In the end, Yui tried pinching his cheeks and tickling him, but Finney wouldn’t talk. She could hear the call for everyone to gather, which sapped her motivation, and in the end, she just felt utterly exhausted.
They went to another room and ate dinner, after which each group was given keys to their living quarters for the next two weeks. Some girls in mixed groups, including Yui, naturally expressed an aversion to staying in the same place with the other members of their group, but all of them had smaller, individual rooms inside that they could lock, which quelled their worries.
However, Yui still wondered about something. “Still, we are staying in the same place,” she said casually as they went to their quarters. “I was surprised by how quickly everyone went along with it.” Some of the groups had students from different schools who had never met each other before, and they were teenage boys and girls. She had expected the noble girls in particular to be more wary.
“I don’t think anyone would be so stupid as to do anything bad, not with their prospects riding on this camp. If it became an issue, their future would disappear like that,” Lyle said.
“I see.”
“And there’s going to be a match between the groups, so it’s important to give everyone a space where they can discuss strategy without worrying about being overheard,” Finney said. “If they talked just anywhere and someone heard them, it could ruin their chances.”
“Don’t forget, they said we’ll be staying with a group from another year,” Clois added. “Nobody would do anything that could disadvantage themselves where someone could immediately call for help.”
“Huh,” Yui said. She was completely disinterested, even though she had brought it up.
As they continued talking at length about trivial topics, they eventually arrived outside their quarters. They unlocked the door, but then, when they moved to open it, a wave of tension raced through all of them. They had been told that the rooms were normal, but the walk there had felt just as dread-inducing as their experience with the rest of the building. Nobody trusted Berg when he said that the inside was fine.
“I-I’m opening it, okay?” Lyle said hesitantly. Everyone took a deep breath as he flung the door open. The moment he did, they all felt relief. Inside was a typical living room with white wallpaper and furnishings, and right by the entrance, there were doors that opened to each of their individual rooms. They all took a peek in their rooms, just in case, but they were just as exceedingly average as the common room. It was like a share house.
As they were feeling relieved, the other group they were sharing their quarters with came in, and they all stopped.
“Carlo?” Yui asked.
“Hey,” Carlo replied.
“You’re the ones we’re with?”
“Yeah, we are.”
Yui rushed over to her brothers, and Carlo nimbly picked her up and held her in his arms. She was delighted to be with her brothers, but her friends were still feeling the aftereffects of Carlo’s menacing threat back on the train, and they couldn’t feel the same as her.
“Wow, what a coincidence,” Yui said innocently.
Cecil smiled kindly and said, “It sure is.”
However, Yui didn’t know the truth. In one of his usual displays of overprotectiveness, Cecil, who’d been worried about Yui sharing a room with boys, had enlisted some members of his fan club to track down the group that was staying with Yui’s group. Then, with a bit of pressure, he’d been able to basically force the other group to exchange their keys with him. All of that had led to him standing there at that moment with a look of feigned innocence on his face.
“By the way, who else is in your group?” Yui asked. She wondered why no one else was there besides her brothers.
“In addition to us, there’s Filiel, Luca, and Zeke.”
“What?! His Highness is coming here?!” Lyle excitedly exclaimed, his face flushed. The others weren’t as obvious as him, but they all felt fidgety and restless. Their reaction was understandable; Filiel might’ve been a student like them, but at the same time, he was exalted royalty.
“No, unfortunately Filiel and the other two are in another room, for security’s sake.”
All of them were visibly disappointed, except for Yui. The second she’d heard Filiel’s name mentioned, she’d tensed up, and she relaxed when she learned that he was going to be staying somewhere else. Only Carlo, who was holding her, sensed this, and he smiled awkwardly.
They continued lightheartedly chatting in the lounge for a while as Cecil and Carlo told them about past camps. A chance like that was hard to come by, so everyone besides Yui was glad for the opportunity. They listened intently to them.
“Now, we have to get up early tomorrow, so should we get to bed soon?” Cecil asked.
“It’s been a while, so do you want to sleep in the same place, Yui?” Carlo suggested.
“Sure,” Yui replied.
“All right. While we’re at it, let’s move the three of our beds to the same room.”
After that, a large transfer began as everyone worked together to move all the beds. As Yui stood by and watched, she got the idea to cause some mischief, and she jumped on top of one of the beds as it was being carried in. This caused it to topple over, resulting in quite a commotion and some angry yelling from Ivo, who had been helping carry it. This in turn brought Berg rushing into their room, and he scolded all of them with a face even more frighteningly villainous-looking than usual.