Student Council President Election (12)
Tap the chess piece shaped like a horse’s head with the tip of your index finger. It was a chess piece symbolizing a knight.
If you press firmly on the end of the head of the chess piece, which is standing up like a sawtooth, and then push it with force, it will tilt slightly diagonally.
The finger that had been tilting the chess piece from the line where it seemed like it would fall but would not fall, soon got pushed to the line where the balance of power was lost, and it ended up rolling on the chessboard floor with a crackling sound.
And so the knight died. It was a throwaway tree for exchanging goods.
Princess Fenia, who was sitting alone by the window and moving the chess pieces around, sighed softly.
She tied up her flowing platinum-blond hair, loosened it again, and sighed again.
She felt depressed.
The news that was just delivered by the guard captain, Claire. It was the news of Ed Rosstaylor’s death.
Although the exact full story is not yet fully understood, the bachelor’s initial investigation indicates that he appears to have been assassinated by the forces of the Ross-Taylor family.
“How did… things end up like this…”
Is it best to say that I had a love-hate relationship with Ed Rothtaylor? That wasn’t an accurate expression either.
In fact, it may be more accurate to say that Princess Fenia owes a debt of gratitude to Ed Rosstaylor.
After hearing about his death, I couldn’t help but look back on my encounters with him.
It feels like things didn’t start out that well in the first place and the period of trouble between us was much longer.
If you were to raise Ed Rosstaylor from the dead and ask him what he thought of Princess Fenia, he would recall that she was a horribly incompatible person.
To that extent, there was a high possibility that Princess Fenia was a thorn in Ed Rosstaylor’s eyes.
However, Princess Fenia is the supreme third princess of the Cloel Imperial Family.
If you want to compare the difference in status with Ed Ross Taylor, who was excommunicated and became a commoner, the metaphor of heaven and earth is not enough.
It is strange that Princess Fenia falls into grief at the news of Ed Rosstaylor’s death. How can you be so depressed after such a special relationship?
Still, for Princess Fenia, who lived with constant suspicion about the Rosstaylor family… the presence of Ed, who ran away from that fence, was meaningful enough. At least he wasn’t a good person to die in vain like this.
So, in order to somehow resolve this twisted and twisted relationship… I canceled most of my schedules that had been pushed back and worked on the ones that could not be cancelled, even trying to find time to have a proper conversation with him.
The schedule was already approaching the next day, but the Rosstaylor family did not wait for Princess Fenia.
-Puzzle.
Suddenly there was a sound of teeth grinding.
Princess Fenia was once again surprised to learn that those words came from her own mouth.
The sight of me sitting quietly at the table by the window and fiddling with the chessboard without doing anything… looks like a defeated Taoist dog.
What does it mean to be called the princess of mercy and to be loved by the people?
Whenever Princess Fenia did something as a monarch, nothing ever went completely as she wanted.
The reason she was able to receive the public’s love was only because she did not step forward and wield power. Didn’t the two older sisters, who were actively seeking the throne, tenaciously push for what they thought was right, even if it sometimes went against the will of the public?
Basically, most political decisions are double-edged swords. If you gain something, you often have to lose something else.
There are countless instances where someone has to be sacrificed in the process.
The image of Ed Rothtaylor rises above the knight rolling around on the chessboard.
Ed Rosstaylor, who was completely at the bottom in his first evaluation, but showed his true worth as time went on… had he survived, he might have become a person who could accomplish anything without relying on his family’s prestige.
However, it is more likely that this death will be infinitely meaningless.
Princess Fenia had a chance.
There were numerous possibilities in which I could have taken a little more time to listen to his opinions, resolved my emotions, and put aside my pride to continue my relationship with him on a deeper level.
A busy schedule, low self-esteem, and low self-confidence due to repeated failures… are what prevents you from doing so.
She realized that fact too late and took care of all the backlogged work to schedule a meeting with him… but the blade of miserable fate was a little faster than her.
That is a huge, inexcusable failure. Princess Fenia herself can never be free from that guilt.
“…”
When I turn my head and look at my desk… it is full of various materials I had collected in hopes of becoming student council president.
Students of Sylvania Academy gathered from various countries. Fenia wanted to become a representative among them and wield academic power.
Although it is a very weak power compared to the power of the Cloel imperial family, it will be able to exert its own independent power within Sylvania at least.
Rather than simply being the third princess relying on the protection of the imperial family, she will be able to exercise her own independent status as the student council president of Sylvania Academy. One’s own position rather than the imperial family as a background.
