Everyone Has a Plan (2)
I never saw it coming.
Who in their right mind would expect the Finance Minister's daughter to be a woman built like a fortress? Even if a girl had enrolled in the knight division, most people would assume she simply reinforced her strength with mana—not that her body itself looked like that.
Besides, the Irina Varian I knew of was a slight, delicate girl. Nowhere near a giant over two meters tall. Had I walked into some kind of trap? But this was inside the Academy.
Stay calm. If I so much as looked rattled, she looked fully capable of folding my spine in half on the spot.
"Lady Varian—"
"Oh my, please just call me Irina. May I call you Frey as well?"
"You seem remarkably sociable, Irina."
"Ohoho. Even people meeting me for the first time become wonderfully friendly the moment I strike up a conversation."
I doubt that. They just don't want to get folded in half for being unfriendly.
A marquis's daughter, a knight-division student, and built like a mountain? Our small, adorable young lady would probably start trembling just standing in front of Irina.
But here, I had to play along.
"I imagine everyone simply recognizes how considerate you are."
"How kind of you to say so, Frey. Thank you for coming out today. Honestly, I wasn't sure you'd agree even once."
"Why did you think that?"
"You're being called a legend of the magic division."
"Excuse me?"
I hadn't even been enrolled at the Academy for two full weeks. What legend?
"Oh my, are you pretending not to know?"
"Well… I don't recall doing anything particularly extraordinary."
"How pure. I like men like that. But if you can't look at your own abilities objectively, you might attract jealousy from those around you."
"Then how do I look, objectively?"
"Incredible. Among the professors, they're calling you a genius who appears maybe once a century. Breaking through Professor Violet's illusion magic, not so much as a speck of interference from the magic training ground's circuits, throwing the library's grimoires into chaos… and I've heard you displayed remarkable talent any number of times during lectures as well."
Hmm.
I had simply been living Academy life diligently.
House Katram, like the Imperial family itself, was renowned as a house of magic. Bearing the Katram name, I had only worked hard enough not to invite suspicion.
I hadn't even pushed myself. I had simply used my full natural ability. And somehow that had spawned rumors about legends?
Was there some other top-tier educational institution besides the Imperial Academy that I didn't know about?
"I see. So that is why Irina took an interest in me as well?"
"Yes. I prefer strong men."
That much is painfully obvious… would be the correct response, wouldn't it?
"I worry whether I can live up to your expectations."
"Not at all. My eyes are accurate. I can see it even now."
"See what, exactly?"
"The way you don't leak so much as a single particle of mana, Frey."
"The fact that I don't leak mana? Why does that matter?"
"Frey. Look around you. Is there even one other person like you?"
"Around me?"
I had never particularly paid attention to other people's mana. What I knew about them was their factions and relationships—not their strength.
I looked at the students moving through the area, just as Irina had suggested. And I immediately understood what she meant.
Every single one of them was letting a fine trickle of mana seep outward. Some more, some less. The degree varied, but mana was constantly dissolving from their bodies into the air.
Wait—they were wasting mana like that? Mana circulation was something you handled inside the body. Why deliberately spill it into the atmosphere?
"That is…"
"Ordinary people waste mana like that. But you don't, Frey."
"Hmm. I see. This is the first I've heard of it."
"What? You mean you weren't even aware?"
"I simply thought this was how it was supposed to be done."
"Wow."
Irina laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them. The look in her eyes as she studied me was anything but ordinary. A chill ran down my spine for reasons I couldn't name.
"Performing a technique even upperclassmen struggle with, and without even realizing it… I'm starting to like you more and more, Frey."
"Haha. Is that so? Then tell me, Irina—how are the knight division classes? I've only attended magic lectures, so I'm rather curious."
"The knight division, you see, focuses most of the day on establishing physical balance. Combat may ultimately be fought with mana techniques, but the foundation of all of it is the body."
Irina had just launched cheerfully into stories about the knight division when—
Bang!
Someone slammed a tray down on our table and dropped into a chair.
Irina and I both blinked at Iren. She scooped up the pudding sitting right in front of her and spoke around a mouthful.
