“But I don’t l-l-like him…not like that!”
“Peep?!”
Her volume must have shocked Peep because the chick dived from her shoulder back onto the bed.
Sienna watched the beautiful arc of its flight before turning back to the blushing Brigitte. Her next words were truly shocking.
“Actually…I’m secretly in love with Sir Aurealis.”
…Um… Brigitte froze again. The blood drained from her face.
“Oh!” She began to sway from the shock.
“Miss Brigitte!”
Sienna thrust out her arms to prop her up, but Brigitte was limp as a doll and could do no more than stare at the ceiling. Sienna somehow managed to pull her over to the bed. Lying on the soft sheets like an invalid, her eyes open, Brigitte murmured, “N-now I see…”
“…”
“Y-you have my support, Sienna. But…I just… I never even noticed that you liked Sir Yuri, and…”
The world was turning black as she spoke.
Sienna, now genuinely panicked, held Brigitte’s shoulders and shook her. “Miss, stay with me! I was joking!”
“…Joking?”
She sounded quite decisive.
…That was a joke?
Brigitte was so relieved, she let out all the breath she had been holding in. Sienna took this as an opportunity for a bull’s-eye blow.
“I was joking, but look how you reacted!”
Oof.
She was right.
“It’s because you have feelings for him, isn’t it?”
And again!
She glanced around as a choking feeling rose in her throat.
“…Yes.”
She hid her face under the covers and nodded.
“Then don’t you think you ought to tell him?”
No way—that’s impossible!
But it would be even worse if he went on thinking she liked someone else. She didn’t know what to do with all the emotions swimming around inside her.
“I—I think I’ll start by telling him tomorrow that I don’t have any feelings for Clifford.”
“…Yes, that’s good.”
“If I do that, he’ll stop having these strange ideas, won’t he?”
“…Yes. I’m sure it’s been weighing on him, so you really ought to do that.”
Sienna gazed at her warmly, and Brigitte promised herself she would do it.
The next day, Brigitte arrived at school in high spirits. But Yuri was in a different class, so she normally didn’t see him until after school. She passed the day in anxious anticipation.
Perhaps, because she’d confessed that she liked someone in front of the whole class the day before, her classmates seemed to be observing her from a distance. Most of them, however, were acting almost envious. It seemed that rather than being annoyed with this bold confession by a nobleman’s daughter, they admired her for it.
“Sniff… Miss Brigitte…”
“Nival, please stop crying. You never had a chance to begin with.”
For some reason, Nival kept breaking down in tears. Each time, Kira tried to cheer him up…but Brigitte didn’t have the mental fortitude that day to get involved.
I bet he’s in the library today!
After school, she initially headed for the gazebo, but stopped on a hunch. Turning on her heels, she marched toward the library. Her hunches were rarely wrong.
“Sir Yuri!”
As usual, he was in the reading area…but instead of reading, he was staring glumly up at the skylight. At the sound of her voice, he slowly lowered his head.
“Sorry,” he said listlessly.
Huh?
“I don’t have the energy to talk to you today.”
Huh?!
She stared at him in shock. Cool, composed, haughty Yuri Aurealis would never say such a thing! She turned pale and hurried over to him.
Banging the long table in agitation, she asked, “What’s wrong, Sir Yuri? You didn’t eat a mushroom growing by the side of the road, did you?!”
“Of course I didn’t.”
“If it wasn’t a mushroom, then what in the world…?”
“I didn’t pick up anything off the road.” His voice was somehow listless. His expression was gloomy, too, and he looked unwell.
I wonder if he’s got a cold or something…
He must be ill.
Poor thing!
“You should go to the infirmary. I’ll walk over with you!”
“I’m fine… Who’s the favorite?”
“What?”
“That pâtissier or Clifford? Which is it?”
What is he talking about?
She stiffened. He must have eaten something strange after all. But after thinking for a few seconds, she realized what he meant. If he was talking about Carson and Clifford, this had to be an extension of their conversation the day before.
“Carson told you himself, didn’t he? He and I are servant and mistress, nothing more.”
