Rudell woke up in the early morning, hours later.
“Umm…”
Feeling a headache that felt like it would split his skull, Rudell let out a low groan.
At the same time, he slowly opened his eyes.
“Where am I…”
A dazed voice slipped from his lips.
A strange ceiling.
As he stared at the bizarre scenery, Rudell slowly sat up.
In that moment,
“Huh…?”
Seeing himself lying on the bed and Silphier, sound asleep on a blanket on the floor, a dazed voice escaped his mouth.
‘Why is she here?‘
It was indeed a very reasonable question, but Rudell was in a state where he couldn’t even easily understand that.
“…????”
As the baffling situation began to cloud Rudell’s mind, he grimaced and rubbed his forehead.
“Ugh…”
What on earth happened?
With such thoughts, he began to rummage through his memories.
He clearly remembered encountering a Chimera in an alley, defeating it, and using the return scroll after being hit by the still-alive Chimera’s tail…
“Ah…”
Only then did Rudell realize why he was here.
Silphier’s fields of study were Mage Engineering and Alchemy.
In other words, she, with her talent for Alchemy, surely chose this place as the destination of the return magic so she could heal him discreetly.
“Ugh…”
Just as Rudell finished organizing the situation in his head and was cautiously getting out of bed,
“Ugh…”
Silphier, who had been sleeping with a low groan, opened her eyes.
Then, as she blinked, she turned her head toward Rudell.
“…”
“…”
For a brief moment, an awkward silence lingered between them…
“Ah, hello…?”
Rudell waved his hand toward her with a creaky motion.
Upon seeing him, Silphier made a bewildered expression.
In that moment,
“…”
“…?”
Without saying a word, she got up and hopped into her armor in the corner of the room.
As the armor creaked to life, a blue light flashed from its eyes as it rose slowly from its stand.
“Y-you’re awake?!”
“Huh? Wait… did you heal me?”
Responding to her question, Rudell touched his shoulder.
He felt no pain from the shoulder wrapped in bandages.
“Y-yes! I was so surprised when you suddenly showed up…”
“S-sorry…”
Looking at Silphier, who was puffing steam, Rudell lowered his head slightly.
“A-are you alright? It’s only natural to repay a debt to Count Weinstein!”
Upon hearing her words, Silphier waved her hand.
“By the way… I don’t really remember getting here. Could you tell me what happened?”
“Ah, yes! Of course!”
Nodding at his request, Silphier slowly began to explain.
Various stories were exchanged, but to summarize, it was that Silphier brought the collapsed Rudell, gave him an antidote, and healed his wounds with a potion she developed herself.
That was the gist of it.
“I see…”
“Should I call Duchess Lagrind?”
“Um… could you keep that a secret?”
Nodding and mumbling, Silphier asked him.
Of course, Rudell had no choice but to stop her.
“Huh? W-why?”
Her confused voice showed she didn’t understand.
From her perspective, since she was always with Leje, it was a reasonable reaction.
“It’s… I want to keep this from Leje…”
Rudell wished to delay Leje finding out about the church as long as possible.
At least he wanted to postpone it until she had grown strong enough not to collapse in a fight against the church.
“Ah… I see…”
Silphier let out a low hum, and Rudell scratched his cheek with an awkward expression.
Once again, an awkward silence began to hang between them…
Seeing her like that, Rudell cautiously stood up.
“A-are you leaving?”
“Yeah. I have class tomorrow.”
Facing Silphier, who seemed disappointed, Rudell smiled faintly.
Even if it was in the future, he would have to repay her properly, right?
Thinking that, Rudell cautiously stood up.
“Thanks for healing me; I’ll definitely repay you later.”
“Ah, no! Don’t mention it!”
At his words, Silphier waved her hand again.
Seeing her so similar to what he had read about in the original novel, Rudell couldn’t help but smile.
“Then I’ll see you later, Lady Kaylee Ren.”
