Academy (7)
For the time being, I spent my time carefully wandering the surroundings. But that prince fellow had no intention of hiding his identity at all, strutting about quite openly. Unlike earlier, he even brought escorts along, keeping commoners from approaching.
And… I thought I understood why the prince had mistaken me for someone named Mia.
At the prince’s side now stood a woman. She was surrounded by several men, and curiously, every one of them had a distinctive hair color.
A red-haired man, a blue-haired man, and even a green-haired man….
Fully four men encircled a single woman, and that woman possessed pink hair very similar to mine.
“So that’s why he mistook us.”
The distance made it hard to be certain, but her build seemed close to mine as well… and her hair color was similar—no, almost identical.
From afar, mistaking us was only natural. Even her attire shared similar points.
It was so plain one would hardly believe she was a woman surrounded by noblemen; she looked nearly like a commoner. Or was she a commoner?
“The blond is the prince, so the other three must be nobles too, right?”
“Yes. Even without seeing their faces, I can tell who two of them are.”
Well, their hair colors were that eye-catching, after all. Brown or blond tones appeared often enough even among commoners. But red, blue, green? Those were rare among commoners. Among them, reddish tones were the most… the most… somewhat visible, I supposed?
“The red-haired one is probably from the Sternberg Marquis family.”
According to his explanation, the marquis served as the kingdom’s Knight Commander, and the entire bloodline consisted of physical types who entered the knight orders and displayed outstanding ability.
“I see.”
The young master explained with enthusiasm, but I remained indifferent. What business would nobles have with me anyway? Unless they were unusual people like the young master standing right in front of me, I had no dealings with them.
“And the blue-haired one seems to be from the Weiss Ducal family.”
Their bloodline was special, he said; all direct descendants had blue hair, and the thicker the blood, the brighter the color or something of the sort.
“Many are born with magical talent, so they oversee the mage corps.”
Both families were major figures in the royalist faction that served the royal house, he added….
“Then what about the green-haired one?”
“I’m not sure myself.”
The nobles he had memorized were only the big shots, he said….
“By the way, that woman is quite something.”
I didn’t know about one of them, but at least the three beside her were the prince, a ducal heir, and a marquis family member.
It meant she was someone who, as a woman, could gather men like that whenever she wished.
But why surround a single woman so closely? Even from a distance one could tell their relationship was far from ordinary, which made it all the more surprising.
“Well, it must be something like youthful folly.”
Being a noble himself, the young master seemed to find something relatable in it.
“Youthful folly?”
“Yes. The higher the nobility, the more they can’t even dream of a love marriage.”
For the sake of bloodlines, for the family’s interests, betrothing and marrying complete strangers was commonplace.
“Men have it better, at least.”
Women sometimes got sold off without even seeing their husband’s face until the day before the wedding, and age differences of over thirty years weren’t unheard of, he said.
“Being a noble isn’t all good, then.”
“Still, men are somewhat better off because of the heir position.”
The young master’s expression grew distant, as if thinking of someone.
The hardships of noble daughters…. The young master had a cute younger sister.
“Are you worried about Miss Amelie?”
“Our parents wouldn’t do such a thing. Still, I do worry.”
What were the odds of a child from a lowly baronial family finding a good match?
“We’ll just have to hope she catches a good man herself.”
One of the reasons young ladies attended the academy, or so they said?
“That’s a bitter story.”
“I apologize.”
What was there to apologize for?
People were gradually preparing for the next play, and the prince’s party had claimed the good seats right in the center of the stage.
Moreover, they kept everyone at a distance under the pretext of security, leaving the front of the plaza empty and desolate.
“People aren’t approaching.”
“With the escorts standing like that, it’s hard to get close.”
They weren’t fully armed, but knights with swords at their sides stood everywhere—who would want to approach? It was far too intimidating for commoners.
The three nobles seemed unbothered, but the pink-haired girl who resembled me kept glancing around nervously.
Perhaps she was just a pitiful girl who had gotten mixed up in this.
“Somehow that girl looks pitiful.”
“Does she?”
“Yes. She’s reading the room even now, isn’t she?”
A noble wouldn’t be fretting over commoners’ gazes.
“Indeed, you’re right.”
“I’d be fretting too if I were stuck in the middle of that.”
“Haha….”
We waited for the play from a slightly distant spot.
“Should we just go somewhere else?”
“Pardon? All of a sudden?”
