Truth be told, after the audience with the Imperial Family, Tanya was exhausted. Rank S+? Employed directly by the Empire? She could scarcely believe it. But according to the Empress, “Now that you know our secrets, we’ll need to keep you close at hand.”
Clever. It made perfect sense. After all, Lilium could pose a liability to the Imperial Family otherwise. Tanya was starting to think maybe that attendant-turned-Empress had been planning to do this the moment someone got rid of Maxwell. What a woman... I’d better not get on her bad side.
Just then—
“Hey, Tanya?”
“Huh?” Tanya turned to find a young man standing there, dressed in a guard’s uniform, his expression serious. “H-How can I help you?” she asked.
He stared at her for a moment, then seemed to struggle for words. Reflexively, Tanya felt her guard go up. Was he going to make snarky comments about her gender or something? Tell her she didn’t deserve it? That the whole thing was just “affirmative action at work”? Her mind filled with memories of all the horrible things men had said to her over the years.
“L-Listen, um!” the man stammered in a shaky voice.
“Y-Yeah?!” Tanya yelped.
“I... I’m a big fan of your party!!!”
“...What?”
“Your, um, your speech at the Sparring Tournament!” he blurted out, blushing. “For me it was really, um, really touching? And I started thinking, you know, maybe I could change my life and start chasing my dreams! See, ’cause I was born in the slums, so everyone always told me I’d never be able to afford it, so I gave up on it, but after all the stuff you said, I thought, maybe I should really go for it! So after I left the arena, I went and applied with the Imperial Guards, and...!”
Shyly, he extended his hand.
The Sparring Tournament had set the stage for Tanya’s ultimate revenge. No one had believed an all-female party would take first place... but they did. And the speech Tanya had given at the award ceremony had proudly dedicated their victory to “all the little girls out there dreaming of adventure.”
But evidently this speech had inspired more than just little girls.
“So anyway, um, Tanya, if it’s cool with you... would you shake my hand?”
Seeing his bashful smile, Tanya’s heart ached. She had assumed that, because he was male, he would prove to be an asshole—that he wouldn’t relate to her struggle. Ugh... That really wasn’t cool of me. Cursing herself, she stared down at the floor.
Just then, she felt someone poke her in the stomach.
“Hey hey, Tanya!”
“Oh... Hi, Laplace.”
“Times like these, you ought to hold your head up high!”
“...Right.”
Tanya held out her hand and placed it in his. Delighted, the man clasped it and shook it vigorously, like a kid half his age.
Afterwards, right as he was about to return to his post, she called after him.
“Hey!”
“Yes?! What is it, ma’am?!”
“Um... I don’t really know how to say this, but... Thank you for everything you said just now. Really.”
He wasn’t a creep—he was just an ordinary young person like any other. And when the words thank you left her lips, his eyes widened at this show of gratitude from his hero. Then he smiled.
“Likewise! Thank you so much—for talking to me, and for giving me the push I needed to chase my dreams, and for being a total badass in the tournament!”
“Oh... Sure, no problem. I wish you all the best.”
“You too! See ya!”
Grinning from ear to ear, the man jogged off. For a moment, Tanya watched him go in silence... but then Laplace spoke.
“Hey, Tanya? How about you wipe that stupid smile off your face, hmm?”
“Oh, lay off. I can be happy about this, can’t I? This is more important than any rank promotion.”
Gently, Laplace took Tanya’s hand.