A Party of One
“Yes!”
“Ah, so if we modify the activation sequence of this Class-One explosive formula like this…”
I propped my chin in my hand and sat through today’s magic lecture. Ordinarily I would have found the material interesting, but today my focus refused to settle. Yesterday someone I never wanted to see had tracked me all the way to my dorm—a thoroughly unpleasant business. An apology, of all things.
“Ha!”
Now? After everything?
The whole act was so absurd I almost laughed. After piling insults on me and throwing me out of the party, only once my words were proven true did she decide she wanted to apologize. I had no desire to accept that kind of apology. Even if I did, she would simply go back to ignoring me and shoving me aside for the crime of being a Wallenstein. That was exactly what she had done before. The betrayal of believing we were close, only for her attitude to reverse overnight—I never wanted to feel that again.
“All right, that will be all for today. No homework, but read ahead through page 187.”
While I was lost in those thoughts the class ended. Looking around, I saw everyone pairing off and drifting out of the classroom. Only then did I realize it was lunchtime; I had spent the entire morning elsewhere in my head. I trudged out into the corridor.
Eating alone always felt lonely and vaguely humiliating. Still, I, Louis Wallenstein, refused to bow to mere loneliness. The humiliation was a separate matter. Honestly, solo meals were better than sharing a table with someone as burdensome as the person from the day before yesterday. A princess—what possible business could she have with me?
I made my unhurried way toward the student cafeteria. Expelled from the party, I no longer had anyone in my class who would willingly keep me company. Only Aine still seemed to orbit nearby, yet she never spoke to me, and I never spoke to her. If she had something to say, she ought to get on with it. For all my vows not to care about them anymore, I kept turning those thoughts over as I collected today’s meal and sat down.
Once again I was alone.
And once again a shadow fell across me.
“May I sit across from you?”
“No.”
“Mm. Thank you.”
Oh fuck, that came out wrong. Yet the princess sat down opposite me as if nothing at all were amiss. Only after she had settled and picked up her utensils did she seem to register that my answer had been a little strange. She tilted her head and stared at me; I pretended not to notice and shoveled food into my mouth.
Perhaps the princess simply hated watching me eat in peace. The last time, because of her, I had been forced to abandon a half-finished tray, swallowing tears as I threw it away, then return to the dormitory clutching a growling stomach. And now she was interrupting my meal again! This was tyranny. Clearly she could not stand the sight of a traitor Wallenstein dining comfortably. I had no intention of yielding, so I packed the food in as fast as I could. Today I would finish every last bite and get out of here.
As if she had read my mind, the cruel princess chose that moment to speak.
“…You must have been hungry. May we talk for a moment while you eat?”
A few extra lines added to the same repertoire as last time. I looked at her with pure distrust. Whether yesterday or today, I had several good reasons for wanting to escape her.
First and foremost: I was a Wallenstein. Someone from a house that had raised rebellion against the imperial family—of course a princess would despise me. In the original game she had been a decent person, so there was a chance she would not judge me by my bloodline… but Felice had also been “a good person” in the game, and she had still snubbed me completely for being a Wallenstein. I kept that fact firmly in mind. The odds were high that she hated me, and if someone like that was approaching me, it was unlikely to be for anything pleasant.
Second, the princess and I had almost no points of contact. The only one I could think of was the application I had submitted last time. Surely she had not gone so far as to approve the expulsion request I filed? More likely she intended to scold me for treating student-council business like a joke.
And finally, simply being seen talking together in public was a bad idea. She was a second-year, student-council president, and a princess. I was a first-year from the traitorous Wallenstein house. The two of us sharing a meal and conversation in the cafeteria? Rumors would flood the academy. And since the other party was a princess, the one who got dragged through the mud would inevitably be me. How did I know? Because I had already lived through enough of it.
Reasons to avoid conversation with her were piled high, yet I could not simply ignore a princess. So I asked,
“Is it important?”
“Just a light conversation over—”
She stopped mid-sentence, as if struck by a sense of déjà vu. I eyed my almost-untouched tray with tears welling and prepared to stand. Apparently she disliked the idea of a repeat of the day before yesterday, because she swiftly changed course.
“Do not get up. That is an order from the student-council president.”
“…”
Even she seemed to realize how ridiculous that sounded, so she added,
“It is important.”
“Then let’s step outside to talk.”
People were already bad-mouthing me behind my back; I had no desire to add princess-related gossip to the mix. She fell silent for a moment, then spoke again.
“First, regarding the application you submitted…”
This woman did not listen. Still, so it really was about that business from before.
“…It was properly received. Processed yesterday.”
“Ah, that’s a relief. So the withdrawal has been officially finalized?”
Withdrawal, not expulsion. The difference was minor, but it was a matter of pride.
What the princess said next, however, was something I had never expected.
“Withdrawal? What are you talking about? I mean the expulsion application was processed.”
Even in front of a princess I could not keep my face from twisting.
“Why? Wasn’t the withdrawal application I submitted first?”
I was certain I had filed mine earlier. Why had their expulsion request been the one that went through? Was this more Wallenstein discrimination? She shook her head.
“The expulsion application you submitted was the very first. That is what was processed.”
For a moment I failed to grasp the situation and stammered,
“So… you mean… not an application to expel me, but Your Highness is saying…”
“Exactly. The First Party of Class 1-A now consists of only you.”
In other words, everyone except me had been expelled? For real?
“Ah… ah… ah…”
“Ah?”
“Hell yeah!”
The cheer burst out of me before I could stop it.
“Hup—forgive me. The moment I pictured their faces I just…”
“Ah, I understand.”
The princess grinned at me.
“I saw it myself. I went to them in person and watched their faces the instant they heard the news.”
“Wow, I’m jealous!”
“Heh. Are you?”
She asked as if proudly showing off a prize. I nodded so hard my neck almost snapped.
“Looking back, I should have taken a recording artifact with me. I really ought to have shown you those faces.”
“Ahh, what a shame.”
I meant every word. Somewhere along the way we were both grinning at each other. What on earth was happening? Without realizing it I had dropped my guard around the princess. Maybe it was simply that we got along better than expected and I had grown careless. I wiped the smile from my face and asked a little more seriously,
“But was that even possible in the first place?”
She shook her head.
“Of course not under ordinary circumstances.”
“Could you explain how it happened?”
Rumors could wait; this mattered more. The princess answered simply.
“Because I personally processed the application you submitted.”
That I could accept. An ordinary student-council president might not manage it, but she was an imperial princess—of course she could. The how was settled; the why remained. I asked her directly.
“Then why did you do it?”
“You understand it would have been impossible without me, yes?”
I nodded.
“If you had been expelled from the party, another party would have had to recruit you—or you would have had to gather seven other students in the same predicament and reapply. Without me the situation would have been far more difficult for you.”
I nodded again. I had no close friends, so no party would take me in. Gathering seven new members was equally impossible for someone like me. And without party affiliation, completing assignments became impossible; I would have had to worry about graduating at all, never mind grades. In that sense I could say I now owed the princess a debt. At last I understood what she was driving at. Honestly, this was a relief. A princess approaching me for no reason at all would have been far more burdensome and suspicious. I cut straight to the point.
“I am sincerely grateful, President. In return—is there anything I can do for you?”
Of course, if the task turned out to be too much of a hassle I planned to wipe my mouth and pretend I had never heard a thing.