Chapter 101

Before the Student Council President Election (2)

There are three variables that I am most concerned about at this point.

The first is the news that Princess Fenia seems to have almost lost her will to become student council president.

The second is the news that Princess Fenia’s enemy, Tanya, who was supposed to be defeated, has gone missing.

Third is the news that Tanya’s two vassals, Kadek and Nox, are being held captive by the bachelor’s side.

Each of these variables had the potential to create major difficulties from a long-term, mid-term, and short-term perspective.

First of all, if Fenia lost the will to hold on to power, it was obvious that in the long run, the key force that would keep the Rosstaylor family in check would disappear.

When you reach Act 4, it becomes difficult to borrow the power of Lucy or Obel, who are absolute powerhouses. This is because those two exhausted their strength in the third act and are not able to intervene much in the fourth act. Therefore, it would be a greater loss if the powerful imperial family did not join the ally.

I felt like I wanted to ask Lucy, who was fine, to go to the Duchy of Rosstaylor and kill all the Crepins and everything, but there was a high possibility that Lucy would become the world’s worst criminal if she tried to kill all the Crepins who had not committed any crimes.

This is because Crepin, who took the initiative, still remains a benevolent and wise Duke to the people of the territory.

There was no way he would grant such a request in the first place.

I developed a quite special relationship with Lucy. However, that doesn’t mean they would do such a foolish thing as raiding an otherwise healthy duchy without a clear reason and randomly destroying and killing everyone they came across.

However, if we sit still and face the fourth act, it will be a difficult situation, so for the sake of a stable future, we need Princess Fenia to sit in the student council president position.

The news of Tanya’s disappearance is not very good news from that perspective.

The presence of Tanya, who shows the temperament of an arrogant evil daughter, plays a role in igniting the princess’s desire to compete.

It would be difficult for the story itself to come to fruition without Tanya Rosstaylor, who cheers up Princess Fenia so she can take the student council president position.

So it’s best to find out Tanya’s whereabouts as quickly as possible.

Lastly, there is the issue of new recruits for Kadec and Nox. This is related to the reason why I am currently pretending to be dead.

Kadec and Nox were released on purpose. The purpose was to inform Crepin Rosstaylor of my death and to completely push my existence out of his consciousness.

This is because Crepin, who orchestrates cause and effect and wields the power of evil spirits, was too difficult to deal with.

But now things have gone awry, and Kadec and Nox are being held in the academy on suspicion of my murder. At least, I will remain in custody until the investigation into this incident in which I was murdered is completed.

These knights are extremely loyal, so they will most likely not open their mouths. There was a need to free the two in some way and make them report the whole situation to Crepin.

Only then can this frustrating life of seclusion come to an end. It was a short-term problem that hit us right away.

“There’s a mountain of work to do... Huh...”

He took a mouthful of stew and sighed. Well, nothing can be solved by staying in an exhausted state, so it was important to eat enough and keep my body healthy first.

Seeing me pouring stew into my mouth with a lot of worry, Jenica became astonished again and came to sit next to me.

“Because Ed was a noble duke and master... Even after being excommunicated, he gets caught up in a lot of things.”

“huh?”

“I’m just a commoner from a ranch house in the countryside... so I don’t know what it feels like to live like Ed.”

Jenica spoke with difficulty as she swiped the tips of her fingers.

“That’s why I can’t comfort Ed well... I don’t even know him well, but he acts like I know everything, says it’s not a big deal, and tells me to cheer up because you can do it too... There’s no point in saying things like that. It doesn’t feel very sincere... ”

“It’s okay if you don’t think that deeply about comforting her. Yenika, you’re already helping me more than I deserve.”

“...”

Yenika stretched out her legs from the rock she was sitting on, relaxed her tight muscles with a squeaking sound, and sighed.

“Still, I want to solve Ed’s problem. This is just my simple greed.”

Then, he hesitates, raises his eyes slightly, and speaks.

“I just... I hope Ed stops having a hard time.”

After saying that, the ‘strange silence’ came. Now the pattern was almost visible.

Yenika, who was suddenly speechless, wiggled her hands again, lowered her head, and blushed for no reason.

I wiped my face once and admired Yenika again. I must say that I was touched by the way she cared for me so much. Before I knew it, Yenika had become a very special person to me.

“Thank you so much, Yenika. You are the only one who cares so much.”

“Ugh... I feel embarrassed now that I’m talking about it. Ahaha. Ahahahahahaha.”

Jenica was twisting the hem of her skirt for no reason and laughing with strange tension, then suddenly stood up from her seat.

Then he grabbed an oak cane, clenched both fists, and spoke to me in his characteristic excited manner.

“Anyway, the most important thing right now is to find Tanya! I don’t know where she is or what she’s doing, and Ed seems worried about her too! When I heard what Ziggs said last time, he said he went to the living quarters and looked for someone to ask for help.”

I had already talked to Ziggs. Ziggs sent Tanya out to meet her and advised her to go and find someone who might be in contact with the Rosstaylor family.

“Yes. The Rosstaylor family has extensive exchanges with various noble families... but if it were me, I think I would have gone to the royal residence first.”

It was a guess, but it seemed quite plausible. If you were in a difficult situation right now, you probably didn’t want to ask for help from a shy person. It seemed right to first attack the royal residence where Princess Fenia was located.

