First Impression (1)
First Impression (1)
The back of my head was prickling.
Truthfully, the sensation of feeling someone's gaze is nothing more than the subjective interpretation of the person experiencing it. Human eyes do not emit lasers. What we call the glint in someone's eye is not light radiating from the eye itself, but merely the reflection of sunlight or some other external light source.
Unless you happen to be a nocturnal bird of prey or a feline, a person's eyes are not going to produce that kind of visible gleam.
So, strictly speaking, the reason the back of my head was prickling was most likely just in my own mind. In other words, it was because I was acutely aware of Claire's presence, sitting behind Alice and me as we sat side by side.
If Claire hadn't recognized me at all, I wouldn't have been so bothered by it. I might have been a little depressed, but that was all. I might have simply been satisfied that Claire had grown up well and moved on. There would be opportunities to get closer later, after all.
Of course, as a completely expressionless character, I couldn't just suddenly act all friendly out of the blue, but wasn't that a classic cliché for these typically cold, unfeeling characters? The kind who started out not reacting to anything others said, then gradually, as they began to mix with friends, their mask would crack little by little until they finally even smiled.
Ah, perfect.
Just thinking about laughing and chatting among the characters I'd loved made my heart flutter already. And even more so, imagining the surprised looks on their faces when I smiled for the first time.
Though to make that happen, I would have to maintain the expressionless character for a while.
That wouldn't be too difficult, since it was a concept I'd kept up for over ten years.
"......."
A strange tension hung over the classroom.
It was probably because of what had happened in the hallway earlier. The incident where Alice had pointed out that someone 'failed to greet the imperial princess properly.'
They must have seen what happened afterward, too, but these kids had also witnessed Alice refusing to bow her head before the headmaster.
So rather than choosing one approach to deal with Alice right away, they'd likely resolved to observe a little longer and figure out which 'method Alice preferred.'
And displaying an overly frivolous attitude could leave a poor impression on someone heavily favored to be the next Emperor. I didn't know about other classes, where the children of dukes and counts might be chattering away, but no matter how you sliced it, you couldn't place a duke or a count on the same level as the Emperor.
Besides, Alice hardly ever appeared at balls or banquets, so no one in the class knew her personally. It was no surprise the entire room's atmosphere had frozen solid. The commoner class was probably far more cheerful and friendly by comparison.
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
The classroom was so quiet I could hear the second hand of the pocket watch tucked inside my clothes,
and that silence held until the sound of the sliding door scraping open broke it.
...... Incidentally, the reason the classroom door was a sliding door, and the reason the desk arrangement inside vaguely reminded me of a Japanese classroom layout from a manga, was all because the developer behind the game that served as this world's original source material was a Japanese company. The hallway had a passably steampunk, Victorian feel, but the classroom alone was like this, creating an immense sense of dissonance.
Though it seemed no one else paid it much mind.
"Um."
The instructor who opened the door and began to enter stopped short at the front, momentarily flustered by the utterly frozen atmosphere. Then, as if embarrassed by her own surprise, she cleared her throat with a small cough and stepped into the room.
It was a young woman.
In reality, this was her very first teaching assignment. Unlike the granddaughter of Winterfield, who had taken charge of the other noble class, Class B, this gentle-looking instructor did not come from a military background.
But that didn't mean she was just some nobody. She was, after all, the second daughter of a ducal house.
Carolyn Northwood. A ducal house governing a duchy somewhat removed from the capital island. Though distanced from central authority, it was still a ducal house with imperial blood in its lineage.
Slightly light brown bobbed hair, similarly light brown eyes, and downturned corners to her eyes. Her overall impression already looked a bit dull, and the clothes she wore were oddly baggy, almost like a middle-schooler's first uniform. It was actually part of this Carolyn character's established setting that she concealed a spectacular figure underneath those frumpy suits in daily life.
For the record, she wasn't a playable character, but she did have a romance route with the protagonist. A heroine who contributed to the main story in her own way...... or so I should say. In terms of actual importance, it was closer to 'a supporting character you could also romance.'
