Orders
In the silence of the headmistress's office, Emilla Gale stood gazing out the window, sunk deep in thought.
Ever since the Grand Elder, Dorothy Lightsheld, had left the Academy, Emilla had not known a single moment of rest.
Her sudden absence had cast a subtle unease over the entire Academy, and Emilla had taken every measure she could to keep the outside world from noticing.
She issued false notices to make it seem as though the Headmistress was still on campus. She processed paperwork so the Academy's administration appeared to be running smoothly. She tightened security against any possible intrusion from outside.
Already high-strung by nature, the extreme stress of the Grand Elder's absence had drawn her nerves razor-thin. The weight of responsibility pressing down on Emilla's shoulders grew heavier with each passing day.
When is this disciple of the Grand Elder's supposed to arrive, anyway?
Before she left, Dorothy had left Emilla with a single instruction: My disciple will come looking for me. Take care of them.
A special recognition magic had been placed on the headmistress's office, she had said — the moment the disciple stepped inside, Emilla would know at once. And so she had been given the rather cumbersome order to admit every visitor who came seeking the office until that moment arrived.
What on earth was she thinking, with a method this inconvenient… She could have just told me who the disciple was.
Emilla shook her head. She must have had her reasons. Emilla would simply follow the Grand Elder's final command to the letter.
The problem was that, since receiving that order, almost no one who could be called a "visitor" had come to the headmistress's office at all — professors and administrators dropping by on business aside. And the recognition magic Dorothy had left behind had not reacted to a single one of them.
…Ah.
Suddenly, the face of a student who had caused a scene just moments ago floated into her mind.
Yeon Bennet. That infamous problem child.
Somehow she had known the Grand Elder was away, and of all times, she had chosen that exact moment to come looking for the headmistress's office. Emilla had been waiting for a chance to punish her for a long time. Contaminating this sacred Academy was bad enough — but to walk around again without so much as a proper punishment, as brazen as ever…
Ordinarily, clashing with the Bennet Duchy would have made her untouchable. But not anymore. Emilla had simply been too busy with work to deal with her until now. The opportunity had presented itself, and she had given the girl the treatment she deserved.
Still…
A chilling thought made Emilla's brow furrow.
Don't tell me… I should have let her in, too?
She shook her head at once.
No. Impossible.
Yeon Bennet. A student so notorious for her misdeeds that she was called the shame of the Academy. A girl even suspected of being a Contamination worshipper. There was no way a woman like that could be the Grand Elder's disciple.
Dorothy's disciple would surely be someone upright and pure of heart — a person of genuine talent. Someone who could not even be compared to trash like Yeon Bennet.
That girl had even been imprisoned once on the Grand Elder's own orders. Dorothy would never have sent her own disciple to a cell.
Yes. It was impossible. That girl was absolutely not the disciple.
Emilla forced the unease down. The commotion in the corridor just now, and the image of Yeon Bennet being roughly dragged away by Camilla Medici, still flickered before her eyes. The memory left a sour, unsettled feeling in her gut.
Camilla Medici. Daughter of the Medici Duchy, and president of the first-year class. Emilla already knew her for a shrewd, calculating child. For a girl like that to appear out of nowhere and haul Yeon Bennet off under the pretense of "educating" her — there was certainly some other scheme at work. She was probably using Yeon Bennet to attack the Bennet family, or angling for some other political advantage.
…I really don't like the way the duchies have been carrying on lately.
Emilla clicked her tongue. How long had it been since the Calamity-class monster Envia was destroyed and the front lines settled into a lull? And already they were baring their claws at one another. The moment a common enemy weakened, the petty power struggles began — the Bennet Duchy's internal strife, and Medici and Lapellasia circling the cracks like a pack of hyenas, waiting for a chance to tear into each other.
Yeon had almost certainly been swept up in the friction between the houses. Camilla would drag her off and subject her to every kind of humiliation and harassment. Perhaps something worse still.
As a professor of the Academy — and as the Grand Elder's adjutant — Emilla should by rights have protected the student and put a stop to the situation. Even if that student was a problem child like Yeon Bennet.
But Emilla did not. Or rather, she did not want to. She believed the girl was trash who deserved exactly that treatment. The crime of trying to draw Contamination into the Academy was unforgivable. Whatever Camilla did to her was, in a sense, her just deserts. Perhaps this was an opportunity to deal with the matter without dirtying her own hands.
