While Ermes was in B Class, putting on a spectacle during the magic practice lesson that could hardly be called a magic practice lesson—
In the A Class to which Katia belonged, the students were currently killing time with idle chatter before homeroom.
Amid all that—
"—Lady Katia, please, let's have a meal together sometime!"
"……"
Not again, she sighed to herself.
Since yesterday, invitations like this had been coming at her nonstop. Students who would bluntly bring up engagement proposals out of the blue, like yesterday, had thankfully stopped appearing—but invitations for meals and the like still hadn't let up.
It seemed that for them, a duke's daughter who had overcome the flaw in her magic—the very thing that earned her the label of "Flawed Lady"—was remarkably appealing. Attractive enough that they were dead set on getting close to her.
Also, she was well aware that her own appearance was, by most measures, quite outstanding. As her maid Leila put it, she might not be the most beautiful in the Royal Capital—but judging by the reactions around her, she was certainly no ordinary beauty. That, too, was probably part of why she kept getting approached.
…And yet, she had absolutely no intention of accepting any of their invitations.
Because she knew. Every single person now extending invitations to her had, back when she was in B Class, worn expressions of undisguised contempt and scorn on their faces.
How could she possibly trust people like that? How could she trust those who hadn't believed in her?
When she cast them a gaze laden with that resolve, the male student faltered, realized there was no point in trying, and withdrew. Fortunately, this one happened to be fairly perceptive about reading the room.
As a duke's daughter, she probably should be broadening her social circle to some degree.
But even so—she would rather spend her time with someone who believed in her and cared for her than have anything to do with people like them.
For instance—someone who had come back to fulfill a long-ago promise, who had solved her magic troubles and mended her broken heart—
"…………"
…She caught herself and regretted that line of thought.
To think she could flow from something so trivial straight into thoughts of him—just how thoroughly had he taken over her mind? It was as though she thought of nothing else but him at all times. Well, that wasn't exactly wrong, but still. Feeling the embarrassment rise to her face, she let out an involuntary breath.
Still, she let out a slightly flushed, troubled sigh — which she herself would have called "rather impressive," but to anyone else, it was lukewarm at best. Her breathtakingly beautiful appearance once again caught the eyes of every student around her... but unfortunately, she never noticed.
In any case, as if shifting gears in her thoughts, Katia surveyed the classroom.
Class A at the moment was, to put it mildly... in the thick of an invisible power struggle.
With Aster — who had wielded absolute authority — gone, the throne sat vacant. As if racing to see who would claim that seat next, countless students spent their breaks between classes socializing and scheming.
The candidates to become the next central figure of the class had been narrowed down to roughly two.
One of them was — none other than Katia herself.
Katia honestly thought this whole contest was supremely pointless, but unfortunately, her position wouldn't let her opt out. To put it simply, the people around her had thrust her into the role without asking.
And the other was —
"— Lord Clyde!"
The ardent voice of a certain earl's daughter reached Katia's ears.
Following that voice and the direction of every gaze, she looked over — and there stood a single male student.
He had vivid blue hair casually swept back, and deep purple eyes that carried an unfathomable air about them. Yet his overall sweet, refined features and soft demeanor tempered that impression — in short, he cut exactly the figure of a noble young gentleman.
Clyde von Helmuth.
The eldest son of Marquis Helmuth's house, and apparently an extremely gifted mage...
"Apparently" because there was a particular reason for that qualification, but for now, he'd set that aside.
What mattered was that he hailed from a prestigious marquis house — in this school year, Katia was the only one from a ducal family, so his was a sufficiently distinguished lineage.
Moreover, he had been — a close aide to the Second Prince Aster during the first term.
That name value, that family standing, and on top of that, his manner of addressing everyone with a gentle, easy grace.
He and Katia seemed to form a pair of equals — the dual pillars of current Class A, so to speak.
...The reason so much of this was hedged estimation was that she genuinely couldn't care less.
That was how Clyde happily chatted away with the students around him — all of them from distinguished families.
Since she had no further interest in the matter, she turned her gaze back to the front of the classroom — and that was when it happened.
"…I'm terribly sorry for being late, everyone."
