Chapter 87
“Nice to meet you, Lunaris Evermoon!”
Prince Valerius cut in before Senior Miriel had even finished speaking.
“That's right. I am the Second Prince of this great empire, Valerius Bellhardt. Be honored that I came to find you in person!”
The Second Prince looked down at me, his expression arrogant and his eyes oddly excited.
I had figured he was some spoiled rich kid, but I hadn't expected him to be a prince.
I mean, think about it—what prince just comes charging out like that with no sense of dignity?
I blinked blankly, then gave a polite nod.
“Hello.”
“Hmm, as expected. You really are remarkable. You don't even flinch in front of royalty.”
The Second Prince looked down at me with a satisfied expression.
“Honestly, the magic you showed at the investiture ceremony just now was incredible.”
Prince Valerius rattled on in obvious excitement.
“You're on a whole different level from those shabby magic hacks who strut around calling themselves Great Mages! You even purified the ancient curse clinging to Arke, that old wraith, in one shot!”
“Ah... yes...”
“And that unprecedented spell that manipulated mana and swapped space...! Thanks to it, I got a lot of inspiration.”
“Th-thank you.”
All I could do was nod uneasily, looking rather sour.
Looks like I really got mixed up with a strange person.
“But I still can't quite sort out everything I saw today inside my head. So, Lunaris Evermoon.”
The Second Prince stepped right up to me, his eyes gleaming.
“I want to have an in-depth discussion with you about the world beyond the wall. While we talk, I'd like to sort through today's revelations!”
“Uh...”
“Now, now! Let's move somewhere else instead of standing around here. I have a lot to talk about!”
Just the way he said it, which was practically an order from the Second Prince, made a scream rise in my throat.
No. I hated that. Violently, intensely, absolutely hated it.
At this point, I really just wanted to go back to the dorm and sleep all the way until classes started.
“What? An in-depth discussion?”
Just looking at that blazing red gaze told me it wouldn't end in an hour.
I could guarantee it. At the very least, it would take all day.
But it felt wrong to blurt out a refusal.
For some reason, if I said I didn't want to, he looked like he'd grab me and drag me off by force.
Prince Valerius's stare was that persistent.
People that far gone can really screw you over if you provoke them.
As I racked my brain for a way out of this situation, I suddenly noticed Senior Miriel standing there blankly.
...Wait. If I handled that senior just right, maybe I could get out of this bind?
I darted behind Senior Miriel and hid.
Then I hunched in on myself and clutched the hem of her dress tightly.
“?!??!”
Senior Miriel was startled and turned to look at me.
Her eyes were glaring at me, as if asking what on earth I was doing.
I pretended I knew nothing and pressed myself even closer to her back.
“What.”
Prince Valerius's voice dropped ice-cold.
A vicious voice completely different from when he'd spoken to me.
The prince's gaze at Senior Miriel was like he was looking at a bug.
“You're still here?”
“I-I am terribly sorry, Your Highness! I'll step aside now so you can speak comfortably—”
“Senior.”
Senior Miriel, flustered, tried to leave in a panic.
I kept tugging firmly at her hem.
Where do you think you're going?
“Don't go.”
“...!”
When I whined in a flat voice, Senior Miriel froze before she could shake off my hand.
“W-well...”
Senior Miriel looked back and forth between me and the Second Prince, utterly dazed.
Caught right in the middle, she looked like some dwarf caught in a dragon brawl with a broken back, unable to go either way.
“So...”
Senior Miriel was stammering, breaking out in a cold sweat.
The way her eyes darted all over the place made her look completely broken.
When the Second Prince frowned and pressed her, Senior Miriel finally opened her mouth with difficulty.
“Your Highness, it seems Lunaris... no, Miss Lunaris... gets very anxious if I'm not around...”
“Is that so?”
Prince Valerius's eyebrows twitched.
“So you must be someone Lunaris Evermoon relies on quite a bit.”
The prince's voice softened a little.
I pressed my forehead against Senior Miriel's back to drive the point home.
I could feel her body stiffen.
“Yes, well... since we're both in the Four Seasons Society, we've had plenty of chances to interact naturally.”
“Hmm-”
Not missing the moment, I tugged at her collar once more.
“Senior, I'm tired.”
Senior Miriel looked down at me with a dumbfounded expression.
What are you doing, Senior? Why aren't you translating for me already? Can't you read the room?
Senior Miriel squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again.
