Chapter 14:
However Many Times We’re Reborn
BEFORE WINTER VACATION STARTED, all the first years had to go to another party. Marie and I had attended the one during first term, but due to certain circumstances, we’d fled the venue rather abruptly. This time, my incredibly achievable goal was simply to stay for the entire event. I would embrace my role as a background character and blend into the crowd.
I soon stood at the edge of the party, watching everyone.
“From the sidelines, the whole gathering feels pretty…normal, huh?” Marie stood at my side, wearing the dress I’d bought her and holding a plate she’d piled high with refreshments.
Just watching her scarf that much food down filled me up. I was content to sip the juice in my glass. “Yep. And it’s almost like the school trip didn’t even happen.”
My gaze was fixed on Olivia in the distance, surrounded by all her love interests. Julius and Jilk’s absence from the island trip seemingly hadn’t impacted their relationships with her—based on what I saw, at least.
“Everything good with Miss Olivia and her love interests?” I asked Luxion, who was invisible at the moment. I’d requested that he investigate the protagonist and the boys to ensure nothing had gone wrong with the game’s plot.
“They are planning a trip during the winter break, apparently to make up for the missed school trip,” Luxion said.
“Oh. Because Prince Julius and Jilk couldn’t go?” I thought about that for a moment. “Doesn’t it kind of seem like the game’s forcing an event between them because they skipped one?” Maybe you could call that a “compelling force,” as in a force trying to autocorrect the plot’s trajectory by ensuring the protagonist took a trip with her love interests.
Marie grimaced. “It has nothing to do with game events. It’s just a trip. They’re using it as an excuse to invite her along, that’s all.”
“I agree with Marie’s perspective,” said Luxion. “I see no reason to look into this any further.”
Wonderful; they were both against me. “You just want to prioritize your own research,” I accused Luxion.
“Now that the threat of the last boss has passed, yes, I believe it pertinent to investigate the rest of the planet.”
I frowned. “I get what you’re saying, but… I don’t know. It still weighs on my mind.”
Surrounded by her love interests, Olivia smiled as if she was enjoying herself. The awkwardness that had existed between them in first term had disappeared, like she felt more comfortable with them. Yet that didn’t look entirely genuine on Olivia’s part. It seemed as if she was forcing herself.
As I got lost in thought, Marie tugged my sleeve. When I lowered my eyes to her, I realized her attention was focused elsewhere—she’d spotted Dolly and Donna in the crowd. They were still blissfully unaware of our presence.
“What a pain,” Dolly was saying.
“Like, that’s exactly why I don’t think we should get invol—eep!”
As Donna’s eyes landed on me, she froze. Meanwhile, the color drained from Dolly’s face, and she started trembling uncontrollably. Donna’s knees knocked together, and she clung to Dolly, unable to stand on her own.
“W-w-we haven’t done anything, all right?!” she shouted at me. “L-Like, we aren’t doing any bad stuff anymore!” She looked like she was about to burst into tears.
Dolly tensed her upper lip, trying to act unaffected, even as she stammered, “H-hope you’re having a nice evening. Now, if you’ll pardon us, yeah?” From the stiff, unnatural way she spoke, she was obviously flustered. She wrapped an arm around Donna, half carrying her as they scrambled away from us.
Marie watched the two retreat, her face scrunched. “How’s it feel knowing you completely broke them?”
I wasn’t even sure how to answer. There was something incredibly disorienting about two spoiled rich girls falling over themselves to escape me. “I guess I taught a good lesson to a couple selfish girls who needed it,” I said.
“And it never occurred to you that they might try to take revenge on us by going to their parents or something?”
“I figure we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Anyway, we’ve got Luxion.”
Luxion—still invisible—cut in, “I currently consider the likelihood of them retaliating exceedingly low. They do not seem to want to create a larger fuss out of what happened.”
He spoke with such confidence that he must have already investigated the pair. He was great at watching our backs. “You looked into them, huh?”
