Chapter 25
Chapter 25
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Academy Culture Festival (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Did you really stay up all night guarding it, Lucia?"
"Yes, yes... Just in case someone else came in, I kept..."
Lucia murmured in response with hollow eyes, whether from accumulated fatigue.
She seemed to be trying her best to act calm, but I could sense Elena's gaze shake ever so slightly.
"You didn't have to go this far, Lucia."
"Because Lady Elena trusted me... I have to repay that trust, and this is all I can do..."
"Sigh, alright. At least rest a bit until the others arrive, Lucia."
"B-but it's Student Council work hours now..."
"Properly managing your health is also a quality of a Student Council member, Lucia."
"Yes, yes..."
Unable to defy Elena's words in the end, Lucia obediently lay down on the Student Council room sofa.
Confirming her breathing showed she was clearly asleep, I whispered to Elena in a quiet voice.
"What do we do in a situation like this, Elena?"
"...Well, this is my first time in something like this, so I don't really know."
"......Huh?"
Even though I'd spoken softly on purpose, Elena deliberately raised her voice and replied in her "outside" tone.
Feeling a bit flustered by her reaction, Elena spoke up again.
"For now, let's continue a proper search outside the Student Council room, Your Highness Prince Cedric. With the Culture Festival underway, we should start by asking around with the department heads who came to school early."
"...Yeah, let's do that."
With those words, Elena led me out of the Student Council room.
"Damn, this got complicated."
The moment we stepped outside, her expression shifted back to the Elena she was when we were alone.
'Even with Lucia asleep, she was acting just in case someone might hear.'
Really, how could she perform as such a thorough "ordinary noble lady" in front of others?
While inwardly marveling, I first asked Elena about our current situation.
"Do you have a way to find the culprit, Elena?"
"Well, sort of. The original story didn't resolve it by just checking one ledger, after all. They probably sprinkled in a bunch of clues to make the deduction fun."
"...Why phrase it like a question?"
"Because I didn't touch that part. I handled the main story; other staff added the fine details for each branch route... Honestly, I don't know the nitty-gritty."
"Other staff? So you didn't create this world all by yourself, Elena?"
"...Didn't I mention that before?"
"No."
"Hmm... Well, I know the most about what happens in this world, but I don't know every single detail. I know you like lemons and where your moles are, Cedric, but I don't know if tomorrow's weather will be sunny or cloudy."
"......Got it."
Her words were hard to fully grasp, so I took it to mean Elena didn't know everything.
Unfortunately, the method for catching the Student Council funds thief seemed to be one of those gaps.
"Then we'll really have to do some investigating. Or we could get the Academy's help and search publicly..."
"Holding them accountable for the funds and ledger management would ultimately fall on you, Cedric. It wouldn't help with the support rate management I mentioned before."
"...But we can't just let it slide."
"If we get picky, there is a way to catch the culprit without hurting your support rate."
"What's that?"
She wore a slightly thoughtful expression before continuing.
"We announce the theft from the Student Council room, and subtly leak that Lady Elena Rozier was in charge of the safe. Most of the blame shifts to me, so your support rate stays safe..."
"No, that's not happening."
"Why? I don't care if my reputation takes a hit. After the annulment, a blemish like this might as well not exist."
"Don't make such absurd suggestions, Elena. What do you plan to do about the damage to your reputation while you're still at the Academy if you handle it that way?"
"I don't really care."
"...Anyway, that's a no."
It felt like if I didn't catch the thief properly, Elena might actually go through with something crazy.
"For now, let's investigate step by step. Starting with the Baking Department head, like you said..."
"Well, that was my plan originally. But given the situation, I don't think we even need to."
Saying that, Elena subtly pointed at the Student Council room door with her thumb.
I quietly turned my gaze in that direction, and the door began opening from the inside.
-Sss...
"......"
It wasn't Lucia stepping out of the Student Council room—someone else entirely.
"......Phew."
"You finally crawl out, Lady Helen Luibos."
"Eep, La-Lady Rozier?!"
...So she'd known from the start someone was hiding inside and kept up the act the whole time.
For something she called "complicated," it was a pretty anticlimactic resolution.
Art Department head, Lady Helen Luibos, viscount's daughter.
She was one of the three initial suspects Elena had named. At least not a complete miss on the prediction.
