Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Falling Maple Leaves
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A day when maple leaves scattered on the wind.
“Ughhh… On a day like this, it’s best to head out and play…”
Violet let out a groan as she gazed out the window.
The autumn scenery unfolding before her eyes was like a work of art… but she was chained to her desk by the shackles of student council duties.
“Haaa…”
And then another sigh from beside her.
Violet slowly straightened up from where she’d been leaning on the windowsill and glanced at Carnel, who sat next to her.
“What’s wrong now?”
Lately, Carnel’s sighs had been nonstop.
Just yesterday, she’d been beaming about going to see Adel, but today she looked like death warmed over.
“……”
Carnel hung her head without a word and quietly held something out in her hand.
Slide…
What landed in Violet’s hand was a single letter.
“What’s this…?”
A letter sealed with an ornate golden emblem.
Violet broke the seal with a puzzled expression and carefully read the contents.
“To Miss Cornelia von Delbar… In this season of golden maple leaves, we invite you to the upcoming banquet…”
“……”
“…This is more than a mere social affair; it is a gathering of scholarship and honor, an event that draws the eyes of many, so we earnestly hope you will grace us with your presence.”
“Haa…”
“…Hm?”
When Violet looked up, Carnel let out a sigh and shook her head silently.
…Up to this point, nothing seemed particularly wrong.
But… the real issue came next.
“…Furthermore, I humbly wish to accompany you as your partner for this banquet…”
“……”
“So… basically, they want you to go as their partner?”
“Yes… that’s right.”
“But… can’t you just turn it down?”
“The problem is…! It doesn’t end with just that one!”
Bang!
Carnel yanked open the desk drawer with a furious gesture.
She plunged her hand inside… and dumped dozens of letters onto the desk.
Rumble rumble rumble─!
The pile of letters stacked up like a mountain.
“…Wow, that’s a lot.”
“This is a bomb, a bomb! It’s terrorism…!”
“You’re just as popular as ever, milady.”
“……”
Carnel clamped her lips shut and looked away.
Violet, ignoring Carnel’s pout…
Flipped through a few letters with an indifferent expression and tilted her head.
“But… a party at this time of year?”
“…It’s an annual event, just moved up a bit earlier.”
“So why now?”
“Probably to show that the empire stands strong even amid the descent of calamity… or something like that.”
“Ugh… Nobles sure are something else.”
Violet grimaced and turned back toward the window.
Whoooosh─
Maple leaves drifting on the autumn breeze.
One of them floated in through the window.
Tap.
Violet caught it with her fingertips and muttered.
“You know that one, Carnel?”
“What?”
“They say if you catch a falling maple leaf, your wish comes true.”
“You believe in superstitions like that?”
“Tsk tsk tsk…”
Violet, thinking Carnel was such a stickler, released the leaf back out the window.
Then she glanced at Carnel and…
“Oh yeah, did you talk to your little sister yesterday?”
“…About what?”
“…? Yesterday. You said you had something to say and were going to see her?”
“……”
In that instant…
Ding! Ding!
A lightbulb flashed furiously above Carnel’s head.
“Uh… uh…!”
“……?”
As Violet watched in disbelief…
Carnel shot up from her seat and bolted to the next room in a panic.
“…What the heck.”
Violet was left alone, staring blankly at the empty seat.
***
‘Yes.’
Today was truly a perfect day.
That vicious dragon who’d been strangely saintly lately…
Thanks to Veronica excusing me from class.
Right now, I was sunk deep into the clubroom sofa, basking in peace.
And… the clubroom was empty.
Perfect freedom. Perfect silence.
Truly perfect alone time.
‘But this is such a cliché.’
Usually, on days like this, one single variable ruins everything.
That’s why, to preemptively eliminate that one variable…
Slide─
I pulled the blanket piled in the corner of the sofa over myself, wrapping up tight.
‘Nice and warm.’
It was getting pretty chilly outside.
Plus, maybe from rolling around in the subspatial snowfield…
Lately, my body had been shivering now and then.
But…
This cozy blanket and quiet space made me forget all that.
Perfect.
‘Hm.’
I imagined my expression in this moment and pulled out the whiteboard, sketching away with a squeak squeak.
[0v0]
Round eyes, upturned mouth.
If anyone could see my face reveling in this perfect freedom…
It’d look exactly like this.
Yes, even this moment… was perfect.
…But then.
- Bang!
The clubroom door burst open noisily.
I jumped at the sound and flung the whiteboard over my head─
“Adel!”
Carnel’s frantic voice swirled in my head.
And…
Thud.
‘Ow.’
The whiteboard dropped right onto my crown.
The expression I’d drawn flipped naturally with the impact.
[o︿o]
A venomous, aggrieved look.
…It perfectly captured my current mood.
‘Whew…’
Squeak squeak… I erased the venomous, aggrieved drawing on the whiteboard…
And wrote a message for Carnel.
[What’s wrong, President?]
“Ahem…!”
Carnel cleared her throat, about to say something.
In my mind, I prayed the reason she’d shattered my perfect freedom was truly valid.
“You…!”
[Yes]
“Ahem……!”
[?]
Another cough burst out.
Was she embarrassed to say it?
Her face was flushing for no reason, so probably.
“You! Be my partner……!”
[?]
Right now, my expression was probably… the same ‘o︿o’ from before, but with bigger eyes: ‘O︿O’.
Out of nowhere, asking me to be her ‘partner’. What did that even mean?
Was this some hidden camera prank?
What was I supposed to do…
Let me try to read the speaker’s intent.
‘………Hm.’
I tilted my head… then shook it side to side.
…I had no idea.
