The next day.
It was a weekday. Sorry for messing up Victoria’s plans to rest over the weekend.
Let’s blame it on Merryweather.
Classroom.
Today, for some reason, Victoria and I sat far apart. And Merryweather sat next to me.
It’s funny how totally beaming she is.
Watching someone who knows nothing is amusing. I have to stay alert so I don’t end up being the one laughed at, though.
It’s easy to be wary of someone smarter than you, but it’s hard to be cautious of someone dumber.
By the way, last night…
Victoria realized something was off about Merryweather’s presence.
It was strange that she seemed like someone who had been friendly with her from day one, and that no one took a special interest in her.
She even muttered that she feels very close to her now.
But I’m worried that she banged her head against the wall pretty hard.
Sure, when caught in a weird hypnotic state, it’s usually common to hit your head to wake up, but isn’t it a bit much for a girl to do that to a wall…?
Anyway, from an outsider’s perspective, my relationship with Victoria is a mess.
After morning classes, I eat lunch and then attend afternoon classes. As soon as classes are over, I head straight back to my accommodation.
I’ve been repeating the same day for a few days now.
Since nothing has changed for me, Merryweather sometimes makes a disgruntled face, as if she feels something is going wrong.
If I want to go along with Merryweather’s rhythm, should I just consult about the falling-out with Victoria?
But if I stick to my standards, I can’t consult about something that doesn’t exist. I can either say only part of the truth or not answer at all, but I won’t lie.
So, I’ve decided to do nothing at all. I wonder how Merryweather will take this? I’m looking forward to her not being able to hold back and talking to me when she’s been waiting.
By then, Merryweather, and even the royal family, will likely reveal what they want.
Meanwhile, something curious happened to Victoria.
Polaris Balluin Barrington, a girl of the rank of Marquis, called Victoria aside. Surprisingly, Merryweather doesn’t seem to care much about Victoria herself.
I’ve thoroughly researched the harvesting period in this country.
I’ve seen experiments that completely ignore human rights, not just the ones protected by them. Since there haven’t been any biological experiments since, I guess I’ve learned enough.
Back to the topic, after class, Polaris dragged Victoria away. When looking at the school from the front gate, it’s to the right. It stretches eastward.
This time, Polaris took Victoria into the park inside the Royal Academy.
*
“Is this the first time you’ve talked like this, just the two of you?”
“Yeah. Are you going to break trees again, Polaris?”
Polaris chuckled at Victoria’s joke.
‘I didn’t expect her to call me by a nickname after just one conversation before.’
Polaris thought, looking at the girl in front of her who embodied confidence.
Victoria Bett.
She came from a completely common background, originally living in a modest home, but due to a lack of history and wealth, she would have normally found it impossible to enroll in the Royal Academy. It wasn’t that her parents were good at music or art, which is why she got in through a special admission process.
In other words, she managed to enroll because she has accomplishments of her own, making her someone Polaris could favorably view at that point.
And those accomplishments are commendable.
She helped many people in a city struck by a disaster where magic could not be used.
Strength, not to mention character – she passed the test in both regards.
Polaris already held a lot of goodwill towards Victoria.
Of course, Polaris didn’t overly inflate her assessment of Victoria. Because simply having those characteristics wouldn’t lead to bringing her in as a transfer student to the Royal Academy.
The threshold of the Royal Academy is high, and the standards are incredibly rigorous.
To Polaris, Victoria barely meets those standards. That implies there must be another reason.
‘Then, that thing next to her must be the reason.’
Polaris recalled the smaller girl who had always stuck beside Victoria.
Bell.
While Victoria also had porcelain-like white skin, which glowed with a faint reddish aura making her look beautiful, this girl had skin that was uncomfortably pale.
Not just her appearance but her behavior as well. There’s something unsettling about watching someone that resembles a human but is not quite one. Combined with her unnaturally pale skin, it’s frightening.
Thus, when it was announced that a new transfer student was arriving, none of the class-bound kids took any bad actions out of jealousy, as had been feared. This was because Bell felt much too ominous for those who only held rank to do anything.
And Victoria’s situation is intertwined with serious matters concerning Bell. Speculating in that direction, Polaris opened her mouth.
“I won’t break anything this time. I’ll get straight to the point without spinning around. Do you know anything about a woman named Merryweather Alquet? Isn’t it weird?”
Polaris asked, thinking that had Victoria been a noble, it would have taken a long time to navigate bothersome procedures to get this conversation going.
