Opening Day
Opening day.
Inside the student council room of Helon Academy, two women were deep in conversation.
Since the term had only just begun, the room was empty save for the two of them.
"Have you been well, Sasha?"
"Not particularly well, unlike you, President."
"…"
"I'm joking. I've been fine."
"Truly?"
"No. But you looked as though that was the answer you wanted to hear, so I said it."
"Every time I speak with you, my head begins to ache."
"Do cut me a little slack. All through the break I barely slept for fear that, thanks to you, my true identity had already been exposed."
"Ah, that again! I've already apologized any number of times—it was a mistake!"
The princess raised her voice.
What Sasha referred to was the previous incident involving the alchemical materials, when the princess had first introduced Louis. She had come within a breath of speaking Sasha's family name aloud.
"Truly… as I have told you again and again, it was an accident."
"From where I stood it looked very much like part of your plan to draw Louis into your faction, but I shall let it pass for now."
"Ah! It really was a mistake!"
Abandoning her usual diction entirely, the princess let out a shrill cry.
For the record, she truly did feel wronged. At the time she had been speaking with Louis and, for reasons she could not name, had grown a little nervous. Before she knew it, Sasha's house name had nearly slipped from her lips. Of course Sasha had cut her off mid-sentence and smoothed the matter over well enough.
Sasha.
Her full name was Sasha Rulike.
One of the empire's three great ducal houses—well, two now, strictly speaking. In any case, among the three ducal families that had helped the first emperor found the Lucia Empire—Wallenstein, Epsilt, and Rulike—she was a daughter of House Rulike.
At present, however, she lived her academy life under nothing more than the name Sasha.
Sasha Rulike was the illegitimate daughter of the current Duke Rulike. In the entire academy, only two people knew she was a daughter of that house: Imperial Princess Kalia Speltz, and Sasha Rulike herself.
That was why the princess's earlier slip had been a genuine crisis. She had apologized to Sasha over and over… yet Sasha's grudges, it turned out, ran rather long.
"At any rate, Louis Wallenstein—"
"How seamlessly you change the subject. I'll overlook it this time."
"I have been thinking of late that you are far too lacking in manners. I would be grateful if you would remember, even a little, that the person with whom you are speaking is the imperial princess."
"Hmm. Losing the argument on logic, so you fall back on rank? Very well, Your Highness."
The princess exhaled a long sigh.
For all her complaints, Sasha was someone she needed. They had struck a bargain; she would simply have to endure the attitude. Besides, when one thought about it, the princess had never been the sort to care how academy cadets treated her. No matter how rude they became, she never grew angry. The fact that Sasha was the first person ever to truly get under her skin was, in its own way, impressive.
"Anyway, regarding Louis Wallenstein. He is certainly a man worth the attention you give him."
"I was certain you would see it. His skill and character are—"
"An exceptionally pretty boy. So even the president is still a woman at heart—"
"I am not!"
"A joke. Though they do say a strong denial is as good as an admission."
The princess fixed Sasha with a glare.
"That was also a joke. In any case, if one compares his entrance-exam results with the recent combat footage stored in the necklace… his rate of growth is clearly abnormal."
"Yes. That is precisely what I have been saying."
"It is possible he concealed his true strength during the entrance exams… yet that would not explain the mana-measurement tests and the like."
Sasha was right. Helon Academy gathered every talent on the continent, so of course there were those stronger than Louis. But no one else displayed growth this rapid.
"I had heard the rumors that he was a wastrel…"
the princess muttered.
"On top of that his character is excellent, and his looks—"
"I already said that is not the case!"
The princess cried out at Sasha's words.
"Don't worry, President. You need not fear I will steal him from you. He may be a pretty boy, but he is not my type."
"Why would I ever worry about such a thing!"
In the end the princess slammed her palm down on the desk with a sharp bang.
"Well, enough teasing…"
Sasha's face had been expressionless from the start, yet her voice grew unmistakably more serious.
