Chapter 71: Preparation for the School Festival Part 5
Hmm. I must have been annoying just now…
Razé left the room to take a walk and cool off but she didn’t know where to go. She reflected on her words and actions earlier while walking aimlessly towards the washroom. Then she bumped into Ruben who had finished his meeting with Harlens.
Ruben: “Granoli.”
Razé: “Your Highness.”
Ruben: “Principal Harlens wants you to go meet him when you have free time.”
Razé: “Okay, I understand. …Uhm. How is Carna-sama?”
Ruben looked gloomy as he replied, “According to Ferir-sensei, it was extreme fatigue due to lack of sleep.”
Razé put a hand on her chin. “Lack of sleep…”
Ruben: “Carna stays in a single room. She must have been working throughout the night.”
Razé: “I’m sorry. If only I’d realized it earlier…”
Ruben: “It’s not your fault. I didn’t notice it either.”
After thinking for a moment, Ruben looked at her with a resolute look.
Ruben: “Granoli.”
Razé: “Yes?”
Ruben: “Can you stay with Carna for a few days and make sure she sleeps at night? I’ll inform the dormitory management.”
To be honest, it was not a good idea for Razé to stay with Carna as it made it harder for her to act at night. However, it was her duty to protect the students including Carna in the first place. She decided to agree with the arrangement.
Razé: “Okay. Let her stay with me and Folia at our room. She can use my bed. What do you think?”
Ruben: “Alright. I’ll ask the management to prepare an extra bed for you.”
Razé: “I can sleep anywhere, so don’t worry. Even if they can’t prepare the extra bed right away, a blanket will be enough.”
Ruben: “… I‘m sorry. And thank you for your help.”
Razé: “It’s fine. I think it will be fun – like a sleepover.”
She knew he would stay with Carna if he could. She gave a dry laugh.
Ruben: “… I’ll go to the dormitory now.”
Razé: “Okay.”
She watched Ruben turned and left.
Razé: “Alright then. I’ve made a promise without consulting Folia. I should go take a look first.”
She used teleportation and went to the roof of the school building. She looked around and quickly found Folia making the decoration to be put up at the school gate outside.
Razé: “Folia～”
Folia: “Razé-chan. You’re looking for me?”
Razé saw Folia’s face smudged with paints. “You’ve got paint on your face.” She smiled and pointed at her cheek.
“Eee- Really?” Folia exclaimed as she put up her hand to wipe her cheek.
Razé noticed Folia’s hand was also smudged with paints so she immediately grabbed her hand. “Don’t move.”
Luca, who was working nearby, walked up to them. “What are you doing…?”
After seeing Folia’s face and the hand that Razé was holding, he immediately understood the situation. He let out a sigh and created a small water ball using magic and cleaned Folia’s face and hand.
He’s dexterous in fine work…
Razé felt that Luca was indeed the best at manipulating magic skill among them. Creating water ball was relatively easy, but using it to gently remove dirt from someone’s skin was a daunting task. She felt that geniuses were impressive. But she didn’t realize that she herself could manipulate movement magic in ways other people couldn’t.
Luca: “Okay, you’re clean now.”
Folia: “Thank you, Luca-kun.”
Luca: “… It’s nothing.”
Luca averted his gaze, unable to look at the angel’s smile directly. Razé felt that his reaction was too easy to read, but she knew that Folia was still unaware about his feeling. It made her felt a bit sorry for Luca.
Luca noticed that she had been staring at him and tried to change the subject. “Granoli, why are you here?”
Razé: “Oh, I forgot. Folia, Carna-sama will stay at our room for a few days. Is it okay?”
Folia: “Un. Of course.”
Razé: “Great. Carna-sama collapsed because she hadn’t been sleeping well. So, Prince Ruben asked me to look after her and I already promised him.”
She knew Folia wouldn’t reject the request. But she still felt bad for not asking her permission first. She could just make the decision herself but she prefer to be honest with her angel.
Folia: “It’s fine. But I always fall asleep early. I’m not sure if I could be of any help.”
As Razé had expected, Folia didn’t get angry. On the contrary, she was seriously worrying about the matter. Razé couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction.
Razé: “Haha. I think Carna-sama will feel sleepy if she sees you sleeping soundly.”
Folia: “Razé-chan, is that a praise?”
