"This is a mess, a mess."
Jean groaned with his head buried on the desk.
The situation was obvious just by looking at the piled-up documents that had grown into miniature mountains.
The President of Caldwell Academy was outraged by the bloodshed inside the academy. Not to mention that it was during an official event.
So much so that there was an official letter ordering to find the ringleader in just less than a day after the incident.
The problem was that if one were to look at the route and time the assassins infiltrated, it was clear that there was an 'insider' helping them.
This fact was probably a big part of why the president was so angry.
Jean slightly lifted his head, then said with narrowed eyes.
"Still, all of you who were present will receive commendations for subduing that many armed personnel without a single casualty."
"Is that so?"
Jean's expression slightly distorted hearing the soulless reply.
"…The problem is that guy, Adrian Merrick. He's missing from the list of people to receive a commendation. I don't know why and there's no reason for him to be excluded. I think he's deliberately trying to be low-key."
"Is that so?"
"The academic team is definitely working on something. It seems like they're preparing something big, with that guy as the center."
"Is that so?"
"I'mma hit you if you answer like that one more time."
"Is that so?"
A sitting Lirielle was blankly staring at the ceiling, as she casually caught the ink bottle flying towards her.
Seeing her do that without even turning her head was deserving of her title of Princess Lirielle, however that didn't make Jean less angry.
"What's wrong with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"…What?"
"I said I think I care about someone."
Did Jean hear it wrong?
No, she didn't think so.
"What do you mean?"
"…"
There was no answer, but somehow it felt like Lirielle stared at the ceiling more intensely. As if she's hiding her shame.
Seeing that the tips of Lirielle's ears were slightly red, Jean almost felt cosmic fear.
This woman was acting like an adolescent girl?
A stone face whose expression doesn't change while slicing through people?
Jean rubbed her eyes. Nope, still red ears. Not a hallucination.
For the first time in her life, Jean wondered if she should write this down somewhere for history books: The day Princess Lirielle turned human.
"…Who is it?"
"Didn't you just talk about him?"
She was so embarrassed, she couldn't even say it directly and had to do it in a roundabout way.
"Adrian Merrick?"
"…"
"No, wait a minute."
Feeling an explosive headache, Jean grabbed her head and sank back onto the desk.
Come to think of it, it felt like her attitude changed a bit after the sparring with the next Hero candidate.
That was this, wasn't it?
Eung. That's it.
"You like him?"
"…I haven't said that yet."
Oh girl.
"Yet?"
"…"
Lirielle firmly shut her mouth. The tips of her ears got a bit redder.
At that sight, Jean's mouth blankly opened again, headache throbbing like a war drum.
"You know how big of a storm this will bring, don't you?"
Princess Lirielle was in a position where her every single move is used as a story.
That's probably because the prestige of the Caldwell Family was so much greater than that of Lirielle as an individual. Regardless, when such a person is in a relationship, it would likely be consumed with gossip.
Of course, there is no particular problem with gossip, but there is one person who will not be pleased with it.
"If Archduke Caldwell finds out—"
However, Jean was forced to shut her mouth.
As soon as she said that, it felt like the temperature in the entire room had gone down several degrees.
"…Yes, that old man would be displeased."
Jean swallowed dryly. Fantastic. Not only am I babysitting a murder machine with a crush, now she's blushing like a schoolgirl at the thought of Armageddon with Daddy Caldwell. Someone stab me with a quill, it'd be less painful.
Lirielle replied in a frosty voice.
This wasn't the attitude you'd expect from a daughter to her father, but Jean didn't put too much thought into it.
He didn't even contact his daughter after two assassination attempts.
You don't need to ask to know what kind of relationship they had.
So, Jean decided to change the subject.
"This situation is kind of… weird. How did he seduce you—"
"I didn't get seduced."
Jean nearly choked.
Because there it was: Princess Lirielle Caldwell, twirling the end of her hair like some lovestruck maiden out of a cheap romance novel.
Her. The human guillotine.
"…Yeah, sure."
Jean laughed, a little too sharply. It was either laugh or panic.
It's probably like that since Lirielle never cared about appearances or what others said about her.
Still… Jean wasn't used to this. She'd seen Lirielle cut men down without blinking, but seeing her blush was a whole new kind of horror.
"Anyway," Jean said, leaning on the desk, "if someone so much as holds the door open for you, you're usually the first to suspect they're plotting regicide. And now you're… what? Twirling your hair?"
The environment molds a person.
And Princess Lirielle had been molded in an environment where kindness was poison. If someone smiled at you, it was because they wanted something.
Yet here she was, trusting this one man like it was second nature.
As if something had compelled her into it.
"It seems so."
Considering her usual tendency, it was unprecedented for someone to break through her walls so quickly and so deeply.
Lirielle should've been aware of this herself.
"Then why don't we test it out?" Jean asked suddenly.
Lirielle tilted her head. "…What test?"
"We're just going to take a closer look."
"…What are you talking about?"
But instead of answering, Lirielle gave a small smile.
Jean froze. Goosebumps crawled down her spine.
Because she knew that smile.
It wasn't a smile that meant things would be fine. It was the smile of a woman who thought 'let's commit arson and see what happens.'
"Hey," Jean said slowly. "What are you talking about?"
"Let's go get something to eat. It's about time."
"…Don't change the subject—!"