CH 40

Chapter 40: Principles (4)

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Knights were not allowed to enter the classroom of the political science department, but it was different for the student council office.

It was because there were fewer eyes to see, and also because there was no place to stand outside the student council office.

As a result, in the student council office, I, Judy, Asena, Daisy, and the student council president, Lucille Hover, remained.

While two other men, who were also members of the student council had gone to deal with outside affairs.

In the center of the room, on the farthest seat from the door, Lucille Hover was sitting, and Daisy was to the right of the door. While Asena sat on the left.

I and Judy each stood behind our respective escorts.

Due to the location, Asena was in front of me, so my eyes were on her even if I didn’t want to.

She kept a firm expression on her face, checking the papers on her desk. Of course, I didn’t have a look good look; She didn’t even look at me.

I also felt a bit uncomfortable staring intently at Asena, so I kept making eye contact with Judy behind her.

I shrugged very slightly and mouthed, ‘What can I do?’

Everyone in this place, except for Lucille Hover, had witnessed the morning fight, so no one spoke. The student council president also understood this atmosphere and did not bother to break the silence.

I thought it was a wise choice for her.

However surprisingly, Asena was also in a bad mood. It was her fault but she didn’t seem to change her idea.

So even though I was being childish and was behaving politely to show our distance, I didn’t feel guilty.

But when I was swept away by Asena’s atmosphere, I started to feel like I was losing. Why do I have to be silent?

I had to say something.

Looking at Daisy's desk while standing behind Daisy, there was one thing that stood out; the flower that I had given her at the jousting match.

Time had passed, of course, so now it was withered. It was dry and twisted and looked like it would crumble when touched.

“…haven’t you thrown away that flower yet?”

My curiosity broke the silence.

Judy and Lucille Hover looked at me, but because of pride, Asena didn’t look at me.

“…”

Daisy looked back at me for a moment, then looked down at the flower again.

“Ah yes.”

“It’s all withered.”

“…but still. It is a meaningful flower. It was given to me by the winner of the competition. It’s not common… isn’t it?”

“I’m grateful that you valued it, but you don’t have to do this. I didn’t give you a present so that you couldn’t throw it away, did I?”

“I know, right? But when I think about it. I still don’t think I want to get rid of it.”

She and I smiled at the same time.

As our story began to lift the mood of the student council room, Asena’s sharp voice broke through.

“….Daisy. Noisy.”

“…”

“…”

In an instant, the atmosphere became chilly. Looking at Asena, I noticed she didn’t even lift her head. She was still doing the paperwork.

I straightened my posture and looked straight at her.

“Was it a hindrance? I’m sorry, Duchess Pryster.”

The sound of crumpled paper rang. Asena’s hands were clenched into fists.

“……”

Then, only Asena’s eyes rolled and looked at me. I didn’t avoid them.

But at the same time, I thought if it was someone other than me, they would have definitely been swallowed in fear because of her cold eyes.

She said nothing and just looked at me.

Anger or sadness... came pouring towards me. As if to get rid of emotions, she rolled her eyes and blinked three or four times, then exhaled a short breath and again began to look at the documents.

However, not before the expression on her face became even grimmer.

The student council president, Lucille Hover, stared at me. The reason why she looked at me could roughly be inferred. There had been a lot of reactions like this lately.

Judy and Daisy… After arguing with Asena, everyone looked at me with admiration.

Every time these reactions came, I realized Asena’s status and image in the academy.

Then, a knock was heard.

-Thump!

"This is from the post office. May I come in?"

“Come on in.”

When Lucille Hover answered, the door opened, and a young man came in and said hello with his head bowed.

Afterward, he walked quietly with a crouched posture and handed Lucille over a thick bundle of letters.

When she took and handed another bundle of letters, the postman bowed again and quickly left.

The student council president said in a surprised voice while sorting the letters left behind by the postman.

“Ah..! It’s time for them again. Asena, it’s yours.”

I excitedly looked at the student council president. She held up a thick envelope sealed in serpentine wax.

It came from our estate.

Before Asena could react, Judy moved first. She was handed the envelope by Lucille.

Chores were not a task given to a knight to do, but it would also be strange to see a knight standing still and their master had to move.

It seemed to me that Judy had acted wisely and well.

Judy handed the envelope to Asena.

Asena took a letter knife from her desk and opened the envelope with skillful hands.

I was also curious about what it was about.

Did grandma send it?

From Lucille Hover’s reaction, it seemed like they were receiving letters quite regularly.

Several documents came out of the envelope.

Asena still looked at them with an uncomfortable expression.

Then she glanced at me, took all the documents from inside, and headed back to Lucille.

“…It’s the same today. My grandmother told me to discuss it with the members of the student council.”

“…?”

As I looked confused standing behind, Daisy whispered to me.

“…It's a list of criminals caught on the Pryster's estate and their crimes. The former Duchess of Pryster sends it to us to discuss among ourselves what kind of punishment to give to criminals. That way, we can gain experience.”

“Oh, I see. Thanks for explaining.”

Lucille smiled and told Asena.

“Tell the Former Duchess how grateful we are for this experience.”

“…Okay.”

Asena returned to her seat and sat down.

Lucille said as she read the papers.

“There are quite a few, but this person must be the first. He is a 34-year-old father of two children. He was caught stealing bread… this is the third time. After being caught, he said, 'I tried to get a job, but I couldn’t.' Fearing that the child would starve to death, he committed another crime. 'I’m really sorry,' he said. What are you going to do?”

Daisy glanced up at me over her shoulder.

“…what are you going to do?”

“…Me too? Can I intervene over the topic?”

Ultimately, it was up to the politicians to decide. I thought it was not my place to intervene.

“..Anyway, these are the cases that were already decided. The former Duchess of Pryster only sends the cases that are over.”

