"Lady Adelheid could accompany me. There are a few matters I wish to discuss with you… in private, if possible."
He said it while looking at Maxi.
Yeah… message received loud and clear.
Meanwhile, Maxi's silver eyes reflected absolute exhaustion.
A heavy kind of tiredness. Almost painful.
She was probably sick of dealing with nobles… just like me.
At least I had her beside me to endure the nightmare that would be talking to Auren.
"If it's because of me, there's no problem. I'm outta here."
Or so I thought.
"Eh?"
"See ya, Ryn."
"W-Wait! Traitor!"
And just like that, Maxi escaped the scene…
I'd love to say I'll get revenge, but we both know I can't.
"So then, shall we leave?"
Go with him?
To a private place?
… Nope!
That sounds like tugging on a lion's tail. Well, in this case, the lion would be an albino girl obsessed with Auren.
So yeah. No thanks. I value my life way too much to do something that stupid.
"Uh… look, I'm busy today. But another time, like… totally! Buh-bye!"
I immediately turned around to flee.
A perfect plan that lasted… exactly two steps.
A firm grip stopped my wrist.
"I'm afraid this matter is urgent. You will need to postpone your other obligations."
Ugh… that tone.
So bossy. So… annoying.
Even when I first played this game, I could feel his arrogance through the screen.
Like just because he existed… the entire world had to obey him.
To this day, I still don't understand how this guy has so many fangirls both inside and outside this Visual Novel.
Looking again at his hand wrapped around my wrist, a huge wave of disgust crawled up my spine.
"…Let go."
My voice came out colder than I expected.
"I seriously hate being touched without my consent. And lemme warn ya, I'm not in the mood to deal with dumb crap today. If I get nervous… I'll kick you right in the balls."
That should scare him off for sure. There's no way Auren's affection for Kathryn would increase after something like that.
"Violence between students is prohibited. Would you like to be punished for making threats?"
"…Ugh!" God, he's stubborn! Just let me go already! "Uh… LOOK BEHIND YOU, A UNICORN POOPING ICE CREAM!"
"I'm not falling for that twice."
"…Crap."
***
In the end, I ended up in the student council room.
Y'know.
That ridiculously luxurious place that looks like it came from another planet. Typical of these novels where the student council somehow has near-divine authority inside the academy, even though real-life student councils don't even have one percent of that power.
The room itself was huge.
Not as huge as Herz's office, but definitely a couple times bigger than my room.
There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling… a weird one.
"Whoa."
I couldn't help blurting that out once I looked at it more closely.
It reminded me of those Victorian-era chandeliers from movies, except with way more metallic details.
The center looked like a giant nut, connected to another circular frame through metallic rods. Attached to it were candle-like lights.
Or at least, I think they were candles.
The rest of the room wasn't any less over-the-top.
The walls were filled with clockwork-like machinery details that released soft streams of steam.
Damn… this is ridiculously excessive… but I gotta admit, it's super cool…
"Lady Adelheid, the reason I decided to summon you today is…"
Auren sat behind the desk beside the massive purple-and-red crystal window, starting to speak in that same annoying tone as always.
Ah… there's my cue.
Time to zone out!
I have zero desire to listen to his nonsense.
Better to think about something useful instead.
Why did Maxi abandon me?
I mean… I get it.
"As you can see from these reports, over the past few days…"
She was probably exhausted from putting up with Kaelvarion all day. I can't even imagine the insane level of willpower that requires.
Which only makes me admire her even more.
But still…
It hurt.
I thought our relationship had improved.
That… we'd become closer.
But I guess I was the only one thinking that...
"These incidents are causing a certain level of concern among…"
…No! I need to try harder.
I'm gonna make her love me even more! Ejem... as a friend, of course.
"So then, Lady Adelheid, what exactly do you have to say in your defense regarding all these disturbances?"
"Eh? What?"
I blinked.
What was this guy even talking about?
"…I ask that you pay attention. Now."
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Go ahead."
Auren rubbed his temples tiredly and let out a heavy sigh. Then he opened his mouth to speak...
And that's when I saw it.
Holy sh*t!
"THAT IS A HUGE PIECE OF CHARD!"
Right there.
Right in the middle of his perfect teeth.
A gigantic chunk of today's lunch spinach thingy.
"…Eh?"
The look of confusion on his face was priceless.
"Pfff… Hahaha!"
"What exactly is amusing about that comment? I fail to see the humor."
"HAHAHA! Oh my god! This is too funny! You talk all smug like you're perfect, but you can't even clean your mouth properly! YOU'VE GOT A HUGE FREAKING PIECE OF FOOD STUCK IN YOUR TEETH! Hahaha!"
"W-What…?"
For the first time ever, the great Auren stuttered.
"That can't be…"
Auren pulled out a hand mirror from the desk, then covered his mouth with both hands.
His face turned bright red.
He kinda reminded me of Teo when he tried asking out Verónica, the hot gym girl.
Heh. That's a nice memory.
After that, we went out to eat together to heal his broken heart.
"Heh… hehe…"
I kept laughing, but then I realized Auren was getting really red.
It made me feel a teeny tiny bit bad… mostly because of the Teo memory.
Ah… okay.
Okay.
I won't make fun of him anymore.
If someone had mocked Teo that hard back then, I would've gone feral defending him.
"Hehe… okay, okay… wow, that was a good laugh. Anyways, don't get so red, dude. It can happen to anyone. It was just funny 'cause it happened to you, but it's not that serious. Here."
