I arrived, and just then, Lisa was coming out.
“Lady Lisa.”
“Mm, you’re here. Did you come right after class ended?”
“Yes. Shall we head straight to the Student Council?”
“Let’s take our time. There’s still some time left until the scheduled meeting with the Student Council President—hm? Uh, hmm.”
Lisa suddenly came closer to me.
And before I could react, she pressed her nose beneath my earlobe.
“Hmm… mmm, ngh.”
“…Lady Lisa?”
“Haa. Hmm, did you come straight here after swordsmanship class?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. I came right away.”
“I knew it.”
Lisa buried her nose deeper beneath my earlobe, her gaze slightly dazed.
Caught off guard, I could only glance around awkwardly.
If it were just the two of us, it might have been fine—but there were quite a few eyes watching.
Especially the second-year students who had just finished their swordsmanship class and were leaving the gym.
They were watching Lisa’s strange behavior with expressions of curiosity and amusement.
“Lady Lisa?”
“……”
“Um…”
I tried to gently push her away, but she didn’t budge no matter how hard I tried.
When I stepped back, Lisa simply pulled me toward her again.
“Don’t go. Your scent right now… smells so good.”
“My scent?”
“Your sweat, your body scent. I want to smell more of it.”
Lisa looked even more dazed than before, as if she were intoxicated by something.
It seemed that ever since she had drunk my blood, several physical changes had begun occurring in her body.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve gone for Lisa first instead of Sara.’
I had never seriously focused on Lisa’s route before.
So I had no idea what I was supposed to say in this situation.
For now, I just had to improvise my way out of it.
“Lady Lisa, there are many people around us. If you act like this here, it could cause some problems.”
I spoke calmly yet firmly.
Lisa was someone who cared deeply about setting an example for others.
If I reminded her of the eyes watching her…
“…Ah.”
Lisa flinched and quickly stepped back from me.
Just as expected, it worked.
“S-sorry. I showed an unsightly side of myself.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“…Thanks.”
Though Lisa wore her usual expressionless face, her cheeks were noticeably flushed.
Then, in a trembling voice, she murmured softly to herself.
“Why am I like this? Why does my body keep acting on its own…”
I pretended not to have heard her mutter.
In any case, the students were still gathered around us.
They were whispering among themselves in small groups.
I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but one thing was certain.
By tomorrow… another rumor about me would be circulating around the Academy.
Though that incident had happened, Lisa and I continued on our way.
We headed to the Student Council room, though the atmosphere between us felt rather awkward.
It seemed Lisa was deliberately keeping her distance from me.
‘She’s trying to prevent something like earlier from happening again.’
Lisa’s intoxicated expression from before resurfaced in my mind.
Lately, Lisa had been acting quite different from how she appeared in the game.
“Gideon!”
While Lisa and I were walking in silence, someone called my name from behind.
I turned around to see a familiar female student.
“Lady Catherine.”
“Hello. Are you heading out after class?”
“Yes, that’s right. Are you feeling better now?”
“Me? Of course. I wasn’t hurt thanks to you. I should be the one asking if you’re alright.”
Catherine smiled up at me.
She seemed quite different from the girl who used to look down on me when we first met.
‘Now that I think about it, Catherine can’t stand owing people favors.’
She tended to look down on others easily, but she took good care of her own.
Judging from her attitude now, she had clearly grown quite fond of me after I saved her.
“I’m fine. Still recovering, but nothing that hinders my daily life.”
“That’s good to hear. But if you ever feel unwell, tell me, okay? I’ll send you something good for your health.”
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. I always repay my debts. Oh, and did you hear? The Imperial Family’s planning to send you a reward soon.”
“Ah, yes. I heard from Her Highness the Princess.”
“That was thanks to me asking my father. I just mentioned that someone saved my life, and he immediately proposed to the Imperial Family that you should be rewarded.”
“I see.”
That explained why the reward from the Imperial Family came so quickly.