“I beg your pardon, Your Highness.”
Then, looking as though she'd made up her mind about something, she said to Prince Valerius,
“It seems Miss Lunaris is quite tired from going through the investiture ceremony.”
To the Second Prince, who was lifting his eyebrows with displeasure, Senior Miriel continued in a crisp voice.
“She poured a huge amount of mana into Arke and even demonstrated space-swapping magic, so it must have been quite a strain. She needs to rest.”
“Tsk. That's the problem with magic hacks, always so weak. What good are they if they're this frail?”
The Second Prince clicked his tongue in obvious displeasure.
“Come to think of it, you probably barely had time to scramble over the wall, so there wouldn't have been time to train your stamina separately.”
“Ah... yes, well...”
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly for no reason.
Well, it wasn't exactly wrong. Every waking moment was basically exercise time for me.
“Good. Let's leave it at that for today and set up a separate appointment later.”
Prince Valerius waved his hand, looking disappointed.
Then he stared intently at Senior Miriel.
“Lady Miriel, make sure you handle the coordination between us.”
“Understood, Your Highness.”
“I have high expectations of you.”
Prince Valerius nodded in satisfaction and added one more thing.
“You'll have a lot of roles to take on from here on out, so do your best.”
“I will live up to your expectations, Your Highness.”
The Second Prince cast me one last glance, then led the knights and disappeared deeper into the hall.
The corridor remained silent until the clatter of metal had completely faded.
In the silence, only Miriel Senior and I were left alone in the corridor.
“...Haa.”
Only then did Senior Miriel let out the sigh she'd been holding in.
If I hadn't caught her from behind when her legs gave out and she swayed, she might have collapsed right there.
I quietly stepped away from Senior Miriel.
“You worked hard.”
“Job done.”
At my flat tone, Senior Miriel stared at me intently.
Then she let out a small, airy laugh.
“You really used me to the fullest, Lunaris.”
“Well, I won't deny it.”
I shrugged and coolly admitted it.
“Did that make you feel bad?”
Senior Miriel thought for a moment, then slowly shook her head.
“Hmm... not really?”
The tense look she'd had in front of the Second Prince was nowhere to be seen.
“More than that... in a way, I might be using you too.”
Senior Miriel stared at me.
Her eyes, which always arched up haughtily, looked especially weary and downcast today.
A familiar expression.
That's the face I make when I've gone all day without sleep.
How do I know?
...I didn't exactly want to stay up all night either.
“Out of the blue, but... thank you.”
“Honestly, being in the imperial palace has been really suffocating.”
Saying that, Senior Miriel gave a bitter smile.
“I kept feeling so pitiful and small...”
Her voice was trembling faintly.
It wasn't hard to guess what kind of hardships this character, Miriel, had gone through.
In the original story too, Miriel was from the Adrian ducal house and was treated coldly within the imperial family.
Just from how the Second Prince had treated the duke's daughter a moment ago, that much was obvious enough.
“Well, thanks to this, I think my position has risen quite a bit.”
Senior Miriel smiled bitterly and smoothed out her dress.
“If it hadn't been for you, I'd have remained nothing more than a mere tool to the Second Prince.”
As if nothing had happened, she lifted her chin and put on a haughty, lofty air.
But in her eyes was fatigue and a strange sense of relief she hadn't quite managed to hide.
I quietly looked at Senior Miriel for a moment, then snorted with a small laugh.
“Senior, don't get all gloomy.”
A lighthearted line tossed out like a joke.
Senior Miriel blinked in confusion.
“That kind of thing doesn't suit you, Senior.”
“...!”
“A haughty, self-centered mistress of the Academy who acts like she owns the world suits you best.”
“Then go mess things up a few times. Make some dark-history-worthy memories too.”
“And, as the Academy's pushover heroine, you can also hand out a few things here and there so the original heroine, who'll enroll next year, can run herself ragged.”
“...Th-then!”
Before long, Senior Miriel's cheeks had turned red, just as red as her hair.
“I'll be going too, then.”
The senior kept fanning herself with her hands, then abruptly turned around.
“Lunaris, you should hurry inside and get some rest too.”
Then she hurried away at a quick pace, as if someone were chasing her.
The click-clack of her heels was joined by the tiniest, faintest sniffles.
...As expected, Senior Miriel really is acting strange.
She wasn't originally this kind of character, after all.
Seeing that, I guess the air in the imperial palace really isn't good at all.