episode_0055

I said with a small smile as I looked at the crown prince who was looking directly at me.

“I’m sorry, Crown Prince, but I’m not sure what you’re talking about. There are so many young ladies following me around.”

“… … Ha, didn’t you say it with your own mouth? She is a young lady whose life at the academy was ruined because of a single word. Among the ladies inside the academy, there must be only one who fits what you said. Lady Charlotte.”

The crown prince snorted and said that.

It was not simply a case of guided questioning with a person, but it was caught in a beautiful double trap that did not point to the inside or outside of the academy.

It’s a stupid mistake that shouldn’t be made. I guess it’s my fault that I’ve become more relaxed these days as I’ve become more focused on my desires.

“It was a story about Sarah.”

He said, covering his mouth with a fan.

“… … Are you planning on pretending not to know? Yes, let me be blunt. Charlotte La Rochelle. What are you going to do with Lady Petra?”

“What are you planning to do? … . I don’t know why you have such suspicions.”

The Crown Prince said, crossing his arms.

“The professor will be here soon, so stop talking back. Aren’t you trying to take advantage of Lady Petra?”

The attitude of knowing everything was ridiculous.

“I don’t know why I’m being suspected like that. Where did this dark spirit of endless doubt come from?”

“Lady Petra seemed to be on quite good terms with a commoner named Seria. On the first day of school, the two seemed so close that you couldn’t believe they were a commoner and a noble. At first glance, it looked like they were simply arguing.”

The crown prince glanced at me and continued speaking.

“Do you know when the relationship between those two people suddenly soured? It was right after you came back from the infirmary and talked to those two people. After that, Lady Petra began to show excessive obsession and instability towards you, and began to push away a commoner named Seria who used to go with her.”

“You speak as if you could read the emotions of both people.”

“I have lived among ministers who are like snakes. It’s not a job to read the emotions of a commoner and an unstable noble daughter.”

“So… … . Are you saying that the reason their relationship has become so bad has something to do with me? Sir, I like the thoroughness with which you prepare for everything. You probably don’t know that giving meaning to everything becomes a poison that eats away at you.”

“The story is different if I am not giving meaning, but rather reading the meaning contained in actions.”

Are you already saying that I am the culprit? This type of speech is the most annoying.

When I kept my mouth shut, the crown prince continued speaking again.

“Of course, it could simply be a misunderstanding on my part. But isn’t the situation too complicated? Because of meeting and talking to you, the relationship between the two of us split, and one of us fell into complete abyss in just one day. I feel like things are happening too artificially to just be a coincidence.”

“As you know, even before her relationship with Seria started to get bad, she did not hesitate to make disparaging remarks about her being a commoner. This is just the result of such actions, and I did not manipulate Sarah into saying such things.”

“Definitely. As you say, you can’t control people’s behavior… … .”

The Crown Prince, who was continuing his sentence, looked straight at me and continued talking.

“Wouldn’t the story be different if Lady Petra became obsessed with you?”

“… … .”

“Lady Petra shows a strange obsession with you. When I saw the stark difference between when you were there on the first day of class and when I went to the health room and you weren’t there, I thought it was just an illusion at first. When I saw her behavior when you returned, that illusion turned to suspicion.”

“What was so suspicious about the way that child hugged me and said he was worried?”

“In the act of hugging you and shedding tears, the emotion that was the basis of that act was not simple worry, but fear and horror. And that feeling disappeared like snow melting with just one word from you.”

The crown prince’s words were logical enough. However, the only problem was that it was just a suspicion rather than solid physical evidence.

As I was quietly listening to him, the crown prince frowned slightly and said,

“Loyalty when not isolated is like a stick set on an empty dirt floor. It is an unstable being that does not know where it will fall or where it will be swept away. On the contrary, loyalty when completely cut off and isolated from those around you is like a pendulum hanging on a string called the owner. Even if the wind blows and shakes, it returns to its original position, does not fall, or is not swept away. They believe that the rope they are holding on to is their last lifeline, so they never let go. It is truly a perfect loyalty.”

“You spoke at length, but in the end, are you saying that I am deliberately isolating Sarah in order to keep her by the leash? I’m sorry, sir, but I have no reason to do that and I have no intention of doing so. Because that child was my precious maid.”

The Crown Prince took his eyes off me, looked toward the classroom, and quietly muttered.

“From what I know, Lady Petra was not the type of person to be obsessed with one thing. Rather, I had a tomboy-like personality who was interested in many things.”