Normally, it took about a month to investigate an incident and decide who deserved rewards or punishment.
“Right, and my father said he’d like to meet you sometime. Will you have time during the vacation?”
“During the vacation… you mean Lady Catherine’s father?”
I hesitated for a moment.
In truth, getting close to the Perigit Family didn’t offer me much benefit.
But still, there was no harm in maintaining a good relationship.
‘It’s not like I really have a choice anyway.’
He was a man of higher standing. If he summoned me, I had to comply.
Besides, Catherine had started treating me favorably—it would be wise to maintain that goodwill.
“Why are you hesitating?”
Catherine smiled brightly, tilting her head.
If only she didn’t have that bratty attitude, she’d actually be pretty cute.
Anyway, I let out a small chuckle and was about to answer when—
“Catherine. Talk with Gideon later.”
Lisa suddenly stepped in beside me, her expression clearly uncomfortable.
Catherine blinked in confusion.
“Lady Lisa, if you could just give me a moment—”
“I said later. I’m busy.”
“But…”
“Go.”
Though her face was expressionless, Lisa’s gaze toward Catherine was cold.
Seeing that, Catherine flinched and stepped back.
“Ah, understood. Then I’ll speak to you later…”
“Yes, do that. Gideon, come with me.”
“Yes, understood.”
Leaving Catherine behind, I followed after Lisa once more.
“Lady Lisa, if something was bothering you earlier…”
“Yes, it was bothering me.”
She answered immediately.
“When you were talking with Catherine… I don’t know why, but it made me really uncomfortable.”
“Ah, I see.”
“…Come with me.”
“Lady Lisa? That’s not the way to the Student Council room…”
“Follow me.”
Lisa suddenly grabbed my hand and led me to a secluded corner of the hallway.
Once we were alone, she pushed me against the wall.
Then, without warning, she began unwrapping the bandages around my neck.
“Your wound hasn’t healed yet?”
Lisa carefully brushed her fingers over the marks on my neck — the bite marks.
“It’s still not healed.”
“Yes. Even when I applied a potion, it didn’t have any effect…”
“Then why are you hiding it? Why are you hiding my mark?”
Lisa suddenly widened her eyes and spoke sharply.
She pressed me against the wall so I couldn’t escape, bringing her lips close to my neck.
“Are you ashamed of me? Are you embarrassed that my mark is on your body? Why are you hiding it?”
“Lady Lisa, it’s not that…”
“Don’t hide my mark. Let others see it. If they see that you’re mine, no one else will dare to approach you—ah.”
Lisa froze in place mid-sentence.
The ferocity in her eyes slowly faded, returning to their usual calmness.
At the same time, her face began turning red.
“Lady Lisa, are you alright?”
“……”
Lisa didn’t respond to my question.
She stepped away from me, moving slightly to the side.
Bang—!
Then, she slammed her forehead straight into the brick wall.
Hard.
“L-Lady Lisa?”
“…Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
A small crater formed in the wall, but Lisa’s forehead remained perfectly intact.
No injuries, not even a drop of blood.
“Thanks to that, my head’s clear again.”
Lisa shook her head a little, then came closer and rewrapped the bandages around my neck.
Her expression was as blank as usual, but at this point, I couldn’t help but feel worried about her.
“Lady Lisa, would you like to drink my blood? It might be better if you do…”
“It’s fine. I’ll be fine without it. I’ll be alright.”
After wrapping the bandages over the marks again, Lisa took a deep breath and turned around.
“Let’s go. We’ll be late at this rate.”
“…Understood.”
I followed Lisa once again toward the Student Council room.
As I said before, I had never seriously pursued Lisa’s route in the game.
But I still knew quite a lot about her.
Because of that, I was certain after seeing her recent instability.
‘If this keeps up, there’ll definitely be trouble.’
It seemed I’d have to make her drink my blood again somehow — and soon.
