The Top Prize (2)
The Top Prize (2)
[ Royal Academy - Party Hall ]
"Haa~ When is Lady Ha-na going to arrive?"
Japan's representative, Yuzuki Mio, sipped her champagne without once taking her eyes off the entrance.
"Ahem, Lady Miko...?"
"No."
"...I haven't even spoken yet?"
"No, whatever it is."
Yuzuki Mio issued a firm warning toward the rank-2 warrior who had served her family's household for generations.
"Approaching Lady Ha-na is absolutely forbidden. Understood?"
"I-I wouldn't dream of approaching her! Unless it were to protect you, Lady Miko... I have no intention of throwing my life away in vain."
Satoshi shuddered as he recalled the shadow always stationed beside the person his miko called Lady Ha-na—The Witch—and the Thunderclap Sword.
Click.
"...Why do you have a sword?"
"It's a scabbard, not a sword. Did you forget weapons are prohibited in this venue?"
"Hmph. What use would a weapon be to us? In any case, why do you have that?"
Satoshi pulled out a plain black short-scabbard along with a white brush pen.
"Would it be possible for you to get me an autograph from that person?"
"An autograph?"
Nod nod!!
"An autograph...... An autograph! I like that idea!!"
"Ohh!!"
Satoshi let out a small cheer and pushed the scabbard and brush pen forward more eagerly. But Yuzuki Mio gently pushed them aside and smiled.
"I ought to get Lady Ha-na's autograph on a talisman later. I'll get a photo together and exchange contact info too!!"
"...What about me?"
Satoshi blinked as he asked. Yuzuki Mio immediately wiped the smile from her face and glared at him with chilly eyes.
"Daring to let your eyes wander toward Lady Ha-na while I, the one you should be serving, am standing right in front of you... W-well, Lady Ha-na is certainly charming enough, but... A-anyway!! When we return, I'll be reporting this to the clan head."
"Lady Miko...?!"
"If you don't want that, stay quiet until the party ends."
"......Yes."
Yuzuki Mio huffed at the thoroughly dejected Satoshi and turned away.
"Wh-where are you going...?"
"The chocolate fountain. Lady Ha-na likes sweets, so that's where she'll head when she arrives. Satoshi, you don't have to follow."
"I cannot. At least until that person arrives, I'll stay with you. Someone might commit a discourtesy against you, Lady Miko...."
"The matches are all over. Who'd be stupid enough to pick a fight? And we got eliminated early, so we don't even have anyone holding a grudge against us."
"Ahem!!"
He pointedly ignored his miko's words, glanced sidelong at the other students clustered in groups making conversation, and hurried after Yuzuki Mio.
"Hmm?"
"Why did you sto—."
When the miko abruptly stopped, Satoshi turned his head, furrowed his brow, and brought his mouth close to her ear.
"It's Russia's Bloody Bear and her attending students."
Russia's Red Bear.
Ekaterina Klimova.
With her long crimson-gold hair flowing down, Ekaterina had taken over the chocolate fountain and was gulping down an entire bottle of wine.
"She doesn't look like she plans to move."
"And? This building belongs to the Royal Academy, not the domain of that brainless brute of a woman who's all muscle."
"Lady Miko......!!"
"Still, with Lady Ha-na not here yet, there's no reason to go charging in. Hmph, it's absolutely not because I'm scared."
"Ah, yes... I'm sure that's the case."
"...You. When we get back, I really am telling the clan head everything."
"So suddenly?"
"Hmph. This is why you're so unpopular with women."
"......."
Satoshi, whose looks were decent enough to qualify as handsome, gave a sniff.
He'd kept it a secret from his lady miko, but the truth was he'd received confessions several times. He'd just turned them down because protecting the miko was too important.
'Tch... She doesn't even know what it felt like to reject them!!'
He was privately lamenting his ungrateful master, who had no clue about the hardships of her subordinates.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The sound of dress shoes rapping against the marble floor rang out loudly.
Satoshi turned his head toward the noise, and his eyes landed on the wide-open entrance of the party hall.
"Ah! Lady Ha-na must have arrived!!"
