Chapter 187: Is it that obvious?

"H-huh?" Seraphina blinked, surprise clear on her face as she looked at Alisha’s playfully smiling figure in front of her.

Alisha sat beside her, her chubby cheeks turning into dumplings as her smile widened. "For the past three days, you have barely gotten any proper sleep."

"Because we are in the deeper part of this dangerous forest," Seraphina argued, her gaze shifting sideways. "As a leader, I need to remain alert while my team rests."

There were clear flaws in her explanation and an obvious change in her behaviour. Seraphina would have divided the guarding duty among the squad each time they stopped to rest during their pursuit, yet she insisted on guarding every time.

"Hmm, the leader bears the responsibility for their party," Alisha agreed with her without pointing out the obvious flaws. "Then why are you not eating properly? You have barely eaten anything. Not to mention, you keep losing your focus since Vlad left. Do you like him that much?"

Seraphina shifted her feet closer, her chin resting on her knees. "Is it that obvious?" she asked, her tone low.

Alisha merely nodded. "Sleeping and eating in the same camp and going on guard duty together. You two were basically flaunting your relationship at this point."

"D-does that mean even Raphael and Hugo know?" Seraphina asked, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Well, they have eyes too," Alisha chuckled with a shrug. "Hugo was already suspicious even before we left the academy."

"He is annoyingly perceptive about things that don’t concern him," Seraphina muttered, her brows furrowing. "And that stupid commoner. Why would he leave by himself without even leaving a trail for us to follow? I’m having a word with him once he returns."

Now Alisha was looking forward to Vlad’s return. He was going to get a full-on lecture from Seraphina, and Alisha was all for it.

"By the way, when did you two start dating?" Alisha asked in a teasing tone, looking at Seraphina playfully from the side.

"W-we are not dating," Seraphina revealed, obviously flustered, a rosy hue spreading across her face.

"There is no need to hide it anymore, Lady Seraphina," Alisha teased, obviously not believing her.

"No, I’m really serious," Seraphina insisted. Her pink eyes lowered, a hint of nervousness and sadness visible in them. "I don’t even know if he also likes me. He is nice. But he is nice to everyone. I’m not sure if I hold any special place in his heart."

"Hmm... that’s really concerning," Alisha sighed, pressing her chubby cheek with her index finger as if recalling something. "Does he agree to your unreasonable demands?" she asked.

The memory of when Seraphina had called Vlad to meet her in her dormitory in the middle of the night came to her mind. Now that she thought about it, aside from being dressed as a woman, Vlad had never really rejected any of her unreasonable demands.

"Yes, he does," Seraphina agreed.

"Hmm, I requested him to address me informally, but he still calls me senior," Alisha murmured to herself, making sure that Seraphina could hear her as well. "Did he ever raise his voice at you?"

"Never," Seraphina’s answer came instantly. "Even when I accidentally shouted at him, he remained calm."

"Is that so~" Alisha nodded, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "But I heard he is very petty. He even took revenge on Hugo just a few days ago."

After a brief pause, she leaned closer to Seraphina and asked in a whisper, "Does he respond to your advances?"

The question immediately flushed Seraphina’s face red as all the intimate memories she had shared with him replayed in her mind.

She hadn’t even answered, but Alisha already understood as Seraphina’s flustered face hide nothing.

"Th-that is a very vulgar and personal question, Alisha," Seraphina muttered, refusing to answer.

"Hehe~ I apologise for my rudeness," Alisha chuckled, already having received her answer. "Just so you know, Emily tried to flirt with him during the Arena Tournament, saying she would do everything for him if he won. Do you know how Vlad responded?"

"He threatened to report her for sexual harassment," Seraphina replied, already aware of it. The news of how a freshman humbled Emily had spread like wildfire among the second-years, after all. It eventually reached Seraphina’s ears as well.

"There you have it," Alisha declared with a wink. "He is not just nice to everyone. I have noticed how he looks at you. That gaze is definitely not that of ’just a friend.’"

Talking with Alisha somewhat lifted the weight from Seraphina’s heart and diverted her mind from her constant worry about Vlad’s whereabouts.

"I have decided," Seraphina declared, tightening her fists in determination. "I will tell him how I feel about him once we return to the academy."

"Hehe~ I will root for you two," Alisha replied, a wide smile spreading across her chubby face.

A few hours later, Raphael returned to the camp. Walking beside him was Vlad, discussing something with him.

A faint smile bloomed on Seraphina’s face the moment her eyes fell upon Vlad’s approaching figure through the dark woods.

She immediately rose to her feet and hurried toward them. Naturally, Raphael moved aside, reading the room.

"You have returned," Seraphina murmured, her eyes lowering to the ground. She had been wanting to see his face for the past three days, but now that he was truly standing before her, even taking a glance at him felt like an arduous task.

"Yeah, and we have found the locations of all five trolls," Vlad boasted, his lips curling into a proud smile.

"We?" Seraphina asked, blinking as she raised her head.

"Yeah. I had a hunch when I returned after confirming the locations of the two trolls that took the right path," Vlad explained, a hint of excitement in his tone. "Raphael and I followed my hunch, and we were able to find the locations of the remaining two trolls as well."

Hugo and Alisha were eavesdropping on their conversation from behind the thick pole of the mushroom camp.

"He is so screwed," Hugo snickered with a cheeky smile. "While Lady Seraphina was worried about him, instead of returning, he went to search for the other trolls. I can’t wait for the beating Lady Seraphina is about to give him."

"Hehe~ Lady Seraphina just told me that she would be having a word with Vlad once he returned," Alisha added, equally excited. "This is even more exciting than the romance novels I read."

"Hah! Serves him right for disrespecting his seniors," Hugo nodded, still bitter about the revenge Vlad had taken on him.

They leaned even closer, peeking from behind the column as Seraphina parted her lips, her face unreadable.

"You weren’t attacked by any monsters, right?" she asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Nope," Vlad shook his head. "But I’m a bit tired. A nap sounds really good."

"Y-you have done well," Seraphina murmured, her eyes never meeting his. "Go and take a bath. I will set the dinner table."

"Alright!"

Vlad moved past her, resting his hands behind his head.

"Hey, guys," he waved at Alisha and Hugo as their figures became visible behind the column.

The two were looking back and forth between Vlad and Seraphina with raised brows and parted lips, exasperation clear on their faces. It was only then that they realised their poor leader had been utterly bewitched by this hopelessly oblivious knight.