CH 116

Visitors in the Rain

Sheila was currently walking alone in the corridor.

She was on her way to the library to return several books that she had used during the lectures.

Cody and Zechs, on the other hand, were heading to Jornwerner’s laboratory to return a couple of magic tools. Either way, Sheila might be on the safer side than them.

Even though it was still in the middle of winter, it was raining heavily today.

The little snow that had accumulated had completely melted away. It was unthinkable that, in her home village, it would still be covered with snow in early spring.

Even the air was moistened by the drizzling rain, and the courtyard, with its withered flowers, had a somewhat forlorn air.

‘The plants, however, are presently storing nutrients during the winter.’

Sheila also had to work hard this winter to build up her strength for Jornwerner’s seemingly lenient but strict lectures, and also Clauschezade’s endless grueling training.

“It looks like it’s going to let up this afternoon….”

A pair of footsteps sounded on the cobbled corridor as she was distracted by the rare winter rain.

Sheila turned around to see an unexpected figure.

Jet-black hair stood out in the dimly lit corridor. The figure walked gallantly, oblivious to the rain.

“――Eh? Leidyrune-senpai?”

Sheila’s eyes widened in surprise. Why was he at the academy during winter break?

Leidyrune stood before her, arms crossed in the same arrogant gesture. His stern purple eyes sparkled like magic stones.

“It’s been a long time, Sheila. I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

“Leidyrune-senpai also looks well. Ah, best wishes for the New Year.”

“Yeah. May this year be a wonderful one for you, too.”

After the slightly late New Year’s greeting, Sheila tilted her head. She still didn’t understand why he showed up here. She thought he was busy because he had to learn about fief management.

“Leidyrune-senpai, why are you at the academy? Ah, I’m sorry. I should have called you dorm leader.”

When she hurriedly rephrased, Leidyrune frowned sullenly.

“You can call me by my name. I don’t like being called ‘dorm leader.’”

Right. The title “dorm leader” reminded her of a sweating, muscular man. It would be displeasing for him to be associated with that muscly man at every turn.

“I understand. I will continue to call you Leidyrune-senpai from now on.”

“No, you don’t have to add ‘-senpai‘ if you want….”

“….? Why?”

It suddenly became difficult to hear because he mumbled something quietly. Leidyrune flinched and distanced himself from Sheila, who was unconsciously trying to get closer.

“Ah, excuse me.”

“No…. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Noticing his rudeness, Leidyrune frantically averted his eyes as if to escape her gaze. He then took a letter from his pocket and pressed it into Sheila’s hand.

The high-quality light blue envelope had neither an address nor a sender written on it. However, it was covered with a bright rose-colored sealing wax. It was a never-before-seen emblem, a combination of an eagle’s feather and a flower.

As Sheila looked closely at it, Leidyrune opened his mouth.

“…. It was entrusted to me by His Highness Wilfrecht for you.”

“What? From His Highness?”

She blinked her eyes at the unexpected business that was brought up. To be exact, the combination of Leidyrune and Wilfrecht was also unexpected.

“Leidyrune-senpai, I see that you’re good friends with His Highness Wilfrecht.”

For some reason, Sheila felt the temperature of her surroundings had dropped when she casually uttered those words. Perhaps because of the connecting corridor, she suddenly registered how cold it was and shivered.

“The royal family and the duke family are close in rank, so they naturally have a close relationship with each other. Rather, it’s strange that you, a commoner, are close to His Highness. When in the world did you get to know him? What kind of relationship do you have with His Highness? He didn’t write anything suspicious in the letter, did he?”

“U-Uhm….”

Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, Sheila stuttered.

As the son of a duke, he probably couldn’t stay quiet about the relationship between a commoner and royalty. Leidyrune’s gaze was freezing cold, and his questioning voice was harsh.

“That… I just happened to talk to him by chance. I have no intention of harming His Highness at all.”

“I know that. I’m asking how close you two are. Never before had His Highness written a private letter to a single individual. Moreover, because he is unable to leave the royal castle, he treats me, the son of a duke, as his personal messenger.”

“I’m very sorry about that….”

Even though the one who used him wasn’t Sheila, she couldn’t help but apologize. The fact that the person to whom he was delivering the letter was a commoner might have hurt his pride.

