CH 280

Once Those Wings Fly, You Can’t Ever Stop Them [Part 2]

Emma had been talked about as the fake holy maiden these days, but the students started to wonder why she was called a fake.

“The Church… only said that Lady Joanna is the Holy Maiden, right?”

“The Church had only announced Lady Joanna as the Holy Maiden.”

Emma’s deeds so far floated in their mind.

She hadn’t done anything that deserved everyone’s criticism.

“W-Why did we call her a fake…”

The students felt ashamed for being swayed easily by rumors and started blaming themselves.

It was unfortunate that they were currently being swayed by yet another rumor, though…

“No, wait, the criticisms she received for being away during the most-important social season were warranted. It couldn’t be helped that people would blame her. Moreover, she didn’t attend the academy for weeks, even after the new semester started.”

Even so, one student spoke his mind.

It was simply outrageous for a noble to not socialize. Especially, overseas travel and the like were not allowed during the period when the envoys from the Empire visited. As securing cotton is the top priority for the Kingdom.

Nonetheless, that one imaginative student was one step ahead of everyone else.

“What if… she hadn’t gone sightseeing… but to get medical treatment abroad? Imperial Japan is an unexplored land, isn’t it? Most likely, none of the doctors or medicine House Stuart has gathered from all around the world with their wealth can cure Emma-sama. Perhaps the only way to save Emma-sama, the one and only hope… can only be found in the country no one has ever set foot in before, Imperial Japan?”

It was just an imaginary story.

Yet, the faces of the students who were listening to it became more and more distorted by sadness in no time.

“E-Emma-sama… I feel so sorry for her…”

“I… no, we all believed those rumors without ever questioning them… and ended up saying something like “the fake holy maiden” to Emma-sama when she has only been struggling desperately to live… What terrible things have I done…”

“Hey, oi! Emma-sama will be saved, right?”

The students who had been listening seriously without interrupting sought an answer from that one super-imaginative student.

The pitiful her has surely been successfully healed in Imperial Japan… and then… The students hoped in their hearts…

“No matter how much they searched, the doctor and medicine that can cure Emma-sama… didn’t exist in Imperial Japan.”

However, the answer coming out of that one super-imaginative student’s mouth was telling them she was already beyond saving.

“No way!”

“Considering Emma-sama‘s deteriorating physical condition, it was inevitable that she wasn’t able to return to the Kingdom even after the start of the academy’s new semester. It’s inevitable for her… It’s inevitable for her, yet Emma-sama w-wants to go to school like a normal young lady, so she exerts herself…”

This had already turned into his uninterruptable one-man show.

At normal times, he was just one inconspicuous student among many others. Just that his imaginations were a little bit more over-active.

But he had unknowingly opened Pandora’s box with no turning back…

…for he had used his imagination to project Emma, the main cause of every single commotion that had happened so far.

“Uughh, *sob* Emma-sama!”

“What a noble soul!”

“It’s a lie… Tell me it’s just a lie!!!”

It was a lie.

It was an outright lie.

In fact, around this time, Emma was stuffing her mouth greedily with the spaghetti napolitan Melsa had cooked, intending to make up for the lunch meal she skipped today at the academy.

However, a new turmoil would automatically be triggered as long as the conditions were met, even if the main cause of all commotions weren’t present.

No, it had been triggered.

After staying silent for a long time, the tight-lipped super-imaginative student began speaking slowly.

If Emma had been here, she would surely insert, “It’s all in his head. In reality, it was but a big fat lie. Rather, doesn’t he have loose lips?” as a punchline.

However, the academy at this moment had become the stage for his one-man show without anyone playing the straight man.

The wings of his imagination, the wings of Emma’s commotion, had already been stretched to their limit and were ready to take off.

“‘The next seizure will be fatal’ was what the doctor said to her family. Emma-sama‘s brothers have been supporting her desperately until the very last minute to fulfill her wish… to let her live like a normal young lady… and yet…”

“And yet?!”

“In the end, today, the seizure… the seizure that the doctor said would take her life the next time it happened… occurred. George-sama and William-sama were frozen in place from the shock and despair of losing Emma-sama… Is this not the truth?”

“Eh? You’re lying, right? Emma-sama will… die…”

“That can’t be!”

“W-Waaaaahhhhhh!”

The assumptions born by the wild imagination of a single student would, of course, not stay as what the students promised to be [the talk just between us] but spread to every corner of the academy within the same day.

♠♠♠

Author’s corner:

Serious: “I… have always thought I’m the one who rules over this story.”

Comedy: “Unfortunately for you, the one who rules over this story is me.”

Crisis: “Huh? You called? I feel like someone called me just now.”