Chapter 7. Field Trip on a Clear Day (7)

“Oh… yes.”

Caught up in the chaos, I’d completely forgotten about Lady Kerti. She must’ve also been spacing out, because it took her a moment to respond when I called out to her.

“But what about this guy? He looks like he’s passed out.”

Just like Huan said, the guy seemed to have lost consciousness. Maybe we were too rough with him. As I helped lift him up to support him, I thought—hmm, considering both me and Huan roughed him up pretty bad, should we just drop him off in front of the infirmary?”

“Let’s take him to the infirmary.”

“Ah, that might be a bother for the nurse, so I’ll take care of—no, I’ll take him.”

I was a little bothered by the word “take care of,” but I let it slide. I handed the guy over to Lady Kerti and then walked over to the cafeteria menu board with Huan. After exerting a bit of energy, I was getting hungry.

“But where did Kyle and Dia go?”

They said they were going to order food, but I didn’t see them anywhere in the cafeteria. I glanced around, wondering if they went to cook the food themselves or something—when I spotted Alec in the distance, arms full of what looked like bread from the magic tower’s canteen.

“Alec!”

“Ah, Radel and… Senior Huan?”

Alec stepped back in surprise. Wondering what was wrong, I watched as his pupils trembled and he spoke in a shaky voice.

“These are all mine.”

“I’m not going to take any. Who even snatches food from others these days?”

“Dia.”

Huan answered plainly beside me. Alec seemed to agree very strongly, nodding vigorously. Wow, looks like these guys have quite a bit of pent-up frustration with Dia.

“She really did take some earlier.”

“Huh? You saw her? Where?”

According to Alec, they tried to go to a cake shop outside the tower, but ended up getting caught by a professor along with Kyle. Oh dear, Dia… what did Kyle ever do to deserve that?

***

Lively chatter filled the dining hall. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, laughing and talking. She couldn’t understand what there was to be so happy about. Her mood was awful—everything annoyed her.

Cursing internally, Seria used magic to dry her soaked clothes.

That woman—Radel! Look at what she did to me!

Trying to hold back her rising fury, she bit her lip hard and stopped in an empty hallway where she was sure no one would come.

“Seria, is something wrong?”

A young marquis stood before her, brushing back her hair gently as he spoke. He was the one who had supported her since she was young. In high society, he was known for his gentlemanly and kind demeanor, admired and trusted by both men and women alike.

But the reality was different. He was the same kind of person as her.

“If you need anything, just say the word. You’re important to me, after all.”

His tone and voice were gentle, but his hands were full of lust. The marquis was secretly groping her body, and Seria, clearly fed up with him, subtly pushed away the hand that was creeping up her thigh.

“Stop it. Someone might see us.”

“Seria smiled faintly and gently turned down the marquis. The marquis glanced nervously around and then let out a sigh as he spoke.

“Right, it’d be a big problem if we got caught. Then how about… we go to my room?”

His black eyes sparkled as he looked at Seria. What a pathetic and disgusting man. He cared so much about public reputation, yet couldn’t completely hide his vile intentions, letting them seep out onto her. Ugh, she was so sick of him. Still, as her sponsor who always gave her what she wanted, she had no choice but to put up with him.

“Before that, there’s something I want to talk to you about. Could you hear me out?”

“Of course. If it’s our Seria’s story, I’ll listen to anything.”

The marquis’s reply was satisfactory. Seria lowered her head slightly. It was always exhausting pretending to be fragile when she had a difficult request. She let her shoulders tremble faintly and spoke in a trembling voice.

“The truth is… there’s someone who’s been bullying me.”

Adding a bit of a lie, she began talking to the marquis about that girl. She said the girl had stolen everything precious from her and bullied her. Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie. That girl had taken every man Seria had carefully claimed for herself, and now she had the nerve to dump water on her, flaunting her arrogance. What a laughable woman. So irritating. So disgusting.

“My goodness, to think someone would dare do that to our Seria…”

“Huu, Marquis…”

After sobbing out her story, it was time to get to the point. That girl needed to be dealt with—no matter what. She had always been in Seria’s way, and now she was even threatening Seria’s rightful place. Beautiful, kind, and always loved—a princess. That was the role that belonged to Seria. Radel Karel—that girl—should have remained an evil witch, or the villainess tormenting the fair princess. That fact must never change…”

“But now that that girl has completely changed, I have to deal with her and protect my place.”

“I’ll help you, no matter what it takes.”

