Ch.26Club Activities – 2

My head cooled down quickly. I understood why the Crown Prince had deliberately brought this up here. It wasn’t an impulsive act but one carried out with careful calculation.

Right now, with club promotions in full swing, there were people everywhere. Many people meant many eyes, which also meant many witnesses to his proposal.

The moment I gave a negative response, that action alone would provide the Crown Prince with a good justification. Whatever he intended to use that justification for.

And as a bonus, I’d be the madman who rejected the Crown Prince’s offer.

‘Why on earth is he doing this?’

I was frustrated to death, unable to fathom his intentions. The Crown Prince, ignoring my irritated gaze, maintained his usual seductive smile.

In the end, I was the one who backed down first.

“Very well, Your Highness. What is this proposal?”

“Since you haven’t chosen a club yet, I’m making this offer. If you have no plans to join elsewhere, would you consider joining the student council?”

The surroundings suddenly fell silent. The bustling promotions, the excited footsteps of students browsing clubs—all stopped. Expressions of surprise spread across the faces of those following behind the Crown Prince.

“…What does that mean, exactly?”

“Exactly what I said. I want you in the student council. By my authority as the Imperial Crown Prince and President of the Bellium Academy Student Council.”

Come to think of it, hadn’t the Crown Prince been serving as president for two years now?

I’d heard that the student council, once treated as a powerless group caught between professors and students, had gained significant influence thanks to the Crown Prince’s involvement.

“That won’t do, Your Highness. Please reconsider.”

The pink-haired woman standing to the right behind the Crown Prince immediately voiced her opposition. She had been quite shocked just moments ago, but seemed to have regained her composure.

‘That woman is…’

Before I could finish my thought, the Crown Prince turned leisurely toward the pink-haired woman, as if he had anticipated even this.

“Are you opposing my personal proposal, Roxanna?”

“…Yes. I am.”

Though intimidated and hesitant, Roxanna said what she needed to say. The Crown Prince, smiling with his lips but not his eyes, spoke again.

“Do tell me your reason. But before that, know this: if your opposition is based merely on jealousy—a purely private and personal emotion—I will not tolerate such behavior.”

“…Well.”

After hesitating briefly under that fierce pressure, Roxanna bit her lip as if steeling her resolve and continued.

“It’s because this person is still a first-year. Under Your Highness’s magnificent guidance, the student council has become the backbone of the academy. We cannot place someone who barely knows Bellium Academy in such a position.”

‘Isn’t the academy’s core the teachers and the chairman?’

I could understand such expressions now with the Crown Prince sitting firmly in the president’s seat, but I wondered what they planned to do after he graduated.

And that wasn’t even a distant future, as the Crown Prince was already a third-year.

Regardless, it was a valid point. I was still clearly a freshman, only three weeks into my enrollment. Though with all the incidents that had happened, the entrance ceremony felt like a distant memory.

“Should I understand that your abilities are lacking?”

“…Pardon?”

Roxanna froze as if about to make a comical sound effect.

“I pride myself on my excellent judgment of character. I’m confident that once Mira Crate joins the student council, she will adapt perfectly within three days. Yet, according to you, it takes at least a year to adapt to the academy. So I’m asking if I should understand that your abilities are lacking.”

Her mouth shut completely. It was obvious that any answer would be self-defeating.

If she agreed, she would be severely undermining her own abilities; if she disagreed, she would lose any grounds to prevent me from joining the student council.

“Now I await only your answer, Mira Crate. What say you? Will you accept my proposal?”

While Roxanna remained frozen in her conflict between pride and contradiction, the Crown Prince turned back to face me.

“Personally, I hope you’ll accept. If this proposal is rejected, I’m not sure what I might do in my grief and disappointment.”

The Crown Prince uttered what was essentially a half-threat and then smiled sweetly. I sighed softly and opened my mouth.

“I decline, Your Highness.”

A ripple of murmurs spread like a wave. Amidst the whispers calling me crazy, the Crown Prince, who had been standing dazed for a moment, burst into laughter.

“Haha! Did you see that, Roxanna? The bet is mine! As promised, you’ll handle all the student council’s menial tasks for the next month!”

“…Understood, Your Highness.”

The Crown Prince laughed heartily, while Roxanna, after freezing momentarily, bowed her head with a frustrated expression. It was a completely unexpected reaction. The spreading murmurs abruptly stopped.

As I stood there bewildered, he approached me.

“Before coming here, I made a bet with Roxanna about whether you would reject or accept my proposal. Even my threat at the end was part of the bet. I bet that you would reject it regardless of any threats, while Roxanna bet that you would succumb and accept.”

The short bob hair reaching his shoulders and blood-red eyes stopped right in front of me.

“As you can see, I won.”

The Crown Prince raised his hand and slowly caressed my cheek. Goosebumps rose on my back.

The slender fingers stroking my cheek slowly moved downward. Then they stopped at my lips. His fingers gently caressed my lips.

“I would have been terribly disappointed if you had accepted the proposal. The Mira I know would never yield to such threats. I’m glad you didn’t disappoint me.”

“In that case, I’ll accept. I’ve always wanted to try student council work someday.”

“Oh my, oh my. Isn’t your answer too late, Mira Crate? The opportunity has already slipped from your hands.”

“…”

“But I don’t dislike that about you either.”

