Sorting Out the Hierarchy (1)
Thud-thud-thud-thud! Aidrin charged forward with such fierce momentum that one could almost hear the imaginary sound effects of her rushing feet.
"Oh my!"
"Whoa there."
Throwing herself between them, she pried Adela away from Sillon. If Aidrin had ears and a tail, they would undoubtedly be standing straight on end right now. She shielded Sillon with her body and glared at Adela.
Adela, whose hands had been wrapped around Sillon's, raised them in a mock gesture of surrender. As a relaxed smile played on her lips, Aidrin's glare grew even sharper.
"Who do you think you are?"
"My, Lady Aidrin. Aren't you being a bit rude? First, you call me by a vulgar name that is hard to even utter, and now you treat me as if I'm your subordinate. And you, a lady of the prestigious Telrn family, no less. Hoho. You must maintain your dignity."
"Dignity my foot. What, 'I'm an aristocrat~ Aren't I so elegant~?' Do you think acting high and mighty makes you dignified? True dignity comes from the grace in a person's words and actions."
"Hoho, and what is wrong with my words and actions? Ah, don't tell me. Lady Aidrin, are you throwing a tantrum just because I held your friend's hand?"
Adela covered her mouth with her smooth, long hand, clad in a white cloth glove, and chuckled softly. "How adorable."
Twitch! Aidrin's face flushed instantly with a mix of emotions. She bared her teeth like a fox preparing to bite, her smile dripping with competitive venom.
"Well, I suppose. For a loose woman with as much experience with men as you, pawing at a guy you just met outside wouldn't be a big deal at all."
Twitch. The elegant, relaxed smile on Adela's face faltered, her expression spasming.
"Whatever do you mean by that? A loose woman with plenty of experience with men? How baffling."
"Why so baffled? Did I hit a nerve?"
"I only wish a unicorn were here right now. If that beautiful, sacred beast ignored you completely and walked straight to me, it would speak volumes."
"Oh, absolutely. It would have charged straight at you. To impale you with its horn."
One was smiling while angry, and the other was angry while smiling. Sparks practically flew where their gazes clashed.
And so, Adela broke the silence with a sweet, elegant smile.
"Are you satisfied now? If your pointless bickering is over, would you mind stepping aside? I have things to discuss with Sillon."
"I doubt Sillon has anything to say to you."
"You're overstepping. Who are you to decide that?"
"Besides, if you have something to say to Sillon, why not say it right here? It's not like you two are close enough to share secrets. Or what, are your vocal cords attached to your hands? Can you not speak without pawing at him like you just did?"
"You are growing increasingly vulgar and crossing the line. I will not tolerate any further disrespect, so I suggest you watch your mouth."
Having cooled her temper, Adela glared at Aidrin, her eyes filled with nothing but icy, razor-sharp coldness.
"Haha, do you really think I'm doing this just because you held his hand?"
Aidrin responded with a pure, mocking sneer, devoid of even a trace of playfulness.
"Before you worry about your noble dignity, try having some basic human decency. You tried to humiliate Sillon in front of everyone back then, so with what face do you show up before him again? How shameless."
"..."
Adela's facial muscles twitched. It was as if maintaining her forced smile was taking everything she had. She barely managed to squeeze out a response.
"As a matter of fact... I was just about to apologize to him for that. You are the one who interrupted."
"Ah~ an apology? Great. Wonderful. But what, how are you going to do it? 'I'm so sorry for looking down on you as a worthless commoner~ I had no idea you'd take first place in the Academy's third entrance exam~' Like that?"
The scathing criticism struck Adela's face like sharp scales. Twitch. Her expression contorted once more.
The elegant noble facade Adela had put up finally crumbled. Her face twisted in embarrassment as she raised her voice.
"W-well, what about you?!"
"What about me?"
"Didn't you disqualify poor Sillon's record during the second exam?"
"Ugh!" Twitch. This time, it was Aidrin's face that spasmed.
"According to Melchen, you were the one who took the lead and most passionately invalidated Sillon's score in your group back then."
That was different! Aidrin wanted to say it proudly. Sillon himself had said that anyone would have done the same back then. That she had only done what had to be done, and that it was ultimately the right thing to do.
"T-That—" But when she tried to say it, the words caught in her throat. Those words only served as an objective truth and warm comfort when they came from Sillon himself. If she said them now, in this situation, it would sound like nothing more than a shameless self-justification.
"I-I still apologized properly—and Sillon accepted my apology...!" Aidrin protested meekly, her momentum completely deflated.
"And that's why I'm trying to apologize now too!"
