Prejudice (2)
"The fine-tuning is a bit... taxing..."
At the very top of the clock tower, Alexander found himself wrestling with all manner of magical formulae.
It was a high-grade barrier, one that let through every wavelength imaginable—sound waves, mana, even the needle-thin rays of light flying in from outside—rendering its occupant completely undetectable. The real trouble came from the collision between the cleverly layered observation spells woven into it.
Only by calibrating the two with painstaking precision could he keep the observation spell hidden from outside eyes while still allowing it to function properly.
"There we go."
Having finally finished the adjustment, Alexander stretched to loosen his stiffened shoulders and turned his full attention to the observation spell.
The spell, which had been casting the city's skyline in miniature, zoomed in again and again in the blink of an eye until it landed on a certain villa.
A familiar sight.
Naturally so—it was a villa Alexander himself had once visited in person.
And gathered in its garden were more familiar faces still.
"Hero... what on earth are you doing over there this time..."
The Hero, Leopard. Marquis Dragonia. Yulia. And her daughter, Tia.
The four of them appeared to be enjoying afternoon tea. That he could catch no thread of the conversation passing between them was simply maddening.
Still, he thought that if he just kept watching, something useful might turn up—and it was at that very moment that it happened.
The Marquis's head turned abruptly, and he stared directly into the observation spell.
For an instant, Alexander felt as though their eyes had met, and his whole body shuddered.
"Kuh?!"
The next moment, the barrier and the spell alike shattered into fragments.
Struck by a searing agony as if his eyes had been gouged out, Alexander clutched his face and hid behind the rooftop.
There was no way he could have been seen. He had blocked every possible avenue of detection in advance.
And yet the Dragon's Eye had seen straight through him, hundreds of meters away, with perfect clarity.
Had the Marquis wished it, he could have killed him in that very instant.
"Hahaha..."
Alexander burst out laughing despite himself.
That was how impenetrable the security of Dragonia Villa was.
So why on earth had Yulia been hidden in that place of all places? And why was the Marquis lingering in the Imperial Capital for an extraordinary length of time?
"So much suspicion, and not a shred of proof..."
Yulia's trail had been confirmed, as if by pure coincidence, from the exact moment the Saintess vanished. As though she had simply not existed before then.
His suspicions were not merely sufficient—they were overflowing. But one could hardly go rattling the cage of a woman under the protection of the Hero and a Dragon on suspicion alone.
'These are monsters who could turn a nobody like me to dust with a single blow. How am I supposed to handle this?'
At his wits' end, Alexander clicked his tongue.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Won't you stay for dinner? It's just about dinnertime, you know."
"I'll be going. My apologies, Your Excellency."
"As I understand it, Yulia took part in today's cooking."
"Ah. Now that you mention it, I do feel a touch peckish..."
"There you go! Excellent decision!"
It was exasperating. Leopard, who had been stubbornly insisting he would leave without eating, flipped his entire attitude in a heartbeat.
It was true that I had helped with the cooking, but only in the capacity of the head chef's assistant—fetching ingredients and utensils as called for, nothing more than menial errands.
On Leopard's face as he headed toward the dining room, an expectation he couldn't quite conceal was plainly visible.
"Sit here."
"What is this? Is it just the two of us?"
"Mm. Miss Yulia, will you join us for the meal?"
"I must decline."
He had seized his moment to extend the invitation, and I cut him off flatly. A maid could hardly presume to share a table with her employer.
It was also necessary to impress upon the Marquis that I was devoted to my duties as a maid and had no intention of getting close to him on a personal level.
"Goodness, what kind of man sits facing another man across a dinner table? How dreary."
"You heard her, Miss Yulia?"
"I believe I already said quite clearly that I decline."
"Tia, want to eat with me? Hmm? I'll even give you some tips on what to do at school while we eat."
"I wanna eat! Eat with Leo!"
"...Then I shall join as well."
But that little traitor Tia pulled a betrayal out of nowhere, and I was left with no other choice. I couldn't very well leave her on her own, so I swiftly accepted the invitation.
If I didn't sit with them, I, as the maid, would have to go eat somewhere else and come back.
For as long as the Hero Leopard remained at the villa, I absolutely could not let Tia out of my sight.
"So. The little runt who was still a tot just two days ago is going to school now?"
"Mmph!"
"What's the school called?"
"Uh... what was it again..."
For the first time in a long while, the dinner table was lively.
That much was rather nice. It was nice, but...
"You still don't know?"
"Mama! What was the name of the school I'm going to?"
"..."
I was dissatisfied with the seating arrangement.
Why on earth was Tia sitting right beside the Hero, with me and the Marquis seated directly across from them? I had assumed that if I sat down first, Tia would naturally come sit beside me.
But watching her scurry over to Leopard's side without a moment's hesitation, I felt as though my chest were being torn apart for an instant.
Did she like that brat more than me? Had she forgotten every one of his crimes up until now? Had one measly bouquet of flowers won her over completely?
The sense of betrayal made me feel as if tears were about to come pouring out.
"Yes, Mama? What was it?"
"It's called Saint Sophia."
