Ariel Dalton Wants to Graduate

When the door of the storage room was unlocked, standing there was my roommate Brianna, student council president Illestia, Spencer, the owner of the baby dragon Clay, and Lady Edwards, the female dormitory superintendent. She seemed pretty upset about the unexpected overtime.

“Ramos, Dalton. What the hell did you do to get stuck in a place like this?”

Ramos and I were very frustrated. We are locked up not because of what we have done but because of what we have encountered. Lady Edwards cut me off as I was going to frantically explain, saying it was not important, and that she would ask for the details of the case later because she wants to sleep now.

Brianna flinched slightly when I brought up Manuel Cleveland’s name. She was smart enough to know what it meant for him to be involved.

I’m sorry Bree, but Walsh had to be punished in some way. I knew he was such a vindictive prick towards his ex-girlfriend who is treating him cold-heartedly, but I didn’t expect that he would lock me up in the practice magic tools storage room.

“Are you okay? Are you not hurt?”

On the way back, Illestia asked kindly. I said I was fine, but Ramos kindly informed him that my palm was slightly red and swollen after touching the fake key.

Illestia held my hand as we descended the stairs and cast a healing spell. As soon as the burning sensation subsided, I thanked him and linked my arm with Brianna’s, who seemed very disgusted by it.

The dawn was breaking when we finally arrive outside. That meant I was locked up for roughly eight hours. I hardly slept and was distraught at the thought of taking magic science class.

So at first, I thought I saw it wrong. There was Rosemary Blossom at the end of the hallway on the second floor, where I casually glanced at as I stepped on the gently curved stairs. Had she been there all night long? What did Kyle tip her off about?

Perhaps because the stairwell we were on suddenly became noisy, her eyes met mine from a distance. The unfocused purple eyes I saw at the first graduation banquet were filled with an unfathomable sense of condemnation. The fear licked my body like a serpent’s tongue  .

As I lay on the bed, a thought that I had never considered before came to me. Perhaps Rosemary Blossom’s suffering was as much or more than mine. Maybe, for some desperate reason, she has no choice but to rewind this terrible time.

Before I unknowingly fell asleep, that thought went around my head for about ten times and entered the ‘possibility’ box.

***

[The mysterious eight hours of A. Dalton and E. Ramos—What happened in the practice magic tools storage room?]

There were a lot of reports early in the morning. E. Ramos, the prodigal son of Nadon, witnessed having a tryst with a faculty member on Finnigan Street exactly four days ago, had spent eight hours with his classmate in the storage room for training magic tools.

After a quick investigation by dispatching a team of reporters to Lady Edwards, the superintendent of the women’s dormitory, it turned out to be true.

E. Ramos has been the subject of almost every affair in Fitzsimmons, with a more unconventional move than his brother B. Nadon. We have always thought that only shiny blonde hair could ignite his burning passion, but that does not seem to be the case.

Maybe it is more attractive because it is fresh. Afterall, Miss Dalton has mousy hair and deep blue eyes!

That’s right. It’s A. Dalton. She was the one who entered the storage room with E. Ramos last night and came out only after dawn today.

It is truly a surprise. Everyone at Fitzsimmons thought she had a relationship with K. Villard, the best prankster in 5th grade, who is now competing with B. Nadon for R. Blossom.

An official who requested anonymity hinted to the reporting team that she had recently been kicked by K. Villard and was deeply hurt. Could that be why she entrusted herself to E. Ramos?

(End)

Even after Brianna had read the newspaper she had bought three times, she didn’t think of handing it over to me. When I managed to snatch it, I found this article. It was nonsense from start to finish, so I couldn’t even get angry.

“Dalton, are you okay?”

Bree asked, looking at me. Her cheeks and forehead were flushed red. She seemed to be holding back her anger.

“Thanks for your concern, I’m fine.”

“I will make him apologize. I’m sure Adam would do that much. My God, if I had known it would be this big, I wouldn’t have dragged Lady Edwards into it!”

Would Adam Walsh fall for Brianna’s persuasion and apologize to me? It didn’t seem like it, but I kept my mouth shut. It was because Bree looked like she was going to cry.

Fitzsimmons Times was able to quickly report last night’s events probably  because the bastard who reported the incident was the same bastard who locked me in the storage room with Ramos.

