I thought that Lila falling down the stairs would be the talk of the school for a while, but a week has pa.s.sed since then, and that unexpectedly wasn"t the case.

Because the preparations for Thanksgiving have begun.

Thanksgiving is held at the Royal Academy grounds, especially with it being the venue for n.o.bles.

Since it"s only held every five years, students who are attending school at the time are able to partic.i.p.ate in the preparations.

Although it"s not as student-centered as the cultural festivals in my previous life, clubs, such as the art club with their exhibitions and the drama club with their concert, are motivated. Even though you"re allowed to not partic.i.p.ate as well, there"s no way you can let such a chance slip away, since the festival only happens once every five years.

Along those lines, as an official member of the Hidden Student Council, I"m helping with our exhibition. Seemingly as if having been unbound from that day onward, Katerina has been busy a.s.sisting the Drama Club with their play, having also pulled Ionius along with her. What"s more, it looks like she"s having fun.

Speaking of which, it seems that the rumor about me having pushed Lila was forgotten with the flurried preparations for Thanksgiving.

In its place, something else was stirring.

“It was a winter day when I was 8 years old. In the middle of the courtyard covered in the previous day"s snowfall was a girl. It was early morning, with everyone still asleep except for us. Though I think it was more of dawn than anything… The whole place was really quiet, as if the snow absorbed all the noise entirely.

As though she was unconcerned with the piercing cold of the morning air, she stood with a thin dress adorned with white lace. The silver embroidery on her dress glittered with the morning light, I was so sure that she was a snow spirit.

When I look back on the days I spent with her, for a moment, I"m filled with regret of not having sketched her before she died. Even if I were to say that now, there"s nothing I can do about it. The moment she noticed me, she turned around. I really didn"t think she was of this world. No matter how beautiful the morning or night was, it was no match for her.

She had l.u.s.trous obsidian-like hair. Her black hair was striking, like the only drop of ink in a white world… When I asked her, “You"re a snow spirit. Won"t you disappear once the sun rises?” She replied with a disgusted face, “Are you stupid? Saying things like snow spirit, you"re weird.” Ah, even as I"m remembering it right now, knowing that I"m the only one who was able to look at that beautiful person, I"m shivering in happiness!”

“What is he saying…”

“Don"t look, Lizzy.”

Looking at Lucas shivering, overcome with emotions, I got the chills for some reason. Wow. I didn"t think that the temperature would drop just by looking at a pervert.

“So mean, since you said you wanted to know about her, I"m even acting out my important memory.”

“What I wanted to know was her ident.i.ty, not Sensei"s memory. Anyways! Why are you sitting at our table?!”

Even though I finally have a moment to eat an elegant lunch with Bern, this suspicious, m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t teacher arbitrarily brought his own chair and sat with us.

It seems that because the security for Thanksgiving was pushed onto the school, he ran away from the staff dining hall and came here.

So now, as I was asking Bern about Lucas" first love, he appeared with the worst timing. We"ve been listening to him reminiscence for a while now.

Even Bern plans on just treating him as if he isn"t there, breaking apart the meat from the cabbage roll-like meat dish. Even though they taste good together…

“Well, whenever I"m with students, they run away from me super fast, and I don"t get much time with them. No matter how close I am with them, everyone just leaves me and runs away. They leave me behind here. I wonder if you guys are gonna immediately do that as well. So if you guys keep me company for a little more, I"ll think about not flicking your foreheads.”

“Keep you company!?”

I screamed at Lucas, abandoning my polite language and looked at Lucas with his never-changing smile, not knowing his true intentions.

‘If I apologize right now, he might forgive me." I felt uncomfortable having such thoughts.

“What"re you shouting for?”

I turned to look towards the angry, exasperated voice I"ve gotten used to hearing behind me, and there was Darius.

“Woah, there he is.”

“You"re rude, saying that as soon as you see someone"s face.”

I don"t want to be told that by Darius of all people.

As I thought rapidly of how to answer back, Darius forcibly placed his own tray on the narrow table and brought over a nearby leftover chair.

The table originally made for two people became crowded with trays of four people.

“Good timing. I"m also sitting here. I was worried about having to look for a seat.”

“Hey, wait.”

