Chapter 104

Before the student council president election (5)

As the student council president election approaches, the academic atmosphere is becoming more and more tense.

It seemed like there was already some outline among the students as to which candidates would emerge. Among them, interest in Princess Fenia was so high that even students who had no interest in anything other than academics were waiting for Princess Fenia to declare her candidacy.

“As of this morning, Lortel Kecheln announced that he will run for election as student council president.”

Princess Fenia could not help but be quite embarrassed by the information brought by her guard knight, Claire.

“Elte Chamber of Commerce... Lortel Kecheln...? You mean yourself?”

“yes.”

Princess Fenia tilted her head and expressed her curiosity.

Lortel Kecheln is the real power of the behind-the-scenes world, and is not the type of person who tries to occupy a position that is revealed to the forefront.

In addition, Lortel is working at Elte Trading Company. There is no way he could hold the position of student council president with a heavy workload. If he were to become student council president, it was safe to say that he would not see much of the business of the upper chamber.

I didn’t think Lortel would make that choice due to his personality.

However, it could not be said that Claire’s information was wrong. This is because he always carefully selects and brings only double and triple verified information.

“It’s not that bad... What’s certain is that if she, who is already firmly in control of the residential area, takes over the position of student council president... she will be able to reign like a king in this Sylvania. That’s as much as possible... to stop it. “I think so.”

“If you are the princess...”

“But... I have no intention of becoming student council president.”

Princess Fenia cut out Claire’s mantra exactly.

Putting down the teacup on the luxurious table in the private room of the royal residence... Fenia was lost in thought for a moment and eventually came to a conclusion.

“I have to go see Miss Tanya in the guest room.”

*

“We can’t just stay hidden forever, Miss Tanya.”

Even on the first floor of the royal residence, you have to go deep into the hallway and turn several times to get to the guest room.

It was a remote space where no one except those cleaning the place could enter.

Due to the geographical characteristics of Aken Island, which is located on the outskirts of the empire, it is rare for distinguished guests to stay there. Therefore, the guest rooms were only built according to architectural conventions and did not fulfill their role.

Still, it served as a home for Tanya, who had run away, so now that I think about it, it wasn’t a complete waste.

When Princess Fenia entered the room, Tanya was just sitting quietly at the table and shaking.

“Princess Fenia...”

“I don’t know how special Ed Rothtaylor’s relationship was with Lortel Kecheln during his lifetime, but... Anyway, the merchant seemed determined to secure Miss Tanya.”

Princess Fenia clearly remembered Lortel always defending Ed Rothtaylor.

Although we do not know what kind of relationship the two have, we can at least infer that Ed is a very meaningful person to Lortel.

“Anyway, no matter what Miss Tanya plans to do, she must first be cleared of the charge of murdering Ed Rothtaylor.”

“But... I think if there was this much circumstantial evidence, they would think I was the culprit. It’s not a very... good situation.”

“...Then I guess I have no choice but to ask Miss Tanya’s opinion.”

Princess Fenia came and sat down at the table across from Tanya with her shiny platinum-blond hair swept to one side.

When I look at the girl who resembles Ed Ross-Taylor with her fiery blonde hair and facial features, I am once again reminded of the man who died inexplicably before she could fix her mistakes.

Although he is no longer in the world, he was able to promise himself that he could not repeat the same mistake.

“If Miss Tanya didn’t instigate Ed Rosstaylor’s murder, then who did it?”

That question is also related to the question that Princess Fenia has had for such a long time.

A deep, deep darkness where the true identity of the Ross Taylor family is unknown. If I could find at least that part of it and pull it out... helping Tanya wouldn’t be completely meaningless.

“That’s...”

Tanya hesitated, lowering her gaze.

Kadek and Nox, who were pointed out as the murderers, are long-time vassals of the Ross Taylor family.

The status of vassals means that they are not just individuals, but are beings who carry the prestige of the family on their backs. They were also educated to be careful about their every move in order not to tarnish the family name.

What is the probability that such people will commit a murder that has nothing to do with the will of their family?

If they even came to a foreign place called Aken Island as a dispatched person and personally stabbed and killed the master they had served in the past... it is absolutely not arbitrary.

Things went awry and the crime itself was discovered, but in any case, there must be a dark side that ordered such a murder.

“That... thing... maybe...”

Tanya also knows. If he hadn’t ordered it himself... there aren’t many people who could have ordered such extreme actions from Kadek and Nox.

I was able to think of even the most likely suspects.

That is... my father, Crepin Rosstaylor, whom I respect greatly.

No one but him could order Kadec and Nox to kill Ed Rothtaylor.

“...”

Just by looking at Tanya’s hesitation, Princess Fenia was able to guess the reason behind it. This is because Princess Fenia was also someone who had been suspicious of the infinitely dark intentions of Crepin Rosstaylor in the first place.

Still, I didn’t question it further. The fact that her father, whom she had trusted and followed her entire life, did such a thing without any hesitation... would be a difficult fact for Tanya to immediately accept.

“...The reason Kadec and Nox came to Sylvania... It was just a justification to assist me... In reality, it was to kill Brother Ed.”

Suddenly, Tanya seemed to have gathered her thoughts and slowly opened her mouth.

“Miss Tanya...”

“I was just... a puppet.”

Tanya lowered her head and spoke quietly.

Come to think of it, Tanya’s life was always like that.

How many times have you been able to achieve something by making your own decisions?

After I grew up, I gathered my strength under Ed’s tyranny, which I had lost some sense of.

Even after coming to Sylvania, the only thing I did was walk around with Ross Taylor’s glory on my back and my nose raised as if I had achieved something.

