Chapter 7
Episode 7
Who was she?
The flower of Rosenberg, the Empire's only ducal house, and the Crown Prince's fiancée.
She was Elisia von Rosenberg, the pinnacle of high society, a woman who could make young ladies faint with a single glance.
If a lady had something to say in order to preserve her dignity, then surely a gentleman ought to look back at her first.
Wasn't it basic courtesy to come over, acknowledge her, and politely speak first?
And with the added weight of her being a duke's daughter, even Crown Prince Louis would at least react when their eyes met.
Even if he didn't bother hiding how much he disliked it.
And yet.
'He turned his head? Right in front of me? The nerve.'
The last expression on Cassian's face replayed in Elisia's mind in slow motion.
The instant their eyes met, instead of flustered or showing proper manners,
'Ah, my neck's stiff. Better look at the clouds.'
he had whipped his head away with that kind of shameless attitude.
It was humiliating.
It was an insult.
It was enough to make her unleash the knights at once, stop that carriage, and make him kneel before that insolent nose of his.
But strangely enough.
Elisia found the whole situation absurd, but not the least bit unpleasant.
That was what confused her.
'Why am I like this?'
She asked herself a brief question.
And almost immediately, she understood why.
In aristocratic society, rudeness is usually a carefully calculated act.
To belittle someone, to assert one's superiority, to send a political message.
A highly calculated sword dance performed to seize whatever amusement or gain each person desired.
Elisia had lived her entire life amid such hypocrisy and intrigue.
People who handed you poison with a smile and planted a dagger in your back while bowing.
But what about that man's back just now?
"...There was no malice."
Elisia murmured.
There was no contempt, no disregard, no calculation in his actions.
There was only pure, transparent annoyance.
It was a honesty so close to instinct that it was like a child before learning manners, wanting to eat whenever it was hungry regardless of mealtime or lying down in bed at noon just because it was sleepy.
A man with no desire to hurt others or trample them, simply living wherever the wind and clouds carried him.
He was clearly uncivilized.
Brazen, too.
'Why doesn't that feel uncomfortable?'
What he had said at yesterday's banquet echoed in her ears.
'And what's a pretty face like that doing crying over some guy like him? If you're upset, go pick a fight with him.'
'Anyway, if I were as pretty as you, I'd have gone and grabbed his hair instead of crying. Or maybe given him a good, satisfying slap. You'd have plenty of other options, wouldn't you?'
Thinking about it again made her want to laugh.
And she felt good.
Because she'd just witnessed that man's uncultured behavior firsthand.
It made her realize that what he'd said to her yesterday had also been an honest compliment with no complicated intent.
The corners of Elisia's lips slowly lifted.
"Pfft."
'Right, he's such an honest person. Maybe he really was in a hurry for some reason.'
Just then.
"Young Lady?"
A deep voice came from behind her.
Elisia's expression hardened instantly, and she slowly turned her head.
Hector was the eldest son of the Marquis of Belvius, a family famous for its swordsmanship, and one of the Crown Prince's closest men.
He looked over Elisia with worried eyes.
"What are you thinking about so deeply by the window? Was something unpleasant perhaps...?"
"No, Sir Hector."
Elisia brought her fan closer to her mouth.
Behind the fan, her eyes sparkled with a playful glint she had never once shown Hector.
"I just saw a very interesting animal."
"An animal... you say?"
"Yes. Extremely self-willed, and it had clearly eaten its manners for breakfast."
Her gaze turned back out the window.
"Strangely, I keep getting hung up on it."
"...?"
Hector's expression darkened ever so slightly, but Elisia didn't notice.
Her mind was already occupied by some man.
Far away, the Farnese family's carriage disappeared in a cloud of dust.
She couldn't tear her eyes away until the carriage's rear end was out of sight.
"He really is... an impossible creature."
That was the conclusion Elisia came to.
That rudeness.
She'd forgive it just this once.
* * *
The next morning.
I spent the scraps of time before my afternoon lecture exploring the campus and sketching a mental map of it in my head.
I couldn't go through yesterday's zoo incident again.
"Exactly one month."
I'd make a show of going out in the mornings for at least a month, and once Father's surveillance loosened, I'd sleep in to my heart's content.