"Saint Sophia! A fine educational institution. It used to have quite the reputation for rounding up delinquents and churning out thugs, but lately it's been crushing every other private school in the rankings and remade itself as a premier academy in name and in fact."
"Mmmoooh...! So anyway, it's a good school?"
"That's right. Good, you understand."
Look at them getting along so splendidly.
There wasn't the slightest opening for me to squeeze into their conversation, and it soured my mood completely. I couldn't take my eyes off the cozy scene across the table.
Just try saying something strange to Tia. I'll have you quarantined on the spot.
"Miss Yulia, don't worry so much—just eat."
"That's a tall order. How exactly am I supposed to not worry?"
"Well, if it's distracting you that much... Here. Eat."
"Mmph..."
A fork came at me from the side and slipped right into my mouth. It was a piece of meat, cut into a perfectly bite-sized portion.
Perhaps because it was a dish meant for the Marquis himself, the taste was absolutely exquisite.
I went on chewing away absentmindedly, and it was only as I turned my attention back to Tia and Leopard's conversation that it hit me.
"Ah—?!"
This was an indirect kiss.
I'd accepted it without a second thought since it was a man's fork, but when I stopped to think, I was currently inhabiting a woman's body. And the Marquis was, at this very moment, trying to seduce me. On top of that, our saliva had just mingled and...
Ugh. A wave of revulsion washed over me.
Granted, I'd mingled far worse things with him once before, but the circumstances had been different then.
I glared daggers at the Marquis, only to find him looking back at me with an expression that seemed to ask what the problem was.
My face was burning hot.
"Now listen up. School is the wilderness, kid. The wild."
"The wild?"
"Yep. And Saint Sophia especially so. It's a school that takes in plenty of non-human races alongside humans, so tensions between the races run high. I hear the dormitories even have full-on brawls. If you come across as an easy mark, you might get dragged off somewhere quiet and ganged up on."
"Ganged up on? What's that?"
"It means getting beaten black and blue by a whole crowd of them."
"Hiiik..."
That's got to be a lie, right? A lie to scare Tia...
That was what I chose to believe.
"So if you go clutching the hem of your skirt and dithering around, you're done for. Shoulders back. Fists clenched. And when anyone comes at you, glare at them like you could burn a hole through them."
"Like this?"
"Mm. That's the idea, but..."
Leopard faltered, visibly struggling to hold back his laughter.
He had every right to. Tia's earnest attempt at looking intimidating was beyond adorable. No matter how straight she squared her shoulders or deeply she furrowed her brow, she just looked like a sulking toddler miffed that the world wasn't bending to her will.
Seriously, too cute for words.
"What if somebody still picks a fight after all this?"
"Then there's nothing for it. You use force. The moment you back down, you get branded as a pushover for good. You have to seize the initiative in one strike."
"How? How do I do it?"
"Everyone's going to underestimate you at first—little girl, small stature. So wait until they come up close. Then maneuver them into lowering their head down to where your fist can reach. For instance, you could mumble in an ant-crawling voice until they lean in to hear you. And at that moment—sucker punch straight to the nose! Just short of cracking the skull!"
"That's so dirty..."
"Who cares if it's dirty. Win first; gloat later. Got it?"
"Mmph!"
That one came from experience. I was certain of it the moment I heard it.
She must have been dismissed and looked down on plenty back in her school days for being a woman. And judging by the detail, she'd cracked a few skulls in her time, too.
Then again—what a wonderful thing to teach a child.
"Any questions?"
"I have one! You said Saint Sophia has other races besides humans!"
"Beastfolk, elves, all sorts. Quite the mix."
"Then are there demons like Tia?"
"Demons? It'd be a tiny handful, but there should be a few. Though Tia, you're not a demo—"
"Tia. Stop pestering Miss Leopard and finish your food."
"Mmmph..."
I hurriedly cut her off and shushed her.
At that, Leopard's eyes went round as saucers, and he stared at me in silence.
The fact that Tia was not a demon. His expression seemed to demand whether I still hadn't told him.
He shot me a slightly irritated glare, then let out a sigh and looked away.
That's right. I hadn't told him.
How could I possibly tell him that she was a child I'd been forced to bear after being violated?
If Tia someday came to me in earnest, sat across from me, and asked, I might give her the truth. Until then, I had decided to keep it hidden. It wouldn't cause any problems either way.
What would actually change if she knew I wasn't her birth mother? Nothing would change at all.
That was what I had resolved to believe.
"You've lost your appetite. I'll excuse myself now."
"Mmm?"
"Don't worry, it's not because of you. When you're done, come outside? I saw a frisbee in there—want to go throw it around?"
"Throw it! T-Tia's all done eating too!"
"No, take your time. There's something I need to think over on my own for a bit."
Pushing back his chair and rising at once, Leopard gave Tia's head a single pat and walked straight out of the dining room. The glance he threw my way on his way out was frost-cold.
Tia, apparently desperate to follow him, began hastily tearing at the meat left on her plate without even bothering to cut it.
An awkward silence flooded the dining room in an instant.
'This really has killed my appetite...'
I felt as though I alone had been cast as the criminal at the table.