Fortunately, she had a strong backer. She would use this marquis, who had both status and power, to deal with Radel—that wretched girl. Seria smiled slyly to herself and spoke.

“Then… please grant me this request.”

Alright then, Radel Karel. Let’s see which of us wins now—fair and square.

***

“Ah, Dia… and Kyle.”

“Eek!”

After parting ways with Huan, who had gone off to explore the Tower’s library, I was walking down the corridor with Alec when we suddenly ran into Dia and Kyle. The moment Alec saw Dia, he clutched the bread in his arms even tighter. It seemed he had developed a form of Dia-phobia, which affected nearly a third of all academy students.

“Make sure you keep them safe this time.”

“Yeah, I won’t let her take them again.”

I sincerely cheered Alec on and then turned my gaze forward again. Dia was approaching with a smiling face, and beside her was Kyle, being tugged along by the sleeve of his robe. Maintaining a disinterested expression as if it was all too much trouble, Kyle looked thoroughly exhausted.

“Radel”’

Kyle, who had been stuck beside Dia with a stoic expression, lit up the moment he saw me. He quickly ran over and spread his arms wide. Whoa, look at this guy?

“Stop right there.”

“……!”

I held out my palm to keep Kyle from coming any closer. He flinched and froze in place, blinking as he stared at me. His hand twitched, making it clear how restless he was. I looked at him firmly and spoke.

“We agreed, remember? No physical contact.”

“……Ah.”

Kyle let out a small sigh. His gaze darted around, and then those lovely lips of his parted cautiously.

“Hugs should be allowed.”

“Nope.”

I was still able to firmly reject Kyle’s shameless request. But then, when he lowered his eyes and put on that dejected look—I faltered. Ack, why does he look so cute like that?

“Not even… a hug?”

 “…No.”

Watching Kyle plead with his shoulders slumped made my heart pound uncontrollably. Ugh, so this is a beauty trap. Technically, it was something Kyle did unconsciously, but it had the same overwhelming effect on me as a deliberate charm offensive.

At this rate, I’m totally going to cave. Get it together…

“Just once.”

“…Ugh, fine.”

…I gave in. In the end, I gave in to his whining. I let out a long sigh as I watched Kyle hug me tightly from behind. I had promised myself I’d be firm, but I kept growing weak around him. Seeing his relaxed, blissful expression made it hard to suppress the smile tugging at my lips. Geez, he looks so calm and well-behaved like this.

“Off, off!”

“You two… sure are close.”

Dia shouted angrily while yanking Kyle away, and Alec muttered absentmindedly as he stood blankly nearby. After persistently pulling and even kicking, Dia finally succeeded in prying the two of us apart.

“You’re in the way.”

“There’s no way I’m giving our cute, lovely, beautiful Radel to you.”

I didn’t care that they were bickering, but Dia said something so embarrassing that my face turned beet red. Gahhh! Why am I the one blushing when she’s the one saying that stuff with a straight face?

“Good lord, what did I just hear?”

Alec looked so shocked he dropped all the bread he was holding. Geez, isn’t that a bit much? I mean, I get the reaction, but… could you at least relax your face a little? I sighed as I stared at Alec, whose face was all scrunched up. Well, putting him aside, how was I supposed to keep these two wild beasts in check?

“Ah, should we go to the library?”

The solution I came up with to calm Kyle and Dia, who had been bickering and fighting all day, was reading. No matter how rowdy someone is, they’d have to calm down once they start reading a book, right?

“Ugh, the library, really…”

“Oh no, do you hate the idea?”

“It sounds like the most fun ever!”

Dia, who had been frowning, quickly broke into a hearty laugh after seeing my face. Hmm, that expression changed awfully fast… Well, Dia aside, I turned my head to check on Kyle—and he was gone?

“Huh? When did you get over here?”

“Don’t cling so close to Radel!”

Kyle was suddenly right beside me, holding my hand tightly and fidgeting. Dia looked like she was about to explode from watching him and kept shouting. Wait, why is Alec being so quiet? When I turned around, I saw him picking up the bread from the floor.

…Why does that look so pitiful?

“Alec, you’re in the Magic Division. Stuff like this, just a wave of the hand…”

“Do I look like Aren to you?”

The sound of that indignant protest made me shut my mouth. He was right. Only Aren could pull things off with just a wave of his hand. I’d seen it so often that it had started to look easy. Ugh, I can’t even lift a single piece of paper with magic… Honestly, no one probably lives more comfortably than Aren.