CH 225

The long vacation that seemed both long and short has finally ended, and the 2nd semester of school begins today. The Academy has 2 semesters, the 1st semester and the 2nd semester, so once this is over, by next school year we’ll be sophomores. Repetition and grades have little to do with advancement, and the number of attendance days is not strict, so basically everyone is forced to go up to the 2nd year.

There are no classes today as it seems to be just the so-called opening ceremony, collection of submissions, and paperwork. I listened to the long opening ceremony in the auditorium, handed in my homework in the classroom, listened to a simple orientation and notes, and was dismissed.

Sophie’s group, the children still in the Bayen Faction, and Emma, who was banished from that same faction, were present, but Helene was not among them. According to the information I overheard, it has not been decided if she’s been arrested or that her House will be demolished. She hasn’t been expelled from school either, so she is still officially registered as a student.

Still, if you think about it normally, it’s not like she’d normally be back in school already. With a House the size of the Bayen Duchy, so if you suddenly crush it, the backlash and repercussions will be intense. So the House will continue, but there is no doubt they will face countless difficulties.

Moving on from that, the faction members should have had a hard time, but Sophie seemed to be relatively calm. Emma had a happy face in contrast to the anxious look she had before, so things must have gone well with Simon during this long vacation.

Emma has been banished from the Bayen Faction and her mother had been arrested, so she should be having a tougher time than Helene… even though her family and her faction are in trouble, Emma must be happy as an individual. Perhaps even if her House was destroyed, even if she was banished from the faction or her House, Simon would take care of Emma, so this might have been unexpectedly good.

There will be those who are against the Bayen Faction, who have been committing crimes, and even though Emma is happier now, she has been bullying her classmates. Emma will have to pay for it in the future and Simon will have to support her.

What worries me more than that is Sophie’s leeway. Sophie and the others who came to school today were quite confident. I thought they were shrinking, but it seemed that Sophie was growing more prideful than before. I don’t know what reason she has to hold her head so high and walk with such surety.

Since the fight with the Bayen Faction, there should have been whispers that the faction’s main players had been investigating and spying on the others, but it seems that there was something that particularly encouraged House Arnhardt, and I’ve received no reports. That’s why I don’t understand why Sophie is so confident and arrogant, it’s creepy.

Maybe they’re plotting something bad again… or so I think. There is nothing wrong with being too cautious. For the time being, I will instruct my servants to strengthen the surveillance of the Bayen Faction and House Arnhardt.

Well… it’s certainly better to be cautious, but resources aren’t infinite. There’s no point in wasting tons of operatives, time, and money on someone you shouldn’t be too wary of. It might be fine if there’s nothing else to be wary of, but I have so many enemies…

The balance and arrangement of the priorities are difficult, but I’m a little concerned about Sophie’s overly relaxed attitude. She should have been monitored to some extent until now, but it would be better to keep Sophie and House Arnhardt on our guard and monitoring a little more strictly.

The school has completed the submissions, I listened to the notes, and am now waiting for a carriage to take me home as the school’s out. The entrance is crowded, so I kill time in the classroom as usual. It was Simon and… Ludwig and Rutger who appeared there.

“Hey, Flora! Let us go home together!” Ludwig said.

“Your Highness Ludwig…” I muttered.

Why is this guy coming to my space…? As expected, I can’t complain about it today. Most of the students have already returned or are waiting for their carriages at the entrance, so it’s not like they’re walking down the crowded corridors to get into other people’s preferred hangouts. No matter where the school students are walking around the grounds after school, there’s no reason for anyone to complain.

Even if they came to invite me if you make the date so suddenly, it will be annoying for the other person, but then if I don’t say anything about it, the conversation won’t progress. Speaking of inviting someone on the same day, it’s not like it’s a violation of manners or etiquette, but it doesn’t mean that there aren’t any problems or fatal violations of custom.

