Chapter 86 Mental Confusion [ 1 ]

-Luna Hazard's point of view.

Feelings... What are feelings and emotions really? People often experience a variety of emotions, each unique and personal, but also, each enigmatic in its own way.

Feelings for someone in particular can be intense, deep, and in most cases, those feelings end up bringing them together. But what happens when those feelings grow beyond what is expected?

Most of the time it is believed that love, attraction or affection lead people to be together.

However, there are times when these feelings have a hidden purpose, one that goes beyond the visible.

Who can judge feelings? No one, or so it is believed. But what happens when someone possesses a dark side, one that goes against the ordinary?

A murderer, a villain, a psychopath... beings who hide behind their masks a second facet of their emotions and thoughts.

They are no strangers to feelings, but they use them in ways that most would not understand.

Feelings such as love, which for many is something that occurs naturally, for them can be a tool, a manipulation, a different purpose.

People often experience love, infatuation at first sight or that which grows over time.

However, there are those who go crazy for love, letting that emotion consume them.

Love, although complex, is an emotion that everyone, at some point, faces.

But what about those who don't feel it? Those who, for some reason, seem to be disconnected from the emotions that others consider natural.

Some do not experience happiness, others do not know joy, and there are those who always longed for a better life, only to find that their fate denied them that possibility.

Life can be cruel, and in its cruelty it leaves deep marks on those who do not find in it the peace they seek.

An example of this would be Asher, a murderer in his previous life. Someone who did not know happiness, who did not experience the joy of feeling, and whose life was marked by the absence of emotions.

Emotions are, without a doubt, complex, and although everyone knows it, few manage to master them. And in the wrong hands, they can become tools to control others.

Still, love at first sight is a unique emotion, unlike any other. It is not the only emotion that stands out, but it is certainly one of the most complex. And Luna knew it.

She knew that love would eventually come into her life, but the uncertainty of when and how it would present itself made her uneasy.

For Luna, emotions were difficult to understand, an enigma that constantly challenged her. Although she experienced joy and happiness on a daily basis, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to face love.

And that question accompanied her, day after day, as she tried to decipher the complexities of her own heart.

Her heart, since that day, was beating much stronger; it was different from then, but now it was more evident; certainly, that feeling was getting to her.

Albeit slowly, it was getting to her.

So what would she do when that feeling came? Would she have to confess or not?

It was simply hard to say, but she had to face reality, and her head was full of pure thoughts.

She's supposed to be Gloriana the one in love, so why is she getting this way just like her best friend?

Gloriana, on the other hand, avoids showing it, but, knowing Gloriana very well, Luna knew that she was lost in feelings of infatuation, and her heart was pounding when she looked at Asher.

Everything was clear from Luna's perspective, and she could see Gloriana's emotions.

She didn't care if she fell in love with someone, but she didn't want it to happen with Asher.

That was because her best friend had a crush on Asher, and of course, as her best friend and Gloriana's almost sister, and for all the years the two had spent together, Luna wouldn't take the person she liked away from her best friend. That would be like taking candy from a baby.

However, those emotions were becoming more and more intense.

Before, she could ignore them, let them fade into the fog of her mind. Since coming to the academy, those emotions had never been strong enough to worry her, but they had always been there, latent, like a lingering shadow.

Now, those emotions were not only present, but seemed to gain strength with each passing day.

It was as if an invisible torrent was beginning to overflow inside her, and though she tried to keep them under control, she knew she was losing the battle. Luna felt her façade beginning to crack, becoming harder and harder to maintain.

The emotions, so powerful, were evident in her expression, and Asher was surely noticing.

Luna looked up and her eyes met Asher's deep red eyes. There was something about that look that unsettled her, as if he could see beyond the surface, right down to the whirlwind of emotions she was trying to hide.

"He must be worried, thinking I'm sick or something," she said to herself, trying to rationalize what she was feeling.

But in reality, it was something completely different.

"I can't control my emotions... So, I'm really..."

She tried to deny it, to convince herself that everything was under control, but the truth was that those emotions were threatening to surface at any moment.

Luna felt that soon it might overflow, that everything she was thinking and feeling would spill out in front of Asher, revealing that which she was not yet ready to face.

Sip, sip, sip.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sip. Asher had taken a drink from his coffee cup, and the sound it made brought her back to reality. Luna looked at him, and unable to help herself, frowned slightly, but not too deeply.

"Idiot... I'm here, thinking about you, and you don't even bother to ask what's wrong with me," she thought, feeling a mixture of frustration.

She had known, from the first day at the academy, that Asher was addicted to coffee. It was a small detail she had noticed about him, one of those things that seem insignificant, but that stick in your memory when someone starts to matter more to you than you should admit.

Four weeks had passed since they entered the academy, and on Monday the real classes would begin, the ones where the teachers would finally teach what really mattered.

Time marched on, and with it, Luna's emotions continued to grow, uncontrollable, dragging her down a path from which she didn't know if she could ever return. Everything she felt for Asher was there, on the verge of exploding, and though she tried to hide it, she knew that soon she would no longer be able to deny what was happening in her heart.

"Haa..."

He had finally calmed down, though his thoughts were still there, of course, and he couldn't help them, because they were strong and could come out at any moment.

"Haa... Well, then..."

His thought was interrupted when a certain figure came into view.

With her long silky silver hair falling down her back, her intense red eyes and her beautiful face, even Luna could tell that Gloriana was more beautiful than herself.

