Chapter 17
"Hey, Monica. Wake up, hey."
It was Nero's voice. She also felt the soft sensation of paw pads gently pressing her cheek.
Monica slowly opened her eyes and realized she was lying on a clean bed. Curtains separated the area around it, and the faint smell of disinfectant hung in the air, so this must be the infirmary.
When Monica rolled over in bed, she saw Nero the black cat sitting primly beside it. Animals were strictly forbidden in the infirmary, so he must have sneaked in through a window.
"...Nero, I had the most incredible dream. I dreamed I was appointed treasurer of the student council..."
"Prepare to be shocked, Monica. That wasn't a dream. It was real."
As he said this, Nero lightly tapped Monica's collar with his forepaw.
An unfamiliar decorative pin was fastened to Monica's collar. It was the insignia of a student council officer, the same kind worn on Felix's collar and those of the other officers.
Monica sat up in bed and stared at the pin on her collar.
"Th-this, h-here, th-this... this is..."
"That prince put it on your collar. Humans sure do like this kind of thing. A symbol of power, or whatever you call it."
Nero nodded sagely and patted Monica's thigh with his paw pads.
"At any rate, you did great. Now you can stay right beside the prince as a student council officer without having to hide it."
"Th-that... I suppose so, b-but..."
Indeed, considering that Monica was supposed to secretly guard the Second Prince, becoming treasurer was very welcome news... But there was no way anyone would be happy about a dull girl like Monica being chosen as a student council officer.
At the time, Monica had been nearly prostrate on the floor, so she had not seen the faces of all the student council officers. Even with her face pressed to the floor, though, she had felt their cold hostility painfully clearly.
The vice president in particular, Cyril Ashley, had looked as though he might use one or two attack spells at any moment.
"I-I-I'll definitely be bullied... Th-they'll put thumbtacks in my shoes, hide my school supplies, pour water on my uniform... I don't wanna go to class anymoreee..."
"Oh, I've seen that kind of situation in novels! Are there really people who do that?"
"Why do you sound kind of excited!?"
Just as Monica cried out in anguish, Nero's ears suddenly perked up.
"Hey, Monica. Someone's coming."
With that, Nero quickly hid under the bed.
Who could it be? Someone from the infirmary?
As Monica wondered, the curtain surrounding the bed was pulled aside.
The person who pulled it aside was not an infirmary attendant, but Felix.
Monica reflexively pulled the blanket over her head. She knew it was terribly rude, but her body had moved on its own. It was what people called a defensive instinct.
Felix did not look offended. On the contrary, he smiled as though he found it amusing.
"Oh, you were awake? Forgive me for not saying anything. I thought you were still asleep."
"N-no, I-I, s-sob, sob, sob, sob..."
"Sob-sob?"
"Of course not..."
When Monica forced the words out with a deathly expression, Felix smiled in amusement and said, "I see." Then, of all things, he sat down on Monica's bed and crossed his legs.
Wanting to put as much distance between herself and Felix as possible, Monica shuffled toward the very edge of the bed while still wrapped in the blanket... then lost her balance and rolled right off it.
"Yip!"
Fortunately, the blanket kept her from getting hurt, but it still hurt.
And Nero's look from beneath the bed, which seemed to say, What are you doing?, hurt too.
As Monica wondered whether she should just crawl under the bed herself while wrapped in the blanket, a voice came from above her.
"Little Squirrel, all wrapped up in that blanket... Are you getting ready to hibernate?"
"Y-yes! Th-th-th-th-that's right! I-it's terribly cold today, you see..."
In fact, summer had just given way to autumn, making it an exceptionally pleasant time of year.
Even so, Monica clutched the blanket and desperately insisted that she was covering herself because she was cold.
Then Felix enclosed Monica's hand, which was clutching the blanket, in his own.
"I see. Poor thing. Then let me warm you up."
Monica immediately let go of the blanket and backed away from Felix... but her unfamiliarity with the maneuver made her feet tangle, and she rolled across the floor with a "Mrr-yip!"
Once again, she met Nero's eyes beneath the bed. She wanted to cry.
Still, she could not remain sprawled on the floor forever, so Monica slowly got to her feet and looked up at Felix from behind the bed.
"U-um, Your Highness..."
"You may call me student council president or Felix, whichever you prefer. As of today, you are a fellow member of the student council."
Felix's words forced reality upon Monica.
Monica pinched the decorative collar pin between her fingers and told Felix in a trembling voice,
"B-being treasurer is, is too much for me..."
"Are you dissatisfied with my decision?"
The faintest hint of coldness in his voice made his oppressive presence grow considerably stronger.
When Monica shook her head so violently it looked ready to come off, Felix smiled and took her hand. "Then there is no problem."
He turned Monica's palm upward and placed something in it. It was a baked confection made with an abundance of nuts.
"A reward for today. You did very well."
"Th-th-thank you... mmmph!"
Felix picked up one of the sweets and tossed it into Monica's stammering mouth.
Monica remembered that she had not eaten lunch yet and chewed the sweet in silence. The somewhat firm cookie was topped with nuts set in honey, and it was a flavor she had never tasted before. It was unbelievably delicious.
