_<227 - Doubts of Arcadia>_
Arcadia couldn’t hide her dazed expression all morning.
Titosso and her friends were worried about the princess.
“Tito, shouldn’t you go say something? It’s hard to watch someone who was once a faction boss looking so shabby and inviting ridicule.”
“It seems the princess is very heartbroken. How about gifting her a frill headband?”
Thanks to Arcadia’s introduction, the daughter of the Duke’s family, Kanilian Truffle, and the self-made Frill had become friends with Titosso.
Titosso nodded, secretly delighted by her friends’ unwavering attitude.
“Princess. Let’s have lunch together, shall we?”
“Hehe. Should we?”
To cheer up her spirits after the outing, she even offered strawberry milk as a special treat today.
“Princess, please have this!”
“Thank you, Titosso.”
Always polite and smiling, Princess Arcadia wore a respected face that radiated a different charm from Oknodie, and Titosso wished to wipe away her troubles, though her efforts hardly seemed effective.
“P-Princess…”
Seeing her aimlessly ladle soup into her empty plate during lunchtime tore at Titosso’s heart.
Instead of crying, Frill clapped her hands, loud enough for the princess to hear.
“Ah! How about we hold a tea party for the princess today? It would be nice to digest after lunch!”
“Shall we? I think this is the first time someone has made such an invitation to me. I hope it doesn’t impose…”
“Impose? If you join us, it would be an immense honor for me, Frill. I hope you enjoy the frill-shaped toppings I practiced hard on.”
At the tea party table, she sat calmly, enjoying the gathering as a participant rather than a host.
Even as she complimented Frill for the crooked frill-shaped toppings, she was busy calming Titosso, who fumbled with the cup, making it rattle with every shaky hand.
Kind and mature Arcadia.
Yet between stories, every blank space, her gaze was lost in the teacup, the table’s design, or sometimes nothing at all.
The unfortunate sight threatened to dampen the spirits of Frill and Titosso until the most spirited among them, Kanilian Truffle, decided to speak bluntly.
“Princess, you have something on your mind, right?”
“I’m sorry. I must look terrible, huh?”
“Not at all. You’re human too, so it’s only natural to have worries. I understand.”
“Thank you. This really is a tough time to allow my heart to rest, and I feel like I’ve sullied your kindness.”
“Don’t ever think we wouldn’t understand your worries, princess. Titosso and Frill might be clumsy, but they want to help. So do I.”
Maybe it was thanks to being beside her during tough moments, protecting her from ugly words that Arcadia’s heavy heart finally revealed its inner thoughts.
“Actually, I have worries about Oknodie.”
“Oknodie? Gasp. Could it be…”
Seeing something change in Titosso’s expression, her face turned pale.
“Did something happen with Oknodie?”
“If Oknodie is trying to charm you into attending Professor Sadako’s lectures, shake your cup!”
“Pfft. What is that? That’s never happened.”
“Puhut. That’s quite the obvious sign, fitting for Titosso who carries around a light stand.”
“Frill’s jingling outfit is no less noticeable!”
If Titosso and Frill’s cute banter over trivial worries was the case, it’d be great. But Arcadia’s troubles were far from light.
“The truth is, during the last outing, I needed a huge amount of points and helped by Oknodie to get through a tough task.”
“And?”
“After finishing, I accidentally saw Oknodie’s points balance, and it was a staggering amount.”
Over two million points—a fortune large enough to rescue a person from dire straits.
“Is Oknodie hoping to use that point for you, princess?”
Unlike Titosso’s blatant innocence and Frill’s relatively gentle demeanor, Kanilian Truffle’s sharp insight hit the mark.
“I felt embarrassed to have such hesitations.”
If she had that much point, there would be no need to go out.
Why didn’t Di use those points for herself?
“To say I’ve never entertained such childish selfish thoughts would be a lie.”
“Then you have another dilemma.”
“The fact that Di risked his life to help me on that dangerous mission remains unchanged.”
In the end, Di was a great help during the outing, enabling her to reclaim black money that had been unjustly acquired by her family.
“If it’s okay, could you, princess, tell me what happened?”
Arcadia hesitated.
Could she trust these kids?
She had already faced betrayals from many of her followers.
For a moment’s hesitation, she finally thought she’d like to trust the three who stayed by her side until the end.
“… Here’s what happened.”
“Professor is terrible! 500,000 points? An ordinary student could absolutely never afford that. They must be harboring ill will toward you, princess!”
“With 500,000 points, that’s five thousand gold coins… even for someone like me who earns quite a bit from frill development and sales, that’s a heavy amount.”
