The main event of Group C was over.
As such, neither Olivia, who had advanced to tomorrow’s semifinals, nor Harriet, who was eliminated, had any more business at the stadium.
“You, you’re such a bad girl, you know you’re a brat, don’t you?”
“I’m only like this for you, unnie.”
“That’s not… but you’re still bad!”
Olivia blushed bright red and stomped after Harriet. Olivia had won, but she had been defeated in a different sense.
That’s why she felt like she’d lost even though she’d won. No, she felt worse for having won.
As Harriet walked along, she glanced over at Olivia, who was squirming beside her.
“Shut up, the match is over, don’t bother me, go away.”
“…You, I’ll get my revenge, you’ll see!”
Olivia’s words sounded like a loser’s excuse for defeat, as she stormed out of the stadium.
Harriet watched Olivia’s back and smiled.
Well, even though it wasn’t a lot.
At least she had some self-control.
She’d been pissed off so much that her blood seemed to boil in the arena, but now that she wasn’t competing, that senior hadn’t touched a hair on her head.
When you’re that pissed off, you lose your cool and try to hurt someone, or maybe you try to hurt yourself.
Instead, she ran away because she didn’t think she could handle it.
It seems that she was someone who kept certain boundaries, but at the same time, from what she’s seen, it feels like she was not able to keep them at all.
‘She’s a strange person….’
Harriet had not yet formed a clear impression of whether Olivia Lanze was a good or bad person.
Of course, she doesn’t need to know if she’s good or bad, to know that she doesn’t like her.
They left the main stadium. There was a crowd of Royal Class first years there.
Reinhardt shouted.
“You did it, you idiot!”
She had lost.
But everyone looked like they thought that she had won.
“I believed you, didn’t I?”
“You were the one who believed in me the least….”
“Uh, well. Ahem!”
Reinhardt’s excited exclamation had Ellen and all the other students stare at him.
Harriet knew that Reinhardt was fidgeting with anxiety the whole match.
Her classmates all rallied around her and praised her. They cheered her on saying that she was amazing.
It didn’t matter whether Olivia had underestimated her or was forbidden from using Divine Power, winning a set against her was huge.
The students weren’t the only ones to greet her, of course.
“Oh, my baby!”
“Oh, uh, mom….”
Grand Duchess de Saint-Owan hugged her fiercely. She knew her parents were in the audience, and she knew they would come, so she wasn’t too upset.
But when her mother called her ‘baby’ in front of everyone, she blushed.
“That was great, my baby. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Mom, don’t call me baby….”
Since her parents had arrived, the students had pulled away to witness the scene from a distance.
Realizing that her classmates would know that this was how she was treated at home made the situation even more unbearable.
Grand Duke de Saint-Owan was also watching with a smile on his face. It was obvious that he was very proud of his daughter, who had grown so much.
Grand Duchess de Saint-Owan, who had spent a long time fussing on her daughter, finally looked at someone.
“But… Mr. Reinhardt?”
“…He, ah, yes, oh, it’s been a while since we last met!”
Everyone was surprised that Grand Duchess de Saint-Owan knew Reinhardt.
‘It’s been a while since we last met?’
Where in the world would Reinhardt ever have the opportunity to meet Harriet’s mother in person?
Reinhardt froze, his complexion turning white.
“If I’m not mistaken,… I think it’s my baby who you have been calling an idiot….”
At the mention of those words, Reinhard’s white complexion turned almost green.
Grand Duchess de Saint-Owan looked at Reinhardt with a kind and gentle smile.
“Is that right?”
“That, that… That, that. That. That….”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The answer came from Ellen’s mouth, not Harriet’s nor Reinhardt’s.
Reinhard froze, staring at Ellen.
Are you trying to kill me?
His stare didn’t seem to faze Ellen, and she continued to look away.
Ellen looked as if she was sulking.
Madame de Saint-Owan’s smile deepened. But it was an eerie smile, as if a thousand blades were lurking within it.
