Chapter 42
Let's just follow the broad strokes.
It was the vow I made to myself the day I realized I wasn't the nameless village girl A from <Academy's Gritty Mage>, but a fairly important cheat character meant to prevent the protagonist from getting unfairly screwed over.
No matter how much of the original story I remember, that was Kyle's story, not the story of the 'Gray Witch.'
Besides, the Gray Witch and "I" were practically different people anyway.
Unlike her, who was both a natural talent and diligent, I'm lazy and slothful.
A life spent pursuing the path of an imperial mage? Ugh. Horrifying.
So following the original's footsteps exactly would be... difficult.
No, more than difficult, it would be exhausting. I can't do it.
I've already gotten used to a life of lounging around. If I wanted to become diligent again, I'd have to reset my life all over once more. Of course, I'd need to wipe my memories too.
In the first place, the day I burned the recommendation letter to join the Imperial Mage Corps, the world line probably twisted a little.
Well, whatever the case, I did enter Elterion Academy. I didn't cross over into some beta worldline, did I? That's good enough.
Anyway, I'll just somehow keep the major events on track, put this world back on a stable course, and disappear again after I graduate.
That's the policy for my life right now.
...The problem was that it was becoming obvious the original story was starting to go off-script.
Since the protagonist, Kyle Lowell, enrolls next year, I figured I could just spend this year however I wanted.
But the events from the original started happening a year earlier.
From small things, like the ghost incident in the old dormitory building.
To big things, like senior Estelle's magical golem running amok.
Still, even if I wrote this off as just getting future work done ahead of time...
"Lunaris! Want to try this too?"
...I'm not sure it's really okay for someone's personality, especially the main heroine's personality, to change like this.
*
Ms. Odette definitely said she'd just wash me up roughly and change me into something decent before sending me out.
That was all a lie.
They scrubbed me down as thoroughly as if they were dressing a noble lady for a ball—no, as if they were washing bedding.
My whole body felt not just dry, but bleached.
And my hair was even tightly pinned up.
Having the wind touch the nape of my neck was unbearably ticklish.
Only after dressing me up that thoroughly did the maids bring me before the princess.
...I wondered if they really had to go this far.
A meal had already been laid out on the table where Princess Celestina sat.
There was a rather large amount of food for one person.
She turned out to be a surprisingly big eater.
Before that thought escaped my mouth, the princess saw me and let out a brief "Wow."
"You look so pretty, Lunaris. Why don't you dress up like this all the time?"
"Because... it's a hassle."
Spending one or two hours every morning getting ready was seriously exhausting.
I'd rather sleep more during that time.
I reflexively reached up to scratch my pinned-up hair, but someone beside me lightly tapped my wrist.
"Right now, you are a maid. Maintain a proper posture, young lady."
My temporary boss was unusually strict.
Then the princess spoke to Ms. Odette.
"Head maid, you must have plenty to do, so you may leave now."
Ms. Odette's eyes trembled ever so slightly.
She looked back and forth between the princess and me with an uneasy expression.
"Your Highness, leaving Lady Lunaris here alone does seem a bit..."
"It's fine. The guards and the attendants assigned separately are all here too."
So there was no reason for the head maid and the other Rinea Hall maids to stay as well, the princess said in a firm voice.
In the end, Ms. Odette had no choice and withdrew with her head bowed.
"If Lady Lunaris gives you any trouble, please call for me."
-Creak, thud.
As soon as the door closed and the hallway fell completely silent, the princess leaned comfortably against the back of her chair and snickered.
"Now the uncomfortable person is finally gone."
"Ahaha..."
I looked around the room.
The escort knights and the servants dispatched from the imperial palace were lined up along the walls.
They stood perfectly straight without moving a muscle, like statues.
Just as I turned toward the wall, wondering if I was supposed to stand like that too...
"Lunaris, what are you doing standing there? Sit down."
The princess pointed with her chin to the chair opposite her and continued.
"Your seat is over here."
"Even so, a maid eating at the same table as her mistress is a bit..."
Before I could finish, the princess said with a playful smile,
"Then this is my first order as your master. Sit across from me and eat with me."
