Chapter 14:
However Many Times We’re Reborn
BEFORE WINTER VACATION STARTED, all the first years had to go to another party. Marie and I had attended the one during first term, but due to certain circumstances, we’d fled the venue rather abruptly. This time, my incredibly achievable goal was simply to stay for the entire event. I would embrace my role as a background character and blend into the crowd.
I soon stood at the edge of the party, watching everyone.
“From the sidelines, the whole gathering feels pretty…normal, huh?” Marie stood at my side, wearing the dress I’d bought her and holding a plate she’d piled high with refreshments.
Just watching her scarf that much food down filled me up. I was content to sip the juice in my glass. “Yep. And it’s almost like the school trip didn’t even happen.”
My gaze was fixed on Olivia in the distance, surrounded by all her love interests. Julius and Jilk’s absence from the island trip seemingly hadn’t impacted their relationships with her—based on what I saw, at least.
“Everything good with Miss Olivia and her love interests?” I asked Luxion, who was invisible at the moment. I’d requested that he investigate the protagonist and the boys to ensure nothing had gone wrong with the game’s plot.
“They are planning a trip during the winter break, apparently to make up for the missed school trip,” Luxion said.
“Oh. Because Prince Julius and Jilk couldn’t go?” I thought about that for a moment. “Doesn’t it kind of seem like the game’s forcing an event between them because they skipped one?” Maybe you could call that a “compelling force,” as in a force trying to autocorrect the plot’s trajectory by ensuring the protagonist took a trip with her love interests.
Marie grimaced. “It has nothing to do with game events. It’s just a trip. They’re using it as an excuse to invite her along, that’s all.”
“I agree with Marie’s perspective,” said Luxion. “I see no reason to look into this any further.”
Wonderful; they were both against me. “You just want to prioritize your own research,” I accused Luxion.
“Now that the threat of the last boss has passed, yes, I believe it pertinent to investigate the rest of the planet.”
I frowned. “I get what you’re saying, but… I don’t know. It still weighs on my mind.”
Surrounded by her love interests, Olivia smiled as if she was enjoying herself. The awkwardness that had existed between them in first term had disappeared, like she felt more comfortable with them. Yet that didn’t look entirely genuine on Olivia’s part. It seemed as if she was forcing herself.
As I got lost in thought, Marie tugged my sleeve. When I lowered my eyes to her, I realized her attention was focused elsewhere—she’d spotted Dolly and Donna in the crowd. They were still blissfully unaware of our presence.
“What a pain,” Dolly was saying.
“Like, that’s exactly why I don’t think we should get invol—eep!”
As Donna’s eyes landed on me, she froze. Meanwhile, the color drained from Dolly’s face, and she started trembling uncontrollably. Donna’s knees knocked together, and she clung to Dolly, unable to stand on her own.
“W-w-we haven’t done anything, all right?!” she shouted at me. “L-Like, we aren’t doing any bad stuff anymore!” She looked like she was about to burst into tears.
Dolly tensed her upper lip, trying to act unaffected, even as she stammered, “H-hope you’re having a nice evening. Now, if you’ll pardon us, yeah?” From the stiff, unnatural way she spoke, she was obviously flustered. She wrapped an arm around Donna, half carrying her as they scrambled away from us.
Marie watched the two retreat, her face scrunched. “How’s it feel knowing you completely broke them?”
I wasn’t even sure how to answer. There was something incredibly disorienting about two spoiled rich girls falling over themselves to escape me. “I guess I taught a good lesson to a couple selfish girls who needed it,” I said.
“And it never occurred to you that they might try to take revenge on us by going to their parents or something?”
“I figure we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Anyway, we’ve got Luxion.”
Luxion—still invisible—cut in, “I currently consider the likelihood of them retaliating exceedingly low. They do not seem to want to create a larger fuss out of what happened.”
He spoke with such confidence that he must have already investigated the pair. He was great at watching our backs. “You looked into them, huh?”
