Cartethyia

The girl was visibly nervous. Wuling could clearly see her body trembling slightly as she stood, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the hem of her clothes. Though the trembling was faint, he sat close enough to notice it.

With everyone looking at her, the girl hesitated for two seconds before slowly raising her head a little. Her gaze remained fixed on the edge of the desk in front of her. She didn't dare look up at the lectern, much less meet any of her classmates' eyes. Her thin, faint voice drifted out, so quiet that the still air in the classroom nearly swallowed it.

"H-hello, everyone. My name is Cartethyia..."

After that one sentence, she visibly faltered. Her lips moved slightly, but for a long while she couldn't get the rest out. Her breathing grew shallow and quick, and her trembling body gave another small shudder.

She had prepared a draft in her notebook beforehand and planned what to say in her introduction, but the moment she stood up, her mind went blank. Every sentence she had rehearsed silently vanished without a trace.

Quite a few students in the front rows turned around to look at her curiously, and scattered whispers reached her ears. Cartethyia's cheeks burned in an instant, and her fingers tightened around her notebook until they left deep creases in the pages.

Seeing this from the lectern, Changli offered her a gentle reassurance.

"Don't be nervous. Take your time. A simple introduction will do."

The gentle reassurance eased some of her panic. After a long pause, Cartethyia found her voice again, though it was still as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

"I... I don't have any particular hobbies. I spend most of my time reading and preparing for class. I hope we'll all get along in the days ahead."

She rushed through the words, then almost immediately lowered her head and gave a small bow. Her taut body swayed again with the movement. She hadn't once raised her eyes to look at anyone, and as soon as she finished, she hurried back into her chair. Once seated, she instinctively shrank toward the window, her shoulders still trembling slightly. She kept her head down, wishing she could hide behind her textbook and never be looked at again.

Wuling looked away and casually turned back toward the lectern, silently thinking that Cartethyia was far too shy. Even a brief moment of speaking in public could make her panic enough to tremble.

He was completely unaware of the girl's eyes hidden behind the pages of her book, or that her fingertips were still trembling uncontrollably. Those few dozen seconds before the class had nearly exhausted all her confidence.

Changli's gentle gaze swept over the corner of the back row, taking in Cartethyia's awkward, reserved appearance. Her long hair, fading from pink to white, swayed lightly as she leaned forward, and a faint tenderness filled her eyes.

She didn't deliberately linger on the girl, so as not to make her feel the pressure of being watched again. Instead, she simply nodded for the students in front to continue.

As the next student stood up, everyone's attention gradually moved away from Cartethyia, allowing her to relax a little.

But Cartethyia kept her head bowed low, her pen mechanically scrawling little lines across a blank space in her notebook to conceal the embarrassment churning inside her.

The sensation of weightlessness she had felt with the whole class looking at her refused to fade. She was terribly afraid that she had spoken too quietly and made the others laugh at her in secret. She even kept her breathing deliberately light, not daring to make the slightest unnecessary sound. Like a bird folding in its wings, she huddled in her inconspicuous corner.

Beside her, Wuling propped up his cheek in boredom as he listened to the introductions rise and fall. Occasionally, he glanced at the girl sitting rigidly beside him, and suddenly noticed what seemed to be glistening droplets in her eyes.

"Is she crying?"

Wuling was a little surprised. He hadn't expected that a simple introduction, despite the small mistake in the middle, would be enough to make her cry.

Looking at the tears on the verge of falling, Wuling suddenly realized that she might not merely be socially anxious. She had a profound sense of inferiority, enough to swallow her whole, and a loneliness that seemed almost capable of drowning a person in the air itself.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Wuling searched his pockets and found an unopened packet of tissues.

He opened it, pulled out a few tissues, and held them out to her.

His movements were light and restrained, without the slightest abruptness. He merely extended his arm an inch to the side and quietly offered her the tissues.

Cartethyia's faintly twitching body suddenly stiffened.

Warm tears had been hanging at the edge of her lashes, ready to fall, but the unexpected kindness startled them to a halt in her eyes.

She had never expected that the male classmate beside her, a complete stranger who had been quiet and composed the entire time, would help her at a moment like this.

She bit her lower lip hard, her fingers instantly clutching the hem of her clothes. Her eyes burned even hotter, and the tears she had almost managed to hold back now threatened to break free entirely because of that small, unexpected kindness.

Utterly flustered, she lowered her head even further. Wisps of fluffy hair completely covered her face, leaving only the reddened tip of one ear visible. Her slender body trembled lightly with helplessness, embarrassment, and, above all, the panic of being caught off guard by someone's gentle care.

After remaining frozen for two brief seconds, she raised one hand with extreme stiffness and slowness.

Her fingertips trembling slightly, she gently, carefully pinched the corner of the tissues, her touch so light that she seemed afraid of disturbing something. Her voice was as faint as stray fluff in the wind, with the slightest nasal note after holding back her tears.

"Th-thank you..."

The moment the words left her mouth, she quickly withdrew her hand, clutched the tissues in her palm, and pressed them firmly beneath her eyes, quickly wiping the dampness from her lashes.

