Episode 65
A week had passed.
Elonia had missed her weekly visit home due to a sudden bombardment of assignments from Caroline.
She opened the door to the Academic Department classroom, her shoulders slumped with exhaustion.
Wednesdays were both her favorite and least favorite day of the week.
She loved Wednesdays because she had lunch with the Asta brothers.
And the reason she hated them was…
“…”
The moment she entered the classroom, Olivia, in her red-embroidered uniform, glared at her.
But Olivia’s icy stare wasn’t the reason she disliked Wednesdays.
Elonia was uncomfortable being glared at, but she didn’t dislike Olivia.
In fact, she was grateful that she could see her beloved sister again, even if it was under these circumstances.
There was another reason she hated Wednesdays.
“Elonia, I’m here!”
Dianne, who attended a Theology elective while Elonia was in her Academic Department class, always came to meet her after class.
The Theology Department and the Academic Department were relatively close, and their paths to Garden Fleur overlapped.
But,
“Ugh, Princess Olivia is glaring at you again. She’s so mean, right?”
That was the reason Elonia hated Wednesdays.
Dianne always badmouthed Olivia whenever she saw her.
Dianne was a kind and cheerful friend, but her constant negativity towards Olivia made Elonia uncomfortable.
She couldn’t even bring herself to respond, simply offering a weak smile.
***
Elonia parted ways with Dianne at the entrance to Garden Fleur and joined her brothers at their usual table, starting their somewhat peaceful lunch.
Thud!
Suddenly, Elonia slammed her forehead on the table.
“El, what are you doing?”
“Your Highness, is your forehead okay?”
The brothers asked in alarm.
Elonia mumbled listlessly,
“I want to go home…”
“What should we do? Do you want me to help you with your assignments?”
“…They’re Magic Department assignments.”
“…Would you like some pudding?”
Alberich offered his dessert.
He was truly her loyal subject.
He understood her needs.
Elonia, her face brightening slightly, nodded.
Just then,
“Elonia!”
“Dianne?”
Dianne was approaching, a bright smile on her face.
The gazebo was located outdoors, and most students wouldn’t even come near them, knowing they were the Asta brothers and the Imperial Princess.
Dianne was truly fearless.
“Hello, Senior Asta, Senior Llewellyn. I’m Dianne Rossi, Elonia’s friend.”
Dianne greeted them cheerfully. Alberich nodded politely, while Llewellyn frowned.
Elonia asked,
“What’s up, Dianne?”
“Well, you see, all my friends had other plans, so I was going to eat alone. But it felt a bit lonely, so I came here. Can I join you guys?”
“Uh…?”
“Is it okay if I join you, Seniors?”
Dianne asked the Asta brothers with an irresistible smile.
But they had almost finished their meal and were already eating dessert.
And Llewellyn wouldn’t tolerate any interruption to their precious sibling time, especially their weekly lunch date.
His gaze turned cold.
He slammed his spoon down and said, his voice laced with annoyance,
“Are you blind? Can’t you see this is a private gathering?”
“Llewellyn!”
Elonia wanted to shove his words back down his throat.
Dianne flinched, then stammered out an apology, her voice trembling.
“I-I’m sorry. I just wanted to have lunch with Elonia and get to know you, Seniors… I wasn’t thinking…”
“Dianne, I’ll apologize for—”
“Not thinking? We don’t need airheads like you at the academy.”
“Llewellyn!”
What was wrong with him today?
Elonia couldn’t understand his behavior.
He was rude, but he would never speak to her friend like this.
“Llewellyn, are you crazy?”
“N-no, Elonia, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It was my fault for trying to intrude without your permission…”
Dianne, her eyes welling up with tears, turned away.
“Sorry, Elonia. I’ll see you later!”
“D-Dianne!”
Dianne ran out of Garden Fleur.
Elonia stared at the empty space where she had been standing, then glared at the Asta brothers.
“Llewellyn, why were you so mean to my friend? That was too harsh!”
“El, don’t hang out with her. She’s creepy.”
“How would you know? You just met her today.”
“Don’t you know about physiognomy? She has the face of a scammer.”
“…Alberich!”
Elonia turned to Alberich for support.
But even Alberich, who usually reprimanded Llewellyn for his rude remarks, didn’t intervene this time.
“No way.”
“I agree with Llewellyn, Your Highness.”
“Even you, Alberich…?”
Elonia stared at them in disbelief.
They had called her their only sister, and now they were being so harsh to her friend?
They remained firm, their expressions unusually serious.
“Your Highness, the academy is a miniature society. It’s too early to let your guard down after just a month.”
“Right, you must have felt something off about her too.”
“…!”
Elonia flinched.
But she quickly denied it.
“No, I haven’t. She’s my first friend.”
And even if she had some flaws, so what?
Everyone had flaws.
She didn’t want to lose her first friend just because she had discovered a few imperfections.
“I’m going back to my room.”
“El!”
“Your Highness.”
“See you next week.”
Elonia got up abruptly.
She was upset.
‘Dianne is such a good person.’
It hurt that her friend was being misunderstood by her brothers, who were like family to her.
But Dianne must be even more upset right now.
She had to go apologize to her.
***
Magic Department, “Basic Magic Theory” classroom,
Dianne was chatting with a group of students, who were among the most outgoing and sociable freshmen in the Magic Department.
“Dianne, you brought that thing, right?”
“Ah, that. Yes, what do you think? It’s fun, right?”
“It is, but you believe in this stuff, even though you’re a Magic Department student?”
Dianne, at one student’s question, burst into laughter, waving her hands dismissively.
“Are you kidding me? You think I would believe in some cheap piece of paper made by the Theology Department?”
