Happy Free Time (2)
It was meant to be a leisurely lunchtime tea, yet the only person at ease was the girl seated across from Iris. Her eyes were closed, her expression gentle—but what lay beneath that serene surface was nowhere near as lovely as it appeared.
Long golden hair, eyes shut in mild repose. For all the warmth and kindness her features suggested, she was a thoroughgoing sadist.
Those she had used called her a one-of-a-kind bitch; those she had ruined howled her name and cursed her. She paid them no mind.
After all, they were nothing more than trash barking because they could not contain their own rage. To Stephania, what such trash thought of her was irrelevant. They were toys she played with and discarded when she grew bored.
The only things that truly mattered were her own pleasure and those who stood above her.
That was why she liked Iris.
Among the nobility, people who knew their place and tried—however clumsily—to curry her favor were rare. The way Iris still moved when treated like a lesser being, trembling yet unable to refuse, was more than enough to feed Stephania’s twisted interest.
She was too valuable to use a few times and throw away.
Sending her to Hoyeon to learn about the Baek Empire’s situation had never been about the information itself. It was simply to watch Iris flounder in distress and enjoy the show.
And yet the girl had returned with unexpected intelligence. How could Stephania not reward her? That was why she had summoned Iris so suddenly—to give a prize to her clever little pet.
“Iris?”
“…Lady Stephania.”
The voice was so full of unshed tears it sounded as though she had been crying on the way over. Stephania found it quite pleasant to hear.
“If you don’t drink soon, the tea will grow cold. I prepared your favorite. Are you not in the mood today?”
She entertained the mischievous thought of teasing Iris further, but decided against it; push too hard and the girl might break. This gathering was meant as a reward, not a punishment, and Stephania intended to keep playing with Iris for a long time yet.
“Ah—no… It’s just…”
“Hesitation is fine, but you really should drink.”
Looking at Stephania’s smile, Iris felt as though she were facing a venomous snake. She was certain that one day it would bite her to death.
Even so, she could not sever the relationship. The lives of her family, the rise and fall of her house—everything depended on Stephania.
The teacup the other girl offered felt like a poisoned chalice. Iris cursed the helplessness of herself and her house, doomed no matter what to take that cup and drink. She swallowed the poison.
The temperature was perfect—neither too hot nor too cold—the mouthfeel smooth, the fragrance lacking nothing.
For a fleeting moment Iris even entertained the silly thought that if the academy ever held a tea-brewing contest, Stephania would surely take first place.
“Well then, shall we discuss the situation in the Baek Empire?”
So it had come at last. Iris set the cup down carefully so it would not clink, steeling herself. What would she have to hand over this time? How badly would she be tormented?
“Before that, I have one question. Your uncle—he was engaged in missionary work on the Eastern Continent, got beaten up, and was sent back home, was he not?”
“Ah… yes. But why ask about that now…?”
“Yes. You’ve done well, Iris. That is more than enough.”
What on earth was going on? Iris thought hard, yet nothing came to her. Then why had she been sent to Baek Hoyeon in the first place? Everything about the other girl’s thinking was beyond her comprehension.
Stephania stroked Iris’s head once, as though finding the furiously thinking girl adorable. To Stephania it was an act of reward; to Iris it was an unparalleled humiliation.
“Th-then… is that all for today…?”
“Just a little more stroking.”
After petting Iris like a house pet for a while longer, Stephania finally released her. The well-kept violet hair felt so pleasant under her fingers that she often stroked Iris this way.
A third-year stroking a first-year looked, to outside eyes, like affectionate sisters. Anyone who knew the truth would only have sent Iris a look of pity.
Hiding the shame of having been petted by another, Iris made to leave. Stephania bid her a gentle farewell and did not forget to warn her that the path to the gymnasium was complicated, so she should take care.
Still so naive, right to the end. Stephania organized the few facts she had gleaned.
First: the Baek Empire was either relaxed or tolerant enough to forgive those who tried to spread impure ideologies.
Previous missionaries to the Baek Empire had never even returned as corpses. This time, even if he had been beaten, the man had been sent back with his head still attached—the first such case.
Second: the Baek Empire had now turned its gaze westward. The mere presence of Baek Hoyeon at this academy made that an established fact.
Whether that gaze was one of conquest or of friendship, Stephania did not particularly care.
In that case, she might as well go and cast a line. At her gesture the table and teacups began to blur. She left the spot as they faded; when she was gone, nothing remained.
No, someone really had been hiding. So someone had actually been eavesdropping on my entire conversation with Dogeon?
Suspicious. Golden hair, huge chest, and slit eyes—how was I supposed to not be suspicious? I knew judging people by looks was wrong, but come on. Slit-eyed character.
Those types always pretended to be allies for a while and then casually revealed themselves as the traitor later. Classic.