In truth, he was more like family—much closer and dearer to her than her real family. But if she mentioned that, things would get even more complicated, so she kept to what Carson himself had said.
“He never said—,” Yuri started to say, then broke off.
“What were you going to say?”
“…Nothing…”
His oddly evasive answer irritated her. He wasn’t acting like himself at all.
He’s always sarcastic and unpleasant and rude, calling me stupid over nothing, and…
And always bursting with confidence, the coolest guy around. That was why she had fallen for him without meaning to.
This other personality didn’t suit him.
“And as for Sir Clifford…”
He gazed glumly at her. She reached for her fan, then realized this was no time for evasiveness and sat down across from him at the table instead.
“I think he’s a wonderful person…and that’s all.”
“…That’s all?”
“Yes, and—”
Breaking into a sweat from sheer embarrassment, she felt her face flushing redder by the second. Her heart was pounding, and her throat was parched. But she was determined not to flee like she had the day before. She took a deep breath.
“And the person I like is—someone else!”
Her proclamation resounded through the library. Someone else, someone else, someone else… Her shrill voice echoed back to her. As she snapped back to reality, she wanted to pull her hair in frustration.
Someone else? I could have put that better!
But now that she’d said it, she couldn’t take it back. She resisted the urge to curl into a ball on the ground by sprawling confidently in her chair.
“…Someone else, eh?” Yuri muttered lethargically. “Well, that’s good.”
Good?
She turned toward him, puzzled. His expression caught her off guard. He was smiling. Why did he look so profoundly relieved?
Could he maybe…?
…No.
No, no, no.
She tugged her cheeks, telling herself to stop being so conceited. That was the only way she could be sure all the things she shouldn’t say wouldn’t come leaping out of her mouth.
I’m just imagining it. He doesn’t care about me one little bit!
How annoying it would be if his academic rival, Brigitte, fell in love with his right-hand man. Of course he was relieved to find out that wasn’t the case.
Oh! I almost forgot about our competition!
Remembering her other reason for coming to see him, she raised one finger in the air. Of course, this was in part a strategy to forcefully change the subject because she didn’t know what else to say.
“We haven’t had much chance to compete lately, what with the summer holiday.”
“…You want a third go at it?”
He rubbed his chin pensively. His mood seemed instantly improved. He hated to lose every bit as much as she did, and the competitive fire was already glimmering in his eyes.
“I do. Isn’t this weekend the school inspection by the Central Shrine?”
The shrine was part of a spirit-worshipping religion. All five-year-old children went to the shrine closest to them, a sacred place, to contract with a spirit. And every year, priests were dispatched from the Central Shrine to inspect Otoleanna Academy of Magic. Several students judged to have developed a strong relationship with their spirits would traditionally be invited to a banquet at the shrine, which the archbishop himself also attended. Brigitte was proposing a simple competition: Whoever got invited to the banquet won.
“I’ll have a significant advantage, you know,” Yuri said.
“Who cares? That just makes me want to win even more.”
Flipping her long hair over her shoulder, she smirked confidently.
The previous year, Yuri had been invited along with Joseph to attend the banquet. Brigitte knew that, of course, but this year’s representatives hadn’t yet been chosen.
“Also, are you sure you’ll be all right?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You still don’t know what kind of spirit Peep is.”
He’s worried for me…
Her heart fluttered at his words, but she shook her head confidently.
“I’ll be fine! It’s a perfect chance for me to learn more about Peep!”
“Peep!” the chick answered energetically from between locks of her hair. She grinned as it poked its face out.
The priest hadn’t so much as glanced at her during last year’s inspection. But this year would be different. With Peep, she felt that she could achieve something.
So far, my score is one loss and one tie…
This time she’d win!
“We’re on, Sir Yuri! Be ready, because I’m sure to win this ti—!”
She was shouting passionately when the librarian in glasses suddenly appeared.
“Um, excuse me, but can you please keep your voice down in the library…?” she said nervously.
Brigitte found herself apologizing profusely once again.