That World of Otome Games is Tough for Us - Volume 4 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Miss Atlee

JULIUS REFUSED TO HEED Angelica’s warning. The rumor mill worked fast, and word spread across the entire campus, further weakening Angelica’s influence in the process.

Two male students strode down a corridor, loudly gossiping with one another.

“The duke’s daughter certainly has fallen from grace. But I guess she was doomed from the moment she lost Prince Julius’s favor. This was just the final nail in her coffin.”

The confrontation between Angelica and Julius during the party before summer break had really been the catalyst for the rift between them, and since then, Angelica had made a series of missteps. Since it was obvious to everyone that Julius was taken with Olivia, other students were increasingly dismissive of Angelica.

“We’d better rethink who we’re brownnosing.”

“Who’s brownnosing who?”

“I mean, don’t you think we’d better curry favor with the crown prince’s new mistress, rather than the duke’s daughter?”

“Oh, that.”

Both gossipers were court nobles’ sons, so they had sufficient status and wealth. They belonged to what Leon and the others called the “affluent group.”

“I know this new mistress is only a commoner, but I’d still take her over a duke’s daughter born to regional nobility, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah—especially because she should be easier to manipulate. But the problem is that the crown prince’s eventual heir will have to come from the duke’s daughter, so I don’t think aligning with his mistress would be a smart move in the long run.”

“A lot of people are sick of seeing the Redgraves strut around like they own the whole kingdom, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if the current arrangement was upended.”

“You shouldn’t talk about that kind of stuff. Either way, maybe you’re right. Don’t need to give the regional lords any more ammo than they’ve got.”

From the way they spoke, they obviously held great animosity toward the regional nobility. That wasn’t altogether surprising, since court nobles generally considered regional nobility a nuisance. Court nobility served the royal family directly. Regional lords served the royal family, too, of course, but they also had their own lands to rule over. Most court nobles owned no land whatsoever, so they held far less military and financial power than their counterparts. Instead, they had the benefit of holding important positions within the government. That made it difficult to judge which group was more privileged, and no love was lost between the two.

It was the enmity between the groups that had convinced the boys that Olivia was the better option to support. Before the commoner had arrived on the scene, Angelica’s influence was too great for anyone to openly move against her. Fearing for their own futures, people did everything to avoid earning her ire. But now that her grip was slipping, it was a different story.

“We should be grateful to her for messing this up. It’s given us a chance we wouldn’t have otherwise.”

As the pair egged each other on to capitalize on Angelica’s weakness, a female student approached them. A group of chiseled men followed behind her along with several other lackeys. The gossipers guessed immediately that she was someone of high standing. In fact, as they recognized her face, they realized she was someone quite famous at the academy.

“I don’t think that’s something you two should be discussing in such loud voices,” the girl told them. She had an attractive figure and well-groomed orange hair braided and pinned loosely behind her head. Her name was Clarice Fia Atlee. She was the daughter of Earl Atlee, a court noble whose family had served in an important ministerial role for generations. That put Clarice leagues above the gossipers on the noble hierarchy.

“M-Miss Atlee?!” one sputtered.

“You’re free to think whatever you wish, but you must be careful where you express your views,” Clarice cautioned. “Someone might overhear you. Then you’d find yourself in real trouble.” She flashed a smile.

The two boys lowered their heads and hurried away.

One of the men behind Clarice watched their fleeing figures. He was a third-year named Dan Fia Elgar. His black hair was cropped short, his skin the color of sun-kissed wheat. Dan was a bit taller than average and had an intimidating, stony expression. He was actually part of the general class, but his own house had close ties to the Atlees, which placed him in Clarice’s retinue.

“People sure are saying disturbing things around school lately,” Dan said, exasperated, as he stared after the boys. He couldn’t believe their gall in having such a conversation in a school corridor. It was so foolish, he almost questioned whether they were truly court nobles.

Clarice huffed, her expression distressed. “It’s partly Angelica’s fault for handling all this poorly. Still, it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to stand back much longer. Since Jilk’s involved, too, maybe I should stick my nose in.”