That was the first goal that Princess Fenia looked at.
“I… am a person who should not be in power…”
Princess Fenia lowered her head for a moment and muttered softly, wiping the corners of her lifeless eyes.
– smart.
At that time, a knock was heard from the door.
When entry is permitted, the door slowly opens with a squeak, and his escort, Claire, appears.
Next to him… was Tanya Rothtaylor, panting, her robe completely covered in rain and mud.
*
The location was the central entrance of the Ofilis Building.
The rain has almost stopped and you can see the stars through the clouds. The situation has been resolved to some extent.
The people who had been frozen like statues by Lucy’s time prison magic were left alone for now. This is because people who knew whether Ed was alive or not needed time to discuss their stories.
Ofilis Hall, where evacuation had already been completed, was filled with silence. There may have been a few students left, but there were no students immediately visible.
Even the junior maids who were evacuating the students seemed to have left their seats.
It happened in an instant. Even though they had little time to react, they were clearly elite personnel. Even though the leadership was completely attacked, they quickly divided the areas they were responsible for and evacuated all the students in just 15 minutes. There was a high possibility that he would have moved towards the teaching building and reported the situation there.
“Okay… everyone is here…”
Ofilis Hall, located on the outskirts of the living building, is not as close to the teaching building as you might think.
If we had just received reports of an incident at Ofilis Hall, it would have taken 10 minutes no matter how quickly we rushed in to get here.
Since there wasn’t much time, I tried to convey only the main points quickly… but the condition of the gathered people was not normal.
First of all, Clevius has lost his mind. He and Elvira struggled to support him and placed him against a pillar.
After that, Elvira sat down next to Clevius, holding her knees, and just looked at the group. You were exhausted, and you probably had a lot of questions about how the situation came to be like this.
Besides that, Ziggs… was in a corner of the central entrance, bowing his head and apologizing to Yenika. Yenika was blushing all the way to the top of her head and her cheeks were puffing out. It was uncharacteristic of Ziggs to guess that he had said something rude to Yenika.
And as for Lortel… he was in the opposite corner, holding his face with both palms.
It seemed like the heat was rising this way.
“What are you doing, Lortel?”
“…”
Lortel pulled the coat over his shoulders and adjusted his clothes, then smiled when he looked at Ed’s face.
“As expected, you’re safe, Senior Ed.”
“Okay. I’m sorry for worrying you for no reason.”
“No. I’m not worried. If you think about it with common sense, you can see that Senior Ed is not someone who would die that easily. Now that I think about it, among the magic engineering supplies you taught me, there is a Delheim hourglass that will definitely help save your life. “It was all mixed up.”
Lortel grinned and added.
“It is important for a merchant to maintain composure and reason at all times. Although this is shocking news, you should not lose your temper and become shaken before confirming the facts. Right, Ziggs?”
“…”
Ziggs, who was sweating profusely next to Yenika, was lost in thought for a moment, resting his chin.
“Right, Ziggs?”
“…Uh hmm…”
“Right, Ziggs?”
“Ah… right… Lortel didn’t show any emotional agitation…”
Did he feel some unspoken pressure? Ziggs said this while wiping his face.
“However… when I only looked at the circumstantial evidence, it was true that Ms. Tanya was very suspicious. So I just put some pressure on Ms. Tanya and tried to get her to turn herself in if it was true. In the process, there was a very slight threat. “I used to go there, but they didn’t really cause any physical harm.”
“Yeah… that’s right…”
Ziggs was looking at Lortel with fearful eyes while he continued to twitch his chin as if something was holding him back.
“Is this really a merchant’s way of dealing? I really can’t decide which way it is…”
As if wondering what Ziggs’ reaction was, Lortel smiled and spoke calmly.
“Do you think I thought that senior Ed would die because of something like this? I’m just worried. But…”
Lortel stood up, walked towards him, raised his tiptoes, and pulled down the collar around Ed’s neck. And then I stick my head out and check Ed’s face up close.
“Because rational judgment doesn’t always work out the way you think.”
He just lowered his head and smiled.
“Seeing how relieved I felt when we actually met each other face to face… I guess I was actually a little worried.”
A feeling as if old worries were being pushed down through my chest. Lortel was clearly heaving a sigh of relief.
“Now that things have come to this, I think you were right to make me worry, Senior Ed. Just as nothing is free in this world, it would be right for you to pay for my worries as well.”
“what?”
After saying that, it was the moment Lortel was about to be hugged.
The moment the tiptoe went down and her face was pressed against Ed’s chest, there was a girl who squeezed in between them.
