Aylin Katram (1)
“Haaaaah.”
A sigh escaped me. Even after exhaling as if the earth itself would cave in, it still wasn’t enough.
“Haaaaaaaaaah.”
So I let out another one. I simply couldn’t make sense of what had happened this week.
It was baffling. Just what on earth had taken place in the library?
Why hadn’t Iren spoken a single word since then? And it wasn’t just the silence.
All week long, cold mana had been pouring off her in waves. Students and even professors had started giving her a wide berth.
There hadn’t been any particular signs either.
She’d been her usual playful, mature self. Had I said something rude to her?
If anything, it was Iren who’d been the one teasing me. Besides, even when I’d spoken roughly the other day, she’d just laughed it off, hadn’t she?
I couldn’t understand it. Neither of us had done anything wrong, so why had things turned out like this?
Argh! To think I was fretting over Iren like this! Wouldn’t it be better if that noisy Iren just left me alone on her own?
No, wait. Iren was my friend now. Thinking about a friend who wasn’t a romantic interest was fine, right?
No answers came, so I just kept sighing when—
“Frey, is something troubling you?”
“Wha—?!”
I jumped at the young lady’s voice. She chuckled softly at my reaction.
“How unusual. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you so startled, Frey.”
“Ahaha, is that so?”
“At the mansion, you’re the splendid head butler who commands the maids and butlers. You never get flustered, do you?”
“That’s because it’s necessary.”
As head butler, I couldn’t afford to show panic in front of others. Though at the Academy, I’d been a bit more relaxed.
“It seems attending the Academy has loosened me up a little. I’ll have to tighten up again.”
“I rather like the current Frey. So, what is it? Why all the sighing?”
“It’s a secret.”
“A secret?”
The young lady looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“You’re quite the joker today, Frey.”
“Pardon?”
“What could you possibly be hiding from me? You, Frey?”
“Ugh.”
True enough. Aside from one single thing, I’d never hidden anything from the young lady. If she was curious, I always answered.
For reference, the one thing I was hiding was that I’d bought a special crystal orb that could contact her crystal orb directly. That absolutely couldn’t come to light. The pure, innocent Frey image I’d built up would all come crashing down.
Looking at the young lady gazing at me so innocently, I supposed I ought to tell her the truth?
But for some reason, I didn’t want to talk to her about Iren. Hmm. Then maybe I could deflect a little…
“I haven’t really formed many human relationships, have I?”
“That’s right. You’ve only ever lived at the mansion.”
“But a friend came to me for advice. Said that as a branch family member of the Katram Ducal House, I ought to know about these sorts of problems.”
“Being high-born doesn’t mean one knows about such things.”
“Right? Anyway, my friend’s worry goes like this.”
I dressed up what had happened between me and Iren as if it were someone else’s story and explained it to the young lady. After listening, she tilted her head.
“I don’t know either. Why would that person suddenly stop talking?”
“I have no idea. The friend who asked for advice is quite close, so without realizing it, I’d been clutching my head over it.”
“Hehe.”
“Was there something funny?”
“No. Just that you seem to be doing well at the Academy.”
The young lady gazed at me steadily with her mysterious crimson eyes.
“Making friends who come to you for advice, and fretting sincerely for someone else’s sake. It’s not bad.”
“I’ve always been like this, though.”
“No. To be precise, only toward me, you know?”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t you realize? Frey, how should I put it… You seemed to have no interest in anyone but me.”
Suddenly the young lady began unpacking my story.
“It wasn’t that you didn’t get along with the people at the mansion. Everyone praised you, and you lived up to those expectations. But to me, it felt a little different.”
“In what way?”
“If you poured ten parts of your heart into me, you only gave one part to everyone else?”
“That’s because you’re my master, young lady…”
“No, Frey. It’s clearly different.”
Swoosh. The young lady took my hand. Wait, my hand?
“Ah, young lady?”
“When you were only at the mansion, you were different. You gazed blindly at just one person. And that was me.”
“If that’s how you felt, it’s because I admire you…”
“How frustrating. That’s not it, is it?”
The young lady gripped my hand even tighter. Being frail, it didn’t hurt at all. But I felt something ominous.
This was the first time the young lady had held my hand like this. Normally my heart should have been pounding wildly.
Yet for some reason, it felt as if a cold dagger had pierced my chest.
“Young lady, I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Is that so? Really?”
“Yes. I’ve been fretting over my friend’s worry, so…”
“Hmm, well. That part of you has changed, though.”
The young lady rose from her seat.
“Then how about this?”
“How about what?”
“You heard the detailed circumstances from that friend, right? And the one who stopped talking is a woman.”
“That’s correct.”
“Then let’s reenact the situation with me.”
“The situation?”
“Looking at it objectively, we might figure out why that woman acted that way, right? So we’ll recreate something similar.”
That made sense. As expected of the young lady. She even knew how to solve things like this!
But there was a problem.
“That happened at the Academy. How do we reenact it?”
“Come on, Frey. Have you forgotten where we are?”
The young lady spread her arms wide.
“This is the Katram Ducal Mansion. We have facilities similar to the Academy’s, all of them.”
“Aha! That’s right!”
Indeed. The Katram Ducal Mansion had places for tea, a library, and even spaces for training maids and butlers.