There is nothing in Tanya’s life that she could have achieved entirely on her own without the support of Ross Taylor. Aside from the fact that she was born as the daughter of a noble family, she was just a girl of her age who had studied a little too much.

That fact hit me hard again, so I lowered my head and sniffled.

3rd year Combat Department Chief Drake, Pension Department Chief Atalanta.

Dyke, head of the 4th year combat club, head of the magic department, Tracyana.

Securing the support of five of these eight members was a key condition for winning the election.

Wade, the head of the 1st year combat club, is already supporting Princess Fenia, and Dorothy, the head of the 4th year pension club, is already supporting Tanya, so this is out of the question.

Additionally, Lucy, the second-year head of the Ministry of Magic, and Yenika, the third-year head of the Magic Department, did not exercise their voting rights in the end. Lucy is annoying. Because Yenica is completely neutral.

“Hmm...”

If things had gone as planned, it should have gone that way, but in reality, the story has naturally become twisted here and there once it has come to this point.

The cracks that appeared little by little from the first act snowball out of control by the third act. At this point, it is impossible to imagine how the electoral structure will change.

So, it is greedy to hope that everything goes strictly according to the story I know.

However, I hope things go according to the original plan, with Princess Fenia, who will be of great help in the future battle to subdue Crepin, taking power.

Even if I couldn’t fit all the small details, it was comfortable for me to fit the major trends to prepare for the future.

However... I couldn’t ignore Lortel’s words.

– ‘First of all, I will make Tanya the student council president. ‘By any means necessary.’

With the rolling waves in the background, he sits on a light brown rock, hugs his knees, and smiles.

It is a colossal statue of Elte Company that is sure to be filled with thousands of wild tigers inside.

When asked why they are trying to make Tanya the student council president, the girl in his memory answers.

– ‘That’s because he’s your younger brother.’

That answer is just a model answer that Lortel created in his head.

Lortel’s scheme always seems to end here, but there is a deeper part left.

That’s why I can’t just sit back and watch the situation.

However... it is unclear what course of action to take. First of all, I am now officially ‘dead’.

First of all, it will be easier to move on in many ways if we quickly end this useless pretending to be dead.

*

“Relevant submitted documents have been collected here. You are indeed running for the student council president election, Acting Lortel Hoeju.”

“Oh, thank you, Secretary Rienna. You can just leave it there.”

Lortel hummed, wondering what felt so good, and gave brief instructions to the cute, red-haired secretary.

Since Lortel handles most of the work directly without a secretary, Rienna, a junior employee at the Sylvania branch of the Elte Company, thought it was a big deal when she received the task. Clearly, the workload was too much for Lortel to handle even the work related to the student council elections.

What is strange is that he voted for the student council president election even though he clearly knew that. Are you really planning to throw a wrench in the Chamber of Commerce if you get elected?

“Agent Lortel. I...”

“Let’s not ask unnecessary questions.”

As if he knew what Rienna was curious about, Lortel answered gently without stopping his hands from flipping through the documents.

“Anyway... I have no intention of becoming student council president or something.”

“Huh? Then these documents...”

Suddenly, Lortel’s hand, which had been dancing on the documents, stopped. Ink spreads little by little under a quill that stands still.

“Do you want to ask only the necessary questions?”

It was the most kind and beautiful smile in the world, but Rienna suddenly got goosebumps and apologized. And then I quickly closed the office door and left.

Lortel, left alone, hums again and moves his quill.

“Anyway... we’ll all find out...”

Tanya Rothtaylor is afraid of Lortel. On the surface, Lortel appears to think that Tanya killed Ed.

By maintaining that position and openly hinting at retaliation, Lortel becomes a ‘whip’ that puts pressure on Tanya.

On the other hand, whether it’s Fenia or Tanya... they probably have a strange sense of debt to Ed Rothtaylor, who has officially passed away.

The psychological debt of not being able to properly recognize the man’s sincerity, treating him harshly, and ultimately leaving him there until the day he dies... does not go away easily. This is especially true when you consider the personalities of the two.

If left as is and fanned, the existence of the man named Ed Rothtaylor will become more and more special in the consciousness of the two and will develop into something like an untouchable sanctuary.

Then, when the sense of debt and compensation that had accumulated when Ed Ross-Taylor was alive finally bloomed, the recognition and actions of the man named Ed Ross-Taylor would become a ‘carrot’ that would be difficult to reject for them.

In order to do so, if you continue to stimulate your sense of debt to Ed Ross-Taylor, you may end up driving yourself into a situation where everyone is in Ed’s hands when you come to your senses. The more people are pushed into a corner, the more extreme their psychology becomes. The whip for him is Lortel himself.

It is a way of dealing with someone, going back and forth between repulsion and acceptance, conquering someone and adjusting it to suit yourself.

The way he holds both the stick and the carrot in his hands and gradually pushes the next student council president into his grasp is like a puppeteer controlling a puppet.

The years spent coordinating between people in the world of mourning and mourning are half of one’s life. Squishy power struggles are now as natural to Lortel as breathing.

*

“You know, Bell.”

“24 days and 3 hours left.”

“...”

Now, like an answering machine, the answer came out as a bell.

But the days do not decrease.

Lucy was sitting on the chair in the private room, hugging her knees and clicking the chair at an angle.

-Cudangtang!

Eventually, I lost my balance and fell down. I fell helplessly on the floor and looked up at the ceiling, but the world was still motionless.

“Kill me...............”

“You can’t do that.”

“Kill me......!!!”

I was reflecting on myself and saying that I would never get carried away by my emotions and cause trouble again, but regardless of that, I still had two-thirds of the punishment I had to pay.

Silence.

“...”

Only the face of the maid, Belle, who was standing politely, was shining brightly as if she was at peace with the world.

Lucy’s face was so cruel.