Chapter 93: Save 47 – Aster Academy

It was the morning when classes started for the new school year.

I won't lie, I felt a little weird and happy to be going back to school.

I got up early to do something I haven't done in a while.

Workout.

I was on the floor of my room doing push-ups, I set a low number for myself at first since I hadn't trained since I entered the academy last year.

But after several beatings I took during a whole year, it made me realize that I am very fragile. I must not allow that. More so that now I have fiancées, I must make this thin body a very masculine one for them and for the idiots who want to beat me up.

Ixion was preparing breakfast, he seems to have also finished getting my uniform ready.

It is similar to the one at the academy, the only difference is the color.

On the chair near the desk I placed a towel beforehand, getting up I grabbed it to dry the sweat on my body, obviously I will take a bath, but my body was very sweaty.

"Master, everything is ready."

"Okay. How are those idiots doing?"

I asked curious about Erselica and the idiots.

"Starting with Warren and Clovis, they're fine, they're getting ready to leave. As for Erselica..."

He showed me a live recording of what was going on in her mansion. Finally, this scrap developed the technology for live broadcasts, but he uses them when it suits him.

"Erselica I'm hungry!"

"How do I wear this thing?"

"Huh, why did it break?"

The three of them were in the dining room of their mansion, they should be having breakfast, but there seemed to be no servants to prepare breakfast for them.

She could see how she, Cana and Allen were battling in the kitchen to make both breakfast and lunches.

"Still no breakfast?"

Chlust was throwing a toddler tantrum as his chin touched the table.

Frey was looking at himself in a hand mirror looking for the kind of style he's getting today.

Liam was sitting at the table, the weird thing was he wasn't moving.

"If you're that hungry then help!"

Allen was yelling at Chlust as he cooked bacon in a skillet.

"I am. I'm waiting for the food."

"How the hell do you think that's helping!"

Allen was very annoyed, he seemed to want to punch the red ape who for some reason was in his underwear.

Cana came over to place plates and was asking Liam his reason for looking like a mummy.

"Your Highness, it will soon be time to go, why aren't you dressed yet?"

"I know."

"If you know, why don't you hurry?"

"It's just that, no one has dressed me."

Cana was shocked to hear that.

"Both at the academy and at the palace, I was always dressed up to go to ceremonies and other activities."

Cana gave him a look that seemed to think. "Is this guy serious?"

"Your Highness... you dressed alone when we were on the count's airship."

"That's different, it was casual clothes and besides, the boys helped me."

Cana's face totally deformed when she heard how pitiful the future king was, I also made the same expression.

Is this guy going to be my king?

I better run away before he destroys the kingdom.

I also watched Erselica who was wearing an apron while beating eggs with great speed.

"Damn, we'll be lateeeee!"

I told Ixion to turn it off as it was very disappointing to see that the future king is just as useless as his father and that my cousin from my previous life is an even more pitiful woman for having him as a partner.

"This makes me feel pity. Ixion, how's it going with what you found out?"

I would ask him as I went downstairs to first have breakfast. Yesterday I tasked him to find out about the heroine and the future allies or rather her future almost-boyfriends.

Securing the welfare of the world by romancing some boys.

"I have collected information on almost everyone. Some don't show up since I can't find them, the rest need verification from Erselica."

"I understand, what about her?"

"I did an exhaustive search and after eliminating possible candidates based on the information I was given, and looking for how many people had that last name..."

Ixion was silent for some reason.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a problem."

It scares me that you would say that

"Is it bad?"

"Not really, just problematic."

"Say it."

"They're twins. The Algrand sisters are."

"I see they're two..."

"Ehhh?"

I was really shocked by that revelation.

◇◇◇

Erselica's mansion was in chaos so early in the morning.

"Hurry up dammit!"

Erselica was struggling to get the three of them dressed.

Chlust wanted to make alterations to his uniform like when he was in the kingdom academy.

Frey was looking for what personal care items to wear while still in a towel.

Liam was the most troublesome as he put his pants on wrong.

They were all young heirs. It was natural for them to be spoiled, the problem was that they were overindulged to the point of making them useless.

Erselica cried out from the bottom of her heart.

"How the hell did your mother turn you into something like that!"

The fault was not the queen's, she took care of Liam until he was 5 years old, then the royal nannies took over. The problem, is that none of them let Liam fend for himself leaving this result.

"Erselica, I tore the shirt."

From the bottom of her heart, Erselica cursed Liam.

"Stupid crown prince!"

