Club Trial Entry (6)

-Slap.

“Are you out of your mind?”

Cardinando’s fierce voice pressed down on the air in the small club room.

“For the sake of the circle? If you’re going to make excuses, do it properly. Weren’t you just wanting to shove a big dick in my mouth?”

“T-that’s not…”

-Slap.

The head of the female student, who was trying to desperately offer excuses, turned to the opposite side.

Toward her, who was holding her reddened swollen cheek with her head bowed, Cardinando shot in a cold tone.

“If you’re going to do it, do it properly. Don’t do it so sloppily and make me clean up your mess.”

Cardinando glanced at the three who had their heads deeply bowed, and said while clicking his tongue audibly.

“I’m going to the gardening club. You lot clean up the rest of this mess yourselves.”

“The name ‘gardening club’ is too old-fashioned!”

Delphina shouted.

“Eh?”

To Miriam, who asked back with a dumbfounded expression, Delphina strongly expressed her opinion.

“To be honest, I think the term ‘club’ itself is a problem to begin with!”

“B-but.”

Miriam stammered but objected.

“The name ‘gardening club’ is plenty good…”

“Trends are important, senior. There are definitely people who don’t dare to come because the name sounds old-fashioned.”

Delphina shook her head.

“First, how about calling it a ‘gardening circle’ instead of a ‘gardening club’?”

“Uh, uhh.”

Miriam shook her head with a troubled expression.

“Strange name…”

“Oh come on, I’m telling you it’s trendy?”

“I think ‘club’ is better than ‘circle’ too.”

“Princess?!”

When I casually added a word, Delphina jumped in surprise and thrust her face toward me.

“What on earth!”

“‘Circle’ is old-fashioned.”

“Old-fashioned…”

Delphina muttered in a bewildered voice, and Miriam glanced at me and nodded.

“B-but.”

When I slightly objected, Delphina drooped her shoulders with a dejected expression. Miriam, who had been glancing at me, slightly pulled my sleeve and said,

“Um, it seems like we get along better than I thought…?”

“Is that so?”

“W-what do you think? How about officially joining now…”

“Ah, I’ll think about that a bit more.”

“So cruel…”

Miriam drooped her shoulders just like Delphina had, as if reflected in a mirror.

Oscar, who had been watching the situation from a distance as if it were an interesting spectacle, soon opened the book he was holding.

“Oscar, what’s that?”

“It’s a theoretical book related to magical engineering technology.”

Oscar answered without taking his eyes off the book.

“It’s a theoretical book about long-range flying drones that share vision with the controller, and it’s quite interesting. If I succeed in implementing the theory, perhaps the Empire’s military power could greatly…”

-Knock knock knock.

Interrupting Oscar, who was summarizing the contents of the book for me, came a knocking sound from outside the door.

Oscar closed the book he had been holding in one hand with a thud, then approached the door and pulled the doorknob, saying,

“What is it…”

“Hello, Prince!”

Oscar’s back, which had been moving naturally, stiffened like a wooden block.

At the same time, a familiar voice was heard from beyond Oscar.

“I heard you officially joined the gardening club! These are freshly baked cookies from our circle, if you don’t mind, with the gardening club members…”

-Bang!!

Oscar shut the door with a bang, as if he had become an automatic machine.

At his sudden outburst, I was startled and shouted.

“What are you doing, there’s a person in front!”

“…There wasn’t.”

“What?”

In a trembling voice, Oscar muttered quietly.

“There was no ‘person’ in front of that door…”

“…Huh?”

“Madmen who put pickled radishes, finely chopped peppers, and fried insects into cookies couldn’t possibly be human like me…!”

Having apparently received quite a shock, Oscar trembled, even stammering his words.

“Ugh, uhh.”

“…Oh dear.”

Finding his appearance pitiful, I was already patting his head as he sat down with drooped shoulders, just like the other two.

“There, there.”

“…Even now, when I close my eyes, the nightmare of that day comes back. Because I rashly put that forbidden food in my mouth, I ended up knowing the taste of hell that I would never have known nor wanted to know in my entire life.”

Oscar muttered blankly, as if possessed by something.

“Now I probably won’t be able to touch cookies for at least the next 10 years.”

“Is it that bad?”

It seemed that being raised as a precious prince, he had received an even greater shock than an ordinary person would have.

“…Oh.”

Delphina, who had been quietly watching the scene, suddenly tilted her head.

“But what did Miss Alice say earlier?”

“Huh?”

I tilted my head.

“She definitely said she baked new cookies from the circle…”

“That’s not a cookie…”

“No, before that.”

Leaving the muttering Oscar behind, Delphina shook her head.

“The part about Prince Oscar having officially joined the gardening club.”

“…Huh?”

“Among the three of us, no one has officially joined yet, right?”

“Eh, you’re not going to…?”

“No, Senior Miriam! That’s not what I meant…”

“…Indeed, that’s right.”

At Delphina’s words, I asked the dejected Oscar.

“Did you officially join?”

“No.”

Oscar shook his head wearily and lazily got up, and I tilted my head.

“…Was it just a misunderstanding? Since we come and go here frequently…”

“I wonder.”

Oscar shook his head and said.

 

“Miss Alice definitely said she ‘heard’ that I had officially joined the gardening club. If she had just assumed it herself, she wouldn’t have phrased it that way.”

“That’s true.”

“Well, a false rumor must have spread somewhere. Despite appearances, being royalty, I’ve been plagued by baseless tabloids since childhood to the point of being sick of them.”

