Chapter 8. From Winter to Spring (1)

During the brief time I was transported to the Mage Tower using the magic stone, I had a few expectations. Surely, by now, Seria must be telling people that I had disappeared or that I had died in some accident… And those expectations were perfectly accurate.

“It’s been too long… Even if you send someone now, she’ll just be a cold corpse by the time they find her…”

The words she said to the girl suggesting sending a rescue team were quite something. I didn’t even feel a wry laugh, so I spoke to Seria in a cold voice.

“Who are you calling a cold corpse?”

A cold corpse. Turning a perfectly fine person into a corpse?

I held back my anger for now. Dia, who was observing the situation from the side, was silently standing still, unlike usual.

“…Radel Karel has come back alive.”

Someone murmured in shock. I told you I wasn’t dead in the first place! I glared at the student who muttered irritably. The student flinched and quickly lowered their head.

sigh Calm down. I must have become overly sensitive because of Seria. I took a few deep breaths and, without looking back, headed towards Seria who still hadn’t turned around.

“Seria, could you turn around for a moment?”

I said in the gentlest tone I could muster. I hoped there wouldn’t be a scene where I grabbed her by the hair and fought like a villain, so I called to Seria kindly. The woman with cream-colored hair, who had seemed unmoving, flinched and slowly turned her body.

I could see that her eyes, like the buds of new sprouts soaked in green, were trembling slightly. Seria must be afraid of me right now. To calm her down, I smiled brightly. And then…

SMACK!

With all my strength, I slapped Seria’s cheek with the palm of my hand. With a crisp sound, Seria’s eyes widened. Oh, she must have been really surprised. I sneered at her.

‘Ugh, my palm!’

My palm hurt more than I expected, so I swallowed the tears and kept my smile. In dramas, people always slapped others without any problem… Is there something on Seria’s cheek? With my newly developing suspicions about Seria, I decided to check. Hmm, there’s nothing.

“Radel Karel slapped Seria…”

“I thought it was finally calming down, but now you’re bothering her again?”

Various reactions echoed around. Shocked girls, boys wondering if it was starting again, and a small group of students cheering, saying it was well done. I quickly scanned their reactions and let out a long sigh. Who cares about the public’s opinion now? I realized that worrying about it was pointless.

So, I reached out my hand again.

“…Ugh!”

I didn’t slap her this time. With a worried expression, I said, ‘Oh, that must have hurt a lot?’ as I gently and kindly patted her swollen cheek. Seria seemed dumbfounded, staring at me in disbelief.

“What are you doing…?”

“I just tried doing it like a proper villain once.”

I had never slapped anyone before, and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. I now understand the saying that you shouldn’t slap someone, nor should you get slapped. Even though I was the one who did the slapping, I didn’t feel good about it. Hmm, I should never slap anyone again.

“Well then, shall we try something different?”

Now that I had slapped her cheek like a villain, I needed to shock her with something even more surprising. I pulled out a communicator from my pocket and, holding it with my fingers, showed it to Seria.

“What do you think this is?”

“…I don’t know.”

Seria answered, narrowing her eyes. Still holding her cheek, probably because it still hurt. I quickly tapped the communicator a couple of times, eager to see the shocked look on her face.

“Could it be that you lost the magic stone…?”

The recording from the communicator played, revealing the conversation. Seria answered my question without hesitation, confirming everything had been a lie. How shameless of her, right? I stepped back, avoiding Seria as she approached me with her unfocused eyes.

“Give it to me!”

“Huh? Of course not.”

The one who stopped Seria, who was charging at me fiercely, was the expressionless Dia. Dia grabbed Seria’s arms tightly. Thanks to that, I was able to clearly play the recorded content from the communicator to the hundreds of students gathered at the Mage Tower. It even has a speaker function, how great is that!

‘I can’t stand things that annoy me. So, I made a little request to the Marquis.’

As the recording reached its final moments, the students began to murmur. They seemed shocked, discussing whether it was real or manipulated. Some even cursed at me, saying not to frame our Seria, but they quickly shut up when they heard my scream after Seria said, ‘Goodbye.’

“When you pushed me off the cliff, I really thought I was going to die.”

Held by Dia, Seria was glaring at me like she wanted to kill me. She was struggling hard, trying to charge at me, but she couldn’t escape since Dia, whose grip was second only to Kyle’s, was holding her tightly.

“I’ll kill you! Do you know who’s behind me? The Marquis, Edwin Marquis!”

“Oh, how scary.”

I casually responded while watching Seria’s desperate struggles. Hmm, sorry, Seria, but I think that Marquis will be arrested for contracting a murder now, too. I tapped the communicator again. This time, let me play the conversation I had with the assassins!

“Ha! The request was made by a woman named Seria, but the money came from Edwin Marquis, who paid us generously.”

“Ah, so you came to assassinate me with the money from Marquis Edwin, right?”

“That’s right!”

Even now, I think those assassins were truly lacking. Hmm, by now, Kyle or Aren must have already dealt with them. As I recalled the assassins stacked up like a tower, I turned to Seria and spoke.