◇◇◇

Meanwhile in the palace of Altfode kingdom.

The room of their majesties to be exact. There were two people.

One of them was looking out of a window while drinking an imported tea.

"What a great day it is today. A splendid day to work."

While the other person....

"You are a shameless scum do you know that? How can you say that without doing anything!"

She insulted him while signing documents on the desk that corresponded to the highest authority of the kingdom, the king.

"Is that so? Perhaps it is. But, it is the duty of a king to look down on the safety of his citizens from the top while making himself comfortable!"

"Do you really have no shame in saying that?"

"None."

The older looking man wore luxurious clothes, gold rings on each finger and a scepter rested on the side of his chair, he used it to scratch his back.

He had gray hair, it is not known if it was natural or if it was due to age, with good muscles that showed in the light clothes he wore. A thin mustache that he took good care of and his eyes were purple.

That person was the current king of the kingdom. Leonis von Altfode, Liam's father.

In the game, he was a kind and gentle person to Airi whenever he was on screen. But it could have been because perhaps he wished to seduce her as this man was a womanizer.

The person who signed important documents that were the king's work, glared at him with a sharp look of deep hatred. That person was his wife, the queen, Liam's mother was also.

Lecia von Altfode, in the game never came out, only her voice came out and she always showed contempt to Airi for her commoner origin. This was because in the otome version of the game, she came developed like that, the same for Alisa. Both were despicable villainess who didn´t want the prince to be united with a commoner.

The developers liked them, the players liked them. They even thought her appearance was that of a bitter, ugly old woman. Which is quite the opposite actually.

Since she looks very young for both her age and being a mother.

Her hair was ash blonde, it was very straight as it looked like strings of violins moving to a heavenly melody.

Normally, for meetings or celebrations she leaves her hairstyle pulled back on her right shoulder, but since she was in work mode her hair was tied in a ponytail.

Her eyes were navy blue, they were so beautiful they seemed to be the very sky and sea reflected in them.

Her face was one that made you think this woman was just entering youth because of how young she was. Her features were so detailed that she could be considered a work of art. Her skin was as smooth as velvet.

Her limbs were as long as her body, making her look taller than her husband.

But the most striking detail was not her adolescent appearance, but her woman's body.

A body that Rudel himself praised and even wished to monopolize.

That body, that slender, curvaceous, swan-shaped waist makes you think it's impossible that she had given birth. Such wide hips, evidence of having given birth to a healthy child and that, if she wanted to, she could have more. But more than anything else, the detail that captivated Rudel was her chest.

Her chest was so large that it made Alisa's lush bosom look small.

Two large watermelons rested there. They probably grew from eating too much sweets or because Liam stopped drinking his breast milk at an early age.

It is not known, what is known is that this elegant and educated woman was the victim of various verbal and disrespectful harassments towards her body.

For almost a whole year she received carnal statements about wanting to lay a hand on her or wanting to do this and that to her body. All of these hangman-worthy comments came from the same person.

There were several people, mostly trusted servants, who called for Rudel's head more than once.

But she said it must have been just a cruel prank by a teenager.

The servants did not know how to respond since they were present at many of those declarations and even more, the day he shouted in front of everyone that he wished to have the prince's mother, the king's wife and, above all, the queen of the kingdom as his wife.

Lecia always received hurtful comments from her husband that she was too fat from eating too much, and she thought so too until that disrespectful boy. He showed his obvious lust in a married woman.

Lecia didn't like that, she didn't like being made fun of, but more than anything. She didn't like being made to look like she had issues about her innocent fetish for adultery novels.

But she left that behind as Rudel himself asked her to start from scratch and she was delighted to start a friendship with the Hero of the Realm.

Right now she was reading and signing documents about the economic problems that were caused by the war. The traitors who looted the treasure vault and public funds.

Her long fringe covered her glasses, delicately as if she was brushing her long hair, she placed that fringe on her ear and then exhaled.

"Really the situation is bad. We have collected funds from this month's taxes and still it is low. At this rate, the kingdom will enter an economic crisis far worse than previous ones."

Lecia bit her lips as she saw that the money problem was very serious. She reviewed other documents looking for a way to solve this as soon as possible.

"The purchase of Aster magic stones is very expensive for us. Even if we negotiate a lower price in exchange for the lordless lands there. We'll take severe losses just the same."

Lecia placed her elbows on the desk and clutched her head due to severe pain from just thinking about the consequences of the war.

They won it, but the loss was worse.

