Chapter 90

Chapter : 90

The Crown Prince’s engagement ceremony.

If this had been held somewhere like the Imperial Palace instead of the Academy, it would have been an enormous event where all sorts of people gathered.

Because of Kartea and Navier’s stubbornness, their engagement ceremony was held at the Academy, so the number of people had clearly decreased.

Only the Academy’s enrolled students and faculty, along with some acquaintances of Navier and Kartea, attended the engagement ceremony. At most, several thousand people gathered in the plaza.

At the center of that crowd was a flower path opened wide like a highway.

It was a path made from flower petals of every color. Each differently colored petal harmonized with the others and flaunted its beauty.

The colors were so intense that even if one glanced at them briefly and immediately closed one’s eyes, they would remain on the retina.

Stepping onto that path, Navier appeared, covered in money from head to toe.

The dress, so abundant it made my jaw drop, reminded me of Agares. It was packed full of frills and lace, as though she were wearing armor, and even the color of the clothes flashed vividly under the sunlight. The blue fabric reflected light like a mirror.

So that was why they erased the clouds.

Her hair, too, was decorated with cloth and gemstones, and because the sunlight was especially strong today, it reflected light in every direction.

Flower petals falling from the sky like snow lingered between her thin strands of hair before sliding down, and some caught between them.

The face, which artisans from all over must have clung to and made, did not lose to anything above or below it. She was literally like a doll. If we judged only makeup technique, I was certain it would never lose to the modern world.

Kartea’s side was magnificent as well. Seeing the embroidery on clothes like a modern uniform, and the shining pieces here and there, it seemed a similar amount of money had been spent.

Flowers poured from the sky like leaflets. Who on earth was scattering them? The height from which the flowers fell was no joke, so I wondered how they were doing it, but nothing entered my eyes. From high above, without even clouds there, only petals drifted down.

When something seemed strange, it was always magic.

Invisibility Magic was extremely difficult magic, but because its reputation was poor, few people learned it. Even among mages, someone like that was high-level personnel.

A mage like that was scattering flowers from the sky. He had cast magic not only on his own body, but even on the flower bag he had brought, and each time he scattered the petals, he released the magic only on those petals.

Looking at them now, the flowers were not ordinary flowers either. They too emitted light in every direction. Some tool had been used to coat each and every petal. If not, perhaps there was a container full of coating liquid, and they had put them all in and taken them back out.

Whatever the case, it was a task that required an enormous amount of effort.

If the engagement was like this, what on earth would they do for the wedding? Goosebumps rose on my forearms. My head spun.

As expected, when it came to burning money, they did it thoroughly.

I had known that much since the Auction House.

Their engagement ceremony felt even more like a festival than the festival itself. During the festival, they had brought in a team at the level of Academy students to play music, but today, they had brought an entire orchestra. Something like a microphone was attached even to the keys, and each touch from the performer made the sound ring grandly. Wind instruments, string instruments, and the like received that sound.

Navier walked along the flower path toward Kartea. The painting above and below her eyes was so splendid that it did not stand out greatly, but there was great strength in both her eyes. The muscles around her eyes were tense. Crying in advance earlier had been effective.

She strode toward Kartea. The two met eyes and smiled faintly at each other. It was a difficult scene to keep watching for no reason, so when I turned my gaze away, Ian lightly struck me.

I wondered when this kid had arrived, but he spoke.

“Are you all right?”

Because I knew what he was talking about, it gave me even more of a headache. No matter what I said, Ian would not believe me. To persuade him, I would have to dig up even my own shame, and this was not worth that.

I will just let him misunderstand a little.

“I am fine, so stop. I am tired of this now. Truly.”

“Sorry. You are angry, are you?”

Judging by the way he teased me in that subtle tone, he seemed to find my oversensitive reaction amusing.

I snorted roughly and shook my head.

Just then, Kartea held out a ring to Navier.

When I first heard that they gave a ring during an engagement ceremony, I had found it a little strange.

They gave rings at weddings too, so did that mean they gave the ring in advance at the engagement ceremony, took it back after the engagement ceremony ended, then gave it again during the wedding?

Only after Agares accused me of being ignorant did I learn that they simply gave two rings.

The ring Kartea held out was dazzling.

Unlike a wedding ring, an engagement ring was more like a commemorative item, which was why it was even more like that. Unlike a wedding ring one wore in daily life, an engagement ring was an ornament carefully enshrined inside a drawer.

