“—and there you have it. The seemingly doomed village fought through their bitter struggle, and the victory they attained brought about the founding of a nation—Eltania. That is the origin story of my kingdom.”
It was nighttime. I was teaching Eltanian history to a small crowd of schoolgirls. I usually spent my free time at night in the dorms networking, studying, and teaching girls in the counseling room.
Usually, these lessons were sparked by somebody coming to me with a question, but today, a whole crowd had gathered for the lecture.
“Wow…so the great kingdom of Eltania was once a tiny village.”
“That was so interesting! Thanks, Miss Mylene!”
Then again, this lecture only happened because we’d learned about the major nation states in history class today.
Since this continent was crammed with kingdoms big and small, we didn’t take the time to study each one individually in class. Instead, the school placed great emphasis on teaching us the history of the largest nation states.
And as Eltania was one of the five biggest nations in the continent, the students had gathered to have me teach them about it. To be honest, it wasn’t a subject I was all that fond of.
“Some people attribute the burst of strength that helped Eltania turn the tides of war to a deity. The name of the god who is said to have bequeathed them with divine power is Eltania. In other words, the kingdom of Eltania derives its name from their god.”
“That’s the god from Eltanism, right?”
“Yes. I see you’re quite knowledgeable.” I gave the proud student a smile.
The reason I hated the story of Eltania’s founding was because it had deep ties to the Eltanian faith. Since the kingdom was named after the god, you couldn’t separate them. If somebody wanted praise for learning the lesson, that knowledge was a bare minimum.
In truth, the war that brought about Eltania’s founding was incredibly devastating. It was so bleak that Eltania would have needed a favor from God to win.
But that’s history for you—when myth and fact intertwine in the story of a nation’s founding, there’s no telling what’s true and what’s not.
“Ohh, how intriguing. So the faith already existed by the time the nation was founded.”
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s quite interesting, when you think of Eltania’s history as much longer.”
“It goes to show just how important Eltania the god is to Eltania the kingdom.”
“Yes.”
Besides, if I divorced my feelings from it, Eltania’s history made for an engrossing story. Colette was nodding in a fervor. She’d looked bored at the start of my history lesson, but once I got into the story, she was riveted.
Having said that, this wild imperial princess was not good at sitting still. Having reached her limit, she sneaked up behind me and wrapped her arms around me. It was annoying—the weather was getting way too hot for that.
“Oooh, Miss Mylene, Princess Colette, you two really are close.”
Well, the schoolgirl wasn’t wrong. But I’d heard that close relationships of that nature weren’t unusual in the girls’ dorm.
I tried to push Colette away to avoid a misunderstanding, but the gleeful princess only hugged me harder.
Agh, get your damn hands off me…
I could just yank her off, but if I let my fellow students see me being so forceful, the image I’d so carefully constructed would shatter.
“Does it really look that way? You’ve got good eyes—um, sorry…”
“I’m Sarah.”
“Right, Sarah. I’ll remember that.”
As Colette publicly displayed her love for me—at least for now—having someone acknowledge it sent her to the moon. Meanwhile, I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my lips into a grim line. It’s not like the misunderstanding would hurt anyone, but I just couldn’t afford anyone getting suspicious about our relationship.
“Ahem… Well, I think it’s time we wrap things up for today. Does anybody have any questions regarding Eltania? I’d be happy to answer, if I can.”
I forced a change of subject. As I turned professional, Colette reluctantly slinked away from me. But she still kept a close distance, which I couldn’t hate her for.
Then one of the girls raised a hand. “I have…just one question.”
“Yes, go ahead—?”
But that was when I felt something was amiss.
Since I had spent my evenings holding study sessions to network, I recognized just about all the faces in the girls’ dorm.
But I didn’t recognize the girl who’d asked the question. No, wait…I get the feeling I’ve seen her somewhere before. At the very least, I know she’s not in my class. I haven’t memorized all the faces of the girls from the other classes, so I can’t be certain, but does she even go here?