Lifting her gaze, she watched her husband picking his nose as he read an Aster magazine about erotic lingerie models.

She looked at the coffee pot Rudel gave her, thanked him very much for making the ministers' job easier with never-before-seen items. But she wanted to grab it and smash it over her husband's head.

In fact, she imagined him doing it. A little mocking laughter showed on her face.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Lecia said, "Come in." And her gaze darkened at the people who entered.

"Good morning, your majesties."

Three beautiful young women entered, wearing revealing clothes.

Lecia made a terrified face as she watched her husband who noticed who had entered.

With a smile on his face he called out their names.

"Oh, at last my dear girls have arrived!"

"Doris-chan, you look lovely in the clothes I bought you."

"Merce-chan, you also look very beautiful with those earrings I gave you for your birthday."

More and more comments came out of her mouth, Lecia listened to that.

"... Really, so early in the morning?"

Leonis turned to look at her and in a sarcastic tone said.

"That's because I'm the king, I must do what's best for this country. That includes fathering heirs in case something happens to Liam."

(To say that your own son might have something happen to him, is not something a father should say.) Thought Lecia as she watched her husband embrace those young girls and flashed a perverted smile.

"Have fun." She said as her husband and those women entered the bedroom that was supposed to be their matrimonial room.

Lecia looked at the documents, her gaze no longer showing anger, just an emptiness of no longer caring about anything.

(Since I gave birth, he hasn't touched me again.)

I could hear loud playful laughter.

(I gave up many years ago that he would at least invite me, either to participate or be present at least).

The laughter turned into sounds of pleasure.

(My woman side is dead. Now only the queen side remains. For me he can have his fun, after all, he says I'm too fat and he's disgusted to see me naked.)

She stood up and left the room heading for her private room.

Inside, there were various things she liked. There were pictures of her and her family.

She sat in a recliner that Rudel had given her.

It also had a massage option.

She pressed the button. And she could feel relaxation at its best.

Her serious face began to change to one of happiness. It was almost like seeing a little girl smiling. The vibration made her body look like jelly, including her huge breasts which also enjoyed the vibration.

Next to her was a small table. She opened the drawer and took out a letter.

It was from Rudel, when he was still traveling in his airship to Aster.

As she relaxed, she read the contents.

One part focused on how Liam was getting on his nerves and wanted to throw him overboard, she laughed a lot as in his details, they looked like two little kids playing.

(I wish the two of them had been childhood friends. Maybe... would things have been different? No, Liam probably would have ended up getting beaten up by him and Alisa would have still been spoiled.)

An image of her daughter- Alisa and what Rudel would have looked like as a child popped into his mind.

The second part of the letter focused on her.

"How are you doing my queen, I hope well? It's a beautiful day today, watching the light reflected on the sea reminds me so much of your beauty. I'm not disturbing you! I'm just being honest."

The letters only seemed like blatant flirtations not malicious towards her.

Her eyes stopped on a certain line.

"If there is any danger. Don't hesitate to tell Bell. I'll go straight to the kingdom to help her in any way I can, you can always count on me."

Lecia's eyes showed a warmth due to her tomato-red cheeks.

She put the letter aside and closed her eyes.

"Alisa is lucky, I too would have liked to have a man who cares so much about me and told me every day that he loves me."

Then Lecia's hands moved.

The right one slowly moved to her left breast, while the left one moved in the same way to her belly.

She touched her navel and then her fingertips ran along her dress.

Lecia's breathing became very intense.

(How many years had it been since the last time I felt this hot?)

Her fingers reached toward the fabric of her underwear.

While her other hand gently squeezed the area around her breast.

A face appeared in her head... it was, Rudel.

At that instant her hands stopped and she stood up very quickly from the couch.

Her breathing was still heavy, her body felt hot.

She clutched her shoulders with her folded hands.

She was shaking.

"Wh-what was that?"

She didn't notice that her legs were shaking and a bit of wetness could be seen on them.

"No. It can't be, I... I'm a married woman. I have a husband, family, I'm the queen and most of all..."

Her cheeks turned red again and she smacked herself very hard to stop her head from having weird ideas.

"He is a child compared to me, and even more so. He's my daughter's fiancé by name. What kind of mentor and example would I be if I think weird thoughts?"

Lecia grabbed the letter and looked like she was going to tear it up, but stopped herself and before holding it out she read it one last time.

"Just... one last time I want to read that part. Then off to work."

As she read the letter. Her hips began to move strangely and her breathing became heavy again.