“Mr. Reinhardt, may we speak with you for a moment?”
“Well, it’s. I mean, there’s a story….”
-Chuck
The Grand Duke de Saint-Owan, who had been watching the situation with amusement, suddenly walked over and put his hand on Reinhardt’s shoulder.
“If it’s a story that makes you call my daughter Idiot.”
The Grand Duke de Saint-Owan’s face hardened into a stern expression.
“Then it must be quite a story, yes?”
It must be an impressive story, the Grand Duke of Saint-Owan said with his eyes.
“Please end me.”
Reinhardt finally gave in.
I didn’t get beaten to death.
But when Grand Duchess de Saint-Owan patted me on the shoulder, saying she hadn’t known her daughter had such a cute nickname, I thought a knife to my throat would have been better than that.
Harriet looked like she didn’t know what to do.
It was going to be an awkward situation whether she defended me or not.
That’s right.
I could only assume that this was my karma for calling the daughter of a Grand Duke, the princess of a duchy, an idiot.
The Grand Duke of Saint-Owan didn’t say that he’d kill me if I ever called his daughter that again.
On the contrary, he just looked at me with a cold stare.
He didn’t say anything, which terrified me even more.
“Go on.”
“Uh, yes.”
But….
What am I doing here?
At a restaurant inside Temple….
I was sitting with the family of the Grand Duke of Saint-Owan. The Grand Duke exchanged a few words with Charlotte and Saviolin Turner, whom he obviously knew, and then came over to dine with his daughter and wife.
And then.
Somehow, I ended up joining them.
I didn’t mean to follow them.
They didn’t ask me to follow them either.
It was just that Grand Duchess de Saint-Owan naturally dragged me along. She didn’t ask me to go out to eat with them or anything, she just chatted with me with simple topics but before I knew it, I was already here.
What is this?
What’s going on?
Harriet was equally puzzled.
‘Why is he sitting here? I mean, why did mom bring him here in the first place?’
She had that look on her face.
We sat there in a daze, as if under a spell, when the order arrived, Harriett and I absentmindedly played with our forks and knives, lost in thought.
Let’s not say anything, let’s not raise unnecessary questions
One wrong word and something irreversible might happen.
I wonder what it is.
Meeting her parents in Arnaria alone, and then now sitting here with them.
Even if we were really getting married, wasn’t the order of steps all wrong?
“My dear, when are you going to be able to do that again?”
“Oh yes, I was wondering how it works.”
Fortunately, both the Grand Duchess and the Grand Duke of Saint-Owan seemed preoccupied with their daughter and thus appeared to have little interest in talking with me. Which I didn’t mind. At all.
The second set against Olivia. Her performance there was far beyond my expectations.
“Ugh……. So, I haven’t named it, but I guess you could say it’s scroll magic applied to the human body.”
Harriet rolled up her right sleeve. No tattoos were visible.
But as she concentrated, blue lines of energy floated up her arm and began to take the shape of symbols.
Grand Duke Saint-Owan stared at the intricate lines, then nodded in understanding.
“So you used runes, I see.”
“Yes.”
“You mean you’ve translated modern magic into runes?”
“Yes.”
The only person who truly knew how difficult that would be was the Grand Duke of Saint-Owan, so he stared blankly at his daughter’s nonchalant reply.
Even though she was his daughter, he was clearly surprised that she had done such a ridiculous thing.
Harriet gave a subtle smile.
“I didn’t do it alone, I had a lot of help from the Magic Research Society, and the idea came from another kid.”
“Speaking of the Magic Research Society….”
Harriet glanced in my direction.
“Yeah, it was that thing he said he wanted to make.”
At that, the married couple’s eyes snapped to me.
I did promise that your daughter would cause a sensation in the Magic Research Society.
It wasn’t the way I intended, but Harriet had already done something outrageous by working with the members of the Magic Research Society.
