Is This a Dream? (5)

My breath caught short.

It wasn't that Iren was crushing my face into her chest, exactly — it was because she'd suddenly announced she wanted to talk.

I'd fainted right in front of Aaron and Elena. And Elena had seen straight through how my heart kept swinging back and forth over Iren.

If Elena had told Iren about any of that, her already relentless physical advances would only grow fiercer from here on out!

The one mercy was that Iren's enormous… heart completely covered my face. Thanks to that, she wouldn't catch the finer shifts in my expression.

"What sort of talk do you mean?"

"What kind of talk do you think? Just… well, how do I put it."

I could feel her choosing her words carefully. Had Elena actually told her? If my suspicion was right, I was going to treat her to a high-altitude free-fall illusion from a thousand meters up.

But what came out was something else entirely.

"Have you been struggling lately?"

"Pardon?"

"Like… weirdly drained. Or mentally exhausted. Anything like that?"

"W-well, I don't know?"

Lately I'd been perfectly fine. Because His Grace the Duke had given me time off.

I'd been juggling the duties of head butler with Academy life, and once I got leave from the butler work, my body was more energetic than it had ever been. If anything, I wasn't burning enough energy — some nights I couldn't even fall ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠asleep.

Iren stroked my hair. She couldn't see a thing down there, yet she managed it perfectly.

"Really? You don't have to hide it."

"What would I gain by hiding anything?"

"Because otherwise there's no reason you'd faint."

"…!"

Ah. Of course.

Iren thought I'd collapsed from overwork. Which meant Elena hadn't told her my secret!

Yes — now I understood that strange air I'd been sensing from her. She'd been worried about me!

It was a ridiculous misunderstanding, but if I played this right, I might be able to use it.

"Haa… I suppose I can't hide anything from you, Iren."

"Y-you really pushed yourself until you fainted?"

"That's right. Truth is, I've had a lot on my mind lately, and I've been developing a lot of personal magic as well."

"On your mind? What kind of worries?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"They're personal. Private matters."

Iren fell silent. Even with my vision blocked, I could somehow feel her looking down at me with a dissatisfied expression.

"Worries don't get solved by keeping them bottled up alone."

"There are also worries that simply can't be shared with anyone else."

"I feel like I'm in a position to hear yours, though."

"Because you're the Imperial Princess?"

"Because I'm your friend."

That one actually hit me. Because she was my friend, she'd listen and worry alongside me. I didn't know much about youth, but that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was exactly the kind of thing a friend who was living it would say.

Unfortunately, I was faking illness right now, so I couldn't repay that sincerity.

"Iren. If we're friends, isn't it better to respect the worries a friend wants to keep to themselves?"

"You collapsed fretting over them alone. I want to know."

"Actually, there is another way you could help me."

"Another way? What is it?"

"This might make me sound terribly introverted, but the truth is I like time to myself."

And that was genuinely true. Because I was a head butler.

At the level of head butler of the Katram Ducal House, you spent an absurd amount of every day surrounded by people. The maids and butlers under your command, of course — plus the endless stream of nobles seeking an audience with His Grace, and commoners looking for work.

I could guarantee that the number of people I'd met in a single year ran well past several thousand. Which was why, outside of the time I spent with the young lady, I preferred to hole up alone in my room.

"Meaning?"

"If I could secure more time at the Academy to wander around at a leisurely pace by myself… I might be able to settle my mind and body."

That was what I'd been aiming for.

Lately Iren had been stuck to me far too much. That was exactly why my heart had started wavering and I'd gone to Aaron and Elena for advice in the first place.

If I could peel her off for a few days with this opportunity, it would be a good way to sort out my feelings.

"…"

Iren was silent again. Then she said something that sent a chill down my spine.

"Am I… annoying?"

"Pardon?"

"In the end, what you're saying is that I've been clinging too much and it's been hard on you."

"No, that's not—"

"You called me a friend, and I thought of you that way too. But I was just dead weight to you, wasn't I?"

"Iren, that's not what I—"

"Then what is it? You said you need time alone."

"Everyone needs time like that—"

"I don't particularly need time like that. So I'm not a normal person? Fine. I am the Imperial Princess. But I still think of myself as a human being with the same blood as the rest of you."

"You know that's not what I meant!"

"I don't know. The time we spend together only ever goes as far as the Academy anyway. Don't you rest comfortably once you're home?"

There was no way I could tell her that the young lady had started clinging to me strangely at home as well. If I did, I could confidently predict Iren would turn vicious.

"Right. Having dead weight stuck to you must be exhausting."

