CH 81

I opened my eyes and I was in a warm bed. Roaming my gaze to the ceiling, I realized I was sleeping in the infirmary. I also noticed that someone was sitting on the bed.

As I tried to speak and took a breath, I coughed and coughed.

“Rebecca, are you awake?”

“Your Highness…”

His deep blue eyes peered in. I was hugged firmly and my muffled voice echoed with unease.

“Do you hate me?”

“Of course not!”

I deny it with a smile, Giggle by the unexpected question.

“In fact, I believed in you, that you wouldn’t come to help me, but would attack Oswald’s tower. Thanks to that, I was able to defeat Kyaran.”

If he had really come to help me, I would have been naturally discouraged, and it was only natural for His Highness to take my flag in the end.

Considering that we encountered the unprecedented situation of an alliance between Generals, our army performed well.

I get up and stretch.

Winter is the same as spring in that all the students have a defense spell cast on them beforehand, and what I used earlier was the magic that was originally given to me, so I am unscathed. It feels more like I took a deep nap.

As I left the bed, I asked.

“What time is it until the ball?”

“Five hours.”

“That’s good enough.”

The ball where the title is awarded is on the night after [winter] every year.

From now on, the students will be busy. They will start preparing for the dance party from those who have recovered.

And as for myself and His Highness, the final big task, “Sajad’s exoneration,” is waiting for us.

The ball is an event that wraps up the first year at the Royal Academy. Female students wearing colorful dresses, and male students escorting them.

Because heavyweights from the country who want to see the talent that will carry the country with their own eyes will also show their faces, the scale is considerable.

First, the top three and top five will be announced, and then there will be dancing and conversation. Laugh with classmates who have been rivals for a year, striking shoulders.

In the scenario, before the announcement of the title, the protagonist exposes Sajad’s actions to the light of day. When I read the passage in the strategy guide, I thought,

――――Is Sajad an idiot?

“Exoneration” is not something with a lot of evidence, there are many loopholes. If I calmly keep a straight face, Sajad’s guilt should not be recognized.

However, Sajad was furious. He deliberately stripped off his true colors and shouted, trying to give validity to the protagonist’s claims.

And finally, he ran wild with magic, turning the Academy into a hellish picture by materializing the nightmares of various people, and then he became unconscious from the backlash and fell into a coma.

This contradiction must surely point to the true him.

The sun sets and the time of the stars and moon arrives.

One hour before the ball was held in the lecture hall, I was standing alone in the dim great hall.

Dressed in a deep blue dress like the sea, with delicate golden accessories, and braided black hair done up, I was ready for the ball.

The students are getting ready in their dormitories, and the teachers are busy preparing for the ball. Inevitably, no one has any business in the hall.

So the footsteps approaching, “taptap” are from the person I called.

“Good evening, Duke Slutarch’s daughter. It’s rare for you to want to talk to me.”

“Good evening, Viscount Mahajanjiga’s son. Thank you for your kindness.”

Sajad, dressed in a classic tuxedo, appeared from the darkness with a fake smile.

“What can I do for you?”

Gentle behavior that doesn’t show any irritation at being called on the busy ball day. Each movement is grand.

I wonder if he has the confidence to not care about what I say.

——That’s only natural, Sajad ultimately failed to provide us with any evidence.

It’s the same scenario. There’s no evidence that won’t move. He can slice through this.

“… would you like to hear a story about a certain noble young man?”

While gazing at that relaxed smile, I started the conversation.

***

There was a noble young man. He was academically excellent and good looking, and his personality was also good.

His only noticeable drawback was that he hated commoners. [Commoners are supposed to serve nobles, they are not even human]. He thought so.

But of all things, there was a commoner girl at the academy he attended.

She was a thorn in his eye, having entered a grade below him and being academically excellent, even having won the same award as him.

The young man was displeased.

At such a time, his father was told to get a higher title. The Viscount family was losing power, and the Viscount sought the privileges associated with the title.

The young man understood his own abilities well. He couldn’t get it with his own ability.

——But, if it’s not a straight approach.

