The Vain Person (2)
"It's a lovely day, my lady."
I tossed the greeting out with a sly lilt, keeping the trembling Legia hidden behind me. Before my eyes stood the villainess with flowing azure hair. I narrowed my eyes in a relaxed, pleasant smile.
"What an honor to see you again like this."
"Hah."
Emilia’s lips twisted. She let out an open sneer.
"To think you’d be shielding a pathetic coward like that… Birds of a feather, I suppose?"
"I’m delighted to hear you say so."
"Which part?"
"If I’m someone who suits Miss Legia, then it is the greatest honor of my life."
"Not the greatest shame?"
"It depends on the person, doesn’t it?"
"Hmm."
Emilia tapped her lips as though the very idea bored her. Her trademark rude smile was on full display. A strange standoff stretched between us. The girl’s blue eyes brimmed with poisonous malice.
"To be in the same class as a man like you. It feels as if my own standards are dropping."
"I, too, am pleased to have you as a classmate, my lady."
"How nauseating."
The girl clicked her tongue. The sound dripped with contempt.
"Top of the year… I’d rather you didn’t delude yourself into thinking that position truly belongs to you."
"I’m afraid I don’t follow."
"At least your shamelessness is admirable."
"Hm?"
"If Her Highness hadn’t suddenly withdrawn… you would never have stood in this place."
She refused to accept the results of the class placement exam. It was the reaction I had expected. The faculty had watched the barrier’s interior through magic tools, but the students had not. To them, it must have looked as though Charlotte had gone easy on me. That was why I was still known as the bubble top student—because I had shown no convincing process. In an academy packed with nothing but prideful geniuses, the response was only natural.
"This is no place for the likes of you."
"To think you would speak so coldly… I had considered you a worthy rival, my lady."
"Oh dear, how unpleasant."
Emilia was the same. She did not acknowledge me. Or, more accurately, she could not acknowledge me.
"If you wish to view me as a rival… shouldn’t you at least possess the skill to match?"
A murderous light flickered in her blue pupils. On the surface it seemed like rage at an unfair outcome, but I knew the true emotion simmering inside the girl.
What she felt was none other than…
inferiority complex.
It was an inferiority complex born from a craving for validation. The sort of people who obsess over others’ gazes. They lose themselves in jealousy, and that feeling inevitably spills out as ugly behavior. Emilia was a textbook example.
"Because of an obstacle like you… I still can’t believe I was pushed down to third place."
The vain person. Vanity is simply the hunger for recognition; when that attention is absent, it becomes an ache that never leaves. In short, a disease carried in the heart.
"My lady."
There was an appropriate way to handle people like this.
"You stand in a truly splendid position already, my lady."
Offer sincere encouragement.
Judging by her foul mouth, I would have loved to slap an illusion spell on her right then, but when I thought about it, she was simply a hurting child. I didn’t wish to be cruel.
"Hehe."
I smiled brightly, feeding her need for validation. In the original story she had been unable to control that thirst and twisted herself beyond repair, but perhaps this time could be different. If I filled the hole inside her—
"Isn’t this truly an absurd situation?"
I don’t understand.
"Pardon?"
"After all… you are in third place, my lady. It doesn’t seem proper for you to lecture the top student."
You’re third place too, my lady. There’s no need to be jealous of first when your own rank is so high.
"What did you just…?!"
Emilia’s reaction was explosive. It seemed praise embarrassed her. But I had no intention of stopping. This was head-patting in name only—a finishing move. I would lift her so high on compliments that she would die of shame.
"It’s perfectly fine. Third place is still a commendable result, is it not? Though I may occupy first."
It’s okay. Third place is still excellent.
"Third place, you say… Pfft, truly a position that can serve as a model for all students."
You are a model student.
"Yet you call me the bubble top student? It makes me laugh."
To see through the fact that I’m the bubble top student. How admirable—it makes me laugh.
"I had high expectations because you are the daughter of the Vanity ducal house… but seeing you, my lady, I now understand the level of the Vanity family."
Seeing such an outstanding lady, I can once again feel the prestige of the Vanity family.
By now the girl’s face had flushed crimson. Her slender shoulders twitched intermittently. Perhaps I had praised her too embarrassingly. Other students were listening, so the humiliation must have been unbearable.
"Hic."
For some reason Legia, still behind me, began to hiccup. She stared at me with a deathly pale face. Had something gone wrong?
"How dare… How dare a lowly snake like you speak that way to me, the daughter of Vanity…!"
"I merely spoke the truth."
"Don’t make me laugh! Did you think I would let such an insult pass?!"
"Insult? It was the highest praise I could possibly offer you, my lady."
"Don’t make me laugh!!"
The villainess, shaking with rage, glared at me with wide eyes. My lavish shower of compliments seemed to have shattered her. Her mouth twitched so violently she must have been laughing on the inside. I watched her with a contented expression until her furious voice rang out again.
"We’ll see how long that arrogant attitude lasts!"
"Oh my~ You’ll watch over me? If you approach me so eagerly, I’ll grow shy."
"Hah."
When I smiled awkwardly, the villainess’s gaze turned ice-cold.
"You’d better be careful. Before I really crush you."
"How terrifying."
"You’ll die, you know."
Die, huh. I was rather skilled at killing people myself……
"I look forward to it."
"I hope you do. So everyone can witness your pathetic state."
Emilia spat the words coldly and turned on her heel. The girl led her followers away.
Was I too humiliating? Her reaction is quite sharp.
