That World of Otome Games is Tough for Us - Volume 4 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

After the Graduation Ceremony

SEARCHING FOR DEIRDRE, we discovered that she was visiting a shop she often frequented in the capital. She’d needed to visit a modiste to prepare a dress for the graduation party. She could’ve invited us to her estate for this meeting; instead, on a whim, she was receiving us at the modiste. Her reasoning was simply, “I’m in a shopping mood.”

Deirdre had the shop’s curtain pulled so we couldn’t see her directly. The modiste was busy taking her measurements and discussing what fabric and design to use for her gown—hence the need for privacy. The way the light hit the curtain silhouetted her against the fabric, showing off Deirdre’s voluptuous curves and narrow waist.

“The rumors about Clarice? I have no interest in them, so I haven’t looked into them. And she and I always find ourselves in the spotlight, so there’s no end to the baseless gossip whispered about us.”

It was nice of Deirdre to indulge us like this, despite how busy she was. Ogling her silhouette, I asked, “In that case, can you tell us what Miss Clarice is like? We’ve heard contradictory things, so we’d both like to know what the truth—gah!” Before I finished speaking, Marie slammed her foot down on mine, and the pain was so blinding that I lost my voice.

“Hmph!” Marie huffed at me, turning away.

Oblivious to Marie’s violence against me, Deirdre answered, “It’s not as if she’s a total stranger, so yes, I know what kind of person Clarice is. Still, I doubt you’d take my word for it, no matter what I said.” It sounded more like she wasn’t interested in giving us the information easily. 

Then she thrust the curtain open and stepped out, clad only in her underwear. She didn’t seem the least bit ashamed of how exposed she was. In fact, she haughtily flipped her long, cascading blond ringlets over her shoulder as she said, “Rather than listening to my subjective account, it’d be faster for you to speak with her directly. I’ll take you to meet her. I’ll change right away, so wait for me.”

“Bwah?!” I spluttered. “Uh, thank you!” 

Before I realized it, my eyes were transfixed on Deirdre as I tried to burn the image of her body into my mind. Unfortunately, my preoccupation meant that I was late to realize when Marie raised her fist. However, I could already see where she was aiming—my stomach. For a moment, I pictured the huge bear she’d taken down. All the blood drained from my face. I opened my mouth to blurt an apology, but it was too late.

***

I was pale as a ghost, a hand on my aching stomach, when we arrived at the Atlee estate. Deirdre managed to talk us into a meeting with Clarice, and we were escorted to the drawing room. Clarice appeared with little delay, but when she saw me nearly doubled over in pain, she was startled.

“Is your companion all right, Miss Deidre? Should I have him shown to the bathroom?”

My whole body was trembling like a leaf. 

Deirdre glanced at me and grinned. Reclining on the couch, she threw her arm over the back and crossed her legs. Her free hand pulled out her favorite folding fan and unfolded it, then held it over her mouth.

“No, he’s suffering for a different reason. You needn’t worry about it,” she said. “Actually, these two are interested in some rumors about you. I thought addressing them myself would be too troublesome, so I brought them here to ask you directly.” Deirdre didn’t beat around the bush at all.

A group of men stood inside the room—presumably Clarice’s retinue, though they were dressed casually. They glowered at us. Marie kept her head turned away, making no attempt to participate in the conversation, so I didn’t have any other choice but to speak.

“Miss Deirdre,” I wheezed through the lingering pain in my stomach, “please…choose your words…more carefully.”

“No. It’s too much of a hassle,” she snapped at me. “I don’t like hiding my agenda and playing word games with people. Clarice is court nobility, so she’d read too much into every little thing I said. We wouldn’t get anywhere.” She heaved a sigh.

Clarice’s smile faltered. “Perhaps you think that because you regional nobles are always so indelicate. I wish you’d at least try to sound polite.”

I thought this might be the same kind of animosity I’d seen earlier—that these were fighting words—but after those barbs, the pair seemed done with petty group allegiances.

“As you can see,” Deirdre said, shooting a look at me, “Clarice can be a bit of a pain at times, but she’s otherwise very ladylike.”

Clarice frowned. “You phrase it as though there are times when I’m not ladylike.”

“Was I wrong to? Who barged into a party riding an airbike and made a total mess of everything when we were children?”

Clarice pursed her lips. “It’s unkind of you to bring up the distant past.”

Deirdre scoffed at that. “I doubt you’ve changed that much. How many times have I warned you to do something about your bad habit of becoming unhinged when romantic feelings are involved?”

“Twice. Just twice! You haven’t brought it up that often.”

“Twice is plenty,” Deirdre said, an exasperated note in her voice.

Clarice’s cheeks swelled in a pout, and she turned her face away. She was actually pretty cute. Even her male retinue watched her antics warmly.

Marie finally deigned to speak, whispering into my ear, “She doesn’t seem like the cold, calculating person the rumors described.”

