riga Heerlein looked around as she walked on the red carpet. Gold, gold, gold. There was gold everywhere.
“Has it been a while since we’ve entered the palace?”
“Yes, we haven’t since mid-March.”
It was the sa wherever she looked. Unfamiliar faces, unfamiliar scenery. She felt queasy, perhaps due to taking in air that she wasn’t used to. Barely holding back a sneeze, riga slowly followed Marquis Robespierre.
She was imnsely glad to have co with him. If she had co alone, she couldn’t have spoken with anyone. No, she wouldn’t have.
“Ah....”
The ends of her silk dress got caught on her feet, nearly making her lose her balance and trip.
Managing to regain her balance, rgia let out a sigh in relief.
“Are you nervous?”
“No, it isn’t that....”
“There’s no need to worry. What does it matter that you were a commoner? You’re undoubtedly a Count officially approved by His Majesty.”
“.......”
“So straighten your shoulders and be confident.”
He was making his own assumptions. riga continued to sigh under her breath so that the Marquis couldn’t hear. The noise carried a different note than the one a mont ago.
riga had been born and raised in the slums. She was more comfortable in rags than this kind of fancy dress. Even when she’d entered the Academy, she couldn’t afford a uniform and so she worked with a single outfit that she’d patch up. After graduating, she had only worn a military uniform due to being out in the battlefield.
She was the last person who suited beautiful clothes... at least that was what riga herself thought.
“We’ve arrived.”
The main Imperial hall–the place where the noble assembly took place every four years, and the stage where all sorts of banquets and balls were held.
Having arrived, riga looked around and clicked her tongue.
“It seems that a party cos before the eting.”
A chandelier of magnificent design that inspired awe. The finest buffet spread, enough to make the table collapse. Imperial musicians playing classical music with ambiance. The main hall of the palace was splendor itself.
“I suppose it’s because every noble is coming.”
“The people are starving to death yet look at this luxury.”
“Shh, your voice.”
riga pressed her mouth shut.
If any of the traditional nobles or a Beast had heard what she’d just said, then she might have been subjected to all sorts of harassnt. Thankfully, there was no one around. Brows twitching, the two kept moving.
They exchanged greetings with many people, a common formality between nobles. As they made the round through the hall, riga smiled wryly.
“It doesn’t look like there’s anyone else who used to be a commoner.”
“Hmm.”
Robespierre could only hum.
There were two ways for a commoner to beco nobility–through contributing significantly during the war or by graduating from Tilette Academy.
Soone who accomplished sothing that was recognized by anyone on the battlefield would be a great mage, and a mage like that would’ve already graduated from Tilette a long ti ago. In the end, Tilette was the only gateway.
For a commoner to enter Tilette Academy was like asking for the moon, which was sad. riga slumped her shoulders.
Just then, Robespierre spoke.
“If we’re talking about a noble from a commoner background.... then there would be another besides yourself, Count Heerlein.”
“...Who do you an?”
“The student you’ve helped.”
riga instantly understood who the Marquis was referring to.
“...She’s still a student.”
“Her graduation is inevitable unless the world ends. As the chairman, I can guarantee it. That child will surely receive a title.”
“.......”
“You don’t seem well, Count Heerlein.”
“It’s nothing.”
Aether. She recalled the face of the Golden-Eyed child she had helped.
The day she freed Aether from slavery, rgia had greatly wronged her friend. Aether had been Klais’ slave, so she had taken her property away without permission.
Why did I do that back then....
She had felt even more restless after the Golden-Eyed girl scooped Klais’ research. In the end, Klais had left for the north, and never returned. By now, she would probably be no longer in this world.
People were creatures of regret. When everything was over, pain had hit her like a tidal wave.
Still, she couldn’t stand by and watch that child who was being used as a slave. It had reminded her of herself as a child. Although Klais had been kind to her, she was harsh towards slaves. She might have been a little disappointed at the ti.
“Are you liking the course?”
“...Yes. It’s alright.”
“If you’re concerned about the people, we can talk about it during the eting. It won’t do to look upset while there’s good food to be had.”
Right. For now, she can wash away her troubles with wine.
“Ah....”
The thought soon dissipated.
There was a man who was clinking glasses with the ladies, his blond hair and red eyes familiar. His hair was swept back from his forehead in a display of neatness and steadfastness. His very look scread ‘I am important’.
Recognizing him, Robespierre approached him first.
“Well, if it isn’t Duke Hasfeldt.”
Renawill Hasfeldt.
He was the father of Klais Hasfeldt.