He could interfere with the minds of others with his Phantom Beast. He thought of using it to control a certain trio of women, but there was no immediate success.

Moreover, that woman (the duke’s daughter) was close with the commoner girl. When that woman (the duke’s daughter) was with the commoner, she laughed especially well.

The young man didn’t like it. When he saw that woman (the duke’s daughter) happily laughing next to the commoner, he felt as if his intestines were boiling.

The young man decided to first shake the trio of women.

Using a mutual friend of that woman (the duke’s daughter) and the commoner girl, he could cause damage to both. He started to harass them, but it didn’t seem to have much effect, even when he tried to push that woman (the duke’s daughter) down the stairs.

The young man changed tactics. [If you want to shoot the general, you must first shoot the horse]. He tried to bribe the commoner girl.

But that was interfered with too. This time, a nobleman protected the commoner girl. The commoner girl, protected behind the nobleman without minding her status, once again irritated the young man badly.

Then, this time, he attacked the fiancé of the trio of women, but that also didn’t go well.

————But it’s okay.

There is no evidence that the young man did anything, and there are plenty of opportunities for him to do so after “he” graduates from the Academy.

So even if it was known that everything was known to the three strong women just before the ball, the young man should aim for the next opportunity with a keen eye.

***

When Sajad finished listening to me, he didn’t say anything.

he just laughed.

Confidently sure of his victory, he looked down on me who couldn’t find evidence, and was simply relieved.

If you were going to make a move, this was the place to do it.

“————That’s a lie,” he said.

The expression disappears from Sajad’s face. I laughed in its place.

[Absolution] starts now.

“To begin with, the way to do it is too slow and sluggish.” I said, changing my tone on purpose in the empty great hall where nobody was there.

Sajad seemed to be flustered.

“…What do you mean?”

The lengthy discussion [of Sajad from my point of view] was probably within his expectations. It’s reasonable that he dismissed it as “a lie.

Now that the disguise has come off, this is the perfect chance to break his cover.

“If you can interfere with someone else’s mind, the fastest way to become one of the top three this year is to attack the man with a high possibility of becoming one and aim for that frame.”

Of course, His Highness and Oswald, but Brian and Gadd might be the ones that fit the description.

“Nevertheless, why did the young man insist on women?”

Sajad asked. First, Sajad drew out the words through [the young man].

He smiled on his face again, and said it was the story of [the young man], not himself.

“Was it because the [three powerful women] seemed to have lower abilities and be easier to handle than the men?”

“Oh my, despite that, “the young man” have been continuously failing.”

Making a deliberate curious expression and stirring Sajad, Sajad raised his mouth corners unnaturally. He is holding back so as not to show his anger.

“Also, there were too many things that didn’t add up.”

——Viscount Mahajanjiga, who we met at a summer evening party, was a father who couldn’t believe that Sajad would listen to what he said straightforwardly.

——The line that was supposed to be said at a ball, [summer].

——The activation conditions of Phantom Beast’s ability suddenly mutated.

——When he was blamed in the scenario and got angry and worsened his position.

“I thought there was a reason. But for the past year, your words and actions have been so inconsistent that I thought you might be stupid.”

Sajad is upset. This kind of insult is effective against a man with a high pride as a mountain.

“…What do you want to say.”

Even so, he still maintained his composure on the surface. He didn’t take a step or raise his voice.

But he was definitely losing his patience.

Because he didn’t seem to realize that [the young man] had taken the [you] place.

“I realized it. If it’s normal for things to not make sense, then wouldn’t you be holding onto (romantic) feelings that you can’t fulfill yourself?”

“Huh…?”

Sajad furrowed his eyebrows as if he was confused. And then he smiled with his nose.

“Unfortunately, it’s a misunderstanding. I never loved you.”

“I know. There was never a time when you held special feelings for me. Because in reality——.”

I, who held the strategy guide, thought I understood Sajad well.

But there was one fact that wasn’t even in the strategy guide.

“You love her, don’t you? ————Emilia, from the bottom of your heart.”