Can't Sleep the Night Before the Entrance Ceremony
The day Alice and Yosef arrived was the day before the academy entrance ceremony.
And tomorrow was the entrance ceremony itself.
—Rustle, rustle.
Alice tossed and turned beneath the covers.
This bed is so much better than the one at home… and it even smells nice…
She had moved her things out of the dormitory and into Yosef's mansion. She'd been given one of the empty rooms, and it was far larger and more comfortable than the dorm. It was better, even, than the house back home—the place that should have felt most familiar and safe.
What kind of person is Yosef, really?
He was the one occupying her thoughts.
Karen made such a huge fuss about him. Was he originally someone terrifying?
In the original story, Alice never really understood who held what rank. That was precisely how she managed to approach the male leads of high status without a second thought—and win their hearts in the process.
Karen said Yosef was ridiculously interested in women, but I've never seen him act that way.
What worried Karen most was the matter of women. The moment they boarded the carriage, Karen had asked Yosef whether he was interested in Benedict's fiancée—and Alice had assumed it was a joke. Later, though, when she asked Karen about it, she was told it had been entirely serious. Right up until she fell asleep, Karen had warned her again and again to be careful about Yosef's woman problems.
"Is it really that bad?"
"Of course it is. Do you have any idea how many times I've had to deal with this and clean it up?"
Karen's voice had carried the self-mocking confidence of someone who had smoothed over countless disasters.
"But nothing happened in the bathroom. Maybe he's trying to change?"
"Hmm. Then you can relax for now—but never let your guard down. He's shown signs of wanting to change before, and it never took long for him to cause trouble again."
Hearing all that had left Alice a little uneasy, but the worry never grew into a real burden.
Still, I should judge by what I've seen myself. I don't want to start misunderstanding him already.
Alice was the sort of righteous person who would step in to save a friend being tormented over prejudice. That very quality had, in the past, earned her lifelong companions—and potential romantic interests. In the closed-off world of the nobility, the intensity of ostracism could be brutal. Anyone rescued from that kind of pressure by the heroine tended to regard her as a savior for life. In the original story, there were several people at the academy whom Alice would go on to save.
And his body was… something else, wasn't it?
Alice was rather dense when it came to romance. Even so, the things Yosef had done in a single day had been stimulating enough to make even someone as slow as her start turning over their meaning.
My heart was pounding so hard wondering what might happen in the bathroom…
She recalled the body she had seen there.
Was taking his clothes off and showing me that meant to be a seduction? Well… nothing happened after, so probably not.
Besides, Alice had come to the academy dreaming of a heart-fluttering everyday life after falling into a fantasy world. She was a young girl of an age perfectly suited to pink-tinted daydreams.
…And what was the ice cream about?
It wasn't that she had fallen for Yosef. She had simply started fretting over whether he saw her as a woman. And so her imagination wandered in every direction. If she grew a little closer to Karen, she might be able to talk about romance the way ordinary girls did—and get advice about everything that had happened today. Of course, if Karen ever heard those thoughts, she would panic over Alice's wild fantasies.
Karen rose early, woke Alice, helped her wash, and dressed her in a maid's uniform.
"Haaah…"
"Was the bed uncomfortable, by any chance?"
"No. It was so soft it was wonderful."
A sudden change of sleeping place could leave a person too unsettled to rest. Seeing Alice look so sleepy, Karen seemed to wonder whether homesickness had kept her awake, and asked carefully.
"Is there a reason you couldn't sleep?"
"Um, well…"
If she and Karen had been truly close, she might have asked for romantic advice.
If I asked whether Yosef might like me, that would be weird, wouldn't it?
But they weren't nearly that close yet. Karen was the senior maid tasked with training her, and Alice was the brand-new junior who had only just arrived. On top of that, Karen had repeatedly told her to be careful about Yosef's woman problems. Alice might be dense about men who liked her, but she wasn't ignorant of social dynamics.
"I was too excited thinking about what I'll be able to do once I enter the academy."
"Ah, that makes sense."
So she offered the most straightforward answer she could. Alice, Karen, and Yosef were all academy freshmen. It was only natural to feel anticipation about starting school for the first time.
"Aren't you excited at all, Miss Karen?"
"Excited? Ahaha…"
"What's wrong?"
"Just thinking about spending four years with Young Master makes me so happy."
"…Right."
Anyone could tell Karen was being sarcastic. Neither her expression nor her voice held the slightest hint of joy.
"Still, now that you're entering the academy, maybe things will get a little better?"
People grew by experiencing new environments—discovering and developing parts of themselves they had never used before.
