Chapter 4

“We have arrived, Miss.”

It was only close to midnight that the carriage carrying Ellen reached the capital, where the academy was located. Even at the coachman’s words announcing their arrival, she did not move for quite some time. In her head, Felix’s words from before she left kept circling.

‘Mother wants to see you.’

‘Even if we’re not family, you can do at least that much, can’t you?’

Family.

To Ellen, Madame Mendel was far more than simple family. Though they were not bound by blood, she was the person who had shown Ellen the world and taught her warmth.

‘This semester’s top student is Ellen Sawyer. Everyone, applaud!’

Even when she had first entered school, competed with Felix for first and second place, and in the end seized the top rank.

‘I learned boxing from Second Brother yesterday. I’ll give you a demonstration, so watch closely.’

‘Aren’t you a little too close?’

‘It’s fine, Brother Arnaud did it like this too……! Ah! Lix, blood! A-are you okay?!’

Even when Felix’s nose bled after being struck by a fist she had thrown by mistake, Madame had always taken Ellen’s side.

And not just that. On every birthday that came around each year, Christmas, Thanksgiving, her first admission to school, her first recital, graduation, and even when she first began menstruating at around fifteen, Madame had stayed by Ellen’s side and comforted her.

‘You’ve grown another step, Ellen. I’m truly happy that both your body and your heart have grown healthy. If Lowell could have been here on a day like today, I would have been even happier. Let us celebrate among ourselves, at least.’

She often buried herself in Madame’s embrace even ordinarily, but that day, perhaps because she was thinking of her late mother, she seemed to remember crying especially hard. Because of that, the melted candle wax had covered the whole cake, drawing complaints from her brothers and Felix.

If I told Madame, would she help persuade Father to change his mind?

That thought crossed her suddenly, but she soon dismissed it. Rather than burden Madame, who was already suffering enough in bed, it was better for Ellen to bear it alone.

Judging by how unusually firm her father had been, especially toward his youngest daughter, the matter had clearly already progressed quite far, or it was too late to reverse.

And in such a situation, even if Madame Mendel were to step in, interfering in the marriage arrangement of another family would not be easy. Ellen worried that if she acted spoiled for no reason, the relationship that had lasted so long might become strained or awkward.

Because not only for Ellen, but also for her three older brothers, Madame Mendel and her family were deeply precious people.

“Um…… Miss?”

“I’m sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment. You’ve worked hard today. You may go now.”

With that, Ellen stepped down from the carriage. As soon as she entered through the main gate, the dormitory lights lit here and there welcomed her.

Ordinarily, noisy voices would have drifted outside, but since it was the weekend, most people had gone out to parties or gone home to spend time with their families.

“So I’m doomed to be dragged off without a choice. For what did I struggle so desperately all this time…… It’s tragic, truly tragic.”

Ellen muttered in a bitter voice as though she were the heroine on a stage. Of course, there was no audience to respond to her. She alone had to endure this time of chaos.

“Ellen?”

When she opened the door, her roommate Lillian welcomed her. Since she had thought no one would be there, her delight doubled.

“Lillian! You didn’t go home?”

“No. My parents told me not to come. They said the shop is busy.”

Lillian’s parents, commoners, ran a small grocery store nearby. Among the things they sold, the handmade stollen sold only at Christmas was said to be very popular.

With the year’s end approaching, there was no need for anyone to explain just how many customers would be coming to the shop. Around this time last year, the stollen Lillian had shared with her was by far the best Ellen had ever tasted.

“Then shouldn’t you go even more? They might be short on help.”

“No. There’s some problem at home, so I think it needs repairs for a few days.”

Lillian hushed it up as though it were nothing. Last time too she had said the fireplace chimney was blocked and needed fixing, and it seemed this time the house was causing trouble again.

“But why did you come back so early? Didn’t you say there was a requiem mass for your mother today? Didn’t you go somewhere far away?”

“I know.”

Ellen pressed hard at her throbbing forehead. Then, just as she was taking off her thick outerwear to hang it up, the face of that irritating Felix came to mind without warning. The way he had acted as though he were about to take off his own clothes for her, only to button hers up tightly instead, had been oddly gentlemanly.

“What happened?”

“It’s just…… something happened.”

“That’s not ‘just.’ Your face is completely wrecked right now. Worse than when you got an A on that group assignment last time.”

“W-wrecked?”

At that, Ellen clutched her cheeks in shock. In her mind appeared a future husband with as many as five lovers, criticizing her for being unattractive. Unless it was love at first sight, it was entirely possible if one were to maintain a loveless marriage.

“Wait, just now it was only the ‘wrecked’ level, but now it’s a disaster. What on earth happened, Ellen?”

“I just saw it. My future, which isn’t far off.”

“Your future? Joining the Serendia Orchestra as an official member with me?”

“No, I’m getting married.”

“Playing the wedding march as your entrance piece would be a little strange, wouldn’t it?”

Lillian blinked her round eyes and asked innocently. A few seconds of silence passed, and only then, as though she finally understood Ellen’s words, Lillian stared at her with trembling eyes.

“I think there’s something wrong with my ears. I’m hearing things.”

“Your hearing is fine. I’m getting married.”

“Well, eventually you would get married.”

“Right after graduation.”

Lillian tilted her head with a dazed face. Had they grown too close with each other all this time? For the past few years, she had lived forgetting that Ellen was a noblewoman, different from herself.

“No way…… This isn’t some arranged marriage, is it?”

At the question that followed, Ellen only stayed silent with a sorrowful face. Seeing that, Lillian covered her mouth with one hand and marveled again and again.

“Wow, the world of the nobility. I’m seeing this for the first time, Ellen!”

“I’m being serious. They say I have to marry someone whose face I don’t even know.”

“At least you know his name, don’t you? You could look him up.”

“I don’t.”

“You know the family, don’t you?”

“I don’t.”

“His age?”

“……I don’t.”

“……You are the first wife, at least, right?”

“……”

“No way, you don’t know that either!?”

When Ellen silently nodded, cracks seemed to spread across Lillian’s once-innocent expression. Then, in a very grave voice, she asked Ellen,

“Did you perhaps…… do something wrong to your father? Did you secretly squander the family fortune or something?”

“I’d rather it were that. Then at least I wouldn’t feel wronged.”

“Then what is it? What on earth is it that they’re sweeping you aside like defective goods? We don’t even sell our stollen like that.”

“I don’t know either. I’ll just accept that that’s how it is. I only heard about it today too.”

“Then that’s even worse! Of course, last semester you did lose the top rank, but that was because of the group assignment. And you wrapped up this semester well too.”

Rolling up her sleeves as if it were her own matter, Lillian launched into a passionate speech. But the more she did, the more Ellen’s mood sank to rock bottom. No matter what reason anyone came up with, they should not be able to do this to someone who had worked so hard all this time.

“What did your brothers say? Your brothers are completely wrapped around your finger when it comes to you.”

“They didn’t say anything. I guess they think the same way too.”

Ellen spoke in a lifeless voice and buried her face in the bed. Not only was her body exhausted from the long trip, her heart was a mess as well.

“I don’t know if this is rude to ask, but is your father’s business perhaps not going well?”

“No. You know the steam locomotive line that opened this time, right?”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t know that? Everyone is making a fuss trying to ride it.”

“It was our family that pushed that railway project through.”

“What?! Ellen, you…… you really are the child of an incredible family, aren’t you?”

Repeating things like ‘Let’s stay close from now on too,’ Lillian tightly clasped Ellen’s hands. But only for a moment. Faced with a situation she could not understand at all, she frowned and met Ellen’s eyes.