Aside from the lack of students, the facilities weren’t much different from the Academy’s!
The young lady held out her hand.
“Then let’s reenact it together. All right?”
“Yes!”
To uncover the mystery of Iren’s strange behavior, the young lady and I began touring the mansion.
“First, let’s go to the kitchen. The head chef makes excellent drinks.”
“Understood.”
As the young lady said, we headed to the kitchen first. And the head chef was left speechless by a menu he’d never heard of in his life.
“Head Butler, what did you just say?”
“A matcha latte with double syrup, lemon whipped cream, double chocolate chips, rainbow sherbet topping, a cherry on top, and a chocolate straw.”
“Hmm, that might take quite a while…”
“Head Chef.”
The young lady smiled sweetly beside me.
“I believe in you?”
“I’ll have it ready in ten minutes!”
The head chef dashed into the kitchen, burning with motivation. Well, of course. Everyone in the mansion would jump at the young lady’s word without a second thought.
The head chef delivered the perfect drink not in ten minutes, but in seven.
“Here it is!”
“How is it, Frey? Just like the one you saw at the Academy?”
“If anything, it seems even more refined.”
“Good, well done, Head Chef.”
Hearing the young lady’s praise, the head chef quietly closed his eyes. He looked ready to ascend to heaven.
“You carried this around drinking it while meeting various people, right?”
“Yes. We just need to find people who are roughly similar.”
There were plenty of similar people in the mansion.
Like a butler who loved sweets as much as Professor Narey.
“Cough. Ah, young lady? Head Butler? This isn’t me slacking off…”
“Sure, Kerop. I’m on vacation, so I’ll let it slide.”
“Phew.”
“But will I let it slide?”
“Aaaagh!”
Or the maid in charge of the mansion’s first-aid supplies.
“Oh my, it’s been a while since I’ve seen the two of you wandering around like this.”
“Nello, no shortages in the medical supplies?”
“None, young Head Butler. But why are you inspecting things when you’re on vacation?”
“Frey has his reasons, hehe.”
If we needed someone in a position similar to Headmaster Alketo, then here…
“Young lady, this might be…”
“Go in, go in.”
“What, Frey and Aylin? What brings you on the weekend…”
“Father! I hate you!”
“Wha…”
His Grace the Duke clutched his chest and collapsed. The young lady giggled as she grabbed my hand and shouted.
“Run!”
“Young lady! His Grace!”
“Father will be fine, hurry!”
We dashed away until we were far from the Duke’s office before stopping. The young lady laughed while catching her breath.
“Ahaha. Doing this sort of thing once in a while isn’t so bad.”
“Y-young lady, I’m grateful for your help, but is this really all right?”
“Father is a very understanding man, so it’ll be fine. But Frey.”
“Yes?”
“From what I’ve seen so far, I still don’t understand why that woman got angry.”
“I never said she was angry.”
“But she didn’t speak all week, right? If that’s not anger, what is it?”
“Hmm.”
“And besides.”
The young lady suddenly looked at me with a serious expression.
“Treating someone who made things this fun for her like that is just too much. That woman must be incredibly petty and small-minded.”
“No, you shouldn’t say that.”
That woman is Her Highness the Princess, you know. Backbiting isn’t allowed.
“I’m right, aren’t I? She must have gotten angry all by herself for some reason no one else knows. It’s absurd. Better not get close to someone like that.”
“Is that… so?”
“Your friend doesn’t understand her actions, and neither do you, right? So it’s not our side that’s wrong.”
“Hmm…”
Perhaps the young lady was right. As she said, I hadn’t done anything wrong.
Even so.
“I still can’t give up.”
“What?”
“That woman is my friend’s precious first friend. There must have been circumstances. I don’t think it’s good to jump to conclusions without knowing her true feelings.”
“Even though she’s the one getting angry for no reason?”
“There might be other reasons. People are complex and subtle beings, after all.”
“But, ugh.”
“Young lady?”
The young lady suddenly covered her mouth and bent over. Was it from the running just now?
“I’ll take you to your room!”
“No.”
The young lady raised a hand to push me away.
“Maybe it’s from drinking the beverage and then running. Frey. I’m sorry, but would it be all right if I stayed alone for a bit?”
“I’ll at least escort you to your room.”
“No. I suddenly want to be alone.”
“Young lady, is something the matter—”
“Please, Frey.”
The young lady looked at me with pleading eyes. When she looked at me like that, I couldn’t refuse.
“Haa, all right. But you must go straight back to your room.”
“I understand. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help today.”
“Not at all. You’ve been more than enough help. I’m in awe of your wisdom once again today. Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
Shaking off my uneasy feelings, I distanced myself from the young lady. She waved at me with a pale complexion.
She’ll be fine in a few hours. I should bring some sweets she likes and visit her.
After Frey left.
Aylin hurriedly entered an empty room in the mansion. Then she slumped down in front of the door and gasped for breath.
“Hooo.”
Then she closed her eyes. The moment she did, a pitch-black world unfolded.
It felt as if she’d instantly entered a dream. But since she wasn’t sleeping, it was different from a dream.
This place was…
“Aylin Katram!!!! How could you!”
In the pitch-black world, a blue light fluttered and shone before her eyes. Blue hair and azure eyes.
Iren von Valencia was glaring at Aylin.