Let's Get Along (2)
The moment I came face to face with Princess Seraphin, my brain instantly dredged up something I'd completely forgotten.
My dagger — the one confiscated… no, *temporarily held* to bait her attack — during the last evaluation match.
Seeing the two of them up close was the only way I managed to remember that I still hadn't given it back.
'Honestly, I'd completely blanked on it.'
It wasn't on purpose. I really had just forgotten.
And who could blame me? The blade I carried and used every day these days was so far beyond Seraphin's dagger that it never even crossed my mind.
A Blackwood dagger forged by a half-dwarf master craftsman and blessed by a fire spirit.
When you were walking around swinging a blade that made Lizzy's silverware weep with envy and Seraphin's dagger tremble in awe, some other person's trinket you'd been babysitting for a little while was bound to slip your mind.
Seraphin's dagger did have the sharper edge, admittedly, but the one with the Blackwood crest engraved on it — Ethan's gift — had serious cutting power of its own.
And above all, the dagger Ethan had given me carried the blessing of a fire spirit.
For someone like me, whose Luck stat was becoming ever more desperate, this dagger was infinitely more essential—
'No, now's not the time for this.'
So my brain had already flipped into excuse mode on reflex, but there was really only one thing I needed to do right now.
Apologize for stealing the beloved blade that Her Highness the Princess had gifted to her own bodyguard.
If I didn't want my head to go flying, I had to shut up and bow first, no questions asked.
"What a coincidence, running into you like this. Since we're here anyway, perhaps we could share a light cup of tea some—"
"…I have committed a crime worthy of death."
"…Pardon?"
"…I have not ten mouths with which to beg your forgiveness. Not only did I dare to take possession of a blade that Her Highness Princess Seraphin gifted to her bodyguard, I went so far as to use it freely. I accept whatever punishment you see fit. So please, spare only my life…"
"W-wait just a moment, Miss Lilith?! Could you please lift your head first…?"
"No, Your Highness. I am a criminal, and thus unworthy even to speak at the same height as you."
With that, I quietly folded myself down, pressing my forehead to the ground right in front of Seraphin's feet.
Students passing nearby caught sight of the two of us, and I could hear the murmur spreading.
"What's going on? What's happening?"
"Looks like someone screwed up with Her Highness."
"That kid prostrating over there — isn't that the crazy bitch from the Magic Department?"
"Could she have made a personal enemy of the Princess by beating Luke in last semester's evaluation match…"
I couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but eight times out of ten it was commentary on my pathetic display — something like, *and she calls herself nobility, kneeling in the dirt without a shred of dignity.*
But having once bowed my head, I couldn't very well raise it again. As things stood, if I didn't go this far, my neck was in genuine danger.
If all it cost me was a little face, I'd count myself lucky. If I actually earned the grudge of a member of the imperial family, my academy life would be over, full stop.
"I-I'll return the dagger this very moment, Your Highness Princess Seraphin. I did use it once on a, ah, less-than-pleasant occasion, but I cleaned it thoroughly with my own magic. If it doesn't meet with your satisfaction, I am prepared to offer monetary compensa—"
"C-could you please stand up, Miss Lilith? You're drawing an awful lot of attention to us right now, thanks to… well, you."
"I cannot rise from this spot until Your Highness grants me forgiveness."
"F-fine, I forgive you, so please stand up. Honestly, I'm not even sure what I'm forgiving you for…"
"…Understood, Your Highness Princess Seraphin."
Only after hearing the words of forgiveness loud and clear did I straighten my prostrate body and rise to my feet.
Seraphin was staring at me with an expression of flustered bewilderment quite unlike her usual composed self.
"Shall we continue this conversation somewhere else, then? It seems we're attracting rather too many eyes here."
"…We're only going to *talk*, aren't we?"
"Of course, Miss Lilith."
…As long as it's really just talking. It'll probably be fine.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
The place Seraphin brought me to, calling it a venue for conversation, was the guest chamber inside the Academy itself.
Granted, that was 'guest *chamber*' in name only — the phrase 'imperial family's private *residence*' would have fit it far more accurately.
In both appearance and function, the space was indistinguishable from an imperial estate.
For a student dormitory, the interior décor was extravagantly overdone, and it was hard to find a single light fixture in the entire building that *wasn't* a chandelier.
Counting just the number of those opulent fixtures, there were probably almost as many as at the Blackwood estate. Of course, considering the status of the people who used this place, the décor was entirely understandable.
Because this was it — the dormitory where the 'imperial students' of Luminor Academy resided.
The Academy professed equality for all its students, so even the great noble houses made do with the dormitories the school provided. The imperial family, naturally, was the exception.
And understandably so. If an imperial scion were made to live shoulder to shoulder with ordinary students, it would hardly be surprising the moment someone's ambitions turned murderous and an assassination occurred. The separate quarters were, at minimum, a safety measure.
I had visited this place often enough while playing Luminor Academy, but the scenery I remembered from the game and the sight now before my eyes felt fundamentally, profoundly different.
As expected, facing it in the flesh does make your chest swell.