Certainly, if you’re a noble, it’s good manners to make an appointment in advance about what you’re going to do in a few days, when, and where. However, if they are close friends, they may suddenly visit each other on the same day, or suddenly invite them on the spot even if they have not made an appointment in advance. It’s the same as friends in modern Japan, and there’s no such thing as an absolute impossibility with such rushed invitations.

Of course, there is the problem of the relationship between myself and the other party and common sense. It’s impossible for a lowly knight to suddenly visit or invite the king, and if he suddenly behaves like that to someone he’s barely met, you might think he’s a person without common sense or a person who doesn’t have good manners.

But in this case, Ludwig was in a higher position, and to some extent, he was an acquaintance with me, and even if he thought I lacked manners and common sense, he could come to invite me like this.

Putting that aside, for the time being, Rutger will probably be with Ludwig, but I turn my gaze to a 3rd party. I know that Simon was on good terms with Ludwig and Rutger, but why did he come to a place like this?

“Ah! Um… I wanted to say thank you to you, Lady Carruthers…” Simon said, flustered. “And then I ran into His Highness on the way here.”

“Is that so……?” I asked.

Simon seemed to have noticed my gaze and offered an answer immediately. It doesn’t seem like Ludwig and Rutger have arranged to meet me with him, it seems they just ran into each other by chance. I understand the matter, but I don’t understand why he wants to thank me.

“Thanks to you, Lady Carruthers,” Simon said, “Emma was finally able to safely leave her faction… and now she’s finally free. I can’t overstate my gratitude!” he added, bowing his head.

“Thank you very much,” Emma added as she came up beside Simon and bowed her head, too.

As a first step… well, that’s enough. She’s changed herself… if the people around her and herself are happy, then that’s fine. It is meaningless to bring up the past again.

“I haven’t done anything,” I said. “It’s the result of your efforts, Lord Roppe, and Lady Valtek’s changing herself. I think that there will be difficulties in clearing up your past actions from now on, but the two of you are supporting each other. If you keep at it like this, you should be able to overcome them all. I’ll be cheering for the both of you from here on out.”

And after I said that, the two looked at each other and nodded. They have very nice smiles. Dazzling smiles that were full of hope for the future, suitable for 15-16-year-olds.

“Thank you very much!” Simon said. “I will never forget this kindness for the rest of my life! If something happens to you, Lady Carruthers, I will definitely rush to your aid! Even if I can’t be of much help, I will give my all for you, Lady Carruthers!”

“Surely you exaggerate… but thank you,” I said.

Whoa, whoa… are you saying that in front of Ludwig? I think it’s just too much. To Ludwig, he might take it as, “You’ll not pledge your allegiance to me, I see?!” and he might not be able to decide if he wants to kill Simon specifically or his whole family.

After saying that, Simon and Emma went home in harmony. It seems that he really just came to say that. Well, I guess Emma was waiting in the classroom and Simon just came to pick her up. I was there with her, so I guess he just came to say his greetings and then leave.

Anyway… about those two… did something happen at Simon’s family manor during the long vacation? Their territories are close to each other, and House Valtek’s preferred health enclave is adjacent to Roppe Territory… maybe the two of them climbed the stairs to adulthood during this break!?

“Quite the lovely couple, aren’t they?” Ludwig said. “Now then, Flora, let’s go home, as well.”

“Ah……… yes……” I said.

I thought about refusing for various reasons, but I couldn’t think of a good excuse. Refusing too much can also be a problem, so sometimes it can’t be helped… I just met him a few days ago. We saw each other at the royal castle, so I think it’s fine, but…

No… wait? Let’s think about this, shall we?

Certainly, I’m thinking of putting Ludwig and Margarete together. That’s why I’m doing everything I can to change Margarete’s lack of confidence, but it’s not just Margarete, Ludwig also needs to change, right?

More like this… I should change Ludwig’s thinking and induce a better relationship with Margarete. Then it would be more certain than changing only Margarete.

