Episode 26
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 26
“What the hell…! You said I couldn’t prove my innocence if I didn’t do it! Do you have any idea how scared I was? Were you tricking me? Me?!”
“You would’ve just half-assed it if I didn’t say that, right? I had to show that bastard you couldn’t do it even if you gave it your all for him to believe it.”
At Elysia’s indifferent tone, she finally exploded.
This woman had been getting on her nerves from the very beginning. It wasn’t just her rough gestures and speech, which lacked even a shred of refinement, or the fact that she hadn’t bothered to change her attitude despite getting into a school everyone dreamed of attending.
The worst part was how she’d casually witnessed her weakness and walked past her as if it were nothing.
Siene bit her lip hard before letting go, her eyes blazing as she sneered coldly.
“I knew you were vulgar, but I’m only just realizing you’re stupid, too.”
This time, however, the silver-gray eyes that had once flared like fire and lunged at her were calm. That only fueled her anger. Are you pitying me? Who the hell do you think you are?
Her pride felt crushed, and her blood ran cold. Elysia shook her head, looking perplexed as she asked back.
“I really don’t get what you’re so unhappy about. You give me shit when I save you, you give me shit when I just say hi…”
“Don’t you know how important hands are to a painter?! I’d rather have my head chopped off than my hands injured!”
Siene, who rarely raised her voice, finally shrieked. In that instant, she saw Elysia’s face flush with surprise and was taken aback herself.
She’d expected a brazen response, but her opponent’s unexpectedly normal reaction was disarming.
“Oh… I didn’t think of that. Sorry.”
“What?”
“I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Elysia’s gaze was heavy with sincerity. Stunned to receive such a proper apology, Siene could only stand there, mouth agape.
“Uh…?”
“If you even got a scratch, I’ll pay for all the medical bills. I’m sorry.”
As Siene stood frozen by the unexpected words, a pink system window popped up in front of her.
♥ SYSTEM: Siene Reve's Favorability +10 ♥
Catching sight of it, Elysia let out a small laugh. Siene flinched, quickly averting her gaze and muttering, “Wh-what? What are you laughing at? You’re so annoying.”
Leaving her be, Elysia turned to Lucian and spoke in a loud voice, as if to make sure she was heard, rattling off her words in a breathless rush.
“Anyway, the culprit is at least 170cm tall. Seeing as they tore the canvas so cleanly and carried it all the way to the main gate, they’re strong and know how to handle a sharp weapon. And… wait a minute.”
It was then that something clicked. The floor of the painting room, which had been so spotless it seemed natural, suddenly came to mind. She hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now that she considered it, the floor of a room where paint was used daily should have been dirty. Unless it was cleaned every single day.
Elysia glanced around and asked, “When is the painting room cleaned?”
“I’ve never heard anything about a deep cleaning.”
“No, I mean, it must be cleaned daily, right?”
Lucian’s face was a mask of confusion as he asked back, “They clean it every day?”
Elysia’s jaw dropped in disbelief. She finally realized these people were part of a privileged class that lived without ever properly acknowledging the existence of cleaners.
They were the kind of people who took it for granted that the floors they left a mess would be sparkling clean the next day. They were so removed from it that they couldn’t even conceive of the simple fact that someone came in to clean up after them. They just assumed things were naturally clean, that it was the normal state of affairs.
I get that you were raised with a silver spoon, but you’re a real moron. Elysia sighed and summed things up.
“Alright, let’s go over this one more time. The last time you saw the painting was at 5 PM. According to the visitor log, about eight people, including Siene Reve, visited the painting room after that. But because of the screen, no one would know if the painting was there or not unless they went inside.”
But the cleaner would have gone inside. They had to, in order to clean.
Smiling brightly, a stark contrast to the grim situation, Elysia grabbed Lucian’s hand in excitement and swung it back and forth.
“First, let’s ask the eight people who were in the painting room after you left if they heard a loud tearing sound.”
Lucian looked down with a dubious expression at Elysia’s beaming, sharply featured face. Why is this woman suddenly so excited?
“And then, we need to find the cleaner. Ask them if they saw anything unusual when they went in to clean.”
Ignoring him completely, Elysia burst into a triumphant laugh. Ah, things are finally starting to make sense.
*
Surprisingly, they learned absolutely nothing.
“The sound of fabric tearing? This is a place where canvases get ripped up every day. Of course I heard it. Was that around 6:40?”
“I think I heard it at 5:00, too.”
“Wasn’t it 7:00?”
It seemed these art-obsessed maniacs were constantly wailing, “This isn’t it!” and tearing up their canvases. The conflicting testimonies were already a headache, but it got worse.
“I don’t remember. I was crying because my painting wasn’t going well.”
…They were getting a flood of information she really didn’t need to know.
“I don’t know. But you have a very interesting face. Would you be willing to model for me?”
What was this… All she could think was, Yeah, and you have a mouth I’d very much like to shut.
Realizing that lunchtime was almost over, Elysia crumpled the paper in her hand in frustration.
I wanted this to be easy… Is it no fun if things go too smoothly?
The seven students she met, excluding Siene, all testified that they ‘heard nothing.’ They seemed so worried about getting caught in the crossfire that they all added the same thing: their workspace was far from Lucian’s, so they hadn’t gone anywhere near it.
