Free Web Novel"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation. If it would not be too discourteous, may we serve the first course?"
Just as Fjodora and I finished speaking, the employee who had escorted us to our table approached with impeccable courtesy.
Naturally, Fjodora gave her permission.
I nodded as well.
"Then we shall prepare it immediately."
He evidently wasn't an ordinary waiter.
He was the restaurant's manager.
The moment he finished speaking, a line of servers entered carrying plated dishes, placed them before us in perfect unison, and quietly withdrew.
After that, a sommelier with a white cloth draped over one arm stepped forward and poured wine into each glass.
There's a limit to wasting manpower...
What is this performance? They all swarm over at once, practically stirring up dust around the food.
Unlike me, who found the spectacle excessive, Sveinn looked completely overwhelmed by the lavish service.
At the same time, he seemed deeply honored by it, unsure how he should even react.
Perhaps it was simply because he was a commoner who had never experienced treatment like this.
"Oh! This is incredible! I'll have something to brag about to everyone back at the circus later."
Pret might be the successor to the Head of the Information Guild, but he was still a commoner.
Given his line of work, sneaking into a place like this disguised as an employee would be one thing.
Visiting it as a guest was another matter entirely.
Yet unlike Sveinn, he accepted everything with exaggerated enthusiasm and complete ease.
...And it's not as though I grew up receiving special treatment before possessing this body, either.
I found myself wondering whether Sveinn had always admired the lifestyle of nobles.
In the original version of the story, before the remake, he had spent nearly all his time wandering the Demon Realms alongside Reisir, so it had never been particularly noticeable.
Whether this was a new trait Author Senna had added during the remake, I couldn't say.
Still... if it has the potential to become the seed of a future betrayal, I'd better remember it.
Once the servers withdrew, the chef himself appeared.
He explained each dish before describing the recommended way to enjoy it, even including which fork and knife should be used first.
When Fjodora reserved the entire restaurant...
She had probably informed them beforehand that several guests unfamiliar with noble dining etiquette would be attending.
The sommelier then briefly introduced the wine pairing.
Only after all that were we finally able to begin eating.
It's good...
But maybe because I'm not a gourmet, I can't tell whether it's really worth waiting six months for.
Was everyone concentrating on the food?
Or was it simply that no one had anything to say?
For a while, the meal continued in complete silence.
Then, when the third course was served—
"Is there anything any of you would like to suggest to me? Please don't hesitate to speak freely."
Fjodora raised the topic indirectly.
She had probably meant it as a conversation starter.
Contrary to her expectations, however, no one spoke.
Everyone merely looked around, waiting for someone else to break the silence.
If I had to make a suggestion...
I'd probably ask her to stop forcing us to become friends through little games like this.
Or abolish the Special Class for the Awakened altogether.
Or stop forcing us into the Demon Realm.
I couldn't know for certain.
But I suspected everyone else was thinking along similar lines.
None of it was likely to be accepted anyway.
So nobody said a word.
"Ahem... I see. Since classes haven't even begun yet, it's understandable that nothing comes to mind. If any suggestions occur to you later, please feel free to visit me at any time."
After Fjodora concluded the matter herself, silence once again settled over the table.
No one spoke until the next course arrived.
As I quietly continued eating, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Could separating the second-year students from each other have backfired?
If they'd been seated together, they would have naturally exchanged a few words.
Other people could have joined in, expanded the discussion, and gradually created a lively conversation.
If I explained it properly, Fjodora would probably understand.
But changing seats in the middle of a formal meal wasn't realistic.
Bringing it up now would accomplish nothing.
I'll let it go for now.
If she interferes with the seating arrangement again in the future, then I'll mention it.
Even if I stayed silent...
I had a feeling Fjodora wouldn't insist on "mixed seating" again.
Because—
"You second-year students... what do you usually talk about during meals?"
—that question was ultimately what she resorted to.
She had realized it herself.
The awkward atmosphere was the direct result of the seating arrangement she'd chosen.
Fjodora's repeated attempts to liven the mood all ended in failure.
The entire process was rather tedious, so it's only natural that the narration glossed over most of it.
I will continue from after we finished our meal and left the restaurant.
"Your Royal Highness, would it be alright if we second-year students returned separately? We need to reorganize our timetables, so we'd like to discuss them together..."
Helga spoke with unmistakable nervousness.
After remaining quiet throughout the meal, she seemed worried that Fjodora might dislike seeing the second-year students immediately gather together afterward.
Even so, she deliberately brought it up.
She was probably the type who couldn't feel at ease unless she said what needed saying, even while carefully reading the room.
...Or perhaps even this is merely another step guiding the story toward the development Author Senna wants.
The thought filled me with something close to resentment.
Oddly enough, thinking of Fjodora as merely acting under the author's control hadn't bothered me nearly this much.
I'd assumed I'd maintained an emotional distance from Helga.
Apparently, somewhere along the way, I'd grown fond of her without realizing it.
"Yes. I understand."
Rather than making things uncomfortable by suggesting they reorganize their schedules together with everyone else, Fjodora simply granted permission.
