Chapter 15: A Confusing Situation
Ding dong ding dong ♪
The bell rings to signal the end of class. To the other students, it’s just a normal bell signaling the end of class, but I wonder why it has the same melody as Big Ben in Reiko’s world. When I learned about history, I saw a few Japanese names, so I think there might be other Japanese people in this world besides me who are spreading that kind of thing.
Anyway, the tense lesson with Professor Diva Core Regrias is over, and I check the next class. Next is a class on ‘Noble Magic’. Here, classes are not taken as a class, but rather each person takes the class they want to take. Therefore, each person moves to a different classroom depending on which class they want to take.
The next class, “Noble Magic,” is a required subject for the children of nobles. People in a position of nobility must have defensive magic on at all times to avoid being easily poisoned, assassinated, put to sleep by magic, or manipulated. Martina’s sleeping magic from yesterday is a good example. If I had memorized it to some extent beforehand, such an unexpected situation would not have occurred.
The Noble Magic class continued in this classroom, so those who were not attending the next class moved to other classrooms while I prepared for the next lesson. Suddenly, I felt someone looking at me, so I looked up and saw Diva-sensei, my sacred magic instructor, looking down at me with a frown.
“You, what’s your name?”
As our eyes met, he suddenly asked me my name.
“Yes, my name is Rachel Rall Stave.”
I answered, wondering why she was asking my name.
“Come to my office later after today’s classes are over.”
He must have seen that the cover of my textbook had been torn up. He might be giving me a lecture.
“I understand… I’ll come after the first class in the afternoon. So, um… where is your office?”
“The chapel.”
I shook my shoulders as if my heart had been grabbed, and lowered my eyes.
‘The chapel? Could it be that he’s talking about Martina-jou from yesterday? Did he see me running away from the chapel?!’
I raised my head timidly and looked at Professor Diva again. He looked at me with a frown.
“Make sure you come.”
With those words, the teacher turned around and left the classroom. I stared at the teacher’s back, cold sweat running down my back.
‘Could it be that I’ll be expelled soon after enrolling?! No, on the contrary, I might be arrested for harming a high-ranking lady?’
I felt like I had been given a death sentence. Thanks to my tutor, Secreta, I was able to keep a poker face to a certain extent, but inside I was screaming.
Among the new users of the classroom that just came in, someone approached me without realizing the state I’m in.
This was ‘Allen Kau Ashral-oujisama’, one of the five ‘targets’ and the main ‘target’.
“Hey there, Rachel-jou.”
He is a handsome prince with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a sweet face. A normal girl would scream with her eyes turning into hearts just from hearing him say something, but I didn’t do that. After all, in the back of the classroom is Allen-ouji’s fiancée, Koron-jou…
“Hello, Allen Kau Ashral-oujisama, how do you do?”
I stood up from my seat and curtsied.
“Don’t be so formal, Rachel-jou. Rather than that, we couldn’t find the time to talk yesterday, can you spare some time today?”
‘Does this prince have bad eyesight? … Can’t you see your fiancée sitting at the back?’
With that sentiment, I glance at Koron-jou’s direction so the prince will notice. The prince seemed to have noticed her, he looked over and raised his hand.
‘Thank goodness, he noticed her.’
That thought didn’t last long, the prince faced me again.
“So, how about it?”
My eyebrows twitch at his question.
‘You must have noticed your fiancée over there, right? You even raised your hand towards her, didn’t you? And you still say something that sounds like you’re hitting on me!?’
With my heart that pounded when Diva-sensei called me, I envy the prince’s big heart to flirt with other women in front of his fiancée.
If I go to Diva-sensei, I might be questioned about Martina, but I might only get a lecture about the textbook. But if I answer the prince’s request, I’ll definitely make enemies of Miss Colon’s marquis family.
Diva-sensei or Allen-ouji… It’s like a tiger in front of me and a wolf in the back, but if I had to choose, I’d go with Diva-sensei, who might only get me a lecture.
“I’m sorry, Prince. I’ve been ordered to report to Diva-sensei’s office after class, so I can’t comply with your request. Please forgive me…”
I bow deeply and apologize.
“I see, that’s a shame, see you next time.”
Allen-ouji said that, and headed to the back of the classroom and sat down next to Koron-jou. What kind of nerve does he have…
Even in this situation, Koron-jou, who was sitting next to him, didn’t get hysterical or angry. She held up a folding fan and seemed to be saying something to the prince, being careful not to let anyone else hear. She’s quite a rational person.
I turned around and sighed. Allen-ouji was a hassle, but I was worried about what I would do if Diva-sensei asked me about Martina-jou.
I think it was the best thing to have done to bring Martina-jou to the chapel at that time. Based on my experience as Reiko, I know that if I hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t have been saved. However, if someone had witnessed the scene and asked me why, I wouldn’t know how to respond.
I brought Martina-jou to the chapel, and why she ended up in this state in the first place. When pressed about the reasons for these things, I would have to tell them all about my past life and being a reincarnated person, that I was possessed by ‘that guy’ in my past life, that ‘that guy’ is also possessing me in this world, that ‘that guy’ is causing Martina-jou to lose consciousness, and that because of my experience in my past life, victims of ‘that guy’ must be brought to a sacred place…all of this.
These things are my own big secrets, which I have not told a single person in this world. To begin with, there is a good chance that no one would believe such an outlandish story. Also, there is a good chance that I would be treated like a witch in a witch hunt because of ‘that guy’.
If I had only thought about myself, I could have chosen to abandon Martina-jou then and there. However, I did not choose that option. Because of that, I am heading down the path to ruin.
I remember what A-chan said at that family restaurant, the ‘right option.’ Did I make the wrong option? If it were a game, I could just save and load repeatedly. However, even though this was the world of that otome game, to me it was the real world and I couldn’t save and load.
Was I so excited about being accepted into this school that I lost my caution and vigilance? Or was it because I was arrogant and thought I could help others when I couldn’t even take care of myself?
If it had been an option decided by someone else I could have protested, but in this case it was an option I decided myself. Even if I chose from a limited number of options, it was an option I chose myself, and I must bear the consequences.
Before I knew it, the teacher was standing at the podium and class had begun. The Noble Magic class was an important class for me, but I was so preoccupied with Martina-jou’s defense that I couldn’t concentrate on anything.
