TECS 05

Chapter 5

Under the umbrella, I felt my voice drop just a little lower.
Iris’s “You’re cute” softens the edge of my armor. It touches my insides—carefully, at an angle that leaves no wound.

“Iris, how can you stay so calm all the time?”

“Because I’m measuring it,” she replied instantly.

The corner of the small notepad in her hand had gone soggy in the rain.
I tilted my umbrella slightly to keep the raindrops from falling on her notes.

“What do you do with things you can’t measure?”

“I set them aside for now. Things that look like they might crumble if I touch them—I take them to a sunny spot.”

“A sunny spot…?”

“Yes. When I put them in the sunlight, their shape often becomes clear.”

I couldn’t help but think—I want to be like you.
—but it was too soon to say it aloud. I kept the words warm inside my chest.

At the corner of the street, Iris stopped and turned to me.
“Lord Laurent. Outside, you are the ‘ideal.’ Inside, you are the ‘research.’ Both sides of you are cute.”

“And the inside one?”

“Very.”

My breath turned into laughter on its own, brightening even the space beneath the umbrella.
What a powerful effect.