Chapter 57: The Chaos Curse?
AS Iris was walking down the hall toward her classroom, she realized she was surrounded by other students—some male, some female, and even some older students.
Wh-What do you want? Are you here to complain that Nigel’s laid claim to your precious Camille? Have at thee! Mentally, she braced herself for a fight.
“Do you have business with me?” Iris demanded, her nose in the air as she glared around at them in true villainess fashion.
“Lady Iris, I’d like to eat lunch with you.”
“Do you have a special someone?”
“My mother has asked me to invite you to tea.”
“Do you have any plans after school today?”
The avalanche of questions threw her for a loop. Apparently, they weren’t upset with her… As they slowly closed in around her, Iris took a step back. Seriously, what’s going on today?! Why does it feel like everyone’s under some sort of curse?!
“What brings this on all of a sudden? And why all at once? Not very tactful, I must say. Are you in some sort of trance? Open your eyes!” Iris snapped.
“Our eyes are open! That’s how we came to discover the secret warmth beneath your icy veneer!”
“That, and your merciful patience in the face of such rudeness!”
“Miss Camille and Miss Mégane always said you treat everyone as your equals!”
“Now I realize we were wrong to put you on a pedestal and assume you were unattainable!”
Ranting and raving, they moved closer and closer…and the further Iris backed away, the tighter the circle closed in. A chill ran down her spine. They all had a deranged look in their eyes…
Eeeek! Someone help me! I can use my brute strength against monsters all I want, but when it comes to fellow students, I’m pretty sure that counts as murder! Why is this happening right when I finally rejected all of the happy-bad endings?!
To Iris, they were out of their minds, but in truth, she was utterly Fuddled herself. She backed away until her back was pressed up against the hallway windows. There was nowhere left for her to run…or was there? She glanced outside. This was the second floor…
“Forgive me!”
Iris whipped the window open and leaped out onto the branch of a nearby tree, her wine-red skirt fluttering. When you’re outnumbered, discretion is the better part of valor!
“Lady Iris?!”
“Lady Iris!”
Pressed up against the windows, the other students shouted after her.
“Lady Iris, that’s not safe! I’ll rescue you!”
“Lady Iris, I’ll go and call for my brother! Wait right there!”
More students gathered at the base of the tree. They’ve all completely gone mad! HELP! There must be some kind of curse at work! Frightened and trembling, Iris clung to the trunk of the tree, concealing herself. After she composed herself enough, she climbed up to a higher branch.
“What’s all the commotion?”
As Reseda’s voice rang out, the crowd parted to form a path for him. He walked straight to the second-floor window and looked at the tree. For a moment, he stared blankly as he struggled to process what he was seeing. Then he looked around at the crowd, and the other male students all avoided his gaze. This told him everything he needed to know.
After the Holy Maiden Evaluation was settled, the palace authorities had all but invalidated Iris’s status as a heretic. The one thing that had jeopardized her position in high society was gone. All this time, Reseda had plotted to ensure Iris would one day be accepted by the masses—assuming she worked hard enough to deserve it, of course. And now all those days of decrying the soilpox taboo had finally paid off.
Given her natural charm, it was really no surprise that everyone would jump at the chance to get to know her, but Iris didn’t realize this. Their sudden change of tune had startled her into a panic.
“This is exactly why I wanted to get engaged early on,” he muttered under his breath. But it was too late now, of course. “Iris, what are you doing out there? You look like a kitten that can’t climb down.”
At this, she peeked out from behind the tree trunk. Likewise, little fairies flew out from between the branches.
“It’s the prince! It’s the prince!”
“He’s here to save you!”
Iris was dearly relieved to see Reseda was still his normal self. Apparently, the curse didn’t affect him.
“Listen—everyone’s acting extremely strange! It’s hard to explain, but…I think some sort of chaos curse must have been cast upon the school!” she shouted back, glancing timidly at the crowds.
“Inviting you to spend time with them?” he asked.
She nodded. He sighed in exasperation.
“How are you surprised by this? If anything, it was stranger that they weren’t inviting you to things before! If there was ever any curse cast upon this school, then it’s been lifted!”
“A curse has been…lifted…?”
“And you were the one who lifted it!”
He smiled wryly. Iris stared back at him in confusion. “I’m afraid I don’t understand your meaning…”
“Thanks to your hard work, soilpox is no longer a punishment from God. Now everyone’s realized that your scars are just scars and nothing more!”
She blinked at him. Could it be? Had they solved the soilpox stigma?
“And while this is great news for our kingdom…personally, I’m conflicted.”
“You are?”
“Without that outdated superstition holding everyone back, they’ve all realized what a great girl you are. Now I have even more competition!”
“Wha…?!” Iris flushed beet red. Did he forget they were in public?!
“You’re already a beautiful young woman who hails from a brave and gallant family. And as a former Holy Maiden candidate, anyone would want to marry you.”
“What?!”
“Not only that, but you’re loved by fairies and a Fairy Leader. You developed a soilpox vaccine, and then you went out to treat patients during an outbreak. The royal subjects admire you greatly.”
“I only achieved those things because of you, Prince Reseda. I’m no one special.”
“You’re not special? Take a look around, Iris!”
At his prompting, Iris timidly glanced around. All the students were smiling at her…and the fairies were smiling, too.