In the end, I was right.
The Grand Duke de Saint-Owan and Harriet discussed her new magic for some time.
For the most part, I couldn’t understand a word of it. But I knew what it was like because Louis had told me.
She’d turned her body into a living, breathing magic circle.
I couldn’t figure out how the actual method of using magic and making one’s body function as a magic circle had any correlation with being able to drastically reduce casting speed.
“My daughter, this is a system of magic that only you can use in this world. For an ordinary mage, the act of translating modern magic into runes, memorizing all of it, and then recalling them when needed would take much longer than the traditional method of casting. This method may remove the manipulation of mana from the casting process, but the computational process is longer.”
“…Yes, I suppose.”
In the end, it’s just something like brute force. It was disadvantageous for the average mage to use this method.
One could use formulas to skip the actual manipulation of magical power.
For Harriet, it’s a way to almost instantly cast magic, but for other mages, it’s a waste of time.
Anyway, I called her a genius, but she’s really a genius for doing something that’s only possible because she’s a genius….
I don’t know what to say.
I’m proud of her.
If she ever faces Ellen, I’m sure she’ll win.
Why did I feel proud in this situation where I’m confident I can’t win against her if we ever fight?
“Why do you have the same expression as dad and mom? It, it makes me feel weird ….”
When she realized that I was making the same face as her parents, Harriet scowled.
The Grand Duchess, the Grand Duke and me.
Apparently, the three of us were all feeling proud right now.
“How is it? Are you feeling suffocated or anything?”
“I’m fine.”
“You know… I have to hold my breath to wear something like this, but you don’t even have that problem, which honestly isn’t fair, is it?”
After dressing Ellen in a dress, Liana stuck out her tongue while admiring how effortlessly Ellen carried herself in the tight-fitting dress, not to mention how well the dress suited her.
The Miss Temple contest was tomorrow. It was the main event of the festival, alongside with the finals of the Open Tournament.
Thus, Ellen and Liana were doing their final checks, and Liana was busy running back and forth between Ellen’s room and Cliffman’s room.
It turned out that Liana was the busiest person during the festival.
Reinhardt’s tournament was over and so was Harriet’s participation in the Open Tournament.
Among the first-year students of the Royal Class, only Ellen and Cliffman had things left to do. Looking at Ellen in front of the mirror, Liana touched her cheek.
“Lighten up a bit. Is something wrong?”
“No, not really.”
Ellen looked at her expression in the mirror.
She didn’t look any different than usual, but she wondered if she was in a bad mood. She even tried to force a smile, but it didn’t work at all.
Smiling naturally was hard for her, so when she tried to force it, it looked weird. It wasn’t necessarily ugly, but it definitely couldn’t be called a smile.
But now, it was harder than usual to smile.
She couldn’t stop thinking about Reinhardt today.
‘Haah….’
‘Eh….’
‘Hey, aren’t you worried?’
‘Our little idiot… What if she lost, huh? No, losing is still fine, but what if she lost badly?’
‘It’s not like I’m nervous or anything!’
‘Okay, look! I’m not shaking, I’m not shaking at all!’
‘I was nervous? When?’
He couldn’t keep still for a second and was sighing heavily with anxiety.
‘Wow. She. What. No. What is that? That’s her.’
‘What the hell, what’s going on?’
‘Come on, look! Our little idiot did it, right?’
‘I knew it!’
Reinhardt jumped with joy when he realized that Harriet was strong enough that he didn’t have to worry about her.
You could tell he was genuinely worried about her and was cheering her on.
Ellen was surprised, too, because even though Harriet withdrew, she still managed to give Olivia a run for her money.
If she had been there, could she have done what Harriet did?
Ellen didn’t think so.
Well, if she had been there….
Would Reinhard have been worried about her like he was with Harriet?
Would he have cheered her on the same way?
She thought that maybe he would have been worried, but not to the point of fidgeting like he did today.
