Then she looked at Damian with bright blue eyes.
“The money and housing problems can be solved right away!
Aren’t you going to go to university, Damian?”
"What?
University?"
“Yes!
Graduating from university opens up more job opportunities for you!
Is there a reason you can’t go to university and volunteer instead?”
“Two years ago, I didn't have enough money to pay tuition fees.
My grades weren't good enough to get a scholarship.
Besides, how could going to university solve my financial and housing problems?”
Liliana spoke with a firm expression.
“Of course, if you can afford it, there is no better recourse or solution than university in your current situation!
I think it is not bad for you to study hard and get a scholarship.
It is not too late to start preparing for the entrance exams now.
You have enough savings to last until next year, right?
If you are accepted as the best student, you will get a scholarship and cover the housing fees.
Even if you do not get a scholarship every time, you can still earn enough to cover the tuition fees by working part-time during the holidays.
And you are a veteran, "There might be universities that offer additional benefits for that."
Damian nodded.
"university…".
“If you make a more realistic plan...
Ah, they're calling me.
Let's talk after the treatment!
Meet me at the same café!
If you get there first, order me a caramel macchiato!”
As Liliana ran towards the treatment room, Damian called out to her.
"Liliana!"
"What?".
She turned around, her blonde hair swaying in an arc from the force of the physical movement.
Damian thought it looked very beautiful.
He looked at Liliana's thin hospital gown and said,
“Please wear something over your dress today.”
"Oh, Roger, Roger."
I imitated a military salute, and Damian laughed and said, “It looks like a rabbit, but...”
After Damian left him alone for a moment, he thought of Lentrae.
He tried to organize his impression of her.
For some reason, Lentrae had in his mind blonde hair, like the one he had seen in that dream or hallucination, and her eyes, though he couldn't remember the exact color, seemed to hold a warm, intelligent gleam.
Her behavior may be polite and elegant, but upon closer inspection, she is not a typical lady.
But she will be kind-hearted.
She always had a gentle expression, with gently drooping eyes, a straight nose, and berry-red lips.
Waiting for Liliana in the cafe after treatment, Damian continued his thoughts and turned his head in confusion.
He felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he knew someone with a similar impression.
'Yes'.
Finally, an image of a face came to mind.
The face of Saint Vabalti, known as the angel of the Lord who descended to earth 300 years ago, looked exactly like that in her portrait.
Is it too perfect?
But if someone asked him to imagine the most beautiful picture of someone he had never met, wouldn't he naturally imagine the most beautiful picture he could imagine?
This was Lentrae in Damian's mind.
He was still thinking about whether his image was too perfect when Liliana's cheerful voice snapped him out of his thoughts as she entered the café.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?
Were you thinking about what I said?”
As Damian requested, she was wearing a warm pink sweater over her hospital gown.
Damian noticed Liliana sitting in front of him and thought paralytically,
'She's like a rabbit.'
Liliana was indeed beautiful and innocent, but she was different from the purity Damien imagined Saint Fableti to possess.
To Damian, Liliana was like a hopping rabbit.
Her forehead was round and her features were delicate, and her small mouth moved actively when she spoke.
“Look!
My aunt bought me some cookies!”
Liliana proudly held up a metal box as if it were a trophy.
“It would be delicious with coffee.
Oh, I got permission from the café owner to eat outside.”
Liliana opened the lid of the box and quickly took out a cookie, biting into it.
The way she bit into the cookie was amazing.
“Do you have to be like a rabbit in everything?”
"Take some too, Damian."
Liliana pushed the metal can towards Damian, but he shook his head.
“I'm sorry, but I'm not good at sweets.”
He realized that he seemed too serious and frank in his refusal, so he tried to explain his situation to Liliana, fearing that she would feel embarrassed.
But to his surprise, she was smiling.
"What's going on?
What were you just thinking about?"
Liliana asked jokingly, elongating the end of her sentence.
"What?".
"Why were you smiling so warmly?
You, Damian, are so stingy with your smiles."
“Were you smiling?”
“Yes, but now you are back to your usual expression.”
She rested her chin on her hand and laughed.
“It would be nice if you smiled like that more often.
You're always so expressionless and deadpan in front of me, saying things like 'yes ma'am' and 'no ma'am'.”
Liliana tried to imitate Damian's expression and voice, but he wasn't even aware that he was acting this way.
"Is this correct?".
"Look!
You're doing it now.
This expressionless face takes up half of your beauty.
Don't waste this handsome face!
And your hair!
It's so long that it covers your unique blue-gray eyes!
Get a haircut!
Your skin looks good naturally, so if you just fix your hair and this expression, you'll be ten times more handsome!"
Liliana looked really worried.
Damian had often heard from Nicole that he should use his face better, but this was the first time he had met someone so passionate about his appearance.
He didn't know how to respond.
“And you know, are you doing it on purpose?”
"What do you mean?".
Damian asked again, and Liliana said in a slightly angry voice,
“Just smile when we part!”
"What?".
Liliana's words were completely new to him.
“You don't show any expression on your face or look frozen the whole time we spend together, but you only smile when we say goodbye.
Didn't you know that?”
“Did you really do that?”
"Yes, I did.
And every time you smile like that, you really...!"
Liliana wanted to scold Damian for showing her only glimpses of his smile, but she couldn't continue.
"I mean, every time you do that, you really...!
Really..."
When Damian turned his head, Liliana's face slowly reddened.
Then she moved her head away and looked away.
"P-Just smile like that more often.
You're so stiff during our conversations, and then you just smile at the end!
It's cruel."
"I will do my best."
Damian replied with an unsure expression.
At that moment, their drinks arrived, and Liliana moved her face for a while, pretending to drink her coffee to cool her reddened cheeks.
“So, what were we talking about?”
"university?".
“Oh, right.
We were talking about university, right?”
"I've thought about it, Liliana, but I'm not sure.
Your idea sounds good, but honestly, I don't have anything I want to do if I go to university."
Liliana crossed her arms at Damian's words.
“Don't you have any interests?”
"not really".
Damian's indifferent attitude made Liliana's face wrinkle in thought.
“But it has to be something you're good at or enjoy doing, right?”
“I don't know anything about having fun, but there's something I'm good at.”
"What is this?".
"Sneak into enemy lines and shoot."
🩴He fears his future wife ever since