Happy Friday!.
Here is the next chapter. Do keep in mind that, aneue is the female version of aniue, and a polite way of calling someone older sister, more so than oneesama, I would think.
Anyways, please enjoy the chapter.
Yurii-sama was abducted by His Highness Prince Alan. Yurii-sama made Dia go along with him.
It seems that recently, they have been getting along more and more, but conversely, I feel left out.
Maa, apart from that, it seems that the me who was by myself was the perfect target. I thought that it had been quiet lately, but it seemed that because Yurii-sama was there, they couldn't carelessly make a move.
When the water came down from on top of the stairs, immediately after, the sound of giggling descended as well. Even if I look up, I wouldn't be able to see them, but there were several of them. The ones who poured the water that was in a bucket or something were female students.
However, that's lenient.
The water doesn't have an offensive smell, and they probably just fetched the water from somewhere. It wasn't like the water you get when you wring the dust cloth. Also, they poured the water within the school where it's temperature-controlled so that it was the perfect temperature, so I wasn't cold.
After all, it was something that young woman who had a sheltered upbringing did. For me who was used to witnessing attempted murders, it doesn't even hurt, so it wasn't a big deal.
「We're running after them.」
「Erika willl, come after finding a sharp objectt.」
「Bring rope.」
The usual threesome who were passing by said this in succession with veins popping out on their heads.
「It's fine, it's fine. They are people who will stop after being scolded, and I can't let you guys cause problems.」
A sharp object, that's no joke.
Unlike the other ladylike young women, their retaliation was frightening.
「If they don't understand with words, then I'll engrave the fear onto their bodies until they do.」
「Please don't speaking of such frightening things, Mati.」
I looked at the other two, wanting to leave the heavily breathing Matilda to them, but they were also tapping their feet and clicking their tongues.
「It's fine. Ok? If you're with me, your reputations will drop as well.」
This was a place where you didn't know when someone would come. If they were with the young lady from the Swain House who tends to be looked down upon, their reputations would also fall. Actually, when I had enrolled into the school, we quickly became friends and caused trouble.
Even so, I thought about what I should do with these friends who didn't change.
「Maa, Al. You, I wonder why you have such perfect timing in passing by.」
「I don't think so, Mirabell-aneue.」
Walking alone, trying to pass by us, the young boy who had the same colored hair as mine was making a truly unpleasant face. If you say he's plain, then he was well-featured, but he who didn't look flashy was, a cousin from my father's side. Alfonso Alwick. He was the second son of my reliable aunt, unlike Father, who married into the Alwick Marquis House. He was one year below me.
「Won't you please take them with you, and treat them to sweets or something?」
「Unfortunately, I cannot. Don't you know that my wallet isn't doing too well?」
Unlike us, Alwick was a wealthy noble family with an ancient and honorable history. However, he rarely spoke in the way wealthy nobles do.
It's just that obaasama was a particular person, so the children were only given a limited amount of pocket money.
「There's no other choice. For Alfonso-sama, we will overlook what those ugly women did to Mirabell.」
「Lady Matilda. I still have not agreed yet.」
「Erika wants to eat the apple pie from the shop that Erika went to with Mirabell-chan the other dayy.」
「I don't think such a glutton would stop at just that though.」
「Since we will also buy Mirabell-chan a souvenir.」
「Do you intend to have me pay for that, Lady Melissa?」
Having both of his arms caught, Al looked to me for help. I'll reimburse you later. At the moment, the priority was to take them with him.
Somehow understanding that I would pay him back later, it seemed that Al had thought that it would be unwise to go against these lively young ladies by himself. At any rate, they were children who were unreserved with those whom they are acquainted with.
「I blame you, aneue.」
「I'm sorry, Al. I'll give you my thanks another time.」
My Alwick cousins were reliable, so they're a great help.
「Doing something like thanking me, I don't intend on extorting money from aneue who has less pocket money than I do. Aside from that, please hurry up and dry yourself. What will you do if you catch a cold or something? There are towels in the infirmary too, so let's go.」
「That's true. I'll go by myself, so it's fine. Thank you.」
Even though we're relatives, we have never gathered together as a family. Ojiisama is a good person, but he got quite fed up with Father, and he isn't eager to come to our house. That's why, the times when I saw aunt's family was when Mother and I visited them or when they left me in her care when they were in the middle of a matrimonial quarrel, which happened occasionally.