[I’ll pass]
“…Huh?”
I’d failed to read the speaker’s intent.
Too high difficulty.
[What’s going on?]
“…A banquet.”
[What?]
“…Come with me to the banquet next week!”
…Whoa.
Carnel suddenly shouted.
I flinched again, nearly tossing the whiteboard over my head.
[All of a sudden?]
“Yes.”
[Why?]
“…Because I need to go with you?”
[??]
“…What?”
[Don’t you have friends?]
“…Pardon?”
[Just go with a friend, no?]
No malice intended.
Just purely innocent.
I didn’t know exactly what a banquet was, but if it was like a party, why not go with a friend?
“You… don’t know what ‘partner’ means at a banquet?”
[What does it mean?]
“……….”
Carnel’s lips twitched.
But she didn’t open them in the end.
Then…
Thud.
[???]
Carnel rummaged in her pocket…
And placed a shiny gold coin on the table.
“This is a commission. Be my partner at the banquet… Pay is 100 gold coins.”
Slide─
The moment I heard that, I threw off the blanket I’d been wrapped in…
And shot up.
“…?”
Thud.
I grabbed Carnel’s hands tight with both of mine.
Used mana to float the whiteboard in midair…
[Count me in]
Too much money…
To turn down.
***
[Where are we?]
The moment I accepted Carnel’s commission, she dragged me by the hand to…
A building with such a luxurious exterior, it screamed ‘No Commoners Allowed’.
“A clothing store.”
[Clothes?]
“…Ditch that drab outfit and wear something else for once.”
[What’s wrong with black?]
“But why wear that instead of your uniform…?”
[It’s uncomfortable]
Yollam’s uniform was uncomfortable.
The collar choked, buttons and tie…
It took minutes just to put on.
Better not to waste time on clothes.
That’s why… Yollam’s uniform was shoved deep in my closet.
[But is it okay for you to be out like this?]
Still…
Even as student council president, was it fine to leave Yollam during this non-lunchtime hour?
“Hehe… If you don’t get caught, it’s not a crime.”
[It is a crime]
“…That’s what you said during your first-semester assignment.”
[Did I?]
She remembered that.
Before Carnel confiscated the canned goods from my inventory…
My famous line to Klaus.
“…Joking. There’s no lecture anyway, and I’m out on ‘student council business’.”
[I see]
“More importantly… Hurry up and go in!”
[Okay]
Tsk.
My stalling tactic had failed.
I stood obediently at the entrance, steeling my last shred of pride…
Ding-a-ling~
With the sound of the door opening, I was forcibly ushered into the clothing store.
“Miss Cornelia. Confirmed.”
“Taking measurements now.”
The clerk bowed politely upon seeing Carnel.
And I was just whooshed… whooshed…
Subjected to whatever Carnel and the clerk wanted.
“Hm…”
As the measuring tape darted around me, Carnel crossed her arms, eyeing me closely…
“You… have better proportions than I thought?”
“…?”
Had I caught something from Veronica?
Carnel tossed out a pretty bold line so casually.
“All done.”
Once the clerk put away the tape and left, I finally regained my freedom.
I dusted myself off with a sigh…
“And… you seem a bit taller too.”
[Height?]
“Feels like… 1 or 2 centimeters taller than when we first met?”
[You’d know better than me]
I couldn’t really tell…
But if Carnel thought so, maybe.
“Completed.”
Slide.
The clerk carefully placed something on my hand.
It was… a neatly folded uniform.
We’d just taken measurements minutes ago, and it was already done.
…The power of this fantasy world.
“Put it on and come out!”
Carnel said that and bolted out of the store without giving me a chance to argue.
“…….”
In the end, without voicing a single opinion…
I trudged off.
***
[President]
“What’s wrong.”
[It’s uncomfortable]
I fiddled with the uniform buttons, not hiding my discomfort.
Maybe I’d put it on wrong…
“Uniforms are supposed to be like that.”
Carnel nailed it shut firmly.
So the problem… was the uniform itself.
But something even more uncomfortable than the clothes.
‘Tsk…’
The stares.
I thought the black-based uniform wouldn’t stand out…
But the gold embroidery made it oddly ornate, drawing eyes.
I could feel the gazes of passersby gathering on me.
“Hm…….”
And the next moment.
Carnel, arriving at an empty plaza, looked me up and down.
“Just need to trim the hair a bit.”
[What?]
“…Don’t you think it’s too long?”
[Yeah, kinda]
I wanted to nitpick and joke, but…
My mind went blank, and I admitted it honestly.
“Ah.”
Carnel suddenly strode toward me and leaned in slightly.
Her fingertips brushed the collar of my uniform, buttoning up the ones I’d left undone one by one.
“You have to button them properly.”
[It’s uncomfortable though]
I protested softly, but Carnel just smiled lightly.
Meanwhile…
Whoooosh─
An autumn breeze swept by, carrying a single maple leaf dancing through the sky.
As the crimson leaf swirled, I instinctively reached out.
Tap.
The maple leaf caught in my fingertips.
And Carnel, who had stopped, was gazing at me quietly.
“…….”
[?]
Carnel stared silently at the leaf in my hand for a moment.
Then she looked away, meeting my eyes.
[What’s up?]
“……Nothing.”
Carnel straightened up after her curt reply.
Then she turned her head sharply and started walking forward again.
Without ever showing her face.
“…More uniforms will be delivered to the dorm, so take good care of them.”
[What?]
…Meaning I’d have to wear this more than once.
I bowed my head silently.
And drew my expression on the whiteboard again.
[o︿o]
Venomous and aggrieved.
Nothing could express my mood more accurately.