Book 9: Chapter 15: Looking for A Person

Monica was talking to Glenn at the moment. During this time, she glimpsed some envy gazes from the people around her. Especially the young ladies who wanted to talk to Glenn.

It must be the effect of his performance in the play. Remembering the applause and the uproar at the end of the performance, Monica smiled wryly inwardly.

"By the way, I don't see Lana with you today."

"Well… We've arrived together up to the venue's entrance… but she said, ‘I may become a hindrance if I'm here, so…' then parted away with me…"

"A hindrance…? Whom she's going to be a hindrance to, I wonder?"

"I'm not sure…"

Remembering Lana's meaningful smile, Monica could only tilt her head in confusion.

Since mulling over this question any further would not produce any result, Monica simply gave up thinking about it.

"Speaking of your dress, it looks very good on you."

"He-he, actually this dress was prepared by my master."

"Did Lou—Lord Barrier Magician really prepare it for you?"

Monica almost inadvertently said ‘Louis' but corrected herself immediately. And Glenn himself didn't know that Monica's true identity nor her relationship as Louis' colleague.

…he's so devoted to his job…

In fact, the shoes she was wearing now were prepared by Louis Miller.

But when considering how he's been acted, witnessing how devoted he was to even preparing his pupil's formal dress and Monica's shoes, it made her feel discomfort.

"I've also asked this to my master, ‘can I really get such a fine dress?' But he only said, ‘it's provided.' I wonder what did he mean by provided. Does the Seven Sage's payment also cover his pupils' clothes as well?"

"…a-ha-ha."

Most likely, what he meant by ‘provided' was referring to the necessary expenses for the second prince's escort mission. Monica's entrance fee's also paid from there. Since Glenn was also sent to the Serendia Academy as a distraction to help Monica's enrollment, its expenses were treated as necessary. And any payments involving Glenn's needs were a necessary expense.

Wait, isn't this mission a direct order from His Majesty…

Didn't that mean Louis Miller impose the king for the cost of his apprentice's formal dress? Then, if these shoes were like that too… Monica who's realized it's too late paled instantly.

Judging how forward Louis Miller's personality was, he sure will claim all of these expenses were necessary, even if the other party he's dealing with was the king.

I think… I have accepted something outrageous…

While Monica inadvertently squirmed her feet, Glenn looked behind her then exclaimed. Lured by his sudden voice, Monica also followed his gaze. Then she saw Cyril Ashley in his formal dress, walking quickly toward them as he looking for something. The expression on his face seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. Did some trouble happen?

"What's up, Vice President. Got some trouble?"

"Hmm? So it's you two, Glenn Dudley and Treasurer Norton… As you can see, I can't find the conductor of the orchestra, have you seen him around here?"

Now that he mentioned it, it's about the time for the ball's dance to start.

From Cyril's story, the conductor had gone to the washroom but seemed to lost his way here, so they couldn't perform the orchestra.

Kneading her fingers, Monica asked Cyril.

"U-Um… do you know what that person looks like?"

"He is about the same height as me. He is over fifty and a little overweight. Gray hair with curls at the ends. He wore a black formal dress."

"U-Um, do you know how the size of his legs and arms, maybe if you know the exact size of some parts of his face, I could increase my accuracy…"

"How can I know that!? Wait, what do you mean by ‘accuracy,' hey."

Without answering Cyril's question, Monica cast a farsight spell without chanting. This spell allowed her to see far into the distance… yet because of her short height, her vision was obstructed by people's figures, making it difficult to see far away.

"Mmm…"

Looking at Monica who was doing a tiptoe, Glenn, as he had realized something, put his hands under Monica's armpits and lifted her small body.

"What are you doing!?"

"If I do this, she can see farther! Monica, did you find the conductor?"

To be carried up by Glenn like this was a little—no, it was really embarrassing. Even so, it allowed her to see around farther.

Monica can accurately determine a person's height and the length of their limbs just by looking at them.

There might be some distance, but it's possible to accurately calculate a person's size by estimating the height Glenn had lifted her, the distance between them, and its angle.

While being lifted up by Glenn, Monica looked around in a circle, then opened her mouth while keeping her gaze fixed on someone.

"…I found three men who fit the description. The first person has his hair tied back. The second person has an aquiline nose. The third person has a lady next to him… The second person's arms are slightly different in length on each side, so I think he might have been playing some kind of instrument…"

"Does the aquiline-nosed man wear a pin on his lapel? He should've been wearing one If he's a member of the orchestra."

A normal person would be unable to see him from this distance, but Monica, who was using a farsight spell could see it clearly. After adjusting her spell to focus on his lapel, she saw a violin-like pin attached to it.

After she told Cyril what she saw, he said, ‘it's him,' and nodded in confirmation.

"Thanks, but can I ask you to guide me to this person's position?"

"S-Sure."

After thanking Glenn for lifting her up, Monica guided Cyril to the conductor's position.