And just like that, there were four people sitting now.

Wait a minute…

“Being surrounded by The Three Musketeers of not listening to people… I"m done…”

“‘The Three Mus-ke-teers‘…?”

“Just don"t mind my monologue…”

I see, there"s no Three Musketeers in this world. That"s to be expected. I wonder what would be the closest thing to it would be. The Three Wise Men? The Three Wise Men of not listening to people… No can do. I mean, they"re supposed to be wise men.

Ah, but Bern trying to p.r.o.nounce it just now was cute, so I"ll let it be. Yep.

“So, the matter with Johann Drexler that you asked me about.”

As soon as Darius spoke up, a serious atmosphere befell the table.

The truth is that Johann is involved in the ripple going through the school.

“The day after testifying that Carneille-san was pushed down the stairs, Johann took a leave of absence from school. He persistently said it was a family matter. His close friends don"t know anything either. Though it seems like Count Drexler himself hasn"t gone home.”

“Huh~ Wehner-kun, you"re surprisingly well-informed.”

Eh, why is Lucas joining in as if it"s normal? And being impressed as well.

“Then it"s safe to say something happened.”

Ah, Bern"s in villain mode.

Although I"ve been saying a lot of things inside my mind up until a while ago, I feel that I"m instead sticking out like a sore thumb.

“Plus…”

Bern"s gaze suddenly turned to somewhere far away. Everyone present looked at where he was looking, and watched as His Highness and Lila went up to the second floor.

Lila"s twisted right arm was hanging, with His Highness carrying her tray.

Then Lila, who was always two steps back previously, as if being humble, was now snuggling closely to him. As if they were fiances.

That wasn"t the only thing that changed.

“Oh my…”

“Being that close.”

“Although Katerinsama herself accepted breaking off the engagement, to be that bold. How thoughtless.”

“I"ve thought so for a long time now.”

“Actually, me too…”

“What"s going on? The moment Drexler disappears, they"re suddenly attacking Lila.”

Bewildered, Darius muttered.

“Man, girls are scary.”

Lucas jokingly said, having lost interest already, and heartily tore his bread apart.

The torn apart pieces of bread weren"t scattered about on his plate, it actually looks methodical.

The women weren"t the only ones raising their eyebrows at Lila. As if having been suppressed and suddenly bursting out in one go, everyone started murmuring complaints about Lila.

I wonder just what Lila"s trying to do.

Even though she"s been behaving up until now, since the incident, she hasn"t been able to control her surroundings.

I wonder if it has something to do with Johann"s absence.

I faintly hear Lila"s unnatural laugh from the second floor.

For some reason, that didn"t feel like it came from the bottom of her heart.

With today"s cla.s.ses over, I packed up my things, left the cla.s.sroom, and there waiting for me outside in the corridor was Bern.

Although it"s not that weird for third-year cla.s.ses to end at the same time, I wonder how he"s able to come so quickly to the first-year cla.s.srooms. Maybe he went through the windows. Hmm, impossible.

“I"ll stay with you until dinner today.”

“Is that okay?”

In addition to what happened with Lila, with him not entrusting his ducal work to somebody else, Bern"s been busy. I was shocked at his words.

“Seems that someone from outside came back with information about Johann"s whereabouts, and it might come as early as the day after tomorrow. Because of that, I"ll be busy again. It looks like the matter with the territory has been settled as well.”

“I see.”

He"s going to be busy again.

I wish there"s something I could do to help, but Bern"s not going to like that.

If something bad happened to me, like for example, someone threatens me, or even reaching out to someone from his so-called shady business, he"d hate that as well. Though I believe he won"t wrongfully hurt someone. That"s why even now, to not worry me, Bern himself doesn"t let me get close to anything related to it.

I don"t know if it"s because he"s worried about me or just doesn"t want to be hated.

So that means today we get to relax for a while, and I said,

“Then I"ll take you to my secret spot!”

Eagerly taking my hand, like all those years ago, he delightfully laughed and said, “Please lead the way.”

With the never-ending, recent back and forth of information, I feel like I"ve been tossed about, but with Bern"s never-changing habit of holding hands together, I feel a small sense of security.

