I’m Just an Ordinary Clown at the Academy - I’m Just an Ordinary Clown at the Academy chapter 62

62 – The Fourth Concert of Freya the Duchess

Yohanna spoke in an uncommonly loud voice.

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When my hand touched the mask to remove it.

“No!”

Yohanna exclaimed loudly. It was the loudest voice I had ever heard from Yohanna.

Startled by the voice, I withdrew my hand from the mask.

Ascal, Freya the Duchess, and Lady Freya the Duchess all looked at Yohanna with surprised eyes, as if they had never heard Yohanna speak so loudly before.

Yohanna, the one who spoke in a loud voice, seemed embarrassed by it. Her face turned red, so much so that one might think it was due to her fair skin or perhaps she had a fever.

Huff.

Yohanna lowered her head, seemingly not wanting to show her flushed face, but her ears were also red, so she couldn’t really hide it.

“”””………………””””

After Yohanna spoke in a loud voice, only silence filled the dining table.

Even I, who disliked silence, couldn’t say anything.

Even Ascal, who was genuinely amused by teasing Yohanna, couldn’t say a word and looked at her with astonished eyes.

Yohanna was the one who caused the silence.

But she was also the one who broke it.

“……. I’ll go to my room to rest.”

Yohanna said in a small voice, whispering unlike before, and left this place without giving anyone a chance to stop her.

* * *

Yohanna went to her own room and lay down on the bed.

It had been a while since she had been in her room because she lived in the dormitory, but the maids always cleaned it, so the room was spotless without a speck of dust.

“Miss, is there something wrong?”

Emma, the personal maid, seemed worried and spoke, but Johanna couldn’t hear Emma’s voice right now.

“……. I want to be alone.”

“Yes! If you need anything, please call me anytime.”

When Johanna said she wanted to be alone, Emma quietly left the room.

A personal maid should be able to hear her master’s voice and understand her emotions.

Emma had never heard Johanna’s voice like that before, but she knew she couldn’t do anything about it.

“Again, this feeling…”

After Emma left, Johanna murmured to herself, clutching her chest.

Her chest felt tight and painful. It was the first time she had experienced such pain in her life.

Living as an examiner, she had met many people and encountered many enemies.

She had suffered wounds and pain during battles and duels with those people.

She had experienced various pains from fighting many people, but this pain was different.

She couldn’t possibly describe this pain, this emotion in words.

Her chest felt suffocating, and it felt constricted.

It felt like her heart was hurting, and at the same time, it felt uncomfortable, not painful.

She couldn’t explain this pain in words, writing, or even in her thoughts.

She felt this pain for the first time this morning.

There had been a lot happening yesterday, so Rocky said he wouldn’t have a morning practice today, but it didn’t matter. She could be with him in the morning for the leadership experience.

Even though I saw Loki, I couldn’t say a word as yesterday’s image of Loki’s face lingered in my mind. Yet, just being together was comforting.

After finishing leader duties and heading towards the classroom, I spotted Loki walking alone on the academy grounds.

Even if we decided to walk together from now on, we couldn’t walk for long since our classrooms were in different directions.

However, just wanting to be together a little longer, I gathered my courage to talk to Loki.

“Hey, sucker!”

Someone else called Loki first. The girl who called Loki was undeniably beautiful, even in my own eyes.

With sunlit pink hair shining brightly, the girl started a cheerful conversation with Loki.

Seeing the two of them happily chatting, for the first time, a strange sensation tingled in my chest.

I don’t know why, but as if drawn by mana, I followed them.

“I have a small worry.”

Loki said to the girl with pink hair.

He didn’t tell me he had a worry…

“It’s about my face getting more handsome as the weather gets better.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t a big worry. But it wasn’t a small one either.

Getting more handsome as the weather gets better?

I recalled Loki’s face from yesterday. It was unimaginable that it could get even more handsome.

“Why don’t you just show your face and say that?”

The girl said to Loki.

I wanted to see Loki’s face again, but the thought of someone else seeing it made me hesitate.

‘Ahahahaha, I can’t just show my face to anyone.’

Unfortunately, but fortunately, Loki didn’t show his face to the girl.

Feeling a bit relieved that he had shown it only to himself, the frustration faded a bit.

“Hmm, I see. Sepia must have been quite bored yesterday without me.”

Even though I didn’t like Loki saying such things, it was okay.

After all, I’m the only one who has seen Loki’s face. No one else knows what Loki looks like except for me.

