Chapter 65
──This is the story of when Elliot Howard, eldest son of the Earl of Darsvie, was still six years old.
Elliot was brought by his father to visit the Crockford ducal household for the first time, where he met ×××.
××× was the same age as Elliot, but a frail boy who apparently lived away from the castle while recuperating at his grandfather's house. Elliot had been brought there to keep ××× company.
But when Elliot saw ×××, he was seized by a feeling of disgust.
××× was small and scrawny, and timid by nature. He was utterly hopeless at both swordsmanship and horsemanship, and terrible at ballroom dancing. He was slow to learn and had poor grades, too. He was truly a boy who was hopeless at everything he tried.
To make matters worse, he was shy around strangers and could not speak properly in front of people, often biting his tongue.
The attendant boy was far more confident in both his bearing and speech than ×××.
Elliot even secretly felt sorry for the attendant boy, thinking how hard it must be to have such a hopeless little runt for a master.
More than anything, the thought that the useless ××× might one day stand above them all made Elliot unbearably angry.
So, at the time, Elliot teased and made fun of ××× with the spitefulness typical of a six-year-old boy.
Each time, ××× would lower his head sadly and say:
"...I'm sorry I can't do it properly..."
What a miserable wretch—despite being far, far higher in rank than Elliot.
One day, he would have to stand above other people.
Although ××× was inferior to everyone else, there was one thing he was good at: astronomy.
Astronomy would be of no use whatsoever in the future, yet ×××'s eyes sparkled whenever stars came up, and he read books about astronomy whenever he had a free moment.
So Elliot waited until the adults and attendant were looking away, then secretly hid the astronomy book ××× treasured in a tree.
As expected, ××× nearly burst into tears and clung to Elliot, begging him to give the book back.
"It's up in that tree over there. It's not that tall, so you should be able to get it easily, right?"
××× went pale as he looked up at the tree. There was no way this athletically inept boy could climb it by himself.
Knowing that, Elliot goaded the boy with a smirk.
"Are you going to beg that attendant again, like always? Or are you going to tell an adult? Tell them you can't do anything by yourself."
"...!"
××× stared up at the tree with a tense expression, but eventually bit down hard on his lip and began climbing.
However, he had absolutely no idea how to use his hands and feet. After climbing only a little way, ××× began trembling and froze.
"Coward."
When Elliot muttered that, ××× reached a trembling hand toward a branch... but missed it and fell.
Elliot watched in silence, thinking it was not a great height, but something about ××× lying on the ground seemed wrong.
He cautiously approached and saw a sharp branch stuck in ×××'s side. The branch had been lying where he fell and had pierced him. A red stain was slowly spreading across ×××'s side from the wound.
Elliot went pale, cried out, and called for the adults.
"Do you understand what you have done?"
With those words, his father struck Elliot across the cheek. Elliot did not make excuses. He knew that everything had been caused by his own careless actions.
×××'s injury was not especially deep, and they said his life was not in danger. Even so, it was serious enough to require several stitches.
"You have given that person a scar that will remain for life. That crime cannot be atoned for with your life alone."
His father said this while prepared to pay with his own life.
But ××× himself, fresh from treatment, stepped in.
"Please, wait!"
××× was supported by the attendant boy, yet still stood on his own two feet.
His face was deathly pale, and sweat beaded his skin. Of course it did; he had only just finished having the wound stitched.
"Elliot isn't at fault. I was the one fooling around and climbing the tree. Elliot tried to stop me, and he even threw himself in front of me to protect me."
It was a complete lie. Elliot had watched ××× fall with a smirk, assuming he could not possibly be hurt by so short a fall.
Yet because ××× had shielded Elliot, Elliot escaped punishment. His father did not have to offer his life, either.
Later, Elliot barged into ×××'s room and asked:
"Why did you protect me? That accident was my fault, wasn't it? You were seriously injured because of me."
As Elliot suspiciously wondered if ××× was trying to put him in his debt, ××× lowered his brows uneasily and said:
"...It was my fault for not being able to climb the tree properly. So I can't think of a reason to blame Elliot."
He spoke as though that were simply obvious.
His expression showed that he genuinely believed it was his fault for not being able to climb the tree properly.
"...Once your injury heals, I'll teach you how to climb trees."
When Elliot muttered this, ×××'s pale blue eyes began to sparkle.
"Really? I'm so happy. I've always thought the stars must look even more beautiful from the top of a tree."
××× smiled as he said this, radiating genuine happiness.
＊ ＊ ＊
The reason Elliot had suddenly remembered the distant past was that Monica Norton's words overlapped with those of that boy.
When Elliot asked why she did not blame him, Monica said:
──I'm sorry. I... can't think of a reason to be angry.
She said it was her fault for not checking the rules.
With the same expression that boy had worn back then.
(Ah, now I finally understand. So that's why he wants to fuss over Miss Norton.)
With that thought at the back of his mind, Elliot moved his white bishop.
Monica immediately made her next move.
As before, Monica moved her pieces at an unnaturally fast speed. Monica generally did not spend much time thinking. The moment Elliot moved a piece, she made her next move without hesitation.
When Monica moved her black queen, the game came to an end.
Elliot glared at the board and opened his mouth.
