192. Counting Your Chickens Before They Hatch
192. Counting Your Chickens Before They Hatch
As I listened to Lucia, who couldn't contain her overflowing emotions and cried without end, all I could do was gently pat her back.
I felt I could understand what Carlos had been thinking when he acted.
It was a cruel act, one that the kind of people I utterly despised treated as if it were only natural.
If my guess was right, this commotion wouldn't last long.
In all likelihood, Carlos hadn't done this because he genuinely intended to choose a fiancé for Lucia here, but simply to crush the spirit of a rebellious Lucia.
He wasn't truly planning to hand her over to someone else; he was making an example of her because she had defied his authority.
What he truly wished for was probably the sight of Lucia kneeling, begging him to stop.
This method, commonly called 'toughening up,' was quite familiar to me as well.
It was one of the vile acts that malicious parents frequently inflicted upon their children.
....
I hadn't expressed it for fear of making Lucia anxious, but I was furious at the situation she was in.
As I listened, it didn't feel like someone else's problem.
Crushing a child's self-esteem to control them as the parent desired was a common occurrence everywhere.
And Lucia had almost no immunity to such things.
She had every reason to hate Carlos, yet even now she merely feared the situation that had befallen her.
Had she been raised that way ever since she was old enough to understand—unable to defy the family head Carlos, merely fearing him and obeying his orders...?
When she sat there in silence, Lucia looked very mature, but when you spoke to her, an untainted innocence showed through.
Now, behind that image that had always been so endearing, I seemed to sense the traces of a sinister adult hand trying to manipulate Lucia as it pleased.
"Feeling a little better now?"
"Y... yeah...."
Lucia, who had been crying for a long while, gradually calmed down.
This was child abuse.
Although Lucia was legally an adult and therefore not a child, Carlos's abuse, steadily inflicted from her childhood up to the present, would have required professional counseling in the modern world.
But unfortunately, in this world, children's human rights... no, the very concept of human rights itself was exceedingly faint.
The concept of human rights didn't even exist, so where would anyone care about a child's rights?
The perception that a child was the parent's property was strong, so no one could intervene no matter how a parent raised them.
In this world, it was common for parents to decide a child's marriage partner as they wished, and even dictate the timing of childbirth, just like this commotion.
But just because that perception was common didn't mean I had to follow it.
"Since you seem a bit calmer, I'll tell you what we need to do from now on."
But as I tried to get directly involved in this matter, Lucia averted her gaze again and shook her head.
"...No... Thank you, but... I think Atlas... it'd be better for you to stay out of... this..."
"Why?"
Lucia's body began trembling again.
She was afraid of someone who wasn't here.
"Father... doesn't really... like you. You'll just end up in a difficult position for no reason..."
"Do I look like someone who cares about that?"
"I... I care..! My father is different from the students here..!! If something displeases him, he will definitely clean it up...!!"
In Lucia's hand, trembling with fear, was a blackened scrap of cloth.
It was scorched in places and very small, but from the color visible between the soot, I could tell it had originally been gold.
"...The doll I bought... when I went out... it all burned up... I treasured it so much..."
"I'll buy you a new doll like that. The last outing was a mess, so this time let's have fun properly."
I knew well that what was important wasn't the object but the memories it held.
So I would remake them, as many times as it took.
I pulled out the necklace engraved with Russell's crest that I had worn every single day.
"Remember this?"
"...That's... meaningless now too. Father said it was useless... You're no longer a guest of Russell..."
It was a profoundly contradictory thought.
She had come looking for me because she'd missed me, but the moment I got involved, she found it frightening.
It seemed she wanted me to be by her side regarding this matter but was telling me not to help.
I had no intention of doing that.
"Lucia, when you first arrived at the Academy, you hated standing out.
You always hid, avoiding people's eyes, and you couldn't even speak properly because you were afraid of others' gazes.
In truth, you can speak up so clearly like this. But back then, you mustered your courage for my sake and came all the way to the Newspaper Club. Remember?"
"...Yeah."
"At that time... if you hadn't found the courage, I probably wouldn't have been able to live this peacefully at the Academy right now. I'd have been filled with constant irritation dealing with all the flies that rushed in knowing nothing."
It wasn't the case now, but if I hadn't been told from the very beginning that Russell would back me, I couldn't even imagine how much more blood would have been spilled at this Academy.
Starting with the students and then the professors, countless lives would have provoked me under the pretense of just 'correcting my attitude,' and all of them would have become crippled.
If I'd been plagued by such things, I might not have been able to properly deal with the demons' schemes.
One could say that the courage Lucia showed back then had saved other people.
"It doesn't matter what your father says. The one who gave this to me wasn't your father, it was you.
So whatever your father says, I'm on your side. Just like you took my side."
