Chapter 68
Carla set the letter down.
“….”
Countless thoughts swirled through her mind. It was instinctive for the heir to a powerful political family.
Of course, many of them were simple.
For instance, this threatening letter and the mounting tension looked astonishingly like a provocation by those Kingdom of Gallia bastards. And naturally, the princess was behind it.
“….”
Anyone could see this was turning into a confrontation between the Kingdom of Gallia and the Arcana Republic. Anyone with half a brain could tell who stood to benefit from this conflict.
‘Lydia de Gallia, a royal with little presence, has regained her standing in academy society. Now she’s trying to earn enough renown to involve herself in the succession struggle.’
…That was one way to read the situation.
“….”
But.
That was precisely why her suspicions were immediately dispelled.
‘So the princess isn’t behind this.’
Carla thought of Lydia.
She had only been at the academy for one semester, yet amid the great storm of the Hero’s Exam, she had led everyone and become the center of the Swordsmanship Department’s first-years, all of them arrogant Gallian nobles.
And yet Lydia hadn’t expanded her influence. In an academy where every day was precious, it was hard to believe a royal could be so indifferent to social life and politics.
“….”
‘She even passed up a golden opportunity to reappear in society. Judging by her conduct so far, she’s practically declared that she’s cutting ties with society and politics….’
So Carla let go of her suspicions about Lydia.
There was another point supporting her conclusion, too.
It was the situation itself, so blatantly designed to create a conflict. Picking a fight this openly wasn’t the way ordinary nobles acted.
‘Someone who makes such an obvious spectacle of things must either have an overwhelming advantage in pursuing the same goal… or be unbelievably stupid. But the princess is neither.’
Lydia de Gallia had nothing to gain from a fight. And she wasn’t foolish enough to show open hostility. At least, that was Carla’s judgment.
“….”
In short,
the mastermind behind this situation wasn’t the princess, but…
“…Someone who wants it to look like the princess and I are fighting?”
That was her conclusion.
If so, only one question remained.
What on earth did they hope to gain?
“….”
That…
she would learn in time.
*
For the first-years returning to the Swordsmanship Department, the first class of the second semester felt very familiar. Instructor Jacques was as loud as ever as he drilled the first-years.
“Get in formation, you lazy good-for-nothings—!”
“Yes, sir!”
Shouts rang out.
Instructor Jacques, whom they hadn’t seen in a while, was just as he’d always been. It was hard to believe he had seemed so dignified during the Hero’s Exam.
He shouted,
“Long time no see, brats! You’ve packed on so much flab while I wasn’t looking that it’s downright pathetic! Run fifty laps around the training grounds and sweat away that laziness of yours—!”
“….”
“….”
“….”
Their run began immediately.
The first-years started running with expressions of resignation.
Yeah.
This is the stuff.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Even the darling young lord doted on by his lordly family and the haughty young lady from a proud knightly house wore empty expressions.
The families they’d visited during break.
When they explained how they’d been treated at the academy, the response had been warm praise.
-That’s right, rolling around in the dirt is what makes a true Gallian noble. I’m glad to see my child has become a proper adult instead of a child.
The elders of their families stroked their mustaches and reminisced.
-In our day, during knightly etiquette class, we even had to serve drinks to our seniors. If anyone in our year spilled a single drop, they’d gather us beneath the count’s roof and beat us all.
-Ha ha, we’d all be stuffed into sacks and made to spar with our seniors. What fond memories. My knee still hurts from when Sir Elfin hit me back then.
-That is the true vigor and passion of Gallia.
-To abolish all those beautiful academy traditions! Who knew the famous ‘Black Knight’ would be so weak and delicate!
-The hero of the northern front is nothing special, either.
Just what was a Gallian noble, anyway…?
What did it mean to be born in this insane country?
“….”
‘That ignorant Instructor Jacques is considered one of the more delicate instructors in history…?’
That was how they’d become adults. This treatment no longer surprised them. Everyone who was going to drop out had already done so. All that remained was willpower and spite.
‘Still, at least we’re not the only ones running….’
The first-years of the Swordsmanship Department saw a ray of light in their grueling academy life. It was the beautiful blonde girl following right behind them. The only royal here.
“….”
She was the most noble of them all,
yet she always trained in silence.
Seeing her,
they felt a tickling warmth in their chests and a sense of pride. They could hardly believe they were living and training alongside someone like her.
Cadets of both sexes
blushed faintly and looked straight ahead again.
“….”
“….”
“….”
‘Her Highness Lydia is as noble as ever.’
‘She was so cool during the Hero’s Exam, too.’
‘Wow, look at that bounce.’
They found the strength to carry on today, too.
It seemed like a fragrant scent of sweat was wafting from behind them.
The first-years secretly absorbed the princess’s essence.
“Inhale….”
“Haa….”
A honeyed fragrance.
It was disrespectful.
But it was an ‘unavoidable accident’ that happened while they were running.
‘If Her Highness becomes the academy’s student council president, we’ll support her no matter what….’
May all of Gallia be green, green.
Apart from the first-years’ bizarre behavior,
Lydia, Arti, and Mave ran in silence.
“….”
