OHNIR – Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Change
Kelusta rolled her eyes, and the elegant demeanor she had just assembled with her clothes instantly shattered. She crossed her arms, tapped her toes against the floor a couple of times, and said in a warning tone, “What girlfriend? Don’t be ridiculous…”
She paused, gazing at her own complicated expression in the mirror, and said hesitantly, “I haven’t decided if I want to be with her yet, so stop talking nonsense.”
The collapsed ruins, the rivers of blood, the wailing townspeople from the original game often disturbed Kelusta’s dreams at midnight. Seaside Town was her hometown; every inch of its land and every drop of its seawater had witnessed her growth. Her father had built sandcastles with her on the beach, a neighbor had gifted them a large, delicious fish, and the small tree outside their home would bloom with pink flowers every spring… To Kelusta, these memories were far more important than some hypothetical romance.
The thought, “Protect my seaside,” had become a vow Kelusta swore to fulfill ever since the System took up residence in her mind. So, just as she had no intention of pursuing the male leads, she was still hesitating about Gloria, no matter how much affection she felt for her. Could she really let go of this obsession and piously kiss the daughter of the duke who, in a place unknown to her, had destroyed her hometown time and time again?
As if sensing her low spirits, the System fell silent for a long while. It wasn’t until Kelusta came back to her senses and reached up to rub her forehead that it spoke again, as if to comfort her. “Temporary host, relax. Don’t overthink it.”
It seemed to feel that such comfort was a bit weak, so it thought for a moment and added, “What if she doesn’t even like you? Nothing’s set in stone yet, so don’t plan everything out in such detail.”
Kelusta: “…”
Thanks, I don’t feel comforted at all.
She forced a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, grabbed a pre-prepared package from the table, and walked out of the dormitory without expression. As if venting, she slammed the door shut with force.
Musen was a classic withdrawn kid. While rejecting interaction with others, he also actively tried to avoid any hand of assistance extended to him.
Although he was small and thin, pale and weak, looking perpetually sickly, his face was exceptionally handsome and cute. Therefore, even if the noble young ladies had seen plenty of good-looking men and disdained such a stray beggar, there were always commoner girls who were suckers for a pretty face and didn’t believe the superstitions about “black hair and black eyes.” They were happy to share some of their snacks to fill the stomach of Musen, who often went hungry.
Kelusta had learned from Kevit and Pascal that Musen’s class had herbology that afternoon. Professor Lysa, as usual, had the first-year students planting flowers. So, she timed her arrival perfectly, rushing straight to the garden just as Musen’s class was ending, before the students had a chance to leave.
Just as she was about to get close, she suddenly stopped and ducked behind a large, thick-trunked tree.
“…Classmate Musen, please just take it. If you keep on like this, you’ll really get sick.”
A gentle female voice drifted into Kelusta’s ears from not far away. The voice was as soft as a cloud on a sunny day, and the girl’s tone was laced with sincere worry and a hint of imperceptible shyness. The brown-haired girl behind the tree was filled with emotion as she listened, her anger dissipating. She sighed dreamily to the System, “Ah, this is the sound of youth, of sweet romance!”
“Oh, is it?” the System, which had neither the sound of youth nor a sweet romance, said coldly. “But I’ve noticed that Musen is about to reject that young lady.”
The System was clearly right, because in the next second, the boy’s cold and stiff words carried over. His tone was like the wind on the Gobi Desert, stinging the skin and seeping a bone-deep chill. “I believe I’ve said many times that I don’t need it, Miss Katie. If it’s not important, please don’t bother me again in the future.”
Kelusta peeked her head out, her golden eyes darting around before settling on the boy and girl over there. Although Musen’s clothes weren’t the tattered ones from last time, they still looked incredibly old, the edges frayed with messy threads and rough cuts. He looked as miserable as if he’d been thoroughly ruined by a tailor with terrible skills.
Across from him, a girl in a simple dress was clutching the basket of snacks she had tentatively offered back to her chest, her eyes red. After managing a choked “Sorry,” she turned, wiped her tears, and ran away.
“Tsk, tsk,” Kelusta clicked her tongue in amazement. “So clueless about romance… to have that kind of attitude toward a girl, he’s even worse than me.”
A light breeze blew past, happening to lift the hem of Kelusta’s skirt and gently tousle her light brown hair. Just as she was hesitating whether to reveal herself to Musen, the black-haired boy’s icy voice sounded again, filled with impatience and annoyance, directed her way. “Have you seen enough?”
“…”
“He’s talking to you,” the System reminded her, particularly puzzled as it watched Kelusta not only stay put but also deliberately smooth down her skirt, a series of actions to ensure she wouldn’t be exposed.
But Kelusta pressed herself against the tree trunk as if it were the most natural thing in the world, saying with great foresight, “You’re still too young, Old Sy. He’s trying to bluff me out.”