“Either way, Master, you are too relaxed about their potential retaliation. You mustn’t discount the possibility—or danger—of that.”
Marie nodded sagely. “Exactly. You have a habit of going overboard. You should learn to be more discreet and consider the consequences of your actions.”
Like you have any right to say that to me. But although there was nothing wrong with my wanting to help Olivia, my actions had been a bit reckless. Using Luxion to cheat my way through the game had completely and irreparably broken Dolly and Donna’s spirits. If they resented me for that, I deserved it. But it wasn’t like I’d rushed into it blindly.
“Remember, all the love interests give Miss Olivia preferential treatment,” I said. “I knew that, as long as I got her out of that situation, I’d just need to threaten Dolly and Donna if they tried to take revenge. Tell them ‘If you try anything funny, I’ll go to Prince Julius and let him know what happened at the casino.’ And, if they still tried going to their parents, I’d have the Roseblades to back me up.”
Looking equally shocked at my explanation, Luxion and Marie whispered to each other.
“For him, that was quite calculating,” Luxion noted.
“I guess. Still, he planned to get the prince or the Roseblades to solve the problem for him. Isn’t that kind of, I don’t know, pathetic?”
“Given his constant reliance upon me for everything, I believe you humans would say ‘That ship has already sailed.’ He was, as you said, ‘pathetic’ from the start.”
Let’s be honest for a sec. You guys just hate me, don’t you?
***
Leon and Marie weren’t the only ones observing Olivia and the love interests. Angelica was also watching the group from afar. Her followers surrounded her, their expressions full of bitterness as they glowered at Olivia. Even from a distance, they could overhear the conversation between Julius and his friends, who were excitedly discussing the trip they’d planned for winter break.
“I’ve scheduled the winter trip to mirror the school trip’s itinerary exactly, Olivia,” Julius said. “The only drawback is that there won’t be a festival on the island this time around.”
“You didn’t have to match the school trip’s itinerary,” Olivia said, her face drawn.
“Since we couldn’t attend that trip, we at least want to make the experience as similar as possible,” Jilk explained. “Though, since this will be your second visit, I suppose it won’t be quite as novel to you.”
“Oh, that’s not a problem at all.”
Julius’s brow wrinkled. “I debated visiting a different school trip location, but that would ruin your enjoyment of it when you got to visit it next year, or the year after.” He’d put a lot of thought into their vacation, wanting to ensure that—when the next school trips rolled around—
Olivia could experience the locations along with the rest of her group. That was why he’d decided they would travel to the same island on winter break.
As they discussed their vacation plans, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, but Angelica’s followers were understandably irritable.
“Lady Angelica couldn’t attend the school trip, either.”
“Exactly. If he should invite anybody, it’s Lady Angelica.”
“Should we pressure Lord Jilk to issue you an invitation, my lady?”
Although Angelica appreciated their indignation on her behalf, she still felt wretched. “I’m not so uncouth that I’d ruin His Highness’s trip,” she said. “I hope they enjoy themselves.”
Though, truth be told, I wanted to join him, too. She was putting on a brave face, but she really had looked forward to going on the school trip together. Still, she couldn’t very well come out and say so openly, given her status. Bravado was her only option.
If she strained her ears a little, she could hear the whispers of the rest of the student body.
“How pathetic,” they said of her.
“At this point, she’s hardly worthy of being called a duke’s daughter.”
“I guess the prince hates her now, huh?”
The insults were mixed with snickers. Ever since what’d happened during the party before summer break, more and more students looked down on her. When her followers glared at them, they were obviously quick to avert their gazes, but Angelica sensed a trend: Her influence over the other students was waning.
That doesn’t change the fact that I’m the prince’s betrothed, she reminded herself. She glared at Olivia and the fake smile the girl kept on her face for the prince. You’ll understand eventually, she thought, trying to soothe her fury. You’re not suited for His Highness.
