Chapter 57: You Smell Like Her Perfume

"Bang, bang, bang!!!"

The window began to be pounded violently.

Clearly, Caelia was not very fond of Roland's current behavior.

Soon, a wisp of shadow "flowed" through the crack of the window and into the room.

Roland inwardly thought things were going south, and intended to use the spell he had just acquired to interfere with Caelia's casting process.

But he forgot one thing.

His mana had been completely depleted.

Moreover, his mana regeneration rate was not that fast.

Before long, the shadow gathered and spread across the floor of Roland's bedroom into a shadow about the width of a person.

The next moment, Caelia's head poked out from the shadow.

From her annoyed yet slightly aggrieved expression, Roland knew that tonight was probably not going to end peacefully.

"Roland... don't you think you're being a bit excessive?"

"I've been watching you from the window for so long, and you actually only just noticed me?"

"And..."

Caelia pouted and thrust her face right up to Roland's: "What did you mean by closing the curtains right after noticing me? Do you want to avoid seeing me that badly?"

"Didn't we promise to be friends for life?"

Such a heavy statement.

And had she actually been staring at him for a long time?

When did she arrive?

"Thud!"

Caelia extended her small fist and punched Roland in the chest: "Forget it... After all, you looked like you were studying hard just now."

"I'll let you off."

"However... what were you and that wicked woman doing this afternoon?"

Well, the matter wasn't over yet.

However, he at least obtained one piece of good news.

That was, Caelia was no longer dwelling on the matter of him pulling the curtains, and she hadn't discovered the existence of the system. It seemed that when he modified the spell, to anyone else outside, he still just looked like he was lowering his head to read.

"A wicked woman? You mean Illuvia?"

"Yes! Who else could it be?"

After saying this, Caelia smiled, then took out her staff and held it in her hand. The shadow beneath her feet began to writhe, transforming into ropes...

No, calling them tentacles would be more appropriate.

Why on earth did this girl develop this kind of skill?

"Ahem..."

Roland coughed. Clearly, he already realized the current situation was not looking good.

"What else could we have done? I went to the Magitech Academy to find Master Toran, and then it was over."

"You went together?"

"Master Toran doesn't welcome her, so I went by myself, but I happened to bump into her on my way out."

"Hmm..."

Caelia leaned toward Roland with a half-believing expression.

Although she believed Roland wouldn't lie to her, she still had to do some verification work.

Sniff, sniff, sniff.

Caelia leaned close to Roland and sniffed him, just like a vigilant hound.

Then, suddenly noticing something amiss, Caelia whipped her head around, her eyes revealing a look of sheer disbelief: "It's the smell of lying!!!"

Roland: "???"

"You have the smell of that wicked woman on you!"

Do you have a dog's nose or something?!

An entire afternoon has passed!

And you can still smell it?!

No, that's not the main point!

Caelia clearly had some bizarre misunderstanding about him!

Wait, why was he getting so nervous?

Realizing that there was no need for him to be nervous at all, Roland immediately calmed down and began to explain the events of the afternoon from start to finish.

After listening to Roland's entire account, Caelia was somewhat dumbfounded.

"You mean... that wretch was flirting with you?"

"Is that even considered flirting? Surely not?"

"You don't call this flirting?!"

Caelia hugged her staff and shouted with some agitation: "This is totally flirting!"

"Why are you getting so worked up?"

Looking at Caelia, who looked like a cat whose fur had puffed up in anger, Roland was also stunned.

He hadn't expected Caelia to react so strongly.

Caelia quickly calmed down. After taking several deep breaths, she placed her right hand on Roland's shoulder with a serious expression.

Having never seen Caelia look so solemn and earnest—exhibiting an expression like a normal, aloof young beauty—Roland also quieted down, waiting for the other to speak.

"Roland."

"Yeah, I'm listening."

"You must never be fooled by the wicked women out there."

"Huh?"

Is that really all you wanted to say?

The writhing shadows in the room quickly returned to normal, and Caelia, letting out a sigh of relief, also wore a relaxed smile: "That's right, women out there, especially women of unknown origins like that, are very dangerous!"