She didn’t mean to make fun of her, but Folia was puffing out her cheeks.
Folia: “I’m an adult already. I can stay up late.”
Looking at her reaction, Razé could guess something wasn’t right.
Did something happen with Lord Moldir…?
Razé guessed maybe they had an argument because Lord Moldir treated Folia like a child. But Folia’s reaction saying she could stay up late sounded childish.
Razé decided to comfort her. “You don’t have to stay up late. What am I supposed to do if you end up getting sick too? You’re most cute when you smile happily.”
Folia widened her eyes in surprise while Luca frowned his brows.
Luca: “Folia. This kind of people who easily say sweet words to others cannot be trusted. You should be careful.”
Folia: “Huh?”
Luca pushed Razé’s shoulder to keep her away from Folia.
“Just because you didn’t dare to say it, you can’t-” Razé couldn’t finish her words because Luca had pinched her cheeks.
“You were saying?” Luca seemed angry. His beautiful eyes were wide open glaring at Razé. Her cheeks hurt because he didn’t hold back his strength at all.
Oops. This is bad. She realized she had angered him. She felt she had screwed up because they had just become close since the Battle Fiesta weeks earlier.
“Nah- nahsheeng-” Razé couldn’t speak properly so she desperately sent the message with her eyes.
“Luca-kun?” Folia couldn’t see what was happening because she was hidden behind Luca’s back, but she could hear the strange voice from Razé. Luca finally released his hand after hearing Folia calling his name.
Razé: “That’s hurt…”
Luca: “Because I didn’t hold back.”
Razé: “…Sorry.”
She heard the warning, so she decided to leave them alone.
Razé: “Alright. I’ll go back to the office. Folia, make sure not to overwork yourself.”
Folia: “Okay. You too, Razé-chan.”
― ― ―
Razé went back to the office. “I’m back-” When she entered the door, the two guys were staring at her. She was taken aback and then remembered that she had left earlier to cool off.
Razé: “Claude-kun, you’re awake? Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
Claude: “Yes. Thank you for the blanket and other stuffs. …Hmm, what happened to you?”
Razé tilted her head puzzled by his question.
Claude: “Your cheeks are a little bit red.”
“Huh?!” It seemed that her cheeks were reddened after being pinched by Luca earlier. “He pinched really hard. I need to be careful next time.” Razé sighed and made a mental note not to made fun of guy with unrequited love.
Adis was astounded by her reaction and got up on his feet. He walked up to her and touched her cheek lightly. “Who did this to you?”
“It’s nothing. I’ve said something that offended Luca-sama.” He was touching her naturally like it didn’t mean anything, so Razé just replied to him normally.
His expression changed when he heard her answer. “Luca? It couldn’t be helped then.”
“What? What do you mean?!” She was a bit irritated by his reaction, but the gentle look that he showed earlier left an impression with her.
Now I know what Luca-sama means… The person in front of her was one of those people who could say sweet words easily. She couldn’t help but heaved out a sigh.
* * *
Carna was sleeping on a bed separated by curtains.
She had a long, long dream. Something black was gradually swallowing her from beneath her feet. It was a terrifying dream. She didn’t know since when she started having these nightmares. Even if she wasn’t crying when she woke up, it might be that she just forgot that she did had a nightmare.
She wondered why she had such a dream. The only reason that she could think of was that she was a foreign entity that didn’t belong to this world. She felt her life was at stake. She might die.
No. That’s wrong… She felt that her body was falling into the swamp of darkness. But she knew that what she was most afraid of was something different.
She might kill someone. And if it was someone she loved… She was scared.
She didn’t really give a thought about dying. Just like her previous life, she didn’t think of death until right before she died. Even now, she thought it would be fine for her to keep living her life and went with the flow.
But, what if… She wondered what if she really turned into that strange beast[1] when winter came. And ended up hurting the man she loved.
Just by imagining it, she felt upset like her existence was something unforgivable.
「Villainess. The vessel of the strange beast. A tragic princess who was raised in a bird cage like something precious.」
She could hear a voice.
「Why do you want to be the only one with a happy ending? 」
This sad voice of a woman filled with anger… She somehow felt she had heard it somewhere before.
[1] The raw used 怪物 (lit. strange thing) instead of 怪獣 (kaiju). Since Razé already mentioned about the demonic mutation, I will use the word ‘strange beast’ for her. ↩
