Grace (4)
"Hah, haa…"
This was a spur-of-the-moment act on Kallen's part that Judith had heard absolutely nothing about beforehand.
Nothing like this had been part of their plan together.
Caught off guard by the sudden caress, her face flushed crimson with shame.
Though she pushed weakly at him with her hands, the body pressed tight against Kallen didn't budge an inch.
"Ah, ngh…"
"Sorry, but Judith and I have already gone all the way, you see."
Whether the Count listened or not, Kallen simply went on kneading Judith's thigh with perfect composure.
"So hands off my woman and get lost, would you?"
"Th-that's a lie!! You scoundrel! Daring to defile someone of my standing—"
"If you'd like, I could prove our relationship in more detail? Let's see… hmm…"
Utterly indifferent to the sputtering Count's pointing finger, Kallen lapsed into thought.
"Ah, you may not know this."
A crooked grin spread across his face, as if he'd just remembered something.
"Judith is weak on the inner thigh. One little press and she melts on the spot."
"…Hik."
Unable to endure any more, Judith buried her head straight into Kallen's chest.
Her reaction was the very proof of what he'd just said.
Watching the whole scene unfold, Count Hatz clutched the back of his neck.
"Ugh, urgh…"
"Well, it's not like I mind leaving the choice up to Judith herself…"
Then Kallen, still bobbing his head, glanced down at the woman nestled in his arms and asked:
"So, Judith?"
"Y-yes…?"
"Me? Or that old pig? Which one are you choosing?"
"Ah…"
At Kallen's words, Judith looked back and forth between the two men with somewhat dazed eyes.
It took her not even a moment to finish deliberating.
"…Ngh."
The instant her eyes met the Count's, Judith gave a violent shudder and burrowed deeper into Kallen's chest, as if seeking refuge in his arms.
Watching this, Kallen smiled with satisfaction and nodded.
"Looks like the decision's been made."
"H-how dare you…"
"Come now, why not give up already instead of clinging like that? Clingy men aren't the least bit attractive, you know?"
"…I will never, ever forget today's humiliation."
Rising to his feet, Count Hatz spoke in a voice that broke and cracked.
"I will file a formal protest with Vitelles! Never in my life have I endured such an insult…!"
The old man muttered to himself as he stomped out of the empty salon in furious strides.
"Pfft-hah!"
Watching him go, Kallen burst out laughing.
Seeing someone reach for greedy gains only to come away empty-handed was always a pleasure.
"So? Are you satisfied now? That was quite a performance—"
Just as Kallen turned his head toward Judith—
Judith, seated astride his knee, was now glaring at him murderously, tears welling in her eyes.
She stammered, barely managing to open her mouth.
"…Y-you shameless— hik."
"…"
Only then did Kallen realize his hand had been continuously stroking Judith's thigh the entire time.
"…Ahem."
Averting his gaze with a cough, Kallen quietly lifted her up and set her back down on the seat beside him.
"Hah, wow. That's nicer to the touch than I expected. Maybe it's because it's so plump and soft… I couldn't help myself…"
"D-do you have any idea what kind of person I am…?"
Judith merely kept glaring at Kallen with flustered eyes.
"I'm not some tavern wench… How dare you treat the apple of House Vitelles's eye like that… It's a stain that no death could wash away…"
"Enough with the 'stain' talk. Hey, does touching you a little wear you down? What kind of nonsense is—"
At Kallen's exasperated words, Judith made a face like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.
Sensing his mistake, Kallen quickly changed his tone to soothe her.
"Look, I had to put on that much of a show or the Count wouldn't have given up. Old men's obsessions are a terrifying thing."
"E-even so… that spot… touching it without asking…!"
Judith pressed her complaint in a tone where the sense of injustice hadn't faded at all.
"B-because of you, I won't be able to show my face anywhere…! If word spreads around Elysion that I'm some lecherous woman—!"
"What are you talking about? There's no chance of a rumor spreading."
However, Kallen simply shook his head as if the idea were absurd.
"Unless that man wants to die, he's not going to go around blabbing about today, is he?"
A knowing, sly smile crept across Kallen's face.
"What do you mean… ah."
The bewildered Judith let out a small gasp as the meaning finally dawned on her.
This was, ironically, thanks to the vast gulf in standing between the two families.
If the Count tried to spread word of what had just happened, there was a high chance it would escalate beyond a personal slight against Judith into an outright feud between houses.
And a humble provincial noble who scraped by at the boots of one of the empire's premier ducal houses would never shoulder such a risk willingly.
"At most, he'll run crying to your dear brother and whine about it. Is Lord Dorian still in Caliburn?"
"…Presumably."
Judith nodded, worry still plain on her face.
"Well then, he'll come charging over in a huff any minute now."
Kallen downed his teacup in one gulp and flopped back in his chair.
"Let's take a breather and wait."
"…"
Despite having committed such a colossal blunder, Kallen remained perfectly nonchalant.
At the sight of him, Judith found herself at a loss for words.
At the same time, she felt strangely, utterly perplexed.
She'd had no real choice, of course—but until just moments ago, her plight of being toyed with at this frivolous man's whim had felt utterly wretched to her.
