episode_0057

The next morning. After erasing all my memories, a day like yesterday began.

The difference from yesterday is that Mel is not next to me. Well, Mel was outside the scope of the curse, so it was natural that she wasn’t there.

Anyway, like yesterday, I headed to the main bath, took a bath, and talked to Hermel. We also went to take an acoustics class and played an instrument, and after the first class, we talked about the crown prince and Sarah.

“Didn’t you put a curse on her to make her do that? Lady Charlotte.”

Before the curse wiped away all my memories for a day, I thought that if I heard the same words twice, I would not be able to bear it and would stab the crown prince, but after experiencing it myself, I didn’t feel that bad.

Unlike yesterday, I knew what was going to be discussed, so I was able to deal with it a little more leisurely. I smiled brightly as I looked at the crown prince who openly pointed out me as the culprit.

“I put a curse on Sarah? Hehehe, that’s an interesting hypothesis.”

“… … .”

After saying that, the professor appeared like yesterday.

“There are two people! Class will start soon, so hurry to the classroom!”

He smiled as he folded the fan.

“Let’s talk about this next time, while leisurely drinking tea.”

After saying that, I went into the classroom and listened to the lecture, just like yesterday. The professor made the same ridiculous pun as last time, but this time I just ignored it.

Since no one was laughing, the professor seemed embarrassed, so he quickly skipped the progress and left the lecture room.

Since there was no word going around that I liked puns, the other professors taught classes normally, and the students spent the day talking about Sarah, not me.

Sarah naturally became depressed as an unreasonable malevolence attacked her for no apparent reason, and I was able to finish the day comfortably.

After finishing the last class, I cleaned up my desk and walked out of the academy, thinking that I was glad I had decided to commit.

“Hu… … .”

Still, it was true that I was paying attention in one way or another, so I sighed lazily.

“Why are you sighing all of a sudden?”

“That’s right… … .”

“… … Is it because you don’t have Mel? I haven’t seen you since yesterday evening. Is that why?”

He blinked at Hermel’s words, then chuckled and shook his head.

“It’s true that it’s inconvenient because I don’t have Mel, but it’s not because of Mel that I sigh. It’s just that I’m strangely tired today.”

“Tired?”

“Just a little. A little.”

A little bit, a little bit. I’m so tired that if I give up just a little bit, I’ll just collapse and fall asleep.

As I smiled faintly, hiding my true feelings, Hermel placed his hand on my forehead.

“Hermel… … ?”

“Aren’t you in pain somewhere? I don’t think I have a fever… … .”

Hermel looked up at me as he said that, and the drooping corners of his mouth and eyebrows that formed a smile were so cute that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hehe, thank you for your concern. But don’t worry, I’m just really tired. You will be clean when you wake up.”

“It hurts somewhere, but you’re not lying and saying you’re just tired, right?”

“Why am I lying to Hermel?”

Well, it’s really funny that I say this, considering that most of what I told Hermel was lies, but there’s no way for Hermel to know that.

He smiled and patted Hermel’s head.

“… … lol. yes? But if anything hurts, let me know, I’m your friend.”

“He’s a ‘special’ friend.”

“Hehehe.”

At least he has no intention of killing you, so he is a special friend.

After returning to the dormitory with a smiling Hermel, I changed out of my school uniform into comfortable clothes and declined Hermel’s invitation to go out to dinner because I was tired.

“You must be very tired… … . So what are you going to do for dinner?”

“Maybe it’s because I’m tired, but I don’t have much of an appetite, so I’m going to skip today.”

“… … If that’s the case with Charles, there’s nothing we can do.”

Hermel said that and left, saying he would go first. I fell down on the bed as soon as Hermel left the room.

“Ha… … .”

I’m tired… … . Yeah, well… … . Yesterday evening, a large-scale oblivion curse was placed on the entire academy, so it’s even strange that I’m not tired.

There will be no one in the room. The moment I yawned profusely and laid my head on the pillow, thinking about getting some shuteye.

Knock knock――

[Hey, Charlotte, I have a quick story to tell you. Do you mind? … ?]

It was clearly Seria’s voice. But strangely, Ceria’s voice was not as bright as usual, but sounded somewhat droopy.

I vaguely sensed from that droopy voice that this was not a situation that could be ignored, so I washed my face dry, dragged my tired body out, and opened the door.

“――What’s going on?”

“That… … .”

Various emotions were swirling on Seria’s face as she spoke while touching her forehead.

The moment I laid eyes on that face, I felt that the topic Seria was going to talk about was not ordinary, so I quietly opened the door.

“Come in. I don’t think it’s something to talk about standing up.”

“… … Thank you.”

I brought Seria into the room, and she followed me into the room, stood in front of the door, and didn’t say anything for a while.

