DPAA 59

chapter 59

“Ugh.”

Luna shivered; goosebumps prickled over her skin.

The last line she’d heard was yesterday, right after she’d grabbed Kanis and asked if she had homework. What had that expression been like then? It was definitely half-turned.

“No joke. It’s really creepy.”

Honestly, she felt a little sorry for Kanis. Who on earth has a younger sister who’s that overprotective… no, that’s not the word. It wasn’t overprotectiveness. It was twisted obsession.

Anyway, since that day, just being in the same space as Mei had become awkward for Luna. Worse was that Mei kept her true nature tightly sealed away from everyone except Luna.

“Everyone knows she follows Kanis so loyally. But that’s not just loyalty — that’s the problem.”

She probably didn’t even realize the object of her affection was herself.

Luna clutched her throbbing head.

“Ah! Why did I have to get mixed up with her!”

She should have forced Claire to stop pretending to be friendly at their first meeting. If she hadn’t, she might never have discovered the true nature of that monster.

Luna collapsed face-first onto her desk.

“Learning magic from Kanis is out the window now….”

Yes, she was interested in someone with great talent, but she didn’t want to get close to someone who carried that kind of lunatic around. Even though Mei Eskliff was a healer with nearly zero combat power.

“If it were her, she’d stab with a smile, right into—”

Just then—

“What are you thinking about?”

Swoosh.

Mei tilted her head with a smile. She was right in front of the desk where Luna lay face-down.

“Gyaaaah!”

Startled, Luna sprang up as if she might fall over. Clatter. Because she’d shifted her weight wrong, the chair tilted.

“I’m gonna fall!”

Luna shut her eyes tight.

But the world was quiet.

It didn’t hurt at all.

“What are you freaking out about?”

When she opened her eyes, she saw Mei peering at her with narrowed eyes. Luna turned to check the chair.

“It stopped. It stopped. It stopped!”

The chair hung frozen in the air in the position it had been about to topple from.

Time-stop magic.

“What. How?”

A cold bead of sweat ran down Luna’s back.

“Hey you—”

“Ah, thank goodness! I caught you well!”

A cheerful voice sounded from behind. Luna instinctively turned her head.

Claire, with a bright face, was holding the whole chair—Luna still sitting in it—upright. Mei admired her and praised her.

“Wow, you’re strong.”

“Yep! My magic attribute is Earth (rock).”

“You’ve already learned bodily enhancement magic? That’s a third-year course, right?”

“Well, it’s because of my family… Wait. How did you know I’m in the third-year course? You’re not on the regular education track, are you?”

“You told me before.”

“Me? Oh, did I?”

They laughed together, but one person couldn’t. Luna couldn’t laugh.

I finished lunch with Mei as usual, enjoying myself.

“Um, sister—”

“Hm?”

“That rumor, uh. That thing.”

“What rumor?”

“Ah, it’s nothing!”

For some reason Mei kept glancing at me like she wanted to ask something, but it couldn’t be that important.

Something else was more important: the letter in my hand. As soon as I opened the stationery, I could tell who it was from.

The ducal family’s usual stationery. There was no way the duke or Helena would send me a friendly letter, so of course the sender was Larissa.

And indeed it was.

I checked the envelope and saw the name “Larissa Rimembral,” then opened the letter. It read:

To the esteemed Lady Kanis Eskliff,

Hello, Your Ladyship. Summer is nearly over already—how have you been? I am writing this proper letter to report recent developments.

First, I have received the money you sent. As ordered, I have generously distributed overdue salaries and bonuses. I also delivered the letter you sent. Actually, this idea was inspired by the brooch you previously handed out, and the reaction has been better than expected.

We have accumulated a fair amount of surplus funds, so by the time you return, making that “uniform” you mentioned out of fine fabric might yield positive results.

As expected, Helena’s maid approached me. She is a girl named Anne, with red hair and freckles. She’s impatient and materialistic. Having been harassed a lot by the others there, she’s full of complaints and is loose-lipped.

She said she would trade useful information and cooperate on our side for a monetary reward. I think accepting this deal wouldn’t be a bad idea. Although she can’t be trusted as a reliable servant because of her loose mouth, this is an opportunity to draw other servants to your side.

Of course, Your Ladyship’s opinion is paramount; please decide and let me know. After all, silencing one maid is an easy task.

However, the new term for the Political Science Department starts next Friday, so it would be best to settle this before then.

I await your reply.

Sincerely,
Larissa Rimembral

“She’s more competent than I thought.”

I already knew Larissa’s perfect memory for documents and her copycat-like abilities. But apparently her talents didn’t stop there.

“Duke—no, Father, thank you.”

I grinned and mentally thanked the duke.

“He put someone like this near me to keep an eye on me!”

Normally my close attendant maid should have been the Rimembral family’s eldest daughter, Selina Rimembral. But the one beside me now was her younger sister, Larissa Rimembral. The duke must really hate the eldest daughter. In any case, it ended up helping me.

And crucially, Larissa was—

“Cute.”

She was pretty.

“Hmm, looks are important.”

In that sense, I was looking forward to Larissa’s arrival next week.

Of course, before that…

“E- Eskliff?”

I’d have to duel her tomorrow, first. Her hair color was like mine; she had the ducal family’s distinctive violet eyes.

“Hello.”

I smiled at Asphodel. She visibly flinched. Whoa, I’m not going to eat you. I’m not into cannibalism. (I do kill, though?)

“Why suddenly—”

“Tomorrow’s match.”

I lightly touched her shoulder.

“I’ll be waiting.”

Her pupils widened. I left her there and walked on. A small voice came from behind.

“What the— that’s ridiculous.”

Her tone was curt, but there was a bit of joy mixed in. I breathed an inner sigh of relief.

“Good, she remembered right away.”

Last time she stared at me a lot for not remembering; if she hadn’t known the day of the match until the match itself… I didn’t want to imagine that. I wanted to keep a relatively good relationship with Asphodel Luxelrode—for my own benefit, naturally.

“Hey, Claude.”

“…….”

“Claude.”

“Shut up.”

Claude clamped his roommate’s mouth shut and closed his eyes. He was sitting in a chair, focusing all his nerves.

On what? None other than—Kanis Eskliff.

His half-sister.

As always, Claude had never, not for a moment, stopped thinking about his sister. Kanis Eskliff was an overwhelmingly dominant presence. Just her existence crushed him. Simply being there prevented Claude from realizing his potential. She was the woman who trampled all his possibilities.

How could he not feel inferiority?

“Damn it!”

Bang!

Claude slammed his hands down on the desk.

“I was almost at the same level!”

It was true. He’d nearly caught up—the academy’s reputation, public opinion in society. Even the duke father was on his side. If he’d had a little more time—just a little—he’d somehow have overtaken his damn sister and been recognized as the family heir.

He who previously had no track to run on had carved his own path, racing along the open highway. He had been on the verge of grabbing Kanis’s back, but now that back that he’d thought he’d caught had vanished into the distance.

“Tomorrow at last is the match with that woman.”

Claude clenched his teeth, eyes closed.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to inflict a mortal wound.”

But there was a problem.

“How can I strike her where it hurts?”

Kanis Eskliff was no longer the foolish girl she used to be. Claude thought and thought, sitting there until the short hand of the clock pointed at three.

“…That’s it!”

Then an idea flashed through Claude’s mind. He curled his lips into a sly smile.

“Yes, that method might work.”

A way to counter Kanis Eskliff, whose attacks seemed invincible.