Interlude:
Suspicion
(Misha Jur)
NOT LONG AFTER I returned to the capital, the unthinkable happened. Rae and Claire finding out about Yu’s secret was surprise enough, yes, but that was entirely eclipsed by the attempt on Yu’s life. Information on the incident was suppressed so the royal family could save face, but I was able to learn of what happened through my family. Even now, House Jur was qualified to know and keep Yu’s secrets, as I had explained to Rae just recently.
The incident took place when Yu was making a wellness visit to a convent. A former nun who happened to be visiting the same convent that day had abruptly attacked Yu while wielding a dagger coated in poison—cantarella. It wasn’t the new variant of cantarella that Louie used, but the old variant that had been used against Thane. The Empire was suspected of involvement because of the poison, but the nun claimed to remember nothing pertaining to the incident, so the truth remained unclear.
Some testimonies from those present were of note. One person claimed the nun showed signs of being under mental manipulation. Another claimed that the nun had been a quiet girl in the past but was oddly cheerful that day, almost like she was another person. Yet another claimed the nun had attacked Yu with physical prowess previously unthinkable of herself. All these testimonies were reliable, coming from nuns and soldiers assigned to the case. I couldn’t help but think of a certain someone after hearing them, however.
Ever since the morning of our first day at the Academy, my close friend, Rae Taylor, had seemingly become a different person. She used to be a quiet girl prone to zoning out, a quick thinker but not a great student, and her knowledge of etiquette had only been commoner-level. She was top seat among the transfer students only because of her incredible magic power; her academics and etiquette were nothing to write home about. But she was now academically among the top five of our year, and her etiquette was far too good for a commoner. Her personality had done a complete 180 as well—the way she constantly tried to make moves on Claire was unthinkable of the old Rae.
“…Could whatever happened to the nun have happened to Rae as well?” I murmured to myself. I didn’t think it was likely, but I couldn’t fully deny the possibility. It was all much too similar for me to just write off as a coincidence. Rae was somebody relatively close to Yu. Her lack of interest in Yu as a prince seemed genuine, but it could all be an attempt at reverse psychology to make Yu more interested in her.
“But if Rae were an assassin, she’d have had many chances to attack Master Yu by now…” All students in the Academy had their backgrounds vetted, so security around Yu was lighter on school grounds. If Rae wanted to attack him—no, her, she’d have been able to do it long before this attempt with the nun.
“…Why’d that nun attack now of all times, anyway?” Perhaps whoever was targeting Yu had a change of circumstances and needed her dead now. Maybe that meant Rae had only now become a threat to her.
“Maybe I should report her to the military…” That was the best thing I could do to protect Yu. Even if my doubts proved misplaced, Rae would only be locked up until she was cleared of suspicion. Things would end with her hating me, sure, but that was a comparatively good result.
Rae returned to our dorm room then. “I’m back.”
She seemed a little tired. Judging from her maid clothes, she must have come from Claire’s. The day had ended before I knew it.
“…Welcome back.”
“Me, sleep.”
“C’mon, Rae. At least change your clothes first.”
“Too tired.” Just like that, she collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep.
“Just how lax can you be…?” I sighed. She was so carefree, and blithely unaware of my suspicion of her. I felt my desire to report her to the military ebb away as I watched her childlike face. It wouldn’t hurt to wait and see a little longer, probably. “I want to trust you…but there are some things I still need to set things straight.”
I got up and opened the closet, then forced her to get out of bed and change clothes.