Since she'd repeatedly separated the second-year students under the pretext of encouraging interaction, I'd wondered whether she was deliberately trying to prevent factions from forming within the Special Class for the Awakened.
Apparently not.
It seemed she genuinely just wanted everyone to become friends.
Besides, even if students from different years enrolled in the same general lecture, they still attended separate classes according to their year.
There was little point discussing timetables across grade levels in the first place.
"Then we'll be leaving first."
Fjodora departed with Lissy and the two first-year students, boarding the carriage.
I had no interest whatsoever in coordinating schedules with anyone.
But I wanted even less to spend the ride wedged between unfamiliar, uncomfortable people.
So I stayed behind with the other second-year students.
"Haaaah..."
Once we'd moved to a café with private rooms, Helga collapsed against the back of her chair and let out a long sigh.
"I can finally breathe. The food was delicious, but I was so uncomfortable I couldn't even tell whether I was putting it into my mouth or my nose."
Pretending to be an innocent, well-mannered girl.
Maintaining polite relationships even with people she disliked.
Keeping everyone at an appropriate distance.
That had become Helga's everyday life.
Yet seeing her look this utterly drained made a question naturally arise.
"Wasn't your goal to become a high-ranking official? If that's the case, shouldn't making a good impression on Her Royal Highness be important?"
"Ugh..."
Helga grimaced as though I'd said something revolting.
It was such an exaggerated reaction that I couldn't help wondering why.
"Isn't that impossible now? We're being forced to throw ourselves into death traps until every Demon Realm disappears. On top of that, we'll have to devote all our time to training instead of studying. Under those circumstances, how am I supposed to become a high-ranking official?"
"Exactly."
"That's why I said it. Doesn't that make earning a position in the Imperial Palace by gaining Her Royal Highness's favor your only remaining path?"
"Ugh...!"
She looked just as disgusted as before.
I genuinely couldn't understand why.
Just as I was about to ask—
she answered of her own accord.
"The current Imperial Family framed Ray's parents and stole their territory."
"But I really believed the next generation would be different."
"I'd heard the First Princess understood public opinion, and just looking at the policies she'd promoted, she seemed completely different from the rest of the Imperial Family."
"But after watching her today..."
"She's exactly the same."
"How can someone be that self-righteous...!"
"So you don't want to work beneath someone like that."
"Self-righteous? That's all?"
"She's a hypocrite!"
"She created the Special Class for the Awakened without asking for our consent or even warning us beforehand, then tells us afterward to speak freely if we have suggestions?"
"There's a limit to causing the illness and then pretending to provide the cure!"
That was certainly one way to see it.
Even I, who understood Fjodora's true character fairly well, couldn't help finding that criticism difficult to refute.
"A dictator who wraps themselves in righteousness is just as much of a disaster as a tyrant."
"No—actually, they're worse."
"At least with a tyrant, you know you can survive by flattering them."
"But someone like her?"
"Praising them feels wrong."
"Speaking honestly feels wrong."
"They're the absolute worst kind of superior."
"If you spend your life serving someone like that, you'll never die peacefully."
"They'll gladly grind every subordinate beneath them into dust if it helps realize their own ideals."
"And while doing it, they'll never bother asking what those subordinates actually want."
"They won't share authority, either."
Listening to her, I found myself unconsciously nodding.
"But is it really alright to say all this in front of me?"
"I'm from a ducal family."
"You're surprisingly funny."
"You were nodding along with everything I just said."
"And after that, that's the question you ask?"
"..."
"Anyway."
"If even Her Royal Highness—the one with the best reputation in the entire Imperial Family—is like this, then I don't even need to see the rest."
"I've given up on becoming an official."
"It was impossible from the beginning."
She listed countless reasons why she'd abandoned her dream.
Even so...
As she spoke, a fleeting expression of lingering disappointment crossed her face before disappearing.
"Huh...? Then, Heli..."
Reisir, who had quietly listened until now, suddenly spoke.
"Doesn't that mean you don't have to keep acting around everyone anymore?"
Preparing for a future career in government had been the entire reason Helga concealed her real personality and avoided making enemies.
His question was perfectly reasonable.
"I don't want that!"
"Everyone would think I'm weird!"
"And my friends would probably feel betrayed..."
She'd spent more than a year carefully building that image.
Destroying it overnight would never be easy.
As I silently found myself sympathizing with her—
"I don't know what strangers would think."
"But if they're really your friends, wouldn't they understand?"
"Then let me ask you something."
Helga abruptly turned toward me.
"Suppose the Tsundere Young Master suddenly announced, 'Actually, I'm not aloof or difficult at all. I only acted that way because I thought someone from a ducal family was supposed to. And all that cat-like meowing was just part of the character too.'"
Even though it was only a hypothetical example...
It struck uncomfortably close to home.
However, there was one fatal flaw in her analogy that I simply couldn't overlook.
"Don't casually slip something so bizarre into your example."
"When exactly have I ever meowed like a cat?"