“Either way, Master, you are too relaxed about their potential retaliation. You mustn’t discount the possibility—or danger—of that.”
Marie nodded sagely. “Exactly. You have a habit of going overboard. You should learn to be more discreet and consider the consequences of your actions.”
Like you have any right to say that to me. But although there was nothing wrong with my wanting to help Olivia, my actions had been a bit reckless. Using Luxion to cheat my way through the game had completely and irreparably broken Dolly and Donna’s spirits. If they resented me for that, I deserved it. But it wasn’t like I’d rushed into it blindly.
“Remember, all the love interests give Miss Olivia preferential treatment,” I said. “I knew that, as long as I got her out of that situation, I’d just need to threaten Dolly and Donna if they tried to take revenge. Tell them ‘If you try anything funny, I’ll go to Prince Julius and let him know what happened at the casino.’ And, if they still tried going to their parents, I’d have the Roseblades to back me up.”
Looking equally shocked at my explanation, Luxion and Marie whispered to each other.
“For him, that was quite calculating,” Luxion noted.
“I guess. Still, he planned to get the prince or the Roseblades to solve the problem for him. Isn’t that kind of, I don’t know, pathetic?”
“Given his constant reliance upon me for everything, I believe you humans would say ‘That ship has already sailed.’ He was, as you said, ‘pathetic’ from the start.”
Let’s be honest for a sec. You guys just hate me, don’t you?
✦ ✦ ✦
Leon and Marie weren’t the only ones observing Olivia and the love interests. Angelica was also watching the group from afar. Her followers surrounded her, their expressions full of bitterness as they glowered at Olivia. Even from a distance, they could overhear the conversation between Julius and his friends, who were excitedly discussing the trip they’d planned for winter break.
“I’ve scheduled the winter trip to mirror the school trip’s itinerary exactly, Olivia,” Julius said. “The only drawback is that there won’t be a festival on the island this time around.”
“You didn’t have to match the school trip’s itinerary,” Olivia said, her face drawn.
“Since we couldn’t attend that trip, we at least want to make the experience as similar as possible,” Jilk explained. “Though, since this will be your second visit, I suppose it won’t be quite as novel to you.”
“Oh, that’s not a problem at all.”
Julius’s brow wrinkled. “I debated visiting a different school trip location, but that would ruin your enjoyment of it when you got to visit it next year, or the year after.” He’d put a lot of thought into their vacation, wanting to ensure that—when the next school trips rolled around—
Olivia could experience the locations along with the rest of her group. That was why he’d decided they would travel to the same island on winter break.
As they discussed their vacation plans, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, but Angelica’s followers were understandably irritable.
“Lady Angelica couldn’t attend the school trip, either.”
“Exactly. If he should invite anybody, it’s Lady Angelica.”
“Should we pressure Lord Jilk to issue you an invitation, my lady?”
Although Angelica appreciated their indignation on her behalf, she still felt wretched. “I’m not so uncouth that I’d ruin His Highness’s trip,” she said. “I hope they enjoy themselves.”
Though, truth be told, I wanted to join him, too. She was putting on a brave face, but she really had looked forward to going on the school trip together. Still, she couldn’t very well come out and say so openly, given her status. Bravado was her only option.
✦ ✦ ✦
If she strained her ears a little, she could hear the whispers of the rest of the student body.
“How pathetic,” they said of her.
“At this point, she’s hardly worthy of being called a duke’s daughter.”
“I guess the prince hates her now, huh?”
The insults were mixed with snickers. Ever since what’d happened during the party before summer break, more and more students looked down on her. When her followers glared at them, they were obviously quick to avert their gazes, but Angelica sensed a trend: Her influence over the other students was waning.
That doesn’t change the fact that I’m the prince’s betrothed, she reminded herself. She glared at Olivia and the fake smile the girl kept on her face for the prince. You’ll understand eventually, she thought, trying to soothe her fury. You’re not suited for His Highness.