It is truly rare to see Lortel genuinely surprised. Because she always maintains her composure, most of the time it’s just a face that pretends to be surprised.
But this time it was real. She was clearly embarrassed, if only for a moment.
Lucy, who quickly pushed Lortel away, put her arms forward and took a defensive stance.
With a face full of dissatisfaction, ‘Don’t come any closer!’ At the sight of him shouting… Lortel was dumbfounded for a moment.
What kind of person is Lucy Mayril? Aren’t you the kind of person who always looks half-asleep and yawns no matter what others are doing?
Seeing that girl desperately blocking Ed’s approach, Lortel felt the anxiety that had been sleeping in a corner of his heart awaken.
The way she flaps her arms and puffs out her cheeks… anyone can see that she is a girl who is so jealous that she doesn’t know what to do and her body jumps out first.
Lucy is glaring at Lortel as if she’s going to eat him, but… When his buttocks, which had been pulled back in a defensive posture, suddenly touched Ed’s body, he was startled and quickly pulled his body back, as if a thrilling electricity had passed through his entire body.
Wasn’t she the girl who clung to Ed whenever she got the chance, chewing beef jerky, or even fell asleep on Ed’s stomach once in a while when she was bored? It seems unnatural to anyone to see her blushing and taking a step back from barely this much skinship.
“…”
That scene gave the same feeling not only to Lortel, but also to Yenica, who was receiving repeated apologies from Ziggs.
The reason why Lucy Mayril was able to avoid receiving any special attention from Yenika and Lortel was because she was always aloof from the world of the world… and somehow, like someone living on a higher level… there was such a strange, fresh-like atmosphere flowing through her. .
He wields overwhelming magical power and receives everyone’s awe, but in reality, he does not feel any pride or motivation, so he ends up feeling more like a background character than a person.
Could it be possible for a girl like this to give affection to someone, have affection for someone, and be interested in others? Because that didn’t seem very realistic, either Yenica or Lortel had no choice but to subconsciously lose some of their consciousness of Lucy.
Lortel, who had a habit of always keeping even the smallest possibility in mind and dealing with it, was conscious of the possibility itself… but had no idea that it would suddenly become a reality like this.
“Lu… Lucy… you…”
Just as Yenika was about to say something, Edgar placed his hand and chin on Lucy’s head.
And then, as if it were a daily routine, I pulled Lucy into my side, put my hand on her shoulder, and gently pressed her down.
It was something that could no longer be called skinship for Ed.
In fact, Ed is already close enough to Lucy that he pulls her by the shoulder and presses her to his side, so he doesn’t think of it as special skinship.
I’ve gotten used to Lucy, who always flirts with me and clings to me.
However, for Lucy today, it was a disaster-like surprise attack.
Sadly, Lucy has just passed a turning point in her entire perception of Ed Ross-Taylor.
My awareness of Ed has been completely rebuilt, and now I can’t help but think about my position as a man and a woman.
But that’s strictly Lucy’s situation.
It is quite natural for Ed to treat Lucy as casually as usual.
“—!”
Lucy’s face is filled with heat as if it’s about to burst, with her mouth tightly closed, unable to say anything.
Now that I think about it, it’s ridiculous. Who in the world wouldn’t burst into laughter when the girl who used to live with all kinds of jobs and keep quiet with a bored expression on her face was now conscious of her every movement?
However, as positions and perceptions change, reactions are bound to change. That’s what humans are like.
“Why are you being like this, Lucy? Lortel is saying this out of concern of his own, so there’s no need to be too suspicious. I understand that he’s upset because his emotions have just subsided, but…” Just like that,
Ed didn’t understand Lucy’s feelings. He wasn’t paying attention and was just paying attention to Lucy’s actions as she was wary of Lortel… but
Lucy couldn’t even hear those words. All I could do was put on my big witch hat and gather myself again.
– Toouk.
It was Yenika who pulled Lucy away from Ed.
“You’re too close…!”
In fact, this reaction was also absurd.
Jenica visits Ed’s camp whenever she can and has seen Lucy and Ed sitting by the fire several times.
Nevertheless, Yenica did not feel any sense of crisis due to Lucy’s always indifferent attitude… but the current Lucy Mayril is strange to anyone.
That’s why my intuition as a girl moved my body.
Lucy, who fell out of Yenika’s arms… came to her senses with a swish.
Then, he made a sharp sound and escaped from Yenika’s arms to confront her head on. Lortel’s gaze, who was looking at it, also turned cold.
