Something’s Strange? (4)

What was that? What will end up happening to me today? Unable to hide my uneasiness, I’m participating in the most luxurious tea time ever, together with the Crown Prince and Imperial Princess.

“What does sister usually do?”

“I study to prepare for the Academy, learn swordsmanship from my brother, and magic from my father… That’s about it.”

“Eh, that’s boring.”

It can’t be helped if it seems that way. Claudia has a visibly energetic personality, so she’s the type to move around here and there even in her daily life.

“It’s necessary.”

While answering calmly, I was constantly racking my brain. What should I do, what should I do, what should I do?!

Reinhardt’s presence is as expected. He had been engaged to Ariel long before the original story began, so I thought it could be like this, and I didn’t panic this much when I faced him.

But Claudia is different. She’s an unexpected existence. She’s a character who shouldn’t appear now. Not only does it stimulate my death flag, but it could also potentially interfere with my grand plan of being the villainess at the Academy if I’m not careful.

“Then, will you enter the Academy together with brother?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Ugh, I want to enter too.”

As I’ve mentioned before, Claudia is two years younger than Reinhardt and me. So she has to wait two years before she can enter the Academy, and naturally can’t enroll together with us.

Of course, she does pop up occasionally using her status as the Imperial Princess.

“You’ll naturally enter in two years.”

“But that’s too late! How long do I have to wait!”

“It can’t be helped.”

“Tch.”

Is it just my imagination that her tongue-clicking in disappointment looks a bit cute? No, I need to get a grip. She’s the Imperial Princess. If she wants to, she might be able to dispose of someone like me at any time.

Of course, even if I’m the Walpurgis lady, they probably can’t touch me without a good reason, but if the opponent is Ariel Walpurgis, it’s a different story. Who knows when some plausibility might come up and chop off my head!

“Sister, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

“Really?”

Her grinning face suddenly starts to look ominous. What is this? I didn’t feel this way until just now. I feel uneasy in a different sense from fear. No, I really hope it’s just my imagination.

Unfortunately, bad premonitions are always right.

“You and brother are engaged, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you two love each other?”

“Pfft?! Cough cough!”

W-What are you saying all of a sudden! You made me choke! I tried to glare at Claudia with a seemingly reproachful look… but couldn’t. How dare I look at a royal family member like that? It’s the sorrow of the powerless.

“This engagement came from the wishes of the Imperial family and the Walpurgis house.”

“What? So you don’t love each other?”

I-I don’t know how to answer. I really can’t bring myself to say I love a man with my own mouth. But if I say here, “Actually, I don’t have any feelings for Reinhardt,” that would paint a strange picture in its own way.

Ariel Walpurgis needs to maintain her engagement with Reinhardt while keeping the protagonist in check as a villainess. The foundation for this is the desire to monopolize Reinhardt. To be honest, if you tell me to pretend to like Reinhardt right now, I’d probably hesitate and not be able to do anything, but later I’ll have to. At least to some degree. I need to show some effort.

That way, the protagonist will see me as a love rival and act more proactively to save Reinhardt from the clutches of the evil villainess, increasing the chances of a happy ending.

Ugh, but when such a question comes at me suddenly, my brain stops working momentarily. I should answer affirmatively here. But…

‘I can’t do it, kill me! No, I don’t want to die!’

W-What should I do about this?! This is the timing where I need to act with a thick skin! I know. I know very well. This is the timing where I should cling to Reinhardt, saying I love him and can’t live without him, even if it’s a lie. But even if I think that way, my body won’t follow.

I’ve never even said “I love you” to my father, who’s family, so saying it to another man is unimaginably difficult.

Just as I was about to force my quivering lips to open, thankfully, salvation came.

“Claudia. That’s enough teasing.”

“Tch, alright.”

At Reinhardt’s restraint, Claudia pouted but obediently backed off. Thank you, Reinhardt! You’re the best right now! I’ll let anything you say slide just this once!