The Crown Prince removed his hand from my lips, put his index finger in his mouth, and lightly licked it with his tongue. It was the same finger that had just touched me. All while giving a seductive eye-smile.

What on earth is this madman doing? While I shuddered, he stepped back.

“Since you said you’ve always wanted to try student council work, I’ll give you the opportunity. I trust you weren’t lying to me.”

“…”

He had an uncanny ability to hear exactly what he wanted. I sighed inwardly.

“Roxanna. Please guide Mira Crate.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Roxanna, her shoulders slumped perhaps at the thought of handling menial tasks for a month, turned around. I wondered why the Crown Prince wasn’t guiding me himself, but decided it was better this way.

Much better than being with that deranged homosexual.

“Follow me, Mira Crate. I’ll explain about the student council.”

Roxanna gestured for me to follow and walked ahead with determined steps. After telling Priscilla and Aria that I might not be able to join them for lunch, I followed behind.

As I followed, I continued the thought that had been interrupted earlier.

So, that woman was supposed to be the half-succubus spy from the Demon Lord’s army.

Laura was walking through an empty park within the academy grounds. Dolores had somehow followed behind her.

After wandering through the garden for quite some time, Laura suddenly spoke.

“Dolores.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Aren’t you curious why I always appear before Mira Crate as a man rather than a woman?”

Though she was indeed curious, Dolores held her tongue. She was Laura’s limbs and shadow; it wasn’t her place to speak first.

But Laura, as if seeing through her thoughts, began to speak despite Dolores’s silence.

“Lately, I’ve been thinking that perhaps I’ve lived as a man for too long.”

“…?”

“I understand how to approach someone as the Crown Prince, but I simply don’t know how to approach as a woman. To approach Mira Crate in a female body… isn’t that too… embarrassing?”

Dolores was surprised twice just now.

First, at the fact that the Crown Prince was embarrassed, and second, that the Crown Prince’s expression actually matched those embarrassed words.

The sight of Laura blushing slightly, shyly covering her flushed cheeks with her palm, and preciously gazing at the index finger that had stroked Mira Crate’s lips was something Dolores had never witnessed in all her years serving the Crown Prince.

Dolores barely maintained her expressionless facade that had almost cracked. Whether aware of this or not, Laura continued.

“Every time I see that person, I can hardly contain my desire to get closer. In the end, I can only approach as a man… but I could see the dislike in their eyes. Though they seemed to try their best to hide it.”

Dolores thought this might be fortunate. If Mira Crate’s preference had been for the male Laura, her master might never have been able to reveal her true form.

“Dolores, I simply don’t understand why I’m like this. Just being near that person makes my heart race, and even a mere touch of a finger makes my whole body warm, as if I’ve been freed from shackles that have bound me for a long time. At this rate, I’ve fallen for that person at first sight.”

Dolores remained silent. Though the words clearly expressed first love, the expression about being freed from shackles troubled her.

What were these shackles? The guilt of having made siblings from the same womb into something akin to death row inmates? Or something else?

“They say love comes suddenly, but in my case, it feels too sudden. Sometimes I wonder if the Laura within me has changed without my knowledge. Coincidentally, I know two people whose personalities have changed 180 degrees in a similar way.”

“…”

“Priscilla Agnes. And Rosaria Leone de Michaela.”

Dolores continued her silence. Now was the time to simply listen.

“Priscilla Agnes was an emotionless, stoic woman during her first year, or rather, until just before the entrance ceremony. But after meeting Mira Crate, rumors of their relationship began circulating endlessly, and she transformed into a woman who clings to Mira Crate with a happy smile.”

“…”

“And what about the Saint candidate? When we first met, she was such a rude woman, but after I received reports that she called Mira Crate to her room on the night of the demonization incident, her personality completely changed. Recently, there’s even talk that the rumors circulating about her might not have been malicious slander after all.”

“…”

“Dolores. Do you think all of this is mere coincidence? That two women who were involved with Mira Crate became completely different people, and now even I am on the verge of being swept into a similar flow of change—do you think this is just a product of chance?”

After maintaining her silence for a long time, Dolores finally moved her lips.

“Do you believe that person has dabbled in forbidden sorcery, Your Highness?”

Though it was now only passed down as legend, she had heard of sorcery that could charm or enchant humans to feel emotions of love.

But Laura shook her head.

“No, that’s not it. If such magic had been used on me, I would have noticed long ago. This celestial necklace itself has defensive magic against mental manipulation spells, and similar but much more powerful magic is installed in my bedroom.”

“Then…?”

“I must find out with my own body. It’s absolutely unacceptable that I, Laura Ercarencia Crescenne von Yuperantis Bellium, should feel shy before a mere man.”

Laura reached for the celestial necklace hidden between her shirt and tie. As the necklace was removed, Laura’s appearance began to change.

From an androgynous pretty boy with feminine features to an androgynous pretty girl who could be called a perfect woman without exaggeration.

“So…”

Laura trailed off, staring down at her own chest. Despite being tightly bound by three layers—shirt, vest, and blazer—it still made its firm assertion. If the things pressing down from above were removed, it would surely display even greater majesty than now.

Sensing her master’s thoughts, Dolores pulled out something white from her waist.

It was a compression bandage.

“Let’s start with small changes.”

The pocket that had just contained the compression bandage was now filled with the celestial necklace instead.