OHNIR – Chapter 20
Chapter 20: Worry
No matter how scenic the impeccably arranged Swan Lake was, or how delicious and tempting the carefully baked cakes and pastries were, the young masters and ladies present couldn't settle their minds to appreciate or savor them.
The eldest daughter of the first ducal family had personally expelled the Marquis Charles's most beloved and pampered daughter from the tea party. This was undoubtedly a major event, enough to cause a stir throughout Nobili's high society.
As for the commoner who had started it all... no one cared how she had managed to dodge Avia's attack. Since His Highness Prince Satrick showed her favor, it wasn't particularly strange for him to have gifted her a defensive item or two capable of blocking an attack.
The royal family always liked to use such things to win people over, after all.
The eyewitnesses were all lost in their own thoughts, and their preoccupation made the exquisite social gathering feel less refined. Seeing that everyone was eager to return and report the day's events to their elders, Starangui decided not to keep them. After a few simple pleasantries, she crisply announced that the tea party was over.
The academy tea party was a rare and important occasion, providing a suitable environment for nobles to strengthen their relationships. For it to end so hastily should have invited gossip about the royal family. In reality, however, not a single noble present complained. Quite the opposite—Starangui's generous and considerate gesture made them feel the princess was even more magnanimous and understanding of her subjects.
After smiling and bidding farewell to every noble who came to praise her, Starangui discreetly glanced at the brown-haired girl in the corner, who was still trying to get away from Satrick. Her eyes darkened slightly, but she managed to suppress the flood of negative emotions within her. Feigning a casual air, she turned her head to Gloria and said, "Lady Gloria, you needn't stay... Miss Breviou had quite a scare today. You should go and comfort her."
Gloria clasped her hands before the waistline of her gown, watching as Kelusta said something that finally dissuaded Satrick from escorting her back. Just then, Kelusta turned her face, her eyes fixed on Gloria with an expectant gaze... The silver-haired girl's cold expression, which had been fixed on Satrick moments before, softened. She smiled faintly, her eyes filled with genuine tenderness.
The anxious brown-haired girl was too far away to see it, but Starangui saw it with perfect clarity... She had to bite the tip of her tongue just to maintain the smile on her face.
What on earth did that girl possess to make Gloria wear such an expression!
The noble princess suppressed the venom and bitterness in her heart, her bearing remaining as elegant and proper as ever—she would not allow herself to lose her composure in front of Gloria.
"Lady Gloria?" she asked softly. "Aren't you going?"
"...Then I shall take my leave. Thank you, Your Highness." Gloria seemed to snap out of a daze and stopped staring blankly at the brown-haired girl. She gave Starangui a slight curtsy in farewell. Now that Kelusta was free, there was indeed no need for her to wait any longer.
As the duke's daughter turned and walked toward Swan Lake, meeting those golden eyes, Starangui's fingertips lightly brushed her soft, silver skirt. With an indescribably complex gaze, she stared fixedly at Gloria's departing back.
Like a fish gazing at a net, like a moth drawn to a flame.
Knowing that woman was a being even more dangerous than herself, yet unable to restrain the desire to lose herself in her embrace.
Kelusta felt so nervous her scalp was tingling. Not even a surprise quiz from the potions teacher would have made her break out in such a cold sweat.
"—That's because you have me to help with your answers, temporary host."
The System retorted calmly, but Kelusta herself had no time to argue back.
She stared blankly as Gloria gracefully approached, feeling like a white rabbit targeted by a hawk. Those sapphire-blue eyes were like a sharp arrow, instantly piercing her heart and pinning her to the spot.
Kelusta: "QAQ."
I hope I'll be okay...
"You know I'm here to settle accounts, don't you?" The duke's daughter stood before her, using her half-a-head height advantage to look down at Kelusta from a rather unapproachable angle. "To be this scared... did you not consider that this moment would come before you arrived?"
She had, in fact, thought of it. Kelusta couldn't help but wear a mournful expression for her own sake.
If anyone was to blame, it was this bastard System and its stupid missions.
System: "I'm taking the blame again?"
It took the blame and did the work. Seeing its temporary host facing a major crisis, it decided to temporarily suppress the mission completion notification.
It could be dealt with later.
As for Kelusta, Gloria saw that she didn't answer, only continuing to look at her with those watery eyes. Her heart softened slightly, but her face remained an icy mask. "Let's go," she said coldly. "We'll find a quiet place, and you can explain to me properly—just who gave you the nerve to disobey my words."
With a woeful expression, Kelusta lifted her leaden legs and followed behind Gloria, cursing the System under her breath as they left the Swan Lake.
They walked in silence. The brown-haired girl followed Gloria like a misbehaving child, carefully stepping in her footprints. After walking for who knows how long, up several flights of stairs and around several corners, the person in front of her suddenly stopped. Caught off guard, Kelusta nearly crashed right into her back.
However, though she stopped just in time, she could still feel a puff of her breath on the back of her neck when Gloria tilted her head slightly.
The ever-elegant and self-possessed duke's daughter paused for a fraction of a second. Her eyes darkened, but her voice remained perfectly steady. "Come here."