"...A stalemate (a draw), huh?"
This time, there had been no handicap, and Elliot had gone first, yet the game ended in a draw.
And it was against a girl who seemed to have played chess only a few times.
Monica neither looked frustrated nor pleased. She simply stared intently at the board. She was probably reviewing the game they had just played.
"Chess brings out your personality, you know."
"...Huh?"
At Elliot's almost absentminded remark, Monica blinked rapidly and looked at him.
Elliot narrowed his drooping eyes and gave a slight shrug.
"Cyril's chess is easy to understand. He plays to 'protect the king,' so to speak. He's the defensive type. You're the opposite."
Strictly speaking, Monica's chess was not quite aggressive.
In other words, her moves were thoroughly logical and completely free of waste.
"You'd even use the king as bait if it meant winning, wouldn't you?"
To Monica Norton, the king and the pawn were pieces of equal value.
Therefore, if it increased her chances of victory even slightly, she could sacrifice any piece without hesitation.
──That was precisely why her play was merciless, and strong enough to be cruel.
It had ended in a draw this time, but Monica had only played chess three times. This was what she could do on her third game.
If Monica gained more experience and learned the art of maneuvering... she would become a terrifying monster.
That premonition sent a shiver down Elliot's spine.
She possessed overwhelming talent that even Felix could not hope to measure, yet had a timid and self-effacing personality. That imbalance was far too dangerous.
As Elliot watched Monica closely, she opened her mouth a little.
"...Howard-sama's chess..."
"Oh? You're going to discuss my chess despite being an amateur?"
"...You seem to be fixated on the roles of the pieces."
Elliot's eyebrow twitched.
A teacher had made the same observation before.
Elliot's chess was far too fixated on the roles of the pieces.
Queens should act like queens, pawns like pawns... He arranged his pieces so that the higher-ranking ones could shine.
In a sense, his chess was the exact opposite of Monica's, since she saw no inherent value in the pieces.
Monica pointed to a pawn on Elliot's side and said:
"In the game just now, there was a position where a pawn could promote (when a pawn reaches the farthest rank of the enemy camp, it can become a queen or another piece). But Howard-sama did not choose the best promotion move."
Elliot secretly marveled at how she had noticed that.
It was true. Elliot had avoided promotion in a position where it was the best move.
"...I hate upstarts."
Elliot picked up one of the white pawns and returned it to his side of the board.
He hated the rule that a soldier who made it all the way into enemy territory could be promoted more than anything in the world.
"My uncle went so far as to fall for a commoner woman and, unbelievably, make her his legal wife. He said she was a pure and kindhearted girl. But in the end, that woman squandered my uncle's money. After being betrayed, my uncle... hung himself."
Elliot had been the first to discover his uncle hanging from the ceiling, swaying back and forth. He had come to the house to receive a chess lesson from him.
Almost everything of value had disappeared from his uncle's mansion. His wife, who had once been a commoner, learned of his death, grabbed the valuables, and fled──without even mourning the man she had driven to suicide.
"Do you understand? Commoners should remain commoners, and nobles should remain nobles. Whenever someone crosses that divide, someone is bound to suffer."
That was why Elliot hated commoners who did not know their place. The sight of an upstart made his stomach turn.
At first, Elliot had felt the same way about Monica.
Monica Norton was a shameless upstart who had enrolled at Selendia Academy despite being a commoner, and had even become a student council member.
Until now, Elliot had found Monica so irritating that he could hardly stand it.
(...There are people like that from time to time. People with overwhelming talent that lets them leap beyond the boundaries of their station.)
Elliot still had not figured out where to place such people.
So he decided to give her a single warning, with a bitter expression.
"...I'll reserve judgment on how to evaluate you and where to place you, Norton-jō, for a while."
"U-um..."
"But here's one piece of advice. A commoner born with extraordinary talent is often envied by the incompetent... or exploited by someone cunning. I know one person whose life was ruined that way."
At Elliot's words, Monica's face went pale and tense.
"At least be careful about how you conduct yourself. I'm sure you'll attract even more attention from now on."
"...Huh?"
As Monica stared blankly, Elliot silently pointed toward the blackboard.
Instructor Boyd was writing something on it.
【Chess Tournament · Selected Players】
First: Monica Norton
Middle: Benjamin Molding
Anchor: Elliot Howard
Monica's face went white all the way to her lips.
"A-a-a-a chess tournament...?"
"Four days before the school festival, on the final day off, we're inviting representatives from other schools for a chess match. You saw that there was an event like that in the budget proposal, didn't you?"
"M-m-m-me?!"
As Monica opened her eyes as wide as they could go and trembled violently, Instructor Boyd approached her.
The bald giant, a man with the imposing air of someone who had survived countless battlefields, gave Monica a pat on the shoulder with a hand large enough to crush her face with ease.
Then, without changing expression, he said in a low voice:
"I'm counting on you."
"M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m..."
Thinking she probably wanted to say, "I can't," Elliot shrugged and spoke to Monica.
"Well, let's just take it easy, Norton-jō."
Monica kept twitching, repeating the same "m-m-m-m" over and over. It looked as though she had lost consciousness halfway.
Elliot secretly suppressed a wry smile. Even her weakness under pressure was exactly like the boy in his memories.