Then she collapsed onto the bed.

"... Just one time and that's it. I'm stressed and, this is one way to take the stress off."

The queen's personal room was occupied by someone for at least two hours. The servants wanted to enter as a strange smell and sounds were heard in there, the sounds were accompanied by a name. A man's name, a name that did not belong to the highest authority but to another.

After those two hours. The maids looked at Lecia who came out of there relaxed, although with disheveled hair and sweat on her body.

She told them she was fine and was heading to the bathroom. Although she seemed weak in her legs as she was holding on to the walls.

The maids opened the door to see what was going on and then closed it.

On this day, no one commented on what they saw.

◇

Aster's academy I found myself.

I was sitting on a couch in the reception room. I checked the time with my pocket watch.

In this room, the furniture was uselessly extravagant.

You are reading story World Ixion/SAGA at novel35.com

This showed how rich they were.

The welcoming ceremony for the new students had concluded.

Erselica and her group did not arrive. Rather, Ixion showed me a video where they were just leaving the mansion running in a hurry.

What pitiful fellows.

A professor had summoned me here. He left the room for some reason.

"These guys are disappointing. First day and they are late, they should pin me. I'm an exemplary student haha."

I was relaxing like a cat on the couch until the door opened and startled me.

I got into a polite position.

It was the professor, he came in with a female student.

I was very surprised to see her, as this girl.

"Yoho!"

That was who I was supposed to be looking for.

"I'm Lucy Algrand, your guide during your stay at the academy! Nice to meet you!"

This girl who was cheerfully introducing herself.

She was the possible heroine of this game.

She is just as she was described. She is cheerful, her hair is platinum blonde with pigtails, amber eyes and above all, big breasts!

What's with this weird luck I have about finding beautiful women with big breasts?

She looked at me in surprise.

"Isn't there anyone else here, and, do you understand me?"

"How do you say 'hello' in the language of the kingdom?"

I was surprised, I didn't even have to look for her. She came straight to me.

This is lucky isn't it?

"Yes, I understand you! Nice to meet you, I'm Rudel von Bradford from the Altfode Kingdom."

I introduced myself as I was acting very strange.

"Professor, I'm sorry, but my other classmates seem to be late."

I apologized for Erselica and the others. But what was impressive was this girl.

The heroine's name was supposed to be Diana, and now Ixion tells me they are sisters and twins!!?

What a scary world of gaming.

◇

We were separated by classes into groups of two.

Apparently there are different classes from A to E, which is where we were.

I introduced myself in the normal way, but no one seemed to care. I felt very sad, but at least it was better than in the kingdom since they made fun of me.

The atmosphere was pleasant, it really looked like a youth school. The weird thing was the diversity of colorful heads in this place.

I sat in the middle as I don't like to stand out, if I was first in line or last it would be very cliché.

It feels good not to stand out, I don't want to get in trouble like last year.

The teacher in charge of my class is the same one who introduced me to the guide.

It really is a school in every sense of the word, very different from the kingdom. I felt at peace to have a second normal school experience like any other young person.

It would be if it weren't for the fact that I'm here on a mission, and it's related to this girl.

The girl in front of me turned to speak to me.

She had a candy in her mouth, the chewy kind.

"Hey, hey, Bradford-kun. Are you really a knight?"

"Yes, I am."

This girl, Lucy, was an anomaly I never saw in either my past or current life.

Her attitude is as carefree as it is pleasant.

When we entered the classroom, everyone greeted her, and then she introduced us.

Her mouth dropped open due to the surprise of hearing that I am a knight.

"The kingdom is amazing! You can become one at such a young age."

"In my case it's a special circumstance."

"Even so. It's really surprising that a boy my age is a knight. Pupupu, it's interesting."

She laughed in a strange way, but it was still a pleasant conversation with her.

We were speaking in Aster's language, she doesn't seem to understand the language of the kingdom very well. I find hers difficult too; the reason why I speak so casually with her is because Ixion is translating what she says into my ear and then I answer her in my normal tongue which translates it into Aster's language. No doubt he will be annoyed at me for making him do this.

But I don't mind.

I was wondering things since when I introduced myself I said I was a noble and a knight, everyone was surprised. They thought I was a commoner? How discouraging.

"It's only the first day and half of the morning, but how was school?"

Her question was so normal that it made you realize she was a simple girl.

"It's really nice to be here. Unlike the academy back home, here no one judges me for being from the countryside."

