Chapter 89: Graduation (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 89: Graduation (2)
Bellian made a total of three mistakes.
The first was asking Violet to deliver a letter to Daisy.
Of course, strictly speaking, Bellian’s choice wasn't inherently wrong. Daisy was currently the talk of the town, drawing the attention of every student in the Academy and even those outside of it. Asking her relatively inconspicuous friend to quietly hand over a letter seemed like a brilliant move.
The problem was that the friend in question was Violet.
If she had been an ordinary person, she would have asked Bellian at least once.
“By the way, what kind of letter is this?”
Had she asked, Bellian would have explained the origins of the letter, starting with the traditions of the Flower Arrangement Club, to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings.
‘Ah, so it’s that, then?’
However, Violet, who already knew the ‘original work,’ knew all too well what a letter at this timing signified. Consequently, she didn't harbor a single shred of doubt. She accepted the letter as if it were the most natural thing in the world and handed it to Daisy.
Even up to this point, it wasn't a major issue.
The real problem was this:
“Daisy? What’s this?”
“Senior Bellian told me to give it to you.”
Violet failed to realize that what she took for granted wasn't necessarily common knowledge to others.
And this was also Bellian’s second mistake.
Things that are obvious to one person are often not obvious to another. This was exactly such a case.
When he first joined the Flower Arrangement Club, it was a club with a decent number of members. It barely exceeded ten people, but there was a steady line of seniors and juniors. However, the situation changed with the appearance of a certain genius president in the Swordsmanship Club around the same time.
Usually, only students from the Swordsmanship Department joined the Swordsmanship Club, and only those from the Magic Department joined the Magic Club. But since Swordsmanship students weren't strictly forbidden from choosing other clubs, these two were the largest in the Academy, typically maintaining similar numbers each year.
But then...
“Well, there’s no harm in coming just for your health or to learn self-defense, right?”
With the goal of teaching ‘swordsmanship for everyone,’ the Swordsmanship Club president actively recruited students from the Magic and General Departments. As a result, an unexpectedly large number of General Department students began joining the Swordsmanship Club. Naturally, the small-scale clubs that had barely survived on the influx of General Department students were forced toward disbandment.
The Flower Arrangement Club was no exception. There had been no new members since Bellian, and Bellian himself thought the club would be disbanded after he left. In other words, the Flower Arrangement Club lacked a ‘middle generation’ to bridge the gap.
Furthermore, due to the walls of social status, Bellian rarely spoke of it himself. There was no way the current generation could know about the history, traditions, or rules of the Flower Arrangement Club.
“Uh, huh?”
Naturally, Daisy couldn't help but be flustered. She didn't think it was that, but there was always the possibility.
‘C-could it be?’
This wasn't purely Daisy’s vanity. It was practically her fate as a RoFan heroine to be constantly showered with affection. The Imperial Prince, royalty from famous nations, and men from renowned noble families—it wasn't just the members of the Flower Arrangement Club, the so-called RoFan male leads.
Aside from the male leads themselves, everyone else knew she was catching their eyes. Ever since she became the Saintess, many men had approached her aiming for her status, but some had approached her with genuine affection. Even though she had put forward a fake lover, there were still those who expressed their feelings.
Knowing that the relationship was fake, it wouldn't be strange for Bellian to confess his feelings now.
‘...It was there! In the original! The scene where he confesses the feelings he hid until right before graduation!’
Of course, this was also largely due to the influence of Violet’s "early education." Daisy had no choice but to steel herself. She had been rejected by Adam frequently lately, but she was originally a very popular person!
“……”
“……”
However, the moment she faced Bellian, Daisy realized something.
‘It’s not!’
Daisy, the RoFan heroine who had developed a keen sense thanks to Violet’s tutoring, could tell by the way Bellian was breaking out in a cold sweat that this was absolutely not a confession. One might mistake his behavior for being conscious of the surrounding eyes, but Daisy’s intuition told her otherwise.
But even if Daisy realized it, there was nothing she could do.
This led to Bellian’s final and greatest mistake—something that was essentially a "forced fail" by the world itself.
“Senior Bellian!”
“President!”
“To think the President would do this…”
“…I can’t believe he beat us to the punch.”
It was the fact that he didn't realize the genre of this world was RoFan.
“…What?”
I heard the truth from a bewildered Boradori.
This damn RoFan world even handles electing the next club president in such a shitty way.
“No, what kind of club calls out the next president with a letter?”
“T-that’s the romance of it!”
Violet explained the "romance" of the Flower Arrangement Club with a look of utter injustice.
“The former president honestly confesses their experiences and feelings in the club to the next president and asks them to take care of the club! It’s like… how do I put it? Right! Like in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms! That thing Zhuge Liang wrote before going on the Northern Expedition!”
“The Declaration of Intent?”
“Yeah! That! They say every loyal subject has to read it at least once! This is something similar!”
Just how well did the original author write for Violet, who had been blinded by rage at the end, to get this excited?
“Was the atmosphere like this in the original work too?”
“…Of course not.”
Our President is so timid.
Watching Boradori mutter that, I looked at the Narrow-Eyed Senior, who was sweating profusely in the center of a crowd that easily numbered over a hundred.
