CH 41

[Alicia’s Point of View]

Alicia’s group consists of only seven girls in total. The center of the group is, of course, Alicia.

Alicia is popular not only within her own faction, but also in other factions and classes. Her caring nature, cultivated during her time with the hero, and her good-nature that even Absolute accepts, make her reign supreme among the caste of daughters. Even without the title of being the fiancee of the hero, her position was unshakable.

While Absolute’s faction were struggling to survive, Alicia and the rest of the girls were enjoying their exercises in a relaxed atmosphere.

In the original story, the exercise had been a tumultuous one with the addition of the hero and Princess Leone, but the two in question were no longer in the group. The group was now spending a leisurely time together around the fire, chatting and laughing.

“Alicia-san, what do you think about the hero now? Do you miss him?”

“You have no taste.”

The topic of breaking off the engagement with the hero wasn’t talked about because of everyone’s concern. The atmosphere became a little tense when the topic was brought up.

“Ha-ha-ha, it’s okay. I didn’t feel that way because it was an engagement that my family had decided on. I don’t feel like he looked at me that way, and surprisingly, I don’t miss him as much as I thought I would.”

Alicia answered with a bitter smile to drown out the bad mood. In fact, she has been living a peaceful life since the hero left. It’s so peaceful that it’s hard to relax.

“I see, he certainly didn’t seem to understand the female mind, did he? He’s an adventurer now right?”

“I’ve heard reports from the royal family that he’s been able to solo up to B rank, but beyond that, it’s going to be tough with his current abilities. I wonder if he knows that he will be kept in captivity for the rest of his life if he continues as he is now. That’s why I warned you to be serious about your training. Alto-kun you’re just slacking off on your skills.”

Alicia can’t stop thinking about the hero who is not here now. The adventurer’s rank is determined by the Adventurer’s Guild’s examinations and evaluations. Reaching B-rank in a short period of time is considered to be quite excellent. But in the case of the hero, it’s different.

No matter how much he’s still a student, if he’s a hero, he has to be at least A-ranked. Alicia, who was blabbering with her head in her hands, was watched by the group members with a wry smile on their faces.

As if to change the subject, one of the group members spoke up.

“Well, putting aside the subject of hero, who is everyone’s type in the class?”

Hearing these words, the other members of the group grinned. This kind of talk is a hot topic among the girls, and one that all of them are eager to get to grips with.

“I’m definitely in the Prince Michael camp! He’s so cool and has a great personality, isn’t he perfect?”

“No! No! Tristan is just as good as him. He’s so stoic and so nice, he’s not interested in anything but his sword.”

“I heard that Tristan-san is not very fond of his fiancée, who is two years older than him. Isn’t that different from your image of him?”

“I think I’m with Velvet-senpai, the senior student council president. I admire him because he’s always so dignified.”

Each of them named a boy of their choice. Alicia was silent.

“Who’s your type, Alicia-san?”

“…… Eh?”

Alicia is surprised to suddenly have the question dumped on her. But she immediately regains her composure.

“I-I…… ah…”

Alicia swallowed the name she had momentarily tried. She and he would never connect, and she had refused to do so herself.

“I wonder if anyone other than Alto is my type?”

I forced myself to be deceptive, but no one mentioned this because it seemed to be too dark.

A few moments later, a teacher appeared in front of Alicia and the others and told them that the exercise was canceled.

It was a bit of a regrettable moment, but for her it was a very good memory.

[Lady Cruel’s point of view]

After a few days of turbulent training, the first day of school arrived.

On the morning of the first day of school, Lady Cruel prepares herself by first combing her long, pure white hair she inherited from her mother and setting her hairstyle. Most nobles would leave such things to their maidservants unless their lives were in dire straits.

In the case of the lady, however, she wants her lover to always see her beautiful self, so she takes care of her hair until she is satisfied with it. She knows best how to make her hair shine.

I sit down at the large mirror to set my hair as usual and stare at my reflection in the mirror. I see myself in the mirror looking more depressed than usual.

