“Then why do we have to call each other by name?”
When I asked that, the already awkward atmosphere suddenly froze.
“Ah, um….”
Sophia Bianchi’s eyes darted around before they returned to me.
“Don’t you like it?”
Of course, that was an act. It was like that in the game too. Very few people noticed her true personality until it was fully revealed, so her acting skills must have been really good.
Maybe a little bit of sincerity was mixed in. Seeing her follow me around, she must want something from me, and if that doesn’t materialize, it could be troubling for her.
“Lady Crowfield.”
Instead of responding to her, I called Mia Crowfield, who was sitting at the café table with me.
She flinched slightly and looked at me cautiously.
“Have I ever called you by your name?”
“N-no?”
Mia shook her head vigorously in response to my question.
I redirected my gaze back to Sophia.
“It’s been a whole semester since I met Lady Crowfield. Yet, I still haven’t called her by name. This isn’t about liking or disliking; it’s about how close we are to each other.”
Actually, everyone in this group, except me, called Mia by her name. Even Alice, who stubbornly refused to change how she addressed Mia, despite what happened during the last break.
Having finished my explanation, I picked up my spoon again and started eating the parfait. To be honest, the weather had gotten quite chilly for this, and considering most people at this table ordered warm coffee, I must be the weird one.
But what can I say? It’s delicious.
“Is that so…?”
When I bluntly stated that, Sophia Bianchi went pale. She looked more ‘lost’ than disappointed or upset.
Maybe there’s a bit of sincerity in that after all.
*
“Sylvia.”
It was an uncomfortably strange situation, but I didn’t stop eating my parfait. Having thoroughly scraped the cup down to the bottom with my spoon, I parted ways with my friends and returned to my room.
And before I could even gather my thoughts, Alice showed up.
“Do you know anything about Sophia?”
Alice asked, looking serious.
“Sophia Bianchi is a spy sent from the Papal State.”
“A spy?”
“To be more precise, she’s affiliated with the Order of Knights.”
At my words, Alice’s expression momentarily went blank.
She was fidgeting with her lips, then sighed dramatically while running her hand down her face.
“Well, okay. I won’t ask how you found that out.”
That was quite generous of her. This was information hard to find even if you went back in time, so I wouldn’t have had any way to explain how I knew unless I admitted I had information from another world.
It’s much more comfortable when they figure it out for themselves rather than me having to forcefully hide things.
Alice sat down in a chair across from me, meant for guests in the room.
“I have some questions, and can you answer them?”
“I can answer a lot about Sophia Bianchi.”
“Good.”
Alice nodded and continued.
“She said she’s from Velbur and is the daughter of a knightly family in Lutetia. How can someone from there be affiliated with the Papal State? Isn’t it a serious crime to misrepresent your identity, especially if you’re claiming a title of nobility? And entering the academy with royal approval? That doesn’t make sense!”
“The Papal State and Velbur have a cooperative relationship. Although the Papal State claims independence from Velbur, there’s not a lot of friction between them. The territory the Papal State governs is just a small fief, and people can freely enter and exit from there. Since there are many Goddess-worshippers in Velbur, the atmosphere between the two countries isn’t hostile.”
“So, you’re saying that Velbur helped create a fake identity for her?”
Alice asked seriously.
“More than a fake identity, it might be another real identity.”
The fact that she’s the daughter of a knightly family could be fabricated. The family itself does exist. It was the same in the original story, so it probably remains true here too. Therefore, her title is real, and ‘daughter’ is legally accurate. It doesn’t mean she’s a biological daughter, but…
A legally recognized daughter’s status could be created as long as their mutual interests aligned, right?
“So, are the two countries allied?”
“It probably isn’t a formal alliance.”
Considering the mess I made last year, I tried to make it seem like there was conflict on the surface. Meanwhile, I had plans to cooperate behind the scenes. They probably wouldn’t completely sever ties just because I stirred things up.
But it must have become more secretive. To make it seem like there’s ‘really’ nothing going on.
“But… that’s just weird.”
Alice tilted her head and said.
“Even if they didn’t anticipate you knowing Sophia’s identity, why would these two countries, which have to operate so secretly, suddenly act this way?”
“Desperation.”
My answer was simple.
Yes, they must have been rushing. After all, the Papal State had faced several unexpected incidents.
Starting with Verati, who still hadn’t regained her consciousness, and ending with the Emperor’s child, who suddenly emerged from the Papal State causing chaos and running away with something important.
The Papal State might suspect the Empire itself. They could think that Lucas’s actions were all part of a grand scheme by the Empire.
Even if that’s not the case, given the circumstances, they couldn’t remain still. For Velbur and the Papal State, time would have seemed awfully tight. War is something that takes years or even decades of meticulous preparation to even start. But in this world, no nation is prepared to go to war with the Empire. From the perspective of these newly industrializing countries, it truly was an urgent situation.
“So, you thought they might try to build friendship with us? That becoming close with the princesses could prevent a war?”
“……”
Well, honestly, I’m not sure about that.
In the original story, characters appeared during the second installment, when the war intensified. They weren’t even characters I encountered in the academy.
“I still don’t have any clear idea about their objective. Maybe… they want to discuss something with me.”
“With you? What the—ah.”
Huh?
Before I could teach her anything, Alice suddenly seemed to understand something on her own and her face darkened.
“Do you have any insight?”
When I asked that,
“Uh? Ah, um… I do, but…”
But Alice couldn’t respond properly.
“If you have an idea, it would be great if you could share it with me—”
“Ah, no!”
Alice hurriedly shook her head.
Then she stood up and said,
“Thanks to you, I cleared up a lot of questions. I’ll also keep a watch on Sophia to a certain extent.”
“Okay…”
As I blankly looked up at the rising Alice, she just left the room, saying, “See you tomorrow!”
…… Wait, what?
*
Sylvia has a special ability. Maybe a power to turn back time.
As the teacher said, time is something even the Goddess cannot turn back—but—
If it’s like the explanation I heard back then, simply repositioning the world’s state like rearranging the location of objects, then that is indeed a power of the divine.
I’m not sure if she is aware of that or not. At least from the look on Sylvia’s face, she didn’t seem to think that ‘it might be the power of a Goddess.’
The first anomaly regarding Sylvia’s ability occurred when she went to the place where ‘Ji-bo’ was.
That was the moment I encountered that entity wielding mysterious power. After that entity disappeared, it seemed like Sylvia’s ability returned to normal. Since then, she hasn’t been flustered by anything.
And again, at the Imperial Palace…
Ability, Goddess, Ji-bo, Papal State.
Thinking about these four keywords—
“Could it be?”
Alice’s face turned pale.
Could it be that the Papal State…
…….
No, no.
I shook my head vigorously to clear the distracting thoughts. There were still remnants lodged deep in my mind, but I managed to calm down somewhat.
Truly, for it to be the power of a Goddess, the ability itself is far too limited. Above all, Sylvia can’t heal or protect others like the priests of the Papal State.
But even so, I somehow understand their reason for coming.
“So that’s it.”
Lying on my bed and staring at the ceiling, Alice muttered.
…… I needed to make the story a bit clearer.
It could be by listening to Sophia herself or hearing the story from the ones backing her.
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