CH 146

Characters in this chapter:

Sapphiras Perfectio, former 2nd son of the Earl of Aldridge

Percival Belisario, 3rd son of Margrave of Vanderwall on the Eastern Frontier

Anna, servant in the Belisario household

Clarabelle, servant in the Belisario household

“Sapphiras, if you don’t get up soon, you’re going to miss breakfast.”

“Nn—……”

I woke up to Percival calling out to me. When I crawled out of my bed, half asleep, Percival was fully dressed. He must have woken up early and worked out as usual. He’s disciplined at all times, which is admirable. I want to learn from him too, but it probably won’t last.

While I was dazed, I headed to the washroom, washed my face and combed my hair properly, then the faces of Anna-san and Clarabelle-san passed through my mind.

“……It’s the first day……maybe I should at least put some oil on it.”

I picked up a bottle lined up in front of the mirror, dropped some oil onto my palm and rubbed it into my hair. When I combed my hair two or three times, my hair became lustrous, and the refreshing scent of lemon cleared my head.

The spacious bed was quite comfortable and I had a good night’s sleep, but to be honest I was a little sleep deprived last night because I had a lot of things to do and it was late when I went to bed.

First, I moved half of my belongings from my room to Percival’s room. Basically, I decided to live in Percival’s room. After that, we discussed future measures, and when we were about to go to bed, Percival said he was going to sleep on the sofa. No, no, it’s such a big bed, it’s enough for both of us to sleep on. I’m not such a bad sleeper. When I told him that we could sleep together, for some reason Percival stubbornly refused. No, really, why?

However, when I told him that he couldn’t sleep on the sofa every day from now on, he finally apologised and got into the same bed with me.

While we were travelling, we’d been sleeping with our pillows side by side in a small tent, so it’s too late to be reserved now. Weird Percival.

Anyway, after such an exchange, it was completely late when I went to bed. Even so, it’s amazing that Percival can still get up early.

Putting on the unfamiliar school uniforms of a foreign country, we head to the school cafe for breakfast. It’s still early and the students are sparsely seated. We received our breakfast trays and sat at the most discreet corner table.

“

“

“Not only rooms, I can’t believe they’ve separated us into different classes. And it’s even A and D? And the classrooms are at far ends. Well, I expected it.”

As expected, we were separated not only in our room, but also our class. The most plausible reason given is that they want us to interact with students from this country as much as possible, and we can’t say no to that. If the opposite party is your fiancé, of course you have separate dormitories, and it’s normal to keep a moderate distance. So we can’t ask them to put us together on the grounds that we are future spouses.

Regardless of who it is, it seems that the school wants to separate Percival and I at all costs.

“I will obey for the time being, but……in the first place, even though the Crown Prince of Sternkurst asked for it, not a single request from the invited party has been accepted so far. What kind of courteous welcome is this? If it were normal, we would have immediately appealed to our home country.”

Well, I’m not going to complain about them for this. I’m not such a child.

“……So, what is Sapphiras trying to investigate?”

“Huh? Was I exposed?”

“Of course.”

I’m not particularly interested in learning, so it’s only natural for people to think that I have some other intentions if I went to all this trouble to study abroad.

“Actually, I’m curious about the beastman slave and the beast flute at the evening party. I feel like this country is somehow involved. If possible, I’d like to clarify at least the source of the beast flute……besides, I thought it would be better to make it possible to transfer to this country. As a foreign exchange student, I can walk around without inhibitions, right?”

“I see, I understand……I’ll help to make it easier for Sapphiras to move around,, so please don’t do anything rash.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay! It’s like I’m here to play, so I won’t do anything rash.”

I bite into a warm, freshly baked bread. Savoury, soft and delicious. The egg dish is so fluffy that it disappears when I put it in my mouth. The food isn’t too bad. This makes me look forward to lunch and dinner. I can also look forward to eating while walking around Kelsas.

I eat my breakfast in a good mood.

“This is Sapphiras-san who is going to start studying at the academy today. Sapphiras-san is a foreign student from the Kingdom of Solmontana.”

The homeroom teacher of this class introduces me. I smile amiably as the students look at me. First impressions are important, no matter where you are.

“My name is Sapphiras. I’m from the Royal Academy of Creare in Solmontana. Pleased to meet you.”

