Because I felt like vomiting, I let out a weird voice.
âHey, donât let out such a gross-sounding voice.â
âI hope you go bald.â
If it was as usual, he would have hit my head for that, but he didnât. He may have been worried about me being sick, in his own way.
The work for preparing the Art Appreciation Clubâs exhibit list for Thanksgiving hasnât been progressing that much. If there really were no problems, then Darius wouldnât have made fun of our chuunibyou-like exhibit title and said it looked stupid.
What the hell is fantasy karma? What was the picture? Iâm curious, but I probably wonât be able to see it on the day of.
Today as well, in the Hidden Student Council room, because there were members playing chess, doing work entrusted by Bern, or confirming the authenticity of rumors as well as creating charts of the power distribution among the students, the room was lively and wrapped with a moderate excitement in the air.
Darius has already gotten used to the Hidden Student Council, and heâd sometimes defeat an upperclassman in chess. But he has yet to win against Helena, and because of her, heâs being still called a boy. Serves him right.
As usual, while Ionius is carrying out important jobs from Bern, heâs also helping out with Katerinaâs play.
Some of the girls have told me that they feel sorry for him for going along with Katerinaâs whims. Because Ionius has so-so features, his body build is good as well, and most of all, heâs good at taking care of others â heâs fairly popular.
Although he likes being swung about by Katerina, heâs the type of guy thatâs too helpful.
What was the play again� Something about a night queen, and a day queen.
I was given a rough explanation â it was something like a foreign prince going back and forth between the night queen and the day queen, and in the end, he wasnât able to choose between the two. Although, I did mention he wasnât able to choose between the two, the prince left behind a lover in his country, and he was able to resist the temptation and loved her regardless of the obstacles.
Instead of a play, the story sounds closer to an opera. Although operas have a lot of singing that involves various facial expressions, itâs not as central to the story as a musical or a dance.
Katerina plays as the night queen that hides her feelings, and Ionius is her lion attendant.
I remember laughing at how their roles were just too well-suited for them.
Resting my cheek on the palm of my hand on the desk, I absentmindedly looked outside the window.
From the window of this corner second floor classroom, there was a tree growing in front of the building, with the top slightly peeking out, as it swayed and rustled with the bright blue sky as its backdrop.
I thought, âIt looks like an afro,â but became sad when I realized that I didnât have a friend with me that I could laugh with about the afro.
I wonder. After my argument with Lila, Iâve been thinking about my previous life more often.
Well, even if I say that, itâs all in the past.
Because there was already a time where I was self-aware about my rebirth into this world, I wonder if the second time, itâs considered homesickness.
Itâs not like I want to go back.
Personal relationships over there and here are both complicated and fun. Though studying is a little annoying, as always.
Even though I donât think that noble customs are suffocating, although itâs not properly taught in the other world, not knowing it is still embarrassing since itâs common sense. Itâs stated explicitly in schools, and now that I thought about it, weâre properly taught about it from a young age, so itâs not so bad.
Ah~ But there is something Iâve wondered about marriage and the political system.
In this country, the feeling of male chauvinism isnât as strong, because women are recognized when they inherit their ranks, and the amount who work as bureaucrats isnât that small either, but even so, women arenât allowed to marry as they please and are treated as their familyâs property.
Because I had never fallen in love even in my previous life, I was mostly fine with marrying an awful partner, but I think itâs more of a painful thing rather than saying itâs awful not being able to marry someone you like. Cause if I was told to marry someone aside from Bern at this point, Iâd be troubled.
Although the current monarchy is peaceful because the King is an honest person, as I look at His Highness Edwin, the next in line for the throne, thereâs a part of me thatâs worried⊠Since heâs not a bad person, butâŠ
Even though Iâm talking about serious things, to be honest, what I really want is being able to say, âI want to eat some ice cream,â and someone going, âI totally get you.â
An uneventful conversation would be great. âI want an AC,â âI feel you,â âPink eyes are really mysterious,â âThatâs true.â That kind of conversation.
But every time I remember my argument with Lila yesterday, I canât help but think, âThere must have been a better way of saying things.â
I got too emotional yesterday, and although I wasnât trying to act like the victim when I cried, Iâve come to hate myself a little bit.
Or rather, Iâm certain that something happened to Lila.
Although most of what she said was crazy talk, as I tried to carefully remember all of it, there were a few worrisome things that popped up. Yeah, well, about 90% of it was crazy talk though.
Iâm pretty sure sheâs flirting with three guys â Alois, Johann, and His Highnessâ but I can pretty much narrow down the likely winner as His Highness. With the exception of the one hour that she gets with Bern during lunch, itâs not as if sheâs obsessed with him.
