Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

150 – Let’s Take Action Actively

‘Tch, there’s not even a loophole to escape through now.’

Duke Iris began

to click his tongue inwardly.

He had, in his own way, wanted to protect his top priority

client,

but with evidence like this left behind,

there was nothing else he could do.

“…Your Majesty, would you permit a closer examination?”

“Of course. Here, I’ll even provide

a magi measurer.”

Taking the magi measurer

offered by the Emperor,

he drew up a very thin layer of mana with his other hand.

Just in case he became contaminated with magi,

if he touched it barehanded.

It was the bare minimum safety measure.

Of course, the moment he saw him

summoning mana,

Reindel’s hand, which was behind the Emperor,

immediately went

to his sword,

but soon realizing

that he had no intention of attacking,

he sheathed his sword once more.

He secured his blade back in its sheath,

then, hand drawing up mana, slowly lifted the crimson hilt.

He brought the Order’s

magi-meter to the entrance, and

*BEEP–BEEP–*

The device shrieked almost immediately.

“….”

“Magi detected.”

“..Damn it, that man, really..!!”

Everyone held a sliver

of hope, faint as it was,

and the confirmation drew a stark reaction from each of them,

but none more intensely than

Duke Lunuiel.

‘No way… could it really be?’

They were always at each other’s throats, true,

but they had also known each other for a long, long time.

Even if his temperament

had shifted of late,

to think he’d become

involved with demons…

No, perhaps they had simply turned a blind eye.

Thinking he wouldn’t possibly

fall so far,

they’d been content to

listlessly stand aside.

“How… How could he..!!”

“Easy, now… Calm yourself.”

After briefly soothing

the understandably shocked woman,

the Emperor’s gaze fixed on a single point.

On a man who, with an almost

unsettling loyalty, had always

defended Reinhardt.

“Well, Duke Iris?

Is this not sufficient proof of his treachery?”

“….”

“Even if the Duke himself is

unrelated,

that the eldest son became a demon is also a grave matter.”

“…As Your Majesty wills.”

Now, even Iris was helpless.

The single glimmer of hope

she harbored,

had been extinguished by her own hand, just moments ago.

‘Tch…if Reinhardt

cancels the order…the losses…’

“Good, then I shall take it

that everyone agrees.”

“…Yes, so be it.”

Now, the last resort he had,

was to figure out,

as quickly as possible, a way

to liquidate the remaining stock.

And in a way that maximized profits.

*

“Not even a single letter…”

“…My apologies.”

“I wanted to see you after so long…”

My chest still

throbbed slightly,

but that I hadn’t

left her a single message

was solely my fault.

I clenched my teeth, desperately suppressing a groan,

and Rianna, whether

she understood my feelings or not,

continued to burrow into my chest.

“Ooh, M-Master too, now…!!”

“Hehehe…a lovely sight, wouldn’t you say?”

Not even caring about

the glances

we were drawing from those around us.

Come to think of it, she isn’t normally

one to rush at me so abruptly, either.

If it were the

real her, she wouldn’t be

behaving like this.

She’d have flushed crimson and sought a mouse hole to vanish into, no doubt.

“Has…Lianna, was she always this way?”

“….”

“Lianna?”

“I recently met someone and, well,

I’ve come to a resolution.”

“A resolution…? What is it?”

Hearing my question,

she promptly

tilted her head up with a jerk, then

gave a shy, but radiant smile.

A smile that could ensnare

unsuspecting men in an instant.

The way her water-colored hair

intertwined with that smile, it gave her an air of

something mystical.

“To act proactively in everything.”

“….”

“I can’t completely ignore

the gazes of others, but…”

“….”

“I’ve decided to try my best to do so!”

…I didn’t know who

she’d met, but even so,

seeing her this way was

more pleasing to me

than her usual huddled posture.

She, who constantly

scanned her surroundings, is

now smiling of her own volition.

This kind of change,

I was ready to welcome at any time.

“Young master…proactively…?!”

“Pfft…you’re worried

the competition will increase, are you?”

“Huh? What did you just s—”

“Ah, no, no~ It’s nothing!”

“…?”

“More importantly, who’s coming over there?”

At first glance,

it might sound like nothing,

but having just arrived at the academy,

and having spent all our time

unpacking in the dorms, me and Ella,

Rihanna wasn’t the only one who would come to us.

Even now, I could hear it

clearly in my ears.

The sound of the creaking floorboards,

caused by his gait.

“Isn’t it a bit late?”

“It’s been a while, Albert.”

Had he grown more muscle

in the time since I last saw him?

Albert’s build was larger

than I remembered,

and the magical energy radiating

from him had also noticeably increased.

If before, it was like a single

campfire…

now, his magic was akin

to a veritable furnace.

“Albert, how have you been…burp!!”

“Hmph!”

“L..Lord Albert?!”