Dan and the rest of Clarice’s retinue didn’t seem to support that idea. In fact, Dan interjected to dissuade her. “Since you’re a second-year, my lady, sticking your nose into the first-years’ business would only cause unnecessary fuss.”

Clarice was a unifying figure among the second-years, much like Deirdre and Angelica were for their respective same-year peers. After all, her father—an earl and court noble—served as a government minister.

Clarice pressed a hand to her forehead. “I have no interest in butting into Angelica’s issues, either, you realize. She’s such a hothead. Whenever she’s lost her temper in the past, she’s caused a real mess.” She paused, then added, “But this isn’t something I can ignore anymore.”

Dan and the rest of her retinue grimaced even as they reluctantly agreed. “Jilk is your fiancé, after all,” said Dan. “He seems to be getting a little too cozy with that scholarship student.”

“I would’ve overlooked him messing around as long as it didn’t get out of hand,” Clarice said, eyes narrowing. “But if Angelica can’t put a stop to this, it falls to me to help as her upperclassman. I can’t expect Deirdre to do anything—she’s a little too carefree.” An image of Deirdre’s face popped into Clarice’s head, and she huffed.

Dan stood a bit straighter. “Shall we speak to Lady Angelica first, then?”

“Yes, let’s do that. If I don’t communicate with her beforehand, this could hurt her reputation, and she might give me grief.”

***

We’d finally reached the dungeon’s middle floors, but our run seemed cursed with bad luck.

“We only had a little ways left to go!” Lucle cried, tears in his eyes.

He had good reason for those tears; the chamber we’d chosen as our destination was infested with monsters. After traversing the tunnels downward, we’d arrived in a vast, dome-shaped space—and of all the beasts that could’ve awaited within, an enormous, bear-like creature had to be present. Its tail took the form of a snake that looked eerily similar to a king cobra. The bear portion of the monster’s body was dangerous enough, but one bite from its snake tail could be lethal.

“I assume this is another rare creature you almost never encounter?” I asked dryly.

“You almost never see one in the areas we frequent,” Lucle confirmed, holding his blade. “Can’t believe we’ve had bad luck of the draw at every turn on this trip.”

The upperclassmen had taken the lead and were facing the beast with us in the rear, but they were having a tough time against this rare, dangerous creature. Those with spears tried to handle the snake tail, since they could attack from a safer distance, while the other guys took on the bear. We underclassmen stood back and did our best to cover those fighting. Our chances of victory weren’t looking good.

Surveying the situation, I was about ready to sound the retreat. “Let me know if you think it’s too much,” I told Lucle.

Sweat was rolling down his face, and he caught the hint that I was close to giving up. “I wish I could say we should press on, but even I know we’re at a real disadvantage here.”

The beast’s upper body rose into the air; its jaw cracked open, and it unleashed a ferocious, earsplitting roar that reverberated off the walls. The whole cavern rumbled, and loose dirt and small stones shaken from the ceiling rained down on us.

“I think it’s about time that we—” I started to say.

“We can’t give up now!” Marie barked at me, eyeing the beast. Understandably, she hated the prospect of losing all our progress without reaching our final goal. “It’s just a stupid bear. Blast it out of the way!” 

She fired her gun at the bear from behind. It had little effect, though, and the third-years struggled to hold their ground. We couldn’t hope to continue any longer.

“No good trying to accomplish the impossible! Let’s give up here and head back,” I said.

We hadn’t cleared the third-year benchmark, but we’d at least cleared up to the second-year requirement. That was enough progress.

As our party prepared to retreat, Marie stood there, fists trembling. “No! I don’t want to give up after we came this far! If that would mean undergoing this all over again later, I’d rather push through and put an end to this battle!” She threw her bag aside and dashed forward, heading straight for the bear.

“Marie?!” I shrieked, my voice cracking with panic. My hand shot forward as if I could grab her, but she was way too far from me.

Marie kicked off the ground and soared through the air. Her fingers curled tight as she concentrated mana in her fist. “I’m going to graduate with those three, whatever it takes!” 

She crashed down on the bear with impressive form, her fist slamming it square in the forehead.

Marie looked so brave. The nine-meter-plus bear dwarfed her petite figure, and there was an insurmountable power difference between them. The bear had to weigh over a ton. No one would assume Marie’s punch, however impressive, could cause such an opponent any damage. I certainly didn’t think it was possible.