“You speak as if you know her childhood.”

“I’ve never seen her in person, but I heard this from her father. Her father probably knows her better than you and I. Isn’t it?”

“People change as they age. You can see it just by looking at me right now. Isn’t that right?”

I possessed this body exactly on my 9th birthday. I don’t know what Charlotte La Rochelle did before, but it’s clear that she was at least not the same as me now.

While saying that, he folded the fan and smiled brightly. The crown prince, who had been looking at me silently, opened his mouth.

“People don’t change that much. There is no way people can change that much in just 5 years.”

“There is a saying that even rivers and mountains change in 10 years. Wouldn’t half of that be enough to change a person?”

“Ha. If people could change that easily, there wouldn’t be rotten nobles. no… … . The story leaked. Anyway, this is a story about why Lady Petra changed.”

Didn’t you put a curse on her to make her do that? Lady Charlotte. The crown prince said that and glared at me.

“So――”

Just as I was about to open my mouth, I heard the professor’s voice come from behind.

“There are two people! Class starts soon, so hurry to the classroom!”

“… … We will continue this story later.”

I smiled brightly at the crown prince who was still glaring at me.

“Next time, let’s talk leisurely while drinking tea. Seobang.”

“… … .”

The Crown Prince entered the classroom without answering, and I followed him into the classroom and sat down next to Hermel.

“It’s okay… … ? Nothing much happened… … ?”

“Yes, nothing special happened. Thank you for your concern.”

I smiled and comforted Hermel, who was worried about me, and smiled.

“I don’t want to get caught talking again, so let’s talk after class.”

“Ah, yes… … .”

After saying that, he covered his mouth with his fan and looked ahead quietly.

‘Didn’t you put a curse on her and make her like that? Lady Charlotte.’

Be patient. You shouldn’t laugh. If you laugh here, everything will be Amitabha Buddha.

I don’t know if it was because I wanted to listen carefully to the class, or if I wanted to say that I was ahead of everyone else, but I suppressed the laughter that was about to burst out as I looked down at the crown prince sitting in the front row of the classroom.

‘If you think I will be tolerated forever, you are mistaken. Lowering.’

It was unexpected that Sarah’s reputation had already been reduced this much, but everything else was according to my calculations. Everything, starting from gaslighting me to make Sarah obsessed with me, until now. Everything is according to my plan.

The crown prince turned his attention not to my next plan, but to Sarah, who was nothing more than an outcast. They mistakenly believe that the method is brainwashing using curses.

‘――It is a character from a fairy tale… … . It is not an answer that can be brought to reality. But, why are you suddenly asking that?’

‘… … ‘I just suddenly became curious.’

And I mistakenly believe that my trump card is a curse. Everything is as I intended.

The crown prince will be wary of Sera, a relatively close danger factor, not me, whom he cannot properly identify, and will make various preparations in preparation for my curse.

But what about this?

‘If there is an object that can be used as a medium for a curse, it may be necessary to use it――’

I just made you a vector for a curse.

No matter how thick the armor you wear, it doesn’t mean you can block attacks coming from inside.

is not it?

Ah, stop. The more I think about it, the more I feel like laughing.

After coming out of my thoughts, I close my eyes and think bad, unpleasant thoughts. When I was lost in thought, I heard the voice of a professor of elemental studies that I had not heard before.

“――So, ifrit, the spirit king of fire over there, is over there, so it must be thatfreet, right? … … Just kidding.”

It’s like when you’re holding water in your mouth and you hit your uvula, you spit out the water in your mouth. Normally, I wouldn’t have even laughed at it, let alone heard it, but when it came to my defenseless ears–

“Fuhu… … .”

The laughter I had been suppressing without even realizing it came out.

The interior of the classroom, which was already quiet because of the boring comedy, was perfect for my laughter to resonate… … .

“Charles… … ?”

“Lady… … ?”

“Charlotte… … .”

Hermel, Sera, and Seria looked at me with faces of great shock.

“… … .”

Even the crown prince was looking at me with an indescribable, ambiguous face.

“Charles, it’s okay. Everyone finds things different and fun… … ? If Charles likes it, I’ll try my best to like it too… … .”

“No, I… … .”

no… … . It’s not like that… … .

Despite my endless denial, the fact that I laughed at that ridiculous joke didn’t change the fact.

In the end, for a while, there was a rumor going around among freshmen that I liked comedy that only older kids would like.