The classroom door swung open with a clatter, and a single teacher — the homeroom teacher for Class A — stepped inside.
At that cue, the students around her stopped their conversations and returned to their seats. Simultaneously, the teacher took the podium, and homeroom began.
First came a string of minor announcements, followed by details about the academy festival next month. Once those had been relayed, the homeroom teacher paused for a beat.
"From here on, this will be something for all of you to decide. First — the matter of this class's representative."
A faint ripple of tension passed through the students.
"The previous representative for this class, His Highness Aster, has… well, departed the academy. Normally the term is one year, but I'd like you to decide on a new representative starting from the second term."
So that was the situation.
In Class B's case, the first term had been full of various incidents, but in the end Sarah became the class representative. The second term would carry on with that unchanged.
But Class A was different. With the class representative gone, a new one would have to be chosen.
And that carried considerable significance.
One could dismiss it as merely a position, but within an academy where power struggles between nobles were brought right in, even a mere position held heavy weight. After all, it effectively meant deciding who stood at the very top of the class.
As such, tension ran through the students.
Not so much who would volunteer — but rather, whom would they push for. A flurry of unspoken calculations darted among the students.
One student broke the silence.
"I nominate Lady Katia!"
It was the same boy who had invited her to eat earlier. The way he glanced over at Katia as he spoke made his aim rather transparent.
He probably meant well. If Katia was a noble too, she surely wouldn't want anything less than becoming the true center of this class — both in name and in substance.
……Honestly, this is so far off the mark that I wish they'd stop.
But the others were completely oblivious to that. If anything, that boy's nomination triggered a chain reaction, with voice after voice from across the class rising to recommend Katia.
"Lady Katia is the only duke's daughter in this class — there's no one more fitting than her."
"I hear she even overcame the flaw in her magic. Awakening at this age is extraordinarily rare — it's proof of truly remarkable talent as a mage."
"Moreover, her composed demeanor and sense of dignity are second to none."
They were heaping praise on Katia — yet their true intentions showed right through on their faces: a desperate, calculating desire to curry favor with the capable duchess's daughter.
She was thoroughly fed up. She opened her mouth to firmly declare that she had no interest whatsoever —
"—Could you hold on a moment?"
A gentle voice cut through the momentum.
Perhaps because of its beautiful timbre, every gaze in the room turned toward its source.
As expected, the speaker was Clyde von Helmuth.
Once he had confirmed that all eyes were on him, he slowly — with a deliberately theatrical sweep of his hands — began to speak.
"Everyone, I understand why you're nominating Lady Katia. A duke's daughter who overcame the flaw in her magic — what a wonderful sound that makes. Leave things to her, and this class will be in good hands, I'm sure. —But please, think about it!"
Then Clyde let a look of exaggerated sorrow spread across his face — which, thanks to his refined features, nonetheless came across as genuinely convincing.
"What about His Highness Aster?"
A different kind of murmur swept through the class.
In a sense, he had just stepped into the one taboo no one in this room had dared to touch.
"He was simply too strong, and he tried to handle everything on his own. We leaned on him, we left it all to him! ……And in the end, His Highness met
a most
tragic"
end!"
That is—
what happened!
With an expression both imploring and captivating, he spoke.
"Everyone must already understand by now — that His Highness was simply not enough. ...That leaving everything to a single person is not a system that will work going forward."
"..."
"What I'm trying to say is exactly that. From now on — all of us in Class A must stop fighting over power and work together!"
Having said that much, Clyde paused for a beat, letting his words linger.
He turned his refined face toward Katia.
"Therefore, Lady Katia. Following that philosophy — if we hand the seat of class representative to a lady as outstanding in every way as you, we'll end up repeating last term's disaster. Don't you agree?"
"Hah. And then?"
"...What I'm trying to say is that the key to working together is 'yielding to one another'!"
Katia's utterly nonchalant reaction momentarily left him at a loss for words, but Clyde quickly resumed his argument in a louder voice.
"If you try to have it all, you'll end up like His Highness Aster. That's why we all have to sacrifice parts of ourselves to some degree. And so — Lady Katia, you should give up the position of class representative—"
"to me—"
"and yield it—"
"don't you think?"