“Hey, Charlotte… … . What should I do… … .”

Seria began by asking a vague question, leaned back against the door, and touched her forehead.

It looked so unstable, so dangerous, like a tree that had lost its roots.

“I… … . Maybe it’s a good thing… … .”

Seria, who slipped with her back against the door, touched her forehead and muttered.

despair? No, it wasn’t like that. When people are truly desperate, they don’t go to someone. To be precise, you can’t find it. It just remains there alone and sinks until it reaches the bottom of the swamp.

Ceria wasn’t despairing right now, she was just lost in a swamp of worry and didn’t know what to do.

“What happened?”

Seria, who had been quietly looking at the floor in response to my question, opened her mouth.

“Sera. Did it happen because of me?”

After saying that, Seria quietly raised her head and looked at me.

“… … .”

“Until the first day after entering school, I saw him hanging out with other people. I didn’t hang out with a lot of people, probably because it was daytime, but I didn’t run away from anyone who approached me first.”

Seria, who was muttering, leaned her head against the door and sighed.

“But, after sharing the same room with Sarah, I approached her with the desire to get to know her, but I guess that felt a little burdensome… … .”

‘Don’t pretend to be friendly with commoners!!’

“I worked hard because I wanted to give everyone a happy ending. I’m still working hard. But, by the way. Charlotte, as you said, perhaps because this is reality, it is not easy.”

Seria blinked and stood up, leaning on the wall.

“Ahaha, sorry. He suddenly came to me and said something I didn’t know… … . Actually, I don’t even know what to say. I don’t even know what I want to say right now… … . I guess I was a little confused because it was my first time bumping into someone like this.”

As I looked at Seria talking and smiling bitterly, I felt frustrated somewhere in my heart. You don’t know where the problem is, and you don’t know what you want to solve.

The sight of him wandering around, completely losing his sense of direction in a situation he was experiencing for the first time, reminded me of my past. He looked quietly at Seria who was scratching her head and then opened her mouth.

okay. This is just a little bit of help because it’s more fun to see them struggle a little than to see them get trampled like bugs.

“Seria.”

“Oh, sorry. I talked too much to myself. Yeah, what’s wrong?”

“So. What you want to say now is that you want to save Sarah, who is being bullied, but you don’t know how. Is this right?”

Ceria blinked a few times at my words and then nodded.

“Sera’s belittling and insulting of commoners is not that unusual in an aristocratic society.”

Seria blinked and looked at me, and I continued talking as I approached her.

“Then why is Sera ostracized by the nobles? Have you ever thought about it?”

“Uh… … . By having a commoner by your side?”

“No, you’re wrong. If that’s the case, I should also be ostracized from aristocratic society.”

“… … .”

Ceria seemed to be thinking too much about what I said and lowered her head to look down at the floor. I grabbed her chin and forced her to make eye contact.

“Don’t look at the trees, look at the forest. Don’t just try to find the problem, look at why it happened. Don’t just look at the goal of a happy ending and run, look wider and bigger.”

“Ah… … .”

After saying that, I took my hand off Seria’s chin.

Seria looked at me with an expression on her face as if she was grasping for something.

Just tell me this much and they will take care of the rest.

“This is all I can say.”

I said that and crossed my arms, and Ceria nodded blankly a few times.

“… … I think I can get a rough idea.”

Seria, smiling brightly, opened the door and went out, but then stopped and looked back.

“Ah. Well, one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“Why are you just watching Sarah who is having a hard time?”

I quietly closed my eyes and shook my head as Ceria spoke.

“It’s not that I’m not helping you. I can’t help you.”

I said that and opened my eyes. Seria nodded with a face that looked as if she was holding something vague in her hands.

“He suddenly came to me late in the evening and said nothing but useless things, but thank you for listening!”

Seria smiled brightly, came up to me, hugged me tightly, and left the room with a smile.

I looked at Seria’s back heading somewhere for a moment and then turned my head.

Try struggling hard. Even if you save Sarah from bullying, she will eventually be destroyed in my hands.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

You, who loved Sarah because you saved her, what kind of face will you make when you see Sarah completely ruined?

At that time, I was about to enter the room, laughing at the vague image of the future.

“What are you looking forward to? Charles.”

Hermel’s voice, which seemed to be somewhat suppressed, came from right next to me.

“Hermel… … ? I went to dinner――”

Slowly turn your head and look to the side. My eyes met with Hermel, who was holding a plate of food in both hands.

“Huh? I came out of the room with that commoner, and we hugged each other… … . What are you so excited about?”

The moment I saw Hermel’s eyes looking at me with eyes like an abyss where not a single ray of light enters, I felt that something was wrong.