How not to look like a faction.
Easy to say.
In practice, it was horribly difficult.
Because if we did not want to look like a faction, we first had to explain why we were together.
But gathering to explain it only made us look even more like a faction.
If we split up?
That was the isolation Arsene wanted.
Together, we were a faction.
Apart, we were isolated.
Both were traps.
I felt that fact deep in my bones in the middle of the central corridor.
Arsene had already withdrawn.
On the surface, anyway.
But the words he had left behind still lingered in the corridor.
`Leon Cart's classroom.`
Rumors traveled faster than people.
Especially in noble society.
One candidate whispered.
"Are they really learning from a commoner teacher?"
Another candidate laughed.
"Lady Rosette? No way."
"But you saw what happened just now. She said she was angry."
"Lady Blanc didn't laugh, either."
"Even the Saint Candidate was with them."
"Then doesn't that mean it really is a little classroom?"
Great.
Not great at all.
We had stopped the outburst.
We had stopped the poisonous remarks.
We had stopped the silence.
But now a rumor had formed.
The three girls stood before the corridor directory.
Eveline folded and unfolded her handkerchief.
Seria clasped her hands behind her back so she would not have to press down the corners of her lips.
Liana could not take her eyes off the directory bearing her name.
I could speak.
The observation had ended, and my speaking restriction had been lifted.
Which meant I needed to be even more careful.
If I spoke recklessly when I could speak, it was more dangerous than when I could not.
Eveline looked at me.
"So?"
"Yes."
"How do we avoid looking like a faction?"
Seria spoke quietly.
"I would like to know as well. Though I think it may already be too late."
Liana spoke softly, too.
"Did it look worse because I stood in the middle?"
"No."
I answered immediately.
Liana's eyes wavered.
"You chose your own place, Lady Liana. The problem is that people who see it will label it whatever they please."
"Then what should we do?"
Eveline asked.
I was about to answer, then stopped.
Clarisse stood beside us with her pen raised.
Of course she did.
"Why did you stop?"
she asked.
"If I give the answer, it becomes a classroom again."
Clarisse's pen stopped.
Eveline said with an irritated expression,
"Then who is supposed to say it?"
"You ladies are."
The three girls' faces stiffened at once.
Great.
Class again today.
The academy should charge tuition.
I had already paid plenty with my wrist.
Seria spoke slowly.
"In other words, we must prove for ourselves that we are not a faction."
"Yes."
"How?"
I closed my mouth.
Seria's eyes narrowed.
"Ah. We are supposed to say that as well."
I nodded.
Clarisse wrote.
"Educational supervisor avoids presenting answers. Encourages candidates to resolve the matter independently."
Accurate.
This time, it was helpful, even if it annoyed me.
Then a male student approached us.
He was a scholarship candidate in a gray vest embroidered with a merchant guild crest.
He was smiling, but it was not a comfortable smile.
"Excuse me. Is Leon Cart's classroom still accepting applications?"
The corridor went quiet.
Was he mocking us?
Was he sincere?
Was it both?
In noble society, people deliberately mixed the two.
That way, only the person who reacted looked foolish.
Eveline's handkerchief moved.
"I am angry."
Good.
Emotion first.
She looked at the student.
"And is that a question, or a mockery?"
Good.
Requesting that he reframe the question.
The student hesitated.
"I was just... curious."
Seria spoke quietly.
"It is generally difficult to put 'I'm just curious' on the record."
The corners of her lips did not rise.
"Please tell us what you are curious about."
Seemingly feeling the gazes around him, the student cleared his throat.
"The way you three behaved just now. You did not cut someone off before they could speak, you did not answer for them, and if they refused, you stopped. Is that... an established lesson?"
Ah.
Only then did I understand.
It was not complete mockery.
This student was a scholarship recipient who had to survive among noble candidates.
Like Liana, he might be at risk of being spoken over by someone else.
He must have seen something in the central corridor just now.