Reinhardt didn’t trust Harriet’s skills. That was why he worried about her like that.
It’s unlikely that he would worry so much about her, since he believed that she could do anything well.
Even if she was losing, he was sure she’d figure a way out.
Because Reinhardt didn’t trust Harriet’s skills, he worried and paid more attention to her. Looking at him, Ellen had to admit that an uncomfortable feeling was already building inside her.
Jealousy.
She was jealous of Harriet.
Therefore, she couldn’t get the biggest question of the day out of her head, the one that felt like a stone in her heart.
‘It’s been a while since we last met.’
Reinhardt seemed to know Harriet’s parents, while the Grand Duke and Duchess of Saint-Owan seemed to know him as well.
And judging by the fact that Harriet didn’t seem at all surprised by that, it seemed that Harriet already knew about their acquaintanceship.
How?
No, not how, but why?
Why did Reinhardt meet with Harriet’s parents?
Had he and Harriet gone and met them together? Why did they meet, and why did Reinhardt come along with them?
He didn’t tell her that he met Harriet’s parents, had he?
No, there’s no reason for Reinhardt to tell her about it.
But.
Still.
She realized that there’s still a lot she didn’t know about Reinhardt.
But she didn’t want to know about these kinds of things.
She didn’t want to know about this kind of thing in this manner.
Of course, she’s not the only one with questions.
“Well, it’s kind of strange that the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess knew Reinhardt.”
Liana said idly as she smoothed out Ellen’s clothes and adjusted her accessories.
They had all been surprised to see Reinhardt being grabbed and dragged away by the Grand Duchess de Saint-Owan in front of the stadium.
“They might have accidentally run into each other?”
“Do you think so?”
Ellen gave a random reply, even though she was the one who was wondering the most.
At some point, she had started to lie, pretending not to be curious, pretending not to care, pretending to be okay when she was not.
Ellen hated the way she was changing, little by little. Lying, hiding her feelings.
“But is Reinhardt close enough with the Grand Duke to dine with him?”
“….”
Ellen gritted her teeth at Liana’s words.
If she didn’t, she felt like her face in the mirror would contort in a strange way.
Smiling was hard.
Ellen could only manage to keep a straight face.
“I think that’s enough. I’ll just go check on Cliffman. He probably doesn’t even know how to get dressed.”
“Yes.”
After Liana left her room, Ellen relaxed her clenched teeth.
Ellen looked in the mirror.
She saw herself in a colorful dress, shoulders bare, necklace, earrings, bracelets, and other colorful accessories.
It looked okay.
She thought to herself, but Liana kept telling her that it would be weird for a girl like her to not be Miss Temple.
‘Let go of all the nonsense, the jealousy, the inferiority complex, the doubts.’
‘They don’t help you one bit.’
Ellen didn’t wonder about anything else.
What would Reinhard say, what would his face look like if he saw her like this.
She could only wonder about that.
She was a little surprised herself, but Reinhardt would be even more surprised, she believed.
She was afraid of what Reinhardt would say once he saw her, but there was also a little bit of excitement.
In her room, without Liana, Ellen looked at herself in the mirror and tried to force a smile.
It still didn’t work, but she knew she could try.
Maybe this alone would make her smile someday.
Ellen practiced smiling at herself in the mirror.
“….”
Olivia Lanze was lying on her bed in her room.
Olivia may have won in Group C today, but everyone knew that she lost one set..
Olivia Lanze, A-0, 5th year.
With a few exceptions, Olivia was still kind and gentle to everyone. She hasn’t changed much.
However, Olivia’s classmates, who were younger than her in age, didn’t come over to congratulate her, because they knew she’d be a little sensitive today.
So, now she was alone.
Lying on her back, Olivia stared blankly up at the ceiling of her dorm room.
If she had used her Divine Power, she would have been able to withstand that last magical attack somehow.
No, the match wouldn’t have reached that point in the first place.
