I’m Just an Ordinary Clown at the Academy

115 – Special Training 5

Erika was lying on Loki’s bed, frozen in place, and Loki himself was also frozen, holding onto Erika’s foot.

“Hic!”

– Tingling

The sound of Erika’s hiccup.

And then,

When Erika was tickled earlier,

Her communication device, which had fallen from her lap, made a sound and made its presence known.

Without releasing Erika’s foot, Loki looked down at her lying on the bed.

Her face was noticeably flushed, even considering her unusually fair skin.

Her golden eyes, unfocused, lost their direction and drifted into empty space.

With Erika already halfway out of her mind, Loki checked the communication device making noise on the bed.

And then,

[Father]

After confirming the name written on the communication device, he felt like he was losing his mind.

‘The owner of this communication device is Erika. And the person she calls father is…’

Of course, it can only be the Emperor.

What are you stupidly sitting there thinking about?

The Emperor is still at the academy.

If the Emperor knew about this situation, he would come into my dormitory and stick a knife in my throat in less than a minute.

– Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!

Even while I wanted to lose consciousness, the communication device continued to make noise.

When I realized that the person calling was the Emperor, the sound of the communication device felt even louder.

“It must be a mistake.”

If it was Lucas who made the call, I could have answered instead, but I was somehow afraid of answering the Emperor’s call.

I reluctantly opened my mouth to talk to Erika.

“Um… Erika?”

“Yes, it’s me!”

Erika chewed her tongue once and barely managed to speak with a trembling voice.

Her face was still flushed, and her trembling golden eyes were looking at the empty space instead of directly at my face.

– Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!

“Ah.”

Erika finally noticed that the communication device was making noise, and a small sigh escaped from her mouth.

“You would be worried if I didn’t answer, right?”

“I suppose so.”

It’s better to worry than to have the Emperor turn the academy upside down if Erika didn’t answer the call.

“Haah……. Haah……. Hweup!”

Erika took several deep breaths to stop her hiccups and answered the call.

[Erika? Why aren’t you answering the phone? Do you know how worried I was? I hope nothing has happened.]

Normally, she would have laughed it off and called him overprotective.

But she couldn’t do that because of the clown right beside her.

“Well, I was just out for a moment and couldn’t answer.”

Erika’s gaze shifted towards Loki.

She hadn’t paid attention to him while she was taking deep breaths.

‘Why is he still holding onto my foot? Clown!’

Of course, he wasn’t squeezing or pressing like earlier.

But since that one time he grabbed it, he hadn’t let go.

“I just finished talking to the principal a moment ago. He’s still in good health.”

Erika let out a sigh of relief upon hearing the Emperor’s words.

Thank goodness she hadn’t been caught. It would be too embarrassing to be caught like this by her father.

“Is that so?”

[Come to think of it, you mentioned meeting that Loki guy. Did you meet him well? By the way, spending hours doing makeup or choosing clothes for that guy who covers his face… I don’t like it…]

“Ah, Father! Why are you saying that now?”

Why are you bringing that up now, Father?

Erika rolled her eyes and looked at Loki.

“Did he overhear?”

The ugly clown turned his head completely and looked in the opposite direction.

He must have heard everything…

I want to ask him to let me go, even just for a moment.

But Erica, unable to speak because of the call, couldn’t even move her feet as she pleased.

[…Erica, you seem different from usual. Is there any problem?]

The Emperor noticed that Erica was different from her usual self.

No, not just the Emperor, anyone would have noticed that Erica was acting strange.

“I was startled by a cat that suddenly appeared. Father, when do you plan to return to the palace?”

Erica tried to smoothly change the subject,

but Loki couldn’t do the same.

Without realizing it himself, Loki’s grip on Erica’s foot tightened.

It wasn’t intentional, but Erica’s sole was pressed down, just like before.

“Ugh…. Please, ugh, ah!”

An odd moan escaped Erica’s lips, despite her efforts to endure.

The only difference from before was that the Emperor was listening.

[…. Erica? What just happened, are you oka…]

“Sob!”

Even the resumption of her sobbing interrupted the Emperor’s words.

“I, I’ll… Sob! I’ll contact you later!”

With her sanity already halfway gone, Erica hastily ended the call after leaving those words.

-Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

And the communication device began to ring like crazy.