Three candidates protecting their own words, even if imperfectly.
And it must have looked like something he needed.
Liana spoke first.
"It is closer to... a rule than a lesson."
Good.
Eveline looked at her.
This time, it was not a pressuring look.
It was a look that waited.
Liana said a little more.
"A rule that I can stop a conversation I do not want, that I speak for myself, and that no one else speaks for me."
The student said quietly,
"Can scholarship candidates use that rule too?"
Silence.
Seria's eyes widened ever so slightly.
Eveline looked surprised as well.
Liana drew in a breath.
"I... think they should be allowed to."
She looked at Clarisse.
"But I do not think I am the one who can grant that permission."
Good.
Very good.
She said it did not belong to her.
Clarisse wrote.
"Lady Liana Bell rejects the privatization of the rule."
Seria spoke slowly.
"If we do not want it to look like a private classroom, then we should not hang a nameplate on it."
"A nameplate?"
Eveline asked.
"Leon Cart's classroom. Rosette's side. Blanc's side. The Saint Candidate's protectors. The moment it is given such a name, it becomes someone's property."
Seria looked around the corridor.
"So we must remove the names."
Good.
That was very Seria.
She understood the danger of phrasing.
Eveline folded her handkerchief.
"Then just make it a rule."
"What rule?"
Clarisse asked.
Eveline tried to look at me.
Then stopped.
Good.
She spoke for herself.
"A rule against taking people's words away."
Short.
Rough.
But good.
Liana added,
"A rule that lets people stop a conversation."
Seria spoke last.
"And a rule that does not make the person who stops it into a coward or a criminal."
Silence.
Several candidates in the corridor looked at one another.
Some had laughed at us in the beginning.
But now the atmosphere had changed slightly.
These rules were not an issue unique to Eveline, Seria, and Liana.
Scholarship candidates needed them too.
Lower-ranking noble candidates needed them too.
So did those bound under the name of a higher noble's protection.
In noble society, words flowed according to status.
Those above spoke in place of those below.
A house spoke in place of an individual.
A fiancé judged his fiancée's condition in her place.
A guardian decided the wishes of the person under their protection.
It often looked like etiquette.
But it was not always etiquette.
Sometimes, it was simply silence.
Clarisse raised her pen.
"We can formalize this as temporary dialogue principles for the Preliminary Archives Office."
Eveline looked at her.
"Then it will not be a private classroom?"
"The likelihood will be reduced."
"Not removed entirely?"
"Rumors are never removed entirely."
Accurate.
Annoyingly accurate.
Clarisse called for an assistant.
"Prepare a temporary notice board."
The assistant moved immediately.
Truly fast.
Were those people not human, but administrative functions?
Before long, a small mobile notice board had been set up at one side of the central corridor.
Why could the academy bring out things like this so quickly?
Probably because they had so many occasions to publicly shame students.
Clarisse wrote a heading on a fresh sheet of paper.
`Preliminary Candidate Dialogue Principles — Temporary Observation Standards.`
She looked at the three girls.
"The candidates will propose the wording, and the Archives Office will formalize it. Do you agree?"
Eveline said,
"I agree."
Seria said,
"I agree."
Liana said as well,
"I agree."
Clarisse wrote the first line.
`1. No one shall speak in another person's place.`
Liana said quietly,
"However, there should be an allowance for helping if the person concerned asks for it."
Clarisse nodded.
`Exception: This shall be recorded when the person concerned explicitly requests assistance.`
The second line.
`2. An unwanted conversation may be stopped.`
Eveline said,
"What if someone gets angry when you tell them to stop?"
Seria answered immediately.
"That should be recorded."
Eveline looked at Seria.
"Are you saying that to me?"
"No. To everyone."
Eveline stared at Seria for a moment, then nodded.
"Fine."
Clarisse wrote.
`Disadvantage, mockery, or pressure in response to a request to end a conversation shall be subject to observation.`
The third line.
