You Really Are Evil

"Are you nervous about your job?" Jyorta asked after some time, noticing the look of hesitation on Haesha, "At the start, you'll only have to use Regen to replenish the energy of the soldiers battling atop the walls."

"I'm…not worried about that…" Haesha gently sighed, intending to speak as she opened her mouth a couple of times but failed to form words.

After a moment of thought, Jyorta gently grabbed her shoulder, saying in all seriousness, "I'll be listening. Just speak your heart out. You should know that bottling up everything is rather harmful to your mental health."

"Y-Yah!" Haesha nodded as her cheeks reddened all of a sudden upon seeing Jyorta in closeup. As for the person in question, he too was the same, feeling that his heart was thumping alarmingly fast, enough to break out of his weak ribcage.

The blue soul overlapped the facemask—the false persona of calm, focus, and filled with optimism—on him, giving him enough willpower to calmly retract his hands. If he didn't resort to this, he had zero guarantees of being able to retract his hands.

It was an electrifying feeling.

Haesha struggled to speak before turning silent as she continued to eat her pastry. Jyorta didn't force her, silently accompanying her as he began to speak, deciding that it was a good time to break her out of her thoughts and allow her to relax a bit, "I brought you a little something…"

He said, taking the gift box out of his bag, handing it over to Haesha, "It's a little something I made."

"What's with the formality?" Haesha was surprised, seeing the gift box as she asked, "Is this a…gift? For me?"

"Of course, for who else?" Jyorta laughed, "I got some good things after I toiled for my family. So, I brought you a little from that."

"So, you earned it?" Haesha asked, holding the gift as she said after seeing him nod in response, "Can I open it now?"

"Of course! It's nothing too special anyway." Jyorta laughed a little, brushing it off as he watched Haesha tear open the gift wrap, sporting an expression of wonder upon seeing the detailed inscription on the gift box.

"This…looks too expensive!" She said in shock, suddenly noticing the smug expression on Jyorta's face before glancing at the engraving in detail, brushing her finger on it before exclaiming in surprise, "You created this using your Trait, right?"

"It's nice, right?" Jyorta sported a look filled with pride, staring right at the ceiling. Had he been a comic character, his nose would have poked through the roof by now.

"I love it." Haesha smiled, gently brushing over the engraving as she admired it for a good minute, "This is the first time I am receiving a gift from someone."

"This is just the first time you'll be receiving from that certain someone," Jyorta muttered under his breath.

Even though he had muttered it to a barely audible extent, Haesha still managed to hear it, thanks to her enhanced senses. After all, she had a higher control of her psychic energy, allowing her to enhance her muscular functions a bit.

Blushing in response, she stared at the gift, "From day 1, why…have you been so nice to me?"

"I'm just…doing whatever makes me happy, nothing else." Jyorta grinned, "I don't need any other reason, right?"

"There's nothing special about me. I'm just a plain girl." Haesha muttered, her tone sadder, "As the scion of the Bone Family, shouldn't someone popular, talented, and strong like Dalna Doppler be someone more suitable to you?"

Haesha was a perceptive individual. And, as Jyorta hadn't hidden his thoughts about her, she had gradually come to understand his feelings towards her. But, she was apprehensive, afraid even, wondering if she was a good match. After all, she didn't hail from a prestigious family, while Jyorta hailed from one with significant power, an Aristocratic Family, the Bone Family that has been on the constant rise in recent years.

Practically everyone began to talk about them. And, now that she had graduated, she too became privy of things that she hadn't heard about before, even though it had only been four days since she entered society.

It made her realise just how large of a behemoth an Aristocratic Family was, the power and influence they wielded, and the burden they endured. It was something she wasn't equipped to deal with.

As she was being drowned by her worries and pessimistic thoughts, Haesha flinched when Jyorta grabbed hold of her hands. "I'm not sure myself."

He then placed her hands on his chest, positioning them above his heart, saying, "Why don't you ask this fella? He only speaks the truth."

Thump! Thump!

Haesha could feel Jyorta's vigorous heartbeat increase in frequency and intensity, even more, the moment her hand touched him. The heartbeats were powerful, the fluctuation pulsing through her hands, making her realise just what he experienced every time he conversed with her.

"Well, what is he saying?" Jyorta asked with a reddened face, feeling a bit tipsy as he was unable to control his emotions. Even though he knew that using the facemask was necessary, he didn't do so, caught up in the moment.

Still, he didn't wish to impose upon her, saying, "I won't force you to say anything. All I am doing is expressing just what I have been feeling all along. If you ask why I am doing this? I honestly don't know. I just want to do it, as simple as that."

He then laughed, "Well, I prepared something good for you. Check it out."

Nodding like a static doll, Haesha mechanically opened the gift box, seeing it filled to the brim with Healing Salve. She then gazed at Jyorta, watching his cheerful smile, tearing up as she wrapped him in a hug, "It's like you know what my problems are."

"I arrived at an estimated guess. You know how I'm good at such things, right?" Jyorta grinned, stuttering as his hands automatically held Haesha dear to him, unwilling to let go.

"You really are evil, Jyorta."