The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)
Chapter 24: Happiness

Chapter 24: Happiness

LEO

The rest of the day passed in sort of a haze. I dreaded seeing everyone after wimping out again in magic class, but when I saw the guys at dinner back in the dormitory dining hall, nobody mentioned anything about what happened earlier. Dinner was dumplings (made with beef and chives instead of pork and spring onions, as we did back home) and salad, which I made some effort to eat (although everyone told me I shouldn’t force myself—even Mario...). Dumplings were a trick Mom used to get me to eat vegetables, because I had never liked greens for as long as I could remember. But when they were inside dumplings mixed with ground pork, I found them acceptable. I then remembered Mom sitting by the table, making little meatballs to put in dumplings, and she always looked—

I shook my head. The gentleman told me today not to think about home too much. The quicker I adjusted to life here, the less fragile I’d be.

After that little chat at the infirmary with the gentleman about needing to toughen up, I had dinner, and then I went for my personal training again, repeating the same thing. Darkness and the mirror. I didn’t really want to go, but I found that once I did as the gentleman told me to, I was able to feel more relaxed, at least compared to the last time. Slightly. It was still an odd feeling, seeing myself in the mirror and asking, ’Is it me?’ but not being able to answer that question didn’t bother me as much this time.

Now, lying in my bed on my second night at the Academy, I still couldn’t sleep well, though. I thought I’d pass out quickly after having such a long and tiring day, but I just couldn’t. I thought about many things, but I spent at least half an hour trying to figure out how to stop Dimitri from snoring so loudly. Maybe I’d ask Dr. Branson the next time I saw him, I thought. But at the same time, I hoped I wouldn’t go weak again in the next magic class. It’d be better if I never had to see Dr. Branson again.

After an hour of trying to force myself to stay in bed, I eventually had to get up to go to the toilet and get a cup of water. On my way back, I couldn’t help but check outside through the window, and as I had somewhat expected, there was Mario—practising his sword swings again.

That boy was relentless.

But... after what happened earlier, I felt a little less scared of him, although he still made me so confused. Something in me moved my feet to climb downstairs and then go outside to where Mario Boy was. The night was cloudier than the night before, but louder, with tree leaves rustling as it was somewhat windy.

As I approached Mario, I had a funny thought. He had his back turned toward me. If he REALLY wanted to be a ’friend,’ then perhaps a little prank wasn’t too bad?

I tried to walk as quietly as possible, trying not to make any sound with my footsteps, which was easier because of all the wind noise in the air tonight. It also helped that I was walking on soft grass.

Then, just as I got as close as two paces away, I yelled out,

"Boo!"

I expected him to jump up like a startled cat, but instead, he swiftly turned, and in one flowing motion, he had the tip of the wooden sword almost touching my throat, and he said,

"Do—"

"I... I’m sorry!" I yelped in panic. He was incredibly fast, and sharp or not, that wooden sword actually hitting my windpipe could have killed me! I realized I shouldn’t have done this.

But as I was shivering in fear, Mario let out a few dry coughs, cleared his throat, and continued,

"Re, Mi, Fa, Sol..."

What the heck?

His eyes trembled a little, or at least I could tell even in this darkness as the reflection of the faint moonlight in his eyes wavered once.

"I was—just thinking about singing."

"I suppose... you could...?"

"No, never mind."

We stood awkwardly in silence, and after a short moment, he asked me,

"Can you... sing?"

I was still recovering from the shock of his reaction (which really didn’t go as I planned and ended up scaring me more than I scared him...), but I wasn’t exactly going to refuse when his wooden sword was still less than half a thumb’s length away from my throat.

What the heck was I supposed to sing?

Then a song from Erdville came to my mind.

"One potato for my mother,

One for my father,

One for anyone who’s hungry,

That’s how it ought to be."

I was dying of embarrassment as Mario gave no reaction, just blinking his eyes while keeping the sword at my throat.

But then, suddenly, he put away the practice sword, hanging it on the clip on his belt, and said,

"That was really nice."

"I’m sorry..."

"Don’t be. I’m sorry I thought you were—someone was attacking me."

"Oh... you’ve never had anyone try to jump-scare you before? Like a prank?"

The moonlight reflected in his eyes and wavered once more. He then shook his head and said,

"Nobody did that. I... really thought I was in danger. I apologize again if I startled you."

Could it be that... Mario didn’t really have good friends?

I wondered. But I didn’t ask him.

Even I knew asking someone without friends, ’Don’t you have any friends?’ was not a very sensible question!

As I was thinking this, Mario asked me in a voice that genuinely sounded curious,

"Tell me, how do the potatoes in your region taste?"

This was something I could answer with confidence.

"Happiness."

"Ha—happiness?"

"Yeah! They taste like happiness."

I thought it was easy, but something about the way he looked told me he didn’t quite understand.