Roland retorted: "Does an imperial princess count as a woman of unknown origin?"

"To me, she does!" Caelia explained righteously: "A person like that who suddenly appears by your side naturally counts as being of unknown origin! I've never even heard of her before!"

"...I knew Illuvia before I knew you."

"That doesn't matter! I'm your best friend, aren't I? Friends for life!"

Looking at Caelia, who made a single-handed fist in front of her chest and looked thoroughly confident, Roland, in order to get some rest as soon as possible, had no choice but to go along with Caelia's line of thought.

"Fine, fine, fine, best friends for life... So can you please get out of my room now, Miss Caelia? I'm going to sleep."

"It's not over yet, Roland!"

Caelia lunged forward and grabbed Roland's wrist.

Roland instinctively wanted to break free, but at that moment he suddenly noticed that Caelia's physical strength was abnormally high!

"Hehe, it's body enhancement magic~~~ Simple spells like this are still quite easy to learn!"

Although she had been enhanced by magic, how could mere magic ever rival a physique tempered through long periods of exercise!

Seeing that she was about to lose control of Roland, Caelia simply blushed, gritted her teeth, and pressed her entire body down onto Roland.

Tripping Roland's foot with a shadow tentacle to make him lose his balance, Caelia successfully achieved her goal, pinning Roland beneath her.

"A-As a friend, I-I feel like... some things, I-I-I must properly keep them safe for you!"

The next moment, Roland gave up struggling.

With the brief, fleeting warmth transmitted across his lips and the sight of Caelia's back fleeing in panic from the scene, it took Roland a full ten seconds to sort out the current situation.

He had seemingly been forcefully kissed.

A minute later, Roland slowly sat up from the bed.

If they were just friends, wasn't this crossing the line a bit?

The moment the first thought popped into his mind, Roland even amused himself.

Of course, what exactly he was smiling about was something only he knew.

Lying flat on his back on the bed, Roland stared at the wooden ceiling, which still felt unfamiliar to him, and fell into deep thought.

It wasn't until the night grew deeper and sleepiness began to well up that Roland chuckled wryly and muttered a complaint.

"This girl... can't she be just a little more frank and speak like a normal person?"

"I'll go to sleep first. I can think about all these random things tomorrow."

Not long after Roland drifted off to dreamland, a figure once again appeared outside his window.

This time, it was not Caelia.

The mysterious figure in black hanging upside down outside the window pulled out a crossbow and quietly pushed open the window. None of this managed to alert Roland.

Just as the intruder took aim at Roland, preparing to fire a crossbow bolt fitted with a special tip at close range, a long blade pierced straight through the intruder's skull. Immediately after, another figure caught the falling corpse and pulled it back up onto the roof of Roland's dormitory.

Also clad in a black cloak that concealed their figure and appearance, the mysterious person sheathed their sword, then nodded slightly toward a hatter perched on a distant tree branch.

Then, they left Roland's residence carrying the body.

Meanwhile, hiding in the roadside tree and carrying out the task of guarding Roland under Illuvia's orders, the hatter looked extremely surprised.

"Not one of us... Could it be that Her Highness arranged for someone else as well?"

"Oh right, this kid was just taken in as a disciple by Master Toran today. Could this be that master's doing?"

"As expected of someone sought out by that master—the speed of the strike is simply too fast. I couldn't even see it clearly."

Originally, upon seeing an assassin, this hatter had intended to step in and handle it.

Yet before he could even make a move, that mysterious person had appeared out of nowhere and cleanly dispatched the enemy.

"Well, at least I'm left with the chore of cleaning up the scene."

"Better clear away the bloodstains, and by the way, give this fellow a reminder."

"The academy's security isn't as reliable as people think."

"However... should I tell Her Highness about Lord Roland being forcefully kissed?"

"Forget it, I'll just pretend I didn't see anything. I almost got myself into trouble eating melons last time; it's best not to provoke Her Highness's bad side."