Chapter 173
That day, at a tea party, Lana Colette was stunned by something her friend said.
"U-um... Lana, have you ever been in love with someone?"
As she said this, Monica fidgeted with her little fingers. Her usually pale cheeks had taken on the slightest flush.
Could this be it? Could it really be? Could this actually be happening?
"Monica... you've fallen for someone!?"
Lana leaned forward before she could stop herself, and Claudia, seated beside her, gave her a chilly look. That look reminded Lana that this was a large tearoom, not a private room, so she hurriedly dropped back into her chair.
Once it got a little warmer, they would be able to use the outdoor tearoom, but it was still the very heart of winter. Most students used this large tearoom whenever they wanted to hold a small tea party.
There was a fair amount of distance between the tea tables, but if they spoke too loudly, nearby tables would still hear them.
Lana cleared her throat, composed herself, and looked at Monica.
Monica, looking troubled as ever with her brows lowered, spoke in a mumble.
"Um, it's not about me, but... there's someone who's doing everything they can for the person they're in love with..."
The preface that it was about an acquaintance, not oneself, was a standard way of talking indirectly about oneself.
(This is definitely about Monica herself. I just know it.)
Then the question became who Monica was in love with.
Actually, Lana had one person in mind. If Monica had received a flower ornament on the day of the school festival, then it had to be that person, didn't it?
Lana's honest desire was for Monica to come work at the trading company she planned to establish after graduation. But if Monica had someone she liked enough to want to marry, Lana was more than willing to support her.
Lana took out a folding fan she rarely used and, hiding her mouth behind it, whispered to Claudia, seated beside her.
"Hey, this means... that's what it means, right?"
"..."
"He's your brother, right? Haven't you heard anything about this sort of thing?"
No matter what Lana said to her, Claudia's beautiful face did not twitch.
When Lana glared at her as if to say, Say something, Claudia stared straight at Monica with unreadable eyes and said:
"...Monica, when's your birthday?"
"Huh? Oh, um, last month."
"...I see. I was born in the fall. So I'm a few months older than you."
"O-oh... okay..."
Monica seemed confused at the sudden change of subject to birthdays. Naturally.
Then Claudia, in her usual languid tone, said one thing to Monica.
"...You may call me Sister-in-law."
Lana cried out without thinking.
"No one said you had to jump that far ahead!"
"...It's important. If I'm Monica's sister-in-law, people around us will be confused."
"Well, I suppose having Monica as my sister-in-law would be a little complicated..."
Claudia gave Lana a somewhat exasperated look as Lana's face reddened and her lips pursed.
"For people of the nobility, marriage is a very immediate concern."
"I-I mean, that's true, but..."
"I haven't jumped to any conclusions... Do you u-n-d-e-r-s-t-a-n-d?"
"...Ugh."
In the first place, among the nobility, it was common for parents to arrange their children's engagements while they were still young. Very few were able to marry for love... though apparently Lana's parents had done just that.
While Lana and Claudia were having this conversation, Monica, who had been left completely out of it, interjected with a troubled expression.
"U-um... Claudia-sama, are you going to get a little brother or sister?"
"...In the near future."
"C-congratulations."
Monica probably did not understand what Lana and Claudia were getting at, and the conversation had gone a little off track.
Lana cleared her throat and, pretending to be as natural as possible, addressed Monica.
"You know someone who's doing everything they can for the person they're in love with, right?"
As Lana said this, thinking to herself that it was surely about Monica herself, Monica nodded.
"Yes. They really want to see the person they love..."
Lana nodded thoughtfully as she considered Monica's words.
(I see. They're in different years, so once they graduate, they won't be able to see each other anymore.)
"It seems falling in love can make you do things you normally wouldn't."
"Yes, that's what love is."
Lana agreed with the air of an experienced senior, despite not having anyone she liked at present.
Monica looked at Lana as if she were a dependable older sister and said:
"I've never seriously grappled with romance before, so I don't really understand those feelings... That's why I thought that if I could express the relationship between romantic feelings and initiative as an equation, it might be useful to me in the future."
"Wait."
"I even read a philosophy book about what love is, but it compared love to things like a fever or music, saying, 'Love is like ~~'... Honestly, I couldn't relate to it... I think vague, abstract phrases like 'something like ~~' are the problem. I mean, I wish it would state something more concrete, like 'Love equals XX,' or better yet, prove it definitively with an equation... The philosophy book I read the other day said, 'Love is a type of desire,' but if that's the case, I think I could understand it if someone medically explained what substances are produced in the human body when we fall in love and what desires they affect..."
"Wait, wait, wait."
It made Lana happy, as Monica's friend, to see her taking a positive attitude toward romance, and she sincerely wanted to support her. But why had she veered so wildly off course?
Beside Lana, who clutched her head, Claudia wore an expression of utter boredom.
"...A medical explanation? There is no cure for lovesickness, and no medicine for fools."
"Ow."
As Monica faltered, Claudia pressed on.
"...Love itself is abstract, to begin with. I'd like to see the mathematician who could clearly define something that takes a different form for every person."
"...It takes a different form for each person..."
Even that utterly obvious fact made Monica repeat the words with a surprised look.
Then, fidgeting with her fingers, she looked at Claudia.
"Um, C-Claudia-sama... what form does your 'love' take?"
It was the sort of question that might have offended some people, but Claudia answered without hesitation.
"I want to be someone special to Neil."
"So love means wanting to be special to someone?"
Monica lowered her head and thought for a while.
As if something had occurred to her, Monica knitted her brows tightly and murmured sadly:
"...I don't want to be treated specially. I prefer things to stay as they usually are..."
Apparently, Claudia's idea of the 'shape of love' did not resonate with Monica.
Lana joined in with an expression that was slightly more big-sisterly.
"Oh, I think wanting someone you can relax with is a perfectly valid form of love."
This was not an anecdote about Lana herself, but about her parents.
Though she had been putting on airs of being older and wiser, the truth was that Lana had no experience with romance, either.
After all, her first love had been her father, and when she was little, she had gone around saying, "I'm going to marry Father!" (Lana's father had been very slim when he was young, and was unbelievably stylish and wonderful.)
Come to think of it, she might have promised to marry a childhood friend, but that was just an adorable childhood game.
"Love isn't only about your heart pounding, you know. It's perfectly fine to fall in love with someone you feel at ease with."
"...Someone I feel at ease with..."
After humming thoughtfully for a while, Monica murmured:
"...The person I feel most at ease with... is probably Lana."
Lana said nothing and stroked Monica's head.