Smack─

His…

hands still sting quite a bit.

Rihanna’s small fists, which had

been drumming on me a moment ago,

looked like child’s play by comparison.

“Ugh…”

“This is your punishment, for not leaving word.”

“…My apologies.”

“Suddenly leaving the family

and now receiving the title of Baron… indeed.”

“….”

“Thanks to you, the others

have been bothering me lately.”

Well, of course they would.

Until just recently,

the only ones who even

bothered to associate with me

were these two.

Judging by the scene at my dormitory just now,

quite a few people must have

descended on them as well.

Mostly scions of noble families.

And what comes next is rather obvious, isn’t it?

They’d be asking questions.

About me, about anything.

Begging for even the smallest

scrap of information, wouldn’t they?

Even Albert, heir to a Dukedom, found it bothersome…

“…Albert.”

“Do not fret.”

“…?”

“A spirited sort, that one.”

“….”

“You needn’t concern yourself.”

“I see.”

“Besides, do you even

have the leisure to worry about her right now?”

“…?”

“Professor Oliver was looking for you

on your way here.”

“Me? Professor Oliver?”

It seems another matter has presented itself.

*

“Lady Isabella, might I have a word…?”

Again.

This is the fourth time today.

That someone has stopped her like this,

while she walks along the corridor.

All the while, she cast furtive glances about, wary of prying eyes.

“…And who might you be?”

“I am Reyna, of House Scarlet… I believe.”

House Scarlet…

If memory serves, I recall seeing them at a tea party, once.

A Countess family, most assuredly.

“Good day, Miss.

What brings you to me?”

“Heehee… well, you see…”

Ah, I think I have an inkling.

As to the nature of her errand.

The three others who had approached me

with the same charade.

They, too, wore such expressions when we spoke.

A look of agonizing whether to broach the subject or not.

“That… if it isn’t too impertinent, your former fiancé─”

“…”

“M-My deepest apologies!”

The air had turned frigid, and Miss Reyna, sensing the change,

fled as quickly as she could,

whereupon the gazes of those nearby

flickered elsewhere.

There was no other reason.

Only, they feared retribution.

For who could say?

Perhaps, in continuing to stare so brazenly at her,

they would earn her ire.

“Heehee… a lovely day we’re having…”

“I was just thinking that myself… heehee…”

“…Haaah.”

“…!..”

A chilling sigh washed over the students

who had desperately tried to ignore the scene and pass on by,

The two students, just like that,

flinched with a start and fled,

but the very person who sighed

remained utterly indifferent to the gazes around her.

As she was now, quite literally,

she had no spare

leeway to fret about anything else.

Or rather, to be exact, she did not *want* to fret.

‘Why is it that even to *me*,

after quite some time since the engagement’s end,

these sorts of

questions are being bandied about…?!’

Of course, she knew that news of Jennison was the talk of the Academy lately.

She too had eyes to see

and ears to hear, after all.

To receive a peerage directly

from the Emperor at our age…

it would be hard *not* to be curious.

And of course, she readily

predicted such things

would happen to anyone

with even a slight acquaintance to him.

To know the other party well

into a kind of power, after all.

‘But that it would come even to *me*…’

For goodness sake,

weren’t they already broken off?

No matter that they were

entangled by the titles of

the Four Great Houses,

hadn’t they now broken off

and become a pair awkward in the extreme?

Furthermore, she hadn’t exactly been

close friends with Jennison in the first place.

From the very beginning, he and she

weren’t lovers progressing to betrothed,

but simply a political marriage arranged by the families.

Moreover, back then, her feeling of revulsion

towards his conduct

Dwelling within, it was.

The thought of discerning his tastes, she hadn’t entertained.

What she knew, at best, was

that boisterous atmospheres

he detested, and that

fishy odors, he abominated.

‘..Come to think, for an engaged pair, I know next to nothing of him.’

A faint,

bitter taste, it seemed,

lingered in her mouth.

Of course, if she,

with this morsel of information alone,

had wished, countless cadets

could have used it as a clue to

his preferences,

but for two who had gone as far as betrothal,

it was undeniably, a meager pool.

‘Alright, let’s try to recall, step by step.. Surely, then…!’

Something he favored,

surely she could unearth.

Thinking thus, she

began to sketch his image in her mind.

Black hair, black eyes,

ever-hollowed undereyes.

For his own appearance’s upkeep,

little care,

he seemed to give,

but like the appearance he’d shown

at the banquet, if he bothered to preen,

even from a distant remove,

a remarkable countenance he possessed…

‘Ah…no, this is useless, isn’t it..?!’

Ceasing her thoughts not,

she tried for a brief moment,

to gaze beyond the window.

If only a little, to refresh the thoughts inside her head, such was her obsession.

“Hmm, something more practical… Eh?”

And then, into her

vision came,

a black-haired boy,

with his companions.