SALOME Ch 32

“It’s not even like they did it themselves. Poor things…. Actually, no, I’m kind of jealous they don’t have to come to school.”

“I wish our embassy would have a scandal, too.”

“Don’t do that. Unless you’re looking for a stepmother.”

“If it were a mother like the Italian ambassador’s wife, I’d welcome it.”

“Ah. Well, true. She was an absolute beauty. On the other hand, her husband—ugh. All that belly fat. If I were her, I’d….”

As someone blabbered thoughtlessly with a chuckle, Cedric shook his head slightly and took a sip of black tea, steaming hot in the cold weather. They were grown in body, but still just kids inside. Even so, their youthful conversation continued without end. The scandal was just that captivating to every country’s attention. Perhaps even more so because a single incident like this could alter the standing and influence of each nation involved.

“The kids from the Russian annex school will be coming out soon. I wonder what kind of look they’ll have on their faces.”

When someone muttered while looking at their wristwatch, everyone let out an exclamation of realization. The two schools facing each other across the main boulevard—the Russian Embassy Annex School and the British Embassy Annex School—had a slight difference in their lunch break schedules, whether by design or coincidence.

“I heard the atmosphere over there is like ice, too. Whatever anyone says, both of them are from the Warsaw bloc, after all….”

“True. She married into the Allied side, but it was still a betrayal. And didn’t she end up getting caught by the Russian military of all people?”

“That’s what I’m saying! Getting nabbed at the train station in the morning meant they caught a lot of people’s eyes. And just by chance! Our French reporter, who happened to be on the same train with them, landed the exclusive scoop first. A reporter attached to our embassy, no less.”

Jean’s slow, French-accented German had a tone that stood out distinctly among the rest. At Jean’s characteristic boastful tone, someone added in a low voice:

“It’s not even like he’s the reporter who got the scoop himself. Look at him boasting as if he’s the reporter. This is why French people are….”

“Is this your first time seeing it? French kids always think they’re the absolute best.”

“Just admit the facts.”

While they chuckled together with Jean, the black iron gate decorated with a flashy golden eagle opened in front of the white marble building on the opposite side of the steps. At the same time, students dressed in black uniforms streamed out, taking seats on the steps in front of the building and chatting comfortably as they usually did. Seeing this, the students sitting around Cedric made a fuss.

“They’re out, they’re out.”

“Did the Albanian kids really not come?”

“Hmm…. To me…. I don’t see them….”

“You have a friend over there, don’t you? Can’t you go ask?”

“Are you crazy? How could I talk to them at a time like this? Maybe later if we go to a club, but not now.”

The students sitting in front of the British Embassy Annex School stole glances at the students of the Russian Embassy Annex School across the boulevard. They would never actually strike up a conversation, but scanning them with their eyes was second nature to them. Standing across an invisible line, they seemed entirely unbothered by the way they kept themselves separate.

Sitting on the step below, Cedric naturally found his gaze drawn toward the Russian Embassy Annex School by the fuss of the students around him. Dressed in black ties, knit vests, white shirts, and even black coats, the Russian school students stood out strikingly against the gray granite steps. One of their most noticeable features was that a large number of them had pale blonde hair.

“Must be nice. They have blonde hair without even having to dye it. Look at my hair. The hairdresser did such a awful job this time, it’s practically a broom.”

“As expected, the girls over there are nice to look at. Want to go to a club today?”

“Don’t bother. As if the girls over there would give you the time of day? Delusional.”

With a sudden, sharp gust of winter wind, everyone pulled the collars of their coats tighter. Cedric also took a sip of his tea, which was growing cold and increasingly astringent, and stood up. There wasn’t much time left in the lunch break, but staying any longer felt like his ears would be soiled by useless chatter. The moment he stood up, Jean’s loud shout caught Cedric in his tracks.

“Hey, Cedric! Where are you going? You just sit there so boringly without saying a word, and now you’re leaving? Don’t tell me you’re going inside because it’s cold and disappoint me.”

“Ah. Of course not.”

Cedric offered a faint smile and crumpled his empty paper cup. The lips of Jean, who spoke those words, were turning blue from the cold. It looked like Jean was the one who ought to go inside. It was almost pitiful to watch him hold out for the sake of bravado.

“I forgot to borrow a book from the library. See you later.”

“Let’s go for a drink after school.”

“I’ll think about it.”

At Cedric’s vague response as he headed inside the building, Jean complained to the students beside him as if for show.

“That guy is more of a bookworm than he looks. Even when we try to hang out with him to welcome him as a newcomer, he’s always like that. He should at least accept the invitation gratefully. Are all Eton grads like that?”

At that, Mieke burst out laughing and narrowed her eyes.

“I like him better than you because he seems composure and serious. Plus, he’s handsome. Jean, after looking at you, looking at Cedric feels like…. a treat for the eyes, if you know what I mean.”

“Composed? If you look closely at guys like that, a lot of them are crazy. One day they just snap. Seriously!”

“Why does that sound like you’re talking about yourself?”

At the sound of their boisterous laughter, Cedric turned around for a moment before entering the school. Standing at the top of the steps, his elevated view caught not his classmates sitting on the landing, but the students of the Russian Embassy Annex School across the street—the students belonging to the Warsaw Pact nations…. Seeing their blonde hair glistening even from a distance brought Daniela back to his mind.

Though there was still some time left until their next promised meeting after their cold parting, feeling anxious with each passing day was something he couldn’t help.

Was I too overwhelming?

He had tried to approach slowly, with even his young sister giving him various pieces of advice, but before he knew it, his feelings had leapt far beyond the line he had set for himself. When his heart was like that, how could his body be any different?

Even so… was a kiss going too far?

Flushing away the heat rising again at the mere thought into the winter wind, Cedric turned around. Or rather, he tried to.

In that instant, a familiar blonde-haired student caught his eye near the embassy’s iron gate. That was….

“Daniela…?”

A student wearing a black uniform with cold blue eyes was passing through the iron gate. Being so far away, could he have misseen? Cedric rubbed his eyes with his palm and walked back toward the edge of the steps. Watching Cedric walk over with a dazed expression, Jean, Mieke, and the other students stopped talking and turned their gazes upward toward where Cedric was standing. Jean looked at Cedric with a slightly puzzled expression, then narrowed his eyes as he followed the direction of Cedric’s gaze.

“Cedric, what about the library…? Aha, did you spot a good-looking person?”

Teasingly, Jean put a playful smirk on his face, asking if he had a thing for blondes. Among the female students, some subtly twirled their hair. Cedric paid no mind to those words and opened his eyes again right after rubbing them. As his blurry focus snapped back into place, he thoroughly scanned the opposite landing where Daniela had been.

“….”

However, the figure of Daniela he had clearly seen was nowhere to be found. It was only natural since he had entered the building, but…. At the edge of the steps, except for a few long, blonde-haired female students sitting here and there, there were only male students with neat, tidy hair. Cedric tried his best to soothe his heart, which had sunk with disappointment, and turned back around. Watching Cedric head into the school building, Jean raised one eyebrow.

“Strange guy. Not even an answer. This is why British guys are…. They’re as fickle as their weather.”

∞ ∞ ∞

The moment the bell rang to signal the end of class, among the students pouring out of the building like an ebbing tide, Cedric stood dazed before the school’s iron gate. Having come out early, his eyes showed no intention of stepping down the rest of the stairs, fixed as if spellbound on the Russian Embassy across the street.