Ch.101In Place (1)
by fnovelpia
Stepping out of what I thought was an eternal cage, I take clumsy steps toward a new story.
The autumn wind flutters, carrying my wishes.
Leaves shatter and fall.
As the changing season colors the streets, the hooves of a galloping horse leave tracks upon the fallen maple leaves.
We were crossing a long stretch of road.
Rumble—
Perhaps it was because it was high-class.
The rolling wheels made not even the slightest noise.
They simply moved forward smoothly.
“……”
I watch the scenery passing by outside the window.
Colors adding a piece of peace.
It was a scene where red and yellow blended naturally.
But regardless of the peaceful atmosphere outside, only an awkward silence lingered inside the carriage.
I quietly observe my surroundings.
“Hmm.”
The children were all quiet.
The Rose turning her gaze away.
The young prince looking somewhat cautious.
And the maid sweating nervously between the two princesses.
The air was heavy.
‘Should I say it’s difficult?’
I mull over my quiet mumbling.
The invisible wall existing between the children. Feeling it made me almost suffocated.
I was just sitting there, tapping my knee idly.
‘Well.’
Perhaps it was because of the long gap in their relationship.
There was a strong sense of awkwardness.
By now they had become more accustomed to thorns than conversation, so they might find this calmness rather unfamiliar.
The mirrors they’re looking into after nearly five years feel endlessly strange.
Especially in Elise’s case.
Normally, she would have thrown out several insincere jabs with the excuse of pushing away her sister, but now she was sitting quietly, which made her feel strange.
A sense of disconnect from an unfamiliar peace.
Though she tried to maintain an indifferent expression, her trembling green eyes betrayed her agitation.
I was silently watching this standoff.
“…Um.”
The silence suddenly breaks.
The one who spoke first was none other than Sharlotte.
The girl still seemed hesitant, but her eyes never left her frail sister.
She briefly opens the conversation.
“Are you feeling better? Are you recovering well…?”
Inevitably, it was words of concern for her sister.
Timid, as if watching for a reaction.
The usual unpredictable, four-dimensional girl had disappeared, leaving only the young prince who cared for the Rose.
It meant her affection was especially deep.
“When we arrive at the academy, you’ll attract attention. If it feels burdensome, tell me. I can handle it.”
“……”
A will to be of help.
Her voice sinks.
She was holding her breath, anticipating the cold response that would soon come.
However, contrary to her icy preparation, what reached her ears was not a sharp reply at all.
It was the Rose’s single sentence.
“I got it… so take it easy, sister.”
Her tone was still irritable, but it didn’t have the thorns it used to have.
Normally, she would have started with curses.
That alone was already a noticeable change, but what surprised the other two was something else.
It was the title the girl attached at the end of her sentence.
“Sis…ter…?”
Sharlotte blankly repeats the word.
A full five years.
A title she couldn’t hear since the Rose became twisted.
She had always been called “you,” so a scar of longing remained in a corner of her heart.
Perhaps she missed her sister.
Because memories of their affection for each other existed.
“Ah.”
Drop—
A tear falls.
Was it joy?
I couldn’t judge.
I just watched the scene unfold with a faint smile on my lips.
The girl seemed to be gradually soaking in the wish she had dreamed of.
“Y-Your Highness… d-don’t cry.”
Tanya wipes her cheek with a handkerchief.
Even she couldn’t hide her choked voice.
Having watched the pain of these two from the closest position, the girl had every right to shed tears at that single word.
The carriage was instantly filled with moisture.
I was appreciating everyone’s different reactions.
“W-wait… why is everyone crying and making a fuss?”
From the Rose who seemed flustered, as if she hadn’t expected this.
“Hueeeng…! Your Highness has changed!”
To the maid who finally burst into tears.
“……”
To the young prince who silently wiped her eyes.
As I was feeling the warm atmosphere, I suddenly meet a pair of blue eyes.
I smile lightly.
Sharlotte looking at me with a complicated expression.
Her lips seemed to mumble for a moment, then she pronounced a barely audible word.
“…Thank you.”
I answered nonchalantly.
“Don’t mention it.”
A response as if it were natural.
The girl smiles faintly.
Mixed with gratitude.
A handful of youthful innocence.
***
After arriving at the academy.
We immediately went to find the homeroom professor of Class A for the Rose’s transfer procedures.
A woman worn out by fatigue greeted us.
“Master.”
Long purple hair.
Red eyes with a dull light.
And a bottle of alcohol she seemed unwilling to let go of.
She still looked full of gaps as ever.
Upon seeing me, she heaved a deep sigh and pushed aside the documents she had been processing.
She seemed to swallow words she couldn’t speak along with her alcohol.
“Hah… you’ve brought quite a big matter this time, Judas.”
Dark circles clearly visible around her eyes.
Traces of an all-nighter.
With the sudden news of the Second Princess’s transfer, she must have been hit with a bomb of paperwork as the professor in charge of that class.
As the person who dropped this thunderbolt, I felt apologetic.
“I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t mean to reproach you. It’s just that it seemed beyond the scale I could cover for you, so I spoke out of some old woman’s concern.”
