Ray Lavendal, at the age of twenty-four, had one closest friend: Zahid Dyfenril.
Though Zahid was two years younger than him, neither in appearance nor in ntal age did he ever seem below Ray.
Perhaps it was because he had lost his parents at a young age and had even his Divine Beast taken by the Temple, forced to survive the harsh world alone ever since.
‘He did seem like a little adult from the very first ti we t.’
Ray and Zahid had first t as roommates at the Academy.
At first, they hadn’t trusted each other, but in the end, they grew close. And after growing together while sharing the sa goal, they had now truly beco friends who could stand back-to-back.
At any rate, one thing was clear: Zahid and Ray knew each other better than anyone else in the world.
That was why, lately, Ray was certain of one thing.
‘Sothing’s weird... Sothing’s definitely off.’
Even when Zahid talked to him these days, there was a kind of vacant expression on his face.
Of course, even that dazed face was absurdly beautiful.
Dark eyebrows, sharp features, a cold, detached, and empty expression in contrast to his intense aura. And yet, sohow, a faint trace of longing and loneliness, even a gloominess that didn’t match his age, added to his chilling beauty.
Even Ray, who was confident in his own looks, sotis found himself breathless looking at Zahid.
In any case, from ti to ti, Zahid wore an expression like his soul had been left sowhere else—and it usually happened around the full moon.
Ray had known for years now that Zahid snuck into the Temple during full moons to see Fire. That was all Ray could guess might be related.
‘Does he miss Fire that much...? Are the aftereffects that severe? He’s been even more out of it lately.’
Of course, asking wouldn’t get Zahid to answer. He was a man of few words, especially when it ca to talking about himself.
So Ray kept his suspicions to himself and decided to focus on the matter they t for today.
“Anyway...”
Whenever they t, they usually discussed plans to destroy the Temple.
Typically, Ray would devise a complex strategy, and Zahid would quietly agree and take action.
“I think it’d be best to use Nesha Saliod.”
“Nesha Saliod?”
“Yeah, our Academy classmate. Don’t you rember? Third place in the entrance exam, graduated third too.”
Zahid didn’t respond much. Clearly, he couldn’t rember.
“Anyway, because of the Saliod Count Family, the Empress Dowager’s influence is way too strong. Unless we sohow split them apart, the Imperial Family’s hopeless.”
“So?”
At Ray’s words, Zahid asked with a blank face.
“How are you going to use Nesha?”
“...Not Nesa, it’s Nesha. And you know how you use girls our age. Obvious thod. Seduction.”
“What? Seduction?”
“Don’t worry, I’m not making you do it.”
As Zahid furrowed his brow, Ray waved his hand.
“Let’s be real, you totally suck at winning over won. Sure, you might pull sothing off at first with your good looks, but before long the girl would get tired and drop you. So of course I have to do it.”
Ray swore he wasn’t saying that to insult Zahid.
If anything, he expected Zahid to smirk and say sothing like, Great, that kind of crap is all yours then, claiming he couldn’t possibly seduce Nesha Saliod.
But then Zahid’s eyes suddenly began to waver.
He put on a very serious expression, hesitated for a mont, and asked,
“...Do I really seem that unattractive to won?”
“What?”
Now it was Ray who was shocked.
“I an... maybe? I’ve never seen you hold a conversation with a woman for more than two sentences... How do you even live like that?”
“If I answer every question with effort, and if I don’t know sothing, I find out and answer it the next ti we et... then is that good enough?”
“Dunno. By that logic, teachers would be the most popular people on earth.”
“......”
“For example, like our old teaching assistant Theo...”
As Ray offered a fitting example, Zahid’s face even began to look... pitiful.
‘Wait a sec...’
Ray imdiately realized what was going on.
‘He’s got a crush on soone.’
It was so unexpected that he had to suppress a laugh threatening to slip out.
‘But who the hell is it? I’ve never seen him talk to any girl. Maybe one of the maids at the Dyfenril estate?’
While Ray sipped from his personal water bottle and turned over possibilities in his mind, Zahid sat deep in thought, then quietly asked,
“Then... that thing. How are you planning to do it?”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
“Huh? Do what?”
“Seduction.”
“Pfft—!”
Ray ended up spitting out his drink.
To hear the word seduction from Zahid—the man who had never shown the slightest interest in won—ant he really, seriously liked this girl.
“W-well, first I’m gonna try matching her ideal type. I heard Nesha likes guys who give lots of gifts, so I figured I’d approach her that way.”
“Hm.”
Then Zahid leaned back in his chair and gave the faintest smile. He looked like a well-fed predator.
“...What’s with that satisfied face?”
“I happened to lie about my age, and it seems like it worked out after all.”
“PFFF!”
Ray felt like he /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ might cough up water again and was left speechless for a while.
It wasn’t much, but given their long friendship, Ray could tell Zahid’s emotions were going wild right now. Just from the ntion of this girl.
‘So they definitely didn’t start off knowing each other. Not a maid, then... But wait, he lied about his age?’
If he said Are you crazy? now, Zahid would definitely clam up.
So Ray carefully kept a straight face and kept the conversation going gently.
“Did you lie about anything else?”
“I talked a lot. She said she likes kind people. So she probably thinks I have a kind personality.”
Ray blinked in disbelief.
Zahid, who throughout his childhood had no proper interactions with anyone besides Ray himself, was utterly incapable of being kind to others.
“You lied about your age and your personality? Then... what didn’t you lie about?”
“My appearance?”
“......”
Ray thought this was basically fraud at this point.
Zahid murmured, eyes glazed in thought.
But if Ray scolded him now, the conversation would end—so he changed the topic.
“So what’s been your biggest worry lately? You’ve looked spaced out, anyway.”
“Ah.”
Zahid blinked slowly, then said,
“Her birthday is coming up. I want to give her a present.”
“Clothes or jewelry, maybe? That’s the standard. I’m planning to go that route with Nesha too... Want to go to the jeweler with ?”
At Ray’s gentle suggestion, Zahid only looked somber and slowly shook his head.
“I’m not in a situation where I can give her that kind of thing.”
“Ah... I see.”
Ray silently thought, So he’s hiding his wealth too... but didn’t show it on his face.
Still, Zahid must’ve noticed the sour expression because he suddenly muttered,
“Of course, when I go to see her, I dress up desperately well.”
“......”
So... he wore all the good and expensive stuff himself, and didn’t buy anything for her...
Ray had no idea where to even begin with advice.
As he blinked in confusion, Zahid muttered absentmindedly,
“I’ve only given small things for the past two years... This ti, I want to do better.”
Ray was once again stunned and thought, So he’s hidden it for nearly three years. What a persistent con artist.
“Well.”
At this rate, there was no way this would end well. He was hiding way too much.
In the end, Ray shrugged, as if to say whatever happens, happens, and offered so advice.
“If you can’t think of anything, try checking out the Magic Tower. They sell all kinds of weird stuff there. Maybe you’ll find sothing that suits your situation.”
The Tower had fallen under Temple control long ago due to the magic stones. It was already just a funding source for the Temple.
And Zahid, who normally would’ve waved it off, now had a face like Maybe I should check it out.
‘Now he’s even planning to hide his beliefs, huh.’
Ray decided not to ask anything more about his friend’s strange love story. Asking would only give him a headache.
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