Titosso and Frill were angry that the professor was in the wrong or were stunned by that amount.
Only Kanilian, who maintained her usual calm demeanor, saw through Arcadia’s heavy heart.
“You suspect the professor and the academy.”
“Hmm? Why would the princess suspect the professor or the academy?”
“Tito, just eat a cookie and keep quiet.”
Each time that fool asked questions when curious, the conversation wouldn’t progress.
Kanilian stuffed two cookies into Titosso’s mouth, who was unwittingly savoring them.
While the timid Frill furrowed her lips, displaying her resistance, Kanilian poured a cup of chocolate-scented cocoa for her.
“Still not going to take it?”
Frill reluctantly accepted the cocoa and cookie together.
“Just to be clear, I’ve never admitted to being a fool. I just couldn’t resist the temptation of the genius combination of cocoa and cookies.”
Maybe that was true.
Sealing the mouths of the two idiots, Kanilian delved back into the princess’s concerns.
“I think your worries might be unfounded. Professor Destroyer has surprisingly shown consideration.”
“The professor…?”
“If the Duke’s family was trying to trade using the black money, would Professor Destroyer agree to the ledger transaction?”
“Probably not.”
A ledger that couldn’t be traded even with money.
The professor set its value at 500,000 points.
“500,000 points is a steep price, but sometimes there are items that are worth the exchange just to be accommodating. This ledger is one of those.”
“If you put it that way, I might conclude that the professor had good intentions for me.”
“At the time, the remark that he’d acknowledge the last 10,000 points in exchange for all illegal goods might have seemed resentful to you, but to me as a third party, it’s a different story.”
“For example?”
“If you tried to handle items that even the Thief Guild was reluctant to deal with as a student, trouble would surely arise. Many people would seek to take advantage of the fact that you inherited the Sebiche family’s fortune.”
The once discarded Professor Destroyer turned out to have been trying to help Arcadia by handling a million points-worth of untradeable goods and redeeming them for just 10,000 points.
Kanilian Truffle’s family hypothesized that behind the professor’s cold and calculating actions lay a warm heart that cared for the students.
It could just be a stretch, but Arcadia felt her heart warm up to that hypothesis.
‘She may be a stiff and aloof child lacking cuteness, but her kindness is on par with Titosso and Frill.’
A natural smile spread across Arcadia’s face, now relaxed.
“Thank you. While there’s no guarantee that’s the case, I can manage to not resent the professor and academy blindly.”
“It’s nothing compared to the care you’ve shown us. We understand how politically and diplomatically burdensome it is to stand against the great nobles of the Empire.”
Knowing one part of the story while missing the other is quite something.
Most students express gratitude for her efforts, but acting on behalf of everyone becomes beneficial for her as well.
Political power is born from the recognition of one’s authority, and in a situation where everyone relies on her, she becomes the leader of Arcadia’s powerful faction.
Gaining political power greater than her own status allows her to get tangible and intangible benefits based on that significant political force in the future.
…Though that would only be true while the Sebiche Ducal House stands strong in the Kingdom of Florence.
The essential reality of politics remains invisible to the eyes of a Duke’s daughter.
‘That reality must exist even in the Gift Academy, an eerily powerful educational institution.’
Kanilian’s hypothesis was touching, but its likelihood of being true was slim.
Even when acted out of goodwill, it’s probable that they expect even more benefits, just as she had.
‘The real worry lies not with the professor, but with Oknodie.’
To be precise, the two million points Oknodie possesses.
It’s about the provenance of that point.
While taking the midterm exam, she realized just how difficult it is to amass points.
How much dazzling talent one needs to prove to earn them.
After utilizing nearly hundreds of students’ labor for two months at the Dark Trading Company, they managed to gather only 600,000 points.
Oknodie’s balance of two million points compared to that was staggering—about three times that amount; a tremendous level compared to all the labor outside the upper class.
Such points cannot be gathered through ordinary labor.
Catching insects.
Collecting stones.
Enjoying new recipes.
Loving the chatter during tea parties.
To bestow that immense amount upon a cute, engaging, and cheerful little lady seems so utterly disproportionate.
‘Oknodie must be undertaking some special task for the academy that warrants such a sum.’
And from all Arcadia has seen in this academy, only one person stands out as responsible for assigning such suspicious tasks to Oknodie.
Professor Destroyer.
While Kanilian spoke positively about the professor, Arcadia couldn’t help but doubt him.
What separates her from the foundation that has been using the innocent Oknodie at will? Surely, there’s only a difference between light and shadow, deepening Arcadia’s worries.