Kelusta shuffled to her side like a crab and was promptly grabbed by the wrist. Gloria pulled her straight ahead. The former looked up in astonishment, realizing they had somehow returned to the academy and were now stopped before an ancient-looking polygonal tower. It had dark, imposing outer walls, a curved, semi-circular archway, and a white, swan-shaped emblem outlined in simple lines embedded in the wall above the arch.
Kelusta had seen this emblem before. It was also on the spire of the first-year dormitory tower.
She instantly realized what kind of building it was.
Holy Light Magic Academy was wealthy and extravagant, with exclusive dormitories for each grade level. However, as first-years were at the bottom of the academy's hierarchy, and commoners like Kelusta were considered country bumpkins, they had almost no opportunity to learn where the upperclassmen's dormitories were located.
This sort of information, irrelevant to the main plot, was only glossed over in the game. Kevit, however, had once secretly told her the rumors: first-years at Holy Light Magic Academy lived in a spire—narrow and tall, and climbing the stairs was exhausting. Second-years lived in a square tower—much more spacious, and the stairs weren't nearly as punishing. As for the third-years, they resided in a separate, small castle, though no one knew exactly where on the academy grounds it was.
The class discrimination in Nobili really was ingrained in every single detail.
Kelusta was numbly dragged into the tower by Gloria. Look, not even a building manager. The saying "first-years are at the bottom" was clearly not just sarcasm, but the naked truth.
The tower was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Gloria glanced at Kelusta, who was seizing the opportunity to look around, and led her directly up to the fifth floor.
After stepping out of the stairwell, Kelusta froze. The fifth floor was the highest level of the tower, but it was completely different from the other floors.
Below the fifth floor, the distance between each door wasn't cramped, but it wasn't particularly spacious either. On the fifth floor, however, Kelusta clearly noticed that most of the space was taken up by walls, with only an occasional oil painting hanging here and there.
In other words, there were surprisingly few rooms on the fifth floor, but each one occupied a considerable amount of space.
"I feel like I've stumbled into a new world," Kelusta said to the System. "Take a guess. How many times bigger do you think the rooms of people qualified to live on the fifth floor are compared to my tiny one?"
The System was silent for a moment before replying, "After scanning and calculating, approximately three and a half times the size of your room."
"...I didn't need you to be so precise," Kelusta said, feeling crushed. "Now my mood is even worse."
Sigh, this must be the world of the powerful.
Upon entering Gloria's room and seeing the furnishings, which exuded an air of nobility and elegance, Kelusta sighed inwardly. Feeling almost constrained, she was guided by the room's owner to a soft armchair in the center of the guest area. She then began to cautiously survey the room—the private space of the duke's daughter.
Even after Gloria personally brewed her a cup of lychee black tea, her eyes remained glued to the oak wall clock, as if she were both curious and avoiding someone's gaze.
Gloria sat to her left, just ahead of her. She said nothing, merely taking a small sip of the deep red tea in her cup while quietly watching Kelusta.
"..."
Just before Kelusta felt her eyes were about to cramp, she resignedly turned her head forward again. Like a little girl who had done something wrong, she properly placed her hands on her knees and lowered her head in a show of sincerity.
Seeing that she was finally willing to face reality, Gloria set down her teacup and spoke calmly. "Tell me, why did you go to the tea party?"
"I received an invitation from Her Highness the Princess," Kelusta said in a small voice. "And this gown... Senior, I had no choice—I didn't know how I could refuse Her Highness."
From start to finish, Starangui had simply pushed everything on her.
A mere commoner had no right to resist. Even knowing it was a trap, she had to hold her nose and jump right in.
...However, Gloria would never know that when Kelusta jumped into the trap, she hadn't held her nose at all. In fact, she'd wanted to perform a fancy dive while laughing maniacally.
Deceived by the girl's innocent act, the duke's daughter frowned. Her fingertips twitched, and Kelusta felt as if something had landed on her skirt—but in the blink of an eye, the strange sensation vanished without a trace.
"That was detection magic," the System said helpfully. "If your own magical power weren't so strong... you probably wouldn't have felt a thing."
Naturally, Gloria found no trace of anything on the skirt. Her pale, slender brows remained furrowed, her doubts increasing rather than diminishing.
"Tell me what happened earlier, in detail," Gloria said.
Kelusta remained seated with the look of a bullied victim, pitifully recounting the series of events—how Avia had framed her with the fan, slandered her, and then attacked her. The perfectly timed catch in her voice successfully softened Gloria's heart. The silver-haired girl sighed, and as Kelusta finished her last word, she stood up and personally brought the still-steaming cup of black tea to her side.
The faint, sweet scent of lychee filled the air. Sniffing the reassuring fruity aroma, Kelusta looked up at Gloria like a little squirrel.
The effect was superb. Gloria sighed to herself. She had planned on giving Kelusta a stern lecture and settling accounts, but now... that was clearly out of the question.
"Should I call you foolish, or should I call you brave?" Gloria looked down at her, bent her knuckles, and tapped her gently on the forehead with a mix of affection and exasperation. "I don't know what method you used to nullify Avia Charles's attack... but have you ever considered what would have awaited you if that method had failed?"