And yet now even his flippancy somehow seemed dependable to her. It truly made no sense.
It was all the more bizarre when she considered that this was the very man who, moments ago, had been shamelessly toying with her body.
Bang! The salon door burst open before long.
Storming in was Dorian Vitelles, his face flushed beet-red with rage.
"You… you utterly shameless wretch…!!"
The moment he spotted Judith seated there, he came striding over in a fury.
"Defying the acting Head of House's decision, are you!!"
At Dorian's thunderous outburst, Judith merely hunched her shoulders.
"Do you have any idea how much damage the family just suffered to bury this scandal!! You dare, you little—"
"B-brother…! It's not what you—!"
"Silence! I will hold you accountable for today, I swear I'll—?!"
Dorian stepped forward and raised his hand to strike Judith squarely across the cheek.
Judith squeezed her eyes shut—but for some reason, the pain she braced for never came.
Then, cracking one eye open to peek, she snapped them wide open in shock.
"Y-you…!"
Dorian's outstretched arm was caught fast in someone's iron grip, unable to move so much as an inch.
"I'd advise you to refrain from striking students."
Kallen, who had intercepted Dorian before anyone noticed, said with a sly grin.
"Carelessness could land you in the Caliburn dungeons, you see."
"Hah, so it was you who orchestrated this ridiculous farce, I take it."
Dorian's voice was ice-cold, every trace of past courtesy gone.
Gritting his teeth as he glared at Kallen, he said with barely contained mockery:
"Tell me. Did that woman sway you with her serpent's tongue? Or did she offer up that filthy body to seduce you, hmm?"
"How rude of you. I'll simply say I couldn't stand by and watch a poor student suffer."
"What a joke. Let go of me!"
Finally freed from Kallen's grip, Dorian shook out his numb arm.
Then he turned to Judith with a sneer.
"Congratulations, Judith. You've found yourself a splendid professor, haven't you? Hmm? A man perfectly suited to your level."
"Ngh…"
Judith hung her head low, unable to even meet his eyes.
"Tch."
Clicking his tongue, Dorian shot Kallen a venomous look.
Handing a great house's legitimate daughter off to a backwater noble of far inferior rank had been a gamble from the start.
His plan to resolve the matter swiftly, before scandal could spread, had already turned to foam.
Worse still, as an Elysion professor, the man could latch onto Vitelles's coattails and drag them through endless aggravation for as long as he pleased.
He had no cards left to play.
"I will remember what happened today—for a very long time."
In the end, Dorian spat out a single line and whirled around.
Then, stopping dead in his tracks, he spoke without even looking back.
"One final piece of advice. Don't set your heart on that thing. It never deserved that honor to begin with."
Without waiting for a reply, Dorian wrenched the door open roughly and strode out of the salon.
"Calling his own sister a thing… ugh."
Kallen scowled and made a rude gesture at Dorian's retreating back.
Then he let out a soft snort of laughter.
Looking back at Judith, he spoke with forced cheer.
"Well, anyway… seems like things worked out pretty well, huh?"
"…Yes."
Judith gave a small nod.
Despite her forced smile, a heavy shadow still lingered on her face.
Two days after the incident.
Judith knocked on the door of the office where Kallen sat.
"Thank you… truly, for what you did the other day."
Judith bowed deeply to Kallen, her movements the picture of elegant etiquette.
She had continued her life at Elysion as if nothing had happened.
The withdrawal letter had never even been delivered to her homeroom professor, Ziya.
Not even her closest classmates knew that she had so nearly been forced into marriage.
Just as Kallen had said, it had truly been resolved as though nothing had ever occurred.
"In the name of House Vitelles… I will never forget this debt."
As she offered her greeting once more, no trace of the shadow from that day remained on Judith's face.
"Uh, yeah, yeah."
And Kallen, treating it as nothing of consequence, replied indifferently without even looking her way.
What held his attention at the moment was the mountain of dreadful professorial work piled up before his eyes.
Having been postponed again and again until they could be put off no longer, those tasks were subjecting Kallen to a horrific hell of their own making.
Somehow fired up by his apathetic attitude, Judith spoke up in a huffy voice.
"A-and… please don't get the wrong idea."
"Wrong idea?"
"What I did the other day, playing along with you, was nothing but acting. What I mean is, I will never… become your woman."
"…"
Kallen merely listened to her entire speech with an expression of open alarm.
"For someone to match my standing, they'd have to be imperial royalty or one of the three Great Ducal houses, you know? Besides, I intend to marry the man I love."
"…"
"A sickly, irresponsible commoner professor doesn't stand a chance. It means you're a tree too high to climb. Sorry, but—"
"Yeesh, fine, I got it, I got it."
Kallen waved his hands dismissively, as if he could bear no more.
"I'll never lay a hand on you. Happy now? Satisfied?"
"…"
Judith had spent the entire time agonizing over the dreadful possibility that Kallen might actually be serious about her.
Yet having received exactly the answer she wanted, for some reason Judith found herself pouting harder than ever.