"It would seem so......?"
Satoshi answered the miko while tilting his head in puzzlement.
Properly speaking, their king, the Ice Queen, should have entered first. Yet the Arena Academy students stormed into the party hall with fiercely intimidating glares and swiftly formed ranks to either side.
Click. Click.
Four figures stepped into the party hall to the sound of high heels growing clearer by the step. But everyone's eyes registered only one person—the one walking between the other three.
Snow-white hair reaching all the way down to her waist.
Flawless jade-white skin without a single blemish.
Wearing a dark crimson dress that bared her shoulders, traced the outline of her figure, and even left the pale flesh of her left thigh exposed, Baek Ha-na entered the party hall.
"......."
"......."
Everyone fell silent—those who'd been chatting, and even the musicians who'd been preparing for the upcoming ball.
Not a single person could help but marvel at the sight of Baek Ha-na appearing before them.
"Ha-na."
Yoon I-seul, who had changed into a men's suit at some point, removed her suit jacket and draped it over Baek Ha-na's shoulders.
"Th-thank you......."
Baek Ha-na shyly lowered her head and murmured.
Where had all the ferocity she'd shown on stage gone?
Was this really the same person?
That was the second thought that crossed people's minds. And the first?
"A godd—... guhk?!"
Satoshi clutched his stomach and doubled over from Yuzuki Mio's punch. A handkerchief fluttered down in front of him.
"You pervert, wipe up what you spilled and go home. Hmph!!"
Yuzuki Mio huffed and scampered off toward Baek Ha-na.
Suddenly left alone, Satoshi rubbed his aching stomach and picked up the handkerchief. As he held it to his nose, he thought:
'Why was I born a man......?'
Bearing the sharp, death-threatening stares of the Arena Academy students, Satoshi turned away in solitude.
·
·
·
"Is it really all right for me to visit Korea sometime?"
"Uh, yeah. If you want to come... though I can't really be a guide. I don't know it that well myself."
"That's okay! I'll study hard before I come!!"
"......? O-okay."
Baek Ha-na gave an awkward smile toward Yuzuki Mio, whose eyes sparkled as she grinned brightly. It wasn't that she found her bothersome. It was just that the daring dress she was wearing, and all the attention around her, had her nerves on edge, making a natural smile difficult.
"I would like to invite you to Moscow."
"Moscow?"
Baek Ha-na looked up at Ekaterina, who was a full two heads taller than her, and tilted her head.
"Ahem."
Ekaterina averted her eyes slightly and continued.
"Should you visit my homeland, I would take you to a snowfield so vast you could run for days without seeing the end of it. Let us run there with all our strength."
"......??"
A snowfield you could run across for days without seeing the end?
Run there together?
'Is she suggesting we get stranded together?'
It didn't make much sense, but for the sake of the person making the effort to speak Korean without a translator, Baek Ha-na didn't ask for clarification. She simply smiled and gave a small nod.
"Mm! Truly the leader of the Wolf!!"
Having no idea what Baek Ha-na was actually thinking, Ekaterina was genuinely delighted.
She was already thrilled at the prospect of running through nature with a fellow Transformation-type compatriot.
"In that case, Washington too......."
After that, Baek Ha-na continued to be besieged by female representatives from various nations inviting her to visit their countries.
[ Pardon the interruption while you are enjoying yourselves. ]
A calm, middle-aged voice spread softly throughout the party hall.
[ The ball is about to begin, so we would appreciate it if you could clear the center. Please, enjoy your time. ]
No sooner had the man finished speaking than the students crowding the center began to withdraw to the edges. And someone else approached the chocolate fountain where Baek Ha-na's group was gathered.
Swoosh.
Not only the Arena Academy students, but also those brought by Ekaterina and the other representatives moved to block the blonde handsome man who had walked over. Several people behind him made to step forward, but the handsome man, Arthur Philip, raised a hand and halted them.
"Hmm. I'd assumed you would be different from the second prince and wouldn't require a warning... My misjudgment."
"I want to gouge his eyes out."
"Goodness, he is a crown prince, so please restrain yourself."