“That’s true. But what’s with these results? ‘The Sorrowful God of Love,’ ‘The Romantic of the Century, The Calamity God Sirius’…”
“Those Theology Department kids are something else. They made a personality quiz about gods?”
“Aren’t they more blasphemous than us?”
“Ah, but Professor Caroline would love this. She’s always telling us to defy God and challenge the natural order.”
“Wow, that’s a perfect imitation!”
The students burst into laughter.
Just as their laughter filled the classroom, the door opened.
Elonia entered.
Dianne’s group, engrossed in their conversation, didn’t notice her arrival.
Elonia, upon entering the classroom, immediately looked for Dianne.
It wasn’t difficult to find her.
She just had to look for the noisiest and most energetic group.
‘What are they talking about that’s so funny? They didn’t even notice me.’
Normally, everyone would scatter the moment she appeared.
But none of the students in the group seemed to be aware of her presence.
One of the girls asked Dianne,
“I get everything else, but why is the Calamity God a romantic? Isn’t he supposed to bring calamity?”
“Ah, that?”
The Calamity God?
Elonia flinched at the mention of a deity that didn’t belong in the Magic Department, but then she realized,
‘It’s the personality quiz again.’
She sighed in relief.
She had been traumatized by that name.
Dianne, still unaware of Elonia’s presence, launched into an explanation.
“It’s simple. Sirius became the Calamity God because he was so in love with a human woman. He was so blinded by love that he unleashed calamities upon the world, killing everyone except for her, just so he could have her!”
“Ugh, typical Heilan guardian deity. I’ll never understand them.”
“But even though the Theology Department messed up most of the quiz, they got the Calamity God part right.”
“Ooh, so Lady Rossi is knowledgeable about theology?”
“Ahahaha, stop it!”
Elonia, although she wasn’t part of the conversation, felt like she had been struck by their words.
Alexia, Chelon’s mother, had been chosen as the apostle of the Calamity God.
It had freed her from slavery, but it had also led to her being raped by Vermon and forced to bear his child.
Her suffering didn’t end there.
Alexia had been murdered by Vermon, who had wanted to steal her powers, and their daughter had grown up to be the War Demon, the harbinger of chaos.
Elonia had always wondered,
Why did her mother and she have to suffer so much in that hellhole called Heilan?
‘If that legend is true…’
The question, buried deep within her heart, unanswered, had been unexpectedly resolved in the most unlikely of places.
He had not only ruined a woman’s life but also driven her daughter to bring calamity upon the continent.
‘But how does Dianne know about that myth? Even I, a Heilan princess, didn’t know.’
Elonia hadn’t learned much in Heilan, but she had been thoroughly indoctrinated in theology.
It was mandatory for Heilan royalty.
Just as she was starting to feel uneasy,
“Elonia!”
Dianne finally noticed her.
“Come here, I saved you a seat!”
Dianne beamed.
Seeing her smile, Elonia’s suspicions subsided.
Dianne had every right to be angry at her for not defending her at Garden Fleur, but she was treating her as usual.
Elonia, grateful, quickly took the seat beside her.
The students who had been surrounding Dianne disappeared instantly.
“Did I interrupt your conversation?”
“No way! Class is about to start anyway!”
Elonia hesitated, unsure what to say, then finally spoke,
“Um, Dianne, about what happened at Garden Fleur—”
“Huh? No, no, don’t apologize. It was my fault for being insensitive. The seniors were right.”
“…I’ll talk to them later.”
“Heehee, alright.”
Dianne was a good person, her flaws overshadowed by her positive qualities.
Elonia smiled.
But her smile quickly faded.
“By the way, I saw the hostage princess on my way out of Garden Fleur earlier.”
“…Oh, really?”
Dianne, oblivious to Elonia’s reaction, grumbled,
“She glared at me the moment our eyes met! I think she’s still mad that I defended you before. She’s so petty.”
It was the same complaint as always, but this time, it felt even more uncomfortable, reminding Elonia of the Asta brothers’ warnings.
“El, don’t hang out with her. She’s creepy.”
“I agree with Llewellyn, Your Highness.”
No, that was impossible.
Elonia had lived longer than them, even considering her past life as Chelon.
She couldn’t be worse at judging people than them.
‘Right, a true friend would point out my mistakes.’
Dianne would understand her sincere advice.
Elonia took Dianne’s hand and said, her voice firm,
“Dianne.”
“Huh? What’s wrong? Why do you look so serious?”
She was afraid of being criticized by her first friend.
She was afraid Dianne would call her strange, asking why she cared about the Heilan hostages when she was the Ravanta princess.
But Elonia wanted to stay friends with Dianne, so she decided to be honest.
They had already resolved their differences through open communication before. She could do it again.
“To be honest, I’m uncomfortable with you badmouthing Princess Olivia. I wish you would stop.”
“…Why?”
“If you hate her because of the war, then the real culprits are elsewhere. You’re not gaining anything by insulting her.”
Elonia spoke gently but firmly, trying not to upset Dianne.
Dianne, her eyebrows raised, fell silent, then squeezed Elonia’s hand, her eyes wide with exaggerated emotion.
“Oh my god! You’re so kind, Elonia!”
“Y-you’re not upset, right?”
“Of course not! I was being insensitive. I’m older than you, and I’m the one acting childish. I’m so embarrassed. I won’t do it again!”
“Dianne.”
Elonia smiled, relieved.
Dianne beamed back.
“Silence, everyone. Take your seats.”
The professor entered the classroom, his timing impeccable.
Elonia, her mind at ease, opened her textbook and focused on the lecture.
Dianne also smiled and opened her book, but her gaze kept flicking towards Elonia, her blue eyes cold and calculating.