Of course, Selena didn’t show it.
Rather, as if it were nothing, she only expressed a few words of concern toward me.
“Judas, you’re really hard to understand.”
“Yet you say that… but you don’t ask a single question this time either.”
“That was our contract from the beginning.”
“I feel guilty for always receiving help.”
“You don’t need to worry about it. I’ve completed the procedures for the transfer. I’ll gather the relevant documents for you, so you may leave now.”
“Thank you.”
I received a lot of help this time too.
Even with the title of head teaching assistant, professors who provide this level of convenience were rare.
Despite appearing annoyed with everything, she was indeed someone who took good care of things.
I left a brief thanks to my master and headed outside where the children were waiting.
Until then.
“……”
A strange gaze followed my back.
***
Despite being a decision made just four days ago, news of the transfer had spread throughout the academy.
The Second Princess who had never engaged in any external activities.
Perhaps because she was a figure shrouded in mystery.
It was a natural progression that attention would be drawn to the news of her appearance.
Thanks to that, we had to carry subtle gazes with us.
“…I don’t like it.”
On the way to the assigned dormitory.
Suddenly, the Rose sitting in the wheelchair expresses her displeasure.
It was because of the eyes that followed us wherever we went.
It was already the outside world she was stepping into after 10 years, and with interest shown from everywhere, she seemed to be getting dizzy.
I sensed the atmosphere that had already sharpened and tried to soothe her.
“Please be generous and let it pass.”
“I feel suffocated… I want to rest in a quiet place soon.”
“As you wish.”
Elise would know too.
The attention pouring in now wasn’t born from bad intentions.
The students were just curious about news they hadn’t heard before, and interested in a fellow student they would be sharing academy life with.
There wasn’t any disrespectful attitude either.
The children didn’t even think of approaching or making eye contact.
It was because of the chilly atmosphere.
‘Is it because of her gloomy impression?’
On top of that.
She was glaring as if annoyed, so the children seeing her for the first time couldn’t help but be scared.
They didn’t know what might happen if they made a bad impression.
“We’re almost at the dormitory.”
I pushed the wheelchair gently.
As we were crossing the distance, suddenly voices reached my ears.
“M-master…?”
“You!”
Familiar calls.
Turning around, there stood girls with pink hair and blue hair side by side.
The protagonist and the villainess who had now become best friends.
With a thought that it had been a while, I greeted them.
“It’s been a long time, both of you.”
“You’re back…!”
“Where have you been and what have you been doing to come back only now?”
Lezia showing a bright smile.
Ameila slightly furrowing her brow.
Both expressing their delight in their own ways.
As if they had heard the news of my return, they were waiting at the path leading to the dormitory.
I spoke softly.
“I didn’t expect you to come out to greet me like this. I’m just happy for your thoughtfulness.”
“We’ve been waiting!”
“Don’t include me too. I just went along with the commoner’s fuss.”
“But, y-you were the one who first mentioned greeting…”
“Don’t add unnecessary words!”
“Eek… s-sorry.”
After briefly sharing the joy of reunion.
The children soon turned their attention elsewhere.
The wheelchair I was pushing.
More precisely, they were looking at the Rose sitting on it.
“Then this person is……”
Words trailing off vaguely.
Both seemed to have heard the news roughly, as they appeared to know that the figure before them was a princess.
The children bow politely and greet her.
“I greet the second star of the Empire.”
“I-I greet… t-the second star of the Empire.”
An awkward flow.
Elise responds.
“I got it, so stand up. Please don’t do this, it’s burdensome.”
The princess trying hard to accept the greeting.
As I was watching from a step behind, enjoying the scene, Ameila, who had risen from her position, asks me.
It was a barely audible whisper.
“What exactly happened while you were gone…?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
The girl was asking about the Rose.
It was a reasonable question.
The Second Princess who had never shown herself before.
They would have heard the news that she suddenly expressed her intention to transfer, and strangely, I was accompanying her.
It was natural to be curious.
What had happened.
Why I was pushing the princess’s wheelchair.
What connection existed between us.
I put on a mischievous smile and parted my lips with a leisurely attitude.
“Hoho… you’re asking about the relationship between Her Highness and me.”
I thought I’d tease her a bit.
If I said something like having a close relationship with the princess here, wouldn’t I get quite an interesting reaction?
With a grinning heart, loading my troublemaking instinct.
“As for Her Highness and me…!”
“I’ll tell them.”
“Eh.”
Elise, who had been listening quietly, interrupts.
“Your Highness…?”
“Be quiet.”
A sudden intervention from the person herself.
The girl steps forward and continues exactly where I left off.
“This guy did it.”
The Rose takes my hand that was on the wheelchair.
And pulls it toward herself.
The guided hand lands on the girl’s stomach.
The contact, which feels somewhat explicit, makes me feel the warm body temperature through the thin cloth.
The eyes of the two watching girls widen.
“He said he would make me happy.”
A statement full of potential misunderstanding.
At this sudden bombshell, I could only respond blankly.
“What…?”
No.
How could you say it like that?
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