In order to control Class A, where the high-ranking nobles and families close to the imperial house were especially concentrated, the homeroom teacher needed to be a member of a family with comparable authority. Of course, Winterfield was also an instructor more than qualified for Class A, but the original game's setting was that Carolyn had been assigned to Class A because of Jennifer Winterfield's extremely rebellious personality—a firm declaration that she 'wasn't about to listen to her grandfather anyway.'
Though she was a teacher descended from a ducal house, she was not even ten years older than us, someone who had just graduated from university and taken up her first post.
It was only natural for her to feel intimidated the moment she walked in and saw two imperial princesses sitting side by side in the very front row, in the seats closest to the lectern.
On top of that, whether it was because of those two princesses or not, the classroom atmosphere was frosty and frozen, and what was more, one female student in the back was staring a hole straight through the back of one of the princesses' heads.
Just imagining it was enough to make me feel faint, so I wondered how Carolyn, actually placed in that situation, was coping.
"......."
Carolyn, who had frozen stiff in front of the open door, finally seemed to collect herself and started moving.
Walking with her head slightly bowed and her eyes fixed on the floor, she looked almost pitiful.
She seemed to be hoping desperately to avoid meeting the two princesses' eyes—
—but regrettably, to stand at the lectern and lower her gaze to the attendance book, she had to make eye contact with us for at least a moment.
"Everyone?"
Ah.
Her voice cracked the moment she opened her mouth.
But no one in the classroom laughed. It would have been embarrassing for Carolyn if even one person had burst out laughing, but the fact that nobody laughed under those circumstances was only pushing our Miss Northwood further and further into a corner.
"I am...... I am!"
But having become a teacher, she couldn't just back down.
No matter how new she was, by the time she stood as an academy instructor, she was, in her own way, staking her family name on it. If word got out that she'd been cowed by a student, it would tarnish the name of House Northwood.
Carolyn had managed to pull herself together and call out, but her voice was so thin and high-pitched it didn't come across as shouting at all.
"I am called Carolyn Northwood! The second daughter of House Northwood!"
"......."
There was no grand reply, of course.
Because twelve ducal houses existed in the Empire.
Two of the heroines who figured prominently in the main story were themselves dukes, and if you counted the entire student body across all grades, there were sixteen children from ducal houses alone.
That was the reality.
The Empire was a nation so vast that ranks could be assigned even among 'ducal houses.' Invoking a ducal title to an individual student might have been somewhat effective, but wielding it before an entire class could only draw a lukewarm response.
Above all, there were two imperial princesses sitting right in front of this young lady of House Northwood.
"I-it's a pleasure to meet you all!"
And as I watched that Carolyn, I was smiling inwardly with deep satisfaction.
I was the person who had cleared every single heroine's route and uploaded a 'compilation video for people who couldn't be bothered to clear them all.'
Naturally, I had seen the kiss scene between Leo and Carolyn.
I'd also seen the event scene where she was tricked by the Class B homeroom teacher, Jennifer Winterfield, into coming to the student swimming pool in a bikini.
In many ways, she was a character full of gaps, but within the game, she was also a positive figure.
The dedication Carolyn possessed as a teacher was utterly sincere.
In the later stages, when the Empire split into civil war over the Emperor's declaration of a world war, Carolyn risked her life to protect her students. No, not just the academy students, but every minor within her sight, under the name of Northwood.
And she protected them proudly. At least, up to the latest installment.
Though her first teaching job made her seem a little scatterbrained, she was a character beyond reproach in terms of integrity. That was the image I held of the character named Carolyn.
So naturally, my first impression of her could only be favorable.
Of course, I only thought so on the inside; my expression remained thoroughly blank.
"......."
Even after Carolyn's greeting, the class lay submerged in silence for a while, until finally,
Clap, clap.
Only after someone began to applaud were we freed from that silence.
