Thanks to Alice’s care and good rest I was now completely healed.
Still, because of Alice, who was not relieved, I had to be verified by the health teacher.
“Now you’ve recovered perfectly. You can go to class.”
So I decided to go to class from today.
“Are you sure you’ll be all right?”
Alice asked, following me around.
This is the fourth time she has asked this same question.
I tied my hair up and pushed Alice’s back.
“You listened to the health teacher. She don’t mind me going out to class. And if I rest any longer, it’ll be hard to keep up with the class.”
“But…”
“Come on, come on. Come on, go and put on your uniform. We’ll be late at this rate.”
I managed to get Alice back to her room and got her ready.
When I went out of the dormitory after a few days gap, I felt new.
I went to a magic history class with Alice, fixing my shoulder strap.
It’s my favorite class.
“Elena, are you all right? They said you were very sick.”
As soon as I entered the classroom, my close friends approached me.
I smiled as much as I could to show that I not sick now.
“It’s all right now. I fell asleep forgetting to put enough firewood in the fireplace, and because of that I might have caught cold.”
“That’s why I told you so many times to turn on the fireplace and sleep.”
Unlike her curt voice, Alice held my hand tightly and put me in a chair.
Alice and other friends surrounded me.
After a few more greetings, the theme of the story changed in various ways.
There were many stories piled up during the five days when I didn’t come to the class, and I, who couldn’t easily follow their stories, kept my mouth shut and listened silently.
There was a surprising story.
“So Penny and Neville are dating?”
“Yes! Neville confessed first.”
“Oh, my God.”
I clasped my hands around my cheeks and pretended to be surprised.
Penny’s face turned red.
Penny had been in love with Neville for a year.
“Neville confessed that he liked me, when we went on a date.”
At that moment I heard a whisper from one of my friend standing next to me.
“That’s not the case. Penny made a Love potion.”
“Love potion? What’s that?”
“Don’t you know that?”
Alice asked in a surprised tone.
Looking at other’s expressions, I’m the only one who didn’t seem to know about it.
“Listening to the name, I know roughly what kind of potion it is, but I don’t know exactly what it is.”
“If you drink it, you’ll fall in love with the one who made the potion. It was a hot topic recently when a seventh-grade senior made it, didn’t you know?”
“I’ve never heard of it. Is there really such a potion?”
“It’s real. Neville confessed immediately after eating Penny’s pie.”
I couldn’t believe it.
“Wasn’t it just Neville who used to like Penny, and he mustered up his courage after eating the pie?”
I knew Penny had a crush on him.
I wasn’t quick with relationships, but to my eyes, Neville also seemed interested in Penny.
Apparently Alice agreed.
But somehow, others seemed to firmly believe that the Love potion worked.
If it was true, it was a problem in its own way.
How can you change the mind of a person who doesn’t like you to fall in love with you?
If that the case then there will be a lot of troubles on Valentine’s Day.
In the next month and a half, there will be Valentine’s Day.
It’s a day when you confess your love by giving chocolate to people you like, regardless of whether they are men or women.
It was a more popular day at the Academy than the Maxmas holiday.
“Oh, that’s right. Yesterday I received a letter from my mother… “
while I was lost in thought, Penny suddenly changed the subject.
It seems like she felt embarrassed about her love story.
We let her off even though we knew she had deliberately turned the conversation around.
“Have you heard of Angus?”
Angus?
Why does that name suddenly come out here?
Now the perfectly healed throat felt sore as if it had been cut by a knife.
Contrary to what I thought would be okay, my lips trembled.
Alice, unlike me, replied, as if it was a matter of little importance.
“Who doesn’t know Angus at the Academy?””
“That’s true. Isn’t it strange that you don’t know? But all of a sudden, why?”
Penny told me in earnest although she was excited to completely change the subject.
“You all know my father belongs to the Royal Knights, don’t you?”
“Yes, we do.”
That was already known to all Penny’s friends.
That’s why Penny always bragged, saying, ‘My father is a member of the Royal Knights…’
“My father told me that the movements of the Angus forces, which had barely escaped due to their dispersal, were extraordinary,”
Everyone exclaimed.
“Oh, my God.”
“There have been a lot of reports of finding Angus from all over the place recently,”
Alice replied in a tone of no significance.
“What’s wrong with that? It wasn’t yesterday or today that the Angus forces made a fuss. A few days ago, there also seems to be commotion around here.”
“That’s what I mean,”
Penny killed her voice.
“In my father’s words, Angus seems to be preparing for rebellion again.”
I heard someone gasping for breath,
On the other hand, I felt nauseous and couldn’t breathe properly.
Perhaps because of the lack of air, my head seemed to be spinning.
My back felt damp as if I had been sweating.
“No way,”
said Alice, who, like Penny, has grown up in the Knight family for generations.
“Why not?”
“They have no advantage in treason.”
“Why not?” If you succeed, you can survive. Think about it. Angus has been wanted for more than a year. Wouldn’t you dream of treason again if you were to die either way?”
“But there is no justification. The second prince they tried to crown was executed a year ago, so who is the basis of their power this time?”
Alice shook her head as if it was no longer worth talking about.
Penny beckoned, as she looked around her, and gathered closer.
As we all bowed, she whispered in an almost inaudible voice.
“There’s a rumor that the 2nd prince is back alive.”
What does this mean?
I feel like I’ve heard a joke that’s not funny.
The dead cannot come back to life.
It was something neither the great wizard Castor Grosvenor could do.
However, false rumors clearly came from a knight from the Royal Knights.
That means that it may not be completely false.
I, who had only listened like a bystander while talking about Angus, opened my mouth for the first time and tried to ask Penny.
But before that, Professor came into the classroom, so I couldn’t ask.
Our profound discussion ended like that, and as soon as the class was over, I held Alice’s hand and asked.
“What do you think?”
“What?”
“The story of Angus that Penny told earlier.”
Alice looked at me like an immature child.
“Do you really believe that? That’s all a lie. I’ve heard that Angus is suddenly appearing here and there these days, but it doesn’t make sense to hear that they are preparing for rebellion again.”
“Then?”
“As their escape life gets longer, they has to come out to the village to get what they need, and then it catches people’s eyes.”
Alice made a lot of sense, but I was confused.
Perhaps it is impossible for me to make a rational judgment if it is about Angus because of the man who held me as a hostage .
“What if the second prince was alive?””
Alice made a long sigh.
“How can that happen? The dead can’t come back.”
“Not that he died and survived, but what if he didn’t die from the beginning?””
“That’s not possible. Many saw the guillotine cut off his throats? Forget about what Penny said.”
But I couldn’t stop thinking about Penny’s words for some reason.
So I asked Alice impulsively.
“Alice, do you know any swordsman?””
“In the swords department right? There is, but why suddenly?”
“I want to learn some swordsmanship, but I don’t know anyone. You’re close to the students there. Do you know anyone?”
“Why do you want to learn swordplay all of a sudden?”
“Well, for self-defense?”
I still remember vividly when I met Angus.
The fear of death that is just around the corner and the power of not being able to do anything in a situation where I was about to die and the man who is still on loose, so you never know when what will happen.
So I wanted to prepare everything I could.
“If you want to learn self-defense, wouldn’t it be better to take more defensive magic classes?”
“I’ll take defense magic classes, too. But I wanted to learn swordsmanship, too.”
Fortunately, Alice didn’t say anything else, as she realized my will from my firm words.
“I see. If that’s what you want, it can’t be helped. I’ll introduce you to the best swordsman in the department. If you’re going to learn, you should learn from a good teacher.”
“Thank you!”
At that time, I had no idea what kind of stir Alice’s words would bring.