“I offer my apologies for daring to test Your Highness. Or rather… should I address you as Miss Hoyeon?”
“…Who are you?”
Who even are you? Super suspicious. Popping out of nowhere, slit eyes, and honorifics—there’s not a single trustworthy thing about her.
Maybe I was judging too much by appearances. Even Teacher Georg had looked like a decent person at first glance.
“My name is Stephania. I am also the master of a merchant guild so humble it cannot compare to the glory of the Baek Empire.”
I had just sworn not to judge by prejudice, yet the fact that she had been spying the whole time still refused to make sense.
More than that, she was a complete stranger. Listing the people I actually knew would have been faster. There was only so much you could learn in twenty episodes.
Still, I had memorized the profiles and the adult routes. Nowhere in any of them had the name Stephania ever appeared.
“…You do not seem to trust me. Well, even I would not wish to meet a peeping tom.”
When she puts it like she’s the wounded party, I start feeling guilty. She’s the one who did something wrong—why am I the one apologizing inside my head?
Weird. Now I felt like the trash. I was the victim, yet she looked so pitiful that I decided to at least hear her out.
“Haa. What is your business?”
Odds are she’s here with some “Do you know the Way?” pitch. Or since she said she’s a guild master, maybe she’s a scammer peddling junk.
She was clearly in the wrong, so why does it feel like I’m losing? I poked at the uneasy feeling in a corner of my mind, but no clear answer came.
“I am overwhelmed by your generosity. The matter is…”
One sentence and the scam-artist stink is already rolling off her. The excessive flattery, the way she clung until she got to the point and then flipped into a perfect sales smile—textbook huckster.
Scammers like this, once they decided someone was a mark, never let go. They were among the people I most wanted to avoid.
I still remembered being strong-armed into buying things I never invited them to sell. Anxiety started creeping in that she might be the same.
“If it would not be too bold, I should like to invite Miss Baek Hoyeon to a tea time this evening. What does Miss Hoyeon think?”
Tea time? A time for drinking tea?
Is that really going to be just tea? There’ll be a bunch of girls, and once they’re all together it’ll turn into giggling and trash-talking other people—and she wants to invite me?
No matter how I look at it, this is an open invitation to get dragged in and roasted. The moment the thought formed, the desperate urge to escape this tea-time-disguised public dunking session took hold.
I just want to attend the academy quietly. Why do incidents keep happening? After a brief bout of lamentation I pondered how to refuse her proposal in a sufficiently aristocratic manner.
“Today I would rather go to the library than a tea gathering. I shall attend a tea party another time.”
That should be cultured enough, right? The tone might be a bit stiff, but it’s already stuck to my tongue and won’t come off, so nothing to be done about it.
“So you prefer books to tea. Very well, I shall respect Miss Hoyeon’s wishes. But if ever, even later, Miss Hoyeon should desire to take tea with me…”
As she spoke, Stephania held out something like a crystal orb.
“…simply call. Wherever and whenever, I shall be listening.”
“You mean I am to stroke the crystal?”
“No, this is merely a gift. Is it not beautiful? A rare jewel found among dragonkind. I simply wish to get along well with Miss Hoyeon.”
In short, a friendship bribe.
…Receiving something like this really makes me feel like the bad guy. To me it just looks like a glass marble, but from her explanation it’s probably insanely expensive.
More than that, what she said just now bugs me a little. “Listening whenever and wherever”—how is that different from saying she’s stalking me nonstop? I tried hard to think of her as a good person, but she’s still suspicious.
That said, I had no intention of throwing away a free gift. It was pretty, and it had cost me nothing.
“…Very well. I shall accept it.”
“Thank you for accepting my sincerity.”
“…”
“…”
No further words came to mind, so an awkward silence settled. In the middle of it I asked her where the library was.
“Do you know where the library is?”
“Yes. The clock tower you can see over there also serves as the library.”
“My thanks.”
I offered the farewell-slash-thanks and fretted that she might grab me, but surprisingly nothing of the sort happened.
I thought she’d cling and drag things out, but she let me go cleanly. Maybe she’s a decent person after all.
Maybe the slimy noble society I imagined is pure delusion, and the tea gathering she’s hosting really is just “come drink a cup of tea and leave.”
Her expression had gone a little strange for a moment when she received my thanks, but it was surely nothing.
No matter how suspicious someone is, you still say thank you properly to someone who helped you. Slit-eyed character and stalker or not, she handed over a friendship bribe and even invited me to tea…
Does she want to be my friend?
It might have been the delusion of a loner, but the thought that she might become the first friend I made at the academy left me a little excited.
…Therefore, the gaze I felt behind me was definitely one of goodwill.
I forced myself to ignore the spine-chilling stare at my back and headed for the library.