Don't Get Too Close
The free period was over. From here on out, it was the main event.
It'll be fine, right? Nothing's going to happen… right?
While she waited for Kyle, who had been abruptly hauled off to the headmaster's office, Tisha sat on a bench set up in one corner of the plaza and prayed that the thing she feared most would not come to pass—that Kyle would not come back to her and say, They're telling me to leave the Academy.
Lately, the number of people whispering the moment they laid eyes on Kyle had exploded. And thanks to those people, she had come to understand just how heavy a weight the name John Nassen carried inside the Academy.
I never thought that rumor would turn out to be true.
The story that the young lady of House John Nassen—Kyle's older sister—had half-destroyed the Academy. Tisha had assumed the "half-destroyed" part was just people exaggerating for effect. It had been the real thing. Actual half-destruction.
What made it even more terrifying was the state the young lady of John Nassen had been in at the time. For an ordinary person to pull off something like that, their mana would have to go berserk. Only then would physical ability and mana control spike all the way to their absolute limits. But the young lady of John Nassen had been different. She never entered a mana-berserk state. She had simply done that impossible thing with pure, unadulterated physical power.
Thanks to her, the Academy that day had looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. And the young lady of John Nassen—Kyle's sister—had been expelled on the spot.
So that's why Kyle was always so careful.
A member of his family had caused a massive incident, and not even a few years later he himself had enrolled. Of course people would overreact to the smallest thing. Especially those who had been caught up in that day's disaster. On top of that, Kyle was not the sort of person who looked down on others with a sharpened edge. He carried guilt, so he was clearly trying to prove that a John Nassen was still just a person—so that others would stop treating the family like monsters.
This whole duel business was an extension of that same effort. Once again the name John Nassen was spreading through every corner of the Academy. Anyone would inevitably recall that old nightmare.
But this time it wasn't something Kyle went looking for.
The original target of the duel had been none other than Ian. Ian had run his mouth, and that had gotten him challenged. Kyle had tried to resolve things peacefully and been insulted for his trouble. House John Nassen was a proper noble house. Being insulted was a legitimate reason for a duel. Kyle had simply followed the rules, stepped into the ring, and won. The process might have been a little strange, but no one had gotten hurt, and everything had worked out in the end, hadn't it?
This is all Ian's fault. That stupid man! Honestly, he's completely useless!
Of all people, he was the one who had received a recommendation letter from the Margrave of the North alongside her and Kyle. His swordsmanship was supposedly excellent, but that incomprehensible personality and vicious mouth of his were the real problem. On the way here he had already turned her stomach several times over, and now he was turning the Academy students upside down as well. Just yesterday he had said something weird to another student and nearly gotten into another duel. Thankfully Kyle had appeared right afterward and the other side had quietly backed down—otherwise the fallout would have been bad for both Kyle and herself.
Should I just slap a curse on him? Something that keeps his mouth shut for a while?
Tisha felt the fierce temptation, then shook her head. Shamanism was rooted in a person's heart and faith. If something impure slipped into the process, every spell that followed would slowly twist in that direction. Eventually it would become what the world called black magic—evil arts.
Annoying. So annoying. She had dressed up so prettily for this, and the atmosphere had just started getting good. They were supposed to have lunch at the place she had scouted in advance, grab a cup of coffee at a nearby café, then take a leisurely afternoon stroll while having a deeper conversation!
We must have been mortal enemies in a past life. There's no other explanation for this level of interference…
A full curse was out of the question, but maybe a small revenge? Tisha pondered how she could vent her irritation at Ian.
There's a spell that makes hair fall out little by little…
If Kyle had overheard that, he would have shouted, That's your idea of small revenge?! That's not small at all!
"Tisha."
At the sound of her name, Tisha reflexively lifted her head. Elga was approaching, Leto in tow behind her.
"Ah—Lady El—… Elga."
She remembered being asked to drop the "Lady" honorific. So she had dropped it… but in the end she was still just a commoner. Would the other girl take offense if she truly stopped using "Lady"? With that worry lingering, she carefully checked Elga's mood.
"Looks like you came to enjoy the festival."
Fortunately, Elga showed not the slightest displeasure. Instead she gave Tisha a quick once-over, then touched her own lips thoughtfully as she continued.
"Judging by your outfit, it doesn't seem like you're celebrating the Founding Festival alone."
"Pardon? Ah… yes. Actually, I was with Kyle."
There had been no real need to mention that she had been with Kyle. Yet Tisha deliberately spoke his name and made it clear they had been together. A woman's instinct was talking. This girl needed to be kept in check. From this moment on, she had to make the nature of her relationship with Kyle unmistakably clear!
"Ah, I see. You were with Kyle."
Murmuring that, Elga suddenly sat down beside her—not pressed right up against her, but with a little space left between them.
"Leto. Step back for a moment."
"Pardon?"