“Um… is that so? So, let’s answer it casually… No matter what the reason, he was caught committing the same crime multiple times. If we don’t punish him straight away, the victims will continue to live in fear, so he will be sentenced to four years of labor—”

While I was whispering quietly to Daisy, Asena’s straight voice echoed through the room.

“Execution.”

Everyone looked at Asena, startled by her words. 

I started to frown. If she kept pouring cold water like this just because she was feeling bad, that was not a good thing to do.

But Asena added an explanation.

“We have already given him many opportunities. No matter how much the children did not eat, that is no reason to steal other people’s food. Who has been harmed by it? They must have had children, and we have to think about them too.”

Lucille also added cautiously.

“…but the death penalty is a little…”

“Execution... He is a person who has no room for change.”

Immediately after, Asena looked at me.

I looked into her eyes and muttered to myself.

“…Change…”

Well… that made me think a lot. Was it really impossible for a person to change?

Asena did not waver. I also thought it was overkill, but… After all, it was not my job. It was just a discussion, so there was no reason to over-immerse yourself in it. I shrugged my shoulders and shut my mouth.

But for all subsequent offenders, Asena’s judgment was only death.

The death penalty. The death penalty. The death penalty.

Afterward, she gave logical arguments on why they should get the death penalty. She talked step by step, making it impossible to argue.

Sure, it was a little chilly. She did not show any sympathy, as if she thought the criminals were fictional characters rather than human beings... Well, here Asena looked like a fictional character; a doll without emotions.

Of course, she had her own reasons… The more I listened, the more I felt that this was Asena’s way of expressing dissatisfaction with me.

She was just going to go too far and get my attention. After all, it was my responsibility to punish the twins if they made the wrong choice while we were in the estate.

Sometimes, after bringing up the word ‘death,’ I thought that looking at me was proof of that.

What was she waiting for me to say? As usual, she might be waiting for me to approach her after all of this was over.

And it might be that she was trying to solve the previous conflicts through this situation.

Or, she might be imagining a picture of me approaching her and saying, ‘you're not feeling very well’, and comforting her.

“…”

But this time… I didn’t want to.

I firmed my posture. No matter how much Asena uttered the word ‘death,’ I did not respond.

The more Asena did, the more she blew me away.

✧ ✧ ✧

Leaving Daisy in her room, I was going back to the dorm.

Keirsey was nowhere to be seen today.

I, too, couldn’t get rid of my twisted heart, so I was still dissatisfied.

If Keirsey had appeared, I was willing to give her respect.

However, on the other hand, it was also true that I was puzzled because she was not seen all day.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried.

But more than that, there was a regret that I couldn’t show how angry I was because she didn’t show up in the first place.

No matter what Asena did all day long, I did not respond. Then, when there was a situation where I had to speak, I used respectful words and acted like a complete stranger.

At the last parting, Asena stopped as if waiting for me outside the student council office, but I whispered to Daisy, asking her not to stop. So we completely ignored her and passed by.

She was looking down on me too much.

She tried to suppress me by making nonsense rants, but I didn’t have to be patient.

“..Hum…”

Yawning, I arrived at the dormitory.

“Hyung!”

Someone called me from afar.

It was Eric Endra.

“…Eric. Where are you coming from this late?”

“Ah. Haha. I’m just trying to increase my contacts…”

“You are working hard too.”

“I have to rebuild the family.”

We talked like this and entered the dorm.

Eric seemed to be growing his influence smoothly. I didn’t pay much attention to him because I had my own business, but I thought that the content of the novel was happening in a place where I wasn’t present.

Suddenly, I wondered if the twins changing to some extent had a bad effect on Eric.

After all, he fought the twins and grew stronger.

Well…but again. Because there were many clans I prevented from going extinct. I decided I didn’t do anything wrong.

Sharing what happened today, we walked towards the room.

I mainly asked questions about twins. Keirsey didn’t show up in class in the first place, and Asena said that she didn’t feel well.

I briefly explained that it was because the twins and I fought.

Arriving at the door, I put my hand on the handle and put the key in.

“…?”

But... it was already unlocked.

“…Eric, didn’t you lock the door today?”

I left the room early to start the escort training, so Eric had to lock the door.

“Yes? No. Isn't it locked?”

“…”

We felt anxious at the same time. We’ve had this experience before when someone had broken the door and turned the room upside down to bully us.

Anticipating what was to come, I sighed and opened the door.

– Crik!

Our usual living room welcomed us.

“…Well? Nothing is wrong.”

“……Hmm… I don't have anything to be stolen from me.”

“…me too.”

“…Right…ah, did I leave the door open? It was morning, so I’m not sure.”

Eric scratched his head.

“Ah…what's done is done. It's good nothing happened.”

I waved my hand.

“…that’s right.”

Eric yawned as if he had relaxed a bit now.

“Ahh… Hyung. I’m tired today. I'll go to sleep then.”

“Okay. I also had a long day today... Go in and rest.”

“Good night.”

When Eric took off his coat and entered the room, I also headed to my room.

– Crik

After entering my room, I started taking off my clothes one by one.

Leaving only the bottoms and the shirt, I took off everything: tie, coat, and other ornaments.

“…?”

Meanwhile, something caught my eye.

It was my bed.

It looked the same as usual, but the quilt was strangely bulging.

Feeling puzzled, I slowly approached the blanket.

Did I leave something wrong?

Carefully, I lifted the blanket.

“…Keirsey?”

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

I hadn’t seen her all day.

I thought maybe she was crying somewhere.

Keirsey, with clear tear stains on her cheeks, exhaled a calm breath and was asleep in my bed like a cute pet.

How long had she been like this?

Sweat was dripping from her forehead.

The scent of her body rose as the duvet was lifted.