No reaction. Everyone just looks at me in silence. What a bad feeling.

“Please take a seat over there, Sapphiras-san.”

The teacher points to the very back corner of the classroom, next to where a small male student was sitting. Thank goodness it’s an inconspicuous seat. I’m sure he won’t notice if I doze off there.

When I took a step toward my seat, the student on the aisle dropped the book.

“……It dropped.”

I can’t just ignore it when it falls in front of me, so I pick it up and put it on the desk. However, the person who dropped the book is facing forward and doesn’t even look at me.

What’s with that? As I try to pass by while tilting my head, several people sitting behind the student who first dropped the book drop their books in quick succession. The classroom fell silent.

“?”

What’s this? Several books fall onto the aisle. Students who drop books but don’t seem to pick them up. As I tilt my head more and more, I can hear them giggling.

……Ah! I see! Is this what you call a baptism? It’s hard to understand! You should try to make it more obvious to me, like putting your foot out and trying to make me fall down. Just dropping the book won’t hurt me at all, so I don’t know what they are trying to do.

Yoshi, I understand. If you dropped it on purpose, there’s no need for me to pick it up. Also, even though I was introduced as an exchange student from a foreign country, I was harassed in a plain manner. For a school where only high-ranking aristocrats attend, the standard is relatively low.

Well, I’m small, I look quiet and I don’t have a family name, so they probably underestimated me.

“Pick it up.”

When I ignored the book and tried to walk past, a mocking voice was directed at me.

What? Pick it up, you say? Which mouth said such a pompous thing? Are you thinking that you’ve found just the right prey to beat your boredom?

I was a bit annoyed and thought about kicking the book they dropped so far away that they’ll never read it again, but I want to show respect to the book, the wise man who never talks.

I don’t know what the aristocracy is like in this country, but the people who dropped the book all look so stupid. The teachers don’t seem to be paying any attention to them, so I’m going to assume that they’re tolerating this situation. It shows the extent of this school. I’m worried about Percival’s class, but it’s him. He’ll do much better than me.

The unpopular part of me wells up. Fine, I’ll go along with that baptism. It’s been kind of interesting since the first day.

I managed to keep my mouth from chuckling as I picked up the book and made my way to my seat. If they misunderstood, they would think that they made me understand my position. 

“Nice to meet you from today onwards.”

I take my seat and greet the boy sitting next to me.

“……Ni-nice to meet you.”

The boy lowered his head slightly with a voice that seemed to disappear at any moment. Judging from his timid feeling, he must be a weak child in this class. Somehow, it reminds me of the old Sapphiras.

Even if that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t have a place to put myself, sitting next to me, who has become a target, it would have been even more narrow. But don’t worry. I’m not going to let any damage happen to you.

“Do you want to go for lunch?”

Finally, the morning classes are over and it’s time for lunch. As I was about to head to the café, I called out to the boy next to me1I actually didn’t translate the full sentence as it confused me deeply, I wonder if the author made a mistake: 学習内容はカフェに向かおうとして、一応隣の少年に声をかけた。It literally translates to: As the learning content headed for the cafe, I called out to the boy next to me..

“So-sorry……I have a prior engagement……”

The boy, who turned his head so as not to make eye contact with me, said in a voice that seemed about to fade away. Well, I guess so. It’s a high risk to act with me, who is the target.

“I see. Well then, maybe some other time.”

The students around me are watching the exchange between me and the boy with a smirk on their faces. They are probably amused by my isolation. For me, it’s more interesting that you guys are happy about this. Well, I’m going to be quiet for a while. It’s boring how quickly they reveal their true nature.

I hum and head to the café. What’s for lunch?

“……Uwah.”

As soon as I entered the café, I couldn’t help but shout.

I thought there was a crowd of people, but Percival was at the centre of it. The surroundings are lively and fun, but Percival, who is surrounded, has a blank expression on his face.

I see? You’re being attacked in a reverse way from me? It seems that the mastermind intends to isolate me thoroughly.

Percival seemed to have noticed that I was there, so he showed me a wink. Perhaps it would be better if we didn’t make contact with each other now. It seems that my intentions were conveyed to Percival, and he slightly shook his head.

Do your best, Percival……

I cheered him on in my heart, received my lunch plate and took my place at the table in the corner where we had sat together this morning.