Oscar shrugged as if it were nothing, and picked up the book again.

“I’m used to it now.”

As the youngest prince of the Valentine Imperial Family, he must have experienced his own hardships in his own way.

Numerous baseless rumors and tabloids must have followed him relentlessly even before he was old enough to understand.

And, that’s not just Oscar’s story.

Delphina also bears the academic burden of having to pursue two educational courses, the theology department and the knight department, simultaneously.

Miriam, too, is quietly nurturing her dream while suffering from the interference of those around her who oppose her dream.

Everyone carries their own worries or pain in their hearts.

Yet they don’t stop, they continue to move forward toward their respective goals.

‘…I’m the same. I can’t live depending on others’ kindness forever.’

Looking at them in turn, I thought.

That I, too, should move forward like them.

-Knock knock knock.

Again, the sound of someone knocking on the door was heard.

“Oh damn it!”

Oscar exhaled.

“I’m not eating insect cookies!”

“Oscar!”

I shouted in surprise, but then a calm voice was heard from beyond the door.

“Rest assured. I’m not from the confectionery circle.”

A gentle, sociable voice filled with kindness. As soon as he heard the voice that gave the impression of a stage actor, Oscar’s expression rapidly soured.

“I have something to talk about, so the door…”

Before the words could even finish, Oscar flung the door open with a bang and growled in a low voice.

“…What are you doing here, Cardinando.”

“Well, who do we have here.”

He—Cardinando, as he was called—who looked at least a span taller than Oscar, slightly tilted his head to the side and said in an exaggeratedly dramatic tone.

“My, if it isn’t Oscar. I never thought I’d meet you in a place like this. What were you doing here?”

“…What are you doing here yourself?”

Standing in a posture that oddly seemed to block between me and him, Oscar responded with a sharp tone that didn’t even try to hide his hostility.

“I don’t want to expose my weaknesses to you in a place like this… but I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

Cardinando, who had been muttering, shrugged his shoulders.

“I heard that the juniors from the literature circle committed a great disrespect to the president of this gardening club.”

“…!”

Miriam, who heard the words “literature circle,” raised her head with a start.

From beyond the wide-open door, behind Cardinando, three female students awkwardly walked out.

“Aah!”

Miriam, who saw their faces, jumped up in place and shouted.

“You all! I remembered your faces clearly! Your faces, faces…”

Miriam, who had been pointing accusingly at them, slowly lowered her hand and trailed off.

“…What happened to your faces?”

Miriam asked in a blank voice, momentarily forgetting even the hostility directed at them.

Oscar, who had been looking alternately at the literature circle juniors who gave no answer and Cardinando, soon sharply frowned.

“…Is this your doing?”

“How about choosing your words more carefully when speaking to your elder brother.”

“Despicable bastard.”

Looking intently at Cardinando, who was turning his head slightly with a smile, Oscar slowly moved his steps.

“You laid hands on their faces?”

“I merely guided them as a senior. Shouldn’t I take responsibility for my juniors’ thoughtless and foolish actions?”

“Guided them?”

Oscar let out a hollow laugh.

“By what right?”

“…Right?”

“Only the Student Council, which oversees circle activities within the academy, can impose appropriate punishments for their wrongdoings. You have no right.”

“Little brother, that’s just theoretical talk.”

Cardinando smiled and shook his head. And then, he spoke quietly to the juniors who were standing awkwardly.

“Are you all wooden blocks? Are you planning to stand there like that for a thousand years?”

At his words, the three who flinched and trembled deeply bowed their heads toward Miriam.

“W-we’re really sorry about then!”

“”We’re sorry!””

“…”

Cardinando silently nodded, grabbing Oscar’s shoulder and pushing him aside smoothly.

Approaching Miriam, Cardinando called her name.

“Miss Miriam, was it?”

“Uh, yes…”

To Miriam, who answered anxiously and haltingly, Cardinando gave a light bow and said,

“I truly apologize that my juniors have caused trouble with their unilateral actions.”

“…”

“If it’s okay with you, would you accept their apology?”

When Miriam didn’t immediately answer, Cardinando added,

“Of course, I intend to compensate for the damaged items.”

“…”

“I don’t want this matter to escalate. They have already paid enough for their sins at my level.”

Cardinando continued speaking to Miriam. Although it sounded like a gentle tone at first listen, the strange weight at the end of his words was pressing down on Miriam’s shoulders.

“Unnecessarily escalating the matter wouldn’t be good for either side, would it?”

“…W-well.”

Miriam opened her mouth, whimpering.

“I, I…”

“We refuse.”

I opened my mouth unknowingly.

I worried that it might be unnecessary meddling, but the moment I saw Miriam’s expression from the side, my body moved first.

Just as yesterday’s me received help from others, I felt like I needed to support someone too.

In other words, I wanted to move forward together with the others.

Cardinando turned his head toward me.

“As Oscar said, conflicts between circles should be handled by the Student Council, which oversees circle activities within the academy. Your proposal cannot be accepted.”

“…Well, well. Princess Evangeline. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Cardinando said with a sociable smile.

“Since you speak theoretically, I’ll also give a theoretical answer. By what right do you intervene?”

“Cardinando!”

“You are merely an outsider, not an official member of the gardening club. From a third-party standpoint, you cannot represent the position of Miriam, the only member of the gardening club…”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

Toward him, who was smiling unpleasantly, I smiled back and shook my head.

“Just before you came in, I had already decided to officially join the gardening club.”

Miriam, who was startled, turned her head toward me.

“As a member of the gardening club, I refuse your proposal.”