“…………….”

“…………….”

With eyes that seemed like a single tear could fall at any moment, Erika glared at Loki.

Even though she had tried her best to explain…

Loki, knowing that he had made a mistake, looked away from Erika’s golden eyes and stared at the dull wall.

One symbol, two symbols, three symbols.

-Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

As if to say, “Don’t lose your mind,” the sound of the communication device was heard.

And as if to regain his composure, Erika’s voice was heard.

“Mr. Clown, could you please release your hold on my foot for a moment?”

Only then did he discover that he was still gripping Erika’s foot tightly, and slowly he lowered her foot onto the bed.

“Um… may I go to the bathroom and make a call for a moment?”

“Of course! The bathroom is over there!”

.

-Squeak, thud.

Taking the communication device with her, Erika entered the bathroom and leaned against the door, sitting down just like that.

‘What should I do! What should I do! What should I do! What should I do!’

I’m going crazy, I’m going insane.

I let out a pathetic whimper in front of the clown, not just once, but twice!

“And why did Father say such things!”

Because of Father, my long hours of makeup and carefully selecting clothes before meeting the clown were all exposed.

I even considered wearing heavier makeup, but Mother said it was more important to look like I did or didn’t do it, so I did it that way.

From comfortable attire to a sophisticated dress for parties, I wore several outfits, but since I was meeting at the academy, I wore my school uniform.

“But I put in so much effort to dress up, and the clown doesn’t even care!”

When I let out that whimper earlier, the clown did react, but it was clearly a reaction of surprise, not excitement.

Just now, he loosened his tie, slowly approached, and slapped me.

Could it be that he has no feelings for me at all…

“No, now is not the time.”

Erika tapped her temple twice.

-Ring! Ring! Ring!

Father is calling on the communication device even now.

If I don’t answer the phone like this, Father might trace the communication device and come here, and then I won’t be able to stay with the clown any longer.

Erika, who refused the Emperor’s call, called the only person who could stop Father.

On the communication device she was holding, it was written like this.

[Mother.]

* * *

Right after Erika entered the bathroom.

I saw Erika enter the bathroom and I sat down, breathing heavily.

“Haah….”

Whether I opened or closed my eyes, Erika’s last appearance while talking to the Emperor wouldn’t leave my mind.

I bit my lip to hold back a groan. My trembling eyes seemed to understand that I shouldn’t let it out. But in the end, I couldn’t hold back and let out a faint moan.

“Huu….”

Without my poker face, my heart throbbed like crazy.

Honestly, even if I had my poker face, it wouldn’t have been much different.

“It’ll probably take a while since she just went in, right?”

Confirming that Erika was still in the bathroom, she took off her mask, which seemed like a clone, and looked at the mirror.

Her face was the same as in her past life, so it wasn’t unfamiliar. But her white hair still felt a little strange.

But what felt more unfamiliar was what I saw in the mirror.

Her face was slightly flushed.

“I’m not some teenage girl….”

It was just a series of small mistakes overlapping.

“If there’s something I can do, I’ll do anything.”

I don’t know why Erika’s words from earlier keep coming to mind.

It’s just a very ordinary statement of repaying for the artifact.

“But if Erika really can do anything, she wouldn’t even harbor small desires, right?”

I couldn’t give a definite answer to the question that echoed deep in my heart.

“Haah….”

The situation before Erika’s communication device rang,

Repeated in my mind like a continuously playing recorded video.

Erika lying on the bed. Me, sitting on the bed, holding onto Erika’s feet, looking down at her.

Erika’s alluring moan that escaped in that state.

If the communication device hadn’t rung, I would have….

“Pull yourself together.”

I resolved to get a hold of myself and put on my mask again,

-Snap.

Just at the right timing, Erika also came out of the bathroom.

“The call went well….”

I tried to speak as calmly as possible, but my mouth froze when I saw Erika.

Her golden hair, faintly shining under the light in the room.

The small droplets of water that were on her face from washing just now rolled down her cheeks, chin, and neck.

“….Did something get on my face?”

When she scratched earlier. Because of the vigorous movement, her shirt and skirt were slightly disheveled,

Embarrassed, she looked at me with her half-closed golden eyes.

Even her hands were fidgeting.

Sigh… I’m really going crazy.