A perfect hideout where no human footsteps reached and no little beasts dared wander.
The place I found was an old bench behind the main building, near the trash incinerator.
It had the drawback of smelling a bit, but that just meant the nobles' refined noses avoided the place; there could be no more perfect sanctuary for a loner than this.
'Good. There shouldn't be a single rat here.'
I sat down on the bench with a satisfied smile.
I thought I could finally stretch out my legs and rest.
Rustle!
The bushes shook noisily.
No way.
Come on, no way.
Did they even know where this was?
But my bad premonitions were always right.
Ttodot.
A clump of brown fur shot out and landed at my feet.
It was yesterday's squirrel.
I didn't know if this one was really yesterday's, but those shameless eyes were definitely the same bastard's.
And it wasn't alone.
The rabbit I'd seen yesterday hopped over right behind it and lined up beside the squirrel.
"...."
...What the hell are these things?
'What, did these bastards have GPS trackers in their bodies or something? How did they find me here?'
Did I have some kind of tracker planted in my pocket?
I was just about to let out a laugh of disbelief,
Flap!
this time, a sparrow flew down from the sky and landed naturally on my shoulder.
These little bastards, seriously.
Now you're even going to wage aerial warfare?
That was when.
Another rustling sound came from the bushes.
It felt like I could hear some clickbait vulture's hook in my ear: "It's still not over!"
I couldn't take it anymore and shouted.
"Dammit! Seriously! If you're coming out, come out all at once! Are you training a mutt or something?!"
...!
Someone who had been about to push through the bushes froze in place.
Pink hair.
Pastel green eyes.
And a face frozen with terror.
It was Lily.
"...."
"...."
Ah.
This time it was a person.
Fuck.
An awkward silence drifted through the acrid smell of the trash incinerator.
Lily was trembling like a leaf, whether because I'd yelled or because she thought I'd revealed my savage nature.
This was a misunderstanding.
I swear, I was talking to the animals, not planning to roar at the saint.
Just as I was about to explain, Lily spoke first in a tiny, timid voice.
"I, I was just... they suddenly went off somewhere, so..."
"...."
"I wanted to see why they were acting like that... so I followed them..."
Ah.
So you're the pied piper, then?
You were the one who brought these beasts here?
I felt completely deflated.
"Haa... I understand."
I let out an irritated sigh and drove the point home.
That was my mistake.
"Hic, hic!"
At the sound of my sigh, Lily flinched hard, and then she started hiccuping.
From her teary eyes, fat tears finally began to drip down.
"I-I'm sorry... sob, hic! It's my fault, I, I did something wrong..."
"...."
I froze like a still frame.
What kind of situation was this?
What did I even do that made her cry?
I just shouted once and sighed once, that's all.
At that moment, a future scene flashed through my mind like lightning.
~Imagined Future~
A splendid imperial garden.
Lily, wearing the Crown Prince's crown, cries in Louis's arms.
'Your Highness... actually, back in school, I remember that savage from the Farnese family dragged me to the trash incinerator and made me cry...'
A red glint flashed in Crown Prince Louis's eyes.
'What did you say? How dare he touch my beloved? Guards! Send the knights at once and burn the Farnese territory to the ground! Even that damn potato field, all of it!'
~End of Imagining~
"...."
Romance fantasy be damned.
In fact, this kind of turn of events would be perfectly plausible even in a straight-up fantasy story.
This is fucking dangerous.
Ah, this is why I shouldn't get tangled up with protagonist bastards.
Cold sweat streamed down my spine.
'...I'm fucked.'
If I let her go like this, it wouldn't just threaten my life but the safety of our family as well.
The reason I can live comfortably, happily tending crops, is because I have a family behind me.
I quickly changed tactics.
I tried my best to put on the expression of the gentlest older brother in the world—one I'd never even given my little sister.
...Man, this is so fucking embarrassing.
"No, I didn't mean for you to cry... Haa, fine, just sit here for now. Stop the tears."
"....Sniff. You, you're going to leave again, right?"
...How did she know?
"I'm not going. I won't. I'll stay right next to you, so I won't run away, so please just sit down, okay?"
"R-really?"
But wouldn't leaving be better?
She'd just go and say it felt like I'd chased her off again, right?
