SWNOVELXO Chapter 86
There are no perfect beings in this world, and even the most thorough person will have things that don’t go as planned.
Julia was like that.
Late afternoon.
Even though it was the time when she would usually be studying for her majors or handling Student Council affairs, of which there were few left, Julia sighed while hiding under the blanket with only her eyes peeking out.
Then she thought. Why?
“…Why doesn’t he want to be with me?”
It’s strange. It’s very strange.
She closed her eyes and recalled the events of a few days ago.
Lutenberg, the trip to the World Expo.
It was like a dream.
When she held Eugene’s stiff hand as they were left alone in the crowd, the way his hand tensed up and didn’t let go for a while, and the expression on his face when he looked at her as the Ferris wheel finally reached the top.
Based on these clues, Julia was half-convinced.
They had now become attracted to each other. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]
But now, she doubted if it hadn’t been just a one-night dream.
When Julia heard that Eugene had stayed overnight at the mansion, she was just surprised. But when she heard he would stay for three more days, she was surprised but also expectant.
She wondered if perhaps they might share a kiss, which they hadn’t managed to do on the trip, in some secret place behind the mansion.
Julia, who had even had such embarrassing thoughts, was now just muttering while taking out her frustration on the innocent blanket.
“Why…?”
Why did he seem uninterested in her?
Let’s say it was understandable when she went out for the student council.
Yesterday, he barely talked to her before heading straight to the study, and today, even though she gathered her courage and asked to spend time together, he ended up going to the study.
So she wondered what on earth he was talking about with her father, and yesterday she secretly put her ear to the study door, but…
‘I shouldn’t have eavesdropped…’
She had only overheard four hours of magic studies talk.
In fact, it was just a small disappointment. After all, she had heard that the reason he decided to stay for three more days was to have magic studies conversations with her father.
But, since he was staying under the same roof anyway…
“Couldn’t something like that happen a little?”
That small disappointment turned into a small resentment.
That small resentment soon changed into a small impulse.
And now, Julia had two legs and a brooch that could climb the stairs to the floor above at any time.
The impulse soon became courage, leading to action.
Julia slowly got up.
Under the soft light, those lips moved.
“Can I come in?”
“Uh―”
At that moment, I wasn’t surprised by the fact that it was Julia, not the head maid or another servant, standing in front of the door and that her belongings were clearly for invading my room.
Instead, one thought raced through my entire body like lightning.
This is dangerous.
The charm of the opposite sex is not one-dimensional and is not simply determined by appearance.
Especially for someone like Julia, with whom I’ve built a friendship over several years.
Based on that history, it was dangerous.
Visually, Julia looked the same as always, but the rest was the problem.
Her clear voice echoed in the vast mansion corridor, her inherent scent mixed with the scent of roses, her hair still slightly wet, perhaps from a late-night shower, and those eyes, also wet with the flickering candlelight. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]
Even her nightgown, though thicker and looser than before, was still thin enough to reveal her body’s curves.
It’s not that I was suddenly captivated by her appearance.
The problem was whether my hand might reach out without my control.
But Julia had no way of knowing the dozens of agonizing thoughts that had gone through my mind in that short time.
“Did you say ‘uh’?”
“No, wait a moment.”
“Thank you for allowing me. Then, excuse me…”
Julia, who had finally ignored my words, stepped into the guest room.
When she let go of the handle, the door closed by itself with a thud.
The room then returned to its original state, but now there were two people.
And there was no two-person sofa in the guest room.
Julia hesitated for a moment, then said as if making an announcement:
“I’ll sit on the bed.”
Before I could stop her, it happened as she said.
Julia sat on the edge of the bed and started swinging her legs as usual, then placed the pillow she had brought next to my pillow.
I couldn’t just stand by and watch even that.
“What are you doing?”
“…Um, aligning the pillows?”
“I’m not asking for a description of your actions, I’m asking for your intentions. What on earth are you doing, coming here late at night?”
“Tonight, do you want to sleep together?”
I closed my mouth.
Of course, it was because I was surprised.
But I also waited, wondering if she might burst into laughter, saying, “Just kidding, ahahaha” after a few seconds, as she often did.
After ten seconds passed, Julia’s expression remained serious.
Is she serious?
As if to prove my guess, Julia seemed about to lie down completely. With the pillow that had been covering her front removed, her upper body was defenseless, and her collarbone and the skin around it were exposed…
“Ah.”
I couldn’t bear it any longer. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]
When I stomped my foot hard with a thud, Julia’s body flinched. She was trying to act nonchalant, but it seemed she was hiding her tension after all.
It was too late to stop walking now, but…
Thump, thump, thump.
