Chapter 19: 5

Savage Fang – Volume 2 Chapter 5: Contact

“This is just a thought, but will we not make further progress if we simply continue to wait like this?”

It was now lunchtime, before the afternoon’s practical classes. After swallowing her food, Colette spoke up, her brows furrowed in thought.

Though she spoke rather vaguely, I knew exactly what Colette was referring to.

It was about the one who was never with us yet was always a part of our conversations.

stares

She meant, of course, our watcher, Melissa Tulio de Lulutowa.

Ever since our first contact, Melissa had been coming closer and closer to watch us, probably because she was letting down her guard, but recently, she stopped moving and instead has kept the same distance between us.

That wasn’t to say that she was on guard again; if anything, she had been putting less and less effort into hiding what she was doing. By now, she was openly watching us

But that was it. Up until recently, Melissa drew closer with each passing day but then had suddenly stopped after a certain distance. She didn’t come any closer, and she didn’t attempt to talk to us.

Her actions were like a tree branch floating in a lake; the wind would blow the branch closer and closer to shore, but after the wind died down, the branch had stopped moving.

“Do you not also have questions you want to ask her? Nothing will change if you continue to leave things as they are.”

“I know that, but…”

From her exasperated tone, it was obvious that Colette was tired of waiting.

To be fair, it wasn’t like I was happy with sitting around waiting for Melissa to make a move first, either.

At this point, it probably would be better to go and make the first move, even if I had to be a little forceful to catch her. However…

I glanced over at Melissa; I could still see a hint of fear about her, but she glared back without looking away.

…That attitude — with that sense of duty burning in her eyes, strangely directed though it may be — was why I hesitated. From that, I could tell we wouldn’t be able to hold a productive conversation with one another — or least, not one that went beyond a conversation between mere classmates.

Even so, I could still force the conversation in that direction, but…

I never met Melissa in the history I remembered, and I only knew of her as the brave duchess that stood against the evil queen’s tyranny until her own death, all to protect her people.

Furthermore, even as Iltania as a whole fell into depravity, there remained people who adored that Melissa Tulio… And my closest friend had, in the end, dedicated himself out of loyalty to Melissa, too. Knowing all of this, I didn’t want to come on too strongly at her.

Well, considering our current circumstances, it was a little hard to believe that this small animal would later become that brave duchess.

“Your Highness, I beg your pardon for making such a request of you, but would it be possible to arrange a private meeting between myself and Miss Melissa?”

“Of course, it would be a great honor to grant such a request, Lady Mylene, but… As a matter of fact, Miss Melissa has already declined to hear such a request from me.”

As it happened, she had already refused a request from her home country’s own crown prince. It seemed I would have no choice but to consider a more forceful approach.

…Not that I’d feel good about doing it that way.

“I have finished eating. Now, if you would excuse me for a moment, I must return my dishes.”

That aside, worried or not, my stomach still needed feeding.

After giving my thanks to no one in particular for another delicious meal, I rose from my seat, intending to return my used plates and utensils.

“This is awfully sudden of you. Would it not have been less trouble to wait for us to go together as usual?”

While each of us ate at a different pace, we would also usually wait for each other to finish before going together to return our plates.

Colette tilted her head in confusion, the curiosity plain on her face as I was getting to my feet.

“I forgot to bring the training uniform for our afternoon practical class today, so I need to return to the dormitory for it. I shall be see the two of you in class, but I must take my leave here.”

What Colette had said was my usual routine, but I had a reason for breaking from it today.

Upon hearing that I had forgotten my uniform, Colette made a sound of understanding.

And so I walked over to the return area with my tray, catching the eye of the cleaning staff so they would know there was used tableware. After doing so, I let out a small sigh.

I should be quick about it, grabbing my uniform. I didn’t want to be late to class.

With impatience tugging in my mind, I quickly left the cafeteria… but not before I sensed the presence of a certain small animal following behind.

I let out another sigh as I deliberately slowed my pace, all so the presence behind me wouldn’t fall behind.

◆

Having slowed down to match Melissa’s pace, I returned to the school building completely later than I’d planned.

There was not much time left before afternoon classes started, and so I was walking down the hallway in a hurry.

I needed to get to the changing room; after going through all the trouble of finishing lunch early to retrieve my uniform, it would be meaningless if I ended up late to class.

“…!”

Seeing as I sped up, Melissa also began walking faster so as not to lose sight of me.

For a moment, I considered the absurdity of our situation — that is, how silly it seemed that a stalker didn’t care about the noise they made in following their target. Well, I suppose in Melissa’s case, she probably felt there was no need to stay hidden.

I pushed those thoughts aside once I reached the changing room, which was empty despite the scheduled practical class today. I really needed to hurry now.

I brought my hands to the buttons of my uniform and began to undo them one-by-one.

Being in a hurry reminded me once again of how much more troublesome women’s clothes were than men’s. I thought I was completely used to the difference by now, but if I was still thinking this way, then maybe I hadn’t completely adjusted yet.

Well, actually, there was something else I should address first…

I casually turned toward the entrance of the room to see Melissa staring holes through me.

“…”

Despite being the same gender, having someone stare this closely at me as I changed clothes was still quite embarrassing. Well, I suppose this was an improvement over how carefully Colette watched as I dressed down every night, but…

“Tch…”

…Wait, no, why am I thinking of it like that? I turned away from Melissa after a sudden rush of embarrassment.

I forced myself to act calm as I continued to unbutton my blouse; I couldn’t help but click my tongue in irritation as I tried not to think about how Melissa was still staring.