Yet despite my doubt, a horrifying crack echoed around us when her fist connected.

“No way,” I muttered, staring in disbelief.

Her punch had sent the bear reeling back. It collapsed to the floor.

Marie lifted her fist into the air. “That’s how you hunt a giant beast!” She was framing it as though she expected us to replicate such an unbelievable feat, but there was no way any of us could copy what she’d done.

All the guys in our party froze and glanced at one another. It was a moment of silent communication, asking: “Hey, can you do what she just did?” Everyone reacted by wrinkling their faces as if to say, “There’s no way.”

“Get your butts in gear!” Marie snapped, sick of us all standing still. “The fight’s not over yet.”

She was exactly right. The bear was trying to scramble back to its feet, though it seemed incapable of finding its balance. Its main body had been mostly neutralized, but its tail—the snake—hissed at us, warning us to stay back.

“Careful not to get too close!” I bellowed at the others. The snake looked highly venomous, and I could only imagine a bite’s consequences. Yet no sooner were the words out of my mouth than Marie threw herself into range of the monster’s tail.

The snake lunged at her, fangs peeking out of its mouth. Marie leaped at the last second, using the snake’s head as a springboard to vault into the air. She snatched the base of the tail and yanked it with all the strength she had. Through gritted teeth, she hissed, “This is no time…to be…goofing around!” At last, she ripped the tail cleanly from the creature’s body. No longer connected, the snake writhed uselessly on the floor, then disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Everyone stood frozen.

“Incredible,” one of the guys murmured.

Marie’s shoulders rose and fell with each labored breath. She stood up straight and said, “Now, come on. Let’s get this over with! Once we complete the last of our mission in here, we’ll go back to the surface and have a lavish party to celebrate!”

As she instructed, the third-years surged forward to finish off the bear.

“You heard Miss Mar—no, we need to be more respectful—Boss Lady! Finish the beast off!”

“Yeah!”

They were so impressed with Marie that they were completely changing how they addressed her. Sure, that’s nice and all, but uh… “Um…aren’t I supposed to be your leader?”

The others ignored me—unsurprisingly—and focused on spearing the beast to put it out of its misery.

I stared at them, gobsmacked.

Cynthia had snuck up behind me at some point. She patted my shoulder softly. “Don’t take it to heart,” she said comfortingly.

***

After undermining Angelica’s authority, Olivia began more openly spending time with Julius and the other boys at the academy. Today, she was eating lunch with them in the inner courtyard.

Other students regarded her with a mixture of loathing and jealousy. Some more devious schoolmates, eager to curry favor with her, regarded her with calculating eyes.

All I did was establish my spot in the hierarchy, and already so many are falling in line. How boring. I figured there’d be some repercussions. Either these students are all cowards, or they’re just being cautious.

Olivia had purposefully made her close association with Julius and the boys widely known in hopes of provoking the other students. She wanted to see whether anyone would take the challenge. Instead, everything had gone exactly as she had—well, not quite as she had wished, maybe.

“What do you think, Miss Olivia? Do you like the tea and snacks I chose? They’re perfect for finishing lunch, wouldn’t you say?” Jilk, who’d prepared the tea for them today, flashed a sparkling smile at her.

She ridiculed him inwardly. How pitifully devoted. Unfortunately for you, I have no interest in returning your affections. On the surface, she kept a sweet smile on her face—or at least she did until she caught a whiff of the stale tea he’d served. The snacks were no better; they were as gritty as sand in her mouth.

“Uh, um,” Olivia hedged. “I think maybe they’re just so refined that they defy comprehension.” It was a struggle to find polite words to offer him.

Jilk’s face fell. “Truly? Then I’ll try to prepare something a little simpler next time.” He wasn’t so discouraged that he was willing to give up.

Olivia pressed her hands together and beamed at him. “I’m looking forward to it.” You don’t seriously plan to make me drink this sewer water again, do you?! As a different possibility popped into her mind, she froze. Could he have realized what I’m after? Is this his way of tormenting me?!

