Chapter 129
Chapter 129
"...Of course I remember."
I swallowed a sigh and nodded, and she smiled in satisfaction and changed the subject.
"Then shall we pick our group's herb now? What do you think would be good, Cassian?"
"I'd rather just pick some weed that can photosynthesize, drink rainwater, and grow by itself if you dig up some dirt..."
"No."
"???"
If it was going to be like this, why even ask?
Professor Müller clearly said the key to our grade is steady care and cooperation.
"If it grows well enough on its own, I can just water it once or twice and fake the care log..."
"Since we're doing this, I'd like to get a good grade. Unlike you, Cassian, I'm not guaranteed an A+."
"...."
I felt like I'd somehow become an obnoxious braggart, and I was left speechless.
Wasn't she even a second-year here for mentoring? Why was she being so serious?
When I was dumbfounded, she opened her textbook and showed me an herb.
[Moonlight Flower: A rare herb that grows under moonlight. It must be infused with mana at a fixed time every night, and its leaves must be carefully wiped clean to maintain its life force. If neglected, it dies immediately.]
"...Its name alone already makes it sound like a total pain."
"Then this one will do, won't it?"
"No, excuse me, Your Highness."
"Heh."
Elysia ignored my protest and smiled brightly.
"This Moonlight Flower sleeps during the day and can only be checked at night. Besides, it's too much for one person to handle the mana infusion and care alone, so the two of us will have to form a team and take turns regularly, or meet 'together' to look after it."
Ah.
A powerful realization flashed through both halves of my brain.
This woman wasn't choosing an herb; she was securing a legitimate excuse to keep meeting me at night!
"Your Highness, um. I'm pretty sleepy at night, so I need to turn in early..."
"Cassian."
Elysia cut me off cleanly.
And somehow she said it in a tone that made me feel like if my words weren't cut off, something else might have been cut instead.
"We're on the same team, aren't we? Surely you're not planning to keep your promise to Count Rohanna's daughter to the letter while slacking off on the group project with me?"
"...."
Damn it.
"...All right. Moonlight Flower it is."
If I'd known the road to paying off a debt would be this brutal, I never would've borrowed that alchemy textbook.
That's my fate.
Right when I was waving the white flag and sprawled out there, Elysia was fanning herself with her reopened fan.
Thud, thud.
Viscountess Müller was walking this way from far away.
"You two, have you decided which herb Group 4 will take?"
"Yes, Professor. Our group has decided on Moonlight Flower."
"Moonlight Flower, huh. You picked a tricky one."
At Elysia's answer, Viscountess Müller folded her arms with both leather-gloved hands and looked down at me.
What now? Why me again?
"Cassian, can I count on you to act responsibly?"
"...I'll do my best."
"Haha! I knew it."
Viscountess Müller laughed heartily and said, glancing back and forth between me and the young lady.
"Since you're such an energetic man that you can even get through a pleasant weekend, I have no doubt you'll have no trouble caring for flowers with the young lady."
Zap.
From across the way, Elysia's gaze once again stabbed into my head.
'Ah, seriously, sponsor lady!'
Why are you pouring oil on the fire and leaving?
And that's not even oil—it's radiation!
"Haha. Yes. I've got stamina to spare, so don't worry."
I clenched my teeth and answered with a capitalist smile.
The viscountess laughed out loud, clearly amused, and drifted away toward another table.
"Now then."
Elysia lightly propped her chin on her fan.
"Shall we make a night schedule for how we'll take care of Moonlight Flower until the semester ends? When's convenient for you, Cassian?"
"...."
"Hmm? Cassian?"
I buried my forehead in the desk.
This is a god-tier life.
Seriously, my dream of living as a total bum was flying off today too, straight into the grave of some extra in a trashy novel.
The women in this world are all way too intense.
* * *
Clatter, clatter.
The carriage I was riding in left the academy's main gate and headed for the Farne estate.
I leaned back against the seat and stared blankly at the afternoon scenery passing by outside the window.
The sunset's crimson light draping the capital tickled my eyes, but my mind was such a mess that I couldn't even take it in.
"Haa...."
The sigh I'd been holding back came out in a long exhale through clenched teeth.
I ran both hands over my face and muttered under my breath.
"Fuck, what is it?"
No matter how much I thought about it, then thought about it again, I still couldn't understand myself.
From the conversation I'd just had with Elysia.
I had clearly conveyed nothing but the truth, without even a shred of a lie.
I said that I'd taken on that outing against my will under the pretext of repaying the debt I owed Lucius.
I also said that I hadn't done anything rude like putting Sophia down, and that not a single gram of personal feeling had been mixed in.
Elysia had even said that was a model answer worth 120 points out of 100.
'Why didn't I tell that person about the after-date?'
Every time the carriage jolted, it felt like my conscience jolted with it.
