Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Vacation
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Student Council Room.
“Hmm… This won’t do.”
Karnel muttered, propping his elbows on the desk.
“What won’t?”
Violet watched her for a moment before speaking up.
She’d been lost in thought with an unusually serious expression for a while now… Something felt off.
“As expected… I’ll have to take him home with me.”
“Home?”
“Yes.”
“What home?”
“……”
“No way… right?”
Violet narrowed her eyes, a bad feeling settling in.
There was only one meaning when Karnel said “home.”
“You… you’re not thinking of taking little bro to the ducal residence, are you?”
The Delbar Ducal House.
Karnel’s family home, one of the empire’s most prestigious houses.
And… the idea of Karnel bringing someone there was extremely, incredibly unusual.
“…What?”
“‘What?’ isn’t going to cut it, Karnel…?”
Violet swallowed a sigh.
No one knew better than her how sensitive the Delbar Ducal House was to outsiders.
It was practically a sanctuary.
One wrong step, and the duke himself would step in—it was that delicate.
…It was only natural that the entire household would erupt if an outsider wandered in freely.
“The duke will definitely be furious if he finds out….”
Violet knew she was an exception.
Despite being a commoner, she’d been allowed entry only because she’d grown up with Karnel since childhood.
But Adel was different.
The Delbar Ducal House wasn’t a place you could enter just because you were a senior and junior.
“Hmph. Who cares if he finds out.”
“Then… of course he cares. He’s your father.”
“That’s exactly why I don’t care.”
“……”
“That man… has never once shown any interest in my life.”
Violet was at a loss for words.
Every time Karnel referred to her father as “that man,” it drove home just how broken their relationship was.
“If he wants to be around you, he can just stay at Yoram, right? No need to drag him along.”
The moment you set foot in the Delbar Ducal House, you were bound by its laws and rules.
A place where even breathing required permission.
Karnel couldn’t possibly be unaware of that.
“Why are you so obsessed with Adel…?”
“…It’s not obsession.”
Karnel paused, reminiscing about the past.
There had been this rude punk.
Someone who’d tried shoving a hand into his pocket, got caught, flipped him the bird, and bolted.
A total stranger… yet, for some inexplicable reason, an oddly familiar aura had brushed past.
“…It’s just… his face felt familiar for some reason.”
“…little bro doesn’t have a face?”
“Argh…! Just let it slide!”
Violet narrowed her eyes.
Adel didn’t just have no face—he wore a mask every day. Saying it felt familiar was contradictory enough, and now she wanted her to let it slide?
“It just felt familiar.”
“Familiar?”
“Yeah. Like… we’d spent years together.”
“Oh, how romantic.”
“……”
“Kidding, kidding.”
Violet decided not to press further.
Karnel had a void inside her.
A lack of family, a lack of affection.
Her frail mother was always bedridden, and her father had never spared her a glance.
For someone raised in that environment to be so drawn to Adel, who gave off a familiar vibe…
Maybe it was inevitable.
Just because he seemed similar, treating him like a long-lost sibling.
Perhaps she was trying to fill that void with Adel.
“No helping it, then….”
“What now?”
“I’m going to tell him right now!”
“Oh… go ahead.”
Sorry, Adel…
But Violet was always on Karnel’s side.
***
“There, enjoy your month off.”
Veronica leaned against the podium in Class S’s classroom, addressing the students.
“I’ll be spinning my wheels hard while you’re gone.”
*As if she’s not just dumping everything on the vice principal anyway. Still, she hogs all the credit.*
No one in the class was fooled, but her boldness in saying it outright was a talent.
“Take care.”
As usual, Veronica vanished without a trace after her usual farewell.
“Phew~ Vacation, vacation~”
Serros stretched as he stood from his seat, then sidled up to me and casually slung an arm over my shoulder.
“Hey, top student. I heard.”
[?]
“You’re heading to the president’s place?”
“Yeah, I heard too.”
Laphia chimed in from the side, raising a hand.
…How do you guys even know that?
And it wasn’t even confirmed yet.
*…Is it confirmed?*
She said I had no say… so yeah… confirmed?
“Man~ How’d you score an invite?”
Serros asked in an excited tone dripping with teasing.
Merchants delivering goods only met at designated spots… but going straight to the Delbar Ducal House? Could it be the president and—!?
“Cut it out, you idiot!”
“Gah…!!”
As usual, Serros took a solid hit from Laphia.
“…Sorry, top seat. This idiot’s got no manners.”
I nodded.
Half a year of brutal lessons had taught me that; no need for apologies.
And as I started walking…
“Adel.”
It was Crown Prince Rufus.
Rufus hesitated for a moment before speaking first.
“For now… let me start with an apology.”
[?]
What’s with this ominous opening?
It was the face people made after committing some grave sin.
“My father… wants to see you sometime.”