“….”
“….”
It was truly a strange sight.
The exchange cadets from the Departments of Magic and Theology watching from the corner of the training grounds stared blankly. They knew those Gallian bastards were a little off, but they hadn’t expected it to be this bad.
‘Are these the ones who were always going on about noble pride…?’
‘They seem even more gone than religious fanatics….’
Aria gave a slightly bitter smile.
“….”
‘The Swordsmanship Department first-years falling head over heels for Lydia in just one semester… I guess it does look a little strange from an outsider’s perspective.’
But what could she do?
Lydia herself drew people in.
“Honestly, Lydia really does stand out.”
“….”
The one who heard those words
was Morgan, reading a book beside her.
“….”
But the page didn’t turn.
Morgan hadn’t been able to say a word since seeing the student council president candidate flyer. Not since she saw the name of the other candidate instead of Lydia’s.
“….”
Carla.
Carla ‘Driagh’.
And.
Morgan ‘Driagh’.
“….”
Unlike Morgan, with her lowborn blood,
Carla was the true heir of the Driagh family.
She bore all the family’s expectations. So even though they belonged to the same Department of Magic at the academy, they lived in different worlds and kept different company. That was why they never crossed paths.
“….”
When Carla’s name came up,
Morgan felt as if her body had gone rigid.
Morgan had been ostracized even by mere collateral relatives. Carla, the legitimate heir, was someone of such high status that Morgan couldn’t even dare look at her.
“….”
‘I’ve never really met Carla… but for some reason, I don’t want to catch that woman’s eye.’
An inferiority complex and jealousy welled up, along with an instinctive tremor.
And yet,
Morgan felt a strange pleasure at the same time.
It was an irrational but instinctive defense mechanism.
“….”
Hmph.
As if.
I hang out with royalty.
What’s a mere direct descendant of a ducal house?
She can look down her nose all she wants in the Republic.
Before this genius mage….
“….”
And what she felt last of all was emptiness. She was pathetic, trembling just because she’d heard a name. So Morgan let out a small sigh and closed her book.
“…Phew.”
“?”
Aria was the one who noticed.
She tilted her head.
*
After Swordsmanship Department class ended.
Lydia answered the first-years who swarmed her with the appropriate greetings. Then she met up with Arti and the others in the open space where they always trained.
Once the others’ attention had shifted elsewhere,
Arti and the others immediately asked what they’d been wondering.
“Lydia! Are you really planning to run for student council president?”
“If you run, Lady Lydia, I, Mave, will support you with all my strength.”
“Is it really all right for a first-year to run?”
Lydia answered simply.
“I won’t.”
“B-but is that allowed?”
“I just won’t.”
“R-really?”
“Really.”
“But everyone wants you to become student council president, Lydia. Is it okay to ignore the expectations of so many people…?”
“That’s none of my concern.”
“Goodness….”
When she was that firm,
there was nothing more to say.
“….”
Arti relaxed his shoulders.
It had come out of nowhere, but
if Lydia had no intention of doing it at all…
‘Then we can just go on as usual, right?’
Lydia looked at Arti and thought,
“….”
‘There wasn’t a student council election event for Carla. In the original story, it was settled immediately with overwhelming support from the start.’
Then she glanced at Morgan.
“….”
“….”
Morgan had looked strangely dejected for a while now. It was a stark contrast to her usual haughty expression.
Lydia understood Morgan’s reaction.
“….”
‘It can’t be helped. Carla was one of the characters who drove the major events in Morgan’s route to begin with. She’s closely tied to Morgan’s family.’
The ‘Student Council President Carla Event’ that would happen next year was an event in Morgan’s route. Through what happened there, Morgan would solidify her identity as a heroine.
But.
They were already entangled before Carla even became student council president, especially when compared with Lydia, who had been behaving reasonably.
‘I never expected things to follow the original story anyway. But it’s unsettling to get entangled more than necessary and introduce variables.’
The risk of relying on pedigree.
Everything she did got blown out of proportion.
Lydia murmured,
“Being royalty sure is… convenient and inconvenient.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing.”
In that case,
all she could do was watch.
“….”
The second event.
Would Morgan’s route event unfold somehow, like the Hero’s Exam in Aria’s route? She’d have to see how this godawful game’s branching event unfolded.
‘If Morgan was designated the main heroine, Carla appeared as a villain who cooperated with the Black Temple. If it was a side event, it was just one of the academy’s disturbances.’
Indeed.
How would things unfold…?
*
The academy’s spacious plaza.
Carla led her faction and shouted at Lydia.
Like a stage actress,
her intonation and gestures were elegantly exaggerated.
“Is this how Gallian royalty do things? If this is a nation of knights, then face me openly and fight—!”
Whoosh!
What fell from her hand was the threatening letter.
A bundle of paper openly threatening Carla.
The cadets gathered nearby began murmuring.
“What is this?”
“Good heavens….”
“A conflict between the kingdom and the republic?”
Lydia gave a derisive chuckle.
“….”
This wasn’t what Carla truly felt.
She was just drawing aggro from everyone around her.
‘For some reason, I feel like this whole thing is going to go very smoothly.’