“Marquis Robespierre, is it? It has been a while.”
“Have you been well?”
The Marquis bowed automatically and took the Duke’s hand. Their firm handshake went on for a while. In the anti, riga bowed her head and quickly gauged him.
“And you would be.... Count Heerlein.”
“Greetings, your Grace. Have you been well?”
“Ahum.”
Duke Renawill let out an incoherent nasal sound.
“Honestly speaking, I cannot say that was the case.”
Flinch.
riga’s shoulders jumped in a spinal reflex.
“If I may ask... is it perhaps because of your daughter?”
“You’d be correct. I ant to have her succeed as the head and step down, but that didn’t happen.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“It’s fine, really; it’s common in the north.”
As the two conversed, riga didn’t say anything. She was afraid to. It could only be because of the guilt she had towards her deceased friend.
“But you’ve lost many of your children. I was always concerned that you would be having a hard ti.”
“You needn’t worry as I’ve said. I will deal with the matter of succession on my own. Though I would have to continue acting as head until then, of course....”
Matter of succession?
riga sensed sothing strange about the Duke’s words. Robespierre wouldn’t have been offering words of consolation out of concern for the succession.
“Anyway, what have you been up to lately, Count?”
It was Renawill himself who drew riga from her thoughts back to reality. After shaking hands, Renawill looked deeply into her eyes.
“I’m... teaching students.”
“Still?”
“Yes.”
“And you have no thoughts of returning to the front?”
“...Because of this body of mine, as you can see. I apologize for being unable to et your expectations.
riga continued as she touched the eye she lost.
“I thought that the only way I could give back to society was by training the young students and ensuring internal stability.”
“Oh, I didn’t an anything critical. It’s a good stance to have, rather.”
“I see, thank you.”
The conversation ca to an end. riga shifted her gaze to the empty wine glass in the Duke’s hand.
“May I refill your glass?”
“Hm? Ah, please.”
riga expertly popped the cork and poured wine into the glass. The dark red wine filled the glass about halfway with an aromatic sound.
After pouring the wine into Duke Hasfeldt’s glass, she, too, took two tall glasses from a servant and poured into them. One she gave to Marquis Robespierre who ca with her, and the remaining one she brought to her own mouth.
When she slled it, it was a much stronger drink than she thought. As she took a sip, she felt tipsiness travel down to her stomach then climb back up her throat to the tip of her nose. She was already feeling a bit drunk.
The three people savored the wine. Or to be exact, only the two except riga were enjoying the expensive wine properly.
My stomach feels like it’s twisting.
Since pouring the wine... no, from the mont they first exchanged greetings, Duke Hasfeldt had been glaring at her. She’d been a noble for so years already, so she knew their style of speech to so extent.
As riga sipped on the wine, she predicted what topic Renawill would bring up next. Unfortunately, she succeeded in her prediction.
“What a good friend Klais seems to have.”
A slightly sarcastic tone. It was a subtle change, but that was what pierced her heart. riga’s gaze trembled weakly.
“A teacher who cares for her student. Yes, I suppose that’s good.”
Keeping her mouth shut, her eyes shifted this way and that. The wine that she’d just swallowed felt like it would co up again.
─You killed my daughter because of a single student.
Because that was what it sounded like.
She wasn’t going to make excuses. There wasn’t room to, even. It would’ve been better if he was openly angry, but instead he was being devastatingly considerate because they were around other people.
riga managed her expression as best she could. Calm, like she was at the lectern in front of the students to teach.
“Speaking of student, that reminds of sothing. Count Heerlein?”
“.......”
“Isn’t there a Golden-Eyed girl among the students you currently have?”
Her breath caught. She hadn’t expected this.
“...Yes, I do.”
“I am curious about her, so would you be able to have her here soti today or tomorrow?”
Having finished her glass, riga’s eyes filled with urgency.
**“What the.”
I was going to research today, but the professor wasn’t at the lab.
“Where are all the profs?”
“Are they at the noble assembly?”
“Yeah?”
I humd while scratching my head.
This wasn’t good. I was supposed to ask Professor Cai-Lussac and finish the AFM experint today....
With the owner of the equipnt being absent, my already delayed schedule was going to be pushed back even more. At this rate, I wasn’t going to be able to finish the task of miniaturizing before Lotte left as an exchange student. Even if I managed sohow, the ti was going to be very tight.
In that case.
“Huu.”
Sorry to Rosemary, but I had no choice.
“Little sis.... I’ll make sure you stay alive even if your house blows up.”
Late afternoon. I headed to the palace with my dilemma.
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