If this had been outside the Academy, Emilla would have executed Yeon Bennet on the spot without a second thought. Anyone connected to Contamination was an enemy of humanity. Eliminating them was a soldier's duty. But this was the Academy, and she was a professor. Even so, killing a student on campus left a bad taste in her mouth.
Camilla will handle it well enough on her own.
Emilla thought coldly, and turned her eyes back to the paperwork. Whatever became of Yeon Bennet was none of her concern. What mattered now was concealing the Grand Elder's absence, stabilizing the Academy, and finding the real "disciple" as quickly as possible. She had no time to spare for the likes of Yeon Bennet.
The first-year student council room of the Academy.
Camilla reclined elegantly against a comfortable sofa, tilting a teacup with refined grace. But her ruby eyes held no ease — only cold calculation and a restless urgency, flickering back and forth.
I'm running out of time.
Since Serena Bennet's declaration, the Bennet Duchy's internal conflict had only accelerated. For Camilla, this was a golden opportunity. Before Isaac Bennet was fully ousted and Serena seized control of the house, she needed to dig up his dirty secrets and drag the entire Bennet Duchy down into irreversible ruin alongside him. Only then could the Medici family claim that vacant seat for themselves.
And for that, the information Yeon Bennet held was essential. There had to be a reason Isaac Bennet protected her so fiercely. Yeon Bennet almost certainly knew something tied to the Duke's filthy corruption — or she herself was the evidence.
"We've found her, my lady."
A follower approached like a shadow, bowing respectfully as she delivered her report. Camilla had assigned several of her followers that morning to track Yeon's movements — to find a weakness, or the right moment to approach.
"Well? Where is she, and what is she doing?"
Camilla set down her teacup and asked.
"After leaving the dormitory, she went straight to the main building."
The follower answered without hesitation.
"And… we confirmed she continued climbing toward the top floor. She currently appears to be standing in front of the headmistress's office."
"The top floor? In front of the headmistress's office?"
Camilla's brow furrowed. The highest floor of the Academy's main building was a place ordinary students almost never had reason to visit. Aside from the headmistress's office, there were no facilities of note up there. Was she trying to steal something behind the Headmistress's back? Or did she have some other secret purpose?
If that was her aim, so much the better. Yeon's own stupidity would hand Camilla the perfect opportunity.
Just then, the reporting follower carefully added:
"And… my lady. Just now, we saw Professor Emilla leave the headmistress's office… There seemed to have been some kind of conflict with Yeon Bennet. The atmosphere looked quite hostile."
"With Professor Emilla?"
Camilla's eyes lit with interest. Emilla Gale — the health professor and the Headmistress's close aide. What could have happened between her and Yeon Bennet? The reason was unclear, but this was nothing short of a heaven-sent chance.
Even better.
Loitering outside the headmistress's office wasn't enough — she had clashed with a professor as well? There could be no better pretext. Yeon Bennet had caused trouble yet again, so as first-year class president, Camilla could naturally bring her in under the banner of "guiding" and "protecting" her. Professor Emilla would have no reason to object to having a nuisance removed, either.
"Good. Let's go, then."
Camilla rose from her seat. It was time to handle this herself.
"Where is she?"
When she asked, another follower answered promptly.
"The top-floor corridor of the main building, right in front of the headmistress's office. She's still there."
Camilla smiled with satisfaction and left the reception room. Yeon Bennet — that foolish little mark — had not only walked straight into the trap herself, but had even handed Camilla the perfect justification on a silver platter.
Having brought Yeon back to her private hideout, Camilla found herself frowning at an unexpected sight.
"……?"
Something was wrong with Yeon.
Her face was flushed an unnaturally deep red, and her eyes were unfocused and hazy. Her breathing came short and irregular — and worst of all, a faint but relentless sound kept slipping from between her lips, grating on Camilla's nerves.
"Hhnn… nngh…"
A strange little moan that sounded almost like pain — or perhaps the opposite. Even the subtle way she twisted her body, the way her shoulders curled in on themselves…
What's wrong with this girl?
Camilla's brow furrowed. Was it the shock of whatever Professor Emilla had done to her? Had she eaten something bad that morning? Or else…
Has she finally lost her mind?
For some reason, she looked… incredibly…
Lewd.