Ruby lay in bed, her eyes wide open as she gazed at the ceiling. It was all her own doing. She had let her emotions get the best of her and now, she was lying in bed next to Aurora, not being able to fall asleep.

The blue girl didn't move, her warmth radiating towards Ruby. They were so close, almost touching, and Ruby couldn't help but feel a mixture of nervousness and excitement at their proximity.

Suddenly, Aurora stirred and turned to face Ruby.

"Are you asleep yet?" Aurora asked, her bright blue eyes shining in the moonlight.

"No, not yet," Ruby replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You know you don't need to be jealous because Sera inspired me to create that card game," Aurora said.

"Why not?" Ruby pouted, feeling a bit childish.

Aurora chuckled. "I just remembered why I came up with this in the first place. You hate reading, right? So I thought it would be fun if we could find something to do together besides reading. So, in a way, that card game was created for you."

"That's unfair," Ruby said, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks.

Aurora giggled and shut her eyes, letting the peaceful silence surround her. She felt herself drifting closer and closer to sleep.

"Hey, Aurora," Ruby said, breaking the silence in the cozy room.

"Yes?" Aurora answered, still keeping her eyes closed.

"Will you tell me already? About your secret. You promised me, right?" Ruby asked, her voice filled with anticipation.

"Oh, right," Aurora said, as if she just remembered. "Where should I start?"

Surrounded by fluffy pillows and warm blankets, Aurora felt at ease.

"I call it LightSpeed," Aurora said, finally opening her eyes to look at Ruby. "Basically, it turns my body into light. That's why I can move so fast."

"I see," Ruby said, looking at Aurora in awe. "Isn't that mean you're unbeatable?"

Aurora smiled. "Not really. As you saw before, I lack a way to attack people using magic. That forces me to use physical attacks, which aren't really my best suit."

"Oh, right," Ruby said, remembered their previous encounter with James. "How's your hand?"

"It's okay," Aurora said. "It's not hurting anymore. Anyway, LightSpeed has a big weakness. I can only use it for around five minutes. After that, there's a five-hour cooldown."

"Cooldown?" Ruby asked.

"It means I need to wait five hours before I can use it again," Aurora explained. "So, I can't use it continuously."

"Well, that sucks," Ruby said, her tone filled with disappointment.

Aurora chuckled, "Yes, it is. It's more like a last resort thing. But I don't have any other way to do stuff, so I end up relying on it too much."

Stolen novel; please report.

Ruby turned to her, "So even you have weaknesses, huh?"

"Of course," Aurora said. "If I can't beat up my enemies in less than five minutes, I'm not sure what I should do," Ruby can feel a hint of frustration in her voice. "That's why if I'm fighting seriously with Nova..."

"Don't worry. I'll protect you," Ruby said.

Aurora smiled. "Thank you."

A few minutes later, Aurora was sound asleep. Ruby was a bit annoyed. She couldn't believe that Aurora wasn't nervous at all. Meanwhile, Ruby was strangely more aware and just being close to Aurora already made her feel embarrassed. But, Aurora didn't seem to be affected at all.

Ruby felt a pain in her chest. Her feelings were unrequited once again, huh?

Ruby sighed and tried to calm herself down, knowing that there was no point in dwelling on her one-sided feelings. She decided to close her eyes and try to get some rest, hoping that when she woke up, she would feel better and more at peace.

Just as she was about to drift off, Aurora suddenly turned and grabbed her hand, jolting Ruby and making her eyes snap open. Aurora was now incredibly close, eyes still closed, their faces only inches apart, and Ruby could feel Aurora's breath brushing against her cheeks.

Ruby's heart skipped a beat and she felt her cheeks flush. She was happy, but... she couldn't help but think to herself, Don't torture me like this!

The morning came and Aurora woke up feeling full of energy. On the other hand, Ruby was still lying in bed, looking tired with dark circles under her eyes.

"Good morning," Aurora greeted However, she noticed that Ruby looked tired. "You don't look so good, did you sleep at all?"

"Do you think I could've...?" Ruby grumbled.

"Oh, sorry. Did my sleeping posture bother you?" Aurora asked.

"No, I mean...never mind." Ruby yawned and reached her hand out to Aurora. "Help me wake up."