Everything seemed to be going so smoothly for her, yet he was giving her grief. As much as she wanted to interrogate him and discover the truth about that—or at least offer a few words of complaint—she had to keep acting as the caring, kind Olivia. Fortunately, she was about to discover that her worst fears were unfounded.

Greg sniffed the tea. A wrinkle formed on his brow as he pinched his nose. “This crap reeks. Why’s it smell like a dead animal?”

Chris picked up one of the sweets and tore it open, then grimaced. “Its all slimy inside. Are you sure these haven’t gone bad?”

Jilk gave an exaggerated sigh. Fingers pressed to his forehead, he looked at the other boys pityingly. “These must be too refined for you two. If you can’t see the appeal of the tea’s aroma and the snacks’ flavor, you’re still boys instead of men.”

His condescension irritated both of his companions.

Brad sampled a sip of the tea and promptly began choking on it. “No—this really is the most awful tea I’ve ever tried in my life. How can you serve this to Olivia with such confidence? What’s wrong with your taste buds?”

Although three people had unanimously agreed that his tea and snacks were abominable, Jilk was able to continue beaming at them as if it didn’t even occur to him that he might’ve been the one who was mistaken. “Do you have childish tastes, too, Brad? A shame. Maybe you’ll understand when you become a man.” He took a sip himself and seemed to savor it.

Olivia wrinkled her nose at him.

Julius sighed, seeming resigned—perhaps because he knew that criticizing Jilk’s lack of taste was an exercise in futility. “You don’t have to indulge him,” he told Olivia. “The tea and snacks he prepares are always vile. He has no eye for art, either, always selecting forgeries. In every other way, he’s a reliable friend, but he’s hopeless at those things.” He spoke as someone who’d been burned countless times by Jilk’s poor taste and was therefore uninvested.

“I-I never realized.” Olivia was relieved that this was just a bizarre tendency of Jilk’s, not an indication that he was on to her.

“Yes. So, as I said, don’t make yourself indulge him. If you do, he’ll likely serve us this disgusting stuff daily. No one with decent taste would be able to tolerate that for long.”

Jilk frowned at the prince. “You know, it wounds me that we grew up together and you still fail to understand me. But I have faith that Olivia will succeed where you failed.” His gaze moved to her. “There’s a shop I frequent—why don’t we visit it together on our next break? It’s a little out of the way; it’s famous enough yet still kind of a hole-in-the-wall place with few customers.”

Olivia’s smile strained as the taste of his horrific tea and snacks lingered in her mouth. “I-I’ll think about it,” she said noncommittally. Considering how little sense you seem to have, it’s hard to believe a shop you frequent would be in any way decent! And how can a store be famous but have few customers? Wouldn’t that be because it’s crap, so no one actually wants to go there? Urgh. I didn’t anticipate Marmoria’s descendant testing me like this!

She’d been playing her role perfectly, masquerading as Olivia in front of these five boys, but Jilk’s insufferable antics nearly pushed her to break character. She would need to be even more cautious with him.

In the wake of Jilk’s disastrous tea and snacks, an uncomfortable atmosphere settled between them, but it shifted with the appearance of an unexpected guest.

“I so hate to interrupt when you all seem to be enjoying yourselves, but would you let me speak to you briefly?” A girl had stridden up to them, her long orange hair swaying in the wind. Olivia recognized her as Clarice, a second-year. Clarice’s retinue kept a respectable distance from the group, making no attempt to insert themselves into the conversation.

All the boys, but particularly Jilk, looked like chastised children. Olivia, on the other hand, was glad Clarice had appeared.

Although everyone’s attention had been drawn to Clarice’s fiancé, Jilk, it was Julius who spoke first. “It’s been a while, Clarice. You seem to be in good spirits.”

“Thank you. I’m glad to see you and your friends making the most of your school life.” Clarice smiled pleasantly, but her voice had a critical undertone. She surely knew how obsessed the boys were with Olivia. She hadn’t chided them openly about it, but it was safe to assume that she wasn’t pleased.

Glancing at Jilk, Julius asked, “I assume you’re here for Jilk?” He and the others were giving Jilk looks, trying to nudge him into taking care of the situation.