After apprehending her and checking the desk in the Student Council room, there they were: the missing cashbook ledger and gold coin pouch.
The pouch was about half empty compared to the one originally from the Academy, and the ledger bore faint traces of plaster dust, just as Elena described.
"You did at least return it... Though the contents look reduced by half."
"I-I'm sorry... I really just meant to borrow it briefly..."
"Without asking the owner first?"
"......I'm sorry."
"We'll hear your side. What possessed you to rummage through the Student Council safe?"
"My mother suddenly collapsed..."
Lady Luibos's excuse afterward matched exactly what Elena had outlined.
Her mother, the lady of House Luibos, had collapsed from a rare disease. Holy magic wouldn't cut it—she needed proper medicine, but the Kafka Merchant Group had a monopoly, forcing her to scramble for funds.
With the territory already strapped for cash, she had no way to afford the medicine and "borrowed" temporarily for the cost—that was her claim.
"Come to think of it, the Art Department requested a pretty excessive budget increase recently. I slashed almost everything except the essentials."
"......Yes."
"Looks like you intended to divert that budget elsewhere from the start. Right?"
"......Yes. I'm truly sorry, Lady Rozier..."
"Don't think a mere apology ends it. You stole from the Student Council room—that fact doesn't change. Because of you, poor Lucia over there nearly got wrongly suspected."
"......"
Lady Luibos, the viscount's daughter, bowed her head quietly with a tearful expression.
Pitiful circumstances aside, we couldn't just gloss over it like nothing happened, as Elena said.
"For now, the Art Department head position will stay vacant. I'll manage it temporarily until a replacement is named, so spread the word, Lady Luibos."
"......Yes."
"You're in your third year now, aren't you, Lady Luibos?"
"...Yes."
"Until graduation, you'll be assigned to on-campus volunteer duty. Other department activities restricted. Obviously, no more Academy tasks involving gold coins for you."
"Yes......"
"And on compensating the shortfall you took..."
"......"
"Once your mother's treatment finishes and your finances recover, replenish it. Until then, I'll cover it from my personal funds."
"......Pardon? Th-then mother's medicine costs..."
"No matter the crime, I won't hold a life hostage for blackmail. Would've been better if you'd come to me directly from the start."
"Th-thank you, Lady Rozier!"
"Save the thanks. Fail to repay before graduation, and I'll impose harsher punishment. Keep that in mind for now."
"Yes...!! I will, I definitely will repay it!!"
With that, Lady Luibos prostrated herself flat on the floor in gratitude, casting aside even her noble pride.
I thought the punishment lenient but held my tongue. Elena caught her and handled the aftermath—it was her call.
"Stop crying on the floor and get out already. If other Student Council members spot you, it'll be awkward to explain."
"Eep, y-yes...!!"
With that, Lady Luibos bolted from the Student Council room.
Glancing to confirm Lucia still slept, I cautiously spoke up.
"I'm hardly one to say, but... wasn't that punishment too soft?"
"For anyone else, I'd punish moderately and expel them. But it had to be Helen."
"......Hm?"
"She's the type who repays favors if you grant them. Let her off easy—she'll be useful later. Not because I'm going soft."
"...I see."
"Felt off from Lucia's first report. Guarding all night? She'd have run into an intruder at least once. But no one came? Means they visited before Lucia arrived—but the ledger was gone. So, hiding somewhere in the room right before she entered."
Hearing her explanation, it clicked... but reaching that conclusion in such a short window? Elena was Elena, through and through.
Not just future knowledge—her on-the-fly deductions were sharp too.
If she didn't bring up annulment every time she spoke, she'd be the perfect fiancée.
"What, it's open? Good morning, Cedric~."
"Good morning, Brother Orpheus."
"Huh? What's that in the back? The missing ledger? You found it?"
"My apologies, Your Highness Prince Orpheus. I'd taken it back to the dormitory the day before yesterday for unfinished processing and forgot. Then yesterday, I left it in my room too..."
"Ah, what~? No big deal~. So the 'culprit' was Lady Rozier's forgetfulness, huh~?"
"...It's fine. Everyone slips up sometimes."
"Thanks, Lisia."
"Anyway, glad it wrapped up without drama. Especially knowing no one in Student Council took it."
Thanks to her built-up goodwill, no one scolded or blamed Elena despite calling it a "mistake."
As the Esbaren heir said, it ended without issue—so that settled it.