"I'm joining you."
"Your Highness?"
"What, got a problem with that?"
"No, but what is this…"
Even for a princess, I never expected her to barge into a seat like this.
This was a meeting between a duke's son and a marquis's daughter. Even a princess had no business cutting in so rudely.
Irina clearly recognized that as well—her eyes narrowed. Wow. That was an expression I'd only ever seen on war-history statues.
"Princess Iren. What is the meaning of this discourtesy?"
"Discourtesy, Irina? What are you talking about?"
"I was speaking with Frey. And yet you simply insert yourself. Isn't that right, Frey?"
"That's right, Irina."
Iren's brow twitched the moment she heard me call Irina by name. Then she turned her gaze back on the other girl.
"That has nothing to do with me."
"Nothing to do with you? Your Highness, please refrain from such outrageous remarks."
Irina's eyes flew wide. Wow. Actually terrifying.
"We are still rather confused as to whether Your Highness is truly a princess at all. Under those circumstances, I wonder whether narrowing your own standing is such a wise idea."
"Narrowing my own standing, is it. Can't you look at it the other way around?"
"The other way?"
"I marked Frey first. And you, knowing that, still called him out here. Should I take that as mockery of the Imperial family?"
There it was. Imperial privilege. If it had been me, I would have shot back that this was the Academy—but what would Irina do?
"I have no intention of mocking the Imperial family. But shouldn't romance be a matter of mutual feelings between the people involved?"
"Frey is mine. He is going to be my retainer."
"And yet he came out here, and in time he will become a great man as a scion of House Katram."
"That is exactly the proof that you are not suited to him."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Do you really think Frey came here because he likes you?"
Iren wore a thin, cutting smile. Wait—surely this princess wasn't about to—
"That's right. Frey isn't mine right now. But that doesn't make him yours either. Because you were only chosen as a tool for him to use."
"What?! That is complete nonsense—!"
"Even if that weren't the case, this one prefers people who are genuine. If someone hides their true self, he takes it as a wound. Do you really think Frey will look kindly on you while you're wearing a fake face?"
"What on earth are you talking about?!"
"Did you think I wouldn't know?"
Iren rose from her seat and tapped Irina lightly on the forehead. It was an unforgivable rudeness toward a marquis's daughter—and yet, for some reason, Irina's face drained of all color.
"Stop that."
"You're a fool."
For the first time that day, Iren smiled brightly.
"You should have said something like that without touching her."
Light burst from Iren's fingertips. Irina screamed.
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
"You shouldn't cast such shoddy magic."
When the cluster of light faded, there stood Iren—and a little girl a full head shorter than her, staring up at the princess with a tearful scowl.
Where had Irina gone? Wait. Those features—surely not—
"Is that… Irina?"
"Ugh…!"
Irina clutched at herself with clothes that had all but slid off her. Then she glared up at Iren, breathing hard through her teeth.
"Princess Iren! How dare you—my body—!"
"If you're a little kid, you should live like a little kid. Right, Irina? What, want to hit me? With that tiny body, how exactly do you plan to manage that?"
"Grrrr!"
Irina actually swung a fist! But the punch stopped halfway and went nowhere.
Iren had grabbed her by the head, and those short arms could no longer reach her face.
"Go on, then. Hit me. Are your arms too short to reach?"
"Grrrrrr!"
"Irina. You need to act according to your station. Otherwise, this is the kind of humiliation you end up with. And Frey."
"Yes?"
"You're coming with me."
"Can't I just go home?"
Iren leaned in and whispered against my ear.
"I have a crystal orb that recorded the inside of the grimoire. If you don't follow me, I'll spread every last frame of it."
"…I'll follow."
When in the world had she recorded that?
It didn't matter for me—but I drew the line at my lady's bare body being circulated. Of all people, it had to be Iren who had transformed into her. What a mess.
Iren led me to an empty classroom. Then she held up the crystal orb for me to see.
I covered my eyes at once. The scene from inside the grimoire was genuinely playing back as footage.
