CHAPTER 6
THE SORCERESS AND THE STRANGE MONSTER
Two days after her confrontation with Rocheford, Leticiel teleported to school as usual and went straight to the Great Library.
Zeke wasn’t there that day. Since he had his own research lab, he was probably doing research there.
“Oho, you came again today?”
“Yes, to continue reading the book I was reading yesterday.”
“In that case, why don’t you take a look through this book, as well? I’m sure it’ll be helpful.”
“Really? In that case, I’ll gladly take a look.”
After chatting a bit with David about books, Leticiel collected the books she needed from the bookshelves and delved into the world of reading.
The book she was currently reading was an illustrated guide to the creatures currently living on the Astoria continent. It was far more interesting than she had expected and, before she knew it, there was a veritable mountain of all kinds of illustrated guides on her reading desk.
When Zeke was around, he always dragged her out of the world of books when it was time for lunch, but she was alone that day. Naturally, she didn’t look up from her book until lunchtime had already started.
“Oh, whoops. It’s already this late.”
The old Leticiel wouldn’t have cared about the passing of time, but now, she had friends waiting for her. After putting away all the books she’d carried to her desk, she left the Great Library. She’d keep Miss Mira and Zeke waiting if she didn’t hurry.
The cafeteria was on the other side of the front garden from the annex, where the Great Library was. As Leticiel was walking down the corridor that led to the cafeteria, she suddenly spotted Christa coming down the stairs further down the hallway.
Christa also noticed Leticiel, smiling cutely while saying, “Oh? If it isn’t Drossell.”
Leticiel had to wonder how long it had been since she’d been face-to-face with Christa, since she didn’t interact with anyone but her personal servants at home and her friends at the academy.
“What are you doing here?” Leticiel asked her.
“The teacher asked me to prepare something for class. I just finished. What about you, Drossell? Where do you go when you’re not attending class?”
“I was reading in the Great Library the whole time.”
Christa gave an uninterested hum in response. “Ah… Is that why you’re late to the cafeteria?”
“Yes, that would be why. What about it?”
“No, it’s nothing. I was just thinking that it’s been two years since you last read. You only read simple, easy-to-understand books.” Leticiel and Christa locked gazes in the empty hallway, filled only with the echoes of students’ voices buzzing through the walls of the cafeteria. “By the way,” Christa continued, “do you remember what happened at the soirée a while back?” Christa was smiling and she sounded calm, but it was impossible to tell what she was thinking from her expression alone.
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“Yes, I remember,” Leticiel replied. “What of it?”
“Why did you attend the party that night, Drossell?”
“Oh, I just felt like going. Was there a problem?”
“That’s not what I meant! It’s just, you…!”
You were banned from social gatherings, is what Christa was going to say. But when she noticed the puzzled look on her twin sister’s face, she swallowed her words.
It was strange that Drossell didn’t know about something that had personally happened to her. Christa had been losing patience with the way her twin sister had been acting completely different at both their home and the academy lately.
Leticiel kept her guard up, unable to read Christa’s intentions and unsure why she was so irritated with Leticiel. Unaware of the other girl’s thoughts, Christa changed the subject. “Drossell, didn’t you argue with Rocheford at the soirée? Don’t you think it’s impolite to express your opinion to His Highness in such a public setting?”
“Huh?” Leticiel didn’t regret putting the prince in his place one bit. In fact, she had done the utmost to compromise since he was a prince. How could that be considered rude? “I don’t think I did anything wrong,” she told Christa. “The way he spoke to me in front of everyone would make them question his right to be part of the royal family, even if I am his fiancée. If he’s a prince, he should behave like one. Isn’t that the standard?”
“But he’s a wonderful person who has good points too. You just don’t know about them.”
Hearing that, Leticiel secretly wondered what made Rocheford so wonderful. Thinking back on everything she had seen and heard of him, he had always been verbally abusive, had cheated on her with her sister, made fun of people with lower statuses, and waved a shield around in a museum. None of that had left her with a good impression of him.
“I see,” she murmured after a pause. “You’re with him because you think he’s wonderful.”
Christa gave her a puzzled look. “Yes, I am.”
Honestly, Leticiel couldn’t view Rocheford in a positive light no matter how hard she tried, but Christa was with him because she genuinely thought he was a good person. In her previous life, her parents had told her many times not to judge people based on one aspect of them, so Rocheford surely had a side of himself that he only showed to Christa.
“Hmph. Well, you’ve spent more time with him than I have, so I suppose you’ve seen sides to him that I haven’t.” Those words were Leticiel’s honest opinion. She had simply analyzed the situation objectively based on teachings she had received in her previous life.
“What?” Christa’s tone changed. Leticiel didn’t know what to make of that, but the other girl went silent. Her loose bangs hid her expression and her hands were clenched into fists so tightly that her nails looked like they might draw blood.
“Well, if you’ll excuse me…” Without paying much attention to Christa’s demeanor, Leticiel said her goodbyes and entered the cafeteria. As she searched for Zeke and Mirandalette in the crowded hall, she didn’t notice Christa watching her leave with a dark gaze.
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A vast forest spread across the grounds of Lucrezia Academy. The area close to the school was bright and peaceful, but the trees grew denser the deeper you went, making it dim even during the daytime.
Rocheford staggered through the trees, clutching his chest. In his other hand he held the holy witch-killing sword he had taken from the museum, its blade exposed. The silver blade would have looked divine in the sunlight, but now it absorbed its dim surroundings, giving off only a dull shine.
“Why…? How…did it come to this?!” Rocheford strongly bit his own lips as he muttered incoherently.
This was all that witch Drossell’s fault. He was the first prince of the kingdom, and she was just a figurehead fiancée who had been chosen for him by the king. If she hadn’t turned against him—hadn’t humiliated him—he wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.
Resentment toward Drossell festered in his heart as he dragged his feet, almost as if he were fleeing from something.
“Dammit! Hurry…hurry…”
Rocheford continued to frantically make his way through the woods, urging his legs to hurry even as they grew heavier and heavier. He had no idea where he was or where he was going. He simply kept moving to flee from the hideous thing that was chasing him from behind.
The pain in his chest, which had been aching at regular intervals, suddenly grew sharp as if he’d been stabbed by a sword. The pain was so intense that he froze, collapsing to the ground with a voiceless scream.
Not yet. I can’t stop here. Those were Rocheford’s last thoughts before he lost consciousness.
A black shadow even darker than the shadows of the trees fell over his unconscious body. No one was around to notice that the holy witch-killing sword he held in his hand emitted a mysterious glow for just a second.