In the first place, thereâs no reverse harem ending in this game.
If she were to consider diverging considerably from the story, and aims for that, then itâll be a complete failure, no matter what.
I donât think Lilaâs stupid.
Although if I was told thatâs just what I wish for, I canât deny it either.
I have to find out more about her.
Wait, but I have other things I have to find out more about aside from that.
But I donât think I want to know.
I donât want to hate anyone nor do I want to come to hate someone. I donât want to hurt others by finding out too much, and having hateful thoughts about them. About Lila, and even Alois as well.
âIâm indecisive, huh?â
âWhy are you realizing this now?â
I knew it. Although Iâve asked myself that, but itâs still a little depressing to hear it.
What the~ Werenât you being nice to me today~?
Nah, itâs just that Darius isnât as lively today, though itâs not like I told him to be nice to me.
âLizia, itâs not that you canât decide, but you wonât. Didnât I tell you? Youâre too nice and impartial to people. It looks more like cowardice to me.â
Itâs not that I canât decide, itâs that I wonât.
By the time that Darius pressed Bern to join the Second Prince Faction, I knew that Bern already decided to join. Thatâs why I told him thereâs no need for him to talk and do that kind of thing at a place like that.
I didnât decide because I may have wanted to be on equal grounds with Darius. Anyways, he may have been right about how I couldnât decide between saying yes or no at that time.
Thatâs why I introduced him to Bern as my friend and left him by himself. And told him to win him over by himself to the bitter end.
Yeah. Heâs right. I am a coward.
What Darius said somehow fits me to a T.
As I stayed silent, Darius roughly scratched his head while murmuring weird things I didnât understand like, âAhâ but, uhhâ right?â
Because of his slight habit of scratching his head when heâs confused, his bluish-silver hair looked fluffy as it swayed.
âStop asking and getting depressed by yourself.â
Somehow, it seems he thought that I was quiet because I was depressed. Although heâs not wrong.
âOh, no, itâs actually a weight off my shoulders. Thanks.â
Although I honestly gave him my thanks, Darius made a face as if he ate something terribly unappetizing. What the hellâs with that face?
ââŠWell, as always, youâre the kind of person that wishes for things to never change. Donât worry too much about it. Since Iâve done some cowardly things as well.â
He said something embarrassing and then continued to work on the list.
Iâm worried that heâs still trying to get along with me even now so he could invite Bern. I thought, âAn idiotâs an idiot.â
But somehow, it still made me a little happy.
âAh, I wanna eat ice cream!â
âThat again? First off, whatâs that anyways?â
ââŠCold, sweet, smooth shaved ice? No, thatâs not it⊠I canât really explain it well, but itâs really good.â
âHmm. Then, if you find it, let me try it as well.â
If I had never met Bern, surprisingly, I might have fallen in love with him instead.
Ah, but because the reason I became friends with Darius is Bern, it looks like my world revolves around Bern.
Thanks to him, my world is so much fun, annoying, and far from peaceful.
âIt seems like your roommate, Ohm-san, caught a cold, and so you donât catch it, she will be staying at the infirmary for two to three days.
As soon as I came back to the dorms, the dorm granny called out to me.
I see, Clarissa caught a cold? Now that she mentioned it, her face looked extremely pale, and she wasnât as lively this morning. Although Iâm not as lively today either, I should have worried more about her.
âI would like to visit her, butâŠâ
âSince itâs already late today, you can visit her tomorrow instead.â
âI see. Thank you very much.â
She manages the womenâs dorm full of ladies, and it seems like she used to be the chief lady-in-waiting at the Royal Palace as the Empress Dowagerâs cousin. If she didnât have that position and merit, students who never heard of her would think that the womenâs dormitory was lawless.
But, oh yeah, Clarissa wonât be here today.
After taking a bath, I slipped into my bed. I hatefully felt that the room was too big.
The happy feeling I got from talking with Darius completely faded away, and I covered myself in my blanket, squirming.
Though Clarissa isnât the talkative type, but because we would talk about each otherâs day, tomorrowâs dinner, or things like that before sleeping, I felt a little lonely.
I wonder if her coldâs okay. When I was in school, the children who sat near me would come down with influenza, but as I was the only lively one, I didnât particularly care much about catching it. Well, itâs not like that was actually the case.
Hmm. For some reason, Iâm having problems falling asleep.
Even though I was sleepy when I came out of the bath, I was now wide awake for some reason, as if I was never sleepy at all.
As I squirmed about, a cold breeze stroked my cheek.
Wait, is the window open? No, Iâm pretty sure I closed it properly.
