The Weight of Unwanted Attention

I sat on the plush chair, staring out the window as the scenery flickered past, and forced a smile at Erielle's question.

"Why do you look so down? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No... it's nothing... haha..."

"Really? Alright then."

'Sigh. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Why did I...'

I fixed my gaze firmly on the scenery outside, as if avoiding Erielle's piercing stare that seemed to observe my every move. The reason I was sulking inside this swaying carriage was simple: Erielle and I were currently heading toward Sunset Academy.

What was Sunset Academy? It was the most prestigious and refined educational institution across the entire empire. A place ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that every noble—and even commoners—yearned to attend. Simply graduating from Sunset Academy guaranteed respect no matter where you went on the continent. That was the level of prestige it held.

And here I was. An ordinary person who was neither a noble nor anything special, following Erielle to that very pinnacle of educational institutions.

The whole thing had started yesterday evening. Before Erielle left, she had ordered me to "prepare for tomorrow." I'd been confused at first, so I went to find the head butler, Everton, to understand what she meant.

"Ah, Mister Venice. Starting tomorrow, you will accompany Lady Erielle to Sunset Academy."

When I explained the situation to Everton, his reply was as casual as if he were talking about visiting a neighbor's house.

".....What?!"

Of course. The news hit me like a bolt from the blue—I had to go back to school. I froze on the spot, standing there motionless for over thirty seconds.

School. I absolutely hated that place.

What was there to enjoy about going to school? The satisfaction of gaining knowledge, the ordinary daily life with newly made friends, delicious cafeteria food, and so on. There were plenty of reasons if you looked for them.

But none of those applied to me.

Gaining knowledge? I could do that without going to school. And why did I even need to acquire knowledge anyway?

Making new friends? For someone like me with an extremely narrow social circle, that was practically impossible. I only ever hung out with the few friends I'd known from the beginning.

Delicious cafeteria food? Our school's meals were disgustingly bad.

There were probably countless other reasons I could list, but... anyway, I simply hated the space called school.

So the moment I heard I was going to an academy—which was basically the same thing, or rather, exactly the same—I reacted like a cat that had been splashed with water.

"Haaaaaaa..."

But of course, I had no choice in the matter. If I refused Erielle's order, she would probably just stare at me with those cold, desolate eyes again. Besides, Butler Everton had told me, 'You're not going there to study, but as a servant, so don't worry about it.'

If it was just about going to school, I could concede a hundred times over and go. Even without conceding, I would have had to go anyway.

"............"

"Cough, cough."

That was why I had rushed through my preparations from the previous evening until early morning and was now quietly gazing out the window from this unbearably awkward carriage.

'Yeah... it won't take that long. Just endure it a little longer.'

The carriage I was riding in was some kind of cutting-edge model that could run faster than horses without needing any. It was probably easiest to think of it as a car. The ride quality felt similar too. I think some workshop expert had discovered a method using mana stones. This must be the technology based on that.

Because of that, this carriage was several times faster than the ones I'd ridden ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠during my time with the Ska Mercenary Group. Being able to use a carriage like this was probably thanks to Erielle's family.

"Cough... cough."

"Lady Erielle. Have you caught a cold?"

"...Cough. Yeah. It seems like it."

Erielle had been coughing nonstop for a while now, and she looked somewhat exhausted. She must have caught a cold because of the bitterly cold weather. Even though she'd grown up in the frozen North her whole life, she could still catch colds.

"My lady, please cover yourself with this coat."

"............"

"Come on. My arm is getting tired."

"...Thank you."

When I handed her the coat I was wearing and joked lightly, Erielle reluctantly accepted it and draped it over her outer garments.

"Cough... cough."

And so, in the quiet silence broken only by occasional coughing, I watched the scenery outside. As I observed the new landscapes rushing by, time passed quickly, and soon I heard the coachman announce that we had arrived at the academy.

"Whoa........."

When I opened the carriage door and stepped out, an indescribably massive building appeared before my eyes. It looked even larger than any landmark from around the world, with a base of pure white beautifully harmonized with every color imaginable. So this was the continent's greatest academy.

Overwhelmed by a sense of awe I'd never felt before, I stood there with my mouth agape, staring blankly at the academy building.

"What are you doing? Let's go in."

"Ah, yes."

At Erielle's voice that snapped me back to reality, I hurriedly followed behind her as she walked ahead toward the academy's main gate.

"Halt. Please stop right there."

The ones who stopped us in front of the grand gate of the massive outer wall were guards clad in steel armor and wielding iron spears. The mana I could feel emanating from them, along with their clearly well-trained physiques, made it obvious that they were no ordinary warriors.

"Please present your badge to prove you are an academy student."

"Here it is. And this is my butler."

"Excuse me for a moment."

Erielle took out something resembling a card from her pocket and handed it to the guard. The guard pressed the card against a glass orb that looked like a terminal device.