"…I heard about what happened at the funeral. You really are quite the villain, President."
"Is that not to your taste?"
"It is. With this, House Ansberg will never recover, and you have dealt a heavy blow to the prince's faction. Congratulations."
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
Sasha applauded. The tone, however, dripped with sarcasm rather than genuine praise.
"So? What is your complaint?"
"If you had simply refrained from publicly praising Wallenstein on that occasion, I would have been sincerely delighted."
"It was necessary. If it meant winning his loyalty—"
"You know as well as I that that is not the real issue."
Sasha looked the princess in the eye.
"Can you truly say that Louis Wallenstein's value outweighs the damage of accepting House Wallenstein into your faction?"
"I can."
Kalia Speltz answered without the slightest hesitation.
The reason the princess had approached Louis Wallenstein and continued to show him favor was simple. She had seen the Louis Wallenstein of his wastrel days. She had seen him at the entrance ceremony. And she had seen the Louis Wallenstein who, until only recently, had grown at a rate that defied all logic.
She was certain: Louis Wallenstein was a genius. At this rate he would become someone extraordinary. She had also observed the way he interacted with his former party members. With that man, she could guarantee he would never betray her. He was talent she absolutely needed.
The princess looked at the person Louis Wallenstein himself, not the name. Taking the rebellious Count Wallenstein house into her faction would bring enormous political cost. Yet if she could secure the man called Louis Wallenstein alone, that cost would be nothing at all. That was her calculation.
She murmured to herself once more.
"Once I sit the throne… restoring House Wallenstein would not be so bad…"
And if Wallenstein rose to a ducal house again, and Louis took the duke's seat, then as husband to the emperor the match would be fitting—
"Aah!"
She suddenly cried out. Sasha regarded her with a look of pure pity. Paying it no mind, the princess shook her head violently.
Why do these strange thoughts keep…
She had not yet realized it herself, but after watching Louis in secret for an entire year, and especially after spending even a short time with him recently, feelings had begun to take root. For now, whenever such thoughts surfaced she denied them with equal ferocity.
"Hmm. I am still not convinced."
Seeing Sasha's skepticism, the princess made a proposal.
"Sasha, then why not confirm it yourself?"
"What do you mean?"
"As it happens, all of his party members have been expelled, leaving Louis Wallenstein in a difficult position for party activities. If you were to join his party—"
"I refuse."
"I had not even finished speaking."
"It sounds like a bother."
Faced with that absolute refusal, the princess quietly abandoned the suggestion she had been about to make.
"Well… very well."
The tea in their cups was nearly gone.
"In that case, I shall take my leave. A certain someone who shall remain nameless has burdened me with far too much student-council work."
As Sasha rose to go, the princess called her back.
"Ah. While reviewing the students this time, I discovered something odd…"
"Work on the very first day of term? You really are diligent, President."
Saying so, Sasha accepted the document the princess held out.
"Hmm…? This is a second-year."
Sasha voiced a small note of confusion. Having heard "this time's students," she had naturally assumed it would concern the new first-years.
After reading a moment longer her expression twisted.
"What… the year of admission…"
The year of admission was recorded as more than a decade earlier.
After examining the papers a little further, Sasha spoke flatly.
"An error, no doubt. How does the administrative office even function…"
"That is what I thought as well."
And so, treating the matter as nothing of importance, they set it aside, finished their conversation, and parted ways.
Today was the opening of the term.
At last the second year of Helon Academy was beginning.
As befitting a day that heralded a new academic year, excitement and unease mingled in equal measure. Especially when I thought back to the game's story—this year was packed with events.
I had no time, however, to steel myself or settle my heart.
Because right here in this classroom were two people who absolutely should not have been present.
At Helon Academy the class assignments never changed even when the year did. My old first-year Class A simply became second-year Class A with the exact same roster, and would later become third-year Class A the same way.
Yet in this room now stood one person I had been certain would be gone… and, for reasons I could not begin to guess, one entirely new addition.
I carefully turned my head to the side.