101st Confession

o claimed that his sword and himself were one and that he never took it off.

It’s almost as if he’s dressed up for a date.

“Why aren’t you in uniform?”

She finally asked, unable to contain her curiosity, and Herwin scratched his head.

“I was going to wear a uniform…….”

Herwin paused in mid-sentence, and a puzzled Lucia asked.

“Did you?”

“I did, but then I suddenly realized I wanted to wear something different today.”

“Really? That’s interesting.”

As expected, he didn’t have a clue, but it didn’t hurt to think that this was going to be a more date-like date.

When he saw Lucia sitting across from him, he sighed softly.

‘Master, please don’t say anything useless to Lady Agnes, and you know that you mustn’t tell her that I encouraged you to wear this outfit.’

He remembered what Jerome, the servant, had said just before he left.
He had forced him to change into these clothes after tearing himself away from his uniform.

He’s still not sure why he did it, but….…

Herwin stole a glance at Lucia.
Lucia’s mood seemed better than the last time he’d seen her.

‘Is being good a good thing?’

As long as Lucia was in a good mood, it didn’t matter.

“So, since you wanted my day today, is there anything you’d like to do?”

“So you don’t mind being bossed around by me all day today, do you?”

Lucia playfully returned Herwin’s sneering question.

“What are you trying to get me to do, I’m going to need to relax a bit.”

“Haha, if anyone overhears, they’ll think I’m bullying you, I just want to hang out with you before you go back to the North, since I won’t see you for a while…”

“Well, it’s been a while since we’ve been alone.
We’re always been with the others.”

Since they’ve been at the academy, they haven’t had many opportunities to be alone.

Even when they do, it’s only for a short time to chat.
Other than that, they’ve been hanging out with at least three other people.

It was refreshing to feel like they were back to where they are before they entered the academy before she realized that this was her date with him.

“Master, we’ll be arriving in the downtown area soon.
Where shall I take you?”

The window connected to the coachman’s seat opened and the coachman asked.

Herwin turned to Lucia, and she hurriedly replied.

“Alaine’s restaurant, please.”

“Yes, lady.”

The coachman immediately turned his horse around and headed for the restaurant Lucia had mentioned.

“Is the first stop a restaurant?”

“It’s lunchtime, and we need to fill our stomachs before we move on.
I’ve made reservations.”

Herwin and Lucia talked nonstop until they reached their destination.

Even though Lucia had a crush on Herwin, there wasn’t an ounce of awkwardness between them after all these years together.

After arriving at the restaurant, the two settled down under the guidance of the waitress.

She asked the maid, who was very knowledgeable about the area, to make a reservation at a nice place, and she did an excellent job.

However, as the restaurant was mainly for couples, there were a few men and women around them, presumably couples.

“Hmm, nice atmosphere, nice food.
I’ll have to come back later.”

Lucia was tempted to ask the admiring Herwin if he was coming back with someone, but she held her tongue.

“I’m glad you liked it.
It’s my first time too, and they say it might be hard to get a reservation in the future since the place is so popular these days.”

“Well, that makes me even more excited for the main course.
What did you order?”

“Well, I ordered the most popular one, which is what most people who come here order, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Soon enough, the main course arrived, and when Lucia saw it, she stopped dead in her tracks.

The waiter next to her was talking about the main dish, but Lucia couldn’t hear him.

“Well, if you need anything, just ask.”

The waitress retreated, Herwin picked up his fork and knife, and as he was about to slice the steak in front of him, he noticed that Lucia hadn’t moved her fork.

“What’s wrong?”

“Eh? Eh, it’s nothing, it’s delicious.
Right?”

As Lucia hurriedly chopped away at the awkward words, Herwin watched suspiciously.

Then he realized something and grabbed Lucia’s hand.

“Why?”

“Why? You can’t eat the mushrooms.”

Herwin’s brow furrowed.
In front of them were different dishes.

Herwin’s steak was topped with a wine-braised sauce, while Lucia’s was flavored with mushrooms.

The only difference was the sauce, but the problem was that Lucia couldn’t eat mushrooms.

“Give it to me.
Let’s switch.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay, I can’t do that out of politeness…….”

“Forget it, come on.”

Herwin said firmly, and Lucia lowered her hand, which she had been holding out. 

Herwin switched his plate with hers.

Satisfied, his frown lifted.

“I’m not allergic to ……, and I don’t mind eating it.”

“It’s not a simple diet.
You said mushrooms make you sick, and you’ve been sick all day after eating them before.”

True to his words, Lucia had become so sick from eating mushrooms as a child that even the slightest bite of mushrooms would cause her to feel sick for the rest of the day.

Still, she didn’t expect him to change his plate.

It would have been highly impolite to change the plate that was already in front of them.

However, Herwin seemed to think nothing of it and began to savor the new food.

“What are you doing, eat up.”

“……Yes.”

Lucia’s ears perked up.

It was such a small gesture, but his consideration rekindled the tension she’d worked so hard to shake off.

Until dessert was finally served, Lucia could barely meet Herwin’s eyes, and he, who hadn’t noticed her change, continued the conversation happily to himself.

Lucia was grateful that Herwin was blind.