‘I’m sure he’ll get even angrier if I entrust him with the reply letter…’

Sheila was completely oblivious to the fact that Leidyrune was jealous of her intimacy with Wilfrecht, or that he was constantly worried about the contents of the letter.

Leidyrune, whose frustration had reached its peak, looked down at the letter with a reproachful look on his face.

“Why don’t you go ahead and read it? I can wait until you finish writing your reply.”

“Eh? Do I have to write a reply now?”

In response to the question that popped out of her mouth, his beautiful amethyst eyes narrowed, which stood out among his handsome features. Sheila, realizing that this was a bad response, hastily made up for it.

“Uhm, actually, I’m going to practice in the forest to the east of the royal capital this afternoon. That’s why I don’t know if I have time to write a letter.”

It was a spur-of-the-moment excuse, but Leidyrune was surprisingly receptive.

“Why go all the way out there? If you want to train in the forest, the academy has one too.”

“When I mentioned that I had never been outside of the capital, Clauschezade-sensei said that I might as well go there with him.”

However, it turned out that the suggestion was nothing more than a diversion to change the location of her training. She wouldn’t be alone with Clauschezade, and of course, Cody and Zechs would be with her.

When Sheila learned that fact, she was so embarrassed by her own frivolity that she wanted to hide under a rock.

‘I really don’t know why I got so excited in the first place….’

Sheila couldn’t grasp her emotions. That kind of thing happened a lot these days.

Her cheeks were getting hotter and hotter again, and Sheila shook her head to shake it off. She was ashamed of herself for being mistaken, not because of any other emotion.

“Oh, right, for some reason, Jornwerner-sensei said he would come along too. In the end, we’re all going together.”

Jornwerner tended to stay in the laboratory except for meals and lectures, but whatever happened that changed his heart, he had recently started appearing on various occasions.

Her friends were fearful that she might be used as a test subject for something without realizing it and being observed.

Leidyrune suddenly uttered a startling remark.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Eh.”

“If Jornwerner is allowed to participate, why can’t I, a student, participate too?”

No, there were other reasons for him not to go. Didn’t he have to go home? Or maybe, delivered another letter from Wilfrecht?

There were so many things Sheila wanted to say, but she couldn’t put them all into words.

Leidyrune’s words were a threat disguised as a question. Sheila, a commoner, had no veto power.

His expression was so fierce that she couldn’t help but think so.

In the end, the number of participants for the outing increased even more.

Everyone had a different reaction when they heard what had happened.

Clauschezade, as expected, looked as if he ate something bitter, while Jornwerner laughed, clutching his stomach, as Sheila wondered what was so funny. Cody also let out a strained laugh, but Zechs showed no change other than twitching his mouth for a moment.

He probably decided it was a good idea not to go against Leidyrune, who seemed to be in a very bad mood.

“Why does Leidyrune-senpai look so scary….?”

Sheila whispered to Cody next to her as they rode their horses. Even now, as he was riding a chestnut horse, Cody let out a bitter smile.

“I think he must have been frustrated because you seemed to be having so much fun while he was gone.”

“Eh? Leidyrune-senpai is not the kind of person who gets angry at being left out of the group.”

“Hmm. He wasn’t upset that he was left out. Rather, I think it’s more of a feeling that’s only directed at one particular person….”

Cody shot an awkward glance behind him. Leidyrune, who was sullen and reserved, was riding a pale blue horse that looked skittish. It seemed to be his favorite horse that he had ridden to the academy.

Of course, Sheila didn’t own a horse, so she borrowed one owned by the academy. The horse was a charming horse with a red coat, and even with Sheila, who was still not very good at horse riding, it was willing to carry her on its back.

Deciding not to pay attention to her upperclassman’s mysterious grumpiness, Sheila looked up at the cloudy sky.

The rain had stopped, but the sun was far from shining. Despite the unfortunate weather conditions that put a damper on their long-awaited outing, Sheila felt happy.

The dark clouds looked almost tangible and heavy, and the sky seemed to exist lower than usual.

“Amazing. It’s almost as if I can reach out and touch it with my hand.”

Clauschezade, who was leading the way on a black horse, gave a small laugh at the words Sheila muttered to herself.

“You sound like a child.”

“Hey, eavesdropping is a crime.”

“It’s not good to say it that loud.”

Unaware that Clauschezade’s smile and childlike arguing had frozen Cody, the two continued their silly bickering.