“When lecturing about Eltania’s religion, there’s one element you cannot leave out: the Hair of Sulberia. Could you tell us about that?”
Her long blond hair was covering her face, preventing me from getting a good look at her. Once again, I felt that something was deeply amiss.
The Hair of Sulberia—indeed, you couldn’t leave that out of an explanation of Eltania’s religion. According to some sources, a mighty war hero in Eltania’s founding had possessed the Hair of Sulberia.
And I don’t think it needs to be said that I have the Hair of Sulberia. I had avoided talking about this, since it would feel like I was just bragging about myself.
“Yes…in Eltanism, the Hair of Sulberia is revered for having the same coloring—white and vermillion—as a flower of the same name.”
“Oh! I’ve heard of that. Like, whoever has the Hair of Sulberia is called God’s Gift because they’re blessed with all sorts of supernatural abilities!”
“You’ve made me a believer, Miss Mylene! With your unmatched beauty, your gift for the blade, and most of all, your powerful magic, you make me believe that God took a special liking to you.”
Just as I’d feared, the girls began to squeal in excitement.
I hated the attention—that’s why I’d kept quiet. Being praised felt shitty, and bringing up the Hair of Sulberia myself made it seem like that’s what I was aiming for—double shitty.
The bitch with the question had butted in at exactly the wrong moment, so there was no doubt she was well versed in Eltania lore.
And since she was clearly doing this to give me a hard time, did that mean she was like Melissa? Had I unknowingly done something to put myself on her shit list?
I shot a sideways glance at Melissa, who had been listening to my lecture (and who had sneaked even closer to me). When I did this, she gave me a curious glance back. That meant Melissa had not sent this girl.
“That’s right, Miss Mylene…you are Eltania’s national treasure!”
Was that an insult? I guess you could call it that…
But what I sensed from the girl was just the opposite, if anything. It was an indication that she had very mixed feelings about me. With a swish of her long blond hair, the mysterious girl stood and pointed at Colette.
“How dare you…s-snuggle up to her so unceremoniously! That is utter heresy!” she snarled, breathing heavily and pointing an accusing finger at Colette.
The abrupt change in mood sent the students in the counseling room into a hushed frenzy.
Colette answered the declaration of war, deepening her smile. She burned for a challenge; that was just who she was.
It would seem our intruder didn’t hate me—quite the opposite. Just as I was about to mutter an Oh, fuck me…under my breath—
“Mmf?!”
“What?!”
—Colette and I both twisted our faces in shock. The fiery girl pointing at Colette lifted her head, her long blond hair parting, to stare straight at Colette. Now her face was on full display. It was well chiseled and youthful, with big, doll-like eyes. You could say she looked more girlish than a girl.
The mystery student who was more girlish than a girl was in fact no girl at all.
“Wha…?! Alb—mmf?!”
Before Colette could say his name, I covered her mouth.
“W-wah-ha-haha…! My, what an unfamiliar face! Since you’re here, I would love to take the opportunity to get better acquainted with you!”
“I would be honored, Miss Mylene!”
As he stood there, fists clenched and eyes sparkling, his long blond wig made him look just like a girl.
Except—as you know—he wasn’t a girl.
As far as I knew, there was only one boy our age who could feminize his voice and appearance so flawlessly.
My hand still clamped to Colette’s mouth, I stared into the princess’s eyes, sending a psychic message—a command, rather.
You know what’ll happen if you rat Albert out, right?
Colette nodded in reply, bewildered but understanding. Knowing that not even Colette would get a laugh out of this situation, I let her go.
I plastered a smile on my face so large that it sent shivers down my spine and grabbed Lulu’s hand.
“Well! We still have some time before lights-out. Why don’t we continue this lecture in my room? What do you say, Lulu?”
“Y-yes…!”
Lulu answered with excitement, but there was a crack in his voice that indicated he had instinctively sensed the wrath behind my smile.
“Well then, my apologies, but I’m ending today’s lesson here. Good night, ladies.”
I unilaterally cut the Eltania lecture short and dragged the intruder out of the counseling room.