Despite wearing a uniform, the air around him was of someone clearly at ease.

The “shouldn’t exist in this era” Eivind called my name with a smile.

“I’ve returned, Nora.”

“Weren’t you going to return before graduation?”

“I came back early. You know, I had a thought, you wouldn’t be able to make all those precious memories of your youth without me.”

“Actually, I might have been enjoying myself just fine.”

Truly, I wasn’t troubled at all not having Eivind here. I had made a lot of friends and nothing had happened that would have revealed my body was that of a doll’s.  Nor were there any dangerous situations where I might have been broken. I believed I had been having a very peaceful and fulfilling youth.

Eivind, however, merely gave me a mean-spirited grin.

“Hmm, so you were enjoying a romance with another man?”

“Ah…”

Certainly, on the topic of youth, the image is “studies,” “friendship,” and “romance.” When I borrowed Cecily’s body, I had promised to prepare an environment that included all of those.

Eivind chuckled when I averted my gaze, and he wrapped his arm around my waist.

“Shall we go then? My queen.”

“W-where to?”

“The most romantic place in this school, of course.”

My body rose into the air by his magic, to which I let out a started cry.

What if someone saw us?!

However, that worry was probably unfounded. With a loud bang, a great flower bloomed in the night sky.

The students’ cheers suggested that their gazes were fixed upon that great flower of light. Eivind must’ve calculated even that and appeared at precisely this timing. As always, he was a clever man.

Thus, I was brought to the very top of the clock tower.

“Hm, this place…?”

“Nora.”

Eivind called out to me in the sweetest voice I’d ever heard from him.

His voice tickled me so much, I tried to turn away. His hand, however, wouldn’t allow that.

“Won’t you become my lover?”

He even removed my heavy glasses. With that, nothing remained to shield me from him.

…No matter how many times this happens, I never get used to it. I couldn’t tell the temperature of his lips. The soft sensation was nothing but embarrassing.

“You’re the worst…”

At that very same moment, a familiar voice rang out. Eivind, at an explosive speed, put my glasses back on me.

And at that girl’s voice, we both parted out lips and turned to face her at the same time.

Cecily, her large emerald eyes filled to the brim with tears, slapped Eivind across the cheek.

“I… even though I believed in you!”

Then, she immediately ran down the roof.

“Miss. Travasta!” Mark called as he promptly chased after her, giving Eivind a look of contempt.

Eivind, his cheek swollen, clapped his hands together.

“That thing from back then, this is what happened!”

“You really brought it on yourself.”

“I really did.”

He gave a genuine laugh at my wry smile, seeming to be thoroughly enjoying it. Apparently, being smacked by Cecily wasn’t that big of a deal for him.

Eivind looked up at the fireworks as if reminiscing.

“By around this time, all I could think about was how to help Nora, so I didn’t really care about it back then… Still, how nostalgic. Speaking of which, I ended up really hated by Cecily-chan towards the end.”

To me, it felt like only a year had passed but to Eivind, it was a story decades old.

To the Eivind who was speaking lightly as one might about a youthful folly, I decided to ask a question I myself remember having back then.

“Now that you mention it, when did you start calling her Cecily-chan?”

“I wonder when that was… After you disappeared, the last time I saw her was just after the entrance exam… But, when I was researching alone, the memories from that time were my only support. I guess it was during those moments of nostalgia…”

Well, we… or rather, I felt that mainly Cecily ended up getting tossed about terribly between the Eivind of that time and this Eivind. She ended up in a pitiful situation…

If this were to get fully exposed, I don’t think simply kneeling down to apologize will be enough.

Or rather, I’ve been trying not to think about it too much. However, after this… should I reveal that Hana’s true identity is Nora?  Or would it be better if Nora remained a person of the past, living a life that does not intersect with Cecily?

I looked up at the proof of her youth while I was thinking such things.

Eivind once more removed my glasses.

“So, what’s your answer?”

“To what?”

“The answer to whether you would become my lover.”

…Ah, we’re still on that topic?

My displeasure must have also shown on my face. Eivind held both of my cheeks as if to say, “I won’t let you escape.” So I couldn’t look away from him.

“…Even though I’m not human anymore.”

“I made you. Do you think I’d care about such a thing?”

“No, you should care.”

However, Eivind wasn’t going to be fooled by my flippant remarks. It must have been time to pay my dues. When I sighed, he licked my ear.

“So, what is your answer? Do you like me?”

“…Enough that I’d cry if you kiss another woman?”

“That’s enough.”

Eivind kissed me once more.

Ah, the fireworks must be reaching their climax.

The cheers of the students and the sounds of multiple shots being fired were so loud that, the moment our lips parted, I stood on my toes and gave him another biting kiss.

I’m not the type to just take whatever’s done to me, after all.

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