"Men are not invited to conversations between women."
Leto blinked twice at Elga's words, then slowly nodded. He did not understand the statement, but he raised no questions. He was merely an attendant to the Grand Duke's daughter; questioning was not his place.
…
Elga watched Leto recede from her field of vision and let out a small sigh. She decided she would not look back again. The naïveté and pure-heartedness of her younger days—she would set them down now. The sheltered young lady of a grand duchy who had known nothing of the world no longer existed. All that remained was a grand duke's daughter who aimed for the ducal seat itself.
Perhaps what she had liked had never been Leto the person, but his loyalty. Someone who would always take her side, no matter when or what happened. She might have wanted to lean on that and mistaken the feeling for romantic affection. But watching Leto, who would never look her way that way, and watching her own heart fold so easily at the sight of him, Elga admitted it to herself. With a heart that changed this easily, she would never be happy. She was a worse woman than she had thought. She was not a good person at all.
"Tisha."
And precisely because she was not a good person, she could be this bold.
"What is your relationship with Kyle?"
"Wh—what?!"
Tisha whipped her head around so fast it almost made a sound. Elga smiled lightly at the reaction and asked again.
"Kyle of Viscount John Nassen's house. What is your relationship with that man?"
"Ah—no relationship at all?!"
"You have no relationship with him, yet you come out to enjoy the festival together on a day like this?"
"That's not… I mean, what I'm saying is…"
What answer should she give? Tisha's mind raced. The conclusion she reached was a little deflating.
"Well… we are friends, at least…"
"Friends."
Come to think of it, Kyle had given the exact same answer not long ago. Friends. For now, friends.
Judging by her reaction, though, Tisha clearly wants something more than that.
She was not particularly curious about why Tisha had developed feelings for Kyle. What mattered right now was that this girl wanted a relationship beyond friendship. It made sense. Even from her own perspective, Kyle was an attractive man. First of all, as a scion of House John Nassen, there was no room to question his strength. On top of that, his personality had no rough edges at all. Most strong people were not merely proud—they were downright arrogant. Kyle was different from those arrogant types. He got along well with others. Of course there had been the recent duel incident, but that could be set aside as a special case. Both the cause and the challenge itself had come from someone else. Kyle had simply been swept up in it and, somehow, ended up with more attention than he wanted.
"So, you're friends with Kyle?"
"Yes. Friends."
"Hmm. In that case, since you're Kyle's friend, let me give you a piece of advice."
"Advice…?"
"Yes. Advice that should prove quite useful to you, Tisha."
Offering advice out of nowhere—what was she scheming? Gazing at the woman who reminded her of a blazing flame, Tisha quietly waited for the next words.
"Don't get too close to Kyle."
"…What did you say?"
"If you do, you might end up getting hurt yourself."
Twitch—.
The moment she heard Elga's words, Tisha's eyebrows shot upward. Emotion had stirred. A woman who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere was saying something like that; of course a woman's wariness flared up all at once.
"What exactly do you mean by that?"
Tisha already knew. This woman, Lady Elga, held a peculiar interest in Kyle. In the way she looked at him, in her voice, there was a small but unmistakable certainty. This girl, too, had her eyes on Kyle just as she did.
"I said you might get hurt, Tisha."
"I see. I might get hurt."
A threat? That seemed highly likely. Whatever else he was, Kyle was a noble—the second son of Viscount John Nassen. And who was Elga? The young lady of the tremendous Litorio Grand Duchy. By comparison, Tisha herself was nothing more than an ordinary commoner with nothing special about her. People said the boundary between nobles and commoners was thin at this Academy, but it was not nonexistent. More importantly, she would not live here forever; observing proper boundaries was essential.
What does she mean by that? Don't tell me she's telling me to stay away from Kyle?
She recalled Kyle casually praising her as a decent person for a grand duke's daughter. He had smiled and said, You don't need to worry about Lady Elga. Because she trusted Kyle, Tisha had not worried much either. But now that the situation had come to this, she desperately wanted to tell him the truth right away.
"Ah. Don't misunderstand."
"Misunderstand?"
"I'm not threatening you. I'm genuinely worried. The truth is, Kyle—or more precisely, House John Nassen—did something that put them out of favor with our Litorio Grand Duchy. We're keeping quiet about it for now, but the relationship is quite uncomfortable. Because of that incident, my brother's people will almost certainly go after Kyle."
She had already heard this from Kyle not long ago. That his older sister had injured the legitimate heir of the Litorio Grand Duchy. She had known that much, and that was why she had looked at Elga unfavorably. They would target Kyle. Because of that incident, those people would target Kyle. The moment she heard that far, a spark flared in Tisha's eyes.
"Lady Elga."
Setting her wariness of Elga aside for the moment, Tisha moved closer to the grand duke's daughter.
"About them targeting Kyle… could you tell me a little more?"