“Well, is there anyone who’s enemies with him or something like that?”
“Hmm, the entire art department?”
What kind of terror has this guy been raising? As Elysia looked up in shock, a female student answered with an awkward smile.
“Um, no, it’s not quite like that… The first Art Festival is incredibly important for freshmen, and since it was expected that either Reve or Violante would take first place in the painting category, they were both being watched closely.”
“Honestly, there are probably a few students who are thrilled about this. Two powerful candidates were eliminated in an instant, right?”
The student who’d spoken so carelessly quickly shut his mouth after catching the warning glare of another male student. As a bonus, his shoulders slumped as if withered by Elysia’s “Are you crazy?” look.
However, since none of the other students denied his words, it was clear they were all thinking the same thing.
Spotting the glittering desire for recognition in their eyes, Elysia sighed.
“So you’re all hoping Siene Reve is the culprit, then?”
Everyone fell silent. And as they say, silence is a form of consent.
How ridiculous. They’re all in on it together.
Just as she was frowning, displeased that no one would speak up for Siene, someone spoke.
“…I don’t know about that.”
A female student with long, straight black hair and a calm demeanor opened her mouth. Elysia checked the name in her notebook.
Marianne Dupre. The third of the eight students, who had visited the painting room at 8 PM.
Elysia was startled when she saw the girl’s stick-thin wrists. Isn’t she too skinny? Can she even lift a paintbrush? The combination of her thin frame and tall stature made the girl look like a gaunt winter tree.
The male student who had silenced the other with a single glare called her name in surprise.
“Marianne.”
“She’s crazy about painting. She cherishes her own work, of course, but she simply loves every image that exists in this world. She’d probably treasure and adore even the graffiti a beggar scrawled on the ground to ask for money.”
Marianne looked straight at Elysia, a bitter smile playing on one corner of her lips as she spat out her words, sharp as an attack.
“So the culprit is likely someone whose desire to be recognized for their art is disgustingly strong, but who doesn’t actually love art in the slightest.”
What the hell does that mean? So who’s the culprit? Elysia, who had been jotting down her words with her head down, rolled her eyes up to look at Marianne.
“So… you’re saying it’s not Siene Reve?”
“Marianne, stop trying to get involved.”
A young man, who seemed desperate to keep the girl out of this, wrapped a familiar arm around Marianne’s shoulder and pulled her toward him.
Elysia quietly looked up at the brown-haired man with charming dimples. Rayner Williams, the student who had accompanied Marianne Dupre to the painting room…
Rayner gave her a friendly smile and said, “Please don’t get any strange ideas. Marianne has admired Reve as a painter for a long time, so she’s just speaking out of goodwill.”
Ignoring the man, Elysia noticed an unsettling sight in her periphery. What’s that? Busted. She asked bluntly, “Are you shaking?”
“…”
“Your hand was just shaking, wasn’t it?”
As she took a step toward the girl with a suspicious look, Rayner’s expression hardened, and he hid her behind him. Elysia saw the man’s hostile gaze and asked in disbelief.
“What’s your problem?”
“Don’t be threatening.”
Her mouth fell open, her face awash with bewilderment. How am I being threatening? I’m being perfectly civil right now, you know?
Unfortunately, after spending several years in a crime-ridden city where profanity and violence were rampant, her standards were a little skewed. Her ‘I’m not swearing, what more do you want?’ attitude had the noble lady trembling, her head bowed as she gripped the male student’s arm tightly.
Frustrated, Elysia pressed her.
“When was I threatening? Hey, Dupre. Hey, missy? You want to come out and talk?”
“Why don’t you just leave now.”
“You, move.”
The moment she raised her hand to shove the annoying man aside, a pink system window popped up before her eyes.
♥ SYSTEM: ! Sudden ! ‘Love Triangle’ Event Occurs! ((っ´ω`)♥(´ω`⊂ )) Do you want to steal ‘Rayner Williams’, who is in an <Engaged> relationship with ‘Marianne Dupre’?
Tempt him with skinship | Give up ♥
“The end of days…”
Elysia, who had almost let a curse slip out, quickly lowered her hand and clasped it behind her back. She could feel a cold sweat trickling down her spine. That was a close call. She absolutely could not touch him.
So, those two are a couple.
Letting out a soft sigh, Elysia bit her lip, then leaned down slightly to meet the anxious girl’s eyes directly. She spoke, emphasizing every single word.
“If you have something to say, say it clearly. The more you mumble, the more suspicious you look. So speak properly.”
Averting her gaze from Elysia’s sharp eyes, which seemed to see right through her, Marianne managed to answer in a trembling voice.
“…I have nothing more to say.”
“I bet you do.”
Straightening up, Elysia glanced at the man protectively shielding Marianne and gave a small shrug and a smirk. Well, fine. Not everything could be solved easily. If you tried to pry open a clamped-shut clam by force, both sides would just get hurt.
“If you say so. But if you think of anything you want to report, come find me. Across from the Student Council office, there’s a ridiculously low door, like a dog hole. Come there. By midnight.”
Elysia raised two fingers to her right eyebrow in a playful salute and said in a serious tone, “I’ll guarantee your secret is safe.”