Chapter 4

I took advantage of Leon's kindness, gratefully taking a bath in his room. I left the changing room and dried my wet hair with a towel.

Hmm, I needed a hair dryer. I wished I could use wind magic to dry my hair all at once! That would be nice.

As I scrubbed my hair dry, I heard a light knock on the door of my room, followed by the door opening.

"Oh, Leon-san, thanks for the warning."

I couldn't really see his face because I wasn't wearing glasses, but I was pretty sure it was Sir Leon. It was his room, after all.

"I've already told you to lock your door when you take a bath. What if someone comes in?"

Well, he had a point.

"Because if you come back while I'm in the bath, you won't be able to enter the room."

"I'll wait outside until you're done, then You're a woman after all; you should protect yourself."

"Alright."

I replied in an appropriate manner, wiping my hair again. I didn't have any hair treatment, so the ends were a little battered. I had been growing it out for a long time, but maybe I could cut it short now.

I played with the ends of my hair, feeling Leon’s gaze on me as I wiped them. I wondered why. Did it bother him that my hair was so long that it brushed the floor? I'd tie up my hair later.

"...What's bugging you, the ends of your hair?

"Huh? Yeah, my ends are slightly damaged, so I thought I'd cut them."

"Don't do that. It's beautiful."

"What?"

"It's a waste of good-looking hair. Let it grow."

"Erm... Alright..."

That was the first time a man had ever called me beautiful, even if it was about my hair, and my cheeks reddened somewhat. Leon seemed slightly flushed as well, so I put on my glasses and looked at him again.

However, all I saw was the same Sir Leon as always.

***

"Wow, what is this? It's super delicious...!"

"It's addictively spicy! Mouthwatering, almost!"

That's right, that's right. Praise me more!

As I announced yesterday, today was the curry festival. The knights, initially reluctant to try curry because of its color and sludgy texture, are now enthusiastically devouring it.

"We'll be working with the First Order tomorrow, right? Please eat a lot and do your best! ...Huh? Where’s Leon?"

"After practice, he went down to the city to do his business."

Ah, that explained it. I wanted to eat curry with him and ask him about his thoughts. At any rate, I'd better save a portion before it was eaten up.

Later, Leon appeared in the dining room once most of the knights had finished eating and the place was almost empty.

"Sorry, I'm late. Can I still eat?"

"It's okay. Don't worry, I've saved some for you."

I put the small pot I set aside back on the fire, heating it up slowly. The spicy aroma of curry wafted around, and my face relaxed. I hoped Sir Leon would find it delicious.

"...Hmm. It's good. Is this what you call curry? I can see why you were so excited to have the ingredients. If there's more, I want some more."

"There's more! Please eat a lot to be ready for tomorrow!"

It was wonderful that he liked it! I'm glad.

"Thank you, it was delicious. Here's something for you."

After finishing his second helping of food, Leon-san took out a beautiful bottle from his breast pocket and presented it to me.

There was a viscous liquid inside.

"What is it?

"Perfumed oil. It's supposed to be good to put on your hair before going to bed. You're worried about split ends, right?"

Eh, really? This was my first gift from a man!

"Are you sure? I mean, did you go downtown just to buy this?"

"Well... yeah."

Leon, seemingly embarrassed, averted his gaze.

I was secretly pleased. This handsome man was not only good-looking, but also was quite the gentleman! If he did this, a lot of women would misunderstand him. It was a good thing he worked in a male-dominated environment.

I would have gotten the wrong idea too. My cheeks burned. I couldn't help but look around to see if anyone saw me blush. However, before I noticed, the two of us were the only ones left in the cafeteria.

"Oh, thank you so much! I'm so happy I think I might fall for you!"

I was so flustered that I even said something strange. Gah! I'm such an idiot!

"It's not that I don't care if you fall in love with me, but..."

"Eh?"

He held me by the shoulders.

His lips, pressed against mine, parted in an instant.

"Here, the key to the room. I still have to prepare for tomorrow's exercise, so go ahead and take a bath. I'm going to be late, so after you finish, you can give the key to Heinz and go to bed."

As I trembled in a daze, Sir Leon talked in his brusque manner, same as usual, put the dishes away on the counter, and strode to the exit.

"So long. Sweet dreams."

He left as if nothing had happened.

"Eeh...?"

I just stood there, dumbfoundedly clutching my warm cheeks.