I pulled a small box of dental floss out from my skirt.
No clue why I always carry this around. Probably one of the original Kathryn's habits. Some of her little mannerisms and quirks kinda stuck to me.
"Here."
Sure, I laughed my ass off, but damn… I know how awful it feels when people mock you over something stupid and pointless.
Even if it's this jerk, I don't want anyone going through that kind of humiliation.
"C'mon, what're you waiting for? Take it. Don't tell me your pride's so huge you can't accept something from a Nen."
"…Thank you."
He said it dryly while taking the dental floss.
And then… he left.
Probably to fix himself somewhere far away from me.
Even so, his face was still bright red.
…Kinda nice knowing I'm not the only one who gets embarrassed.
But the reason I'm even happier is because after this, there's absolutely no way I can end up on Auren's route now.
I mocked him, laughed right in his face, completely ignored his authority.
"Yep. Everything should be totally perfect now."
Let's get outta here.
I cheered myself on while dusting imaginary dirt off my hands, fully satisfied with today's outcome.
But the second I stepped through the door-
"AH! FISALIA!"
Holy crap, what a scare!
The albino girl was standing literally one centimeter away from my face.
Looks like she'd been waiting by the door for a while.
…Oh no.
That expression does not look friendly.
Don't tell me she saw Auren leave all red-faced while covering his mouth, and then saw me come out right after.
Damn it, even saying it out loud makes it sound like something happened between us.
Which obviously would NEVER happen!
"Uh… F-Fisalia, I-"
"Move. I need to deliver documents."
"Eh?"
She brushed past me, shoulder-checking me on the way.
But nothing more serious than that.
…That's it?
She didn't hit me?
Didn't scream at me?
And the system?
Where the hell is the stupid system when it's supposed to ruin my life?!
"HA!"
No freaking way.
SOMETHING GOOD FINALLY HAPPENED!
As happy as I was, I decided not to push my luck and left as fast as possible. Wouldn't want Fisalia changing her mind and coming back to beat the crap outta me.
I headed toward the stairs to take the tertiary hallway back to my dorm.
And then-
Flush!
"Ah!"
A wet splashing sound squished beneath my feet.
"Eh…? AHHH!"
Before I could even process it, my body went flying down the stairs.
"MAKE WAY, A BEAUTY IS FALLING FROM THE SKY!"
I shut my eyes, bracing myself for the pain of tile flooring smashing against my poor little body.
But it never came.
Instead, I felt a small impact, nowhere near what I'd expected, but what caught my attention the most was the warm and soft sensation against my right hand.
Something soft.
So, without even opening my eyes, I squeezed it a little.
And… yep, feels pretty nice.
Actually kinda relaxing.
While I was thinking such dumb stuff, a groan snapped me out of my stupidity.
"AUHG!"
I blinked.
"…Ouch… That... That actually hurt way less than I expected… Eh? CARLOTTA?"
***
"That Nen… mocked me!"
Inside the men's restroom on the fourth floor of Libelling Academy, a promising young heir from a prestigious family found himself experiencing a feeling he thought he had long left behind.
Embarrassment.
How many years had it been since he last felt such a thing?
He could no longer remember.
It was unthinkable that someone like him—a son of the Weiss family—could allow himself to be overtaken by shame.
His perfection had been stained.
Clenching tighter, he continued scrubbing his mouth.
Staring at his reflection in the mirror with restrained fury.
"Although it is partly my fault for not being more careful. How did I let something like that happen? Am I becoming careless? Pathetic on my part."
Rubbing his perfectly straight teeth clean, he scolded himself internally.
He couldn't understand how his precious order—that very order he had fought so hard to establish within Libelling Academy, one of his greatest personal achievements as the institution's noble leader—had been disrupted by…
"…By the arrival of a Nen with no noteworthy surname."
That was the truth.
The mere arrival of that new student had turned everything upside down.
Over the past few weeks, his workload had multiplied, though that itself wasn't the problem. Work of that nature, after all, naturally fell upon him.
A noble.
It was his sacred duty to handle situations others could not manage. Such was the honor of the Weiss family.
But this situation?
It was a terrible joke.
A Nen who insisted on causing disturbances.
On challenging his perfect order.
An uncontrollable force, even!
…And yet, deep down, he knew those were nothing more than pathetic excuses.
Excuses unworthy of a noble of his caliber.
Especially when Madame Herz— that very being who embodied everything he admired—had personally entrusted him with watching over Lady Adelheid, the Nen with Non-Elemental Magic.
He washed his perfectly sculpted face with cold water, attempting to calm his restless mind.
Observe. Protect. Report.
Simple instructions given directly to him by Madame Herz.
And yet, as simple as they sounded, that Nen somehow made them feel like a titanic struggle.
"…Herz… Very well. I'll endure a little longer. I hope you're right."
Whether it was because of the Non-Elemental Magic… or for some other reason he still couldn't perceive, Madame Herz—the very epitome of perfection—had developed a strange fascination with that commoner.
A fascination Auren simply could not understand.
She was rude, lazy, graceless, and utterly lacking in manners.
The antithesis of nobility itself.
So then… how could something as valuable as that rare Magic end up in the genes of something so filthy?
"Ah… but whatever. Orders are orders. Back to work. Plans cannot be rushed."
After rinsing his mouth one last time, Auren adjusted his white hair and straightened the collar of his uniform before deciding to leave.
He still had several documents to process, along with other matters to attend to.
Though he hoped Fisalia was already handling the latter.