I know the cause. It was because I had unexpectedly fainted during a training exercise, causing a lot of trouble for my friends and my beloved Absolute. I don’t remember what happened before I fainted, but if I had made a mistake this time, someone would have died.

It was unacceptable.

And yet, my friends were worried about me fainting, and Absolute only told me not to worry. I would have felt better if they had just blamed me, but they wouldn’t have allowed it.

(If this is the punishment, then it can’t be helped. Oh, what have I done…? I can’t believe I’ve caused trouble to Absolute-sama as well. All the good feelings I’ve built up will have gone to waste.)

The lady let out a big sigh and looked at herself in front of the mirror.

Cherry lips, white skin, long, thin, silky gray hair, and a figure that is a head or two above the average for a young lady of my age… I looks the same as I always do, but a little darker. It would sound better if I said I was tinged with melancholy, but the atmosphere that wasn’t my usual self made me feel uncomfortable.

(I look terrible, don’t I? I can understand now what my mother said about not indulging only in men. I wonder what I’m really doing, being so happy and sad about Absolute-sama…)

“Haa…… it’s no good. I’m going to make another mistake like this. I have to get my act together.”

I mutter to myself in front of the mirror.

I’m hesitant to meet Absolute in this state. I don’t want to show him my current ugly self.

Despite this thought, I still couldn’t stop myself from wanting to see him, so I took more time than usual to set my hair, put on my makeup, and left the room.

After arriving at school, Lady Cruel entered the A classroom as usual. There were many empty seats in the classroom due to the recent exercise. The church group, including the saint, were all absent. And Princess Leone is also absent.

(Huh? What’s going on? Absolute-sama isn’t here. How unusual)

“Good day to you, Oriana…and Mist too. It seems that Absolute-sama isn’t here…do you know anything about that?”

I exchanged light greetings with them and asked about Absolute.

“I haven’t seen him today. Isn’t he late?”

Mist answered, and Oriana shook her head.

The lady’s expression darkens when she sees that Absolute is not here. Although she didn’t say it in words, she was stressed out inside.

“How could Absolute-sama be late? Your ideas are too clichéd. That’s why you’ll always be Mist…”

Lady Cruel cursed in her mind.

“No, you’re saying it out loud. And let’s not call people’s name as though we’re swearing.”

While we were having this exchange, it was time for the homeroom teacher, Teach-sensei, to enter the classroom. It has only been a few days, but I feel nostalgic.

“Yo, fellas. I heard that the exercise was a bit of a mess. Unfortunately, there were some casualties, but I’m still glad to see you guys again.”

Teach said with a sad look on his face as he looked at everyone in the class. The victims of this exercise were the Holy Knights of the Church of Rainana belonging to the A class. Some of the class members also looked regretful.

“I have some regrettable news. Princess Leone is going back to her country for an urgent matter. I don’t know if she will return to this school again. I heard that she was regretting not being able to say goodbye to you all.”

The class was in an uproar at the sudden news.

(That’s sudden… I knew that the kingdom of Suiroku was in danger, but bringing back the princess who had been evacuated means that the problem has been solved, or ……)

Lady Cruel suddenly looks at Mist. He was the one who was closest to Princess Leone at the end of the exercise. Absolute had told him to watch over her, so maybe they were getting along quite well.

Mist seemed as aloof as usual, but for her who had known him for so long, he looked a little sad.

“And I have one more piece of unfortunate news…”

Anxiety spread among the students as they wondered if there was more to the story than this.

“Absolute Ark has been suspended indefinitely.”

“”””Eh?””””

Lady Cruel’s head is confused by the sudden news.

“How could Absolute-sama…possibly…?”

The blood drained from her face as she thought of this possibility.

“It’s my… fault. ……

“I honestly do not agree with this disposition.”

Her heart was beating fast, and her breathing was erratic. She couldn’t hear what Teach was saying, and her vision gradually became blurry and distorted, and she fainted.