Saying that, he turned toward the hallway.
*
The next day, after class.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh? What do you mean all of a sudden?”
As Rudell walked down the hallway, Leje’s sudden question caught him off guard.
“Your shoulder looks uncomfortable.”
“R-really? Is it just my imagination?”
At her following remark, Rudell felt a momentary jolt in his heart.
‘Where did she find out? Was it that obvious?‘
Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Rudell tried to answer her as casually as possible.
“Umm… is that so?”
It seemed he wasn’t very sure; Leje turned her head at Rudell’s response.
Feeling cold sweat trickle down at her reaction, Rudell couldn’t help but wonder about her keen intuition…
“It’s probably just my imagination.”
“Seems like it.”
Leje shrugged, shifting her gaze away.
Seeing her like that, Rudell couldn’t help but let out a silent sigh in his chest.
Thus, the two of them walked through a sparsely crowded corridor.
“President, this is Leje El Lagrind.”
“Come in.”
A little later, when Leje knocked on the student council room door, a familiar voice came from the other side.
Soon, the door creaked open.
On the other side was a spacious room that could almost fit an entire classroom.
And…
“Both of you, come in.”
At the desk at the end, welcoming them with a friendly expression was Kaylee Jane Karens, the youngest student council president of Philsberg Academy and the Duchess of the Karens House.
“Was it a difficult journey? Please take a seat.”
Bowing her head in response to Kaylee’s invitation, Leje and Rudell settled at the table in the middle of the room.
Next, she too stood from her desk and came over to sit.
“So, what will you drink? Tea? Or coffee?”
“I’ll have tea.”
“I’ll take coffee.”
Upon Kaylee’s question, they replied simultaneously, and Kaylee gestured to her attendant beside her.
As the bowed attendant stepped outside, Kaylee turned her gaze with a slight smile.
After a brief wait, her attendant returned with a tray of drinks and set them before the two.
“So? What’s the occasion today?”
“Come on, is it that boring just to see your face after so long?”
At Leje’s icy response, Kaylee feigned sadness with a whimper.
“There’s no way my sister would call me without reason.”
Of course, that act wouldn’t fool Leje one bit.
“Seriously, when you were little, you used to follow me around calling me sister, but now you’re so cold.”
“If you’re going to say useless things, I’ll just leave.”
“You really are impatient. Just tell me already.”
Glancing at Leje as she spoke sharply, Kaylee clicked her tongue, and a short sigh escaped her lips.
“As you know, soon the midterm exams will end, and the Sabbath Festival will be held.”
“Right, but why?”
Nodding at her words, Leje picked up her teacup.
The Sabbath Festival, simply put, was a large-scale festival held by the academy after the midterms, aimed at relieving the stress students accumulated from studying.
Considering the academy’s size, it could practically be considered a festival encompassing the royal capital.
“On the day the Sabbath Festival begins, the princess will visit the academy.”
“Huh…?”
At her words, Leje’s hand froze, bringing the teacup to her lips.
“W-what? The princess?”
Hearing that, Rudell also looked at Kaylee in disbelief.
It made sense since it was still too early for the princess to make an appearance.
Jade Elizaveta Perun Prucel.
In the original story, she appeared when Leje and the protagonist reached their second year.
There should still be over half a year left before that became normal.
“Wait a second…”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. It’s surprising, but don’t ask why. I don’t know either.”
Kaylee said that while looking at Leje, who had a baffled expression.
As soon as she spoke, an awkward silence hung between Leje and Kaylee.
For a few seconds, they were silent…
“O-okay, fine. The princess is coming? That could happen. But why on earth…”
“Why do you think I’m telling you?”
Kaylee interrupted her and a significant smile appeared on her face.
As if she had guessed what would follow, Leje’s expression scrunched up.
“No way…”
Rudell too let out a low groan, sensing the atmosphere.
“I’m considering asking you both to guard the princess during the festival.”