"I never said anything of the—"

"Then is it fine if I keep sticking to you?"

"That's a bit…"

"I knew it. Frey thinks of me as dead weight."

"No, that's not it at all!"

I was losing my mind! All I'd wanted was to bring the contact frequency back down to previous levels!

I could keenly feel Iren growing sad and angry at the same time. How — how was I supposed to fix this?

Tell her it wasn't like that at all and that she could keep clinging? Rejected. Elena's "player" accusation was still ringing in my head.

Push my opinion through even if it hurt her? Rejected. Hurting Iren, who was my friend, simply wasn't right.

Come up with a third option right now? Something that wouldn't wound Iren's heart and would still clear me of the player stigma! What method could possibly exist? Something that wouldn't hurt her and would still create a reasonable amount of distance?

Wait. Right now my face was hidden by her chest, wasn't it?

Found it. The third option.

I carefully manipulated my mana at a level she wouldn't notice, then fired an illusion spell straight into my own head.

The illusion I cast was a greatest-hits compilation of every stressful incident I'd ever endured. The principle was similar to making illusion cookies — only the direction was thoroughly negative.

Countless events flashed through my mind in an instant. Ah, this was something I would absolutely never do unless I were in a situation exactly like—

"Frey? Say something."

Iren puffed out her cheeks as she looked down at Frey, who had suddenly gone silent. She couldn't see him, of course — not with her chest in the way.

"Have you decided to ignore everything the dead weight says now?"

She even put on a deliberately angry tone, but Frey gave no answer. Iren was genuinely furious.

"Ignoring me is still going too far, don't you think? Keep this up and I'll do something mean."

Iren lifted the hand that had been stroking Frey's hair. And then—

"Tickle-tickle-tickle-tickle!"

She tickled him with everything she had! Iren knew perfectly well that Frey was extremely ticklish.

She still remembered the time a dog on the roadside had licked Frey's hand, and he'd burst out laughing and yanked his hand away in a fluster over nothing more than that.

By her estimate, about one second from now Frey would be thrashing all over and begging her to stop.

Five seconds passed.

"…Frey?"

Had he gotten better at enduring tickling over the years? But making no sound at all was still strange.

Iren carefully shifted her body to the side and checked Frey's face.

Frey lay there with a deathly pale face, foam at his mouth and a nosebleed running free — completely unconscious.

"Kya— kyaaaaaah?! Frey?!"

Iren screamed.

Hmm.

A familiar ceiling this time. I'd already seen it once, so I figured I was allowed to call the second viewing familiar.

The place where I blankly opened my eyes was, of course, the infirmary. I'd fainted in the infirmary, so lying in the infirmary made sense.

Is anyone around…?

The infirmary was strangely silent. Every light was out, and I couldn't even hear the sound of someone breathing.

Normally Professor Narei would be cackling away while drinking cocoa with ten sugar cubes in it. More importantly — where had Iren gone?

Whew. At least the fainting worked.

I'd fainted twice in a short span, and Iren had witnessed both.

That should have been enough for her to realize I genuinely needed time alone. She wouldn't take it too seriously, though. People fell asleep from exhaustion all the time, didn't they?

And when I fainted, I must have gone under as peacefully as drifting off to sleep, so Iren probably hadn't been particularly shocked.

Anyway, I wanted to get up soon.

Hmm.

Why wouldn't my body move?

I wasn't tied down or anything, yet I couldn't sit up. Had the illusion spell I'd fired into my head caused a side effect?

It was only an illusion spell. A quick check of my body would clear any side effects in no time. Let's see.

Clean?

My head was perfectly normal. No residual damage from the illusion spell whatsoever.

Then why was my body stuck to this bed?

"It feels a little cold, too."

The infirmary maintained optimal temperature year-round for the patients staying there. So why did it feel cold?

A sense of wrongness crashed over me in an instant. Instinct sounded the alarm. This space was extremely dangerous. Me? No.

The Academy was in danger.

Only then did the things in front of my eyes start to register.

First — the outside of the infirmary couldn't be observed. I didn't mean with my eyes. Even when I sent mana flowing outward, entry was blocked as if space itself didn't exist beyond these walls.

And the infirmary. Cold mana was creeping and crawling through every corner. It felt as though dozens of snakes carrying a chill had occupied every nook of the room.

What had happened while I was unconscious?

The moment the question formed, a voice suddenly rang through my head.

"That voice — Professor Narei?"

"Why on earth am I trapped?"

"Could you please consider the logical connection between your words? What does my overworking have to do with being sealed inside the infirmary?"

…

…………

………………

What did I just hear.

Is this a dream right now?