Chapter 22
Although slightly surprised by his still striking appearance, Blair nodded slightly with more composure than expected, as if nothing was amiss. It was an appropriate greeting between unfamiliar senior and junior students meeting on campus. Kyle looked back with a slightly puzzled expression and returned the nod.
Blair entered the changing room naturally, closing the door behind him, and let out a small sigh.
“Phew.”
He was relieved that his heart didn’t race uncontrollably after fifteen years of unrequited love. Kyle was beautiful, now as before. However, his heart didn’t flutter at the sight of a face fifteen years younger. The impression of a child was stronger. With Blair’s essence being thirty-three years old, he couldn’t feel his heart race for Kyle, who was just an eighteen-year-old kid. In a way, it was fortunate.
Hmm, at this rate, could he ever properly date? If he met someone his physical age, they would probably seem like children to him.
Blair clicked his tongue and tried on the uniform the clerk had selected. It was slightly loose, but that was only because Blair was currently too thin. Otherwise, the sleeve and trouser lengths were appropriate. After changing back into his original clothes, Blair exited the changing room.
Kyle was still in the uniform shop. The employee who was ringing up Kyle’s uniform smiled brightly at Blair and asked,
“Ah, student. How was it? Does the size fit well?”
“Yes. Please prepare four sets in this size. I’d like the collar embroidery in green, please.”
“Understood. I’ll help you right after finishing this student’s transaction.”
“Take your time.”
Though he was in front of Kyle, his voice flowed naturally. It seemed that his friendship of nearly twenty years proved more powerful than his long unrequited love. Indeed, it would be silly to tremble at the sight of someone fifteen years younger than himself. Fortunately, his mind was calmer than expected. Perhaps he was benefiting from his diligent efforts to let go of his feelings before his death.
His resolution to no longer pay attention to Kyle or love him seemed likely to be kept more smoothly than expected.
“…Thank you.”
After receiving his paid-for clothes, Kyle glanced at Blair and left the uniform shop. Feeling that gaze, Blair glanced back at him. What’s with him? With his attention withdrawn from Kyle, Blair picked up the four sets of uniforms the clerk had prepared.
“Let me help you with the payment quickly. Did you wait long?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Academy students are all so handsome, it’s truly rewarding to fit them with uniforms. You’re very good-looking too.”
The employee made a light joke. Blair smiled and graciously accepted the employee’s flattery.
“The person who just left is said to be this country’s Second Prince. He’s truly as handsome as a prince from a book illustration, isn’t he?”
“Oh, is that so? Indeed he is.”
Blair responded with feigned ignorance and a natural demeanor. So that’s what she wanted to talk about. Kyle’s face had an unnecessarily tremendous impact. When Kyle competed with Joshua for the throne, eight-tenths of the popularity that became Kyle’s greatest foundation came from his face. Blair, who knew Kyle better than anyone, nodded as if he was meeting him for the first time. As Blair played along, the clerk continued chattering.
“I haven’t seen him since the entrance ceremony. He’s really so handsome.”
“Haha, indeed. He is handsome. Anyway, thank you.”
The employee had a dreamy, entranced expression. Seeing the half-mesmerized employee’s face, Blair smiled, said goodbye, and left the uniform shop. Seeing how stable his mental state was despite encountering Kyle, it seemed he could steadily follow his newly established life plan.
It felt refreshing.
Kyle, having left the uniform shop, slightly turned his head to look back inside. The student he’d met in the uniform shop had left quite an impression.
Black hair with purple eyes. Though his features were still delicate due to his youth, he was a handsome man with well-balanced facial features from any angle. Having grown up looking at his own face, Kyle had exceptionally high standards and aesthetic sense regarding beauty. Yet that student had such a striking face that even Kyle found him undeniably handsome.
He stared at the student’s face for a long time, feeling inexplicably familiar. While paying for his uniform and examining him carefully, it was clearly a face he’d never seen before. Black hair with purple eyes wasn’t that common, and such a striking face wouldn’t be one he could forget. Yet despite clearly seeing this face for the first time, the student gave him a strange sense of déjà vu. He felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy.