“W-wait. Eugene―”
Julia muttered urgently but didn’t resist at all and closed her eyes tightly.
Half ignoring her words, I reached out my hand and…
Thud.
“…?”
I grabbed the grimoire placed on the desk next to the bed and shouted.
“[Levitation].”
Julia’s body floated up.
Her amber eyes opened at the sudden feeling of floating, but before she could grasp the situation, I chanted the activation words in succession.
“[Move], [Rotation].”
Triple incantation.
The art of reducing the casting time, which is difficult even for skilled magic scholars to reduce to less than three seconds, to about one second, while simultaneously casting three Type I spells in parallel.
I used that innate talent in the most useless place.
Float.
The blanket also rose up beside Julia.
Soon, the long-spread blanket wrapped around Julia’s body from bottom to top counterclockwise.
The next moment, when Julia was sat back down on the bed, she was in a shape like a coiled snake.
Surprise was etched on her face, which was barely peeking out.
“Uh, huh? How did it, ugh, it won’t come loose.”
The blanket was knotted so tightly that it would be difficult to untie with Julia’s weak strength.
Only then could I sit down beside her with peace of mind, calming my excitement.
I carefully opened my mouth.
“Shall we have a chat?”
“…In this state?”
“Yes. I think you’ve tested my patience enough. You don’t need to explain why you’re doing this, so let’s just talk.”
I cast [Rotation] again to loosen the blanket slightly.
Soon, Julia was in a state where she was curled up with the blanket tightly wrapped around her like a bandage, loosely buried in the blanket.
Fortunately, the dangerous atmosphere had fled.
Julia opened her mouth softly.
“It’s because of you, Eugene.”
“Because of me?”
“Nothing is certain; you’re indecisive, and even though you finally came to the mansion, you’re just holed up in the study.”
“……”
“Don’t leave me alone on a rainy day. I… don’t like that very much.”
Her true feelings were glimpsed in those words that were not quite curses.
I quietly looked at her side profile. A disappointed expression.
Well, I had neglected the perfect opportunity to spend time with Julia while focusing on resolving the father-daughter relationship and advancing my thesis idea.
But I also had something to say. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]
For the first time, I spoke to Julia in a grumpy voice.
“You too, Julia.”
“Eh?”
“Consider the atmosphere in your house. With the two of you having such a tense relationship, how could I freely come and go to your room in that icy atmosphere?”
“You were… concerned about that?”
“How could I not be?”
This was the first time I had spoken reproachfully to Julia.
Although my tone wasn’t heavy, she seemed dejected. Her head gradually lowered, and she curled up even more, gathering the blanket.
And.
“If you just disliked each other, that would be one thing. But you keep avoiding each other.”
Julia’s eyes gradually widened.
“Could it be, Eugene, that room on the third floor―”
“Julia.”
Cutting off her words, I pondered for a split second.
What should I say?
I didn’t have the eloquence to give clever advice, nor was I in a position to give advice in the first place. Where is there a correct answer in human relationships?
What I could do, now, as always, was just one thing.
“Did I tell you about the content of the new paper I’m going to write?”
Magic studies.
The next moment, I didn’t miss Julia’s brow furrowing ever so slightly.
An expression like ‘What is this guy going to say now?’ was clearly shown on her face.
Fortunately, Julia was mature enough to quickly hide her grimacing expression and take a listening posture.
Grateful for that, I continued…
“To put it simply, because the speed of light is constant, when an object moves, time and space themselves become relative.”
“…That’s quite abstract, isn’t it? I remember last time you were talking about hitting metal plates with light, and something about particles.”
“It might be a bit like that. Now, close your eyes.”
When I said that, Julia stared at me blankly, then soon wrapped herself tighter in the blanket.
“…What are you trying to do?”
“You barged into the room without hesitation earlier, and now you’re being cautious? It’s a thought experiment, a thought experiment. Close your eyes and imagine a train. That train we rode a few days ago.”
Julia, half in doubt, closed her eyes with a puzzled expression.
I also closed my eyelids and continued.
“When you open your eyes, you’re standing in the middle of an enormously large train, holding a grimoire. The train has no windows… Can you imagine it?”
“Yes. But why are you speaking formally?”
“Concentrate.”
“…Okay.”
I continued.
“You, holding the grimoire, chant an activation phrase. [Ray]. The light shot in all directions quickly flies to the front and back of the train. And?”
As I finished speaking, I tapped her shoulder. It meant for her to answer.
Understanding the meaning, Julia wrapped herself tighter in the blanket and answered.
“It would reach both ends of the train simultaneously, right?”
