How to Escape from the Yandere’s Crazy Obsession - Chapter 23
Maybe his long hair was hiding his expression, preventing her from reading his true feelings. Leticia realized she couldn’t judge him based solely on what she saw.
Just because he didn’t seem frightened didn’t mean he wasn’t. Vallon might not show it on the outside, but he could very well be hurting inside. Everyone expresses their pain differently, after all.
Even though Vallon reacted coldly to everything, perhaps it was his way of protecting himself.
“Alright, here.”
When Leticia extended her hand, his much larger hand completely enveloped hers, making her feel like a small animal caught in a trap.
“Your hand is so warm, Leticia.”
“Oh? Uh… your hand is cold.”
“With this small hand…”
What was he thinking? The way Vallon fiddled with her hand made Leticia feel uncomfortable. It hadn’t been long since they started holding hands, yet the strong sense of unease was already creeping in.
Leticia discreetly withdrew her hand and asked him a question, trying to mask her discomfort.
Physical contact was clearly too much.
“V-Vallon, how long are you going to keep letting this happen to you? Why don’t you send word to the Kattravan Duchy?”
Was he upset that she had pulled her hand away? Vallon stared at his hand for a while before finally answering her question, albeit slowly.
“Oh, that. Do you think I should?”
His response was dry.
What was that? It was as if he had no intention of doing so.
Aside from his gloomy appearance, Vallon didn’t seem like someone who was being bullied. He appeared far too calm. It made Leticia feel puzzled whenever she saw him like this, even though she had felt sorry for him before.
“So, who did that to you yesterday?”
She asked out of curiosity, wanting to know who had beaten him so badly, if only to avoid them herself.
“Uh… who was it? I don’t really remember. But more importantly, I was sad when you just left yesterday, so I’m happy today.”
Vallon smiled slightly, his tone sounding somewhat light, as if he were genuinely in a good mood. When he smiled like that, he almost seemed like a normal person.
Had Leticia been judging him too harshly all this time? Maybe she had only thought of him as strange, which made him appear that way to her. Whenever she looked at Vallon, her feelings seemed to conflict.
He scared her enough to make her want to stay away from him, but seeing him being bullied made her feel uncomfortable and stifled. Vallon hadn’t been violent toward her or caused her any significant harm, so why did she find him so unsettling?
Maybe… when he stepped on Eric’s fingers, it had been an accident after all.
As Vallon raised his hand, a long scar caught Leticia’s attention. It was a fairly large wound, not yet healed and oozing slightly.
That wound… from yesterday…
“…That must hurt.”
“A little.”
“You can’t leave it like this. Did you get it treated?”
Vallon shook his head. Seeing Leticia’s concerned reaction, he shrank back slightly.
Pretending to be the victim of school violence was easy for Vallon. He lowered his eyes and made his voice tremble to appear more pitiful.
Though he didn’t really understand what it meant to be scared or hurt, he mimicked the emotions he had memorized in his mind.
“This kind of thing happens every day.”
“But you can’t just leave it untreated.”
“I don’t know how to treat it.”
That marked the end of their conversation, and the two fell into a brief silence.
After a moment of hesitation, Leticia made up her mind to ask the most important question.
“Vallon, I’m asking just in case, but… you don’t think of me as more than a friend, do you?”
She hadn’t even received a direct confession from him, so it was a bit embarrassing for Leticia to bring it up first. If the answer was no, that would be a relief, but if Vallon had any misunderstandings, she needed to clear things up right away.
Though the question seemed out of the blue, Leticia felt she had to be direct. If Vallon had mistaken her kindness for affection, she needed to set the record straight.
“I’m sorry if that’s not the case. But the reason I helped you that day wasn’t because I had any special feelings for you. I have a boyfriend, and if you misunderstood, I apologize. I want to stay good friends with you.”
“Friends… with me?”
As they continued talking, they soon arrived in front of the dormitory. It was time for them to part ways.
“You understand, right? I’ll be a good friend to you, so if you ever need help, just let me know. I’ll help you as a friend.”
For a brief moment, Vallon’s lips twitched.
At the entrance to the dorm, Kyle was waiting. He had come early, but seeing Leticia with Vallon seemed to make him uneasy. He paced in front of the girls’ dormitory, his expression tense.
Seeing Vallon standing in front of Leticia, Kyle couldn’t bring himself to go inside just yet. He wanted to make sure Leticia safely entered the dorm before he felt at ease.
