Student Council (2)

"The student council?"

"Yes, I received an invitation as well."

Charlotte took an envelope that looked like a wedding invitation from her bag as she spoke.

"I am not well acquainted with the academy's atmosphere or traditions, but... are these sent out in order of academic standing, perhaps?"

"They aren't sent by academic standing."

Alice shook her head at Charlotte's question.

"To be precise, they send them based on whether you come from a high-ranking house or not."

"Ah, I see."

Charlotte wore an oddly convinced expression ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at Alice's words.

"So I received this invitation because I am royalty."

"Probably. Do you happen to know who the student council president is?"

At Alice's question, Charlotte slowly shook her head.

"I am embarrassed to admit that I know very little about the nobility of the Empire. If it were people from my own homeland, I am fairly well acquainted, but..."

"That figures."

In fact, Alice wasn't particularly close to the nobles of her own country either. Considering that even someone destined to become the head of a house directly ennobled by the Imperial family didn't know Alice's face, that essentially meant Alice had completely neglected to build ties with the nobility.

Of course, the Empire was a nation where imperial authority was strong enough that it didn't matter anyway.

"So, did you get one too, Sylvia?"

Claire leaned forward, planting both hands on my desk, her eyes sparkling as she asked.

"No, I haven't received one yet."

"Maybe we came out too early?"

Even if she neglected ties with the nobility, Alice was definitely a child with a strong desire to be recognized by the Emperor. She had come out early in the morning and studied diligently.

And I had unintentionally followed her out and studied as well.

Still, it wasn't a big problem since I sank into a soft bed and slept deeply every night. There weren't any games in this world worth staying up all night for anyway.

In a sense, I was living far more comfortably after coming to this world than I had in my original world. Was that only natural, since I was the Emperor's daughter instead of an office worker?

"Given that Charlotte received an invitation, I think a letter has probably already been left in front of our dormitory room as well."

At Alice's words, Claire's eyes glittered brightly.

Honestly, they glittered so much I wondered if that was even optically possible.

And it was immensely pressuring too.

"Are you planning to join the student council, Sylvia?"

"..."

I glanced briefly toward Alice before answering.

"If Your Highness joins, I expect I will do the same."

"Then it's settled."

Alice spoke, a confident smile spreading across her face.

"I'm planning to become student council president later on. Considering that I will eventually ascend to my father's position, wouldn't it be good to experience standing at the top of something at least once?"

Well, since the children of influential noble houses gathered in the academy's student council, building connections for when she would eventually administer state affairs wasn't a bad idea either. In the original story, Alice, who had entered the academy alone, had thought the same and joined the student council.

Charlotte... hadn't seemed particularly interested, as far as I recalled. Looking at the setting, Charlotte had probably received a letter too.

Then again, Charlotte was a princess straight out of a painting, so she might not have cared about a student council full of injustice. After all, she had only come to this academy in the first place because the King of Belbur had sent her.

"In that case, shall I pay them a visit as well?"

But the Charlotte of this world was a different story. Although Charlotte had only begun building a friendship with Alice much later, the Alice who had felt an inferiority complex toward the title of "the princess who is perfection itself" no longer existed. Because the very reason to feel such an inferiority complex had vanished.

This, too, was probably a change that occurred because I was here.

It was a pleasant change.

"Oh, interested?"

Alice turned her gaze toward Charlotte as she spoke, but Charlotte shook her head.

"I am not actually that interested, but... well."

Charlotte smiled, gently.

I heard the sound of people around us who had been stealing glances quietly swallowing their breath. Especially the boys.

No matter how similar the races were, as long as the perception that she 'came from a foreign country' existed, in the eyes of those watching, Charlotte could only look like 'a beautiful princess from another land.' On top of that, the characteristic softness of the Belbur language lingered in her accent.

Beauties from foreign countries have been popular since ancient times. Even if that was nothing more than a fantasy that the observers projected onto them as they pleased.

Still, was Charlotte maybe an exception? Well, from her hair color to her aura, she was certainly enigmatic.

"Because I think it would be worth at least considering, if I am together with my friends."

"I see."

"I-I want to come too!"

Seeing Alice smile at Charlotte's words, Claire quickly interjected.

"Can I... come along too?"

"You too?"

This time Alice was a little surprised. Because saying you wanted to go to the student council without an invitation was the same as saying you intended to go and get turned away.

In the original story, Leo, who had become entangled with Alice, followed Alice's words and entered the student council room for the first time, which started everything... but even that Leo hadn't struck up a conversation with Alice because he wanted to go into the student council room. Going by the game's timeline, that was something that would happen a month from now. From when the story quests started appearing in earnest.

So, the daughter of a baronial house saying she wanted to go along like this could seem somewhat peculiar. Even though Alice herself had declared, 'Within the school, we are all simply fellow students,' she had a fairly clear awareness that they were not all the same kind of student.

"Huh? Is it not allowed?"

Claire, who had been looking at Alice, turned her gaze toward me and spoke with a pitiful look.

Hey, even if you said that to me...

... No, wait. That might actually be a good opportunity.

The student council was filled with highly authoritarian people, but being authoritarian also meant there was a high probability they feared that very authority themselves.

So, since things had come to this, taking Claire along might actually be fun.