`3. Protection cannot be a reason to erase the wishes of the person concerned.`
Clarisse wrote that sentence.
The corridor fell quiet for a moment.
Eveline said,
"That sounded a little human just now."
Clarisse immediately tried to write it down.
Eveline raised a hand.
"No, do not put that in the principles."
"The record is separate."
"You really are a formidable opponent."
Seria spoke quietly.
"I agree with that as well."
Liana laughed very softly.
Good.
Her laughter did not hide.
Three lines were posted on the notice board.
`Preliminary Candidate Dialogue Principles — Temporary Observation Standards`
`1. No one shall speak in another person's place. Exception: This shall be recorded when the person concerned explicitly requests assistance.`
`2. An unwanted conversation may be stopped. Disadvantage, mockery, or pressure in response to a request to end a conversation shall be subject to observation.`
`3. Protection cannot be a reason to erase the wishes of the person concerned.`
Simple.
Stiff.
But strong.
And above all, Leon Cart's name was not on it.
Neither was Eveline Rosette's.
Nor Seria Blanc's.
Nor Liana Bell's.
There was no nameplate.
It was not a private classroom, but public principles.
I let out a breath inwardly.
A system window appeared.
`[Frame Shift Attempt]`
`[Leon Cart's Private Classroom -> Preliminary Candidate Dialogue Principles]`
`[Suspected Private Faction Level: Slightly Reduced]`
`[Public Rule Influence is being generated.]`
Slightly.
As expected, it would not happen all at once.
But it had moved.
Then the student from earlier spoke cautiously.
"Then... based on these principles, may I refuse if a higher-ranking candidate answers in my place?"
Clarisse said,
"You may refuse. However, the circumstances and statements will be recorded."
The student's face showed a strange sort of relief.
"Thank you."
"Thanks are unnecessary,"
Clarisse said.
"It is a rule."
Eveline said quietly,
"That sounded kind of cool."
"Recording that."
"I said do not!"
Quiet laughter spread through the corridor.
It was different laughter from before.
Not ridicule, but laughter as some of the tension eased.
Things had not changed completely.
There were still whispers.
"Still, it only happened because of those three, didn't it?"
"Didn't Leon Cart create it behind the scenes?"
"Is it official because the Archives Office put it up?"
"They said it was temporary."
The rumor had not died.
It had merely changed shape.
For today, that was enough.
In Arsene's absence, we had twisted his frame a little.
Then it happened.
Applause sounded again from the far end of the central corridor.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
This time, it was not Arsene.
A black coat embroidered in gold.
A silver coronet tilted casually to one side.
Relaxed eyes.
Kaiden Astrea.
The Empire's Second Prince.
I swallowed a curse.
Why was he here?
Why was he really here now?
Kaiden stopped before the notice board.
He slowly read the three lines.
"Good."
His voice was low and unhurried.
"I especially like the third line. Protection cannot be a reason to erase the wishes of the person concerned."
Clarisse bowed respectfully.
"They are temporary observation standards of the Preliminary Archives Office, Your Highness."
The central corridor stirred.
The candidates all straightened their posture.
Eveline stiffened as well.
Seria composed her expression.
Liana bowed her head in surprise.
Like the commoner teacher I was, I quietly tried to step back.
Kaiden's eyes found me immediately.
I was screwed.
"Leon Cart."
He called my name.
The corridor's gazes turned on me again.
Great.
Not great at all.
I bowed my head.
"Your Highness."
"You changed the record again."
Again.
Those words were dangerous.
Kaiden knew I had changed the flow several times.
Or he was pretending to know.
I spoke carefully.
"The candidates proposed these principles themselves."
"Is that so?"
Kaiden looked at the three girls.
"Lady Rosette."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Did you truly propose them yourselves?"
Eveline started to look at me, then stopped.
Good.
"Yes. I said it should be a rule against taking people's words away."
Kaiden looked at Seria.
