CH 49.2

At that time, a young lady meekly stood beside me. I was standing beside the cart I had used to deliver the mud. She was a petite lady with pretty coral hair—Baroness Lumiere Alban…

…Did I make a strange expression?

The next second, she softly beckoned me.

“…Uh, Your Highness Zafield—”

“What is it? Shouldn’t you hurry to your classroom? It’s not like you have to deal with this kind of thing. If you’re worried about the physical wellbeing of my brother and the others, I shall inform you later.”

Other than me, she was the only one not dirty with mud. Upon giving Lelouche some ladles, she scurried off to a remote area to watch the situation unfold. Hence, she should be able to attend her classes normally. In the first place, she was in the ‘Trois’ class. Therefore, her classroom experience shouldn’t be impacted.

Unlike me, whose classmates were all covered in mud, she could still leave with her dignity intact—or even jeer at us.

“Because I’m interested.”

“…You’re merely scared of your Lady Lelouche, right?”

“Or rather, I want to learn how Lady Lelouche will overcome this adversity.”

—Didn’t she mean to say that the sight of Lelouche getting reprimanded was too interesting?

I couldn’t help but see the child Lelouche in her. When I suddenly burst with laughter, Lumiere’s eyes went wide.

…As I thought, she truly resembles Lelouche.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I merely thought that you’re definitely Lelouche’s disciple.”

While we were discussing such a thing, the teacher noticed us.

“The two over there! If you have time to run your mouths, shouldn’t you be returning to your respective classes?!”

However, soon, the teacher was dragged back into the debate starred by Lelouche who refused to back down.

…Well, then—

—I wondered if I should also participate in the war for a bit.

I raised a hand and innocently asked.

“Teacher, isn’t everyone in the class currently studying under the blue sky?”

“That’s right! Today, we were merely studying under this blue sky about the nature of Western mud with our skin! Teacher, if you’d like, why don’t you join us?”

“—Lelouche Elcage!”

“Fufu, what is it, teacher?”

Ahh, this place is entirely being run by Lelouche as of the moment…

Next to Lelouche, who seemed to be enjoying herself from the beginning to end, my brother was peacefully taking a nap.

He was sleeping very comfortably…

…Only I knew why.

He had been staying up all night every night to prepare teaching materials for Lelouche’s follow-up exams. I thought he’d finally catch some sleep yesterday, however, he stayed up to make memorandums for last minute measures…

Not to mention, this morning, I went to the Elcage family to see Lelouche to the academy only to learn she wasn’t there. Her parents said she had stayed at Baron Alban’s house with a friend. Of course, my older brother had heard nothing about it—and neither had Lumiere and Baron Alban. After questioning the people of the Count Fabel, we confirmed that it was indeed her who sent that false message to Lelouche’s parents.

Then, my brother went to fetch Lelouche as fast as he could. Afterwards, he even threw mud at everyone together with her. His falling asleep couldn’t be helped.

Are you aware of all the hardships my brother went through?

Lelouche lined up more sophistry to the teacher. The teacher scratched his head before finally laughing with joy.

—Hey, Lelouche.

Is it truly because you just want to have fun?

Or was it to let my brother get some rest?

Ahh—…

…I looked up at the sky. The beauty of the blue sky made me feel even worse.

Everyone was told to go home that day. After all, if they were to enter the classroom in such state, I’d pity the cleaners.

The next day.

That day was supposed to be a holiday. In an empty classroom, Lelouche and my brother, who were forced to attend school, apologized in writing as per the teacher’s instructions. The teacher wasn’t that angry, though, and ended up compromising.

The future king and queen reflected during the holiday. Certainly, they felt some ounce of shame. Even so, the two felt no remorse at all. They were having fun chatting while the composition paper laid before them.

Ah, what have I done?

As expected, in the end, all I could do was watch the two from a distance.

***

Ah, I feel like crap.

But, it was like you said—I didn’t know when to stop.

Hey, Lelouche, where should I have given up?

I still didn’t know.

Had I asked earlier, would you have given me an answer?