Chapter 27: Chapter 27

It was empty, and emptier still. Cecilia Roienthal sat upon the throne of a castle built from eternal ice, looking down with a cold gaze at those who dared look up at her without permission.

"What a thoroughly absurd sight."

"...Lady Cecilia."

"Enough."

Seeing the force of the blue haze flowing from Cecilia’s body, Boris shook his head.

"Her mind has already been completely shattered by the mana rampage. She is now—"

"Cecilia."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The blond man she had once loved—no, had believed she loved—looked up at her. It was terribly...

"Delightful. This situation."

Though she had lost everything she possessed, she liked this moment far too much.

**

Having straightened her clothes, Cecilia looked up at me with a dazed expression. Was she observing me? She looked like a baby bird.

"Viktor."

"Yes, Cecilia."

"The classroom for the lecture you are taking right now is quite far from here, isn’t it?"

"..."

"Your class cannot be over yet."

"..."

"Viktor."

Her sparkling violet eyes were fixed on me.

"Sigh."

I felt guilty lying to those eyes.

"I canceled class on my own."

"What?"

"Because I heard you were dueling, Cecilia."

"..."

"I was worried."

"That..."

Cecilia swallowed her words. I did not know what she had wanted to say, but her face reddened as she briskly shook her head.

"You were worried about me?"

"Yes."

"What do you mean by that?"

"...Because you are my fiancée."

"That is... true."

Looking a little deflated, Cecilia lowered her head for a moment. Then she looked back up at me, a smile on her lips.

"Still, I like it. That you came running for me like this."

"Because you are precious to me."

"...That is a little unfair of you to say."

"Is it?"

"You are precious to me too. So if something happens to you next time, I think I will cancel my class and come running as well."

"Haha. I will look forward to it. Still, you should not do that, Cecilia."

"Hmm?"

Cecilia puffed out her cheeks slightly and began to frown.

"Why not?"

"Because you are a lady descended from heaven. You are unlike a defective product like me..."

"Do not say that."

"Pardon?"

"Never."

Cecilia’s eyes wavered for a moment before settling once again.

"...I do not want to hear things like that."

"I apologize. Was there perhaps something I said that upset you...?"

"Viktor, do not ever call yourself a defective product again."

"..."

"Do not... hurt yourself. No matter how the world judges you, I will never accept such a judgment."

"..."

"Because you must be my proud fiancé."

At her words, a tear slipped down my face before I knew it. She rejected the wound I had carried since birth, the wound I had thought would never heal, and saw me for who I was. I was so grateful, and so sorry.

"Thank you."

"..."

**

Looking up at the man shedding tears before her, Cecilia could not bring herself to say anything. She simply waited quietly until he gathered himself and spoke.

"Thank you."

"..."

Cecilia looked into the red eyes of the man gazing at her. The eyes of a man who had advanced toward his goal without faltering, who had endured without breaking in order to protect those he cared for. Those eyes were trembling now. And that was so...

"Viktor."

Endearing, heartbreaking, and wistful that she wanted to protect him.

"It is all right."

"..."

"I am here."

"..."

With a handkerchief drawn from her bosom, she wiped away his tears. She wanted to protect this weakness he showed only to her. She wanted to be the only one to hold his pain and hide it away. Only her.

"There, there."

"Cecilia?"

"It is all right."

She desperately wished for him to look at her. He reached out his hand. When their hands touched and warmth passed between them, this moment was unbearably sweet.

She wished this dream would never end.

**

"..."

"...Um."

"I am... sorry."

"No, I... well."

Sitting on a bench and recalling what had just happened, we both blushed without either of us being the first to do so.

"Um, Viktor."

Unlike earlier, she addressed me more formally. I nodded. She had probably pushed herself to comfort me.

"Yes, Cecilia."

"My impropriety just now..."

"No."

I smiled and shook my head.

"Thank you. It comforted me greatly."

"...Did it?"

"This is nice sometimes. As expected, being comforted by an older woman is..."

"An older woman...?"

"Yes?"

"...Viktor."

"Yes."

Cecilia’s lips curved in a gentle smile, but her gaze resembled that of a predator stalking its prey.

"Have you met any older women besides me?"

"Uh... I have met some at Walterheim Estate, but."

"But?"

"...You are the first one to comfort me, Cecilia. Haha... I have always admired older women."

"Ah."

Those damned relatives of mine called me Little-Brother-mon every day, despite being older than me. Do you know how irritating that was?

But look at Cecilia. There was only a one-year difference between us, yet the feeling she gave off was entirely different.

"Whenever you wish, Viktor."

"Haha... all right."

Though by whenever, she surely meant until the day we broke off our engagement. Still.

This might not be so bad. This, too.

"I should return to the classroom soon."

"Yes. Then I will see you at dinner."

"Um, Viktor."

"Yes."

When I looked at Cecilia, who had stopped me as I was about to leave, her hand gently stroked my cheek.

"Keep your spirits up."

"..."

"Hehe."

Today, too, my abduction-and-marriage stack was steadily piling up.

**

"Your Grace."

"What?"

"Would you stop planting your escort in the classroom and disappearing?"

"I said I was sorry."

Rushe sighed and shook her head.

"As a graduate, I never want to experience a professor’s bewildered expression at finding me sitting in class ever again."

"Why? A reunion between teacher and student is a good—"

"Would you like me to tell you what my grades were when I attended the Academy?"

"Jester must have shed tears of blood."