Why?
Kyle tilted his head at this sensation he couldn’t understand himself.
Due to that strange feeling of familiarity, he paused when encountering the student emerging from the changing room. It had been a long time since he’d met someone who neither blushed nor became flustered at the sight of his face. Had he seen him somewhere before? But seeing the man who didn’t recognize him and coolly nodded in greeting, it didn’t seem so. For some reason, his heart felt inexplicably tumultuous.
‘Based on his request for green embroidery on the collar, he must be a second-year. Then we probably won’t cross paths much.’
Thinking that, he felt somewhat disappointed. Though it was a very brief encounter, Blair’s meeting with Kyle left a vivid impression on him.
* * *
Blair began creating his schedule. Of course, he wasn’t particularly flustered when he saw Kyle in front of the uniform shop, but it seemed better in many ways to avoid encountering Kyle as much as possible. The mature Kyle overlapped with the one he’d met at the uniform shop. If they met frequently, they would inevitably form a new relationship. It was better to avoid that as much as possible.
Blair started arranging his schedule, referring to the list of courses offered this semester. Blair’s newly arranged schedule focused on martial arts, including swordsmanship, physical combat, and spearmanship. It wasn’t that Blair couldn’t handle theory-based studies.
Of course, he was confident he could achieve good grades, but he also knew Kyle wouldn’t be taking these classes.
The Academy ran on an 8-year curriculum. Because the period was so long and the promotion exams were strict, countless students couldn’t complete their studies and failed to earn their degrees. Only 2 out of 10 entering students graduated from the Academy on time, and overall, 6 out of 10 abandoned their degrees midway. Even Blair had given up his Academy studies when he went to war.
The 8-year Academy classified students from first to fourth year as the lower division, allowing them to take the same classes and interact, while fifth to eighth year students were classified as the upper division and could take classes together. When advancing from the lower to the upper division, students took an intermediate exam, and without achieving a certain score, they couldn’t advance to the upper division.
That was the problem.
Kyle Owentree Crassia was still only eighteen years old. Kyle was also a fourth-year student, so he was naturally in the lower division. Therefore, according to school rules, Kyle and Blair could take the same classes freely.
Damn it.
If I had to come back to the past, how much better would it have been to be seventeen? Then Kyle would be nineteen and in the upper division, and we’d hardly ever have to see each other. Seventeen would have been perfect, right? In a year, I’d be of age too.
Currently, Kyle and Blair were strangers. And they had no mutual acquaintances. So the problem was that he couldn’t check Kyle’s schedule. What classes did Kyle take around this time in the past? No matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn’t remember someone else’s schedule from well over a decade ago.
Blair gritted his teeth.
So Blair chose avoidance. He crammed his schedule with classes Kyle wouldn’t likely take. Even Kyle as Emperor could handle swordsmanship or physical combat well enough to protect himself, but he wasn’t as interested in martial arts as Blair. Rather, when he was first dragged into the succession dispute and forced onto the battlefield, his swordsmanship wasn’t even as good as an average knight’s. Kyle had acquired his sword skills by struggling for his own survival.
Probably even now, Kyle wouldn’t be very interested in swordsmanship or martial arts. Regarding martial arts, he would likely only be taking the basic required courses. In any case, Kyle was a prince with the throne within reach, and the subjects he might be interested in were limited. He’d probably be taking courses like diplomacy, governance, and royal studies.
Blair looked at his tightly packed schedule with that thought in mind. Most students usually took only one or two martial arts courses per semester. Martial arts classes were worth few credits. It was natural, given that they required a lot of time and drained physical energy.
“Let’s just push through this year, Blair Shuho Monetery.”
Blair comforted himself, calling out his full name. The name Blair Shuho Monetery still felt a bit unfamiliar. But it was a name he needed to get used to again. After this year, his chances of running into Kyle would significantly decrease, and he would be able to lead a smooth and peaceful life.
However, it didn’t take long for Blair’s optimism to shatter.
[To be continued in the next chapter…]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