Thanks to that, Swain House and Alwick House were on the verge of breaking off all relations. That was common knowledge. In the end, even though Al was doing well and didn't ostracize me, he would still secretly tell me various things whenever he was with me. He was a stubborn child, so he doesn't yield when it comes to those kinds of things, but I felt bad.
「As usual, aneue is reserved.」
「That's not true. Even though you're a younger than me, I depend on you.」
With the look on his face that said that he didn't understand, the most Al could do was give me his coat.
「It'll get wet. 」
「You can just dry it afterwards. I have two of them, so you can return it whenever you can.」
「You're so cool, I'm going to cry.」
「Wai! Please don't cry for real! …really, how annoying…. Just what is Judias-sama doing right now. I don't think that I can entrust aneue to that person.」
This child was most likely also strict with Dia.
「I had abandoned that person some time ago, so don't blame him, ok?」
I keep abandoning him, so it can't be helped that he'll really get mad at me one of these days, nowadays, I've been preparing myself for the worst.
「If we continue talking here, aneue will get cold. We should go.」
「Don't blame him, ok?」
Without thinking, I put my hand on my cheek. Aah, it's stiff.
Should I call out to the person who was elegantly sitting on the infirmary bed, lost in his book? To ignore him would've been much too impolite.
The opportunities for me to encounter important people like the princes have increased, but at least when compared to talking to His Highness Prince Alan, His Highness Prince Gilbert, or Yurii-sama, I wasn't nervous the entire time, unlike with that person over there.
He was a somewhat petite male student whose silver hair was tied at the back, giving off an impression of being fragile. The soft ambiance made me doubt if he was an upperclassman, but on the contrary, it was too quiet, so I was nervous.
He was engrossed in his reading and didn't notice me yet.
But passing by him without stopping was much too impolite.
While I was worrying endlessly, something soft was thrown at my face. A white towel.
「You haven't visited in a while, Lady Mirabell.」
「Maa, it's an honor for you to remember me, Ryan-sama.」
The royal family had a higher rank, but within this quiet ambiance, I didn't know what to say to him in the several times that I've encountered him.
Ryan Macey, the duke's son. He was the son of the Duke House that was in confrontation with the Duke Roderick House. In the end, I met Ryan-sama when I was visiting Dia's house when I was ten years old.
「Something like asking why you are wet, an outsider like me meddling would not be good, right? It's just that just one towel wouldn't be enough, excuse me.」
From within the shelves where the medicines were lined up, he took out a sheet of paper that had a magic circle drawn on it. Soon after, Ryan-sama recited a spell in a low voice, and the magic disappeared as hot wind blew. In an instant, my uniform was dry.
「Eh, th, ank you very much…」
「It's nothing. Were you not hot?」
「Yes…」
TN: This may be a bit weird, but when Mira said 'yes', she didn't actually mean 'yes, I was hot', but 'yes, I wasn't hot'. It's just that the last part is often omitted.
A magic circle would allow you to invoke the magic that you wished to use, but I heard that even within the senior class, only a few people were able to use them. Dia could easily use it, so there isn't even anything special about that, but when others use it, I feel that it's something wondrous. It may be that I have gotten used to thinking that when others finally succeed in doing something, no matter how difficult it was, that it was amazing and when Dia was able to do it, that it's natural for him to be able to do so.
「Um, was it ok for us to use that just now?」
「No…maa, everyone is secretly borrowing it, so if no one finds out, then it shouldn't be a problem.」
So, it was not something you should be using in the first place.
Magic circles were complex, so there were a lot of people who drew them in advance and stocked up on them. That was probably something that belonged to the infirmary's Beilial-sensei. The middle-aged Mister Beilial who's scary when he got angry. Those who borrowed it were, without a doubt, brave people. Or rather, they were people who don't draw it themselves, but purposefully come here to take it without any intention of returning it. In other words, it's theft. If he found out, it would be quite terrifying.
The accomplice, Ryan-sama from the duke family, was nonchalant, though.
「Is that Judias' coat? What's most important is that you two have a good relationship. If the marriage of convenience is a success, it may not be as good.」
「No, this is something I borrowed from an acquaintance. My relationship with Di…Judias-sama is, eeh, fortunately, not particularly good or bad. He is a good senpai.」
There's no need to explain that I have no intentions of getting married to someone who I have a complicated relationship with.