"Who knows?"
Karen kept her reaction neutral. At least for today, Yosef hadn't caused any major incidents.
"Shall we head out soon? Young Master will be waiting."
"Yes!"
Alice answered in a bright voice. The thought of finally entering the academy she had dreamed of lifted her spirits all on its own. That feeling shifted slightly, however, the moment she met Yosef.
"Did both of you sleep well?"
Karen froze for a beat at the question. Yosef was absolutely not the sort of person who was this kind.
"…Yes. I trust Young Master rested peacefully as well."
Simply offering a morning greeting to his maids was enough to set off emergency alarms in Karen's head. Dreading whatever might come next, she approached him.
"Y-Yes…!"
Facing the Yosef who had tormented her thoughts the night before, Alice felt the emotions that had settled stir awake again. After a tangle of worries and feelings, she managed to force out an answer.
"Pardon us."
"Hm?"
Karen called to Alice.
"Lady Alice, come over here."
"Y-Yes…?!"
Laundry and cleaning were the servants' work. Attendants and maids handled more important duties—waiting at their master's side and helping him change. The clothes Yosef had commissioned from the overflowing wealth of House Goldrain were all so structurally complex that Karen's help was essential just to put them on.
Karen watched Alice move stiffly.
Did Lady Alice's household not have attendants?
She took Alice by the wrist and pulled her forward.
"Just hold this garment in this position. I'll handle the rest."
"Y-Yes!"
Karen hadn't expected much from Alice, so she assigned her an easy task: holding the clothes up in the air before the fastenings and buttons were joined. All she had to do was stand still—about as simple as playing a tree in a kindergarten pageant.
For Alice, though, it was extraordinarily difficult.
I can see everything…!
From the moment his sleepwear came off until the new clothes went on, Yosef wore nothing at all. And it was more stimulating than the day before—because she had to hold the clothes up right next to him and face his body at close range. Terrified her eyes might drift downward, Alice squeezed them shut.
Yosef regarded her calmly.
"Can you hold the clothes properly with your eyes closed?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
Alice hurriedly opened her eyes, saw his body again, and flushed scarlet.
Karen finished dressing me.
"Phew…"
"Lady Alice, was that hard on you?"
"N-No! Miss Karen, I'm fine!"
"That's a relief. If it had been too much, I was thinking of putting you on a physical training regimen."
"I have excellent stamina!"
Alice had been shunned by her family and forced to handle most things alone. Moving without anyone's help would have built her endurance naturally. She was far more likely to have better stamina than some indolent noble.
The three of us made our way to the academy's grand hall, where the entrance ceremony would be held. As we passed, more and more people recognized us and began to murmur.
"Hey, over there…"
"That's House Goldrain. Damn it, why did they have to enroll in the same year as me?"
"Nouveau riche who bought their title with money. Nobles like that should never exist again."
"Associating with people like that will ruin our reputation. Let's keep our distance."
Most of it was slander aimed at House Goldrain. Alice's face showed open shock at the hostility.
In the novel she faced hostility too, but never this blatant. When Alice was still with her family, they bullied her—but they never treated her like an enemy.
Well-dressed noble students were now directing open insults at people they had never even met. Once we entered the grand hall, the snide remarks became harder to make out, drowned in the noise of so many people talking at once. The hostile stares, however, remained.
"Young Master, this way."
Karen guided us to the special seating—reserved for members of the imperial family, representatives of the Holy Order, and students from houses that had made enormous donations to the academy. Those seated there looked even more distinguished than the other noble students. Benedict, the saint candidate, was among them, so it was easy to tell the gathering was impressive.
"Is House Goldrain even qualified to sit in a place like that? This is something we ought to protest."
"Just because they have money, they get to sit there? The academy's principles seem thoroughly corrupted."
As we approached the special seats, the hostility seemed to thicken. Karen and I brushed it off without concern. In Yosef's memories, this kind of enmity was an everyday occurrence. Karen, too, had endured plenty of similar stares ever since her family fell into debt and became vassals of House Goldrain. Alice, though, seemed different.
"Um, Young Master Yosef?"
"What is it?"
The moment we sat down, Alice leaned in and whispered by my ear. The surroundings were so loud that nothing else would have carried.
"I'm on your side, Young Master."
"…I see. Thank you."
It was the same line Alice used in the original story every time she brought a loner character over to her side.
Starting as a companion first, then? Reaching romantic feelings is going to be a long journey.
It was a familiar line I had heard any number of times. Hearing it in person, though, wasn't half bad.