"Lady Blanc."
Seria bowed her head.
"I said we should not hang a nameplate on it. Once it is named, it becomes someone's property."
Kaiden's eyes narrowed slightly.
"A good statement."
Seria did not smile.
"Thank you. This time, I will not retract it."
Clarisse wrote.
Kaiden looked at Liana.
"Lady Liana Bell."
Liana raised her head with a tense expression.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Is the third line a sentence you need?"
Protection cannot be a reason to erase the wishes of the person concerned.
Liana looked at the sentence.
Then she spoke quietly.
"Yes. I need it."
Kaiden nodded.
"Then they are good temporary standards."
The air in the central corridor changed.
The Empire's Second Prince had said it.
That they were good temporary standards.
Those few words carried weight.
In noble society, a prince's words were not wind.
Sometimes, they were direction.
Clarisse recorded it.
"His Highness Kaiden Astrea, the Empire's Second Prince, gives a favorable assessment of the temporary dialogue principles."
Good.
But Kaiden did not stop there.
Smiling, he said,
"Then we should test them."
I wanted to close my eyes.
Again.
Another test?
Kaiden addressed the assistant.
"Apply these principles during the public question session for preliminary candidates."
Clarisse's pen stopped.
"Your Highness. The public question session is not yet an official event."
"That is why it is preliminary."
Kaiden spoke lightly.
"We can see whether the candidates can question one another and, under these principles, stop, answer, or ask for help."
The central corridor stirred.
A public question session.
In other words, they would be questioned before even more candidates.
Eveline's handkerchief moved.
The corners of Seria's lips started to rise, then stopped.
Liana's hand trembled.
I was about to open my mouth.
Kaiden looked at me.
"Of course, Leon Cart would do well to limit his speaking again this time. Wouldn't he?"
A smiling face.
An observer of the hidden route.
This man was different from Arsene.
He was not acting out of malice.
At least, not yet.
But that could make him even more dangerous.
Kaiden enlarged the board.
I answered quietly.
"...Yes, Your Highness."
Eveline looked at me.
Seria looked at me as well.
So did Liana.
I spoke briefly.
"This is not a test I chose."
Kaiden smiled.
"Which is why it will be a better test."
That was a truly awful sentence, befitting royalty.
A system window appeared.
`[Frame Shift: Partial Success]`
`[Preliminary Candidate Dialogue Principles have been created.]`
`[Private Classroom Frame weakens.]`
`[Caution]`
`[Kaiden Astrea, the Empire's Second Prince, advances the Public Question Session Event.]`
`[New Event: A Classroom Without a Nameplate]`
`[Conditions: Leon Cart speaking restriction / questions from multiple candidates / public application of dialogue principles]`
I looked at the directory.
A classroom without a nameplate.
The private classroom frame had certainly weakened a little.
But in exchange, the classroom had expanded to encompass the entire corridor.
I was screwed.
I did not know whether this counted as winning or losing.
Seria spoke very quietly.
"Teacher."
"Yes."
"I said we should not put a nameplate on the classroom, and His Highness got rid of the walls."
Accurate.
Too accurate.
Eveline unfolded her handkerchief.
"So what do we do now?"
Liana looked again at the three lines on the notice board.
"I suppose... we should be the first ones to follow the rules we made."
Good.
She was right.
I nodded.
"Yes."
Clarisse wrote.
"Next evaluation: Application of temporary dialogue principles during the public question session."
I sighed inwardly.
We created rules to stop a rumor.
Then the prince created a test because we had created rules.
What a wonderful day.
Wonderfully going to hell.
But at least one thing was clear.
We had removed the nameplate reading Leon Cart's private classroom.
In its place, three lines had been posted where everyone could see them.
No one shall speak in another person's place.
An unwanted conversation may be stopped.
Protection cannot be a reason to erase the wishes of the person concerned.
Now the question was this.
Could those three lines truly hold up before everyone?
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