Once Monica started eating, she became so focused on her food that she even forgot she had meant to ask to resign as treasurer. She eagerly savored the sweets, crunching and munching away.
"Is it good?"
At Felix's cheerful question, Monica nodded vigorously with her mouth full of sweets.
Felix pressed more sweets into Monica's hand, then quietly stood up.
"If you work hard, I'll give you an even bigger reward, Little Squirrel."
Waving to Monica and saying, "See you tomorrow," Felix left the infirmary.
After he was gone, Monica swallowed the sweets in her mouth and finally came to her senses.
"Aaaaaah, I forgot to turn down the treasurer position! What am I going to do, Nerooooooo?"
"You know... saying that while clutching those sweets doesn't make you very convincing."
Monica sniffed miserably and put the sweets in her pocket.
Most likely, Felix was not going to overlook Monica.
Felix might want to keep Monica nearby and watch her because she had witnessed him going out at night.
(...Oh, speaking of the prince's secret...)
Monica placed a hand against her swollen cheek and looked at Nero with a serious expression.
Monica had learned the Second Prince's astounding secret.
"Nero, listen. I learned an incredibly important secret about His Highness."
"What? His weakness?"
Nero swished his tail from side to side, his eyes shining, and Monica nodded solemnly.
"His Highness has... paw pads."
"He doesn't."
"B-but earlier, in the archive room, something soft pressed against my cheek, and when I turned around, His Highness was there..."
As Monica insisted while rubbing her cheek, Nero told her with an unusually serious expression,
"Forget it, Monica. Understand? Forget what happened back then."
"...Huh? O-okay?"
＊ ＊ ＊
When Felix returned to his room in the dormitory, a pale blue-white lizard slithered out of his uniform breast pocket.
The moment the lizard landed on the floor, its form was enveloped in a faint mist and transformed into a young man with hair the same color as its scales. His features were reasonably handsome, but there was something nondescript and listless about him. He wore a well-tailored attendant's uniform. His pale blue hair, an inhuman color, was slicked back.
The young man bowed respectfully and removed Felix's jacket. As he hung it on a hanger, he spoke hesitantly.
"...Was that wise, Your Highness?"
It went without saying what the attendant meant: appointing Monica Norton as treasurer.
Felix sat down on the sofa and gave a slight shrug.
"She did not touch the key to the archive room that I deliberately dropped. There was no sign that she opened any of the other shelves, either... At present, I cannot think of any reason to censure her."
After Monica fainted, Felix had checked all the records in the archive room. Every one of Monica's observations had been accurate. She had reviewed all seventy-five years of records in a mere half day.
Her mathematical ability was more than sufficient for a treasurer.
"Of course, I do not believe she is an ordinary person. She must have had some reason for approaching me."
At present, Felix did not know which faction Monica Norton belonged to, or what purpose she had in approaching him. But he was certain there was more to her than met the eye.
Felix tilted his head slightly and looked up at the young attendant.
"You look as though you are wondering why I made her treasurer despite knowing she is not an ordinary person."
"...Yes. To begin with, Your Highness, you noticed former treasurer Aaron O'Brien's embezzlement from the very start, did you not?"
Even so, a single instance—or even two—would not have been enough to warrant severe punishment, so Felix had let him continue for a year... to ensure that Aaron O'Brien would be expelled from the academy.
"After going that far and finally driving Aaron O'Brien out of the academy... why appoint her as his successor?"
Felix did not immediately answer the attendant's question. Instead, he reached toward the chessboard left on the low table. He picked up a white pawn and rolled it between his fingers.
"This is a game, Will."
"...A game, sir?"
"Yes. A game to see how well I can tame a timid little squirrel and make her confess her scheme."
Felix kissed the pawn, then placed it on the board with a soft click.
"You saw it too, didn't you? She has absolutely no interest in me."
"Th-that is..."
The young attendant faltered, but he did not deny it.
He had seen everything from inside Felix's breast pocket.
Monica had been so absorbed in examining the records that Felix had not entered her notice even once.
When Felix closed the distance between them in the infirmary, she had gone pale and rolled right off the bed... That had not been embarrassment. She had genuinely been terrified.
"Wouldn't you be happy if a little squirrel who was unused to people took only to me?"
"But with the selection of the next king so near, indulging in such games is..."
"—Wildianu."
Felix had spoken the attendant's true name—Will's.
As Will straightened his back, Felix spoke in a lilting tone.
"'My' life is merely the time I have left until the next king is chosen. So... won't you let me enjoy myself a little?"
Felix lowered his brows ever so slightly, a fleeting smile on his lips.
Only Will knew the young man's true wish.
"...Your Highness, no..."
Will slowly shook his head and bowed deeply from the waist.
"...As my master commands."
Felix nodded in satisfaction and moved the white queen to the edge of the board.
"That little squirrel is surprisingly sharp-eyed... A visit to 'Madame Cassandra's House' will have to wait for a while."
"In that case, please refrain from going out at night."
"Quite right. Perhaps I should think of a way to tame the little squirrel to while away the boredom."
Felix chuckled and flicked the white pawn with his finger. It tumbled off the board, just like Monica had tumbled out of bed.