“Ed has to stay hidden right now, so I think I’ll go visit the royal family’s quarters.”

“No, there is no need for that, Yenika.”

“huh?”

I waved my hand and calmed down Jenica, who was overflowing with motivation.

“As you know, it is not easy to meet with Princess Fenia. She is a very high-ranking person and her schedule is full... She will not easily give up her seat unless she is of a certain level. “Even if you do, you may have to wait for several days.”

If you want to meet Princess Fenia even briefly, you need to find someone of a certain level, and they will be willing to give you their time.

If Ziggs knew that Tanya was not an instigator of murder, there was no way he would leave the situation like this without giving any testimony.

The Bachelor was already full of people trying to find Tanya.

He is not the type of person to sit by and watch this situation unfold while the Bachelor’s investigators search for Tanya’s whereabouts.

There is a high possibility that there are some circumstances that make it unavoidable to do this.

“Thank you for your hard work, Tanya Rosstaylor. I have decided to believe you. So... I will hide you in the royal quarters until the situation becomes clearer.”

“I really... thank you so much, Princess Fenia... I have truly been a great blessing...”

“No, it’s something I have to do.”

Saying that, Princess Fenia lovingly hugged the shaking Tanya.

How did he ever think of getting into a fight with a girl with such a temperament? Just because you have the name Ross Taylor doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a villain.

Wasn’t Ed Ross Taylor, in fact, a sound and complete human being?

Princess Fenia did not want to repeat the mistake of jumping to conclusions just based on the last name Ross Taylor, so she quietly patted Tanya.

*

There is only about a week left until the student council president election day.

The Ed Ross-Taylor murder case, the attack on Ofilis Hall, the disappearance of Tanya Ross-Taylor, etc... The academic staff is frantic as various variables come into play.

Of course, Elte Trading Company is also out of their minds.

As the long winter ended and frozen trade routes opened, cash that had been bottlenecked began to open up.

As the demand for distribution began to surge, Lortel’s workforce, which had been leisurely for a while, suddenly began to become busy.

However, Lortel is a girl who knows how to accurately judge the severity of a matter.

Never make the mistake of being preoccupied with microscopic distribution tasks and missing the macroeconomic trends.

Lortel was sitting alone in the office of the Chamber of Commerce branch, checking information collected by his associates through documents.

“...”

News about the murdered Ed Rosstaylor and information about the disappearance of prime suspect Tanya Rosstaylor are the hottest.

The upcoming student council president election will be held as is since it is an annual event, but academic personnel are currently busy with investigation and follow-up. It is inevitable that the relative spotlight will shine less.

However, regardless of the spotlight, who sits in the position of student council president is very important in various interest disputes within the university.

As I said, Lortel is short on manpower just handling the business of the business council, so it cannot handle the work of the student council as well. The best thing would be for someone who is friendly to Lortel to sit in the student council president’s seat...

‘Hmm... that’s not a good arrangement.’

Tanya Rosstaylor, who openly expressed her aspirations for the position of student council president, is missing due to Ed’s murder.

Now, if the princess really runs for office, there is no candidate who can stop her.

Even Tanya, who seemed to have some potential to push her in the first place, had no chance of winning against Princess Fenia... Princess Fenia’s strength is difficult for any candidate to handle.

The princess has now declared that she will not run, but if she changes her mind for some reason and really runs... there is no one who can stand in her way.

However, Lortel absolutely hates Princess Fenia. I am not very happy about her taking the position of student council president.

Among the candidates, there doesn’t seem to be anyone who is friendly to Lortel and Elte Company. The situation itself does not seem to be very good.

‘How can I control the game if I only focus on things like that?’

Lortel is the type of person who makes decisions in the darkness beneath the water. The tool is money, and the result is the flow of the situation.

The point is to appoint someone who is friendly to you as student council president. It would be better if he was a character who focused on the human relationship with Lortel beyond the simple interest relationship with Elte Trading Company.

Whether the person concerned has the will or not is a secondary issue. The original position is what makes the person.

Thinking like that... Lortel traced the picture of Ed’s face on the document with his index finger a few times.

The situation before the election is descending into chaos. Those who win there are usually those who know how to plan the game.

A calm smile is Lortel’s trademark.

Another conspiracy lies beneath the dark office.

*

– Tap, tap.

Lucy, nestled in a grand bed, was staring blankly into space.

I was counting the number of times a lace thread sticking out of the curtain fluttered in the wind.

The maid standing quietly next to her is smiling without even moving a muscle.

Just being locked in a room is sad, but the current reality of having to be watched by a maid all day is deplorable.

And if there was one more unexpected crisis... simply being banned from going out was not the only ordeal.

Is the problem that I have just opened my eyes to the feelings of a girl?

As I stare blankly at the ceiling, the face of a blond boy suddenly appears above me.

Lucy felt a sense of crisis along with cold sweat.

It’s already the first day of probation... and I’m already getting a response. If you’re buried in sheets that don’t even smell like grass, the difference between your knees that are moderately soft is so big... a strange withdrawal phenomenon comes over you.

D until the end of probation? 29.

From Lucy’s perspective, it felt like an eon.

It was literally torture itself.