"...Why should it be you?"
"That should be obvious. After all, I—"
"In this academy..."
"...I can't use
Bloodline
Magic!
"
That was precisely why the only conclusion anyone could draw was that he had to be a remarkably talented mage.
Like Nina, Clyde had also been forbidden from using Bloodline Magic publicly due to family circumstances. He declared this at the top of his lungs, then pressed on.
"You will cede the class representative position to me. In return, I'll give you all a stage to shine using Bloodline Magic. This is what compromise looks like—the class moves forward when everyone swallows their minor grievances. That's how we should be operating from now on!"
Having delivered his declaration, Clyde turned his gaze across the entire class.
As if asking, "What do you all think?"
"...He has a point."
A voice rose up.
"It really isn't appropriate to leave everything to Lady Katia alone, is it?"
"If it's Lord Clyde, I'm sure he'll manage the class fairly. That puts my mind at ease."
Voices of agreement rose, one after another. ...Most of them came from students who found Katia's overwhelming presence irksome, and female students who envied her appearance.
And unfortunately, in the current Class A, there were more students who felt that way than anyone had expected.
Before long, those supporting Clyde surpassed the majority. Students who had been backing Katia just moments ago caved under the pressure and changed their tune to support Clyde instead.
One could say the tide had turned.
...Were they even aware of it?
On the surface, his words about joining forces and making compromises certainly sounded like the right thing to say.
But first of all, the very reason Clyde was forbidden from using Bloodline Magic was a family matter—not a sacrifice in the least. Which meant he had seized the central position in the class without giving up anything whatsoever.
Above all else, he had been Aster's aide last term.
In other words—he had just publicly trashed the very person he had served up until now, without so much as a shred of hesitation.
Did they seriously believe someone like that was capable of making fair judgments?
...They must, Katya muttered to herself. That's exactly why they praise him so blindly.
There were still plenty of contradictions to point out, but... chances are, even if she raised them one by one, they wouldn't listen.
Which meant there was no way to overturn the class's decision from here.
"Thanks, everyone! ──Now then, Lady Katya. That being the case, would it be all right if I served as class representative? Surely you wouldn't try to overturn the class's will out of sheer self-interest──
Aster
His Highness's
kind of
thing
I wouldn't
do that
would I?"
In the end, he said it in a needling tone.
With the expression of a principled gentleman—but for just an instant, letting a faint trace of pleasure slip through: the satisfaction of having snatched the position of class representative right out from under Katya.
As if to prove it, he watched her with an expectant look, eager to see what reaction she would give.
But.
"Yes. Go ahead."
──To repeat, though.
Katia had absolutely zero interest in the kind of honors and accolades that Clyde was promoting. She'd thought they might prove necessary up until the first term, but after reuniting with him, she genuinely could not have cared less.
So if anything, judging purely by the outcome, this was actually a relief. With that thought, she gave an indifferent reply.
Clyde, caught off guard by the unexpectedly breezy response and thrown off his stride, let a momentary flash of irritation cross his face before quickly composing himself once more.
"I see—you have the magnanimity to swallow your grievances after all. ──Then everyone, thank you all for nominating me. From here on out, let's work together as one and fulfill our duties as nobles!"
He capped it off with those fine-sounding words and basked in the applause of the entire class.
(...How pointless.)
Katia reflected once more.
What he was doing was the polar opposite of Aster's approach, yet it amounted to exactly the same thing.
It felt almost like proof that even with Aster gone, this country would never change—and that was dispiriting.
At the same time, she thought: ──if this man ever crossed paths with Ermes, things would probably get quite troublesome.
The idea seemed like a nuisance, yet there was a small part of her that looked forward to it—if anyone could hold his own, it would be him.
"...Sigh. I want to see El."
Perhaps it was the aftermath of that dreadful farce she'd just been forced to watch, but she found herself suddenly craving comfort.
She let out a sigh and called the name of the retainer she trusted most.
And so that was the wild card of this chapter—Clyde's debut appearance.
With that, all the players are assembled. From here on, the story will pick up the pace, and I'd be grateful if you'd keep reading!
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