So, are you telling me to drop honorifics or what?
Well, judging by the nuance, it seems closer to telling me to drop them.
I felt some unfairness that nobody said anything about Charlotte and Mia using honorifics, but then again, those two really never broke the rules of honorifics.
Mia did use informal speech once.
I’m gonna kill you!
…I mean, she yelled that at me once.
That situation shouldn’t be considered a “typical situation.”
For me, using informal speech was my way of showing familiarity, but for Mia, that moment was so infuriating that she must have felt like she was going insane. Assuming a state of losing rationality is the “normal state” is just something those foolish game masters of death games say when they drag people into a death game, claiming “people show their true nature under extreme situations.”
Should I have just built a character who uses informal speech from the start?
Like, I don’t know, An●ami or Na●tosu? You know, those famous characters. They drop the formalities and are cool beauties. Sometimes, they even show a human side.
It’s too late to think about that now.
“Hello.”
Anyway, since I had decided to drop the formalities, I figured I should at least give it a try.
“……”
The next target of my informal speech was Rena.
Rena, who had stepped out during lunch to make a reservation for parts at the weapon shop, turned to me with a brief dazed expression after hearing my light greeting.
“Well, it’s fine to drop the formalities, but isn’t that a bit sudden? If you’re going to drop them, at least do it since the morning.”
Alice remarked after observing Rena’s reaction.
“But whether it’s in the morning or during lunch, it would eventually feel sudden to the other person.”
“No, still, if you do it in the morning, you haven’t seen each other for over ten hours, but if you do it during lunch, it hasn’t even been an hour yet, so it feels too sudden!”
Hmm, is that so?
But that critique was already too late, as I had already talked to Rena informally while she was on her way back.
“……”
Fortunately, Rena didn’t look as shocked as Sophia. Thinking about it, Rena was probably the purest kid around me. So pure that she might actually be more innocent than Mia or Roti, who also used honorifics.
Sophia and Charlotte are definitely not the kind of people you’d call pure.
Mia, having learned some inconvenient facts while knowing about the things her father did in his lifetime, and Roti… isn’t she in her own little romance? I can’t know how far her relationship with Jake has progressed, but I can bet that there’s at least one ‘inappropriate act’ they’ve definitely done.
It’s not that Rena knew nothing of this, but if I had to pick someone farthest from all those matters, it would definitely be Rena.
Especially in human relationships; Rena didn’t seem to have any particular desires for anyone.
Since there was nothing for her to be cautious about in our relationship, she had no reason to doubt me like Sophia.
As Rena silently approached us and turned her body to face me, she spoke.
“Finally, have you decided to shed the shackles?”
“……”
A heavy silence descended.
No, it wasn’t the kind of heaviness that makes everyone around go silent just because it was too serious.
It was more like a massive question mark hanging in the air.
‘What is this girl talking about right now?’
That kind of questioning silence.
And at that moment, I almost got crushed by the weight of that silence.
To be honest, I was having the same exact thought.
What on earth is she saying right now?
I hadn’t grasped the situation well, but my instincts were sounding alarm bells. If I let Rena say something right now, I would definitely regret it immensely in the future.
shudder
But before I could stand up to stop Rena, someone grabbed my arm tightly.
It was Alice.
Alice smiled widely at me. Her face was all ‘smiley’, but her eyes were gleaming with interest.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
And Claire inquired to Rena. Claire, who had been listening while standing, didn’t have the same openly teasing expression as Alice, but she genuinely seemed curious about what Rena had heard from me.
Should I stop here? Should I at least try to cut off Rena’s words?
But if I did that, it would just reveal to everyone that the story Rena was about to tell was something incredibly embarrassing for me.
And even if I managed to stop it, Charlotte and Alice wouldn’t be the type to just let go of such bait.
My mind, racing, suddenly recalled a memory.
Before the vacation, when I visited Rena’s room.
I had asked for her to share a secret without a thought, only for that secret to be far heavier and more serious than I expected, forcing me to stumble through a half-baked story just to balance things out.
“That is…”
Rena hesitated as she looked at me.
Now was the time to decide. Should I just spill it all cleanly here and end it, or should I at least try to block it this one time?
If I just blurted it out now, I probably wouldn’t have to hear such stories again in the future. But this is a classroom. I don’t know if the other kids would hear this. In fact, a few people were already pretending not to be interested while subtly angling their ears.
On the other hand, if I stop it, even though the classmates can’t hear this, later, I’d probably have to explain it multiple times to each of my friends—worst case scenario, someone might even ‘hear’ it.
…
Fine. It’s whatever. It’s mostly made-up anyway, so let’s just let it slip.
Concepts and everything, I don’t care anymore. Once the classmates know, they might look at me a bit differently, but whether it’s pitying looks or terrified stares, I couldn’t care less.
“No, it’s not something I can talk about here.”
But Rena was even more loyal than I thought.
Noticing that someone was eavesdropping, she simply replied like that.
Since Rena said that, I missed the timing to say it was okay to talk.
“……”
The gazes of my friends around me all turned to me simultaneously.
…Hmm.
I feel like this is going to come back to bite me in the end.
*
Better to get hit first than to let it fester—so I decided to just spill it out and finish it.
Knowing Rena’s loyal character, I didn’t think she’d talk about it in front of others, so we decided to meet in a room instead of the usual café.
The dorm room was a single room, but it was spacious enough for a few students to fit in. Of course, it looked a little cramped compared to being alone or with just one other person.
There were only four chairs at the reception table.
Me, Rena, Alice, and Charlotte sat around the table, while the others had to stand; Sophia occupied a study chair, and Claire, Roti, and Mia sat on the bed.
Sitting together like this made me realize I actually had quite a few friends.
Even though wandering around the dorm is relatively free, it’s still hard for boys to enter the girls’ dorms. The dress styles and the way the kids think are oddly modern, but this is a world borrowed from the Industrial Revolution era. It would cause a scene if a guy entered a girls’ dorm even in modern times, and it would be even worse in this era.
“So, what’s this about shedding the shackles?”
The one who spoke for the group was Alice.
Hearing Alice’s question, Rena looked at me. I nodded with my lips tightly sealed.
“You all know where the Crown Princess comes from.”
Everyone here had probably heard it at least once. They must have heard it from me directly or through rumors.
The rumor that ‘all of the Emperor’s children have humble origins.’
“So… the shackles I mentioned were related to that story. It’s nothing special.”
“……”
Silence fell.
Hmm.
Would Rena keep my secret?
Actually, there wasn’t anything that significant about it. If they thought about my origins and followed that line of reasoning, they might guess what the story was. Claire, who is from a similar background as me, would immediately understand if I shared even a tiny bit of information.
“I… I mentioned I like sweets, right?”
“I haven’t heard that directly, but it was pretty obvious,” Charlotte responded.
“That’s the story. My love for sweets stems from my background; it’s not such a grand tale.”
And as I spoke, I thought to myself.
Oh? If I handle this well, it might not be too embarrassing and could smoothly pass by, right?
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