60. Fi?ancé?
60. Fi?ancé?
"I have a fiancé in the Clover Kingdom."
Riber's words were even more shocking.
It was so shocking that Amy and I could do nothing but stare blankly at Riber's face for a good ten seconds.
"Hey... a fiancé?? Well, yeah... for someone of the Simore stature, even if you have a fiancé..."
Amy spoke while subtly shooting me a glance.
It seemed she was casually probing to see if I had one too, since I was also from a notable family.
"I don't have one."
I think I might have had one before, but it ended the moment it was revealed I had a growth-stunted disability.
We'd seen each other's faces once and it was over, but who was it again...
I had only been reincarnated for a short time back then... and it was so long ago that I couldn't even remember anymore.
Fiancés were extremely common in noble society.
Mixing blood to forge a tighter alliance between families was a rational act.
If they liked each other, that was fortunate, but in some cases, personal freedom had no place in the matter.
Judging by Riber's expression, it was definitely the latter.
"He's a man much older than me. It seems he demanded it as recompense for helping my family when they were struggling.
When I heard someone was coming from the Clover Kingdom, I was scared he might be coming... so I wanted to become stronger."
The fact that the engagement was demanded as compensation told me everything I needed to know.
The current head of the Simore family... Riber's parents weren't the type to hand over their child for money.
Something much bigger was clearly tangled up in this.
I had read everything up to the latest chapter, but there were so many things that hadn't been revealed... it made me want to hit the author.
Considering that there had been no such episode in the original work... it could be related to a character who was meant to become irrelevant later.
'The Clover Kingdom itself became a puppet state of the Demon Church within two years... right? No wonder I didn't know, damn it.'
Its entire leadership had been making deals with the Demon Church behind the scenes, little by little, until they all ended up becoming contractors themselves.
In the first place, the entire nation fell into the Demon Church's clutches before Riber even graduated from the academy, so there had been no reason to pay any attention to a fiancé from the Clover Kingdom.
"I really was being impatient. He's not even an academy-related person, so there's no way he'd come for the exchange. I was just scaring myself."
Riber laughed awkwardly.
She seemed embarrassed that she'd been scared because of a fiancé who might or might not come.
"What's so scary about an old geezer! Where's the duel maniac the Class 5 used to brag about?"
"Euk..!"
Since she was acting all glum for no reason, I looped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her toward me.
Startled by the sudden arm around her shoulder, Riber's face flushed bright red.
"Don't worry, I always keep my word, so I'll make sure you can reach the highest level within this year.
An Expert at the highest level is on par with the Five Pillars. Just below a Master. Then you won't be pushed around by some pot-bellied middle-aged noble."
"You sure talk a good game..."
Riber's lips jutted out at my deliberate joke, but she didn't seem displeased.
"...Thank you for telling me."
"No, I feel a little better now that I've said it too."
With the tension released, we both found our laughter and burst out laughing.
Even after we finished eating, we chatted and laughed for a long time before parting ways.
I had caught a clue to the incident.
Riber's fiancé, was it...?
She didn't say who it was, but it was definitely no ordinary person.
To have helped the Simore family when they were in danger... it was strange.
I'd have to start my investigation from there.
——————————————
The next day, in the early hours before lunch, I secretly slipped out alone and was enjoying a tea party in a private room prepared by Shahra Phrygia.
Though there was no trace of anyone coming or going, the eerily well-kept room was the clubroom of an inactive ghost club.
It seemed that in this damnably large academy, there were several such clubrooms that people's footsteps rarely reached.
It was probably possible because golems roamed every nook and cranny to manage the cleaning every night anyway.
Since the minimum condition I gave Shahra for attending a tea party was that there must be no prying eyes, she met with me completely alone.
How could she think of having an unguarded, private meeting with the person who had assaulted her to the brink of death in the middle of the night, when her frail body could offer no resistance without her subordinates?
"Atlas-nim, does the tea suit your taste? I had tea leaves from the Great Forest, which the elves are said to enjoy, specially imported."
Shahra smiled naturally as she lifted the teapot and poured into the cup.
An incredibly bright smile... like an angel's, one she didn't show to others.
The tea in the cup was a deep green, the same color as the drug Professor Praha had made.
I watched it for a moment, then spoke without bringing it to my lips.
"Next time, just make what I usually drink. Elven tea doesn't agree with me."
I knew full well how expensive the tea in front of me was.
I knew very well the enormous markup that Great Forest tea leaves, favored by noble elves, commanded among Imperial nobles.
But expensive doesn't always mean tasty.
Elven tea, even when well-dried, was characterized by a strong grassy and astringent taste.