“…”
For a moment, silence spread between the central entrance where Yenika, Lortel, and Lucy were standing.
“This…!”
Ziggs, who was watching them with his arms crossed, swallowed dry saliva. It’s much more interesting than the gladiatorial fights we all went to see once when we lived in the Islan mansion.
It’s not even a seat far away, it’s right in front of you. The moment Ziggs made a whooshing sound and was about to sit down properly in the audience…
“Hey~”
Elvira, who had been sitting quietly next to the stunned Clevius, broke the silence.
“We… don’t have much time to spare…?”
“…”
Yes. In fact, the party did not have time to waste like this.
Briefly inform them of the reason why the fact cannot be made public even though Ed is alive. He had to
apologize to Clevius and Elvira,
go find Tanya, who ran away,
keep his mouth shut in case he testified to the bachelor’s side about how the situation came to be, and once all of that was over, Ed had to leave this place right away.
Ziggs hit his knee in disappointment. Still, Elvira was right.
“That’s right. I think it’s right to move forward with the story quickly, seniors.”
*
“Ah breath!”
When Clevius opened his eyes, the place was near the main gate of Ophelis Hall.
The aftereffects of being beaten to death by Lucy were still there… My body was creaking.
“What…! What happened…”
The wounds on his body had reduced to some extent and the bleeding had stopped. Rather than using medicine or emergency medical supplies, it is a treatment that directly utilizes magical power.
When he barely raised his upper body and looked around, he noticed that Elvira was sitting quietly right behind him, and he giggled in surprise.
“What what…!”
When I scratched my shoulder, a few strands of Elvira’s long, curly orange hair came out.
Looking at the situation, it seems that he had been lying with the back of his head in Elvira’s lap for quite some time.
“Why are you making such a fuss, stupid Clevius?”
“…What is it? What happened? Am I… dead…? Well, I was so stupid that I wouldn’t have anything to say even if I died…!”
“Stop being noisy and sit nearby. I’ll tell you because I heard everything.”
The rain had completely stopped. On a moonlit night, a large, round moon occupied the sky, as if it had never rained down like that.
After the dark clouds pass, all kinds of stars are like salt in the open sky. In the light, Clevius and Elvira quietly looked up at the sky from under the tree in the garden.
“The Bachelor staff will arrive now. Then you can testify that you stopped Lucy.”
“What? Me? How did I stop that monster!”
“Stop nitpicking. Everyone agreed to do that. I’ll explain the reason later…”
Elvira grabbed Clevius’s hair. Clevious groaned and was dragged by Elvira’s hand, burying his head in her lap again.
“…You just get some rest.”
“No, what is this…! Ah…!”
As if the situation wasn’t very comfortable, Clevius tried to raise his injured body with a groan… but Elvira held down the bridge of his nose.
It was surprising that Lucy bowed her head politely for destroying all of the magical engineering supplies and beating up Clevius. It was Lucy who gave first aid to Clevious’ body.
In addition, it was a compensation and confidential payment, and although it was difficult because there was not enough cash right now, I also received a pledge from Elte Company that they would make sure to provide ample amount in the future. It was surprising that Lortel would even provide such a guarantee, so Elvira was quite surprised.
The personal situation of Ed Rosstaylor, who was chased by his family… was not something that could be understood.
I thought about explaining the circumstances in detail, but Elvira thought that the first thing to do was to put Clevius down.
Clevius, who had been twisting his body back and forth a few times at first, eventually relaxed, no longer able to resist Elvira’s touch that was pressing his body.
He stayed still for a moment like that… Clevius pressed his hands to his eyes.
“Again… If I say this, I’ll just feel like it’s the beginning again…”
I lie down on Elvira’s lap and look up at the now refreshing sky. Clevious said this with gritted teeth.
“Life… is such a dog…”
Clevius already knew it well enough from experience.
If you complain like this in front of Elvira, you will be told to stop whining and be scolded like always.
However, Elvira just smiled and looked up at the night sky.
Likewise, Elvira’s life was not that easy.
As a nuisance to the Anniston family who was only meddled with by her older sisters, as a loser in the Alchemy Society, and as the head of Sylvania’s pension department.
I was thinking of explaining in detail the hardships of life, but I thought that would be a very tacky thing to do.
The girl just speaks quietly.
“You’re right, Clevious.”
The two just looked up at the starry sky for a while until the academic staff arrived.
Before I knew it, the dark clouds that had been hanging were gone. The open sky filled my field of vision.
The vast sea of stars was quite far away, but its dazzling light was clearly visible to my eyes.
