Ch.126Choice (2)

The Gallimar Banquet.

A celebration party held to commemorate the successful first semester of new students and to wish them well in their future academy life.

As it has been consistently held since the academy’s founding, it was quite a traditional event.

Students or faculty members.

A banquet where anyone who is a member can participate.

Perhaps because there were no particular restrictions, it was quite popular among students.

After all, social activities experienced at a young age tend to become special memories.

Especially for commoner students.

Originally, banquets were luxuries exclusive to the nobility, something those of lower status couldn’t even witness, but this banquet was an official event where even such children were given qualification to attend.

Perhaps it was due to the academy’s atmosphere that valued individual ability over family prestige.

This policy embodied the ideology of minimizing discrimination based on social status and evaluating students solely on their academic performance.

An infinitely strict meritocracy.

This was the vision put forth by Gaston, the headmaster and founder.

Thanks to this, children were permitted a wide range of experiences.

“I heard there’s going to be a banquet again this time.”

“This is my first banquet… I’m super excited!”

“Is it that season already?”

Commoner students get a glimpse into a world they never knew.

Noble students enjoy an extension of their social lives.

Faculty members, tired from their duties, set aside their burdens and spend brief moments of leisure building bonds with students.

A time when all academy members are liberated from pressure.

It wasn’t strange that the atmosphere was becoming slightly festive.

“Who are you planning to take as your partner?”

“Hmm… I think I’ll go with my fiancé, of course.”

“Kyaa~! You two are so romantic!”

“W-well, it is the Gallimar Banquet after all! I suppose I want to spend it with someone special…”

“You two will definitely look good together!”

Of course.

External factors often contribute to such fervent popularity.

Children typically enjoy attaching special meanings to things.

Especially when it comes to sweet love stories.

And so, these accumulated meanings, after an appropriate amount of time, settle as folklore or superstition.

The Gallimar Banquet, with its long-standing tradition, was no exception.

The superstition associated with this event was:

‘The fruition of love.’

If a virgin girl and boy dance together, their love will come true.

A perfect subject for fresh young minds to dwell on.

To adults, it might seem like a trivial superstition, but it’s precisely because they’re children that they breathe meaning into such trivialities.

Whether sincere or playful, it had taken root among the students.

One week until the banquet.

The academy was already filled with boys and girls requesting partners.

Such innocence was similar among the original protagonists as well.

“So… who are you going to choose?”

The fox casually throws out the question.

All eyes focus on him.

Beside her stood girls exerting silent pressure.

They seemed to have discussed asking together, having been hesitant to ask individually until now.

The snake can only offer an awkward smile.

“Ha, haha…”

Perhaps he doesn’t quite understand the situation.

The boy responds awkwardly.

He wanted to answer lightly, but the chilly atmosphere made it difficult to speak.

As his gaze darted back and forth between his half-closed eyelids.

One of the girls speaks up.

The first to step forward was none other than the protagonist.

She speaks with trembling green eyes.

“Um… when thinking about who to ask, I could only think of you, young master.”

“Miss Lezia?”

“O-of course, it’s a presumptuous request! But I received a ring from you last time… h-how should I put it. I thought it would be nice if you could be by my side…”

“You don’t need to speak while trembling so much.”

“I’m sorry… my mouth isn’t moving as I want it to, so, um…”

Typical of her, I suppose.

The pilot fumbles with her words for a while, then, as if wilting on her own, becomes dejected and retreats.

Before there’s even time to comfort her.

This time, the villainess standing next to the protagonist steps forward.

She speaks while brushing back her blue hair.

“Well… I just came along with them.”

“And?”

“I wasn’t planning to attend such a banquet in the first place. But if you really need a partner, I could accompany you.”

“For someone saying that, your complexion seems quite flushed.”

“Shut up!”

“So the young lady is also mentioning a partner.”

“Hmm… well, you’re the one who took my first… after all.”

“Pardon?”

Her voice grows increasingly softer.

In the end, due to the diminished volume, the boy couldn’t hear the last words.

Only a mumbling sound brushed past his ears.

As he tilts his head in confusion, Irene, who had been lurking nearby, smoothly interjects.

The fox pushes aside the villainess as if she were an obstacle and clings to the snake.

Her gaze is cold.

“If you can’t speak properly, step aside.”

“W-wait, you…! What kind of rudeness is this!”

“It was getting frustrating.”

She coldly replies and takes her place.

Beyond her black pupils, only the blonde boy is fully captured.

The fox whispers.

“I’m also an option.”

“Miss Irene too…?”

“There’s no rule saying a partner has to be a student.”

“I didn’t think you’d be interested in such events.”

“I’m still a girl, after all.”

The self-proclaimed girl laughs softly.

The distance was close.

As he feels the breath coloring his earlobe, the last person who hadn’t been visible grabs the snake’s sleeve.

It was none other than the young princess who had been quietly standing by.

The imperial princess speaks with an emotionless tone.

“I want to dance with Judas too.”

“Your Highness Sharlotte?”

“Seeing the atmosphere, everyone seems to be saying something. Do I need some kind of pledge or something?”

“I don’t think this is a matter that requires a pledge.”