“Oh no, what should we do? It seems like the Marquis is finished. Hiring assassins is a serious crime, isn’t it?”

“Th-that’s impossible.”

Seria stammered, her pupils shaking violently. The usual calm and collected Seria was nowhere to be found. Instead, the only thing visible was a woman trembling, with her wickedness and true nature exposed.

“…I guess the recording is real, huh?”

“I never imagined that Seria and the Marquis would do something like that…”

The students, who had been observing the situation to some extent, finally began to believe. Some of them were shaking, stunned by the revelation of both Seria’s and Edwin Marquis’s true nature. It must have been a huge shock. No one could have imagined that the so-called angel of the academy and the gentleman of high society would be involved in such an assassination plot.

“So, what now? Will you quietly surrender, or will you struggle some more?”

“…It’s your fault! Why did you have to bother me? I didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t…”

Seria, exhausted, fainted right there. It was a pitiful sight, but no one showed any sympathy.

“Well then, I’ll take you into custody!”

It was the end for Seria. The woman, once called an angel and who had committed countless wrongdoings without facing consequences, was taken out of the Mage Tower by the knights that day. The Marquis was also apprehended, but perhaps not fully understanding the situation, he was shouting loudly as he was dragged away.

He was a man who remained unlikable until the end.

“But how did the knight arrive so perfectly on time?”

I asked, sitting in the library inside the Mage Tower with Dia, curious about something. The timing was so perfect that it made me suspicious.

“I gave them special instructions.”

“Oh, His Highness the Crown Prince.”

It had been a long time since I saw the Crown Prince. He approached me and Dia holding a book with a golden border. His face still shimmered like gold. He was still handsome, though not as much as our Kyle.

“Special instructions?”

“I ordered the knights to keep an eye on you because I sensed you might have some problems.”

Hmm, no wonder I felt an overwhelming sense of pressure as soon as I entered the Mage Tower. It felt like someone was watching me, and even when I spoke to Seria, I shuddered slightly… Ah, so the knights were watching me!

“But why would you do this for me…?”

“Because if something happens to a valuable asset like you, it would be a problem.”

“I told you I’m not going to the palace.”

The Crown Prince was still insisting on recruiting me at every opportunity. Well, it seemed like he was still disappointed, saying, ‘I guess it’s not meant to be,’ before turning his gaze to Dia.

“Dia.”

“Yes, Your Highness… Prince.”

Dia answered with a slight furrow in his brow, looking uncomfortable. Oh, even Dia becomes polite in front of the Crown Prince…

“Are you about to say something ridiculous again?”

“Your tongue is still as harsh as ever.”

He wouldn’t be polite, of course! Even if the other party were the emperor, Dia would still speak rudely. I hoped he wouldn’t be arrested for insulting the royal family, so I stepped aside to let the two of them converse.

Heh, I really am considerate. Of course, Dia hated being alone with the Crown Prince, but I just left the library. Sorry, Dia.

I also had to head to where the knights were gathered soon for an investigation and testimony. The communicator needed to be handed over as evidence… Hmm, it seemed like I would be held up all day. I guess another day of fieldwork would be wasted.

“Oh, Peter?”

As I was walking down the Mage Tower’s corridor, I happened to run into Peter, who was in a pitiful state. Seeing Peter limping and on the verge of tears, I instinctively wanted to ask what had happened. So I sat him down somewhere and listened to his story.

“Ugh, well…”

To summarize what Peter told me… he had gone to find Kyle on Dia’s orders, met a monster, rolled down a steep path, and ate some mushrooms that turned out to be poisonous. He had passed out for a while before being rescued by the rescue team… That must have been tough.

“Ugh, isn’t everyone being too much? How could they just abandon me…?”

“Everyone really went too far.”

I took a handkerchief from my pocket and gently patted Peter’s tears away. He sniffled and clung to me.

“Really, Lady Radel, you’re the only one for me!”

“Go ahead and cry it all out.”

He felt like a little brother to me, so I gently patted his back… But Peter is actually a year older than me, so I don’t really understand why he feels like a little brother. Is it because he looks so young?

“Excuse me, Lady Radel.”

“Yes?”

Peter, who had pulled away from me, was no longer crying. He seemed to have a serious look in his eyes… Was he about to say something?

“I think I’ve fallen in love.”

“Oh, really? Hang in there, good luck.”

I cheered him on when he suddenly confessed he had fallen in love.

The hidden meaning behind my encouragement was, “Please, I hope it’s not me. Go have a beautiful love with someone else.”

Peter… he’s a good person, but I already have someone…

“The person I like is… Ugh!”

Peter, who had tightly grabbed my hand, tried to confess again but ended up getting hit by a scabbard and fell backward. Ugh, my goodness! Who hits someone with a scabbard like that?!

“Radel.”

…He’s here. I understood upon seeing Kyle, who was radiating a menacing aura in front of me.

Right, I guess it’s possible for someone to hit another person with a scabbard. Already blinded by affection, I began to see everything Kyle did as cool. This might be a bit of a problem.

“Ugh… who did that?”