She knew Kelusta hadn't received any "defensive weapon" from anyone else. Such items were extremely valuable, not something that could be given as discreetly as an invitation and a gown. Therefore, Gloria was certain that Kelusta was hiding a secret she knew nothing about.
Her tone was placid, as if she were discussing the growth of herbs, yet it sent an inexplicable tremor through Kelusta's heart.
"We are a professionally trained system; we would never allow our host to come to any harm," the System suddenly muttered just as an inexplicable chill ran through her. "This Gloria is really... sigh, never mind. She is concerned about you, temporary host."
"I know."
Kelusta's fingers tightened around the teacup, its comforting warmth seeping into her palms. The brown-haired girl lifted her face, looked at Gloria with her golden eyes, and opened her mouth as if to say something—
But in the end, she lowered her head again, prepared for her favorability to drop. "I'm sorry, Senior," she said sullenly. "I can only say that Miss Charles would not have been able to hit me. But as for why... please forgive me, I really... cannot tell you."
Though she didn't yet understand why, Kelusta knew that this behind-the-scenes boss, so cold and ruthless in the original plot, was, at this very moment, genuinely worried about her.
Gloria pressed her lips together and said nothing, returning to her seat.
But miraculously, for someone so insistent on having complete control, she felt surprisingly little anger upon hearing those words—only a vague, indescribable disappointment.
—If I could just get a little closer to her, like that time, she would have no more secrets to hide from me.
...As for now, I must not be too hasty.
Gloria closed her eyes and let out a soft breath. Her blue eyes glanced at the glittering swan necklace around Kelusta's neck, and a complex, dark light flickered within them, unnoticed.
"Ding! Gloria's favorability +2."
"..." Kelusta raised her head, bewildered. "???"
Had she heard that correctly?
The System was shocked, too—it even ran a diagnostic on its program, only to find that her favorability had indeed increased by two points, bringing the total to 15.
The scent of lychee black tea drifted through the room. The lively fruitiness combined with the mellow aroma of the tea, a seemingly contradictory yet perfect fusion, created a novel sensory experience. Kelusta stared blankly at Gloria, an indescribable mix of feelings swirling within her. For the first time, without the intention of "gaming the system to raise favorability and get the true ending," she asked with genuine sincerity, "Senior, did you... drive Miss Charles out today for my sake?"
After she spoke, she involuntarily held her breath, afraid she was just being presumptuous, and stared intently at the duke's daughter's slightly surprised expression.
Gloria was silent for a moment before giving a slight nod.
An expression of delighted surprise appeared on Kelusta's face, one she couldn't control. She was like a clingy cat that, after much pestering, finally receives its owner's affection, her golden eyes shining brightly.
She felt her heart give two distinct thumps.
Gloria took in the change in her expression, and a faint smile finally touched her lips.
"In any case, the fact that you weren't injured this time is all that matters," she said. "I should have kept a closer eye on you. Who would have known that in a single moment of inattention, my restless Little Shell could stir up such dangerous trouble."
Kelusta smiled sheepishly, then her eyes widened in confusion. "That Miss Charles seems quite powerful... Senior, have I caused you trouble again?"
"That's of no concern. No matter how much the Charles family treasures that daughter of theirs, this time they can only grit their teeth and swallow the loss." Gloria leaned back in her chair, clearly enjoying Kelusta's concern. She narrowed her eyes and calmly explained, "Regarding Holy Light Magic Academy, and even the continent of Nobili... there is a great deal of hidden information that you would have no way of knowing."
It seemed it was story time again.
Kelusta sat up a little straighter. She was genuinely curious. Avia was, after all, the daughter of a marquis enfeoffed by the royal family. Where did Gloria get the audacity to publicly force Starangui, who had clearly wanted to smooth things over, to change her tune, all just to thoroughly humiliate the Charles family?
Moreover, the other nobles hadn't seemed the least bit displeased—even Satrick, representing the royal family, had shown no objection to Gloria's actions. Before attempting to escort Kelusta back to her dormitory, he had even exchanged a brief but pleasant farewell with the duke's daughter.
Avia was still Satrick's future royal consort!—Though the possibility that the prince had the potential to be a scoundrel couldn't be ruled out, his attitude still seemed to defy common sense.
"When I expelled Avia Charles from the tea party, I did so in the name of the 'Holy Light Magic Academy's Board of Directors'," Gloria explained. "Because when she attempted to attack you, her fire magic destroyed a large portion of the natural vegetation at Swan Lake. This act, you could say, directly infringed upon the core interests of the board."
Kelusta blinked.
It was just a few trees and some grass... they would grow back in a couple of days.
In her childhood, she had killed who knows how many trees in Seaside Town—many of them fruit and flowering trees—and she'd never seen any of the neighborhood ladies get angry enough to demand her father ground her.
Gloria didn't notice her expression. She paused for a moment, seemingly considering how to phrase her words. Then, she began to speak again, doing her best to concisely reconstruct, from the perspective of the other nobles, the truth of the matter as they saw it.
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