CH 147

Just as she thought of that, the sound of knocking echoed in the room. It was Warren’s low and calm voice asking for permission to enter the room.

The wooden door decorated with intricate carvings opened soon after, and Warren then entered with a smile, carrying a thick envelope.

“Sophie-sama, I’m sorry to interrupt your time to relax. I received a letter from Lorenzo Forsell-dono, so I brought it with me.”

“Oh my, thank you for your trouble.”

After saying her gratitude and receiving the letter, she noticed her arms straining from the weight.

Sophie had exchanged letters with Lorenzo many times since she came to “The King’s Sword,” but the letter was especially thick this time.

It should be related to changes that were made as a result of the previous discussion.

The silver stars affiliated with the Institute of Medical Science seemed to be preparing in earnest for the task, so the letters could only get thicker, not thinner, from now on…

Even though it was the dream she wanted to fulfill, Sophie couldn’t help but have a melancholic expression for a bit when she directly felt the weight of the letter.

…Hm?

She felt familiar with the sensation.

When she was wondering what the familiar sensation was, she couldn’t help but recall her previous life during a day of overtime work, where the pile of endless documents spread across his desk and he stared at the clock with a distant eye.

The not-so-happy nostalgia made her stare at the letter with a somber expression.

“Sophie-sama?”

Perhaps wondering why Sophie kept looking down without moving, Warren called her name out of concern, which made Sophie snap back to the present.

“I’m terribly sorry, Warren-sama. It seems I got lost in thought.”

“Are you worried about something?”

“No, that’s not the case… Actually, the permission for the task has already been given by the people above, so I am just bracing myself once again.” 

Sophie hurriedly responded with a smile as she tried to deceive Warren.

That was dangerous, my real self leaked out.

A full-fledged lady wouldn’t expose their tired expressions. They mustn’t break their resolute attitude at any time. It was something Sophie was taught practically every day at the girls’ academy.

Even though she only enrolled there for a few months, it didn’t change the fact that she was a student of “The Queen’s Rose.” If she showed a miserable figure, it would stain the name of Christina and Liliana, who still led their academy lives there.

Sophie gave a lady-like greeting along with a smile to overwrite the melancholy of the office worker that was apparent for an instant.

“I think things will get busier from now on, but please take care of me from now on as well.”

Looking at the girl who gave an elegant lady-like greeting that made it hard to imagine she was actually holding a heavy letter at the moment, Warren gave a gentlemanly greeting in response.

“I think I will visit Lorenzo-sama’s place more often from now on to discuss the task, but should I ask Warren-sama and the others before each time?”

Warren and the others were escorts who were supposed to protect her only within the dorm and academy premises, so Sophie asked if she should inform them whenever she had to go out.

However, the response Sophie got was something she didn’t expect.

“Does Sophie-sama have to go to the laboratory personally? I think you could instead invite Lorenzo-dono here.”

“Eh… Invite Lorenzo-sama here?”

Lorenzo was a man with sagacious beauty that would make others amazed, intelligence that was among the top of the kingdom, and noble blood.

As she recalled the man who had all that, Sophie couldn’t help but force a straight face.

—How many people in this kingdom can issue commands to that person?

According to Firth, Lorenzo wouldn’t even recognize people with five black stars unless it was a person he acknowledged, and even if he got invited, he would reject it four out of five times. Moreover, that one time he accepted was also conditional.

It was a rumor that spread within the silver star, but Sophie didn’t confirm it with the person himself. However, since such a rumor existed, it was clear he wasn’t a man that could move easily just because others requested him to.

But if it was Sophie who issued the command, it was likely the man would show a terrifying yet beautiful smile and say, “I’ll gladly come to visit.”

That in of itself is scary…

As Sophie recalled his gray eyes that seemed to peer into the depths of her heart, her lips were about to twitch but she managed to suppress it and carefully selected her next words.

“Lorenzo-sama is a very busy person. I would feel bad if I made him take such unnecessary trouble.”

“In the first place, there’s no need for Sophie-sama, who bears the purple star, to be that considerate. It is common sense for that side to come to visit you instead.” 

Sophie was flustered, her excuse wasn’t accepted as the other thought that was the most obvious thing to say.

“No, isn’t that too much trouble?”

“Sophie-sama, you are the bearer of the purple star. Even if all other stars combined together, they still wouldn’t be comparable to the purple star. The purple star is a special existence. You should never think it is the same as the other stars.”

Warren mentioned the obvious superiority of the purple star to the hesitating Sophie.

Certainly, that might be the case regarding the value of each star.

However, that was only the case if the bearer had considerable status and achievements.

Considering Sophie hadn’t achieved anything yet, she felt reluctant to invite Lorenzo, the bearer of five silver stars, by using her star superiority as an excuse.

I don’t want the people of the silver star to think I am exploiting Lorenzo-sama.

There would definitely be cases where Sophie had to make use of the political power of the purple star to make use of other people in the future, but she wanted to do so only after carefully considering the time, place, and occasion.

She intended to make use of her good rhetoric to avoid it in a roundabout way, but Warren went ahead and struck at the most painful spot.

“If Sophie-sama kept visiting there, other aristocrats would misunderstand that it was Lorenzo-dono who was the cornerstone for the task. That would go against the intention of His Highness Ferio.”

The cornerstone for the sewerage plan was Sophie Linier, with Lorenzo Forsell working under her.

It was Sophie Linier who served as the chief executive of the task.

For that sake, Sophie was granted the purple star, the special star.

Inability to put the bearer of five silver stars in place was considered an act that degraded the value of the purple star—such was what Warren would like to say.

That might be true, but…

Warren’s words were absolutely logical and correct.

But wouldn’t the aristocratic society reference the correctness of a different nature? 

Even if one looked at the precedents of the past, those who were granted the purple star were those who served the royal family for a long time, with most of them being elderly with considerable statuses and achievements. For the purple star, which was mostly used as an honorary position, to be granted to a fourteen-year-old daughter of a baron family, who hadn’t even participated in an aristocratic tea party yet, everyone would consider the worth of the star to be diminished.

Sophie even found the reactions of the black star students to be understandable. Although their reaction was disrespectful toward the bearer of the purple star, it could also be considered an obvious reaction.

On the contrary, Warren-sama, who didn’t show any sort of dissatisfaction for a girl like me to receive the purple star at all, is the unusual one.

From the time he first greeted her, he always treated Sophie as “the purple star” without any prejudice or doubt.

Toward a daughter of a baron family who still hadn’t proven she would be good or bad, he still treated Sophie as the purple star regardless of her status and gender. Such an existence was extremely rare.

And those rare existences tended to be bearers of five stars for some reason.

The bearer of five gold stars, Alan Aubin.

The bearer of five silver stars, Lorenzo Forsell.

Is Warren-sama actually a person with a very high status?

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have casually suggested inviting Lorenzo, the bearer of five silver stars who hailed from a marquis family, to the academy instead.

But for a person with a high status at his age, they normally wouldn’t bother to serve as an escort of a mere girl, right?

If it was a person of Gerald’s age, they might be selected for experience, but there was no way the same could apply to a person of Warren’s age.

The escorts who protected the dorms all felt like mature gentlemen. Perhaps that’s the normal thought process of paladins?

They were bearers of two black stars, which was one star less than Warren’s, but all of them took care of Sophie so she could live comfortably as she fulfilled her task. Considering their concern and behavior, it was difficult to say it was Warren who was different.

However…

There was another thing that Sophie was curious about.