It was simply abysmal. I was confused about whether the bean pods stuck in my eyes* for three years were very thick or whether Walsh had a thick face that hid his true nature well.

*(Infatuation with the opposite sex is described as having ‘bean pods in the eyes’ in Korea. It can also mean being blind to one’s flaws because of love.)

I had to sleep a bit more today because I had to find more information about the situation afterclass. I soothed Bree, who was restless over the sins she didn’t commit, and went to bed.

“Wait a minute, Mosley.”

At my call, Brianna grabbed her bag and walked out the door before turning around.

“Have you ever fallen from a tree as a child?”

“No?”

She answered the question just asking why that my heart calmed down. It was just a coincidence.

“I didn’t but Michaela Maynard said that she had such an experience.”

‘You know the one who’s close to Rosemary Blossom. I work with her on a history report of the continent…’ Brianna’s voice slowly became distant. I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.

***

Kyle was not in the magic science classroom. I heard he had another mishap and got called by Professor Humphreys. I also had to go to Professor Humphreys’ office after class because of the storage room incident, so I guess I’ll see his face there.

It wasn’t a good choice to sit in the front of the magic science classroom on the day you’re sleep-deprived, but I went past my usual seat and went near the podium. Because Blossom and Michaela Maynard, who probably also fell from a holly tree at the age of five, are there.

No matter how you think about it, Kyle and Blossom must have had a big secret affecting everything. If Kyle couldn’t talk, Blossom might be able to speak.

I wanted to hear anything from her mouth, but I could not. As soon as I got close to them, Maynard glared at me.

“You know, Dalton, Rose doesn’t like you, and neither do I.”

“Heuk, why?”

When I asked in a daze, Maynard kicked me out by waving her hand as if it were too much trouble to explain. Blossom didn’t even look in the direction where Maynard and I were; her eyes were fixed on the podium, where Professor Houston hadn’t yet arrived. It was the attitude of not wanting to get involved.

Of course, I don’t find Blossom lovely. From my point of view, she was the love interest of my childhood friend who was most likely to fail, leaving only scars, because his competitors were too strong: the five members of the student council. She was also an important figure related to the never-ending fifth grade.

But that’s why I decided I needed more contact with her. Moreover, Blossom is not happy with the situation she is in. If what I glimpsed in her terrifyingly empty eyes was pain……

She seemed to have a different opinion from me. Her profile, as if crafted out of porcelain by an artisan, was fragile and beautiful, but white and hard, as if  glazed. The tightly closed mouth seemed very stubborn.

I had no choice but to return to my usual seat. Every step I took was followed by a murmur. It seemed they were talking about the Fitzsimmons Times’ report, judging from the occasional mention of Ramos and Kyle.

I pretended to draw a magic formula in the air and yanked off the hair of Maurice Sweeney, who was making a fuss without knowing anything. Professor Houston warned me twice but soon gave up when I insisted that it was a mistake and didn’t show any sign of stopping.

Sweeney fell silent when exactly five attacks hit her fragile scalp. My mood, which plummeted after being rejected by Rosemary Blossom, felt a little better after that.

Professor Humphreys was in charge of career counseling and discipline in the 5th grade. She is a magician from the magic tower and has a very upright personality. Her office that was at the top of the main building, maybe thinking that occupying the highest floor was a way to show off her dignity, was not well-received by many mischievous students.

The stairs to the main building were very steep compared to the annex, a relatively new building, so it required considerable physical strength to climb them. I heard that buildings these days usually have a space movement magic circle on each floor. However, Fitzsimmons Academy, which had a long history even before the Continental War, did not seem to want that kind of thing.

When I arrived in front of Professor Humphreys’ office, gasping for breath, Ramos, who had arrived first, awkwardly raised his hand to greet me.

“Um, Dalton, how have you been?”

“I saw you a few hours ago, what’s with the question?”

Ramos seemed somewhat relieved when I gave him a scolding. After he washed his face dry with one hand, the weight in his voice was much less.

“Thank God. You don’t seem angry.”

“Why would I be angry at you?”

“The Fitzsimmons Times. It is partly my responsibility that the article came out like that.”

“Are you the one who reported it?”

“Of course not. I mean, at least if you were with Keran, it wouldn’t have been reported in that tone.”

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