Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Academy Cultural Festival (1)
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Since I'd resolved the cause of Elena's disappearance incident, what I needed to do next was clear.
Explain the string of disappearances to Count Marstern and make sure he cracked down on the suspicious rituals happening in his territory.
"Hahaha, oh dear... To think such horrific things were happening in my own domain. Unbelievable..."
"...If you understand, then handle the crackdown yourself. The palace plans to send surprise inspectors to monitor this area."
"Heh heh heh, of course~. How could I not heed the words of Prince Cedric himself~."
...His tone and expression still inspired zero trust. No matter how I thought about it, there had to be something shady going on behind the scenes.
Just in case, I'd investigated during the remaining inspection period to see if he was plotting anything else while wandering his territory, but I found no other suspicious points.
"The Count? Ever since the new Count took over, he's been donating to the orphanage regularly. He even insisted we not mention it was from him."
"A few years back, the roads were so worn out that carriages kept breaking down, but thanks to the Count paving new ones, it's so much easier now."
"Last year, there was that massive flood, but the Count opened up his estate temporarily, so we got through it without much trouble."
The more I investigated, the more oddly favorable impressions came up, so I decided not to dig any deeper.
As Elena had said, it just confirmed he was merely suspicious-looking, nothing more.
And besides that... I'd unintentionally reconfirmed Eri's loyalty.
"I've committed a grave sin, Your Highness. Please punish this insolent servant."
Elena had misunderstood the purpose of the swimsuit she'd bought and hidden it from me, which nearly put her in danger because of it.
Eri prostrated herself before me in apology, but I chose not to reprimand her. Scolding her now wouldn't change anything anyway.
"I won't reprimand you this time, so make sure you don't repeat the same mistake."
"...Pardon?"
"If it weren't for you, who else would assist Elena? It seems you've earned her trust from this incident, so focus on supporting her more closely."
"...Understood."
There was already no one else to assist Elena if not Eri.
Above all, Elena had warned me in advance not to replace her exclusive maid.
"Don't bother assigning some other maid in Eri's place over this. It's a hassle to get close to someone new."
"Got it."
"In return, from now on, I'll be more upfront about anything I need help with. That way, there's no need to squeeze info out of poor Eri."
"...Fair enough."
Even without Elena saying so, I had no intention of demoting Eri from her role.
In any case, Elena had declared she wouldn't hide foreknowledge like this again, and Eri would see her mistake forgiven, so it worked out for both sides.
Thus ended the short yet long inspection duties in the Marstern territory, and the second semester resumed.
In the Arbel Kingdom Academy, if the biggest first-semester event was the mock battles, then the biggest second-semester event was undoubtedly the Academy Cultural Festival.
"Lady Elena, how should we handle the additional budget request from the art club?!"
"What item is it for?"
"It says materials for display decorations! Mostly lighting-related..."
"...I'll contact the optical magic club and link them up. If they provide support, we should manage with about half the requested budget."
"Lady Rozier, for the amplification magic the music club wants to install, up to what scale can we allow?"
"To avoid affecting other departments, tell them to cap it at 90 decibels... Ahem, below the level of a standard march."
Elena was still the best in the student council when it came to work. As if she'd run these events multiple times before.
Even though Duke Rozier's discrimination had left her with almost no proper social experience.
"What about the theater club's request for 'Flame Magic' stage effects~?"
"Did you approve it last year, Your Highness Orpheus?"
"Nope~. What if an accident happens and it becomes my headache~."
"Tell them to proceed as usual this year too. If needed, we can persuade Lucia to support with light magic just for weekend plays. Sound good, Lucia?"
"Ah, yes! If it's Lady Elena asking, of course!"
She'd even grown accustomed to handling Lucia, who now seemed ready to leap into fire at Elena's word.
Signed documents piled up on the desk as the student council buzzed through the cultural festival preparations. It was a bit smoother than last year, thanks to Elena.
'At this rate, no one would know who's actually the student council president.'
Then again, last year Orpheus had been president in name, but Lisia and I had handled the real work.
Cut budgets wherever possible, approve displays and performances to the max extent feasible, but never compromise on safety—that was Elena's directive.
"Lisia? Ah, the summoned creature exhibit approval list?"
-Nod nod.
"Everything else is fine, but exclude the red slime. It's a f... no, fire hazard."