[??]
Father.
Meaning… Rufus’s father, the emperor.
“Sorry. I tried my best to block it… but I failed.”
[???]
“‘Bring me the face of the punk who dared steal my son’s top spot.’ That’s what he said.”
The emperor, about me?
Just because I’m top seat?
My vision blurred as Rufus let out a small sigh.
“I’ll… push back the timing as much as I can.”
With that, Rufus left as quickly as possible.
All that remained was the despairing fact that I’d have to face the emperor someday.
“…What’s wrong?”
Lev had approached without me noticing, staring at me intently.
[A lot happened.]
I sighed and held up my whiteboard.
My head just throbbed.
Then, from behind Lev, a shadowy ripple emerged.
【Lev can just~ cheer you up.】
Her jealousy.
It was Lamenta.
“…Be quiet.”
I agreed with Lev.
Lamenta needed to pipe down.
I walked with Lev for a while.
Leaving the classroom and heading down the hall, the air buzzed with vacation excitement.
“…I see.”
[Where are you going, Lev?]
“…The Holy Kingdom.”
[The saintess is busy.]
“…It’s full of stuffy old fogeys spouting trite, pretentious nonsense.”
Lev’s words were unusually rough.
Were the Holy Kingdom’s people that rigid?
Or was it the burdens of being a saintess?
[Must be tough.]
“…Yeah, it is.”
I had no idea what to say to her admitting it was tough.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t skilled at this stuff.
[See you later, Lev.]
“……Yeah.”
And so we parted.
The chance of Lamenta rampaging inside Lev… was probably slim.
Lamenta went berserk the closer she got to a calamity.
But… the Holy Kingdom had no calamities except Lamenta herself.
If that was a silver lining, it was one, but missing Lev for a month felt regrettable.
She’d become my little sanctuary.
“…….”
As Adel walked away… a shadow rippled behind Lev.
【Why? Disappointed?】
“…At what.”
【Not seeing Adel for a month… You’re bummed, right?】
“…No.”
【Your face says otherwise, though?】
“…No.”
Lamenta’s shadow seeped out, hugging Lev tightly from behind.
【Aah… The Holy Kingdom, ugh, so boring.】
“…….”
【You can’t even chat freely there.】
“…You’ve been talking too much lately.”
【I’ll take that as a compliment, just like last time.】
Lamenta’s gaze drifted out the window.
The sunlight’s shadow swallowed Lev’s face.
【Boring… Gonna die of boredom.】
“…….”
【That light and faith crap… It doesn’t even exist, so why force it?】
Lev didn’t respond.
If anything, Lamenta’s anger increasingly mirrored her own feelings, which made it more uncomfortable.
And… Lamenta grinned innocently, hugging Lev even tighter.
【Heehee, so shall we practice what to say to our prince when we meet again in a month?】
“…Prince?”
【Yeah? Mask guy.】
“…….”
Lev turned her head and stepped forward instead of replying.
It was frustrating, like her thoughts were being read without a word.
【Aww… Playing hard to get.】
***
Rustle, rustle.
I rummaged through my dorm room, packing my things.
“What’re you digging for, human?”
The Loach wagged her fins from atop the desk, looking down at me.
I froze with a can in hand and looked up at loach.
[Do I really have to go?]
“What’re you asking me for, human.”
[Who else is here besides you?]
“Oh… true.”
The Loach made an impressed face and chomped her mouth.
“If you don’t wanna go, just don’t.”
[But then I’ll get in trouble again.]
‘Aka Calamity’ granted achievements based on vacation actions.
Visit Charlottes’s home, the Iris Ducal House, and gain +1 Strength.
Go to Laphia’s spirit-renowned family, the Ayrin Marquess House, for a trait boosting spirit affinity.
…But info on Delbar Ducal House achievements? Nothing.
Even in ‘Aka Calamity,’ entering the Delbar Ducal House was taboo.
“So what do you want me to say, human.”
[I guess I have to go?]
Truth was, I had nothing much to pack.
I’d just been killing time agonizing over it.
“Sigh….”
The loach sighed, then hopped down the tank wall.
She slapped the floor with damp fins and landed on the desk.
Poke.
Then she raised a fin pointedly, as if beckoning me closer.
I tilted my head and approached the tank.
“Hyup.”
Suddenly, the loach grabbed my head with his fin and hopped on.
[?]
“No helping it, human. This one will accompany you.”
[Wait, more importantly, is it okay for you to just flop around like that?]
“Not an issue for this one.”
Her curt reply gave a strange vibe, but I lacked the energy to probe.
“Now. Let’s depart.”
The loach patted my head with her fin.
“…….”
Something’s off.
Was I raising the loach, or was the loach raising me…?
The owner and pet roles felt reversed in this weird dynamic.
Carrying that odd sensation, I finally left the dorm.