***
The Roseblades had taken over administration of the Offreys’ former territory. The luxurious estate the Offreys had built themselves had been too gaudy for Dorothea, so it was demolished; a new castle was being built in its place. Several Armors had been repurposed for that effort, and construction proceeded at a feverish pace.
Armors were often deployed for construction efforts, since this world didn’t have heavy machines like cranes and so on. It helped that Armors could fly, which made erecting tall buildings relatively easy.
With a new lord’s reign on the horizon, the people milling about were both anxious and full of anticipation. It was here, on their land, that Nicks and Dorothea’s wedding was being held.
I sat in the groom’s waiting room, wearing a suit for the occasion, though my collar was unbuttoned. Nicks was in there, too, clad in his white suit. He sprawled on the sofa, his expression despairing. None of us could bring ourselves to say anything to him.
Nicks and I had two sisters, Jenna and Finley. Their personalities were horrible, to put it mildly. Jenna was particularly miserable from her exposure to the capital. She’d turned out every bit as insufferable as most of the girls at the academy. But even she looked at Nicks with pity in her eyes. Meanwhile, Finley tried to shield Colin, our youngest brother, from seeing Nicks like this.
My mom and dad were in the corner of the room, whispering to each other.
“How am I supposed to talk to my son when he’s got a dog collar around his neck?” My dad sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
“I didn’t see this coming, either,” said Mom.
The silence in the waiting room amplified their muted voices, making them echo.
Marie was beside me, wearing a dress she’d prepared expressly for the occasion. She squeezed my hand tight. “How’s it feel to have sold your brother off to the Roseblades?” she asked accusingly. “Don’t you feel any remorse at all, seeing him wear a dog collar?”
The wedding ceremony was held with only close family in attendance, and just as Dorothea had requested, they’d exchanged dog collars instead of rings. Thanks to Deirdre’s warning, I’d known what was coming, but that hadn’t prepared me for just how awful it had been. Earl Roseblade had come to our waiting room before the ceremony and bowed repeatedly in apology. He’d even promised extra gifts to compensate for his daughter’s antics. I couldn’t be too excited over that, though, after seeing my brother’s devastated face.
“Want to know what I think? I think he’s lucky, getting to marry a beauty like her,” I insisted.
“Is a woman’s chest size the only measurement of beauty in your mind? I bet it is.”
“No, dummy. I mean, objectively, Miss Dorothea’s absolutely gorgeous. She’s slender and fit, and yes, she’s got a nice chest. But even I wouldn’t consider marrying someone like her. She’s nice to look at, but that’s it.” I’d never actually have wanted to be with her.
“And that’s the kind of person you forced on your brother,” Marie shot back. “Why don’t you think just a little about what you’ve done?”
“I have thought about it. But I don’t regret it.”
If anything, I wanted her to think a little more about it. Sure, Dorothea’s personality was really abnormal, but how did she compare to the other girls at the academy? Was she really so bad that someone would hesitate to marry her?
“When Nicks graduates, he’ll be a viscount,” I added. “Now he has a gorgeous wife and land that’ll provide him a substantial income in the form of taxes. And if that isn’t enough, he has the Roseblades’ full support. What’s he got to be unhappy about?”
I wouldn’t personally want to exchange dog collars at my wedding, but considering all the benefits he’d receive eventually, it really wasn’t a bad deal.
Pausing to consider everything I’d said, Marie likewise started to see that Nicks was lucky as hell. “When you put it like that, I’m kind of jealous. I mean, I really don’t see what he’s acting so depressed about. He got a winning deal out of this, even if it meant he had to put on a dog collar in the process.” She’d empathized with Nicks up till this point, but once she had the same realization I had, we were suddenly on the same page.
You know, I actually like how easily swayed you are. “See? Like I said. He’s lucky.”