I thought while watching the retreating bun-haired figure. As I tilted my head, I suddenly felt countless stares boring into me.
"Hm?"
""……""
The students were all wide-eyed like startled rabbits, holding their breath in pure astonishment. Even Legia wore a similar expression.
"Why is everyone reacting this way…?"
Had I done something wrong?
"Why is everyone reacting this way…?"
The boy posed the question with perfect nonchalance, as if the murderous atmosphere from moments ago had been nothing but a lie. His trademark shamelessness was on full display.
"……"
Legia stared blankly at the boy. Watching those sly, smiling eyes slowly melted the tension that had frozen her heart. The breath she had been holding leaked out. Cold sweat that had beaded on her forehead dripped to the floor.
—What a fitting pair.
—One is the bubble top student… and the other is an outsider who doesn’t know her place.
When Lady Vanity had suddenly spoken to her, Legia had felt her entire body freeze. Her mind went blank. Only violent trembling remained in her fingertips. It was a kind of conditioned terror.
—You need to understand your station.
—This is a place for those who are qualified… Not somewhere a mere commoner should dare to look upon.
It had happened only a few days ago. The class placement exam where she had been utterly defeated. Remembering it made her shoulders hunch instinctively.
—Leave, outsider.
Those cold blue eyes. The softly whispered voice that trampled her heart. Every scene remained painfully vivid.
That was why Legia could not help but be afraid. When those contempt-filled eyes fixed on her, her breath grew shallow. Her heart pounded as if it would burst. Just before she suffocated under the pressure, the one who saved her was…
—Shh.
Once again, it had been the boy with the narrowed eyes. He hid the panicking Legia behind his back and faced Lady Vanity alone.
—It’s a lovely day, my lady.
The Snakers family was a prestigious house with long history and tradition. There was no doubt it ranked among the empire’s finest, yet even they became nothing but dust before a ducal house. Such was the limit decided by birth. Normally, one would not even dare meet their eyes. Yet Yuda Snakers had stepped forward willingly. He endured the noblewoman’s malicious provocations and even engaged in a fierce battle of nerves.
—You’d better be careful. Before I really crush you.
—How terrifying.
—You’ll die, you know.
—I look forward to it.
It was not a beneficial action. His opponent was the eldest daughter of one of the empire’s greatest families. Standing out would bring no good. Nevertheless, the boy continued to shield Legia.
Just why?
The question rose unbidden. In truth, this was not the first time. The same doubt surfaced every moment she spent with the boy.
Why does he go this far for me?
It had been that way from their first meeting. His attitude had been inexplicably kind. The boy always took care of her. Especially on that rainy day a few days ago—he had even come looking for her with an umbrella. The words he spoke then still rang clearly in her ears.
—How are you, Miss Legia?
—Would you permit me to draw closer?
He was an incomprehensible person. She wanted to ask. What was he hoping to gain? Why was he so good to someone as weak and worthless as her?
"Miss Legia?"
"……Ah, yes, my lord."
While she was lost in complicated thoughts, the boy tapped her shoulder. He smiled gently.
"We’ve been delayed a little… Shall we head back now?"
"Y-yes…!"
Legia nodded hurriedly, snapping back to her senses. She turned her steps toward the carriage stop once more. The moment she moved, something softly stroked her head.
"Eep… M-my lord?"
It was Yuda Snakers. He wore his usual mischievous smile.
"There’s no need to be afraid."
"Pardon…?"
"I mean Lady Vanity. You’ve been worrying since earlier, haven’t you?"
"Ah."
Had it shown so clearly? Legia quickly smoothed her stiffened expression. Heat rose in her cheeks. Then his voice continued.
"If anything happens, I will protect you. So please don’t worry too much."
"……"
"We’re friends, after all."
Pat, pat. The hand that stroked her carried an especially warm gentleness. Her head moved along with the touch. An unknown tickling sensation lingered in her chest. Was it because of the embarrassing word “friends”?
"……Thank you."
Legia quietly averted her gaze.
He really is an incomprehensible person.
She muttered inwardly, organizing her tangled thoughts as she walked toward the stop.
Meanwhile, in an alley near the dormitory building, a girl was venting her fury on an innocent wall.
Thud!
Her fist slammed hard into the solid surface. A dull pain followed the heavy impact. Yet it wasn’t enough to ease her rage. The blue-haired girl struck the wall several more times.
Bang. Crack!
"How dare…! That bubble top student bastard!"
Her eyes burned with murderous light. The back of her hand had already split open and was bleeding, but the girl only ground her teeth harder.
"A lowly snake like him! To dare speak that way to me, of noble Vanity blood…!"
That detestable smiling mask flickered in her mind. She chewed on the mocking words still ringing in her ears. Her pupils glittered with pure hatred.
—Third place, you say… Pfft, truly a position that can serve as a model for all students.
—I had high expectations because you are the daughter of the Vanity ducal house… but seeing you, my lady, I now understand the level of the Vanity family.
Grind.
Her teeth scraped together. Yuda Snakers. The boy she had dismissed as the bubble top student. The insulting remarks from someone she had looked down on pierced deeper than any dagger.
She recalled his face.
—I look forward to it.
The boy had smiled ominously. She wanted to rip that smug face apart right then and there.
"You may be acting high and mighty now… but let’s see how long it lasts."
Killing intent threaded through her murmur. The girl had no intention of letting the situation stand. She would correct it without fail. She would drag him to the bottom.
"A duel… I wonder if a hollow husk like him can even accept the challenge."
Muttering poisonous sarcasm, the girl strode away.