Lucia couldn't give any answer and bowed her head, sobbing.
She still seemed unstable in many ways.
The very fact that the source of Lucia's anxiety remained at this Academy was the problem.
So, first, let's smash this ridiculous farce to pieces.
----------------
The Academy's current Student Council President, Anthony Albemarle, was an honor student excelling in both the literary and martial arts.
His swordsmanship, combat magic, and academic achievements were all top-tier. While he rarely claimed the top spot in any single area, by placing among the highest ranks across the board, he had never once missed first place in overall score.
He hadn't been born into a particularly great family, but if he graduated with these outstanding grades, he could even obtain a letter of recommendation to work at the Imperial Palace.
Anthony had an ambition.
He had the ambition to climb up, which was why he probably took on roles like Student Council President, but his ambition was special.
He wanted to shake the rigid governing structure of Imperial aristocratic society.
He'd thought it was a dream too difficult even for himself to achieve, but then an opportunity came to him.
That opportunity was the Russell fiancé scramble abruptly declared just yesterday.
'Luck is on my side. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!'
The moment he heard the details, Student Council President Anthony held his breath and watched the situation unfold.
He examined various things—which students were moving, whether it was just an empty rumor, what the weak points of the participating students were.
What was most important was the list of students who expressed their intent to participate.
No matter how the stage had been set, he wouldn't have even given it a thought if students he couldn't handle were participating.
For example, if other heirs of the Five Pillars like Edgar Lemnos or Nivas Perda had declared their participation, he would have dismissed it as sour grapes, something out of his reach. He would have assumed it was simply a setup to unite the Five Pillars among themselves.
But for the entire day yesterday, they hadn't moved.
They didn't seem to have much interest.
'In that case, the one with the highest chance is none other than me...!'
He was confident in his martial ability.
Possessing above-top-tier skill in everything, he had the fearsome ability to thoroughly analyze his opponents and exploit their weaknesses.
As proof, he had never once lost a duel so far.
Many people hated his combat style of turning an opponent's weakness into his own strength, but as long as he won somehow, that was all that mattered.
He calculated that if the other Five Pillars weren't moving, he could take it for himself.
His ambition was impossible with his own strength alone, but backing it with Russell's authority made it sufficiently feasible.
Having completed his information gathering, Anthony immediately entered the duels.
It was easy to work since the campus store had already caught the scent of money and set up the board.
Challenging every student climbing to the upper ranks to duels one by one and winning, he swiftly seized the number one spot.
'It's only natural I'd take first place, but what's important is what comes after.
The students who had expressed intent to participate yesterday totaled 115. Countermeasures against the most dangerous figures among them were already in place, so I just need to maintain this until next semester.'
They had said the marriage with Lucia would be promised 'after graduation.'
This could be interpreted as meaning immediately after the person who seized first place graduated.
If it were the opposite, graduates could end up stuck at the Academy until new student Lucia graduated, reduced to a fate of doing nothing but dueling.
Conveniently, this was Anthony's final year.
This semester was coming to an end, so if he held out for just one more semester, he could gain Russell's power.
And then...
-Knock knock
"Ahem..! What is it!"
"Earl Dunmore has come to see you."
The door opened and Earl Dunmore, the Newspaper Club President, impeccably dressed in a suit, entered the Student Council President's office.
Though they were of similar age, Anthony, who had no title yet, used an honorific toward Malcolm Dunmore, a current count.
The fact that his combat method, which relied on always having more information than his opponents, was possible was all thanks to the Newspaper Club President's cooperation.
Newspaper Club President Malcolm handed over student data to him and always allocated the budget favorably for the Newspaper Club.
"Welcome, Count."
"Let's skip the trivial pleasantries. I'll just get to my main point."
"What's the matter? This isn't like you."
But the Newspaper Club President's appearance was strange.
Usually, he always maintained a relaxed and composed demeanor, but today he seemed incredibly agitated.
Just what was the reason the Newspaper Club President, of all people, was this anxious?
The answer to that was soon spoken by the Newspaper Club President.
"The fiancé scramble... Stop it right now."
"Me? What are you suddenly saying? Weren't you supporting this yourself until yesterday, Count?"
At the sudden order to abandon the fiancé scramble, Anthony was surprised.
It had been the Newspaper Club President who had assessed the angles with him yesterday and agreed to provide information and push Anthony forward.
They had subdued all the troublesome students, and now they just had to hold the spot. This abrupt declaration was bewildering.
"The situation has changed. Not showing his face all day yesterday... Was he waiting for things to settle down..?!"
The Newspaper Club President seemed to have obtained some new information.
"What on earth happened..."
-President... There's a guest outside who's come to see you.
The moment he heard those words, the Newspaper Club President clicked his tongue.
"Damn it, he's already here."