“Uuurgh. It—hurts...”
“Over and over again, you act like you’re the boss of me. Do you really think you have the right to order me around? When you’re weaker physically and magically? Are you ever going to learn your lesson?”
There we go, that’s a good villain line. Or a bad girl line. The flunkies are also quivering.
“If you don’t want to get hurt, then stay away from me. Understood?”
With that, I let her go. The moment Ribbons’s feet touched the ground, she slid to her knees as though her legs had given out. Breathing heavily, she held her hands to her neck. All the while, she looked up at me spitefully.
“Father will hear about this! You’ll never be able to return home now!”
“Do as you please. I never wanted to go back there anyway.”
“Wha...”
Why was she so surprised by that? I didn’t have any attachments to a house that had kicked me out over a decade ago. Then again, I would be taking over the house this year, and my social debut would be the following year.
Oh. That’s not far off.
Leaving behind Ribbons and her gang, I headed up the stairs to my comfy attic room.
After that, Ribbons finally stopped pestering me. I took my newfound breathing room as a sign my intimidation had worked.
Our practice sessions were closing in on their grand conclusion, and we were in pretty good shape overall. To no surprise, a few more people had been removed on account of poor performance or motivation.
Something about Ribbon’s removal seemed to embolden the rest of the group. Like, if she could be removed, then so could a number of other people. Since their lack of drive was plain as day, nobody tried to defend them. Though the people exiled had a few words of complaint.
“Things have been awfully quiet around you, Lera,” Colny said to me one day when I was eating lunch with her and Loks.
“You think so?”
“Yes. That girl who always pesters you for nonreasons has been keeping to herself. Did you do something?”
Hmm. Can I tell her? Colny’s scary when she gets angry, but it’s Sheila that I really have to worry about. She might not be happy if I cause trouble shortly before I take over House Duval.
Eh, I’ll say it. I don’t regret what I did.
“You see, regarding our general magic performance, she said something I couldn’t really overlook.”
“And?” Colny’s eyes were sparkling with curiosity.
“And I used just a bit of my strength to scare her off.”
“Oh my.”
“Wow.”
Both siblings were smiling at me.
Hm? They’re not mad?
In Peylon, people tended to lean into the idea that might is right. You could do just about anything as long as it wasn’t too extreme. Of course, that didn’t mean you could just be evil. Teaching a pest a lesson the way I had with Ribbons wouldn’t really raise any eyebrows. But this was the royal capital, and we were at the noble academy. I was worrying that maybe the Peylon way of doing things wouldn’t fly here, but maybe I was wrong?
“Lera, I take it you thought we were going to be upset with you?” Loks pointed out.
“How’d you know?!” I asked, heart thumping wildly.
Do you know how to read minds?!
“I can see it on your face. Now, given who you were dealing with, mother and father probably won’t be angry.”
“Besides, that girl ought to be more aware of her position.”
So it was Ribbons Colny was angry at. That was pretty normal when an illegitimate child was picking a fight with the legitimate child. Normally that didn’t happen, and if it did, it never ended well for the former. In this world, or rather this kingdom, illegitimate children were that low in status.
The church taught that you shouldn’t have children with anyone but your spouse, and the nobility were not to turn their backs on the teachings of god. Not that the commoners could either; it’s just the nobility were meant to be a model for all royal subjects, so they were held to a higher standard.
If someone in Ribbons’s position tried to start something, nobody would have her back if she got knocked down. Normally. However, we weren’t normal. Our father favored her so much he tried to swap us out.
“Ribbons will probably go crying to our father,” I said. “At which point, I think he might try to get rid of me for real.”
“If she’s going to bring adults into this, so should we. We’ll contact our house,” Loks said.
He had a transmitter in his dorm room, so he could easily get in contact with the Aspozat residence. Even if neither Thand or Sheila were home, he could leave a message with someone there.
I didn’t think they needed to confront my father, but it was reassuring all the same. I wasn’t averse to dealing with him myself, really—it’s just that there’s no telling what an adult might do.
A few more days after my encounter with Ribbons and still nothing. One day busy with festival preparations, I found myself eating lunch with Loks and Colny again, so I brought it up with them.
“She hasn’t approached me in the dorm or anywhere else in the academy. Then despite how late in the year it is, she requested to transfer to a different class.”
Bear had told me about her and her lackeys switching classes. I wasn’t complaining or anything. I just thought it wasn’t like her.
“Wasn’t she scared off by your threat?” Colny interjected.
“How rude. I went easy on her, and I never said she was scared.”
“‘Easy’ by your standards,” Loks said. “If you went hard, I imagine she’d be dead.”
You too, Loks! Do neither of you know any tact?!
While I sat there fuming, Loks’s smile shifted into something much more serious. “Still, looking back on her previous behavior, she is acting strange now.”
“You’ve got that right,” I said. “Would a little bit of force really have that much of an effect on her? She’s usually pretty obstinate.”
All I did was push her up against the wall. Not in a romantic way—a shoving way. And I lifted her off the ground, which I bet was uncomfortable.
“By the way, Lera,” Colny said with a tilt of her head. “Just how much force did you apply?”
“Hmm, enough to stun a fanged rabbit on Layer One, I guess?”
Both of them blanched.
“Lera, I’m starting to suspect you are the reason she’s acting this way,” Colny said.
“Huh?”
She was giving me an odd look. But I mean, a fanged rabbit was something children in Peylon hunted with sticks.
“You might have forgotten,” Loks said in a heavy voice, “but people in the royal capital don’t exactly encounter monsters at all. This city is a safe place, especially compared to some other parts of the kingdom. People here don’t take well to feeling fear.”
“What?”
Even that little bit was too much?
I gave Colny a pleading look, but she just shook her head. “Here you went and gave her the treatment you’d reserve for a monster. She’s probably scared out of her wits.”
“Whaaat?”
Even if that were true, there wasn’t much I could do. I didn’t know much about being forceful with people. I gave them a teary-eyed appeal, but they simply shook their heads at me.
Huh? Am I at fault here? That’s ridiculous!
Three days after Loks and Colny had told me to repent, Ville dropped by the academy.
Oh man, is he here to give me a lecture?
I was called by myself to one of the academy’s meeting rooms. These were here so students could have a private place to chat with parents and relatives. After knocking on the door, I was told to come in. There I found Ville and the black knight.
Why these two?
“Don’t just stand there, Lera. Take a seat.”
The shock had left me frozen in the doorway. At Ville’s suggestion, I sat across from them.
“Now, let me tell you why we’re here.”
“Are you here to lecture me?”
“Hm? Did you do something you shouldn’t’ve?”
Oops, wrong guess. Me and my big fat mouth.
“Lera, did you do something?”
“Uhhh...”
“I’ll talk to Loks later.”
“I intimidated Ribbons a bit, but Colny and Loks scolded me for going too faaar!”
Saying it out loud like that, it sounded kind of stupid. A glance at Ville revealed an exasperated face.
“The heck? Well, that might have something to do with what we’re here to talk about.”
“Hm?”
What could that mean?
“Miss Lowell, has your house contacted you at all?” the black knight asked worriedly.
Contact? From my house? Not at all.
They hadn’t contacted Peylon once after sending me away. And why was the black knight asking this? I looked to Ville for an answer, but he was just making a sour face. He really didn’t care for the black knight, yet the two of them were here together.