"Thank you for your cooperation. You may enter."

"Yeah. Good work. Let's go, Venice."

After confirming the dry, mechanical female voice coming from the glass orb, the guard bowed his head in greeting and stepped aside. Following Erielle past the guards and through the enormous gate, I finally stepped into the interior of Sunset Academy.

"....Wow."

Beyond the meticulously maintained small garden and into the lobby, the sight of the interior literally took my breath away. The interior was so vast that I couldn't see the end of it. The height seemed greater than dozens of apartment floors. The inside of Sunset Academy was even more splendid and beautifully decorated than its already extravagant exterior. Red carpets lined every path, accompanied by magnificent portraits and paintings. Every single piece of furniture looked like it would cost dozens of gold coins at a glance.

It was truly a sight befitting the empire's premier educational institution. I didn't know every landmark on Earth, but this place seemed more outstanding, refined, and beautiful than any other building or space I'd ever seen. That's how impressive it was.

Lowering my head that had been craned upward, I looked around and saw that everyone passing by was wearing white uniforms. They must be the academy's student attire. But upon closer inspection, the people walking by, those chatting with others, and even those who seemed uninterested in anything else were all focused on one particular spot.

Following their gazes, I found the subject of their attention was...

"....Me?!"

No, of course not. Why would anyone pay attention to an ordinary person like me?

As expected, all the gazes were directed at Erielle, not me. The students who appeared to be academy attendees were all staring at Erielle, murmuring, gasping in admiration, or—even though I couldn't understand why—looking moved.

"Ahem. Lady Erielle Frost. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Khan Vent. The eldest son of the Vent territory, which has been rising in prominence lately!"

At that moment, a man approached us. No, approached Erielle. He had glossy orange hair that he swept back, and he was quite a handsome young man. Though he seemed a bit pretentious.

"..........."

Erielle only spared him a brief glance, as if watching a fly buzzing around, and tried to ignore him and walk past. But the man who had introduced himself as Khan Vent blocked her path.

I could see a vein pulsing on Erielle's fair forehead and her lips twitching slightly, but it seemed Khan Vent didn't notice, as he continued speaking.

"Oh, Lady Erielle Frost! I've heard so much about you...! They say you're the most beautiful flower on the continent..!"

...Ugh. What kind of line is that? Even I was getting goosebumps. Like he was the male lead in a play, he placed one hand on his chest, pointed the other toward the sky, and gazed upward with a sorrowful expression.

"Lady Erielle Frost, if you could spare me just a moment of your—"

"Not interested. Now if you'll excuse us. Venice, let's go."

"...No, just a moment is all I need! So...!"

"Get out of my way."

Erielle was now openly showing her contempt. I was being led along by Erielle as she ignored him and walked away, but... I felt some ominous energy from behind us.

"Is it because of that worthless bastard-!"

"Uh... huh?!"

Suddenly, I felt my body being yanked backward. It wasn't just my imagination—it was real. Khan Vent, his face twisted with rage, had grabbed me from behind and thrown me to the ground.

I couldn't resist and fell flat.

"Ow ow ow..."

"Take a good look. Compared to this pathetic nobody, I—!"

"......What exactly do you think you're doing?"

Khan Vent, who had been lifting his foot as if to kick me, froze at Erielle's voice—which was calmer and more sunken than ever before.

"La... Lady Erielle...?"

"Don't utter my name with that filthy mouth."

Mana began gathering around Erielle, soon surging like a storm. The overwhelming flow of mana seemed to weigh down the very space itself. Khan Vent couldn't withstand the torrent of mana and could only manage weak, sporadic breaths.

"Khan Vent. I'll remember you. And don't ever appear before me again."

Gurgle—

Unable to endure the increasingly concentrated mana, Khan Vent's eyes rolled back, foam bubbled from his mouth, and he collapsed unconscious.

"Venice. Are you okay?"

"Y-yes... Thank you, Lady Erielle."

"No need to thank me."

I took the hand Erielle offered and got to my feet. My body was still trembling slightly from the killing intent and mana Erielle had just released... but I think I was starting to get used to it.

"Where... are we heading now?"

"My room."

"....Ah."

The moment those words left her lips so naturally, I looked around. As expected, the numerous students who had gathered to see Erielle began whispering among themselves.

I couldn't make out exactly what they were saying, but it seemed like most of it was about me and Erielle.

"...Ha."

When I noticed Erielle's expression—she seemed to have heard something, first smiling with satisfaction before it turned into a mocking smirk—the students' murmuring grew even louder.

"......Sigh.."

A sigh escaped me involuntarily. I hadn't done anything, yet somehow I'd become the center of rumors. I'd felt this way before, but it seemed Erielle, despite being a noble lady, had no awareness of how these things worked.

Please. I prayed desperately that only the wrong kinds of rumors wouldn't spread as I followed after Erielle.