If I were really a student, I would have been really happy about the vacation period.
Going to school is quite similar to going to work. It’s a reason to get up when you don’t want to, a reason to shove an unwanted breakfast into your mouth and shuffle along reluctantly, and once you’re in, you have to endure and sit there until the day’s classes are over.
Of course, school is still better than work. Classes ended a little earlier, and there were long vacations twice a year.
But I wasn’t an ordinary student. Neither was Alice. We were both princesses, and there were a lot of things we had to do during the break.
Whether it was a good thing or should I say that I wasn’t aware of any sign of the events that would unfold, the Emperor still hadn’t given me any tasks. He hadn’t even mentioned anything about making a deal. Most importantly, it seemed he didn’t even know I entered the restricted section.
And based on that fact, I could feel a bit at ease. The Emperor’s guess about my abilities was due to his own deduction skills, not some kind of superpower that could see through me.
At least that was one relief.
*
“There’s no need to follow me like this.”
As the carriage rattled, Alice spoke to me. The genuinely apologetic look on Alice’s face almost made me smile without realizing it.
“I have nothing to do even if I stay in the Imperial Palace.”
“Yet you were cooped up in your room just at the start of the break.”
In the end, that was indeed the case.
In reality, I had been wandering around inside the Imperial Palace, sneaking into the docked warship Dreadnought due to regular maintenance to check the internal structure, and throwing bombs at every facility inside the Palace to observe the outcomes or time the soldiers’ arrival.
I repeated this a dozen or twenty times, calculating the average time before jotting it all down in my notebook. Naturally, all in Korean. I didn’t use Arabic numerals, but wrote them in the style of artillery notation.
Since the Emperor found out about my abilities, I had been carrying that little notebook closely, so no one would read it.
And all of this was done while Alice wasn’t around. I didn’t directly shoot anyone, but it was clearly regarded as betrayal from the Empire’s perspective, and I didn’t want Alice looking at me with betrayed eyes, regardless of anyone else.
I had seen the Emperor’s reactions a few times, and they all had that completely unbothered expression, which made me feel uncomfortable.
‘After all, you’ll just revert this anyway, right?’ I could hear that in his tone. Of course, the Emperor would say it in a much more serious manner, but still.
“…Where you’re headed now is far more dangerous than where you went during the break.”
“No matter what, they can’t just openly kill a princess. I mean, even putting that aside, if something were to happen, the entire territory would blow away.”
“But the opponent is Crowfield.”
“In that case, shouldn’t you be the one to be careful?”
While I had been looking for chances in my room with various excuses all break long, Alice seemed eager to publicly assert herself as the next Empress throughout the break.
Up until now, her face wasn’t well-known to the commoners, but now many people could recognize Alice’s name and face. Even the media was questioning her enthusiasm.
“I have already faced Crowfield before.”
“Which was years ago. The security and defenses are far more brutal than they were back then.”
Hearing her say “you’ll lose” instead of “you might lose,” I turned my gaze from the window back to Alice.
“Do you think I didn’t research anything after hearing your story? I’m serious about calling myself your sister.”
Alice said with a somewhat firm voice.
“And protecting you is my job as your sister.”
“In that sense, protecting the next Empress—”
“No.”
Alice cut off my rebuttal abruptly.
“The Emperor is the one who protects his loyal subjects under his name. If you choose to follow me, I must protect you for sure. I—”
Alice paused for a moment, then looked straight at me as she spoke.
“Unlike my father, I won’t just use you. I’m different from him.”
“…”
What more was there to say?
I was happy to know someone cared about me. Especially if that someone was one of my favorite characters.
But at the same time, I felt worried.
In the original story, Alice wasn’t this determined at this point. She was somewhat twisted, filled with inferiority complex, and caused friction with the protagonist, showing her vulnerable side.
She was completely different from the Alice standing right in front of me.
So, I had no idea how the Alice before me would act in the future. If I tried to control something in order to steer the future outcomes to my desire, I could probably say I had already failed.
“…But still, there’s no need for you to visit Crowfield intentionally.”
As I said that to oppose her even a little, Alice let out a hmph and glanced out the window.
It was a beautiful scene of endless green fields, contrasting with the name Crowfield. It was hard to believe there would be so many factories belching black smoke at the center of the estate.
And it seemed absurd to think that this was once a place where children addicted to drugs were sold.
“You don’t know something, do you?”
Alice mumbled.
“Pardon?”
“Or maybe you just ‘don’t know yet’?”
“…”
Alice briefly glanced at me as she stared out the window.
That gaze—
—Um, I’m not sure if Alice would like to hear this, but in fact, it resembled the Emperor a bit.
*
“Your Highness.”
With that, the one who greeted Alice with grace was Count Crowfield’s Baroness. I think she grew up in another count’s house during her childhood. It’s said that she was distantly related to Count Crowfield. It didn’t matter much now.
Pale skin, black hair. In fact, Count Crowfield had somewhat of a similar vibe, so it was a bit ambiguous to say who Mia Crowfield particularly resembled. Maybe I thought they just looked alike because I knew they were mother and daughter.
As Alice received her greeting with a noble posture, the Countess Crowfield turned to me.
There was not the slightest trace of any negative feeling in her gaze.
At least, she managed her emotions much better than her own daughter.
She was like that in the original story too.
“…”
For a moment, the Countess’s gaze, which had glanced at my face, dipped just slightly. As the lady bent her knee to greet, I did the same in courtesy.
It was my first time being looked at by the Countess, but I had seen her several times before. Although, that was a story from years ago.
It was the story of when I had succeeded once by sneaking in as a maid.
Count Crowfield, who shamelessly predated on a child much younger than him, didn’t show such behavior in the mansion. He behaved more like a typical caring father, appearing to be an average, devoted husband. I don’t think of it as acting. The Count must have genuinely loved his wife and been a caring father to his daughter.
He just didn’t treat the orphanage children like people.
And that demeanor was somewhat reflected in his daily life.
Among the servants of the Count’s household, there were children from lower noble families and commoners. The Count was always kind to the noble children. He spoke gently as if addressing a niece, and whenever an uncomfortable situation arose, like when a girl began to notice the signs of becoming a woman, he would kindly excuse her from work.
Basically, it was the same for the common servant children.
…Basically.
However, I had felt the Count’s predatory gaze a few times. The fact that I could suddenly get that close to the Count as just a newly hired maid was due to that reason.
Ironically, my success due to that reason happened just once. So, it was incredibly difficult for me to secure an opportunity to spike the Count’s food while keeping my purity intact.
I can understand why it makes sense that the Count died a few years after the main plot timeline in the original story. A Claire with that kind of background would have probably been unable to endure that situation better than I had.
I turned my gaze to find Mia Crowfield nearby.
True to her character, who had cast me an intensely complicated gaze before the break started, she now wore a look of utter confusion, managing to barely uphold the formality between a princess and a noble.
Countess Crowfield briefly shot a glance at the perplexed Mia Crowfield.
…Isn’t that a bit harsh towards your own daughter?
You may also like Mesugaki Tank Enters The Academy