Throughout it all, she still didn't dare raise her head, look at Wuling, or meet his eyes, much less let him see her reddened, stinging eyes.

"You're welcome. I'm just glad you're all right."

Seeing her take them, Wuling calmly withdrew his arm and sat up straight again, asking no further questions and looking no longer.

Come to think of it, I think Aimisi left this packet with me. She practically forced it on me because I kept forgetting to carry tissues. I didn't expect it to actually come in handy.

That was what Wuling thought.

Cartethyia, meanwhile, held the soft tissue tightly, her palm growing warm.

She wiped away the dampness beneath her eyes bit by bit, but the emotions churning in her heart took a long time to settle.

The introductions at the front of the classroom continued, and the noise and scattered conversations never stopped. Everyone had long since forgotten how nervous and tongue-tied she had been.

But only she knew that the brief humiliation, and the quiet kindness of the boy beside her, had settled in her heart, soothing much of her fear and unease.

She slowly calmed her rapid breathing, carefully folded the tissue in half, and held it in her hand as she looked down at her notebook again. This time, however, her stiff, taut shoulders relaxed a little.

A faint, delicate warmth had quietly seeped into the heavy inferiority and unease in her heart.

The introductions soon reached the end. Wuling slowly stood from his seat and delivered the introduction he had been composing in his mind for a long time.

"My name is Wuling, and I'm eighteen years old. My home is in northeastern Jinzhou, and I'm not in a relationship. I'm a first-year student at Star Torch Academy, and I get home by eight every night at the latest. I don't smoke, but I occasionally drink. I go to bed at eleven and make sure I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what. After drinking a glass of warm milk and doing about twenty minutes of stretches before bed, I can usually sleep until morning without any problems. Just like a baby, I wake up in the morning without any fatigue or stress. I was told there were no problems at my last checkup. What I'm trying to explain to everyone is that I'm a person who wishes to live a quiet life. I take care not to trouble myself with any enemies, such as winning and losing, that would cause me to lose sleep at night. That's how I deal with society, and I know it brings me happiness. So I hope we can all get along well from now on."

After delivering that long speech in one breath, Wuling paid no further attention to the looks directed at him—seven parts surprise, two parts shock, and one part looking at him like he was crazy—and sat straight down.

As he sat, his chest was still rising and falling slightly, and he was breathing a little heavily.

Finally, finally, he had said the words he had always wanted to say.

But that introduction really was long. I almost suffocated.

That was what Wuling thought.

"Pfft."

The sound of someone trying and clearly failing to hold back a laugh came from beside him. Wuling turned expressionlessly and found Cartethyia covering her mouth.

When Cartethyia saw Wuling turn to look at her, she lowered her head again in a slight panic. Her hands rested awkwardly beneath the desk, and a faint blush crept up to the roots of her ears.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to."

Cartethyia's voice was as faint as a breath of wind, filled with obvious panic and helplessness.

She simply hadn't expected her deskmate to be so different from how she had imagined him. The contrast had suddenly loosened the nerves that had been taut throughout the entire class, and the unexpected difference had broken through the embarrassment and bitterness weighing on her heart, making her let out an involuntary chuckle.

But the moment she laughed, she regretted it.

She was afraid Wuling would think she was mocking him, afraid her carelessness would upset him.

He was also the kind person who had quietly offered her tissues and helped her out of an awkward situation, yet she had laughed at him. In her mind, it was an extremely rude and outrageously improper thing to have done.

Wuling looked at her, so utterly panicked as though facing a formidable enemy, and the helplessness he had felt began to dissipate.

He wasn't all that embarrassed. After all, he had resolved to say those things and was naturally prepared for the reaction. Besides, he could get along with Calcharo, so he didn't place that much importance on saving face.

Still, being laughed at like that was a little mortifying.

But when he turned and saw the girl beside him looking ready to bury her head in her textbook, trembling slightly with nerves, that bit of mortification became funny instead.

"It's fine. You don't need to apologize."

He paused, then looked at her firmly lowered head and casually added, with a touch of self-deprecating candor:

"It was pretty strange. I think it was a little strange myself, so it's normal to laugh."

Cartethyia quietly froze.

Her taut, rigid shoulders suddenly relaxed, and her heart dropped back from her throat.

She had prepared herself to be looked at askance, resented, and disliked, but none of the coldness or displeasure she had expected appeared.

The boy's voice was gentle and clear, easily soothing her panic and guilt.

She still didn't dare raise her head, but she quietly unknotted her tightly clenched fingers. Her burning cheeks slowly cooled, and the panic churning in her heart was replaced bit by bit by a gentle sense of calm.

So... I won't be disliked.

Even a small slip like that won't draw criticism.

Seeing that everyone had finished introducing themselves, Changli nodded. After a few more words, she noticed it was about time and announced the end of class.

The classroom instantly filled with the cheerful sounds of desks and chairs moving, and the atmosphere that had been tense for so long suddenly relaxed. The students got up and left in twos and threes.