In addition to divine magic that could heal and protect.
She had that too.
Olivia raised her hand to see the black mist rising from it.
Corrupted divine power.
Olivia could use that, too.
If only Tiamata were there.
She wouldn’t have been humiliated by that little brat.
She lost because she won.
Olivia couldn’t forget the look on that brat’s face as she declared her withdrawal.
She knew that she had won their little spat even as she withdrew.
Olivia knew that even if she had won, in actuality she had lost.
She should have won the whole match, but she dropped a set and was beaten.
Therefore, it’s her loss.
Even if she went on to win the tournament, it wouldn’t change the fact that she lost to Harriet.
There’s no point in thinking about it. Wondering about what could have been if things were done differently was absolutely meaningless..
She lost to Harriet de Saint-Owan.
That’s all that matters.
She felt defeated, but she couldn’t give up.
After all, punishing those kids was never the real goal.
She needed money.
Money.
If she won the tournament, and if she was crowned Miss Temple, she’ll get the money.
That’s what it’s all about, so she’ll just focus on that. The semifinals and finals weren’t going to be easy.
And the Miss Temple pageant should be prepared for.
Olivia slid out of bed and opened her closet.
She’d sold everything but what she needed, so her closet was bare except for her school uniform and her normal everyday clothes.
‘I wish I had at least the dress I wore to the fundraiser….’
She sold her things to help others. Even the dresses and jewelry that she wore to various events that were given to her by her foster father were sold.
There was no reason for her to go that far..
She just couldn’t find another reason why she shouldn’t have done it.
Once she realized that her true needs weren’t met by material things.
Olivia did just that.
“Haha….”
And so, Olivia stared at her closet, which was devoid of anything other than her school uniform and her everyday clothes, and laughed bitterly.
The Grand Duke and Duchess of Saint-Owan dined that day and did not leave until evening. The Grand Duke was a busy man in many ways, so it was obvious that he had only taken some time off today because of Harriet’s tournament appearance.
“Well….”
After seeing them off, Harriet blurted out.
“Why didn’t you… Hey, why didn’t you say anything?”
“I mean, there was never a right time to say anything! What about you! What were you going to say! Say it quickly!”
I’ve been holding my tongue in front of the Grand Duke and Duchess, but now it’s time to spit it out. Harriet blushed bright red.
“Uh, uh, uh… You’re going to make fun of me for getting called that by my mom… ah….”
Her lips were quivering as she spoke. Does she really think I’m going to tease her and call her a baby?
“What’s there to make fun of? You are a baby.”
“You’re making fun of me again!”
I haven’t seen such a knee-jerk reaction in a long time.
If she kept on doing that, even if I didn’t want to make fun of her, I would end up doing it anyway. I couldn’t help but tease her!
“Go on and cry. Do it as if I wasn’t here.”
“I won’t! I won’t do it! I won’t even do it at home!”
Harriet’s face flushed bright red as she scowled. Yes, you certainly wouldn’t, I know that, but you’re far too susceptible to instigation and deception.
You’re still a child at heart, stomping your feet in frustration.
It’s funny how you’ve gotten stronger, but your mind hasn’t changed.
“Why don’t you try it?”
“No! Why would I do that at my age?”
… What.
Why is it so cute to hear a seventeen-year-old say ‘at my age’?
She really is being silly.
If I provoked her any further, she might start to cast a spell, so I restrained myself. There are times when it’s necessary to control oneself..
We walked back to the Royal Class dormitory.
It was still crowded. It would only get more crowded by Friday.
Today’s Group C final of the Open Tournament must have been quite the event. From what I could see, it was a fight unlike any other.
A first year firing off magic at near lightning speed.
A fifth year charging like a tank while taking it all with her bare body.
Leaving everything else aside, it was really amazing.
“But… Is that weird?”
Harriet muttered in a small voice as she walked quietly.
“What’s weird?”