Something like—Huh? Who is that woman? Why is some baron's daughter wedged between the imperial princess and a foreign princess? How can she be talking to them so comfortably? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠We're seeing all three of you for the first time—

—wouldn't that kind of development be delicious? Wouldn't it be refreshing, like a satisfying twist?

Hmm, maybe not. First, a scene where Claire gets ignored...

...I didn't want to see that.

Even if it looked this way, I had played that game for seven years, waiting for it every year. Apart from this particular worldview, I harbored my own affection for all the settings in that game series, for most of its protagonists. There were some bastards I absolutely loathed, but well, since those guys hadn't even properly appeared yet, I'd let it slide.

So, I didn't really want to see the characters I liked stuck in frustrating situations.

If I saw the student council kids ignoring Claire or Leo, I might not be able to hold back.

"..."

So that was why I was troubled.

"... Huh?"

And then Alice, who was sitting next to me, let out a questioning sound while looking at me. Ah, had I agonized too much? Surely my emotions weren't showing on my face, were they?

"Let us do that."

In the very moment I was worrying, Charlotte answered in a light voice.

"Is there a reason we could not?"

"That kind of reason... there isn't one, I suppose?"

Seeing Alice's head turn at Charlotte's words, I felt a little relieved. No, seriously, it would be too much for a concept I'd maintained for ten years to crumble in just two days.

"Although the fact that only those who receive an invitation can visit the student council is a little strange..."

Charlotte spoke while looking down at the envelope still in her hand.

"But still, the students of this academy are equal within the academy, are they not? I don't know if anyone would object just because Claire is mixed in with us when we go."

It was the expression of someone who had found something interesting.

"... Hmm."

And perhaps noticing that expression, Alice groaned. Well, since she had been observing my expressionless face over the past ten years, she could probably recognize subtle shifts in Charlotte's expression.

It was an expression of having found something interesting, but at the same time, an expression brimming with competitive spirit.

When a person didn't follow the rules they themselves had set. Charlotte absolutely despised people like that.

That was why she had disliked the student council of this 'equal' academy.

"..."

Alice's self-esteem had improved greatly compared to the main story, but that didn't mean her pride had diminished. Alice still possessed the pride of being the imperial princess of this Empire.

And she also possessed the pride of having entered as the top student of the Empire's finest academy—arguably the world's finest. Here, I had deliberately gotten questions wrong, so she had ended up with that distinction by accident, but since Alice seemed to always operate by categorizing me as an 'exception to the standard,' losing to me probably hadn't hurt her pride too deeply.

That was why she was agonizing.

Was bringing Claire along and exposing the true nature of the student council more damaging to her pride?

Or was somehow talking her way out of this and leaving Claire behind more damaging to her pride?

But I was certain.

For Alice, who possessed not only strong pride but strong self-esteem as well, she would choose neither of those two options.

"Fine, let's go together."

At Alice's words, Claire's expression brightened radiantly.

Yes, perhaps, if it were Alice.

I was certain she would rather choose to change all of it entirely.

*

In the original story, she had been a character with only strong pride at first, and a timid disposition, but the Alice I had worked hard to instill with the message, 'You are the one who will succeed the Emperor,' was not like that.

If there was something she disliked, or something she was ashamed to show others, she could simply tear it apart and rebuild it.

It wasn't as if Alice lacked the power to do that.

In truth, in the process of Leo getting to know Alice, not me, he would unknowingly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠foster her confidence, and by the end of the first installment, she would become bold enough to openly defy the Emperor.

Though the current Alice already had a record of defying him once.

She had said she went to see the Emperor to send me to the academy. Even Lucas hadn't told me what exactly happened during that meeting, so I didn't know the details, but I believed that at the very least, Alice had not spoken to the Emperor in a meek voice.

"..."

Ironically, the Leo who had awakened Alice that way in the original was, right here and now, drinking tea while trembling nervously.

His sibling Claire, on the other hand, was so utterly composed she was on par with Alice or Charlotte.

And the current student council members, shrouded in silence, were sending gazes full of suspicion from a little distance away.

It was not strange for me to come with Alice. During the few days since the academy term began, I had always been with Alice.

It was not strange for Charlotte to have come with us either. As a royal from another country, it made more sense for her to have a connection to the Imperial family rather than to the Empire's nobles.

But what of those two hangers-on from a baronial house?

Of course, being a baronial house didn't automatically mean lower standing.

A baronial house that had received its fief directly from the Imperial household consisted of people who received the Emperor's direct orders, and thus could potentially wield more practical power than a provincial lord. Moreover, House Grace had served as the sword of the Imperial family, participating in wars many times and racking up considerable achievements, and their reputation in the capital was deep.

But the noble children in the academy's student council were even bigger ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠figures than that. No matter how much of a capital baron he was, his standing was not higher than the children of a ducal house of imperial blood or a count's house situated right next to the capital. So, naturally, no invitation had gone to them.

Yet seeing them enter here together with the two Imperial Princesses and the foreign Princess, it was only natural to suspect there was something going on beneath the surface.

And the crux of the matter was the very fact that those kids didn't know the reason.

Because they did not know the reason, because they had no idea that this situation had arisen when Alice took Charlotte's roundabout suggestion to tease the student council members seriously, that very ignorance gave the situation meaning.

"..."

But it seemed no one was actually thinking about how to navigate this awkward situation.