"What exactly is the point of all this?"
"Why do you think I'm doing this? You know better than anyone. You're far too obvious."
Poke, poke. Just as she had done to Irina, Iren jabbed a finger into my forehead.
"It was written all over your face that you planned to use her. To shake me off, right? Don't lie. One word from me, and that footage won't just hit the Academy—it'll hit every back alley in the Empire."
"…You're correct."
This princess was far too thorough… To think she had already gathered blackmail material like this.
"I… may have schemed a little to push Your Highness away."
"Your thinking is shallow."
"Pardon?"
"Imagine you used her and then discarded her later. Do you think she would just sit quietly?"
"I was planning to break things off naturally…"
"You think a hunter who has already seized her prey just lets it go 'naturally'? Aren't you underestimating how nobles operate?"
"Ugh."
"Once she started getting involved with you, Irina would never have let you go. You cooled off and asked to break up? She would have sent word straight to House Katram. You would have been tormented by her for the entire rest of your Academy career."
I hadn't thought of that. I had only wanted to peel Iren off me—and the backlash could have been that severe.
"Hold on. Then hasn't Your Highness just made an enemy of Lady Varian?"
By Iren's own logic, Irina would never forgive someone who had so openly humiliated her in front of a crowd.
"Hmph. What is a mere marquis's daughter going to do by marking me as an enemy?"
"If you put it that way, I am a person of a ducal house myself."
"A collateral branch, nothing more. Anyway—if you want to shake me off, come up with a better method. Not that it will work."
Iren giggled. I quietly turned my head away.
Why did my chest flutter whenever I saw that smile? That was exactly why I had thought of using another young lady in the first place. Looking at this princess kept shaking the heart that was supposed to belong only to my lady.
My heart. Why are you so cheap? Please get a grip.
"M-more importantly. Now that I've come, you will erase that footage, correct?"
"Hm? Why would I?"
"Surely you don't mean to keep it? Have you taken such a liking to the bare body of the Katram duke's daughter? Absolutely not. I will not allow it."
Iren stared at me for a moment with a blank expression. What was that about? Then she sighed and shook her head.
"Even when you take a shot at me, you aim it that way… Haah. Fine. I have one request."
"A request? I'll do anything."
"Call me Iren."
"Pardon?"
"I told you not to pretend you didn't hear me. You called Irina by her name just fine. Why won't you call me by mine?"
"Well, because you're a princess, and…"
"Who was it that said we should live as equals because this is the Academy?"
"Th-that would be me?"
"So you have to call me Iren too."
"That is a bit…"
"Want a taste of what it feels like when that footage gets spread?"
"Iren! I'm sorry! Please just erase the footage!"
Damn it. I didn't even need to keep up the act, and I still called her that.
"Again."
"Iren."
"Again."
"Iren. Iren. Iren. Is that enough?"
"Perfect. Hehe."
Iren smiled as if she were in excellent spirits. A flush even rose to her cheeks—just how happy was she? Why on earth did this person like me so much?
"You have to keep calling me that from now on. Understood?"
"Ugh. Fine."
"Good. I'll delete it."
Iren smashed the crystal orb without a second thought. No—deleting the footage alone would have been enough! Do you know how much those things cost?!
"See you tomorrow, then."
"Right. Haaah. I'm exhausted."
"You can't get tired from just this much. Go on."
"Yes. Iren. See you tomorrow."
And with that, the day's work was done.
From now on, even if I tried to scheme, I would have to think it through carefully. How had I been seen through in a single strike and completely dismantled by Iren?
I was still sorting through my thoughts when I arrived at the estate.
"Frey!"
For some reason, my lady came running out to meet me.
"Ah—my lady?"
"Frey! Frey! Frey!"
"W-what is it? What's wrong?"
"I just wanted to call your name. Was the Academy fun today?"
"Yes. I learned a great deal."
"I see! Hehehe."
My lady beamed as she led me to her room and asked me to tell her about the Academy.
I gave her a suitably edited version with the Iren parts left out… and yet something felt off.
Why was my lady in such a good mood today?