“My mom calling me that. It’s weird… Don’t you think so?”
What the hell.
Was she still thinking about that? She seemed really embarrassed about it. Then again, for Harriet it might be a problem of its own.
The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Saint.Owan would continue to treat her like a child.
But maybe that’s just the way it is.
Watching Harriet fidget in embarrassment, I smirked.
“Why is it strange for parents to love their children?”
“….”
The Grand Duke, who pretended to be a stern and stoic man, but whose love for his daughter oozed out of him.
The Grand Duchess who fussed over Harriet over and over again, not wanting to let her out of her arms.
Harriet seemed to be disgusted by the scene, but I liked it.
Though why I had to watch the whole thing was a mystery.
“Of course, most people who come from that kind of environment are spoiled, right?”
“What are you trying to say?!”
“But you’re not exactly a spoiled brat, are you?”
Although it seemed clear that she had grown up in a good environment, there were probably some mistakes made along the way, but was it a sin for parents to love their children? And while she may have acted spoiled in the original, it wasn’t necessarily the case right now.
“Now that I think about it, you can say some good things after all… But why do you have to say words like that? Spoiled brat? I-I’ve never been called that before in my life!”
It’s kind of funny that she was pleased that I told her that her parents were good people and that she’s been raised well.
Though she got angry by the end.
I wonder if there’s something about me that prevents me from saying nice things in a straightforward manner.
But I couldn’t stop making her turn red and pouty?
With that, we walked back to the royal class dormitory.
It’s winter.
It was night.
So, it was cold.
“It’s cold.”
“It’s winter, you idiot. Of course it’s cold.”
“Do I have to be called an idiot for saying it’s cold?”
“I don’t know about anyone else, but it’s not something you should say, especially not to me, after all the times you’ve teased me about things that don’t make sense!”
Harriet started ranting again. No, but this time I started it first.
The weather seemed particularly cold today. It’s the middle of winter, it’s nighttime, and we’re dressed lightly. Our breaths were visible due to the cold.
How much colder could it get?
Of course, we’re not at the poles, and the weather shouldn’t be that harsh.
But then again, wasn’t magic kind of godlike?
Why do we need to feel cold just because it’s freezing?
I nudged Harriet, who was still walking beside me.
“Hey, it’s cold.”
“…what.”
“It’s cold.”
“So what?”
“Do something.”
“Why would I?”
Harriet looked at me intently, as if asking me to say something, anything really.
While we were on the deserted island, Harriet summoned a heating sphere and put it in the kids’ tent.
It’s magic, after all, whether it’s spells or charms, magic was the best. When I told Harriet to give me something, anything, she pouted her lips and closed her eyes softly.
I wondered if she was going to summon the heat sphere she’d summoned on the deserted island.
“….”
Harriet suddenly grabbed my hand.
She didn’t even look at me, her head was hanging low.
No.
This.
When I first awoke from using Magic Body Strengthening, sick as a dog, and asked her to put me to bed, she sang me a lullaby, instead of casting a sleep spell.
When I realized it was a misunderstanding, it was almost as if I had died for real.
I was asking her to use a spell, and she had gotten it all wrong.
“No, hey… Not this, magic….”
“I know.”
Those words made my head spin.
“I… I’m not that stupid….”
Her voice trembled so badly it sounded like it might break at any moment.
She took my hand, even though she knew I was asking her to use magic.
With her head looking down, Harriet took my hand and led the way.
She didn’t squeeze too hard. I couldn’t squeeze harder, and I couldn’t let go. I let her take my hand and lead the way.
“So, how was your day?”
Harriet asked.
“It was great.”
I said, sincerely, without pretense.
“….”
“….”
We didn’t talk any further.
We just walked, without talking.
The dorms were far enough away that would require us to take the tram back.
But Harriet kept walking, passing right by the tram stop.
As if she wanted to keep walking forever.
As if she was hoping for our destination to never appear.
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