「Is that so? He is enchanted by you though.」
「No, such a thing, I'm afraid… We've always been like brother and sister since we were young. …What is Ryan-sama doing here?」
「Because it's quiet here. When I want to think about something, I come here.」
Now that I think about it, the Macey Duke House was also suspicious, so they were put on the list of those that Colt-ojisama had investigated.
I wanted to quickly leave this place, and it was about time I go meet up with Yurii-sama, or he would be angry again. However, I'm, tentatively, His Highness Prince Alan's subordinate, so should I sound him out?
「Are you also participating? Lady Mirabell.」
Should I leave or should I sound him out? Ever since earlier, I haven't figured out a way to leave. The subject that he brought up was…
「What, are you talking about?」
「Am I mistaken? If you put His Highness Prince Yuriel on the throne, your House would recover. I thought that you too would have those kinds of motives, but…」
「No, I'm, not that smart. Naturally, I have no intentions of joining the struggle for the throne that's full of schemes.」
That meant that, you too, knew someone who was involved in it. Or, he's participating himself.
If that's the case, as expected, the Macey Duke House was cooperating with the queen…
「As the eldest son of the Macey House, you should be aware of the relationship between His Highness Prince Yuriel and my Swain House. I have absolutely no intentions in participating, however, if my beloved His Royal Highness Prince Yuriel so desires, or if danger befalls His Highness, I have the resolution to even sacrifice my life for His Highness Prince Yuriel.」
Was it a bit exaggerated? However, Mis Majesty personally telling us to protect Yurii-sama was probably something like this. To protect him even at the cost of my life.
Ryan-sama smiled meaningfully.
「When I was younger, I often saw you when Count Swain brought you along. We didn't talk with one another a lot, but I thought that you were a child who spoke her mind.」
There's no doubt that he was indirectly saying that I was a cheeky kid. Usually, Dia took care of me at the social gatherings that Father took me to.
I was always troubling Dia who was nearby, and was unsociable.
「After becoming a student, you give off an impression that you're quiet, but your heart does not waver; you haven't changed a bit.」
Which meant, you act like you're a grown up, but really, you're still a cheeky kid. Right?
Aah, no, I may have just interpreted negatively.
「I think it's a good thing. Judias too. He might've been attracted to your honesty.」
Honesty.
It's not what you say, it's how you say it.
「His Highness Prince Yuriel as well, if he's by your side, he would probably have peace of mind. Since the castle is an environment that is difficult for him to stay in.」
「U…m…」
It was as if he was concerned about Yurii-sama.
I don't know anymore. Was he faking it? Was he trying to confuse me? The smile on the face of the Macey House's eldest son who doesn't seem to have a dark side was actually pitch black?
My head hurts. When I looked down while holding my head, Ryan-sama keenly realized it.
「It's fine even if you don't think too deeply into it. What I wanted to do was actually quite simple, to figure out a little about what you have to lose. Perhaps, the final adversary might not be Judias nor His Highness Prince Alan, but you. 」
「Adversary, it sounds unsettling, is it a metaphor?」
Also, that adversary, it included me too?
「Saa, I wonder. If I told you any more than this, my successful career would be in danger, so apologies.」
The successful career of Duke Macey's eldest son. Was that what the queen was interested in? However, that's, I don't understand why he told things he suspected about me.
As a daughter of a noble, it's something that I definitely, definitely, de–finitely should not do, but Dia and this person as well, whenever I talk with someone smart who's close to my age, I want to click my tongue. Why do you rephrase everything so complicatedly and make me confused? Are all men like this at this age? Do they have habit of finding enjoyment in confusing people?
「Um…what does Ryan-sama know?」
About the adversary, or the successful career. He had more information than me, so I don't understand.
「I know the things that you know, as well as the things that you don't know.」
Then, he was even aware of the things that I do know.
Ryan-sama impishly smiled at me, who was about to ask him something again, and he opened the door, intending to leave the infirmary.
As I was about to detain him,
「Mira! Miraaaaaa!!」
「Uguu」
Passing by him and coming in, I fell backwards when Yurii-sama charged at me. My stomach hurts. Wow, his head was firmly pressed into my stomach.
「Mira! Mira! Miraaaaaaaa!!」
「What happ…ah, I'm sorry. I hit my head a little, so I'm losing consciousness.」
Aah, even if I faint, it would be fine. Dia and His Highness Prince Alan were coming in one after another. I let go of my consciousness a little.