Those trendy folks who look at the world through a love-filled lens might not understand, but of course, people categorize when dealing with others.
Family, friends, those who are sort-of friends, acquaintances who you only know by face, colleagues at work… If someone says it’s cold-hearted to categorize these relationships, then they probably haven’t experienced social life. It’s necessary to categorize to get along without discomfort.
It’s not about jumping straight into calling someone a friend; it’s more like gradually getting to know each other from afar, which helps avoid awkwardness later.
Plus, having these categories lets you think of the right person to contact when you need help or want to help someone else.
Of course, the situation in school was a bit different. The only time we weighed each other’s benefits was during grades, which you can’t negotiate with others; it’s about your own studies.
Otherwise, there’s no need to calculate losses or gains, so you can interact comfortably with anyone, regardless of whether you’re meeting for the first time. After all, school is where kids from the neighborhood gather, and unless there’s a drastic wealth disparity in the district, you generally find similar kids. With similar ages, it’s only natural to get along somewhat.
The problem was, the academy in this world didn’t work like that.
“Alright, since we’re on formal terms and I don’t feel a wall because of that speech style, we’re good to talk freely,” Charlotte said, lowering the hand she had raised to her forehead down to her waist.
“But other people who don’t know you well don’t feel the same, right? If a Crown Princess suddenly speaks informally to some people and remains polite to you, it feels like she’s building walls.”
If the counterpart was friends, sure, that would be true. But I had always spoken formally to everyone.
“…So, it means the others are scared of you. If you’re going to build walls, you should build them appropriately.”
Alice said, pointing out my confused expression.
“Think about your image; it seems you’ve forgotten, but at one time, you were one of the fearful figures among the nobles of the Empire. Right now, you’re the only one outside of that group.”
Oh, right.
Just because the academy had a similar system as a school, it didn’t mean they were the same – ‘Academy = School’ wasn’t true.
This was a place where nobles resided. Moreover, if you went to certain classes, there were commoners too.
Even without going into the noble-commoner relationship, the hierarchy among nobles was significantly different.
There were rivalries, relationships similar to master and servant… In any case, it was way too different to compare to a school.
“These days it’s good to relax, but don’t be too spaced out just because you’re relaxed. You still need to remember the basics,” Alice said.
“…”
Alice’s words were so on point that I had nothing to say in response.
“So what should I do?” I asked.
“Well, it’s simple,” Charlotte replied, but Claire jumped in unexpectedly.
“Just speak informally to the others. Simple, right?”
“…”
However, at those words from Claire, the three of us fell into silence.
Alice, who had just been scolding me, and Charlotte, who brought up the topic in the first place, both looked like ‘Is that really okay?’
They had suggested it, but now hearing it from someone else made them realize how unnatural it sounded.
Imagine Sylvia Fanggriffon being friendly and speaking informally to everyone?
…That’s even hard to picture!
“But besides that, there really isn’t any other way,” Alice finally managed to say after some deliberation.
“Yeah, but I can’t just go back to the days when I used formal speech with everyone.”
“Exactly, I don’t want that either,” Charlotte and Claire chimed in.
“So, starting today, does that mean I just speak informally to everyone?”
“…”
At my question, everyone fell silent for a moment before nodding. Among them, Claire was the only one smiling as if it were obvious, while Alice and Charlotte wore worried looks.
Wait, what am I supposed to do here?
*
Anyway, I decided to accept all three of their suggestions.
However, the ‘everyone’ I applied this to didn’t immediately extend to the entire academy.
I’d start with those around me first. That way, the shock would be minimized.
“So, Charlotte, from today, I’ll start speaking informally to you.”
“If I’ve been speaking formally, you said you would do the same, didn’t you? Well, it’s fine either way.”
Charlotte said that while acting coy but took it quite easily. In fact, she seemed delighted to say it.
“Of course, I’ll continue using this speech pattern with everyone. So, I’m going to speak informally to ‘everyone’.”
“That’s right.”
I nodded at Charlotte’s words.
Honestly, it felt strange. I thought of her as a friend, and this was sincere, but it felt like I was crossing that line with a close work colleague for the first time. In fact, I had never spoken informally to work colleagues before, so I wasn’t sure how that felt; if I had, it would be something like that.
Still, it wasn’t a bad feeling.
Okay, let’s apply this to the next friend.
Just then, Sophia, who had stepped out for a bit during lunch, was coming back in.
“Sophia, hey!”
“What’s up?”
As soon as I greeted her, Sophia froze at the door, rigid, and said that.
Then she took a step back as if changing her mind about entering the classroom and said, “What’s going on? What are you thinking? Are you planning to use me for something? Was my thought that we became friends a misunderstanding?”
She was letting out a stream of random words.
“…”
“So, it would have been nice to speak informally from the start.”
Seeing Sophia’s reaction, I turned to Charlotte, who let out a deep sigh.
“Um… I guess we missed the timing.”
Alice tried to comfort me, but it didn’t really help.
“No, Sophia, it’s okay. Just come and sit down.”
Only after Claire said that did Sophia hesitantly return to her seat.
Although the desk was the same, she seemed to subtly shift her chair over to maintain some distance from me.
“Well, my sister said she’s going to get closer to others. So, we decided to speak informally like this.”
“Don’t.”
Sophia said, blushing, and looked at me.
“Don’t do that.”
Then she emphasized it again.
…That kind of hurts to hear.
“A moment ago, I almost had a heart attack. If you didn’t respond like that, I’d have bolted straight to the Papal State.”
The Papal State was far away from here, and even if I went, the Velbur military was occupying it.
Honestly, I thought Sophia would be better off staying in the Empire, but I kept that to myself.
“It’s thanks to the fact that I’ve known you guys for a while and that I can gauge the situation from your reactions that I’m managing this much. If it were someone with even slightly weaker heart condition, they might just faint from a heart attack.”
Will I turn into some kind of grim reaper?
“Hmm… Why is that? You’re not a scary person.”
At Claire’s words, Alice, Charlotte, and Sophia turned their faces toward her simultaneously. They all looked like they wanted to question that, but realizing it wouldn’t work against Claire, they quickly turned their gazes back to me.
“…Um, is it because of my expression?”
Alice mumbled, resting her chin on her hand.
“Definitely, it might be about your expression,” Charlotte said with a serious face.
“Expression isn’t the only issue, but it does play a significant role,” Sophia added as if to reinforce.
“What’s wrong with my expression?”
When I asked, Alice said with a slightly serious expression.
“After years of training, I can interpret your expressions, but others might not be able to. Whether you speak informally or formally, if you keep that blank expression and flat tone, others will find it scary.”
“…So should I greet them with a smile?”
“If you greet them with a smile, the other person’s heart might just tighten and cause a cerebral hemorrhage.”
What on earth is wrong with her!
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