Nicks turned his head to peer at me. It looked for all the world like the stare of an evil spirit. Actually, with the collar around his neck, he resembled some poor sod dragged against his will to the altar—and to death’s door—and offered as a human sacrifice. Well, that’s not totally inaccurate. I sacrificed him, after all!
“If you’re so envious, how about switching places with me?” Nicks asked pointedly.
How sweet of him to offer up his happiness to his beloved little brother. It was honestly almost enough to move me to tears.
“I’ll pass,” I said. As much as I appreciated the gesture, I couldn’t take this away from him.
“You smarmy little jerk!” Nicks burst out, spit flying. “You’ve completely ruined my entire life! How bad do you have to mess things up to land me in a marriage with a woman way out of my league, and on top of that, force a viscount title on me?! I don’t know the first thing about ruling a region!” He shot off the couch and lunged at me, grabbing my collar and shaking me violently.
Look, I get your frustration, but… You really aren’t going to mention the dog collar? Are you saying you don’t mind that, Nicks? Huh? “You told me before that you’d be happy to get married before you were twenty!” I retorted. “I went out of my way to make sure that happened for you. What’ve you got to be upset about?!”
He had no idea how hard it had been negotiating the deal with Earl Roseblade, but it’d be nice if he’d at least appreciate the effort.
“Look up ‘overkill’ in a dictionary, why don’t you! Besides, if you hadn’t sold me off—” His eyes had reddened around the rims, as if he was on the verge of tears. He pulled his arm back like he was about to punch me.
Guess I should let him get a hit in, huh?
Before he could, a loud, impatient knock sounded at the door, which then quickly burst wide open.
“Honey dearest!” Dorothea cried in a singsong voice as she raced in, still wearing her wedding dress. “Your wife’s come to see you!” She carried a chain, one end already connected to her dog collar. I could guess that she planned to connect the chain’s untethered end to Nicks’s collar.
He went white as a sheet. “Miss Dorothea?!”
She flung herself at him and drew circles on his chest. “Please, just call me Dorothea. We’ve already had our sacred ceremony and sworn to love each other eternally, haven’t we? We’ll be together forever and ever. Yes, until the end of time.” That sounded like (an admittedly terrifying) promise.
The light disappeared from Nicks’s eyes. “Yeah, I guess so.” He looked utterly resigned, as if he’d given up on life itself.
Reaching for my hand, Marie whispered, “Their vows were pretty chilling, too, weren’t they?”
“With the collars, I almost couldn’t focus on anything else, honestly,” I replied. “But yeah, everything about their wedding was horrible.”
The exchange of the dog collars had been so shocking and discombobulating, any other off-kilter elements seemed insignificant in comparison. That included the vows—or, rather, Dorothea’s specifically. Those had been unsettling, to put it politely.
“‘However many times we’re reborn, I swear I’ll find and reunite with you,’” Marie quoted. “Based on our experiences, that’s no joke.”
The two of us still remembered our previous lives. We knew reincarnation was real, which was why Dorothea’s words rang differently in our ears. It sounded like she’d sworn to hunt Nicks down in all her lives from this one on, as though he could never get away from her again.
“Actually, that was scarier than the collar.” I shuddered.
Maybe Dorothea hadn’t meant it to come across that way, and it had merely been a way for her to express her love. It just didn’t seem that innocent when I saw the two together. Especially considering how elated she looked when she hooked the other end of her chain to Nicks’s collar.
“You’re my perfect husband,” she cooed. “We’ll never have to be apart for the rest of our lives.”
“No, I guess not,” he answered numbly. His expression was completely blank, as if his soul had left and his body was running on autopilot.
Deirdre stood in the open doorway with some of the Roseblades’ distant relatives. She made a face at her sister but then told her, “I’m glad to see you so happy.” She turned to the rest of us. “Now then, if all of you will follow me, I’d be happy to offer you our family’s hospitality.”
We let her take the lead and treat us to the Roseblades’ incredible generosity.
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