I Give Up on the BL Novel’s Male Leads - Chapter 73

Unconsciously, Illein had been using healing magic on herself. As her energy drained away, her headache eased slightly.

However, self-healing, whether by a priest or a mage, was strangely less effective.

Caught between them, she stood still with a slight headache persisting.

“Speaking of which, that attacker earlier.”

Damon started, catching Illein’s eye as if recalling something.

“It seemed like he recognized Illenas right away.”

“Did he?”

“Don’t you remember? When we went up to the second floor, it was empty. He must have followed us up after seeing me move the table.”

As her mind cleared, Illein was more inclined to dismiss the episode as a dream.

Yet, the parts of her memory that overlapped with Damon’s felt real, suggesting that the rest might have been her own fabrication.

“It might have been another wind mage showing an illusion.”

“That’s possible.”

Illein believed that Edwin had been on the first floor the whole time.

The reason being, Edwin was drawing too much attention to easily slip away unnoticed.

“Then, what if I changed my appearance?”

“Why?”

“….”

Melias wanted to object immediately but held his tongue, opting to listen to Illein first.

He knew well that Illein’s beauty was not only apparent to his eyes.

Especially since coming to the dance, he had felt that she attracted more attention than he had anticipated.

“If that person came after recognizing me, perhaps a different appearance would be better.”

Damon tensed unconsciously as Illein looked at him intently.

He noticed how well the sapphire earrings matched her sky-blue eyes and how the blue dress she wore complemented her figure.

“What kind of look are you thinking of changing to?”

Damon asked somewhat regretfully.

Just then, Illein noticed some blood splattered on Damon’s white uniform. It seemed to be his own blood.

Illein, while casting another healing spell on Damon out of concern, proposed a change in her appearance.

“What if I transformed to look like a distant relative of Melias?”

“Everyone knows that Ilenas came with Melias as his partner.”

“Did you come alone, Damon?”

“Originally, I planned to come with Illein, but I received a letter last weekend saying it might be difficult. So I came alone.”

Illein had sent two letters to Damon; one as Ilenas, and another as Illein. In her letter as Illein, she indicated that she might have difficulty attending due to other commitments, while as Ilenas, she mentioned a prior engagement.

“Then, I could pretend to be your partner,” Illein suggested.

Melias frowned at this suggestion. But he remembered the odd events Illein had experienced, he checked his emotions, recognizing that her safety was more important than his feelings.

“Really? Then, as my partner…”

“I came as Melias’ partner, so it makes sense to stay with him. But I’d like to investigate what happened earlier a bit more.”

Melias nodded in respect of her wishes, and Damon also agreed. So they decided to change Illein’s appearance before the police arrived.

“How do you know how to do these things, Damon?”

Illein asked as Damon entered the academy’s laboratory and soon produced something.

Damon crafted a transformation potion, something not taught during magic potion classes.

“I’ve always been good at these things.”

“…Oh.”

“I did a lot of advanced learning before coming to the academy. Probably picked it up then.”

“Advanced learning?”

Illein was unfamiliar with such private education, as the Thierry family wasn’t wealthy enough to afford it. However, private tutoring was quite common among other noble families.

Melias and Damon, having known each other, was probably because they had a lot of similar aspects.

“If you’re someone who can easily handle distortions like a wind mage, it wouldn’t be difficult,”

“Does that mean Melias is also good with defensive magic?”

As an earth mage, Melias excelled in defense, able to manipulate sand into solid barriers.

“Yes.”

“Ilenas, don’t get too close to Melias.”

“Why not?”

“Melias isn’t in class 2 because of his abilities. It’s his twisted personality that keeps him there,”

“Damon!”

“He said he hates the competition in class 1, prefers to stay in class 2 where he can graduate without having to compete too much.”

“Ah.”

“Really sucks, doesn’t it?”