“What is with that commoner?”
“She’s insane! How dare she speak that way to a noble such as yourself, Miss Claire.”
I was joined by Pepi and Loretta for tea. We were at one of the many arbors located on academy grounds, which had been established to give students the perfect place to relax however they liked. This particular arbor was located at the center of the central courtyard.
Pepi was of House Barlier, a family that had a strong foothold in the financial world. She was a cute girl with milky skin and pink-tinged brown hair that came down to her shoulders. Loretta was of House Kugret, a family distinguished for its military officers. She was somewhat tomboyish and had short black hair. They were both close friends of mine, and we spent much of our time together.
The tea for our tea party had been imported from a country to the far west, and the many sweets laid out before us were from Broumet—one of the kingdom’s finest restaurants. Of course, while the sweets were wonderful, nothing paired better with tea than small talk. Today, the topic of our chat was that strange commoner.
“Shouldn’t we do something about her, Miss Claire? We can’t let her off scot-free after everything she said to you.”
“Yeah! She’ll make a laughingstock of the academy at this rate!”
I understood very well where they were coming from. To deprecate me, one of the most prominent nobles, was to deprecate the entirety of the kingdom’s nobility—such a thing could not be tolerated.
“Oh ho ho! Worry not, my friends.” I gave them a strong, reassuring smile. “Driving a commoner or two out of the academy will be all too easy for me.”
No matter how strange a person this commoner might be, she was still human. I could force her out of this academy simply by making it an unbearable place. It went against my nature to take advantage of a weak foe, but I was willing to stoop to such levels if it meant I could protect order in the academy.
“I knew you’d come through, Miss Claire!”
“So, what’ll it be? How are you driving her out?”
“How indeed…” Even among aristocrats, bullying was known to occur. But as one of the most prestigious individuals of my social class, I had never considered committing such a deed myself, so I hadn’t the faintest idea where to start. “Just for reference, what would you two do?”
Pepi answered first. “Me? Well…I suppose I’d try to sneak glass shards into her indoor shoes.”
“G-glass shards?!” I exclaimed. Did I hear her right? On the off chance the commoner didn’t notice the glass and put on her shoes… How terrible! Oh, Pepi, you’re only joking, right? You’d never do something so horrifying…right? “I-I see… W-well, what would you do, Loretta?”
“Hmm… Why not light her uniform on fire?”
“Light her uniform on fire?!” I said incredulously. Goodness gracious—the commoner might actually be hurt if we did that. Has bullying between nobles escalated to such a point without my knowing? Has the academy done nothing to maintain our school’s moral backbone?
“But I’m sure Miss Claire wouldn’t be satisfied with something as half-baked as our ideas.”
“Yeah! I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with, Miss Claire!”
Their enthusiasm was starting to scare me a little. Blindly going along with their suggestions would lead to simply horrific outcomes, so I needed to come up with something of my own. Something safer. “The two of you are still far too green,” I said. “Such coarse violence doesn’t even begin to qualify as bullying.”
“Oh?”
“Do go on.”
Their eyes shone with anticipation. Anticipation for what exactly, I didn’t want to know. I felt like I was seeing a new side of my friends, one that I wished I could unsee. To be perfectly frank, they disturbed me quite a bit. I said, “I was thinking we could begin by pushing her from behind.”
“You mean down the stairs?!”
“Or do you mean off the veranda?!”
Goodness. Calm down, you two. My opinion of you is plummeting rather drastically… I said, “Next, I was thinking I’d step on her.”
“With high heels?!”
“On her face?!”
That would be dangerous! I could seriously hurt her if I stepped on her face with heels! I said, “Then I’d take her textbooks—”
“And cut them up?!”
“No, surely you’d have to burn them!”
Whyever would I ruin precious paper like that?! Are they unaware that all natural resources are a gift from God?! I said, “After that, I’d make sure she’s alone and—”
“Imprison her?!”
“Miss Claire, you’re a monster!”
The only monsters here are you two! My goodness. Have I somehow picked the wrong people to befriend? I said, “Next, I’ll take some water and—”
“You’ll deprive her of water?!”
“And then hold a tea party in front of her as she dies of thirst?!”
Who would hold such a barbaric tea party?! Honestly, are you even the same people you were yesterday? Weakly, I said, “Th-then I’d leave a flower vase on her desk—”
“And smash her face into it?!”
“Then grind her face into the shards?!”
How could I ever be so violent?! I don’t care if she is a commoner—one should never mar a lady’s face!
“Wow… I guess that’s why you’re top of the line, Miss Claire.”
“Our ideas didn’t even come close.”
“I wonder about that…” I was a bit wary of my friends now. They were calm for the moment, but the strange enthusiasm they had displayed seconds prior reminded me a bit of that commoner. Perhaps something strange had been mixed into our tea and sweets? I’d heard some sweets contained liquor, but surely not these?
“A-anyway, you two can leave all the bullying to me. That commoner will be out of our academy before you know it.” Having regained my composure, I lifted my teacup to my lips.
“No, please let us help!”
“Yes, please!”
“Absolutely not!” I said firmly.
“Miss Claire…”
“But why?”
“There’s no need for you two to dirty your hands. My actions alone will be sufficient to drive that commoner out!” For as long as the commoner faced me, I wouldn’t deign to borrow the help of others. My pride wouldn’t allow it.
“Oh, but of course, Miss Claire…”
“We’d expect no less from you!”
My friends looked at me with deep admiration. They were apt to misunderstand things, so I was a little worried as to what thoughts might be running through their minds. “Listen carefully, you two. I don’t need either of your help, all right? Am I clear?”
“Crystal!”
“Show us what you’re capable of!”
And so my plan to bully that cheeky commoner moved forward. It wasn’t until much later that I realized the plans I spent all that evening devising would only ever be considered a reward.