Chapter 93: You Aren't Jealous, Are You?
Throughout this trip to the Winter Palace, quite a few Soviet girls approached Chiya and Shingetsu to strike up conversations. However, Shingetsu heartlessly ignored every single one of them. Chiya found himself forced to follow suit, purely to prevent Shingetsu from targeting those girls with that terrifying, murderous glare again.
If Shingetsu's reaction had been a one-off occurrence, he would have just been puzzled. But as it happened again and again, suspicion began to take root. Every time a girl tried to flirt with him, Shingetsu's reaction was... well, that.
Finally, Chiya couldn't hold it back anymore. He turned to Shingetsu and asked point-blank, "You... aren't jealous, are you?"
Even though Shingetsu was a man in his eyes, he couldn't entirely rule out the possibility of him being gay. Otherwise, Shingetsu's behavior made zero sense. Being unhappy about him hanging out with Ian, showing blatant rage when other girls talked to him—the only logical explanation he could find was jealousy.
That being said, if Shingetsu really was gay, Chiya decided he'd have to keep his distance. He wasn't gay himself, and he certainly didn't want to be targeted by a man.
The moment Shingetsu heard the question, her heart skipped a beat. However, her face remained a mask of indifference as she said calmly, "How could that be possible?"
Shingetsu's intense pride refused to let her admit the truth.
"Then why is your reaction so strange? Other girls talking to me has nothing to do with you, right?" Chiya pressed.
He wasn't someone who could be fooled so easily, especially when he wanted to get to the bottom of something. Right now, he didn't care about anything else; he just wanted to clarify once and for all if Shingetsu was gay.
With her secret on the verge of being exposed, Shingetsu managed to keep her facial expressions under tight control. Her mind raced at lightning speed, and she quickly concocted a somewhat plausible explanation. "Because they are too weak. The weak have no right to approach the strong. It's as simple as that."
"Is that so..." Chiya nodded slightly, half-convinced. Shingetsu's explanation actually made a bit of sense, considering she was someone who was obsessively focused on strength and power. He didn't care much for the absolute truth of the statement; he just wanted confirmation. "So, you're not gay, right?"
Hearing the word "gay," Shingetsu finally lost her composure. It was one of those rare moments where she failed to control her expression. She froze for a second before the meaning of the word sank in. Her face clouded over, and she glared coldly at Chiya. "So, you think I look like I'm gay?"
"I'm not trying to insult you, but it really seems that way," Chiya said bluntly.
"I can tell you clearly, I am absolutely not," Shingetsu denied with extreme gravity.
However, she suddenly realized a problem: Chiya had clearly been viewing her as a man this entire time. In reality, she was just used to this appearance—tucking her long hair into her military cap and binding her chest made it much easier to perform her martial arts. That was the primary reason. Secondly, she preferred this image because her competitive nature made her hate being seen as a "weak woman."
Actually, Shingetsu didn't mind Chiya knowing she was a girl. But now was definitely not the right time. If she revealed her true gender now, wouldn't it basically prove that she was acting out of jealousy? She decided to wait for a while before taking the initiative to tell him the truth.
"That's a relief, then."
Chiya let out a small sigh of relief. Based on Shingetsu's reaction, "he" probably wasn't gay. As long as this guy wasn't gay, everything else was fine.
Chiya and Shingetsu spent the better part of the day exploring the State Hermitage Museum. When the time was right, they set off to return to the military department. Upon their arrival, they happened to run into Ian.
"Otonashi! And... Tsar..."
The moment Ian saw Shingetsu, his voice weakened significantly.
"Hello."
This time, Shingetsu's attitude toward Ian was uncharacteristically mild. Although her tone remained cold, she was like that with everyone; at the very least, she didn't ignore him or fix him with a terrifying glare. This was because her situation had changed, and she no longer viewed Ian with such hostility.
Ian was momentarily stunned. The "Tsar" actually greeted him? This was so out of character that he felt a bit overwhelmed by the sudden favor.
Not only Ian, but even Otonashi Chiya was surprised. This guy's attitude toward Ian suddenly improved?
"...Why are you both looking at me like that?" Shingetsu asked.
"It's nothing. I'm just not used to it," Chiya said with a smile.
He had almost grown accustomed to Shingetsu's cold, arrogant, and eccentric personality; for her to suddenly show a bit of politeness made it hard for him to adjust.
"..."
Shingetsu caught the subtext of Chiya's words. She couldn't refute him, as she truly had never treated Ian with friendliness before. She chose to remain silent.
Afterward, Shingetsu headed home. Once she was gone, Ian whispered to Chiya, "Otonashi, how did you do it? To make the 'Tsar' change this much!"
He was convinced Chiya must have done something, otherwise, why would she have such a massive shift in attitude toward a "weakling" like him?
"I didn't do anything...?" Chiya was equally confused. "We just spent the day sightseeing at the Winter Palace. Other than that, nothing happened."
"Sightseeing at the Winter Palace?" Ian fell into thought. "...Could it be because she went on a trip with you today, so her mood is much better than usual?"
"I feel like the 'Tsar' might actually like you, Otonashi..." Ian speculated.
"No, no, no," Chiya immediately countered. "I've already confirmed it. He isn't gay. He just has a weird personality."
"Fair enough..." Ian thought about it and agreed. The idea of a boy liking another boy didn't seem like something that would happen to the "Tsar."
The next morning.
Just after finishing breakfast, Chiya received a sudden notification from Director Lev. He and Shingetsu soon arrived at the Director's office together. Seeing Shingetsu there as well, Chiya guessed there was something important that required both of them to be informed at once.
"I have something to tell you both in advance. A newcomer will be joining the department soon, and I need you two to guide them for a while," Director Lev said.
"A newcomer?" Chiya was puzzled. What kind of rookie required this much fanfare?
"I hear she's a very beautiful girl. I'll be counting on you then," Director Lev added, giving Chiya a knowing "you get it" look.
In that instant, the light in Shingetsu's eyes changed immediately.
AN-
ALR WE ALL KNOW WHO THE NEW GIRL IS.
And I'm sorry I didn't upload much yersterday.
Like I said,I've got my exams in a month.
I'm somehow finding free time to translate it,but its really hard doing 10+ chapters of it everyday.
Updates might be not be that frequent.
Anyway new members of Hall of Fame-
33)kn1ght
34)Argos737
35)Shiva_Das_3198
36)Himawari13
37)Web_Toon_7237
Reviews yall