Just remembering how I was treated badly at home was unpleasant.

She blew up a bubble gum bubble which popped in her face.

I got some on my face, but she wiped it off with her sleeve.

Is this girl really the heroine?

"Sorry." She said.

I asked her why, and she with her eyes reminded me of my kingdom partner in this class.

"Are you really a prince, Liam?"

"Being so young and being able to inherit a kingdom in the future is amazing!"

"Hey, and do you have a queen candidate yet?"

"I..."

It was Liam, the worst choice.

It didn't matter if it was Erselica, the ape, the narcissist or even the grape head. but Liam, really?

I didn't need to see him to know he was walking scared. From Ixion's reflection I could tell he looked like a lost child. Every once in a while he would give glances towards me to save him.

You figure it out.

"I-I'm sorry, but I, I already love someone. That woman owns my heart and I will fight for my family to accept her."

The girls started screaming causing everyone in the room to gasp in surprise.

The boys were giving envious and deadly looks to the leading man.

I was replying to Lucy. "Don't worry, even if he doesn't look it, this guy is very disappointing as a human being once you get to know him."

She looked like she wanted to say something, but better kept quiet.

Now, she should gather information as well.

"By the way, do you have sisters, Lucy?"

"Yes. I have a younger sister. Actually, we're twins."

She would start talking happily about her baby sister. I would too since I have a sweet angel waiting at home for the gifts I bring her.

"She is not rude like me, should I say she is a lady and a very polite one? She's smart unlike me who's a bit dumb, if you saw my grades you'd laugh, hahaha, and also a reliable younger sister she is. Also, it's a pity, but she has a boyfriend, so don't try to go after her, okay?"

"What about you?"

"Although it may not seem like it I'm a man who has two fiancées." I would say it with all the confidence in the world if it weren't for the fact that she would surely laugh thinking I was lying, and that would be very painful.

She was supposed to fall in love with Liam or one of the guys in the game. So it would be problematic if she had one.

"I don't. As you can see, I'm a plain, scary-faced guy. No girl would go near a guy like me who is also poor."

"And you, do you have a boyfriend?"

She stared at me for some reason.

"Don't ever say that again." She said very seriously.

"I'll be upset with you if you ever say a horrible thing like that again. Looks aren't everything, I'm sure, one day you'll find a girl who will love you for how you really are."

Her words were honest and earnest, that made my heart beat in a way it hadn't beat since the girls proposed to me. Would this be the power of love that this game would have been inspired by?

"Answering your question. No, I am currently in search of one. But because of a certain troubled companion, it's hard for me to even socialize normally."

"Troublesome companion?"

Her cheerful expression changed to one of anger.

"She's an obnoxious girl who's been bothering me since last year. You don't know her, but she's the daughter of the acting chairman. The so-called princess of Rosenberg Household."

My eyes widened as the final boss's last name came up in this very normal conversation.

(Does the princess of the final boss's house bother her? Does this sound too familiar?)

With this, now I no longer know who the heroine really is.

◇

It was behind the school. There were no people around as it was an uninhabited area because they were building. Since the workers were also out to lunch, it was better for us.

I was telling Erselica what happened and her face was amazed.

"What do you mean twins, I've never heard of anything like this!"

Ixion showed her a picture taken of both of them entering the school.

"That's why I'm having trouble. Anyway, there's no doubt that one of them must be the heroine. Based on personality, I had a feeling that Lucy is more likely to be the one, but it's Diana who has a boyfriend at the moment."

Erselica looked at the pictures of the two in panic.

"T-They really are twins! But in the game her name was Diana, so was her hairstyle, but... she was a girl without breasts! This is weird, this isn't like it was supposed to be!"

I'm the one who really doesn't understand the situation, but I remembered something.

"Maybe it's like the Klein case? In the game he was a nice guy wasn't he? But in reality he was a scumbag trying to take over the kingdom."

Erselica was still confused.

"M-Maybe it is as you say and something like this is a similar case. That said, we should keep an eye on both of them and make sure the love events happen, but without involving Liam or us."

"Sounds good to me."

Erselica put her hand to her mouth.

"Wait! The younger sister, Diana, has a boyfriend, but isn't it strange to be dating a capture target already at this stage?"

"I wouldn't know what to tell you."

"In the game, the events of meeting potential romantic targets happened in the first year. Whereas the second year is where it all unfolded."

"The real event starts when Liam gets into trouble with Derrick. A duel happens and that's where it all unfolds."

"Derrick?" I asked curious.