The System was taken aback and was about to analyze its manufacturing date for Kelusta when it suddenly heard a strange rustling from a nearby flower bush. Within a few breaths, a delicate-looking girl in a fruit-green dress appeared before Musen, her face flushed and leaves in her hair. She clasped her hands together awkwardly, her eyes gazing anxiously at the black-haired boy’s frosty expression, looking utterly flustered. “S-sorry, Classmate Musen… I didn’t mean to, I just wanted to ask if you’d like to go to the dining hall for lunch, but I didn’t expect to run into Katie, so I just—”
Kelusta peeked out again. For some reason, she thought Musen’s face had gotten even darker.
The surroundings were silent. Only the rustling of the wind through the trees kept the atmosphere from feeling like a funeral. After a long moment, Kelusta heard the boy’s cold voice ring out, speaking to the girl in green with remarkable impartiality. “You too. Don’t bother me again.”
And so, the spectating duo successfully witnessed another tragic scene of a “girl with red-rimmed eyes wiping away tears as she turns and runs away.”
This is a male lead in an otome game?
Was I blind in the original story to fall for such a scumbag?
Kelusta rolled her eyes. If she had to choose between the flamboyant peacock Satrick, the blockheaded Kevit, the arctic-born Wend, and Musen, who was “dedicated to making everyone else as withdrawn as he was”…
Forget it. She’d choose E. Gloria was better.
Over there, even after Musen had driven away the second person, the black-haired boy showed no signs of leaving. He crossed his arms, his eyes like the deep night sky staring coldly at the large tree Kelusta was hiding behind. He said, almost through gritted teeth, “Do I have to invite you out?”
“This time he’s not bluffing, is he?” the System said. “I thought something was off just now… Turns out his talent for wind magic is on par with yours.”
Kelusta thought about the breeze that had lifted her skirt and hair earlier. She fell silent for a moment, feeling a little embarrassed as she poked her head out and said awkwardly to Musen, “Sorry… should I just leave on my own?”
Thinking that might be a bit blunt, she added, “I won’t run away crying, you don’t mind that, right?”
“…” Musen stared at her as if he’d been choked by dozens of Rose Puddings at once. After a long pause, he finally said, “What do you want from me?”
Huh, I was waiting to get my ‘do not disturb’ card.
Kelusta stepped out from behind the tree, looking at Musen with some surprise. “Does this mean I’ve earned the special honor of being allowed to disturb you?” she remarked.
As soon as she finished, the System offered its critique: “That was a really snarky thing to say.”
But Musen was clearly not as petty as the System. He just shivered in disgust, his expression shifting from “indifferent” to “indifferent with a hint of disgust.” The temperature in his voice seemed to drop from the ice plains to the arctic circle. “…If you have no business, you can leave too.”
Kelusta sighed, shook her head, and held up the bag she was carrying toward him with a smile. “If I had no business, why would I have come all this way to find you? Here, this has medicine for bruises and bones. I got it from the medical room… It’s not worth much, so don’t worry about using it.”
With that, she took two steps forward and pressed the cloth bag into Musen’s hand with a force that brooked no refusal. Then she quickly stepped back, giving him no chance to return it. The brown-haired girl’s willow-leaf-like eyebrows arched slightly as she said teasingly, “Those girls weren’t wrong, you know. You’re already in poor health. If you keep mistreating yourself like this, what will you do if you really fall ill in a couple of days?”
One of Musen’s hands tightened around the fabric filled with medicine. He frowned and said coldly, “That’s my own business, you needn’t trouble yourself…”
“It’s okay to let others trouble themselves for you once in a while,” Kelusta interrupted. Her golden eyes shone with a clear light in the sun as she smiled brightly. “Times have changed, sir… A pretty face can be much more eye-catching than black hair and black eyes. Not everyone who approaches you has ill intentions. You should learn to distinguish and accept well-intentioned help, because you have to survive.”
The girl stood in the shade of the tree, smiling at him. The gentle wind rustled the leaves, making a soft, rustling sound. Musen tilted his head up slightly, looking at the benefactor who had saved him in his time of need. His usually dull eyes were now considerably brighter. The fingertips of his hand hanging at his side twitched, and the gentle, slow breeze suddenly became fast and urgent. Kelusta had to use her hand to hold down her flying hair. Amidst the chaos, she heard the boy’s voice, tinged with a faint confusion, ask, “Because I have to survive?”
“That’s right, survive.” Kelusta nodded, tucking a strand of hair that had brushed against her cheek behind her ear, revealing half of her fair, clear face. “If you don’t survive, how will you get revenge on those who bullied you? How will you change this world full of discrimination?”
“…I don’t want to change the world,” Musen denied coldly.
“No, you do.”
The brown-haired girl gave him a lazy glance, stroking her skirt, which had puffed up from the strengthening wind, and said pointedly, “Because much of the time, ‘you’ doesn’t just represent ‘you’.”
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