As the weekend drew to a close, a new beginning was forced upon everyone—weekdays. The most wretched of all days. The day on which countless salarymen wept tears of blood, praying either to arrive later or leave sooner.
Monday.
When Lucian arrived at his classroom, he could still feel the lingering excitement from the recent sports event. He greeted his classmates as usual before heading to his seat.
"Kukuhahaha, I can feel it! I really can feel it!"
"The gazes directed at me have changed. I've succeeded in raising everyone's affection through the sports event!"
"Morning," he said to Dia, who was seated beside him.
"Morning," she replied with a gentle smile.
Her eyes are really beautiful. I could stare at them all day without ever growing bored.
For a brief moment, Lucian felt as though his soul had been captured by her gaze.
"Luc?" Dia tilted her head, as if a question mark had appeared above it.
"Oh—sorry. I was daydreaming. Where's Alice?"
Dia pointed toward the back of the classroom, where Alice was still playing ball with their classmates.
"Haha," Lucian chuckled in understanding. "Last week's excitement hasn't worn off yet, huh?"
"Mm," Dia agreed.
He turned back to her. "You too, Dia—you look more lively than usual today."
"I have a different reason from the others," she said, smiling brightly once more—an expression completely unlike her usual self.
"What do you mean—?"
Crash.
Shatter.
The sharp sound instantly drew everyone's attention, slicing through the classroom chatter. Conversations died out as Lucian and Dia turned toward the source, whether out of curiosity or shock.
A vase had fallen from the shelf.
And beside the shattered fragments stood Alice.
Her face was deathly pale. Panic seized her, and tears slowly welled up before spilling from her eyes.
"Sigh…" Lucian let out a soft breath and walked toward her.
"Are you alright?"
The others were just kids—it was only natural that they didn't know how to react.
"L-L-Lucian… w-what should I do?" Her voice trembled with fear, already imagining the scolding she would receive for the mess.
"Are you hurt?" he asked again gently, his eyes scanning her feet and arms, wary of any shards of glass.
Alice was far too shaken to respond.
After one last careful look, confident that she hadn't been injured, Lucian finally sighed in relief. He gently guided her to the nearest empty seat and helped her sit down so she could calm herself.
"It's okay. It's no big deal," he reassured her, softly stroking her head, as one would soothe a frightened child. "Wait here."
Lucian retrieved a broom and dustpan from the cleaning locker and began clearing away the broken pieces.
It wasn't long before the teacher arrived, asking what had happened.
Alice looked even more shaken the moment the teacher's voice reached her ears. However—
"Nothing happened. I was careless and accidentally knocked the vase down," Lucian replied casually. Unfortunately, the brief distraction from the teacher's sudden appearance—combined with the side glance he cast toward Alice to check on her—made him let his guard down.
"Oh."
He muttered softly as a thin line of blood began to seep from his finger.
Lucian was about to ignore it and continue cleaning when—
"Wait!" the young teacher exclaimed, sounding even more panicked than Lucian himself. "Let me see!"
The teacher carefully examined Lucian's hand, just as Lucian had done moments earlier when checking on Alice. After confirming it was nothing serious, the teacher finally let out a sigh of relief.
"I'll take care of the rest," the teacher said, gently taking the cleaning tools from him. "Could someone help bring Lucian to the infirmary?"
"I'll go!!" Alice jumped up from her seat without hesitation.
***
It wasn't as if Lucian had broken a leg or suffered anything that prevented him from walking normally. There was no real need for anyone to accompany him to the infirmary.
Under normal circumstances, he would have insisted on going alone. Being labeled an immature brat was the last thing he wanted. But this time was different.
He could guess why Alice had been so eager—almost desperate—to help him.
"…"
"…"
The school was large, and the walk to the infirmary took longer than one might expect. Yet Alice remained silent the entire way. Judging by her stiff posture and lowered gaze, it seemed the incident had shaken her more deeply than he'd thought.
After a long moment of hesitation—
"Um…" Alice finally spoke, gathering her courage.
"Yes?" Lucian replied, turning to her with the same casual tone as always. From his perspective, nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"Lucian… I'm sorry," she said quietly.
There wasn't a trace of her usual cheerfulness. Though some color had returned to her face, she kept her eyes fixed on the floor, as if ashamed—or perhaps afraid to meet his gaze.
"Sorry for what?" Lucian asked.
His voice was as calm and ordinary as ever, but to Alice, it sounded different.
"Because of me, you—"
"You didn't get hurt, right?"
Realizing that speaking gently as usual wouldn't get through to her, Lucian chose a firmer approach.
It's better not to let her overthink this.
"Tell me the truth. You know what happens if you lie, right?"
Though his voice was gentle, it carried the weight of a scolding.
Overwhelmed, Alice could only nod. "Mm."
She affirmed that she wasn't hurt—and then, slowly, a sob slipped from her throat.
"No—why are you crying again?" Lucian reacted immediately.
Sensitive to tone as children often are, Alice caught it at once. It wasn't anger—but it certainly wasn't happiness either.
"B-But… b-but…"
She tried to form words again and again, yet only broken sobs escaped her lips.
Everyone had felt it at least once in childhood. You could endure pain. You could endure scolding, even condemnation from everyone around you.
But the moment even one person took your side—
the moment someone reached out to help—
the dam broke.
That was exactly what Alice was feeling.
"You don't have to worry about the wound."
The more Lucian tried to calm her down, the more the dam seemed to burst. In his attempt to stop her tears, he ended up blurting out complete nonsense.
"A scar is a medal of honor for a man."
"A small price to pay for your smile."
None of it worked. Her sobbing only continued—until, eventually, it stopped on its own.
"…"
Lucian quietly began to question what all his efforts had been for. He carefully concealed the feeling, not wanting to trigger another breakdown.
It felt strange to let things end like that, so he added one last line.
"Instead of an apology, I think I'd rather hear a 'thank you.'"
"Mm. Thank you, Lucian," she replied, a hint of his smile finally returning to her face.