Gloriana then approached and greeted, but of course her voice sounded rather weak.

"H-Hello..."

A thought came to Luna's head.

"She really changed her attitude when she looked at Asher."

As Gloriana approached Luna, it seemed that she hadn't seen Asher and, therefore, suddenly changed her tone of voice to a rather shy and nervous one.

Luna knew this immediately and, therefore, spoke up.

"Sit down."

Gloriana sat down quickly, her gaze was fixed on the table and her long hair half hid her face, hiding the expression she was making.

Then Luna lifted her hair to see her face, and their gazes met.

"..."

"..."

Certainly, what Luna saw made a funny reaction try to come out, however, it didn't.

It would have made Gloriana run away, embarrassed.

But that's when an idea struck Luna.

"If I get these two to be dating, then I could leave my thoughts towards Asher and, moreover, it would help Gloriana win Asher over."

It was really a great idea that came to Luna's mind.

But now came the next thing:

How would she go about accomplishing that goal?

"If I don't do it quickly, then... I'll fall in love with him."

She didn't want to have feelings for Asher, not that she didn't like him or dislike him, but because her friend is in love with Asher, and, therefore, Luna couldn't imagine seeing Gloriana if she were together with Asher.

It would certainly be a strong impact between the two.

"By the way, why aren't they training?"

"..."

A vein of irritation at Asher's words appeared in Luna.

She grew angry and glared at him with a frown.

Didn't he realize anything?

"This jerk..."

No matter how handsome, nice, or the ideal guy that would drive Luna crazy with love, Asher had that part of not noticing a woman's feelings for him.

It was like reading a romance book where the main character is really an idiot to a girl's feelings for him.

This made Luna frown even more.

Putting that aside, her gaze fixed on Gloriana.

"..."

Likewise, she frowned.

These two... they were certainly the same.

However, he couldn't blame them.

"Definitely, if the two of them were boyfriend and girlfriend, maybe I wouldn't have these feelings."

Although it was a rather realistic idea in a way, Luna couldn't help but think about its feasibility.

"Today is Saturday, I'd rather enjoy it instead of training," Luna replied to Asher's question.

"Me... same," Gloriana added, a little hesitantly.

Sip.

"..."

Luna looked at Asher with a blank stare.

"Hey... Is coffee really that delicious?" she asked, somewhat incredulously.

"..."

"Yeah, I really like it," Asher replied, without much more to add.

"This is amazing," Luna thought.

"Why do you say that? I usually drink coffee every day," Asher continued, matter-of-factly.

"..."

Luna was speechless.

The idiot in front of her really is a great coffee lover.

It's certainly a hobby to be a great coffee lover, and in fact, she knew someone who also had a peculiar hobby - Oriana, who used to eat mint candy every day and every time.

"Because these two had a hobby? Although it wasn't the same, they both had a taste for something that made them consume it every day," Luna thought, reflecting on the similarities between Oriana and Asher. Oriana likes mint, and Asher likes coffee. Of course, there's also Julian; he too shares a taste for coffee.

But it was strange not to see Julian in the coffee shop. If Asher was here, then Julian should be here too.

However, that didn't matter to Luna at the moment. She was more focused on her plan.

She looked at Gloriana and decided it was the perfect time to start her strategy to get the two of them together.

"Would you guys like to go for a walk?" asked Luna, her tone casual.

"..."

"..."

Asher looked at her in confusion, while Gloriana stared at her, her face clearly expressing, "What are you doing?" Luna noticed her friend's reaction and then smiled.

"..."

Gloriana saw Luna's smile and, of course, understood what it meant. She knew exactly why Luna wanted to take a walk.

"Why?" asked Asher, clearly puzzled.

"..."

Luna stared at him and replied, "Because there's nothing to do and I'm bored."

"Okay... I'll walk them," Asher agreed, though he still didn't quite understand.

Luna then turned to Gloriana.

"You'll come, won't you?"

"..."

Gloriana glared back, but the smile on Luna's face made her feel cornered.

"N-No... I think..." tried to excuse Gloriana.

However, before Gloriana could refuse, Luna spoke up quickly, preventing her friend from backing down.

"Well then, the three of us are leaving."

No matter what Gloriana tried, Luna left her with no options, forcing her to go through with her plan.

On the other hand, Asher hadn't even noticed everything that was going on, let alone the plan Luna was hatching.

But, of course, Gloriana knew very well what Luna was trying to do. She didn't want to rush into this, she wasn't sure herself yet, but Luna was being a big problem.

The three of them got up from their seats and left the cafeteria.

As they walked down the campus paths, surrounded by the amazing sights and decorations, the sun was shining brightly as it was ten in the morning, a nice time.

"Don't you think it's nice," Luna commented, trying to start a conversation.

"..."

"..."

Asher, who was in the middle of Luna and Gloriana, looked at her in confusion.

"Every day is like this."

"..."

She would definitely hit him if he said something stupid again, but he tried to calm down and then spoke again.

"You know, sometimes birds usually have mates these days, isn't it amazing to see a pair of birds?"

"..."

Gloriana shrugged as she realized what Luna was about.

"And what does that have...?"

Clack.

Scowling, Luna smacked Asher upside the head.

"Hey... Why...?"

"Because you deserve it, asshole."

"..."

However, Asher didn't understand anything that happened and simply kept quiet. He knew that, if he spoke one more time, a good blow would come his way again....