Yoon I-seul and Nam Seo-hee, standing behind Baek Ha-na, glared at Arthur Philip—who was blocked by the students—as they exchanged words between themselves.
Only Na Ju-hee, sipping champagne a short distance away, shook her head with a weary expression.
"Would you kindly allow me to pass through?"
Arthur Philip spoke, wearing a gentle smile.
It was the kind of smile that would have melted most ordinary women on the spot. But the women gathered around Baek Ha-na were far removed from ordinary.
"Get lost. There's no place here for a man to barge in."
Russia's representative, Ekaterina, bared her sharp canines.
"Well then, I shall speak from here."
Arthur internally gritted his teeth at the energy radiating from some of the women who were openly hostile. He opened his mouth nonetheless.
"Lady Baek Ha-na. Would you grant me the honor of taking your lovely hand?"
Whoooosh──!!
Hostility toward Arthur Philip erupted from every direction.
The Arena students who had been silently holding their positions were joined by some of the other students who had been watching the situation unfold.
'Ha, these damned fools.......'
Arthur Philip concealed his inner thoughts and maintained an amiable smile as he waited for an answer. The answer was predetermined, after all.
The closing ceremony party of the festival observed a few rules. Once the ball began, you could ask a person of the opposite sex who caught your eye for a dance, and if it was the first request, the person asked was obliged to accept at least once unless they already had a prearranged partner.
'Jealousy from wretches who couldn't even muster the nerve to approach—how utterly pathetic.'
He had even already instructed the musicians on which songs to perform once he stepped onto the floor. So he waited, keeping his thoughts buried beneath his smile.
"I refuse."
'......?'
The answer that was never supposed to come had come.
"...Is there a prior engagement?"
"Not a prior engagement. But there is someone I want to be my first."
"Ah, aha... I see."
The corner of Arthur Philip's mouth twitched.
And a few particularly observant individuals did not miss it.
"If that person were to decline, might I apply again?"
"That would also be difficult. I have many prior engagements."
"If it is a prior engagement......."
Just as Arthur Philip was about to ask further, Yoon I-seul, who stood behind Baek Ha-na, grinned roguishly and gave a wave. Nam Seo-hee flipping the bird was a bonus.
La la la la~♪
...Crack.
Arthur Philip clenched his molars tight at the sound of instruments starting to play. While still wearing a smile, of course.
"Then......."
Flash─!!
Arthur Philip was forced to fell silent once again.
Because Baek Ha-na, who had been seated among the female students, rose from her spot.
**
A man in a black coat walked soundlessly through the wide-open doors.
"J-just a moment......!!"
Baek Ha-na click-clacked forward in her unfamiliar high heels.
Click! Click! Click!
She moved as fast as she could manage, despite the awkward and uncomfortable steps. Every eye in the room was fixed on her, but she paid them no mind. No—she couldn't even feel their gazes. Every last shred of her attention was concentrated on that one person.
"Pr-Professor Baek......."
At last reaching Baek Woo-jin, Baek Ha-na spoke his name and lifted her head.
Gulp.
Her face and figure were reflected in the semi-transparent glasses he always wore. Baek Ha-na drew a breath at the sight of her own tensed-up expression and extended her right hand toward Baek Woo-jin.
"...Please dance with me."
Baek Woo-jin looked down at Baek Ha-na without a word.
Feeling his gaze, Baek Ha-na drew another breath and continued.
"I-I worked hard, so... serio... please dance with me."
Baek Woo-jin did not answer.
The music that had been playing stopped at some point.
Everyone held their breath and watched the two of them.
"Reject......."
"Seriously, was it."
At the mellifluous voice that flowed out, Baek Ha-na quickly fell silent. Then, suppressing her heart as it began to pound—thump! thump!—she nodded.
Slooowly.
Baek Woo-jin's hand moved.
Baek Ha-na's eyes naturally followed his hand. And when his hand grasped his glasses—
"Seriously, yes?"
"...Y-yes."
At his question, Baek Ha-na nodded.
Smooth.
The round glasses that had been covering Baek Woo-jin's face came slowly off.