Jilk rose to his feet. “What’s the matter, Clarice? I assume it must be an emergency for you to go out of your way and approach me here at the academy.” He eyed her cautiously, comporting himself with perfect composure.

Clarice continued smiling. “We’re engaged, but I see you cozying up to another woman. You can hardly blame me for feeling anxious and wanting to reach out to you, can you?” She placed great weight on their engagement, and though she didn’t say as much directly, she was obviously admonishing him for his disloyalty.

Jilk smiled wanly back at her. “It’s not what you think, Clarice.”

Despite his attempt to reassure her, Clarice folded her arms beneath her breasts and said primly, “Still, if you spend so much time together with her publicly, rumors will stir. You must know that. If our scholarship student continues to hang around boys who are already engaged, people won’t look very kindly on her.”

“Well…” Jilk trailed off, as if he could find no way to argue the point.

Clarice’s eyes cut to Olivia. The latter pretended to shrink back, as if fearful. So this is Jilk’s betrothed. Interesting. I’ve heard that she’s essentially the leader of the second-years. Seems like she earned that position for good reason. But her surname is Atlee, hm…? I’ve never heard of such a family.

Clarice was assertive yet had composure—something Angelica noticeably lacked. Angelica was assertive, to be sure, but she also possessed a menacing aura that intimidated those around her. Clarice didn’t have that; she had a soft, gentle aura. Yet beneath that, Olivia sensed a strong, unbending will. And Clarice was obviously very competent.

Seeing Olivia pretend to shrink in on herself, Clarice narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You’re the scholarship student, aren’t you? Miss Olivia, was it? You’re very different from people’s descriptions of you.”

“Oh, um…yes,” Olivia stammered back. “I’m definitely Olivia. I don’t know what rumors you’ve heard, but I’m just as I’ve always been.” According to Olivia’s memories, she and Clarice have never met before.

Jilk took exception to Clarice’s probing gaze before Olivia had a chance to. “People spread baseless rumors about her. You mustn’t believe everything you hear, Clarice. Please,” he said beseechingly.

Clarice shrugged. “If you really detest those rumors, you should rethink your relationship with her. Whether she likes it or not, hanging around men who are already taken will only spur such talk.”

“That’s silly.”

“It’s not,” Clarice said sharply. “This is how the world works. It’s not limited to you. Any female student sidling up to a taken man would have the same effect. His Highness has been unnecessarily cold to Angelica lately, so people are beginning to doubt our relationship, too.” She gave Julius a pointed look.

Julius furrowed his brow and looked away. “You should ignore the rumor mill.”

“Let’s hope rumors are all they are,” Clarice said. “Regardless, I implore you all to consider your positions. Showing off how close you are with the scholarship student in public like this will only fuel the worst sort of gossip further.” At this point, she was scolding even the crown prince. Her voice was soft and kind, but there were barbs in her words.

Olivia climbed to her feet and lowered her head. “I-I’m sorry. I was the one who said I wanted to eat lunch outside! So…please don’t blame them.”

Julius rose, too. “No, it’s not your fault,” he told her. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“It’s not right for the rest of you to take the blame for what I did,” Olivia insisted. Trying to stand up for the boys was brave of her, but it earned her a glare from Clarice. It was as if she saw straight through Olivia’s act.

“Regardless,” Clarice interrupted calmly, “you should be careful in the future. There’s also something I’d like to discuss with you privately, Jilk. I assume you’d be available to meet with me during the next break?”

Jilk snuck a glance at Olivia. “Actually, I already have plans.”

Clarice studied him hard. “Didn’t I just warn you to rethink your relationship with her? Can’t you prioritize the woman you’re engaged to over your friend?” She slipped her arm through his.

Jilk dropped his gaze, then quickly lifted his head, his usual smile pasted on his face. “Very well. I’ll call upon you at your family’s estate during our next school break.”

Pleased, Clarice beamed back at him. Then her attention turned to Olivia, to whom Clarice gave a meaningful smile. “Sorry about this. You really should be careful hanging around taken men, though. Even if your feelings are purely platonic, plenty of people out there will suspect the worst.”

Olivia scrutinized the other woman calmly. After a significant pause, she replied, “I’ll take your advice, then.” 