“From now on, please take care of ‘our’ Sepia, everyone.”

But when Loki referred to the girl as “our Sepia,” the discomfort returned.

Did he really have to call her “ours”? Couldn’t he just call her by her name?

It felt like a needle poking and pricking at my heart.

It was the first time I had ever felt such an emotion.

I met Loki after all the classes were over.

During the carriage ride home, I couldn’t help but notice the mask Loki was wearing.

“Can you take off the mask?”

That’s why I made such a request. When the girl asked him to take it off earlier, Loki refused.

If I asked, would Loki take off the mask for me?

What if Loki refused?

Just imagining Loki refusing made my heart feel frustrated and painful again.

“Hmm? Well, okay, then.”

Unlike when he refused to take it off when the girl asked, he took off the mask as if it didn’t matter.

My heart, which had been tingling, settled down.

As the tingling subsided, Rocky’s face came into view.

I was sitting beside him, so I could only see his profile, but that alone made my heart flutter.

Yet, as Rocky began to turn his head, instinctively, I hurriedly shielded his face with my hand.

I couldn’t muster the courage to look directly into Rocky’s face from such a close distance.

I can always take my time to look at his face later.

Then, happiness ensued. My heart raced.

I placed Rocky’s head on my lap. As he lay there, I looked down at his face and gently stroked his hair and face.

When Rocky tried to shift his gaze and look up, I quickly averted my eyes.

He wouldn’t notice if I stared blatantly, would he?

Did he perhaps not like lying on my lap?

‘…Do you not like it?’

I cautiously asked Rocky, concealing my anxious feelings as much as possible.

‘No, I feel good.’

Rocky responded immediately, as if to assert there was no deceit in his words.

If Rocky is content, I could remain like this forever.

Lost in time, I continued to stroke Rocky’s face while it rested on my lap.

“It seems the senior has arrived, right?”

The time that felt like it could last forever unexpectedly came to an end all too soon.

Rocky once again donned the mask hiding his face.

If someone said there was something left at the academy, could we spend another dream-like moment?

However, the plan was thwarted as unnie opened the carriage door and entered.

“Are you really dressing in such an unusual way, as I heard?”

Unnie looked at Loki with an interesting gaze.

It felt strange that she didn’t look at him with an interested gaze, but for some reason, it didn’t feel good.

“By the way, what’s going on between you and our Johanna? Huh? Tell me, just to me.”

Unnie put her arm on Loki’s shoulder and spoke.

I haven’t tried it yet.

Beyond the tingling sensation in my chest, for some reason, I felt bad.

If someone else put their hand on Loki’s shoulder, he should have pushed it away. Why is he just standing still? Could it be that he likes it?

Unnie didn’t like it. My chest throbbed.

The time when this pain was felt the most was just before eating.

Of course, I thought Loki would wear a mask and eat.

Because he had been doing that at the academy.

“I will take off the mask and eat.”

But Loki said he would take off the mask and eat.

Why? Wasn’t he supposed to show his face only to me?

“I’m curious about the face hidden behind the mask. Is he handsome? Then, maybe my heart will flutter a little?”

Unnie’s words didn’t please me either. I felt bad.

Why on earth is she saying such things to Loki?

“Should I not fall for you?”

Rocky’s words didn’t sit well with her either.

Why would he say that to me?

Even if he had to say such words, shouldn’t he say them to me?

“He said those words to me just yesterday…”

He said he had fallen for me, that he could die for me. He said he valued me more than hundreds of lives.

Why? Why? Why say those things to another woman?

Her heart felt heavy. It felt suffocating.

It felt like being pricked by needles.

Right now, she was meeting Rocky because of the morning club experience.

But with Rocky starting a new club and getting busy, if he didn’t show up for morning training, the chance to see him alone would disappear.

“I don’t want that.”

When the thought of not being able to see Rocky alone crossed her mind, her heart hurt even more.

Knock, knock.

She heard someone knocking on the door.

Right now, she didn’t want to see anyone but Rocky.

But cautiously, Emma came in and said, “Um… Rocky and Miss Ascal are going to have a match…”

Upon hearing Emma’s words, Johanna headed straight to the training ground.

From Noble mtl dot com

* * *

In the training grounds, Ascal and Loki stood facing each other.

“Is this where you show your face if you lose?”

Ascal aimed her sword at Loki and said.

“Do you really want to see my face that badly?”

The light disappeared from Johan’s sapphire-like blue eyes.