"My fourth brother will be returning home late today, so we'll be able to speak freely, Miss Lilith."
"Ah, I see…"
The 'fourth brother' Princess Seraphin spoke of was, of course, the Fourth Prince, McHart — the only student currently attending the Academy who outranked her.
Though honestly, with or without the Fourth Prince, the notion of having a *relaxed* conversation in a space like this was impossible from the get-go.
But what could I do? When the Princess said to make myself comfortable, the least I could do was put on a convincing performance of comfort.
For a baron's daughter to refuse a sit-down with a princess was, after all, simply not an option.
*Tap.*
"Please, make yourself at home, Miss Lilith."
"Ah, yes…"
For reasons beyond my comprehension, Luke — still somehow my dedicated maid even after a full semester — set a teacup down in front of me.
Having noted that she seemed oddly calmer than when we'd met at the training grounds, I took a sip of the tea set before me and let it slide down my throat.
The calming scent of herbs worked its way down, and by the time my racing heart had settled somewhat, Seraphin met my eyes and spoke.
"First of all, I didn't summon you here today to press charges, Miss Lilith."
"I beg your pardon?"
"In fact, the very notion that you wronged me at all is a misunderstanding. This is about Luke's dagger, yes?"
"Ah… yes."
I nodded, thinking of one of the three daggers currently sitting in the inner pocket of my uniform.
"You needn't worry about not returning it. That blade has been yours since the last bout, you see."
"…Pardon?"
"I'd like you to accept it as an apology for the discourtesy my guard — no, my *maid* — showed you. It seems you favor daggers for self-defense anyway, Miss Lilith, and it's quite a fine piece, so I trust it will more than satisfy you."
"Then… you're not angry with me for running off with the dagger you gave to Luke?"
"Of course not. I've considered that dagger yours ever since the last match ended."
…Am I supposed to consider that a relief, in a way?
Part of me felt vaguely aggrieved at all the anxiety I'd suffered for nothing, but far more important was learning that Seraphin had never held any ill will toward me in the first place.
Either way, this was a far better outcome than earning a pointless grudge.
The real problem was what on earth was going to happen to Luke now that I'd gone and taken her dagger…
"I'm grateful for your words, but then what about Miss Luke's dagger…?"
"I've already commissioned a skilled blacksmith and armed her with a new one. I'm not the sort of person who wrings work out of her own people without so much as a weapon to show for it."
"………"
"Now — are you ready to accept my gift, Miss Lilith?"
"Ah, yes… If you insist to this degree, I'll gratefully accept."
Well, when someone went this far out of her way to give you something, I hardly had grounds to refuse.
If anything, some petty, greedy corner of me found it a shame to hand such a serviceable dagger back to Luke.
Of course, I could read between the lines well enough to know that Seraphin being this openly friendly meant she wanted something from me. But whatever — whether I took the dagger or not, I was going to have to hear her out regardless.
Slipping the dagger I'd begun to draw from my pocket back inside, I waited quietly for Seraphin to continue.
"Miss Lilith."
"Ah, yes?"
"There's no need to be nervous. The favor I intend to ask of you today is nothing like the difficult request I made before."
"N-no, that's not— what you proposed before was an honor far beyond my station. It's simply that I couldn't betray my loyalty to Young Master Ethan and the Blackwood family…"
"Yes, I'm well aware. Which is why this time, I've prepared a request that won't require you to be apart from Young Master Ethan at all… *ahem*, I mean, a request that won't interfere with your relationship with him."
"I beg your pardon?"
A request that wouldn't interfere with my relationship with Ethan?
That phrasing felt oddly, suspiciously strange… but surely it meant nothing?
Deciding to take it as roughly meaning she wanted something I could do while keeping my duties as Ethan's personal maid, I nodded — and Seraphin pressed on with a request a notch or two more audacious than her last.
"Are you aware that, exactly ten days from today, the Academy's student council president election period begins?"
"Ah… yes, I'm aware."
The Academy's second-semester main events were always dominated by these two: the student council president election and the Hunting Festival.
Both were practically main-story episodes of Luminor Academy — so central that they barely changed even as the years and student cohorts turned over.
Well, the student council arc in particular felt like a main episode precisely because it was so deeply tied to Seraphin, the main heroine.
"I intend to run in this student council president election, Miss Lilith."
"Ah, I see."
"I've already more or less finished assembling my cabinet. Though I can't reveal any of it until you've answered my request."
"…My answer?"
"Yes, Miss Lilith."
Hold on. Why does this situation feel like something I've been through once before?
A 'coincidental' encounter on Academy grounds, an invitation to the private residence, a mention of the student council president election, a request she wanted something from me for—
If my memories from my previous life were correct, this was surely one of Seraphin's student council election events from Luminor Academy…
"Let me be direct, Miss Lilith."
"………Yes."
"I want to recruit you and Young Master Ethan into my next student council cabinet."
"………"
"A request of this scale should leave you plenty of room to keep your 'loyalty' to Young Master Ethan intact, don't you think?"
…So that was the funny feeling I couldn't shake.