It did not matter if it did not match other accessories or clothes, and since one did not actually wear it around, there was no problem no matter how large the Center Stone was.

Still, was that not excessive?

A large gemstone I could not identify had small grains embedded all around it, and each gem emitted a faint light as though there were a luminous body inside.

Well, since the person receiving it was very happy, it was none of my business.

After that, several more steps passed, and just as Navier and Kartea were about to kiss, someone covered my eyes.

It was obvious who it was. Moving the bastard’s hand away from my eyes would have been simple.

But it was troublesome.

Fine, have it your way. I did not want to see it either.

---

After Kartea and Navier’s engagement ceremony ended, I returned to the dormitory. Normally, I would have packed my luggage starting yesterday, but I had stayed one day longer because of today’s event.

Since I was leaving behind books I would not read even if I brought them, and leaving behind the few clothes I owned as well, there was nothing one could call luggage.

I was wondering whether I should simply move my body and leave.

“Are you busy right now? If not, could you spare me a moment?”

“What is it?”

“There is something I must tell you. Since vacation begins today, I want to say it before you leave.”

It was Bishot.

Even though there had been the enormous event of the Crown Prince’s engagement ceremony this afternoon, it seemed she had ignored it and immersed herself in alchemy.

She visited my dormitory still wearing the white coat she used in the laboratory.

“I have time. What did you want to talk about?”

“It may take a while. Would it be all right if we changed locations for a moment?”

“Yes. Where should we go?”

“Let us go to Kana.”

An unexpected place came from Bishot’s mouth. It was nothing special, just a café near the Academy.

Kana was in a building outside the Academy, so it sold a slightly wider variety of drinks and refreshments. Usually, people did not go there alone, and only classmates with friends went, so I had thought Bishot would not even know it existed.

Perhaps she did have at least one friend at the Academy.

I followed her and walked toward Kana. Bishot was still wearing her laboratory coat.

At the café, Bishot ordered a drink containing alcohol. I was inwardly surprised, but she was a noble too, so she must have received education at home. I ordered the same kind.

“I have thought carefully over the past few days. No matter how I look at it, you before entering the Academy and you after entering the Academy seem like different people. I thought a great deal about what I should do. Since after the Academy began, I have only ever received things from you.”

Bishot spoke in a slightly slower tone than usual. While she was speaking, an employee brought the drinks and set them down in front of us. I took a sip of my drink before answering.

“So?”

“But it feels unfair to cover up what happened in the past by myself. I want to make it clear. Our relationship, I mean.”

“Then shall we make up?”

When I spoke in a subtle tone, Bishot giggled. Seeing that her reaction was not bad, it seemed possible.

“Yes, I came here thinking the same.”

“Hm?”

“If you grant one request of mine, I will treat everything that happened in the past as though it never happened.”

The moment I heard her words, I was ready to do anything. Because it was such an interesting matter, my body leaned forward without my realizing it. When I stuck my head out slightly, she smiled.

“What request? Say anything.”

“You promised. You said you would grant anything.”

“If it is something I can do. If it is not unreasonable.”

“Yes. I will speak within that range.”

“What is it? What is it for you to hesitate like that?”

Bishot took a sip of her drink and giggled again.

“I thought about it. What method would satisfy me in my own way while severing the ill-fated relationship I had with you? But if possible, I wanted you to suffer a little in your heart too.”

When I only blinked, she continued.

“So if I leave things like this, you will not know when or what request I might make of you, and that will make you uneasy, will it not?”

“What does that mean?”

“It is fine for us to make up. But I wanted you to feel uncomfortable for no reason every now and then, and to have something to worry about. So the method I thought of was this. Leaving one debt with you. Will you accept it?”

“Of course.”

I smiled brightly.

Because I had read the original, I still knew Bishot’s nature was good. There was no way she would make an absurd request.

“Yes. Then we have made up.”

Bishot held out her hand. I glanced at her face, wondering what she wanted, and she spoke.

“Since we have made up, let us shake hands once.”

I took her hand and shook it.

From the tips of my toes, blood flow raced along my blood vessels and surged up into my head. My heart worked more explosively than ever before. It was not because I had exercised hard and my blood circulation was good, nor was it because I had drunk alcohol. It was the moment I had longed for so desperately. It was thrilling enough to make me feel like I might die.

I had survived.

I had escaped the crisis of death.