"..."

"What?"

"Sometimes I think you are a man who hurts women far too easily, Your Grace."

"What are you talking about?"

"A bad man who is kind only to the young lady."

"...Is that not a good thing?"

A man who looks only at one woman and keeps every other woman firmly at bay. That was completely a good—

"You said you were going to push her away."

"..."

"And yet you sprang out of your seat in terror the moment you heard she was dueling."

"Hey, hey, that was because Cecilia might have had a mana rampage—"

"And yet, according to the news that just came in, the young lady wiped away the tears of a crying grand duke."

How well had Jester trained Rushe for her to have such an information network in her hands already?

"The young ladies are making a huge fuss, saying it looked like the female lead of a romance novel embracing the male lead—a giant puppy worried about his master."

"Ugh, all those romance-addled people."

All because kind Cecilia had comforted her fiancé.

"Why not just abduct her already?"

"I will not."

"Ah, why not?! The headmaster has certified that she is stabilizing!"

"...I cannot, unless I am certain."

"..."

"I do not want to see Cecilia get hurt."

"Aaaah."

"What?"

"You really have it bad."

"When we get back, I am seriously docking your pay."

When I entered the classroom and sat by the window, I saw people busily moving about outside.

...Ah, is it that time already?

The Spring Festival. A venue for exchange between new and current students before midterms began. It was packed with every event Academy youths could enjoy, from hunting competitions to dance parties.

"The event where the heroine farms affection points from the male leads."

The classroom door would suddenly shut, and a teacher who did not know anyone was inside would lock it before leaving, letting her flirt with a male lead. Or a male lead would wipe sauce from the corner of her mouth. Or she would nurse a male lead injured in the hunting competition.

Or she would win first place at the dance party and draw everyone’s attention.

"None of this has anything to do with me... No... wait."

For a moment, I imagined sharing every one of those scenes with Cecilia, but no. That would be truly dangerous. It might not end with abducting her—I might want to hide her away in an annex at Walterheim Estate after crossing the line.

"Last year, Elysia was incredible..."

"Wow, really?"

I listened closely to the female students gossiping about Elysia.

"I am telling you, it is true! Last year, she ran around as if she had ten bodies, and she made all the current upperclassmen her captives..."

"Wow... Should I try it too?"

"Do not. No human being should put themselves through that."

She cleared every event last year?

That is impossible. During her first year, Elysia only attended the Spring Festival on its final day and barely managed to build up affection...

I shook my head. The Elysia in this world was a different person from the Elysia I had read about in the novel.

It would be easier to think that way. Otherwise, how could she be the woman who conquered every male lead in a single year and caused Cecilia and Baron’s engagement to be broken off?

...Would a woman like that have any reason to raise everyone’s affection during this year’s festival and parade around with male leads who had become her captives?

Perhaps she intended to target the supporting male leads who had enrolled this year.

No, do not overthink it.

Rather than thinking about a woman like that, it would be better to think about how Cecilia and I could enjoy the festival wholesomely.

I had never seen Cecilia properly enjoy a festival in the novel.

...I hope she likes it.

**

"Spring Festival: Heart-Pounding Grand Strategy!"

"Woooow..."

Cecilia wore an awkward smile as she watched Chloe, who had suddenly visited her room and spread open a notebook.

Her roommate Lucille had briefly stepped out at Chloe’s request.

"Ahem. So, Cecilia."

"Mm?"

"How far have things progressed with the grand duke?"

"P-progressed? The grand duke and I are in an engagement... contract, so it is not like that..."

"Did you not come to me for advice because you wanted to break that?"

"Th-that is true, but."

"Hmmm?"

"I-if the grand duke is troubled by it after all..."

"Ahem! Ceci-Pipi!"

"Ceci... Pipi?"

"Stop."

Cecilia looked utterly dumbfounded as Chloe firmly pressed her.

"With such weak resolve, you will never melt the heart of the grand duke, who is cleverly playing push-and-pull while holding up that contract as a shield!"

"Th-that..."

"Sigh... Do you know how irritated I get every time I hear it? That thing the grand duke does, where he seems to push you away, but annoyingly pulls you in."

"Yes, yes!"

"...He is such a fox. A complete fox."

"It is even more unforgivable because he is younger. Viktor..."

"...Oh?"

"Wh-why?"

"You called him without his title? Hehehe..."

"Eek..."

As Cecilia’s face burst into a flush, Chloe grinned.

"Sigh. Seriously, what are you going to do if the grand duke finds a woman he truly likes?"

"Th-that..."

"I told you, did I not? There are countless female students whose gazes when they look at the grand duke are anything but ordinary."

"Who?"

"Mm?"

"Who are they?"

"C-Cecilia?"

"How dare they... How dare they."

Seeing Cecilia’s unfocused, darkened eyes, Chloe swiftly changed the subject.

"Ahem! Anyway, this Spring Festival is your chance."

"A... chance?"

"For the grand duke to fall head over heels for you."

"Fall for me?"

"And make it a real engagement, not a contract. Make it an established fact."

"...An established... fact?"

"That is what you are aiming for, is it not? For an eternal promise that will ensure you never part..."

"R-right."

Seeing Cecilia bow her head deeply, her face red as a carrot, Chloe nodded.

"This is the strategy for making that happen."

"Help me, Chloe. So I can make Viktor mine forever."

Seeing Cecilia’s blazing eyes, Chloe nodded.

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