“But it might be necessary to ask again later.”

What the hell? Ah, no… A harsh word almost slipped out without me realizing. This isn’t right. What is he saying now? I was going to let any nonsense slide, but I almost reacted strongly without thinking.

“W-What do you mean, Your Highness?”

“It’s nothing.”

Reinhardt smoothly glossed over it without saying anything more. No, what was the meaning of what you just said!

Surely… it can’t be, right? No, it can’t be. Ending up with Reinhardt is the protagonist’s role. Not mine. Besides, I haven’t particularly approached Reinhardt actively. All I’ve done is just normally… uh, keeping distance? Yeah. That kind of feeling.

I’ve stuck to formal titles like “Your Highness” instead of his name, and although we spend time like this occasionally, it’s more like Reinhardt unilaterally comes and takes my time. If anything, I’ve never shown that I enjoy spending time with Reinhardt, and I don’t intend to.

Of course, as a reader, Reinhardt was a character I liked to some extent. He seemed cold and rigid, but sometimes showed clumsy sides in front of the protagonist, and he would genuinely get angry and step up whenever she was in danger. Besides that, he was basically a character who knew how to care for people and had the ability to do so, so there was no reason to dislike him.

But such feelings had to disappear completely as long as I’m Ariel Walpurgis. For me, Reinhardt is like a time bomb that could go off at any moment. It’s like this now because the protagonist hasn’t appeared yet, but once she does and they start getting along, he could remove me, the obstacle, at any time.

That’s why I’m naturally trying to keep my distance from Reinhardt. But in this situation, to give a green light? It’s absolutely impossible. Yeah, definitely.

“Claudia. It’s about time we leave.”

Huh? You’re leaving already? Really? This is strange. Usually, they would have lingered here, killing time in various ways until dinner. Although I haven’t seen it many times, according to the big data I’ve compiled while observing Reinhardt, he typically stays until sunset when he comes here. Fortunately, perhaps out of some sense of royal dignity or whatever, he doesn’t stay overnight.

“Eh? Already? Since we’re here, can’t we stay for dinner?”

“Didn’t His Majesty call for us?”

“Ah, right.”

What’s this? Even if they’re family, how could she forget that the Emperor called for them? Is she serious? As I stared at her in disbelief, Claudia suddenly turned to me and grinned.

“Then we’ll have to go now, sister!”

“Yes, I’ll see you…”

“No, no, it’s fine. As I said before, we’re not strangers, so there’s no need for such formalities.”

Why does she keep emphasizing that we’re not strangers? To be honest, it’s scary. I have a small wish that she would say such things to the protagonist, not me.

“Even so, I can’t commit such a breach of etiquette…”

“Oh, I’m telling you it’s really okay! We’ll be going then! Bye!”

“Wait…”

Before I could say anything, Claudia dashed out, flinging the door open. The sight of Muriel politely bowing outside is the cherry on top.

Suddenly, only Reinhardt and I were left alone in the room. I don’t know what to call this situation.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I won’t be able to come for a while due to some business, so the next time we meet will be at the entrance exam.”

“Is that so?”

Calm down, my mouth. You shouldn’t show that you’re pleased here. You should act as if you’re genuinely disappointed, truly regretful. That’s what’s natural.

“It seems you’re not that disappointed.”

“That’s… not true, Your Highness. How could I be?”

“If you say so, then it must be so.”

Giving a somewhat off-topic response, Reinhardt stood up. No, really, how should I describe this? It feels like eating something that would taste better with sauce, but without the sauce, this strange unsatisfying feeling?

“Then I’ll see you then.”

“Take care on your way.”

Since Reinhardt adamantly refused any send-off, I had no choice but to stand up and give a slight bow. After Reinhardt left and I was left alone in the room…

“Wow… what was that? Really, wow…”

The sudden turn of events was so unexpected that my brain couldn’t keep up, and I remained broken for a while.