“Lady Lisa, we’re quite disorganized right now as well. The Academy suddenly moved up the school trip schedule, so the entire Student Council is in chaos.”
“Looks like I came too suddenly then. But Nia-unni.”
Inside the Student Council President’s office.
Lisa and I were speaking with a third-year student with gray hair.
“Talk comfortably like usual. Unni can speak casually — Gideon won’t mind at all.”
“Really? Then that’s great. I’m more comfortable that way anyway.”
The student called Nia spoke casually to Lisa, sitting down in her chair with ease.
“Anyway, like I said, the Student Council’s in a frenzy right now. We have to arrange carriages, book lodgings… and we have to do it all within a week. Not easy.”
“Is there anything you want the Disciplinary Committee to handle?”
“It’s not much different from last year. Just patrol properly at the trip location so students don’t get into danger — aside from that…”
Nia continued explaining various things to Lisa, while I quietly listened to the two of them talk.
Nia — that is, Nia Varbellos.
She was the older sister of Roy Varbellos, who was in my class, and the current Student Council President of Lysquare Academy.
She looked almost exactly as she did in the game.
‘A highly capable Student Council President.’
Someone who looked like she worked lazily, yet handled everything perfectly.
She also had excellent leadership — nearly a flawless president.
In the game, she was someone who helped me, not someone who ever got in my way.
Simply put, she was a great person to stay close with.
“…I’ll give you the documents related to the school trip later. Take a look and decide what to do.”
“Alright, unni.”
“Good. Then that’s settled… but speaking of which, that boy you brought with you — he’s the famous Gideon Kyrgram, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I nodded at Nia’s question.
She smiled playfully and looked me up and down.
“I’ve heard about how you beat Lady Sara. And the rumors weren’t exaggerating — your white hair really is striking. Plus, your face is quite… well. I knew Lisa had high standards, but this is higher than I thought.”
“What do you mean by that…”
“Unni, don’t say weird things.”
“Hey now, what’s weird about it?”
Nia grinned mischievously.
“I also heard that rumor — that you’ve already marked Gideon as your fiancé…”
“That’s a false rumor.”
“Hmm, a false rumor, huh.”
Nia gave me a knowing look — or more precisely, she was staring at the bandages wrapped around my neck.
“Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough whether it’s false or not. Either way, Lisa, whatever you decide, I’ll support you.”
“Thanks for the support. But let’s talk about this later. I’m here for Disciplinary Committee business.”
“Alright, alright. So, you just need the trip schedule documents, right?”
“Yes, for now.”
“Then follow me. I’ll give a copy to both you and your friend.”
Lisa and I followed Nia out of the President’s office.
Once outside, the Student Council room came into view.
Students were busily moving around, preparing for the sudden school trip.
“Let’s see… there should be extra copies of the reports for the higher-ups somewhere… ah, here.”
Nia took out two documents from a nearby desk.
“This is the current draft of the school trip plan. Read it over and let me know by tomorrow what the Disciplinary Committee intends to do.”
“Thanks.”
“Thank you.”
I immediately opened the documents Nia handed me for a quick look.
There wasn’t anything particularly unusual — it was almost identical to the school trip schedule I remembered from the game.
As I flipped through the pages—
“…Ah.”
My finger caught on the paper, cutting it slightly.
It was a tiny wound, barely enough to draw a drop of blood.
But I instinctively tried to hide it.
Because standing right next to me was Lisa…
“Mmph.”
“L-Lady Lisa?”
“Mmm…”
Before I could even react, Lisa had already moved.
She grabbed my hand — and began licking the cut on my finger.
Like she was savoring a piece of candy.
“Uh, hmm…”
I looked around awkwardly.
The Student Council members had all stopped working, staring at Lisa’s odd behavior.
Even Nia, the President herself, was watching us with a stiff, awkward smile.
But Lisa didn’t care in the slightest — she continued to lick the blood from my finger with her tongue.