I couldn't describe the ordeal I went through the first time I drank it without knowing it was being served in the Great Forest.
Elves themselves drink it frequently out of habit, but they actually prefer human tea.
Though it wasn't well-known because there was little exchange between us.
"S..so sorry. It was my incompetence, I just...!"
The color drained from Shahra's face when she saw I wouldn't even touch the teacup, and her hands began to tremble violently.
It seemed she began to feel terror at the thought of her mistake.
Shahra shot up from her seat and—
"I'll cl..clean it up!"
"No, don't clean it up."
I had intended to take at least a sip since it brought back old memories, but Shahra had already reached for the teacup.
As her trembling hand grasped the small teacup, ripples began mercilessly spreading across the once-calm surface of the liquid.
'This looks bad.'
The moment I thought that sight looked incredibly precarious,
"Kyaa?!!"
The teacup in her hand fell into my lap.
The teacup hit the table once before falling onto me, and the steaming green liquid inside spilled out, soaking my clothes.
"Tch...!"
It wasn't enough to burn me, but the warm, damp sensation made my brow furrow.
My outer garment was black, so it wasn't very noticeable, but the white shirt I wore underneath was stained green.
And the moment Shahra saw that, her pupils began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Ah.. aah, I'm so.. so sorry...!!"
She dropped to her knees, pulled out a handkerchief, and began wiping my soaked clothes like a maid while still on her knees.
Even though the spilled tea was still on the floor, she knelt right in it, staining her own skirt.
If word got out that the young lady of Phrygia was acting like this, the Empire would be turned upside down.
"That's enough."
The tea that had already soaked in wouldn't come out just by wiping it with a handkerchief.
Deeming it a meaningless action, I grabbed Shahra's frantically moving wrist and lifted her up.
Then my eyes met hers, brimming with tears.
I let go of her wrist and spoke to the sniffling Shahra.
"There's no need for your clothes to get dirty too. Stand up."
As soon as she heard me, Shahra stood up straight like a machine.
Her black stockings and hands were smeared with murky black water mixed with dust and tea, and the stockings had even run, revealing a peek of the bare skin on her knees.
I scanned her once, then lifted her hand—which was small like mine... no, even smaller than mine—to examine it.
"No burns anywhere. Be more careful next time."
Her small, trembling hand had a bit of murky water on it, but I saw no injuries anywhere.
If she disappeared for a bit and then reappeared with burns, it would cause a commotion all on its own, so I had to check carefully.
"Atlas-nim..."
When I looked straight ahead because her trembling hand had stopped, I saw a faint light flickering in her tear-filled eyes.
'She's into this kind of thing.'
She was definitely scared, but she blushed at even a little kindness.
I had drilled fear of me into Shahra, but it seemed other feelings had sprouted alongside the fear.
I hadn't intended this, but it would be a great help in her education.
"Then let's get to the main point... Shahra, I'll need to use your informants."
"My.. informants?"
"Yes, you can do it the fastest, can't you?"
"Yes...! If you entrust it to me, I won't disappoint you."
I had been certain of it when I saw her hire an assassin before.
While it was impossible for a student to bring their direct subordinates to the academy, the fact was that she was hiring and using people from the outside through a direct line.
Shahra's eyes sparkled at the sound of being needed.
"There are two things to investigate. The rough personal information on the Clover Kingdom students participating in this exchange with Clover Academy, and the people accompanying them.
And investigate the Simore family. Someone from the Clover Kingdom is supposedly Riber's fiancé, but he doesn't seem like an ordinary person."
"Shall I investigate those two things?"
"Yes."
Shahra had no doubts whatsoever about the orders given to her.
She simply nodded her head and was wholly devoted to carrying out the command.
Shahra, who had been listening intently, suddenly hesitated as if something had occurred to her, then spoke.
"If.. I do a good job... may I receive a reward...?"
'A reward...?'
What kind of reward could she want...?
Since I was essentially using her for free, I was willing to grant her almost anything as long as it wasn't weird, but I was worried she might be hoping for some strange reward.
"I'm sorry, I overstepped my bounds..."
When my response was delayed, Shahra, thinking she had said something wrong, hurriedly bowed her head down.
"No. As long as you do a good job, I'll gladly give you whatever reward you want."
But of course, if she did a good job, I had to reward her.
It was just that I was bothered by not knowing what kind of reward she would want...
"I'll be looking forward to it. Shahra."
"Yes... yes!!"
Not knowing any of this, Shahra laughed innocently.
There was still time, so I'd have to start thinking now about the best way to reward her.