Aurora smiled and grabbed Ruby's hand, pulling her up. Ruby, now sitting next to Aurora on the bed, rubbing her eyes.

"That was fun," Aurora said. "Maybe we can do it again sometime."

Ruby stared at her.

"Wh-what? Did I say something wrong?" Aurora asked, panicking. "It's fine if you don't want to."

Ruby grabbed her hand and said, "Let's do it every day!"

"Eh...? Everyday was a bit..." Aurora said, trailing off.

Lyra then came to take Aurora back to her own room. After that, everything continued as usual.

Before class started, Marina approached Aurora. The white-haired girl seemed both excited and tired, but her excitement was palpable.

"I made some progress!" Marina said, beaming.

"Oh, that's great!" Aurora replied, smiling.

"I'll show you later," Marina said. "But it's still not the final version yet, far from it. The effect isn't that great yet..." Her voice trailed off, and her excitement slowly died. She started to lose confidence. "I mean, I have made progress but..."

Aurora grabbed her hand and forced her to look at her.

"Stop that," Aurora said gently. "It's okay to be excited about your progress, and I would be sad if you held back your excitement just because it's not perfect yet."

"You're really kind, huh?" Marina said. "To the point where I started doubting it..."

"What?" Aurora asked, confused.

Marina shook her head. "Never mind," Marina said. "Let's talk about it after class."

She pulled her hand away and went back to her seat. Aurora was stunned and looked down at her hand.

She didn't feel like she was pretending. She wasn't lying when she said she didn't mind if Marina took her time and could be happy with her creation. But the way Marina said it somehow hurt her heart. Being doubted was of course not a nice feeling, but she felt like Marina had seen her dark side, her lies, her scheming nature.

The lesson began, and Aurora tried to dismiss her sudden feeling of depression. She looked at the front and noticed that Nova was absent again today.

Aurora still couldn't read that girl. What was she planning, and where was she right now?

So far, her only lead was her own unease about James. She felt that there was something more to his actions. She must have a more in-depth conversation with Sera later.

Looking at the other side of the room, Aurora saw Ruby sleeping at her seat. Ruby must be tired. After all, it seems like she didn't get any sleep at all when she was with her. Aurora never knew her sleeping posture was that bad, but if it was, why would Ruby want to do it again?

An idea came to Aurora's mind. She had actually had this nagging feeling for some time, but she immediately pushed that thought away.

No, forget it.

The class ended without incident.

Aurora walked over to Ruby, who was still fast asleep in her seat. Gently, she shook her shoulder.

"Ruby, class is over," Aurora said softly.

Ruby stirred, rubbing her eyes as she woke up. When she realized she had fallen asleep in class, a blush spread across her cheeks.

"Did I... Uh, how embarrassing. That's so unladylike," Ruby muttered.

"It's okay," Aurora reassured her. "You were just tired."

"But still," Ruby said, looking worried. "I didn't drool, did I?"

Aurora giggled. "No, you didn't. And even if you did, it wouldn't change how cute you are."

Ruby's blush deepened.

"Aurora," someone called from behind her. Aurora turned to see a white-haired girl.

"Oh, right," Aurora nodded. As she gazed at Marina's face, an uneasy feeling came over her, but she quickly tried to shake it off. "Let's discuss it over some tea," Aurora suggested.

"I'm okay," Marina replied. "Let's just get it done quickly here."

"I insist," Aurora said, clearly not accepting the rejection.

"What are you guys talking about?" Ruby asked.

"Marina finished my potion," Aurora said with a smile. "You're curious about it too, right? Would you like to join us?"

"Of course!" Ruby immediately stood up.

"Wait," Marina said, panicked. "Are we really doing this?"

"Come on, at least you can celebrate your success with some tea and sweets," encouraged Aurora.

"Fine," Marina said, giving in.

The three of them stepped out of the room and made their way down the corridor. Suddenly, a young girl dressed as a maid came running towards them. It was Lyra.

"Miss," she said, panting slightly.

"Oh, perfect timing," Aurora said with a smile. "We were just about to have some tea. Can you prepare it for us?"

"Of course, Miss," Lyra replied. "But before that, while you were in class, someone from the adventurer's guild came by and left this for you."

With that, Lyra handed a letter over to Aurora.

***