Pointless contests of pride only exposed her pettiness all the more.
In the end, Judith let out a deep sigh.
"Even so…"
Then, fidgeting with her fingers the whole while, she murmured as if to herself in an embarrassed voice:
"The other day… you were… kind of cool…"
"…"
Watching her, Kallen's gaze was now clouded with an indescribably complicated mix of feelings.
Before long, he spoke up and asked quietly:
"Any trouble from your family since then?"
"No. I think my brother has come around."
A warm flush of a smile spread across Judith's face.
"I think… things should be fine for a while."
"Well, that's good to hear. In case you were wondering—"
"Um… may I ask you just one thing?"
Judith cut in abruptly.
After a moment's hesitation, she averted her eyes from Kallen and spoke.
"Why… did you suddenly decide to help me?"
"Hm?"
"W-well… I've been… to you all this time…"
Judging by her shrinking voice, she was at least aware of how she'd behaved.
"Don't get the wrong idea."
"Ngh…!"
With a soft chuckle, Kallen gave the head of the Judith standing before his desk a light knuckle-rap by way of reply.
"It's not that I helped you because you're pretty. I just wanted to shove a fist up that joyless pig's rear, that's all."
"For all your talk… I'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from insulting my brother."
"Yeah, yeah."
Even at Judith's sharp glare, Kallen only nodded along lazily.
"Anyway, keep a low profile for a while. And stop bullying Garnet, too."
"You mean Forts…"
"You know exactly what she's been through—do you really have to torment her like that? Look, I can understand the feelings of kids who lost family, I'm not saying I can't…"
Judith's expression turned noticeably cold.
For some reason, the sight of Kallen concerning himself with that Garnet Forts more than with her felt excessively stuck in her throat.
She couldn't even explain the feeling herself, which only made it more frustrating.
"…My position hasn't changed."
After a brief silence, Judith spoke with her head slightly bowed.
"She is, after all, kin to the traitor who betrayed humanity. Every time I see Forts at Elysion, my friends can't help but remember the grief of losing their families to her father. For their sake, I have no choice but to take someone's side."
"Yeesh, you little—"
Just as Kallen shook his head in exasperation—
Judith, after a moment's pause, opened her mouth hesitantly.
"If that's what you want… I'll try to change my way of thinking. A little."
"…"
And Kallen's eyes went wide.
He stared at her blankly for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"Pfft-hahaha…"
"Wh-what's so funny?! I was being perfectly sincere, and now you—"
"No, no."
Kallen shook his head and stopped Judith, who was about to snap at him, her face scrunched in indignation.
"It's just… I guess people really can change."
Then he looked at her and nodded approvingly.
"Well, that alone is more than enough for now. Thanks."
"…Hmph."
Judith merely pouted sullenly, as if something still didn't sit right with her.
"…"
Though she'd said everything she'd come to say, Judith continued to hover, watching Kallen's face as if she still had unfinished business.
After several rounds of deep breathing, Judith steeled herself as if making a momentous decision, widened her eyes, and asked Kallen:
"Also… how did you know about that?"
"About what?"
"…Are you playing innocent right now?"
At Kallen's utterly bewildered face, her voice sharpened once more.
"What are you on about?"
"…That thing. Back then."
"Back then, what…"
"Ngh… you really are…"
Judith's face, biting back a groan, had flushed red with shame for some reason.
Shooting Kallen a resentful glare, she hung her head low once again.
Then she murmured to herself, her voice fading quieter and quieter.
"M-my weakness… my inner thighs… How on earth did you know about that?"
"Oh."
And only then did Kallen let out a small gasp, as if something had finally clicked.
With tears brimming in her eyes, Judith fired back even more sharply, as if trying to reclaim her dignity.
"How did you find that out? I've never once told even my closest friends about it…!"
"…"
"D-don't tell me you snuck into my dorm while I was sleeping and did something… If you really did, no matter who you are, I could never forgive you. If you come clean right now and confess everything—"
"Hmm…"
Kallen simply watched Judith's flustered rambling as if it were some delightful spectacle.
Then, when the corners of his mouth suddenly curled upward, Judith almost shrieked—
"Wh-what is it?! I'm being serious right now…! Hii—!"
Kallen shot to his feet and roughly pinned Judith against the wall in a single motion.
He studied her face, which came up to his chest, with eyes full of keen interest.
Then, leaning his face in close, he whispered right at Judith's ear.
"Want me to tell you? How I found out."
"H-haa…"
All of that earlier ferocity had vanished without a trace.
Judith's eyes, unable to fix on anything, simply rolled about helplessly.
With the man's body so close she could feel it against her skin, her reason had long since stopped functioning.
Wh-what do I do… don't tell me… he really did…
Tears pricking at her eyes, Judith squeezed her thighs together.
No matter how she steeled herself, before this overwhelmingly close presence her body simply lost its strength and sagged.
And then Kallen, who had been eyeing Judith as if ready to devour her whole, suddenly burst out laughing.
"Are you an idiot? If every woman's inner thighs were that weak, nobody would ever get anything done."
"…What?"
Judith could only let out a strangled, dumbfounded sound.