This is... an order?
As I blinked blankly, wondering if this was really how it worked, the princess added,
"Eating alone is really lonely."
Well, if that's the case, then I can't help it.
I'm not the type to refuse this sort of thing either.
In the end, I sat down across from the princess and began eating naturally.
The food... wasn't bad.
It was a little disappointing that I couldn't really tell anything special, since I'm basically a meat-loving mutt whose taste buds only care whether the protein is chewable.
As I stuffed food into my mouth and chewed, I felt a gaze watching me closely.
Princess Celestina watched my face intently with a smile, then suddenly picked the bones out of a fish and put the flesh onto my plate.
"This is tasty too. Try some."
I absentmindedly nodded and shoved another bite into my mouth.
A savory, sweet flavor spread through my mouth.
"How is it? Pretty good, right?"
"Yeah, well... it's not bad."
Not bad, yes, but...
This situation felt strangely unfamiliar somehow.
If I had to name the source of the awkwardness, it would definitely be Princess Celestina.
She seemed... a little different from the version I remembered.
Of course, compared to last night when she was crying her heart out with a face like she was on the verge of death, she definitely does feel like a proper 'senior princess' now.
But this friendliness feels... strangely disconnected somehow.
After thinking about it carefully, I realized the problem was the relationship dynamic.
I wondered if the relationship between the Gray Witch—meaning "me"—and the princess had really been this friendly and close.
The biggest reason the Gray Witch's real name never appeared even once in the original.
Because even the princess, the closest thing she had to a friend, never once called "my" name.
"...Lunaris?"
It had been a strictly business relationship, with nothing more than "you" or "that one over there."
How had that kind of relationship ended up getting this close?
"Lunaris, is something bothering you?"
This... should be okay, right?
*
The moment I stepped into the old library used as the ghost-story research club's room, a strange silence fell.
"Uh... Lunaris?"
"Stop. Claire, that's enough."
If you say any more, I'll blow this place up.
But Claire ignored my threat and let out a laugh anyway.
"No... I mean... pfft! I knew you'd been punished, but... seeing you in a maid outfit... ngh!"
Still, since we'd gone through some life-or-death situations together, she seemed to be barely holding back from laughing openly.
She couldn't hide her reddening face or the way her shoulders shook.
"Aha-ha-ha! Hic—bwahaha!!"
Deputy Head Sylvia, with absolutely no restraint, laughed right out loud.
"I heard about it from Claire, but pfft! I-I didn't think it'd be this bad... ahaha!! Cough, cough!"
The fact that she even started coughing from laughing meant she was really committed to teasing me.
"Y-you... look pretty cute."
Even Thomas, the easiest-to-push-around mushroom deputy head, was saying things like that, so I really had no dignity left.
I figured I should put a stop to him before he got too cocky, so I shot him a sharp glare, and he immediately wilted and looked away.
"By the way, Lunaris, weren't you under punishment right now?"
Claire, barely holding back her laughter, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and asked me.
"How did you get here? I thought you wouldn't be able to come out today because of your maid duties. So we pushed back our investigation plans too."
"Ah, of course I'm still doing community service right now."
"Huh?"
The instant Claire tilted her head to the side.
"Wow~ so this is the club room?"
A bright blonde girl stepped through the doorway as I stepped aside.
Escort knights rushed in behind her and occupied the cramped room.
"It definitely has the kind of atmosphere where a ghost could pop out."
The girl—in other words, Princess Celestina—looked around the shabby club room with curiosity.
"...?"
"..."
"...!"
The club room, which had just been noisy with laughter, froze over in an instant.
Soon Claire, Deputy Head Sylvia, and Deputy Head Thomas all widened their eyes at once.
"P-Princess?!"
"How are you here...?"
"D-d-don't tell me... you're here to join our club...?"
I answered with a bored yawn.
"I didn't exactly plan to bring her either..."
Should I say she was dragged here against her will, or that I had no choice but to escort her?
"Still, it can't be that bad, right? We were one member short anyway."
"Even so..."
Claire turned to me with an incredulous expression at my words.
"Even so, how could you bring Her Highness to such a shabby place?!"