After the Rain, the Ground Gets Swept (2)
"I'm not joining the student council next semester, Lilith."
A week before the new semester began. That was what Ethan said to me, fresh off his winter break and back to student council work for the first time in ages.
No matter how much that day's incident had hurt his feelings, I never imagined he'd already bring up leaving the student council. Sure, Nathalie had been rude, but I couldn't help wondering whether that really justified throwing away his connection with Seraphin.
"If you're saying you won't join the student council, does that mean you're also giving up your ties with Her Imperial Highness Seraphin?"
"It's not like I'm the one giving up. She's the one who handed me an excuse to."
...Calling her 'she' already. Ethan must have been hurt far worse by that whole affair than I'd realized.
Judging purely from that reaction, he was clearly fed up to his ears with Seraphin.
"If it's about the incident caused by Miss Nathalie's behavior while drinking, I imagine she'll come to apologize herself once the semester starts. She'd have had no way of seeing you during the break, after all."
"Yeah, I suppose. Even a commoner wouldn't be that gauche. Besides, Nathalie's a perfectly decent person when she's not drunk."
"Then might I suggest you hold off on leaving Her Imperial Highness's council until after you've heard Miss Nathalie's apology, Young Master?"
"Sorry, but this isn't really about Nathalie's mistake. I've simply lost my trust in Her Imperial Highness Seraphin."
"I beg your pardon?"
It wasn't Nathalie he was angry at?
I had naturally assumed Nathalie's drunken antics that day were what had lit the fuse of Ethan's fury. Failing that, I couldn't fathom what else could have enraged him so — and as I tilted my head in confusion, Ethan reluctantly went on.
"Slipping up at a drinking party because of a taste for liquor? That much I can forgive. Everyone's entitled to a mistake now and then. Nathalie's never once stepped out of line before, and she's always been good-natured about things — I've no reason to be furious with her over this. Hell, even if Her Imperial Highness herself had behaved that way, it wouldn't have bothered me."
"Then... what exactly—"
"What made it impossible for me to trust Her Highness was that she invited Gehmajoshigi-gwat... the Hero, of all people, to that gathering in the first place."
"...Are you saying the problem was that she invited a guest without informing you beforehand?"
"...Hoo. More or less."
At my demand for an explanation, Ethan gave me a long look, then let out a deep sigh.
"You know as well as I do, Lilith, that the Hero keeps not one but two women glued to his side at all times."
"...You mean Saintess Serista and Miss Silena the elf?"
"Right. Frankly, that alone rubbed me the wrong way. Hero or not, parading around the Academy with a woman hanging off each arm is a bit much."
"But the Saintess is duty-bound to remain at the Hero's side, and Miss Silena being the only elf here has no connections besides him. Isn't that simply how it has to be?"
"It's not just that. Lately the things that Hero gets up to have gone completely unchecked, and it's getting worse by the day. Just look at that girl Nathalie."
"I'm sorry — Miss Nathalie?"
"...From what I hear, she was originally planning to enter the end-of-semester Hunting Festival as a duo with her childhood friend from home, Thomas."
Well, of course she was. That's exactly how the original story flows if no one offers her a party slot.
I had a fairly good sense of what Ethan was driving at. Honestly, even from where I stood, recruiting a vanguard like Nathalie while already carting Serista and Silena around was not a good look. Nobody was going to deny Nathalie's swordsmanship was exceptional — but nearly as famous as her blade was that stunning face of hers. A Hero who already strutted about with two beauties in tow suddenly recruiting her? That was never going to sit well in anyone's eyes.
"If he'd needed one more swordsman, he could have approached me or Catarina just as easily. But as far as I know, he never even hinted at it — the offer went to Nathalie and Nathalie alone. The only girl in the group."
"...I see."
"Now, I can't say whether I'd have accepted had he asked me, but he should have asked anyway. The intent is just too naked."
Knowing what I knew about Gehmajoshigi-gwat, all I could do was quietly swallow the knowledge only I possessed.
Ethan and Catarina were mid-bosses in the original story's second and third acts, after all — I could hardly tell Ethan that approaching them would never have been easy. And from the way he'd recruited Nathalie and Thomas together, I could see Gehmajoshigi-gwat was still pursuing his pure speedrun strategy — but again, that was something only a player of Luminor Academy in a past life could know.
To anyone else, it would look for all the world like Nathalie was the real prize and Thomas had simply been dragged along as a package deal.
So I buried all of that deep and offered only the calmest, most measured defense I could manage.
"Perhaps the Hero simply knew Miss Nathalie better than he knows you, Young Master, and asked her first. And had she declined, he might well have moved on to his second choice, Miss Catarina."
"...Fair. On its own, that's nothing strange. Strong students banding together to chase the Hunting Festival crown isn't exactly a crime."
"...Is there something else beyond Miss Nathalie, then?"
"Agnes Elizabeth Blaze. The circumstances of her suddenly joining that guy's party at the last minute strike me as suspicious too."
"...Miss Blaze, is it."
Ethan was right — Agnes was another heroine who had newly joined the Hero's party for this Hunting Festival.