The sound of clapping came from right beside me.
Indeed. It was Alice who had begun to clap.
Hearing the slow, measured applause, I started to follow Alice's lead, and soon the other kids began to join in, one by one, until the entire class was filled with enthusiastic clapping.
When I glanced at Alice's face, there was a faint smile at the corner of her lips.
Only after seeing that expression on Alice's face did Carolyn Northwood seem to feel a little relieved, as she placed a hand on her chest and let out a small sigh.
Well, anyway.
At least it was a relief that Alice's first impression imprinted on our homeroom teacher probably wasn't 'frightening.'
*
Although the academy was a four-year institution, it wasn't actually modeled after a university. Rather, the structure felt like a combination of the third year of middle school with three years of high school. In this world's setting, universities existed as separate institutions of higher learning.
So, there was no such thing as a teacher who simply spent a few minutes on self-introductions during the first class before letting everyone out early.
Especially not when the person at the front was an infinitely passionate history teacher.
Carolyn Northwood was exactly that kind of teacher.
It could be said to be a bit of unfortunate luck for the students that the first period happened to be the class taught by our homeroom teacher, Carolyn.
But no one treated Carolyn lightly by chatting through her lesson instead of listening, or by openly dozing off.
Because the imperial princess seated in the very front row was diligently studying.
The academic atmosphere of a class depended on the student who led it. If the person effectively acting as class president was some hopeless delinquent who had long given up on studying, the other students probably wouldn't have focused much on the lesson.
Though with the Empire's class system wedged into this academy, I couldn't say for certain how things might spin out.
In the original story, Class A's academic atmosphere had been quite good, after all.
"...... And thus, the Aetherna Empire came into being."
The first lesson was light content. Beginning with the Empire's founding myth, something almost everyone knew, it moved into how the Empire had annexed the surrounding kingdoms and the extent of the Empire's territory when it was first established.
In truth, most of the people sitting here probably already knew. It was already part of the material covered in the academy entrance exam.
But still, we were only children of fifteen.
For the more advanced material to follow, the earlier parts had to be reviewed first. Besides, there were foreign students among the incoming class.
Right as Carolyn finished speaking, the bell rang in time with her conclusion.
In the original game, I'd just assumed they'd timed the dialogue to match the end of class, but seeing the bell ring with such exquisite timing the instant Carolyn's explanation ended, I wondered if she had agonized enormously over how to structure the lesson before coming to school.
"We'll stop here for today. Are there any questions?"
No one raised a hand.
Nobody wanted to throw away a break period that lasted only ten minutes.
"Then, that's all for today's lesson. I'll see you all again in the afternoon."
As if most of her tension had unwound over the course of the lesson, Carolyn offered us a small smile before leaving the room.
...... Still, there was no 'attention, salute' or anything like that. Though this seemed like the kind of place where that would fit.
I supposed no such scene appeared in the original game anyway. Maybe the developers thought the presence or absence of rigid formalities was what defined a 'Western-style freedom.'
Even though the school system was entirely out of a Japanese campus story.
"It isn't as difficult as I expected."
In an atmosphere far more relaxed than before, Alice spoke to me as if relieved.
"It's the start of the term, so they begin by confirming what you already know. There might be a student who got nearly every question on imperial history wrong on the exam, after all."
The academy entrance exam had no absolute cutoff score, after all.
"Hmm. Is that so?"
Still, perhaps deciding this was an atmosphere she could follow well enough, Alice’s expression relaxed considerably.
...... Though in truth, it was less about keeping up and more that she would become one of the top students in this entire school.
Had I been overusing my abilities a bit too much with her, after all?
"I trust you have been well."
While I was lost in thought, someone suddenly directed a greeting at us in a quaint, archaic style.
That voice was—
"Ah, Charlotte!"
Char—
I stared at Alice in alarm as she called Charlotte's name in an incredibly chipper voice.
At least I was fortunate my expression didn't crack.
No, hold on.
Charlotte?