“Okay. I’ll think about it.”

“You weren’t listening at all, were you?”

The boy smiles complexly.

A pledge, she says.

She seemed to have gotten stuck on another odd thought.

Soon, the girl speaks softly.

The answer derived from her serious contemplation was enough to shock the ordinary people around her.

Not a hint of hesitation flickers in her blue eyes.

“Do you want to touch my chest?”

“…?”

“As a partner pledge.”

A voice boldly demanding the position of partner.

Naturally, the atmosphere froze.

The girls were shocked by the shocking statement.

Even the snake, who had maintained composure until the fox’s turn, had to pinch the bridge of his nose at the princess’s bombshell statement.

In the frozen time, only the person in question tilted her head.

An innocent expression.

“……”

Where should one even begin to address this?

As everyone remained silent with such thoughts, Sharlotte asks as if there’s some problem.

It was a response that showed she wasn’t even aware of the words she had just uttered.

“Why is everyone like this?”

“……”

“I heard men usually like it.”

“Your Highness.”

“Judas doesn’t?”

“I’m sorry, but… where did you hear such things?”

“It was in a book Tanya was reading.”

“Oh dear.”

Tanya.

A personal maid who had been serving the imperial princess sisters from a young age.

I believe she’s only about fourteen… did she get her hands on forbidden books at such a young age?

The boy thought he should have a serious conversation with her later.

“Or do you prefer something else? For example, down…”

“Please refrain from saying more. I might lose my head if I’m not careful.”

Quick prevention.

He didn’t want to be labeled as a madman who toyed with a nation’s princess.

The boy gathers his dizzying consciousness.

‘She’s definitely four-dimensional.’

There was no way to predict where she’d go next.

It was fortunate that she had a generally quiet personality; if she were even slightly more lively, it would have been a headache in various ways.

A shocking statement.

Perhaps because she wasn’t interested in such matters, Sharlotte spoke without hesitation.

One thing was certain.

It wasn’t content befitting the second most noble existence in the empire.

The snake gives a light caution and then takes a breath.

“Phew…”

As he clears his mind for a moment, someone pokes his cheek from the side.

It was the rose with red hair.

Having observed the entire scene, she wore a smile that seemed to say “serves you right.”

Her unique, sarcastic tone lightly taps the boy.

“You’re popular.”

“I never thought such a day would come.”

“That’s what happens when you go around seducing people.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You always pretend not to know.”

“Humans can’t live without pretense.”

“You’re good with words.”

Elise laughs softly.

Behind her mischievously curved eyes, the girl mutters as if complaining.

“It’s a bit disappointing.”

“Hmm?”

“If I weren’t confined to this wheelchair, I would have contributed to your predicament.”

“…Your Highness.”

“With this body, I can’t even stand on my own.”

The atmosphere turned somewhat bitter.

It was the shackle left by her illness.

The boy gently takes the rose’s hand with his outstretched hand.

And then conveys a word of certainty.

“I will definitely cure you.”

The snake had been researching methods all along.

On how to interpret the curse without putting too much strain on her body, without side effects.

It was a disease with many aspects that made him hesitant to treat it outright.

Coincidentally, he had heard that the translation of the materials he had entrusted to headquarters was nearing completion, so it seemed that he would be able to unravel the secret of the curse in the not-too-distant future.

The boy extends his pinky finger toward the girl with a subtly shadowed expression.

It was a gesture of promise.

“If another opportunity arises… by then, you’ll be able to freely walk around the hall.”

“I wasn’t particularly doubting my attending physician.”

“I tell you with my life on the line.”

“You… saying things like this and claiming you’ve never seduced anyone.”

The rose grumbles but links her finger with his.

The atmosphere, which had been somewhat subdued, brightens again.

The girl, who seemed to be in a good mood as usual, nods as if it doesn’t matter and asks.

It was a question that pinpointed the part he had wanted to explain all along.

“Anyway, you should decide soon, right? Who you’re going to choose. Everyone’s just waiting for your answer.”

“I was just about to tell you.”

“What? Do you already have someone in mind?”

“Actually…”

I hesitate but speak up.

I wanted to bring it up from the beginning, but the conversation flowed chaotically, and I missed the timing.

It was about the partner I had already decided on.

“I’ve already thought of someone to ask. But the problem is…”

“The problem is?”

“The person isn’t here.”

“…?”

The children, including the rose, simultaneously raise question marks.

Five gazes focus at once.

I maintain a deliberately brazen smile and speak.

As if I hadn’t had any particular thoughts from the beginning.

“I plan to ask someone I’ve been grateful to.”

The atmosphere froze instantly.

“So… you’re saying I’m your partner?”

Purple hair that extends down to the work desk.

Red eyes blink blankly.

The mature woman, rarely flustered, had even set aside the bottle of alcohol she had been drinking.

Beyond her gaze, wavering with intoxication, the blonde boy is reflected.

“That’s right.”

The snake nods.

“Will you join me? Master.”

Selena Drunkard.

Towards the drunkard who had taken on the role of his master and would be his partner for this banquet.

His slightly curved eyes were smiling meaningfully.