For Nathalie there was at least the shared swordsmanship club, and Thomas had come attached to Nathalie as a middle link. But Gehmajoshigi-gwat, of the Swordsmanship Department, plucking Agnes of the Magic Department out of nowhere for his party? That was bound to strike Ethan as strange from every angle. All the more so given that he'd singled out Agnes — a girl whose interpersonal skills were an outright disaster.
"I understand you're acquainted with Lady Blaze, Lilith. Am I right?"
"...Yes. We took the Spirit Communication lecture together this past semester. We've exchanged small favors here and there, as well."
"Good. Then tell me — from what you've seen, does that foul-tempered woman strike you as the type to join someone else's party willingly?"
"...Not even out of politeness, no."
If I hedged here, Ethan's suspicion might well turn on me next.
So instead, I gave him as objective a portrait of Agnes's personality as my knowledge allowed.
"As far as I know, Miss Blaze has no one at the Academy she'd call a friend, so she'd have turned down every offer to form a party. Privately, I'd wager she sees anyone who comes running as nothing more than a freeloader hoping to piggyback on her grades."
"...She's really that bad?"
"And I simply cannot picture Miss Blaze bowing her head first to join another party. Her pride would never permit her to put herself beneath anyone. It's precisely that refusal to yield an inch that keeps her circle so narrow in the first place."
"...R-Right. Well, regardless — the point is that it feels off to me too. Under normal circumstances, Lady Blaze would never form a party with the Hero. So I did a little digging into what connected the two of them."
A link between the two of them... there was really only one person who came to mind.
In Luminor Academy, whenever a playthrough began in a department other than Magic, the route to first recruiting Agnes was practically scripted. Even that foul-mouthed, stubborn girl had exactly one secret relationship at the Academy with someone she secretly thought of as a friend.
"What I learned later is that Her Imperial Highness Seraphin has a personal friendship with Lady Blaze."
"Ah..."
"She's also the one who connected Nathalie and Thomas to Gehmajoshigi-gwat's party. That part I only stumbled across by accident, granted."
"...I see."
"Twice now, Her Highness has handed the Hero a woman. And then, in the middle of all that, a post-festival gathering suddenly gets arranged to call on his party..."
"......"
"Sure, it could all be coincidence. But I see no reason I should just sit still and stomach the unease."
He wasn't wrong. Rather than nurse the dread and cling to an existing relationship, cutting it loose might genuinely be the better call.
Had I been in Ethan's position, I would no doubt have felt the same anxiety.
"Maybe the Hero wasn't chasing skirts at all — maybe he truly needed Nathalie and Agnes and asked for the introductions in earnest. Or perhaps his real target isn't you, Lilith, but Lady Auguste. Even granting all that, though, I simply can't bring myself to trust Her Imperial Highness anymore."
"...I understand."
"Yeah. So my choice is this: when this semester ends, I'm done setting foot in Seraphin's student council."
Ethan believed the Hero had gone through Seraphin to reach me — leaned on her to force that after-party into existence.
It was a guess rather than a certainty, but the evidence behind it was substantial, and even a guess was more than enough to justify a decision this weighty.
Ethan would sooner surrender his ties to the Princess than leave open even the smallest chance of me being stolen away by Gehmajoshigi-gwat.
'I had no idea he thought of me this highly.'
Yes, his confession had made it abundantly clear that he loved me — but I never imagined he'd go so far as to cut ties with the Princess to keep me safe. And he'd apparently already traced exactly how Gehmajoshigi-gwat had approached Nathalie and Agnes, which meant he'd spent the winter break quietly laying groundwork all over the place.
When suspicions had stacked up this high, anxiety was only natural from where Ethan stood. Especially since he had no idea which direction Gehmajoshigi-gwat was actually moving — that ignorance alone was enough to fan the flames.
'Honestly, I don't think he needs to sever things with Seraphin over this...'
But forcing the status quo to continue and leaving Ethan to stew in his unease was hardly an ideal outcome either. No — worse, if the two of them stayed joined at the hip over nothing, the odds were actually decent that a genuine rift between Ethan and Seraphin would open up, which would push things closer to the original story, not further from it.
If that was the risk, then keeping them apart at their current, merely-civil distance was the better bargain. Misunderstandings, after all, could be cleared up down the line one way or another.
"Understood, Young Master Ethan. If that is your will, then my cooperation with Her Imperial Highness's student council ends this semester."
"...Thank you for saying that, Lilith. I know you have your own friendships with the Princess and Lady Auguste."
"Nothing outweighs your wellbeing, Young Master. When have I ever once acted against your wishes?"
"...You realize that's quite a few times?"
...Come to think of it, that might be true.
In any case, with Ethan set on keeping his distance from Seraphin, the only conclusion my judgment could reach as his personal maid was the very same one.
"But this time, I will act precisely as you wish, so please rest easy."
"...Right. Thank you, Lilith."
"I'm merely giving the answer that is only natural for your exclusive maid."
Besides, if I didn't stand by him, who on earth would?
He was already anxious enough as it was. Of course he had to be able to trust me.