I wasn’t one to feel self-conscious about my own body, but for some reason, a wave of cold panic seemed to wash over me as I stripped down to my undergarments.

Could it be that I… Before I could finish that thought, another realization struck me.

Why hadn’t Melissa entered the changing room as well?

We were in the same class. And since she seemed to be watching me at all times, it wouldn’t surprise me if our class schedules were the same. Wait, no, actually, they had to be the same.

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Which meant that if she didn’t change into her training uniform now, she would be late to our afternoon class.

…Well, it wouldn’t be a problem if she missed class this one time, but what if this happened again? Would she just choose to miss class every time?

I turned to look again and saw Melissa still peeking over at me.

So was she going to skip class today? Maybe she was unaware of the time? Or what if it was neither of those things?

But that wasn’t the only problem.

“Hey you! Over there, what are you doing?!”

Melissa gave an exaggerated start at the sudden shout.

I had a feeling this would happen; I let out a weary sigh as I held my face in hand.

Turning back to look at the door, instead of Melissa’s gaze, I saw a shadowy figure pacing back and forth in desperate panic.

Had she not expected this to happen? She should have known how suspicious she looked peeking into a changing room the way she was, that someone would shout at her.

I should have left her to face the consequences, but…

“Please, come here.”

“…!!”

I reached out, grabbing a panicked Melissa by the wrist and pulling her into the changing room.

I pushed her close against the wall, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

“Shh..”

I put a finger to her lips, urging her to stay quiet.

“You in there! Identify yourself!”

Not a moment later, a teacher’s voice thundered from behind the door.

“Phoenix class, first-year, Mylene Petyul, sir.”

“O-oh, it is just you, Miss Mylene. I believe I may have seen a suspicious person peeking into the changing room. Have you seen anything strange?”

Fortunately for us, the voice belonged to a male teacher, so he couldn’t just force his way into the changing room.

Meanwhile, Melissa, with her lips squeezed into a tight line, closed her eyes in resignation as tears began to form.

“…No, I have not. I am the only one in here, Instructor. Seeing as everything appears to be fine, I believe there would be a problem if you remained here like this, sir.”

Melissa’s eyes snapped open in wide surprise.

…She hadn’t expected me to cover for her. Well, if I really had something against her, I would have done something about it much sooner, but it seemed she hadn’t realized that.

“I-I see. W-well, if it is as you say, then…”

There was a chance he had seen Melissa enter the room, but he couldn’t enter knowing a female student was inside. Still, while he sounded unconvinced, there wasn’t anything he could do, seeing as it was his word as a male teacher against that of a noble lady’s.

“I-in any case, afternoon classes are about to begin. Be sure that you are not late.”

“Of course. Thank you for your warning.”

Another moment later, and the owner of the voice left, with the sounds of his footsteps receding into the distance.

I let out a tired breath in relief as I took my finger away from Melissa’s lips.

When I looked over her, it seemed as though she had frozen over in shock. Seeing the shade of crimson on her, I wondered if the heat had risen up from her body to gather in her face.

Her mouth opened and closed like the flapping of crashing waves; she avoided meeting my gaze but stole occasional glances… I only had a bitter laugh for how she was acting. It was no wonder the teacher just now had found her suspicious, especially with her acting like this.

“I know you have been watching me this whole time, but peeking into the changing room like that was going too far. Do you not think so?”

“Ugh…”

It finally seemed to sink in, exactly what she had just done.

Melissa’s face scrunched up in frustration, but there wasn’t anything she could say to refute it, even if it was her nemesis telling her so.

Silence fell over the changing room, but despite the awkward tension between us, Melissa didn’t run away. Instead, she slowly turned to face me head-on.

“Wh-why? Why did you… help me?”

Her panic was understandable. After all, at the Academy, it didn’t matter if the perpetrator and the victim were of the same gender; being caught peeping resulted in severe disciplinary action.

Although Melissa was still wary of me, I could sense the relief she felt.

But above both of those feelings was how surprised she was that I would help her.

“I know you have been watching me for some time now, but I never really cared nor did you mean any harm in doing so, correct? That being the case, it would not sit well with me if I were to leave you to face disciplinary action when I have nothing against you and could do something to help.”

I gave her my reasoning, with the unspoken implication that she didn’t need to feel guilty or indebted to me.

And I should have ended it there, without saying another word, but…

“Besides, a certain acquaintance of mine always felt like they were indebted to you. A bit of that might have rubbed off on me, so I just did what I had to do.”

The face of a familiar friend from my mercenary days came to mind… He was a crude, average guy, but one that was devoted to his wife and reliable to his friends.

Of course, there was no way for Melissa to know of the person I was referring to, let alone the reason why he felt the way he did.

But I hadn’t lied; Melissa was someone my friend had admired to the point of dedicating his life to avenging her. I may not have met her before in my previous life, but I couldn’t bring myself to do wrong by her, not after seeing friend’s conviction.

Melissa tilted her head, confused, but a moment later, refocused her gaze on me.

It was close to the glare she had for me during our first meeting, but this time, for some reason, it seemed the harshness I felt back then wasn’t present now.

“I knew it. You’re completely different…”

Melissa murmured softly, but in the silent stillness of the changing room, her voice echoed so clearly that it sent chills down my spine.

“The girl named Mylene Petyul… would never smile like that.”

It felt as though my heart had plunged into a bath of ice, and it was as though a freezing, suffocating force was pressing against my chest.

“So who… are you?”

I was caught under Melissa’s serene gaze, staring down at me like I was trapped under the surface of a lake frozen over.

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