"You and I are completely different!"
"Ha! What nonsense. How on earth are we different?!"
"You're not trying to apologize because you actually feel sorry! You're only doing it because it bothers you that the guy you looked down on took first place in the third exam!"
Flinch! Adela flinched, her momentum also taking a hit as she weakly retorted.
"W-What's so wrong with that? It's only natural to evaluate people differently based on their abilities! And strictly speaking, isn't it your fault that I looked down on Sillon in the first place?!"
"What?! What kind of ridiculous, forced logic is that?!"
"If you hadn't disqualified Sillon's record in the second exam, those bad rumors wouldn't have spread! And if those rumors hadn't spread, I wouldn't have had a bad impression of him either!"
"W-What?! Because of me?! Don't make me laugh! Don't blame me for your own personality! Plenty of people looked down on Sillon and gossiped about him, but no one tried to humiliate him to his face like you did! I remember it perfectly! You brought your pathetic little clique over, asked Sillon which group he was in, and laughed your head off, saying how glad you were not to be in his group. How can a person be so childish and petty?!"
The two girls locked horns in a fierce battle of words, neither willing to back down even an inch. Standing a few paces away in the absolute best seat in the house, Sillon was utterly captivated by the spectacle.
"...Hm?" Just then, someone tugged on his sleeve. He looked down to see the crown of a head covered in light blue hair. It was Miz, the petite, expressionless swordswoman wearing a black mask over the lower half of her face. She poked her index finger toward the bickering duo.
"Aren't you going to stop them?"
"Stop them? That? Isn't it... a bit of a waste to do that?!"
"A waste? Of what?"
"Where else would I ever get to see such a rare spectacle?"
Oh. Miz let out a soft exclamation of understanding. "As expected of a genius born with a talent for the assassination arts, your way of thinking is truly unique. Is that the kind of mindset one needs to possess the talent of an assassin?"
"Hahaha, I'm joking. Just joking. Actually, I was just thinking I should step in soon. But even if I try, will they actually stop? I feel like I'm standing in front of a raging house fire holding nothing but a paper fan."
"No wonder I smelled burning meat."
"How does it smell?"
"Ominous."
"Dear me."
"Anyway, you should at least try. Aspien aside, do it for our Telrn lady." Miz gestured with her chin for him to look around. Sillon nodded in understanding.
At first, both had maintained their dignity as high-ranking nobles. But as the argument escalated, their voices grew louder. Any semblance of high-class refinement had vanished. There were only two young ladies in their prime, fully locked into 'extremely ticked off' mode.
This was the entrance to the testing grounds, right after the Academy's entrance exam had ended. The area was crawling with exam participants—in other words, nobles. For now, they were only stealing glances as they walked past, but at this rate, the two girls would soon become a prime source of entertainment for every noble in the vicinity. It would surely tarnish their reputations.
"Please pray for my safe return...!"
"If you have any valuables, leave them with me before you go."
Just as Aidrin had thrown herself between them earlier, Sillon now stepped between the two.
"Now, now, ladies. Let's all calm down."
"Ha! Calm down? What do you mean calm down?! I am perfectly calm right now! Though it does look like she needs to calm down!"
"Why don't you listen to some advice for once, Aidrin? From my perspective—as someone who is completely composed right now—you are the one who desperately needs to calm down."
The two, both claiming to be perfectly calm, glared at each other past Sillon.
It hurts. It's hot. Sillon felt as if lasers from both sides were burning a hole straight through his body.
"By the way, Sillon. Whose side are you on? Are you taking her side right now?"
Of course, no matter how hard they glared, Sillon's body wasn't going to actually dissolve to reveal the person on the other side. Ultimately, Aidrin's stray sparks of anger, finding nowhere else to go, redirected themselves toward Sillon. She confronted him, her irritation laced with deep disappointment.
"O-Of course not, Lady Aidrin. I was only worried about you—" Sillon replied, cold sweat dripping down his neck under her fierce momentum. His squinty eyes, which usually made him look like he was smiling at everyone, looked unusually pitiful.
"You were worried about me?" Aidrin focused on his words rather than the surrounding stares she had finally noticed. Ahem. She cleared her throat, her mood visibly improving. "Fine, Sillon. Since you put it that way. For your sake, I'll let it slide this time."
Aidrin looked at Adela with a smug, triumphant expression. To Adela, it felt as if Aidrin's voice was echoing in her head. See that? Know your place. A voice dripping with superiority.
"..." Adela smiled sweetly. Squeeze. A harsh, creaking sound leaked from her clenched fist, straining against the smooth white cloth of her glove.