So this should be seen as an opportunity. You can’t do anything but lament, right? There are various things you can do, such as finding out what type of person Ludwig likes, casually pushing Margarete on him, and making the two of them aware of each other as more than friends.

“Miss Flora…” Katharina said.

“Katarina, today I have been invited by His Highness Ludwig, so I will go to the royal castle for a while,” I said. “Please come pick me up by dinner time.”

“Understood,” Katharina said.

I implicitly appealed to Ludwig and the others that I would be leaving by dinner. The fact that he doesn’t say anything now means that Ludwig also agreed. If he wanted me to eat dinner at the royal castle, he would probably say something in protest after overhearing that conversation.

After telling Katharina my plans, I was escorted by Ludwig and Rutger and got into the carriage. Then, we head for the royal castle which isn’t that far from here.

In the carriage, I was acting as a conversation partner for Ludwig and Rutger, and in no time we arrived at the royal castle. The Academy is located in the Aristocratic District and is very close to it. It wouldn’t take that long to move around on foot. However, nobles do not use carriages in vain, and there are circumstances in which they have no choice but to ride in carriages even for short distances.

Even if it’s a short-distance trip, if a noble is dressed as a noble and walks in the street, the surrounding ordinary citizens must give way, bow their heads, and kneel in deference. In other words, if nobles walk around unnecessarily and force the customs involving nobles, the commoners around them will be confused and be caused great trouble.

That’s why nobles need to move by carriage even if it’s not a big distance. If it’s a carriage, all you have to do is avoid it so that you don’t get in its way, but you don’t have to completely stop and go to the edge of the street and bow your head. Of course, if you do get in the way of the carriage, it’ll be big trouble all over again…

There may be some aristocrats who misunderstand and think that they are nobles and thus are great people, so they ride in a carriage and look high and mighty, but if they live normally, they would rather walk than ride in a carriage. Even though it’s quick… there are probably some nobles who are fed up with having to ride a carriage even when they think it’s faster than walking.

Well, anyway, I’m going to the reception desk of the royal castle where I’m going to have a record of my arrival at the castle. This is a log of when and who entered the castle. This was also useful in the previous trial.

There’s no way someone like Duke Bayen didn’t know about the castle’s visitor log. In the first place, it is impossible not to know it exists because you are made aware of it and sign it yourself. I guess he thought that he could do anything if he had a position of a duke, even with that knowledge.

Besides, it seems that they thought that Caanza was just some random company, so he assumed we wouldn’t have the gall to ask for disclosure of the castle’s guest log or information. In the end, they dug their own grave and surrounded it with sweet flowers for us to throw in.

I also signed at the reception and entered the royal castle. No matter how much you say it’s His Highness, the Crown Prince, inviting me, I must not neglect such things. It’s because of my fastidiousness and contentiousness that I can help myself in times of crisis. The reason other nobles dig their graves is probably that they are not paying so much attention to these processes.

As I was walking with Ludwig and Rutger while thinking about such things, I saw Dietrich walking from the other side of the hall. Shall I say hello while we’re here already?

“Good day, Your Grace Dietrich,” I said.

“Pri-Princess Flora?!” Dietrich shouted, clearly distressed. “Th-The bill hasn’t been drafted yet!”

I just greeted him, I didn’t say anything else, why is he like this…?

“Um… I didn’t come here to ask about the progress of the bill, you should know?” I said.

“… Huh? Is that so…?” Dietrich said. “Ah~hhh, that’s how it is! I see I see! If that’s the case, then it would have been lovely if you just said so! Well then, excuse me, I’ll leave you to your business!”

And with that, Dietrich was suddenly in a good mood and skipped away. I hadn’t even said anything yet, what was with all that?

As Rutger stared blankly at his father’s strange behavior, we put our hands on his shoulders and urged him on, pretending we hadn’t seen anything.