Because she didn't ask?
Because Elysia didn't directly ask, "So are you meeting her again?" and that's why I didn't answer?
'No. Let's not be a coward, me.'
I pressed hard between my brows.
I had clearly seen for myself that Elysia was paying attention to the issue.
Then it would be normal to read the room and honestly say, "Oh, by the way, I'm meeting her one more time this weekend just as a courtesy."
And yet the word "after-date" never even made it out of my mouth.
The fact that I needed to bring it up myself never even crossed my mind.
Of course, we're not even lovers or anything.
Whether I eat with someone twice or three times, I have no obligation to report it to Elysia and get her approval.
But.
So because of that, there was no need to go picking at a scab and stir up trouble, meaning I could just keep quiet?
"No."
I have to admit what needs admitting.
That kind of flimsy rationalization is absolutely not my style.
'Scared?'
Because if I told her I'd been asked out again, she'd say, "So in the end, all that debt-repayment stuff was just an excuse, and you fell head over heels for that young lady?" and poison my carriage?
...I can't say that's not at least part of the reason.
'More than that.'
I let my forehead thump against the carriage window.
'...I just didn't want to tell the young lady, plain and simple?'
Either way, there's only one conclusion.
Something about this feels way too sketchy.
"Aaaagh!"
I scratched wildly at my hair with both hands.
"So freaking lame, seriously."
I had played at being proper, being firm, and being a polite man who knew how to keep his boundaries, all on my own.
And yet, I had hidden the most important next-date plan by lying even to my own conscience.
I was way too disgusted with myself.
At this rate, it feels like I'm admitting I'm some guy who's sweating bullets because he'll get caught juggling two women, and that just feels gross.
This is why living a god-tier life is exhausting.
If I'd just stayed holed up in my room eating tangerines, I wouldn't have had to spend emotional energy like this.
As I was going back and forth between endless self-reflection and self-loathing.
Creak, clunk.
The carriage came to a stop in front of the Farne estate's main gate.
"Haa. For now, I'll wash up and sleep. Once I wake up, I'll forget all of this."
I brushed off my wrinkled school uniform jacket and got out of the carriage.
But.
* * *
When I opened the manor's front door and went inside, Alfred, as always, greeted me with his stooped back.
"Young master. Welcome back."
"Yes, sir. Dinner a little later..."
"Understood. However, there is something I need to give you first."
The old man carefully held out a silver tray with a white envelope on it.
The seal stamped on the envelope looked very familiar.
"A reply just arrived from the Rohanna estate."
"…Yes. It does look that way."
The discomfort I'd felt all the way home in the carriage had exactly doubled.
I didn't need an event like this.
"Thank you. Yes."
I took the envelope as if nothing were wrong, but the corners of Alfred's mouth twitched suspiciously again.
I don't even have the energy to point it out anymore.
I ignored the old man's gaze and went up to my room.
I locked the door and collapsed in front of my desk.
The white envelope in my hand.
The blue wax seal stamped with the Rohanna count family's crest matched those twins' eyes.
I took a deep breath, carefully peeled off the wax seal, and unfolded the letter inside.
There was neat handwriting on the letter paper, not a single ink smudge in sight.
The strokes were very thin, as if lacking strength, but every curve was graceful.
Sophia's.
It was the handwriting of that woman who couldn't even hold a menu.
[To Young Master Farne.]
[I have read your letter with gratitude.]
[I was deeply grateful and very happy to have been able to feel the warmth in your handwriting, Young Master.]
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Kind? After looking at the notice I had forced myself to write out of a sense of obligation?
How could she say she was happy when she even knew why we were meeting in the first place?
She was definitely hopelessly smitten.
[I will gladly accept the meeting you requested, Young Master Farne.]
[Lucius will soon choose a meeting place and let you know.]
[I will look forward to this weekend's meeting with a fluttering heart every day.]
[Sincerely, Sophia von Rohanna.]
"...."
The strength went out of my hand as I finished reading the letter.
Flutter.
The letter paper fell lightly onto the desk.
"Haaah...."
The longest, deepest sigh I'd held all day slipped out of my mouth and sank to the floor.
This.
No matter how hard I thought about it rationally.
It's karmic retribution.
And on top of that, some seriously vicious karma was stacking up layer by layer.
A meal I started because I wanted to quietly pay off a debt turned into an after-date, and when I tried to smooth over that after-date, I ended up telling Elysia a lie that wasn't even really a lie.
In the end, this weekend I have to walk through the imperial botanical garden with a frail young lady who's practically on the verge of being married off to some old geezer more than twice her age.
But damn it, Lucius said he'd handle the place and time.
I only remembered that now.
"Ah. Damn it, seriously. Ah."
I'm not even the protagonist of a dating sim, so why the hell is the route getting this tangled?