[T/N: See Chapter 86 Image 1 in the Drive for illustrations, linked in blue at both the pinned comment on the homepage of this novel and the announcement at the start of every chapter.]
“That’s right. Now, we’re going to repeat exactly the same process. But what’s changed is that there are windows in the train, and you’re standing on the platform outside the train, facing a figure inside the train. Again, I chant. This time, imagine I’m in the train chanting: [Ray].”
In the imagination, light is shot. It’s completely identical to the first case.
However…
“At the same time, the train departs. As it’s such a huge train, it’s incredibly fast.”
“Wait a moment, then.”
“Keep imagining. Keep in mind that the speed of light doesn’t change whether the train departs or not. What happens?”
“Hmm. If the speed of light is constant, wouldn’t the light I see be the same as when seen from inside the train? Nothing changes.”
“That’s right. But the train has departed.”
“…Ah.”
Julia let out a small exclamation.
“The light reaches the back of the train first. Not simultaneously…”
[T/N: See Chapter 86 Image 2 in the Drive for illustrations, linked in blue at both the pinned comment on the homepage of this novel and the announcement at the start of every chapter.]
“‘The simultaneity of events occurring at different points is relative to the observer.’ *1 There can be many different interpretations of a single event. This is the key point, so, how is it?”
So, even in matters between people, there’s room for different interpretations, and what was thought to be a deep emotional gap might actually be a trivial misunderstanding.
It might be too much to expect her to understand the intention after suddenly talking about a thesis.
As I was regretting my lack of eloquence, Julia slowly opened her eyes.
Fortunately, there was no more gloominess in her expression.
Then she looked at me and sighed as if dumbfounded, smiling playfully.
“Eugene. Eugene.”
“What?”
“If you suddenly bring up such magic studies talk to anyone else, they’ll surely hate you.”
“Is that so……”
“Yes. It’s certain. So, you should only tell me, okay?”
“I understand―”
As I was answering unconsciously, I felt something strange, and Julia lay down on the bed, still wrapped in the blanket.
“Ah, this is more comfortable than I thought.”
“We’ve talked, now get out. I need to sleep.”
“I don’t want to. Talking was your purpose. My purpose from the start was to sleep together.”
She’s being unreasonable.
I held my forehead and asked with a sense of resignation.
Sleeping together was something I had to avoid at all costs.
“We can’t sleep together. Instead, I’ll do anything else you want. What will make you leave the room?”
“……”
Julia didn’t answer that question.
Instead, she stared at me blankly, then closed her eyes.
She slowly raised her head.
Paraffin candles, once considered innovative, were quickly pushed out of the market after the advent of mana lamps. But it was only a relative superiority, and candles were still a light source used by many people.
The light flickered, enough to illuminate a room. Where to?
Julia reached out her finger and pointed to her scarlet lips…
A silence that seemed to last forever flowed.
And I…
His breath came closer, and then…
Tap.
A wave of soft sensation arose.
A pair of skin, top and bottom, touching her lips. It touched briefly and immediately pulled away, but it definitely touched.
Although her body temperature can only be so high, to Julia now, it felt like lava.
Finally, finally.
It took three years to get to a kiss.
Overflowing with joy, Julia opened her amber eyes wide. She wanted to capture Eugene’s face, which should be right in front of her.
And…
“Eh?”
“There, now go.”
What Julia saw was not Eugene’s face looking serious yet somewhat innocent, but his right hand.
His index and middle fingers pressed together.
In short, a substitute for lips.
Julia became confused.
“Um, Eugene?”
“Go to sleep now. I understand you felt neglected, so let’s talk in the morning.”
Julia, who had been lifted up like a cat and dragged out, was sent to the corridor in the blink of an eye, and Thud―
She was kicked out.
Sitting on the corridor floor, Julia organized her thoughts.
After gathering her courage and making advances, he even avoided that?
She couldn’t even get angry at his passive nature anymore. Because even that became a reason to like Eugene.
“Really now……”
Then, suddenly…
Julia recalled something strange.
If he had touched his fingers to her lips instead, what was that breath she had felt just before?
It was now impossible to know. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]
More importantly, having done all the embarrassing things she could do in 30 minutes, Julia had to worry about the state of her blanket tomorrow morning.
Taking small comfort in the fact that she would be able to see Eugene again in the morning, she trudged back to her room.
#September 1st. Cloudy.
Morning.
Julia, who was about to beat the dust out of her blanket as soon as she woke up, froze like a stone at the head maid’s announcement.
“You say Eugene went back home?”
T/N
This dude really had to use physics as an analogy for human relationships, but the fact is that it’s true. It’s what I mentioned a few chapters back about simultaneity, and the illustrations in the Drive help describe the concept of relativity better.