Chapter 51: Mégane
“LADY Iris, do you think me vile?”
“What, for spying? I’m in precisely the same boat as you.”
“No, I…I knew what they were going to do to Miss Camille’s memento. But I turned a blind eye to it.”
Iris thought about it for a moment. Honestly, would anyone expect Mégane to save the day? Probably not. She was just a support character, after all.
“Oh, it’s all right. These things happen,” Iris told her with a bright smile.
“R-Really?” She looked at her anxiously.
“Yes, really,” Iris nodded.
Mégane pulled her glasses off with one hand and pressed the other to her eyes. Quietly, Iris started to panic. Why was she crying all of a sudden?
“I was so jealous of her… That’s why I told those girls how important the memento was to her…”
What? Hold on a minute. That’s not what I thought this was about! So…she has no interest in helping Camille? And she ENCOURAGED the harassment? Why?! I don’t understand! She was so nice in the game! Was she lying to the player the whole time?!
This revelation turned Iris’s whole world upside down.
“Ever since she came to live with us, everyone’s been fawning all over her. My father instructed me to make sure she’ll become the Holy Maiden so she’ll marry above her station, and…”
Aha. Yes, of course. When you’re a teen, you’re not going to accept someone as your sister right off the bat. Iris stared wearily into the distance.
“And everyone at school fawns over her too! They keep complaining about how she’s a commoner, yet they don’t say a word about me! It’s like I don’t even exist! The only way I can ever get anyone to notice me is to talk about Miss Camille!”
As much as it hurt to be insulted, it hurt just as much to be outright ignored. And Mégane was always watching from the sidelines… Iris was conflicted. She didn’t approve of Mégane using Camille’s private information just to get attention, but at the same time, Camille never would have made it onto Nigel’s route if it hadn’t happened. No use crying over spilled milk, I suppose…and besides, she does seem to feel guilty about it…
“I know I’m not pretty, and I don’t have much mana, and I don’t have any special talents… I know I can never hope to marry someone of noble birth…”
“Now, now, you mustn’t degrade yourself so. Even if you only helped Camille out of obligation, you still helped her a great deal, and that’s very honorable of you. She never would have fit in at this school without you, and she certainly wouldn’t have become such a noteworthy figure among the townspeople without the Pont Company’s support. Besides, you helped her design that dress, didn’t you? That’s your special talent—making other people shine! The only downside is, well…it can often feel like you’re left behind in the shadows.”
Even if Mégane never sincerely wanted to help, the fact remained that she had been a tremendous asset thus far, both to Iris in her past life and Camille in reality. Regardless of her intentions, her advice was always on point, and without her, Camille never would’ve come this far.
Mégane looked up, her face stricken with tears. “What do I do now, Lady Iris?”
“If you feel terribly, then perhaps you ought to apologize.”
“But…she probably won’t forgive me…”
“The purpose of an apology is not to be forgiven—it is to acknowledge your own wrongdoing. And if you truly regret what you’ve done, then you’ll spend the rest of your life striving to be the sort of person who’s worth forgiving.”
She sniffled; Iris handed her a handkerchief. Déjà vu. “If you don’t think you can go by yourself, I’m happy to come with you,” Iris continued as she wiped her tears.
“Oh, Lady Iris… You’ve always noticed me, even when no one else did…” She fixed Iris with an impassioned look, and she started to sweat. “No one else can pronounce my name right—they all call me ‘Meh-gain.’ But right from day one, you always pronounced it ‘Meh-gone’ like it’s supposed to be…”
Iris couldn’t possibly tell her it was because she remembered how the voice actors pronounced it in HanaKoro.
“Lady Iris, I want to apologize to Miss Camille. Will you please come with me?”
“But of course, my dear.”
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THAT evening, after dinner, Iris summoned Mégane and Camille to her room. Much to Camille’s surprise, Mégane apologized for everything she had done—and that was when Iris learned that she had also kept Camille’s allowance money, as the House of Pont had been sending all their care packages to Mégane directly. She claimed she only did it because Camille “never asked for the money,” but it was obviously more mean-spirited than that. However, this directly resulted in Camille working downtown, boosting her popularity with the locals.
Uhhh…wow, this game is harsh. Mr. Baron, sir, please just send the allowance money separately. You can’t assume that your daughters will get along just because they’re family… They’re not even blood-related…
Mégane handed over all the money she’d kept from Camille and promised that she wouldn’t confiscate it ever again. Camille took it with a forced smile.
“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve done anything to deserve an allowance. I’m lucky enough that your family lets me attend this school.” Apparently, it never occurred to her that she might receive pocket money, since she was adopted and all. “Besides, I already feel bad that you’ve been buying me everything I ask for.”
She had a good point—even in HanaKoro, Mégane would acquire everything she needed, even when she herself forgot she needed it. Looking at it that way, Camille was kind of a mooch.
“From now on, Miss Camille, I think you ought to work on being a little more independent,” Iris told her. She slumped her shoulders.
“Um…if you’re willing to forgive me, Miss Camille…would you like me to give you a heads-up whenever I go shopping for myself…?” Mégane asked timidly, as part of her apology.
“You mean it?! Yes, please! Thank you, Miss Mégane!”
It warmed Iris’s heart to see Camille agree so readily. Most people wouldn’t be able to forgive this kind of betrayal—or at least, not immediately—so it was really no wonder that she was the protagonist and the Holy Maiden. Perhaps her heart was innately purer than most… Iris couldn’t help but admire her.
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NOW that she had warmed to Iris, Mégane started passing on information she’d gleaned from elsewhere. And as a natural-born support character, her whisper network was not to be underestimated.
“You’re the talk of the town, Lady Iris. Pont Company has been flooded with inquiries about the dress you wore during the popularity contest—can you tell me who the designer was?” she asked Iris.
“Prince Reseda had it made for me, so I’m afraid I don’t know,” she told her.
“He did? Oh my! Everyone’s been talking about your relationship with him. In fact, the ice cream stand has started selling something called a ‘Cherry-Mint Double-Scoop Special.’ But oddly enough, the flavors are mint chocolate chip and strawberry, not cherry—kind of misleading, if you ask me. Oh, and the Pont Company café has put out a cherry-mint jam.”
Iris laughed weakly. Pairing-themed menu items? As a hardcore shipper fangirl, Iris loved the concept. But what I wanted was a Nigel-Camille melon and blue raspberry float, thank you very much!
“Well, that won’t do. We mustn’t cause too much trouble for His Highness.”
Now that everyone knew Iris was Mint, they had surely connected the dots and realized that Cherry was Reseda. And while he was only the second prince, it was still less than ideal for rumors to spread about him and a girl he wasn’t engaged to.
“The promotions are centered on Mint and Cherry, the mage assistants from the Temple of Magic. If you protest it too much, you’ll be admitting that Cherry is the Prince,” Mégane cautioned Iris with a mischievous smile.
She laughed wearily. Evidently, this shrewd little information broker was a force to be reckoned with.