"He's a trouble guy that if we move right. We won't need to get in trouble with him."

"By the way, is there a picture of Diana's boyfriend?"

Ixion played a video taken a few minutes ago today.

A turquoise-haired, brown-eyed boy was the one shown.

"Ahh!"

She suddenly screamed startling me.

"It's Laughing Lugh!"

"What's with that weird name?"

"That's one of the targets. Lugh Eliol Lunor. The heir to Lunor Household. His background is very sad, he had an older brother being him, the second son, but this one died when he was he was little."

"I don't care about his past. Tell me about him."

After jumping up and down at how elated she was, Erselica took a seat.

"He's a super easy character to conquer. Even if you made a mistake in the game up to a certain point and couldn't get a boyfriend, you can complete the conquest if you choose Lugh in the middle stage."

I watched the two of them in the video.

You can hear the two's conversation clearly.

"Ana-chan, about next week's vacation, well... D-Do you want to go on a date?"

Lugh invited Diana on a date with a red face. It was an innocent and warm scene for a guy to be the one doing it.

She was the one who seemed to be used to this kind of scene.

"Okay. But, enough with the art museum visit. I'd like it better if we go shopping later."

"Huh, isn't the art museum good?"

"...The date before that and even the one before that were all art museum visits, right? Let's make a different date sometimes."

"Y-Yes. You're right."

We listened intently. I asked Erselica a concern.

"Am I the only one who feels weird seeing them? I mean, she doesn't strike me as the way you describe her. She reminds me of a certain tricky object that you can't make jokes about."

Ixion cut the transmission and looked at me.

"I-In the game she was very closed as she didn't have confidence to tell us about her private life. But, that event I feel is very rushed, it was supposed to happen no later than June."

"Are you saying that the events are moving fast, does that mean she is the heroine?"

"... I think. In any case, we should pay attention to her movements."

I nodded at his reply. Then I remembered something else.

"Come to think of it, Lucy said she was having trouble with the princess of Rosenberg Household."

"Princess?"

"Yes. She said she'd been bothering her for year."

Her mouth dropped open at what I told her.

"Wait, like the princess... the villainess bothered her?!"

"Villainess? Kind of like what Alisa's role was?"

"Yes! The villainess is supposed to hate the heroine because she was trying to get close to her younger brother! It was only in Romeo's capture, is that she would tell you why he was stalking her, but in the others and even if she was with Liam, she would just make jokes about it being a ruined house or something."

"W-Wait...are you saying the story progresses two ways?"

"I-I don't know."

We both grabbed our heads as this was getting more and more confusing.

Two heroines.

A villainess who annoys the heroine.

A boyfriend for the heroine in a short amount of time.

Exactly what was going on here?

◇◇◇

It was already getting dark.

Lucy was happily cooking for her and her sister.

Diana was sitting at the table doing her homework for tomorrow.

Suddenly, Diana stopped moving her pen and spoke to her sister.

"Nee-san."

"Yes?"

"You went to meet the students of the kingdom today didn't you?"

"Yes! Because you refused to! You got better grades than me, so you should have gone yourself."

"I was busy and you didn't have anything better to do, did you?"

"Even if it was true. You didn't have to pass your obligation on to me."

Lucy pouted as she cooked.

"Something wrong with them?"

Lucy asked curious about her sister's sudden question.

"Nothing in particular. Just curious."

Diana's tone was cold like her attitude.

She fiddled with her pen as if she was having an all-too-normal chat.

"By the way, is there a silver-haired boy in your classroom?"

"Yes. His name is Liam."

"I see."

Diana was going back to writing when Lucy seemed to remember something.

"Oh yes, there was another boy too. He's really weird, the weirdest of them all. He seems to act normal, but that just makes him stand out more."

"Another boy? And what's his name?"

Lucy was cooking noodles and as she stirred the pot to make soup, she called out his name.

"His name is Rudel. Rudel von Bradford."

"If you knew him you'd laugh at the way he expresses himself, ehuh. Diana?!"

Lucy turned as she heard a clatter. She watched Diana who stood up banging the table violently.

"Rudel... you say?"

Diana stared wide eyed at the table, she was shaking.

Her sister approached her and noticed that her look showed panic.

"Is something wrong?"

"... Nothing, I remembered I left a book at school. I'll pick it up tomorrow."

Lucy went back to cooking after insisting to her sister if nothing was wrong.

But instead Diana, showed sweat and her hands were shaking.

"Rudel... it can't be."