“Yeah. She suddenly appeared, and I felt strangely close to her from the start. It was like I was sharing things with her that I wouldn’t normally say, almost like talking to my mom.”
Polaris carefully selected her words, worried that Victoria might break down.
“Is the reason your relationship with Bell has soured because of that woman?”
Victoria fell silent, unsure how much to say regarding Polaris’ question.
‘This person must be leaning toward Merryweather… No, Polaris wouldn’t be like that. If she was, she wouldn’t have extended a hand to us last time. If not, I’ll just chalk it up to my bad judgment.’
Victoria cautiously began her longer story, starting from the events of the weekend.
As Polaris listened, she felt anger and disgust rising at Merryweather’s words but restrained herself to focus on what Victoria was saying from beginning to end.
“What a backstabber.”
Polaris summed it up in one word after hearing the story.
“Is it okay to curse like that?”
“Isn’t it noble to swear? Pff, they just layer their filthy words on top of etiquette, but they’re just as human as the rest of us.”
Polaris propped her chin in thought and looked up at the sky.
‘I can’t even gather my thoughts to explain this. I know someone who can detail this stuff, but honestly, I don’t even want to see their face… Still, it’d make sense to visit an expert on this, but let’s get organized first.’
Polaris walked up to Victoria.
“Tori, what do you want to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you want to reconcile with Bell, or do you want to report Merryweather?”
It was a straightforward question, filled with good intentions.
Victoria sensed this in Polaris’ words and smiled gently.
“What’s with that? Why are you smiling?”
“Because Polaris is a really nice person. And I don’t need to reconcile with Bell.”
“No, but from what you said, Merryweather ruined things between you two.”
When Victoria firmly rejected it, Polaris thought she might have upset her and tried to turn her mood around.
“I’ve never had a falling out with Bell.”
“Huh? But for the past few days, you’ve been sitting apart and not talking! No one can miss that there’s a rift! Or is your pride just getting in the way?”
Victoria recalled the day, when the sense of unease shifted into suspicion. It was when a kid trying to steal was punished by Merryweather.
At a glance, it seemed like she was overtly antagonizing Victoria, but she was consistently hostile toward Bell.
Thus, without anyone knowing, Victoria had asked Bell if she knew about it.
But Bell indeed knew. And she responded that she didn’t need help.
In that case, Victoria believed that she would just come back once everything was over.
“Did you know? Bell is very easy to understand.”
“That’s only you.”
“No, I’m serious! If you got close, you would see! She’s a little annoying in that she acts like a mom, but…”
Polaris blinked in surprise at that unexpected description.
Bell acts like a mom?
She looked like a doll in a childish form with a glaring absence of opinion.
Whenever they did something, she just followed Victoria around, leaving Polaris to feel that Bell wasn’t a human every single day. So, it was hard to understand Victoria’s words.
Seeing the expression on Polaris’ face that seemed to grasp everything, Victoria continued speaking.
“Bell may seem thoughtless, but she’s not stupid. Maybe she’s pushing me away because I don’t need her right now. But…”
“But?”
Victoria looked at Polaris and smiled faintly.
“It’s only been three months since I met her, and just one week without her, but I already feel a bit lonely.”
Polaris inwardly reevaluated her opinion on Bell.
Surely, a person thinking this way can’t be bad.
However, if she turned out to be a bad person, deceiving even this lovely girl, then she could be deemed like a demon with wicked wisdom.
‘I don’t want to let a good kid become pitiful.’
Polaris chuckled seeing Victoria blush at her overly embarrassing statement.
“Then, would you like to hang out with me for a while? You don’t have any friends, right?”
Polaris wasn’t thinking too deeply about it; wanting to take her along since she had no one to hang out with and it would be boring alone.
Ahhh!
However, it struck deep into Victoria’s heart. She had already faced jabs about not having friends from her mom and Bell, so this was a critical blow.
But Victoria is a girl with a steel heart.
Honestly, you might say she has more of a nuclear heat kind of extreme than a steel-like vibe since she started off being dragged into a hellish place like a horror game and wiped that group off the face of the Earth.
“Polaris, please take care of me.”
“Why are you speaking so formally? Did I say something weird? Tori? You don’t have any friends, do you? Why are you making that grimacing face!”
Seeing flustered Polaris rush over, Victoria waved her hand, saying she’s fine.
‘Of course, Polaris acts like she’s kicking a corpse for a laugh.’
Swallowing such grumbling, and feeling the emotional blood flowing from her heart, Victoria forced a smile.
Today.
Victoria gained a new friend.