“Well, I have a bad feeling, somehow….”
I had a sense that the prince and his noble entourage would cause some incident. It was the same sensation I felt whenever I practiced alchemy, which made me even more uneasy.
“I don’t think they’ll just sit quietly.”
The young master glanced at the prince’s party occupying the center of the plaza and nodded.
“Then let’s withdraw.”
It was a shame, but we decided to skip the play and leave.
“Yes.”
“We can watch a play later when we go to the capital.”
He meant the capital, right?
“There are proper theaters and troupes there, so it’ll be more entertaining.”
Hmm… that did sound fun.
“I’ll look forward to it?”
When I said I was looking forward to it, the young master visibly brightened.
“Yes.”
We left the plaza and headed toward the inn, browsing the stalls along the way.
“Miss Julian, a moment.”
Nothing particularly interesting caught my eye, so I was breezing past them when the young master called me to a stop.
“What is it?”
I stopped short and spun around.
“Would you come over here?”
“What for?”
I approached the young master with playful, leisurely steps. He was looking at a certain stall.
“Hm?”
The stall sold accessories.
“Accessories….”
Items that had little connection to me. I wore a bracelet, but that was for prayer….
The young master glanced at me briefly, then examined the stall’s wares with a serious expression.
The accessories had no jewels; many were simple corded pieces, and among them were some with polished stones dangling from them.
Literally cheap goods… things one wouldn’t have given a second glance if not for the festival.
“How about one?”
The young master asked carefully.
“I, I can’t wear bracelets.”
I showed him the bracelet on my left hand as I spoke.
“I see….”
I waited patiently as the young master began pondering again.
“I’ll go with this.”
Having decided, the young master paid right away and showed me the item.
“A necklace?”
“Yes. This seemed the least inconvenient.”
In the middle of a leather cord hung a dark green stone fragment. The surface had been well polished; it was crude but not rough to the touch.
“Will you accept it?”
“Shouldn’t you have asked that before buying it?”
He’d already purchased it—if I refused, he’d just be wasting money, right?
“Th-that’s true….”
“It’s fine. Here.”
I tilted my head up so my neck was clearly visible.
I closed my eyes and waited for him to put it on, but the young master didn’t fasten the necklace right away.
“What are you doing?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Only then did he start putting the necklace around my neck. But his hands were trembling terribly.
“Th-there.”
“Why are you shaking so much?”
I chuckled and looked at the necklace around my neck. It was a cheap leather cord, not even a jewel, just a stone of ambiguous shape and size dangling from it, but… strangely, I was happy.
Was it because this was the first time I’d received a gift?
“Let’s head back.”
Suddenly embarrassed, I couldn’t look the young master in the face. To hide it, I turned the other way and hurried away from the stall with quick steps.
“Yes.”
The young master quietly followed behind.
As we neared the inn, there was a small commotion. A crowd of people came spilling out from the plaza direction, all looking frantic.
“What’s going on?”
I asked a middle-aged man coming from there.
“Hm?”
He seemed not to understand my question.
“You seem to be coming from the plaza. Did something happen?”
“Ah, ah…. If you’re thinking of going to the plaza, better give it up. Some high-strung noble is making a scene.”
From what I heard, the prince’s party had raised a ruckus, complaining that the play’s quality was low. It wasn’t even a professional troupe’s performance—what had they been expecting….
I was one to talk, having expected too much myself…… but it seemed they hadn’t satisfied the discerning eyes of the nobles.
“I see.”
Indeed, not being there had been the right call.
“To think they’d actually cause an incident….”
“Haha….”
The young master couldn’t lift his head, as if ashamed of the nobles’ behavior.
“It’s not like you did it, so why react like that?”
“To other people, we’re all the same nobles.”
Mm, if I hadn’t met the young master, I probably would have thought the same.
“That’s true.”
It was a shame, but we’d just have to head into the inn.
We hadn’t properly enjoyed the festival and had come back to the inn, but my mood wasn’t bad.
“It’s a bit disappointing.”
I wish we’d enjoyed it a bit more properly….
“Today just wasn’t the day, it seems.”
“Well, there’ll be a next time.”
I climbed the stairs nonchalantly, while the young master stood there blankly.
“What are you doing?”
“Next time… next time I’ll escort you properly.”
“Escort, huh….”
I chuckled.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Well, it might not be so bad?
As I entered my room, I absently caressed the necklace.