I discovered this secret spot with Darius. Behind the Third Building was a considerable thicket, and beyond that was a meadow. A little farther to the west of that were bushes of wild strawberries.

With it being the right time, small pale pink and purple flowers were blooming — it felt a little bit like a fairy-tale.

Not expecting this kind of place to exist at the back of the school, as soon as Bern came out of the thicket, his eyes widened.

The slightly higher than ankle gra.s.s was swaying in the breeze, waving like the ocean.

I took a deep breath, overcome with emotion — it smelled like summer, the scent of the torrid soil and gra.s.s mixing together.

“It really looks like the meadows where we rode your horse, doesn"t it?”

By the way, knowing that it"d be troublesome if Darius found us, we decided to lie down.

Feeling nostalgic at my mention of horse riding, Bern squinted his eyes.

As expected of a sunny place, it"s warm, and because of that, we sat down side by side under the shade of a tree.

There was a dent in the roots of the tree that was just right, and impressed by just how comfortable it was, we laughed.

I mean, the fit was just amazing.

Relaxed, Bern poked at a mushroom that was growing under the shade of the tree. Although the color looks amazing, I wonder if it"s okay to poke it. I"m worried…

But I"m glad.

Since Bern"s been so busy recently, he hasn"t been his usual absent-minded self that much and I was beginning to worry a little bit.

A particularly strong breeze blew, and my hair flew in my face. Reflexively closing my eyes, when I move them out of the way, there was Bern"s face, much closer than before.

Silently not saying anything, his beautiful face resembled that of a doll.

Without fixing his, he instead fixed my own disheveled hair. As if satisfied with it, Bern"s face came closer. W-wait, don"t tell me…! I put up my guard in vain, as Bern rested his head on my shoulder.

Thinking for a moment that he was going to kiss me, I felt embarra.s.sed…

As I was writhing in shame and sadness, Bern inconsiderately buried his head further into my shoulders.

It hurts a little bit, but I"ll let you do as you please.

“…I"m a little tired.”

“You can sleep, you know. I"ll wake you up later.”

“I"m sure you"ll sleep as well, so I refuse.”

“I won"t.”

He laughs, “Hehehe,” and his breath tickles me.

For some reason, he reminds me of a big animal as he buries himself further into my neck. Like a horse that"s happily being brushed.

Because Bern was finally able to rest after such a long time, the talk about Johann from lunchtime, whether or not Lucas was an ally, as well as the various questions I wanted to ask him — I left all of those behind for now.

I wonder why I could only do this much.

Or rather, even if I knew, I have a feeling I"ll be kept from doing anything. That"s what Bern will probably do.

That"s why I don"t think I should keep on being like this.

Because the things I wanted to know might be unpleasant, I"ve been idle and running away from the things I don"t know.

Ah, but to ask him right now might be a little…

Okay. I"ll ask him tomorrow. That"s what I"ll do. I can"t run away from this. Since I"m an anxious woman.

“Lizzy.”

Bern turns my head sideways, and looks at me.

Although our faces were unthinkably close, the sunlight filtering through the trees shines in his grey eyes as I stare at them — they felt mysterious and gentle.

Bern opens and closes his mouth — two, three times, hesitating to say something.

As if waiting quietly for that chance, a rustling noise came from the thicket, and when I looked over, there was a girl clenching her hands into fists and glaring at me.

Because I"m fixing the plot, there have been various changes done… I don"t care what happens after anymore, though I wonder where my Golden Week went…

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BERN"S A d.a.m.n TEASE.

Also, about Bern saying ‘The Three Mus-ke-teers?" and Lizia going ‘The way he p.r.o.nounced it was d.a.m.n cute," was actually supposed to be ‘Bern saying the hiragana (or trying to) was d.a.m.n cute" but ya know, this is in English so it doesn"t make sense that way so that"s what you guys get lol.

Name"s Erika. For some dumb reason, I decided to major in Physics. I"m stuck in this major now. I used to translate manga and light novels a few years back, left, then came back cause I found some good novels to read. I"m the only TLer on my site, so rip. I"m apparently also good at drawing, and I also like kpop (BTS, I mean, I have Hobi as my pic). I don"t bite, so feel free to chat me up on here or on NU @adorkablehiko.