The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)

LEO

Liesel and Blanche left after finishing their meal (a bit earlier than us since they started earlier) to let some others sit during the busy hour. But what Liesel said stayed in my mind. I was already done with my food, but Marius was still eating, so instead of just sitting there, doing nothing and twiddling my thumbs, I decided to study his face.

Marius had dark brown hair with matching dark brown eyes, but his skin was surprisingly pale for a guy who must have spent a lot of time training outdoors. His facial features were well defined, with a nose and jawlines that looked like a sculptor had spent a lot of time and effort perfecting them. He was also tall, not as tall as Dimitri, of course, but definitely the second- or third-tallest among the guys in our group (Briant was about the same height). From behind, his shoulders looked broad, but not too broad. He always had good posture, with a straight back and neck, unlike Thomas, who tended to slouch a little like Abe back home. He had long legs, firm hands, and muscular arms that didn’t bulge too much.

"Marius, you really are good looking," I said, concluding.

"Wha—what are you talking about all of a sudden?!" Marius seemed really startled.

"Well, I always thought you looked like a real man—really cool. But after what Liesel said, I realized you are not just manly, but you actually have a very nice face and body. Everything looks so well proportioned."

"Stop it, Skylark..."

"And you are really strong too. You could even match Dimitri in strength during swordsmanship practice. And you are also very quick. And you are tall as well."

Marius said nothing, but his hand movements holding the fork and knife got a lot quicker as he started to eat more quickly, as if he was in a rush to finish his dinner and leave as soon as possible.

"Sigh... I wish I was more like you," I blurted out without thinking too much about it.

I meant it, though.

I was always on the smaller side among my peers. I was skinny and weak, although I didn’t really get sick often until I came to the Academy (that made me wonder for a moment—what happened to me?). Marius’s upper arm was probably twice the size of my forearm. He could probably pick up two or three of me too.

As I was thinking this, still keeping my eyes on Marius and admiring him, he stopped eating, looked at me, and said,

"Don’t say that."

"It is true, though."

"You... you are..."

Then Marius stopped mid-sentence and started to eat really fast, shoving food into his mouth nonstop.

"Slow down—you’ll choke. Heh, that’s what people always say to me."

"I... need to finish dinner quickly and leave," he said.

"Where are you going?"

"Just... somewhere."

"Why are you in such a rush?"

"Because of you!"

He suddenly burst out.

My heart froze for a moment, then I felt really worried, then sad.

"Did I say anything wrong? I’m sorry if I pissed you off... I didn’t mean to. I was just saying you are really good looking and like a proper man—like how I wish I was."

Marius then put his fork and knife down on the table, almost slamming them. He closed his eyes for a moment, exhaled long and hard, opened his eyes again, looked at me, and said,

"Listen, Skylark."

"Okay..."

"You are fine as you are."

"But I’m not, though... I’m small, weak, and skinny..."

"Your hair is so fine and fluffy, like a dog—"

"How is that a good thing?!"

"Just listen! And... your eyes are so blue, like—like the clear sky or the beautiful lake we visited during our weekend at the lodge."

"O-okay."

"And you are small, yes, but you are nimble like a monkey. You climb trees really well, like that time you pranked us with the stinky fruits. You are clever in that way—I mean it. I don’t normally get tricked, but you had us completely fooled."

"Really...?"

"Yes, and you know so many things about nature. You know the herbs, trees, all sorts of things that I never knew."

"But everyone knows these things in Erdville..."

"We are not in Erdville now, though, are we? In other words, Skylark—"

Marius then stopped, looked away, and said,

"Forget it."

"You can’t stop now! What were you going to say?"

"Nothing."

"Aw, tell me. You say I’m like a dog, then you say I’m like a monkey—I don’t even know what to make of it!"

"It doesn’t mean anything! It just means you are very... likable."

I felt blood rush to my face instantly, and my cheeks felt like they had just caught fire. Marius hurriedly turned away to hide his face and not look at me, for which I was grateful, because I was certain that I was blushing.

"Tha... thank you, Mario."

"Mario...?" he turned to face me again, surprised.

"I mean—Marucio, no that’s not right, is it? Maria, Mary, Mario... never mind!"

I jumped up from my seat and quickly grabbed my tray to put it away.

"Where are you going?" Marius asked this time.

"Just... somewhere!"

With that, I rushed to the tray return counter, returned my tray, and ran out of the dining hall. I then kept on running through the hallway, straight to my room, climbed the ladder to my upper bed in the bunk bed, wrapped myself in the blanket, and buried my face in the pillow.

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, and my stomach tickled from inside, as if there were some funny creatures fluttering about inside my tummy.

Then I heard the door open, and Briant and Dimitri walked in, laughing about something.

I bolted up from my bed and asked, because I just had to check—

"Dimitri! Briant!"

"Yeah?" they both asked.

"Am I likable?"

Then they looked at each other, then at me, then laughed and said,

"Sure!"

I then fell back onto the bed, hid myself under the blanket again, and tried to calm down.

So Mario wasn’t lying just to make me feel better...

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!