Considering how far their distance to the conductor, Cyril inadvertently blurted out, "are you really can see him at this distance?" in a mutter. But since she can't honestly say that she's using a farsight spell, she only gave him a vague smile and gave an excuse.

"Y-You see, I actually had good eyesight…"

And it was a total lie. While Monica mostly spent her time writing in a dark place, she actually had reasonably good eyesight. But it's unlikely for her sight to reach the end of the venue.

Once Monica and Cyril arrived at the conductor's position, they led him to the where orchestra band was.

After Cyril sure the orchestra started without a hitch, he patted his chest in relief.

"…Thank you, you've been a big help this time, really. To tell the truth, we've arranged this orchestra bigger than usual… though, many unexpected problems occurred afterward."

"It's fine… but, wasn't it Lord Maywood's job to handle the orchestra matters?"

Since virtually, all the matters related to the backstage of the ball were handled by Neil.

Come to think of it, Cyril seemed to be helping Neil from the preparation stage, could it be that there was some kind of trouble without Monica's awareness?

"U-Um, did some trouble happen in Lord Maywood's side? S-Should I provide him with some help…"

"Oh, it's not like that."

Cyril shook his head slowly and awkwardly darted his gaze around.

"Well… I want to give General Affairs Manager Maywood some free time, so I offered myself to take over his duties."

"…???"

As Monica tilted her head in puzzlement, a student who was in charge as a receptionist approached Cyril rapidly then whispered some words to his ear. Cyril's furrowed his thin brows and responded, "Alright, I'll be there right away."

Cyril then looked at Monica's face and the flower ornament on her chest alternately, and for some reason, he looked depressed.

"…Treasurer Norton, can I ask you a favor?"

"S-Sure, what would it be?"

"I just received a report that a problem appears at the receptionist desk. They don't have enough kitchen liaisons and it had to be dealt with immediately. So could I ask you to handle that role until a replacement student arrives?"

In most cases, the job of the kitchen liaison is to pass orders between the venue and the kitchen. While technically the waiter and the chef would communicate directly with each other,  a liaison would be required to assist in preparing the necessary supplies and helping to alleviate the situation when both of them had too busy dealing with their orders.

Up until now, Cyril had never assigned Monica with this kind of task. Considering how weak her physical was, he always assigned her a behind-the-desk chore involving numbers.

And that's why Cyril felt anxious about it. And Monica also felt that way. If it was her usual self she would say, ‘I-I can't!' while shaking her head.

But right now, I had this charm with me…

Monica looked at the white rose ornament—the charm Cyril had given to her to prevent her from embarrassment—which had been arranged on her chest. After burning that image into her mind, she lifted her face up.

"…I-I will do it."

Cyril looked at her wryly. He's probably had a mixed feeling when hearing Monica's answer. Since Monica's fear of strangers had seeped deep into her bone, he must be worried to leave this task to her.

"…If nothing happens, you will only need to standby there. But, if some troubles occurred, contact me immediately."

"O-Okay!"

＊ ＊ ＊

"Lord Felix, would you like to have a dance with me?" called out Eliane, and Felix responded with a gentle smile as he stretched out his hand.

"I would be happy to."

Right after that exchange, the music started.

Smiling sweetly at her, Felix invited her into the dance hall.

All eyes were immediately drawn to them when they took each other's hand and started to dance. The sight of the handsome prince and beautiful duke's daughter was dancing together had enthralled everybody in the hall.

As the two figures performed their perfect dance moves, their gazes swept over their surroundings for a brief moment before they shifted directions.

Eliane was looking for Glenn's figure and found him munching on some meat at the light meal table. Of course, he didn't pay attention to the dance hall.

As for Felix, he was looking for Monica's figure. He caught the sight of her talking some matter with Cyril. And of course, she also didn't pay attention to the dance hall.

Oh my, oh my, oh my… you sure have some nerve to be more interested in eating than looking in my direction? Look at me and be envious, Glenn Dudley! In fact, you should have been sucking your thumb while seeing my graceful dance with Lord Felix, and don't just keep eating those meats! (Eliane)

Monica didn't seem to understand the meaning of the flower ornament… well, I know Cyril gave her that flower ornament under the pretense of a "charm" without telling her its meaning was to keep her away from the other men but isn't a bit unfair to have a dance with Monica for yourself? (Felix)

Hey, look at my dance with Lord Felix. Why not you look in my direction and put that attention of yours here? {Eliane)

I'm sure she couldn't care less about me dancing with someone, though I knew that. But, aren't we buddies who spent one night together not long ago? I wish you could be more concerned about it. (Felix)

Once again, Felix and Eliane looked at each other, giving impeccable and perfect smiles.

"It's like having my dream come true to be able to dance with you like this, Your Highness."

"It would be my honor."

They might be showing their beautiful smile at each other, but their minds were, in fact, in another place.