Donât tell me, itâs a spiritual phenomenonâŠ? âŠHahaha! No way!
As I was thinking, âNo way, no way,â I slightly opened my eyes to look at the direction of the window, and saw it was open. The curtains fluttered in the evening breeze.
And then at the corner of my eye, I saw a black shadow.
The shadow seems to be looking at Clarissaâs bed.
Y-Youâre kidding me⊠Is it really a ghost?
Wh-Wh-What should I do!? Salt!? Ah!! Kuji-kiri*!? Iâll finally be able to use the kuji-kiri that I fervently learned in elementary since I was too scared of ghostsâŠ!
As I was unable to move due to fear, I wavered in my decision, and the shadow turned and came closer to me.
But for a ghost, their breathing somehow seems too heavyâŠ
A small amount of moonlight shined on the shadowâs face. It was a guy. Plus he looks young. Probably around the same age as me.
As I was staring, his eyes looked around,
My throat reflexively closed up, and the scream that went through me wouldnât come out of my mouth.
With agile movements, the guy covered my mouth with his hand.
The guyâs hand trembled, and whether itâs because he couldnât control his strength that much, he painfully pushes down on my teeth.
Feeling his warm breath, I got goosebumps.
My body stiffened, and I couldnât move at all.
I have to resist. At the very least, I have to kick away this guy or do something and escape.
Even as I thought that, why canât I move?!
With just his beady eyes moving around, as if having agreed with himself, the scrawny guy rattled on.
âSince you were in her way, you made her sad, and thatâs no good. He, hehe⊠Iâm her knight. Itâs your fault, yours, yours.â
Wait, whoâs the girl youâre talking about?! Wait a minute, first off, who the hell are you?!
My question only came out as something unintelligible, like a mumble.
He took out something that rustled, and when I noticed that it was a gag, my body, that seemed to have been frozen until now, finally resisted on instinct.
The guy sat on top of me and tried to hold me down.
At that moment, my strength came back to my sluggish body, and I expressed my sympathies as I hit his crotch with my knee with as much strength as I could.
âLet her go! You low-life!!â
Before I knew it, a girl who shouldnât be here stood behind the guyâs back, raising a huge, square thing overhead.
Not once have I ever seen her raise her voice since she was always calm.
Surprised at the sudden voice, the guy was unprepared, and I called out.
The thing that Clarissa was holding overhead was a chair that came furnished with our room.
With no hesitation, she knocked the guyâs back.
Along with the blunt sound of the chair breaking, the guy let out a painful voice, and when he lost his strength, I got ready and hit him in one go with as much might as I could.
I wonder if it was as painful as mine was. Fainting, the guyâs body fell over mine, and I kicked him off. My delayed reaction came to me as she gripped my hand and ran.
Without looking back as I called to her, Clarissa ran and lead the way. I ran after her.
Clarissa, who should be at the infirmary, appeared at a good time, just when I was getting attacked. Although I have so many questions I wanted to ask her, the situation isnât leisurely enough for her to tell me as weâre running.
Without knowing where weâre headed, the dark, silent corridors of the dorm felt eerie.
But I trust her, who saved me, and chose to follow her with my frantically trembling gait.
*Kuji-kiri â Itâs like the hand signs that they do in Naruto, but the signs themselves are used by onmyoujis. Itâs used for a lot, but it can also be used to banish demons/ghosts.
This was a really long chapter. Save me. Also, Lizzy always gets into these kinds of troublesome situations, what the hell. Maybe she should catch up on some fighting skills or something so she could fight back, cause this ainât the first time this has happened. ALSO SHE SAID IT. She would have probably fallen in love with Darius if she had never met Bern. I ship it, but I ship her with Bern more lol. And Liziaâs too nice to Alois. I really want that dude gone tbh, I donât care.
E/N: Lizia does get into situations like this too often for a noble of low status. Also, although I know she was panicking, shouldnât she have checked who the guy attacking her was since he was knocked out? Personally, I think the guy might be Johann even though we havenât really seen him all too much in the story, because the dude called himself âher knightâ, and âherâ probably refers to Lila. Iâm hoping that Iâm wrong though since he seemed okay, and Alois is already annoying as a love interest as it is.
On another note, way to go Clarissa!
Author: adorkablerika Name's Erika. For some dumb reason, I decided to major in Physics. I'm stuck in this major now. I used to translate manga and light novels a few years back, left, then came back cause I found some good novels to read. I'm the only TLer on my site, so rip. I'm apparently also good at drawing, and I also like kpop (BTS, I mean, I have Hobi as my pic). I don't bite, so feel free to chat me up on here or on NU @adorkablehiko.