I assumed that their engagement was purely political in nature. Could Clarice really be in love with Jilk? I can’t imagine what any woman would see in a man like him. I suppose she just has bad taste. Yet, as poor as Clarice’s judgment of the opposite sex was, she’d had a keen eye in terms of seeing through Olivia’s facade. Olivia respected her abilities. And that respect only reinforces my choice to eliminate Marmoria’s spawn first.

***

When Clarice publicly reprimanded Jilk, plenty of people were nearby to witness it, and word soon spread throughout the academy.

“Miss Clarice sure is incredible.”

“She said everything the rest of us were thinking about that scholarship student.”

“What a relief to have someone like her keeping order. She’s much more reliable than someone else we know.”

Wherever Angelica went, she heard the same whispers. Everyone was gossiping about Clarice. She’d acted exactly as they’d hoped Angelica would; since Angelica had failed to meet their expectations, they were glad about Clarice’s intervention. It went a long way toward softening the mounting dissatisfaction among the students. Unfortunately, Clarice’s boost in popularity meant Angelica’s popularity continued to nosedive.

This problem was supposed to be limited to the first-years. But Clarice—a second-year—had not only stuck her nose in, she’d also solved the very issue Angelica had struggled badly with. That was how it appeared to the other students, at any rate. After all, Clarice had admonished everyone—Julius, his friends, and Olivia herself.

Although Clarice’s interference was a little over-the-top, it was well received by the students. Even Angelica was impressed at how smoothly Clarice had handled the situation. At the same time, she was disgusted with herself, since Clarice had managed to succeed where she had failed. She didn’t for a moment think that Clarice was superior to her, which made it that much more frustrating that she’d essentially come up short compared to the older girl.

Angelica’s followers glowered at the students gushing eagerly about Clarice.

“Miss Clarice is all anyone’s talking about. No one seems to understand the burden you’ve been shouldering, Lady Angelica.”

Angelica sighed. “They’re not wrong to fault me for being undependable. But this should at least have assuaged the resentment they were building. I can only hope that His Highness and his friends behave themselves.”

Olivia was only a commoner. Julius was crown prince, and all his friends were the heirs of highly reputable houses. The unnecessary, intimate proximity between the boys and Olivia had stoked outrage among the students. With most of that now gone, Angelica had a lot less to worry over.

Truthfully, I wish I could’ve handled this on my own. Now I owe Clarice for her help, and I’ll need to repay her eventually. She debated inwardly when the best time to do that would be.

As Angelica and her group strode through an outdoor walkway, she noticed a sizable group of students not wearing their uniforms. She stopped short. “Is that…Bartfort?”

He and his party were filthy—covered in blood, beast offal, and dirt. They’d presumably just returned from a dungeon expedition.

Angelica’s retinue followed her gaze and quickly deduced the reason for the group’s presence. “Dungeoning during the week? They must be heading to the faculty room to report their progress.”

“Strange that they’d be doing that during their final term. Did they forget about the requirement earlier?”

“They should’ve finished that sooner instead of waiting until the last second.” Angelica’s retinue might not have been quite so disapproving about such a trip on the weekend, but they didn’t think highly of the group skipping weekday lessons.

Regardless of those observers’ opinions, Leon and his group were all smiles. Angelica managed to eavesdrop a little on the conversation between Leon and Marie.

“For a minute there, I was worried about whether we’d make it through,” said Leon. “It’s a huge relief that it’s all over now.”

“No kidding. Now we at least have nothing to worry about for the next two years. We can just make the most of our school life.”

“It’s not good enough to just enjoy it—we have to make the most of it, huh?” Leon teased her.

Marie huffed at him. “Obviously. Our time at the academy is short. It’d be a shame not to appreciate all it offers.”

Nothing about their banter was particularly special. It was their expressions that caught Angelica’s attention. They looked so happy, even though they were discussing the mundane. Something about that overwhelmed Angelica. She was extremely envious.

“Looks like they’re enjoying themselves,” she muttered so quietly that her retinue couldn’t overhear her. I wish His Highness and I could also… No. It’s pathetic of me to envy other people.

Angelica forced her gaze away from Leon and Marie and strode off.