"Okay."
"Your Highness Prince Cedric, have you finished drafting your opening ceremony speech?"
"Yes. It's prepared."
"Since it's Your Highness's speech, I won't review it. Good luck with it, Your Highness."
"......"
"......"
"......"
"...Thanks, Elena."
Even amid all this, she never missed a beat in playing the 'fiancée' role.
For a fleeting moment, envious glances gathered from the others, but they just didn't know the truth between Elena and me.
'Does she even realize that showing this side does nothing to help her annul the engagement?'
Thanks to her acting, everyone still saw me as the prince adored by his fiancée.
If we broke off the engagement in this situation, I'd shoulder all the blame, and that might trigger my brother Darius's rebellion like Elena had warned.
So, I was increasingly unable to let her go. Not that I'd abandon her even if the situation were reversed.
'Still, since summer break, she has definitely loosened up a bit more.'
Was it because I'd helped her, or because she'd unintentionally shown me her swimsuit form?
I hoped for the former, but honestly, the latter seemed more likely. Her attitude had gotten... well, quite brazen since then.
"Can I come in, Elena?"
"Ah, sure. Come on in."
-Creak.
"Elena, about that speech I mentioned in the student council room earlier... If it's not too much trouble, could you take a quick look..."
-Rustle.
"Huh?"
"W-Wait! If you're changing, say so! I only came in because you said it was fine..."
"Jeez, what's the big deal? It's just underwear—you saw it at the beach last time anyway."
"I didn't see it! No, for starters, what I saw that day was a swimsuit, not underwear!"
"Same difference. The coverage is identical. Stop standing there and hand over the speech."
"I'll leave it on the table, so change and come out to read it!"
"But if you just give it and..."
-Bang!
This routine repeated every time I entered the dormitory, making my heart feel like it would leap out several times a day.
No matter how I thought about it, swimsuits and underwear were completely different. Even if she didn't see me as a man, wasn't this too blatant?
That said, did I want her to act this nonchalant in front of others? No, not really.
'Hard to say if I should be happy or annoyed about getting closer like this.'
At least we weren't drifting apart, so I should take it positively. ...Probably.
As preparations for the Elena-led Academy Cultural Festival neared completion in the final week...
...The day before the festival, the incident occurred.
"......Huh?"
Lucia's voice echoed in the now-quiet student council room, preparations nearly finished.
It was loud enough to draw attention, so naturally, everyone's eyes—including mine—turned to her.
"What's wrong, Lucia?"
"Ah, w-well... The cash ledger from the safe is gone..."
"You mean the one managing this festival's budget?"
"Y-yes. I needed to update some budget entries, but it disappeared from the safe..."
"Did you search thoroughly? Who last used it?"
"Um... After I recorded it yesterday morning, Theodor took it..."
Elena turned to Theodor Esbaren at Lucia's words.
"Is that true, Viscount Esbaren?"
"Yes. I recorded the baking club's budget and handed it straight to Lady Grabel."
"......"
-Nod.
"Then I got it from Lisia and gave it to my brother. And finally, Lady Rozier took it for final review, right?"
"Yes, that's right. I received it from Prince Cedric, reviewed it, and stored it in the safe along with the gold coin pouch from the additional budget."
"Pardon? Gold coin pouch? There's no such thing in the safe..."
"......"
"......"
"......"
Starting with Lucia's remark, an ominous tension filled the student council room.
Sensing all eyes on her, Elena rested her hand on her chin and murmured softly.
"...I see. This does make me look like the prime suspect who swiped the cash ledger and gold pouch."
"?!"
-Shake shake.
"No way! Lady Elena would never...!"
"...No one's thinking that, Elena."
The additional gold wasn't a small sum, but no one would seriously suspect Duke Rozier's daughter of stealing.
With palace stipends for decorum, she didn't live strapped for cash. The same went for me, Orpheus, Lisia from a duke's family, and the Esbaren viscountcy wasn't hurting financially either.
"Why would a Rozier lady steal? What does she lack~."
"...But the ledger and gold vanishing is fact. And the safe's hard to access without being a council member."
"We'll find it if we look properly~. No council member is desperate enough to steal a gold pouch..."
"......"
"......"
"......"
"...Oops, my mistake."
"I-It wasn't me!!"
...That aggrieved expression made it seem like it really wasn't him.