“Ah, that’s a bit much.”
He looked incredibly tense, even from a distance. It was to the point where his characteristic "mastermind aura" had visibly vanished. They say life is a tragedy when seen in close-up but a comedy in long-shot, but this looked like a tragedy even from afar.
“Ah.”
Who was it that said there could be a basement beneath the floor? The tragedy that had befallen Bellian was exactly like that.
“Ugh.”
Our RoFan male leads, who were an embarrassment no matter where you put them. The problem was that Prince Ellen was included among them.
“I can’t watch this.”
Prince Esid was fuming, thinking Bellian was confessing to Daisy. Gerard was staring coldly in silence. Asran looked full of betrayal, and Prince Ellen looked like he was about to cry.
“S-should we stop them?”
The pressure from the RoFan male leads was one thing, but the murmuring of the crowd was growing louder. It was a moment where even the formidable Boradori worried for Bellian.
“Daisy!”
Surprisingly, our mastermind Narrow-Eyed President attempted a frontal breakthrough.
“Oh my!”
A sharp gasp erupted. It was a loud sound, but it felt strangely familiar. When I turned my head...
“……”
Senior Loreliya and the Fire Spammer were hiding and watching.
“President!”
“No!”
Just as I was wondering if a Duke’s daughter should be doing that, the RoFan male lead squad, convinced Bellian was about to confess, tried to intervene.
“Please become the President of the Flower Arrangement Club!”
“……”
“……”
“……?”
The "confession" that landed first left everyone frozen in place.
All the students who had gathered to watch the public confession dispersed. A few people thought the Narrow-Eyed President had just blurted out nonsense because he couldn't handle the pressure, but once Daisy took out the letter and read its contents, the misunderstanding was completely resolved.
“I knew it would be something like that.”
Prince Esid, the representative of the embarrassing RoFan male lead squad, nodded nonchalantly. Of course, he was only nonchalant on the outside; both his earlobes were bright red.
“Then why did you say he couldn't do it…?”
When Daisy muttered that with narrowed eyes, Esid cleared his throat and let out an excuse.
“I… I just thought I should be the President.”
Thinking it was a decent excuse, Esid’s expression brightened slightly.
“……”
Daisy, however, was not impressed. She seemed to have preferred it if they had just confessed right then and there. That way, she could have rejected them cleanly. Was it Daisy’s characteristic confidence that made her think she could handle the awkward relationship afterward?
“Well. Um. Right.”
But if the other side didn't confess first, there was nothing Daisy could do. Even if she said, "You guys like me, don't you?" they would just deny it anyway. It would only delay the timing of the actual confession, which would be a loss for Daisy, so she had to endure it.
“So, Daisy is the President now? President starting from the second year. You’re a total power player.”
“Of course. You better stay on my good side from now on!”
As the awkward atmosphere threatened to linger, Violet, perhaps feeling a twinge of guilt for escalating the situation, linked arms with Daisy and brightened the mood with an unusually cheerful voice.
“Hmm.”
Since things seemed mostly settled, I decided to focus on the person in front of me.
“So. Why are you here?”
“My rival Daisy was supposedly getting a confession. How could I not come to watch?”
“Who’s your rival?”
“Well, since we share the same man as a lover…”
“Would you like to stop?”
When I asked her to stop with a smile, she immediately complied.
“It seems I’m still losing. To be discarded so quickly…”
“Senior…”
She covered her mouth with her hand and made sobbing sounds. The Fire Spammer next to her began to comfort Senior Loreliya while looking at me as if I were trash.
“…Senior, would you mind moving your hand?”
I was certain. Under that hand covering her mouth, Senior Loreliya was definitely smirking. Boradori had said she had a good personality... but apparently, her character was a different story.
“Stop joking around.”
“Joking?!”
I looked at the Fire Spammer, who seemed to have thought it was real, with cold eyes before turning back to Senior Loreliya.
“To have your lover right beside you and yet keep your eyes on another woman. Don't you think that’s too much?”
“No, I don't.”
“Right. That’s the kind of person you are. That’s probably why… even after returning to the Academy after several months, you didn't visit me once.”
“……”
I was starting to get a certain feeling. Senior Loreliya was surprisingly playful and often attempted frontal breakthroughs when she deemed it necessary, but...
“What is it you actually want?”
This felt less like a joke and more like she was laying the groundwork for something.
“……”
Perhaps because I hit the nail on the head, Senior Loreliya’s eyes widened for a moment before she looked away. After clearing her throat a few times, she spoke in an unusually cautious manner.
“D-do you have plans for this winter?”
“No, I don't.”
I was returning to the Kingdom to avoid getting swept up in unnecessary trouble, not because I had anything specific to do.
“Really?”
But she must have misunderstood. Senior Loreliya smiled brightly at my answer and said, “Then, this vacation, to the Jeyka Territory…”
“I’m going home.”
“Right. Go… huh?”
Senior Loreliya froze mid-sentence. She just blinked, tilting her head awkwardly as if her neck were making creaking sounds.
“Home is the best place to be during vacation.”
I gave her one more confirmation kill.