Sigh.
"Have you ever seen a man say two different things with one mouth? I swear on the honor of the Farnese family."
My honor is already in the gutter, so even if I swear it, there's no real damage.
And honestly, I'm pretty good at saying one thing and doing another.
But maybe because she'd only ever dealt with buttered-up idiots spouting chivalry, Lily seemed to believe me readily.
Only then did she seem to relax, cautiously settling herself beside me.
Tap, tap.
The moment she sat down, something tapped my thigh as if it had been waiting for this.
I looked down, and it was the squirrel.
It held out its front paw with complete confidence.
'Gimme.'
The rabbit beside it had its ears perked up, and the sparrow on my shoulder kept pecking at my earlobe with its beak.
Have these things all gone insane together?
"...Hah."
I let out a deep sigh and rummaged through my pocket.
'They're shaking me down so openly now that it makes me want to catch them all and smear them with bean paste.'
'Y-yes? Bean paste?'
'It's a thing.'
Lily looked at me with startled eyes, but I said nothing and pulled a bag of jerky from my pocket.
I might speak harshly, but I wasn't the type to hate animals.
If anything, I liked them.
I just hated thieves who robbed me of my food.
"Here. Eat up and get lost."
I tore off pieces of jerky and tossed them in front of the squirrel and rabbit.
"Chirp!"
"Okay, okay. I'll give you some too."
At least you've got some conscience.
It's infuriating as hell to watch a herbivore eat jerky, but I do know you're an omnivore.
I also placed some crumbled jerky on my palm and held it out to the sparrow on my shoulder.
The three of them started devouring it as if they'd been waiting for it.
Crunch, munch.
As I watched that peaceful yet bizarre mukbang, I felt a prickling gaze from beside me.
I glanced over and saw Lily with her head bowed, staring only at the ground.
It was painfully obvious she wanted some but was deliberately pretending not to notice.
Being noisy right next to her made it even more awkward.
Grrrumble—
A thunderous growl erupted from Lily's stomach.
It was even bigger and grander than yesterday's; by the day after tomorrow, I figured you could probably dance to it.
"...."
"...."
Lily covered her face and buried her head even deeper.
Her ears were bright red all the way to the tips.
Jeez.
She really goes through a lot.
So much for saintly dignity.
I sighed and took out the biggest, meatiest piece of jerky from the bag.
"Hand."
"...Pardon?"
"I said hold out your hand. If you want it, just say you want it. Honestly."
"N-no, that's not it!"
Lily bristled and lifted her head, but her eyes were fixed on the jerky in my hand.
I snorted and placed the jerky in her palm.
"I'm kidding. You didn't eat breakfast, did you? Have this at least. If even the animals are eating, we can't have the saint going hungry."
And while you're at it, please forget what I just shouted.
"...Thank you."
Lily held the jerky carefully in both hands.
Then she gave me a sidelong glance to gauge my mood.
Chomp!
She bit into the jerky neatly with her small mouth.
Her cheeks puffed out as she chewed, and her sync rate with the squirrel was a perfect 100 percent.
'She's really going at it.'
But at this rate, I'll have to smoke up another batch of jerky when I get home.
Aunt Mari might get a little annoyed.
Ah.
* * *
At the same time.
On the top floor of the Faculty of Magic building, in the No. 0 laboratory where outsiders were strictly barred entry.
Morning sunlight was seeping through the window cracks there, and the place was so quiet you couldn't even hear the sound of a single speck of dust moving.
Only.
Scratch, scratch, tap!
Only the irritating sound of chalk striking the blackboard repeated at regular intervals.
"No, that's not it either. The logic doesn't add up."
Iris von Evergarden muttered as she swept back her disheveled black hair.
Dark circles hung beneath her eyes, and her blood-red irises were bloodshot, gleaming even more eerily.
It had already been nearly twenty hours since she'd started this.
Since yesterday around lunchtime, she'd copied onto her own private blackboard the problem the Farnese savage—also known as the hungry second son—had scribbled on the board, and had been glaring at it without eating or sleeping.
'The answer is definitely correct. It's the right answer.'
What she'd gotten hung up on wasn't whether it was wrong.
'But the process is... bizarre.'