“Nope,” I muttered in agreement. Clarice wasn’t like Brita and her friends had suggested. Those rumors were either lies or baseless criticisms.

Clarice smiled at us. “May I ask why you’re looking into these rumors about me?”

“Well,” I said, still pressing a hand to my bruised stomach, “they were saying stuff that was a little concerning.”

“There’s a real discrepancy between what the rumors say about you and what we’ve seen so far,” Marie added. “Frankly, people are claiming that you’re tormenting the scholarship student behind the scenes. But different people said different things about you, which made us suspicious.”

The air around Clarice’ retinue turned menacing, the men’s faces hardening. I didn’t think they were upset with us, but rather, with whoever was defaming their lady. If they were that outraged on Clarice’s behalf, they must really care about her.

As Marie and I explained everything we’d heard, Clarice and Deirdre listened with great interest.

“Well?” Deirdre prompted her. “What do you think?”

Clarice turned pensive. The rumors seemingly bothered her, too. “I’ve noticed that the court nobles at school have made increasingly negative remarks about regional nobility lately. The two groups have always been at odds, but it’s never been this extreme before.”

Deirdre nodded. “I assume you have an idea as to where this all started?” She snapped her fan closed, her expression solemn.

“Someone from the regional nobility is intentionally spreading these rumors, and it seems to be a first-year,” Clarice replied. The way she spoke suggested that she’d already looked into this herself but had no proof to corroborate her deductions.

Deirdre frowned. “I don’t like this. I don’t think Angelica is the culprit behind it, but I can’t help feeling as though someone’s trying to fan the flames. Perhaps the two of us should sit down with Angelica soon and discuss the matter. What do you think? I’d prefer to resolve this issue before I graduate.”

Clarice pressed a hand to her cheek. Smiling, she replied, “Terribly sorry, but I plan to take a trip with Jilk after the graduation ceremony. I’m too busy preparing for that to have such a meeting right now. Can’t you leave this for me to take care of when the new term starts? I’m having trouble finding Jilk’s favorite tea and the perfect chef to suit his tastes.” She sounded excited about her plans.

Deirdre’s smile strained. “As always, you prioritize Jilk over all else. Don’t you think your obsession with him is making you a bit shortsighted? Furthermore, that man has no taste whatsoever. Do you truly intend to order atrocious cuisine to suit his backward preferences?”

“Oh, I wish you’d just call him unique. I have no issue accepting his taste. At any rate, I’ll discuss this with Angelica directly. It seems I need to scold her a little for letting these rumors get out of hand.” Clarice spoke with a smile on her face from start to finish; still, I got the distinct feeling that, if you angered her, she’d be terrifying.

From the way those two spoke, I gathered that Clarice only had eyes for Jilk. That impressed me.

“She’s cute and a dedicated fiancée,” I said, but stopped short when I noticed Marie giving Clarice a strange look. “Marie?”

***

After meeting Clarice, Marie and I started back toward the academy, sharing our impressions on the way.

“She’s intense,” said Marie. “In more ways than one, and none of them positive.”

“Seriously? I think it’s good that she’s so loyal.”

“Well, part of the problem is that she prioritizes Jilk’s desires over any personal preferences…but also, who goes to that much work over a trip? I don’t think it’s normal to hire a special chef for just one person that way.”

“I didn’t get any of that. To me, she just seems devoted.”

“You really are an idiot. If you dated anyone other than me, you’d be in a world of hurt,” said Marie.

I snorted. “Being with you, I’m already in a world of hurt physically.” My stomach still ached. I’d had to keep a protective hand pressed to it this entire time.

Marie wrinkled her nose at me. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Anyway,” I said, not interested in lingering on the topic, “she doesn’t seem like someone who schemes and pulls strings. If she’s really that underhanded, then everything is a lie, and I’ll completely lose my faith in humanity.”

“It’s not impossible,” Marie reminded me stubbornly. “But I don’t think she seems like the type, either. If not, though, why are these weird rumors going around about her? It doesn’t sound like she knows exactly which first-year started them.”

Questions were yet left unanswered, but there was no point in continuing our investigation any further. 

“It won’t do us any good to worry about it,” I told Marie. “The graduation party coming up will be way bigger than the last one we attended. Why not focus on that instead?”

That finally piqued her interest. “You’re right—the party! I want to really enjoy it this time. Oh—I’ll need to get a dress ready!” 

Now that she’d turned her attention to something else, her steps were a little lighter than before. She was so self-serving.

***

When Jilk visit Julius’s dorm room to consult the crown prince, he had a grim expression.

Julius folded his arms. “Clarice is forcing plans on you?”

“Yes. Once the graduation party is over, she plans to drag me off on a boating trip. I asked her to delay, citing other plans, but she saw right through me. She could tell that those plans had to do with Miss Olivia.”

After graduation, they would have a two-week break before the new term started. Clarice planned to use the entire period for her trip with Jilk.

Jilk sighed deeply. “I asked her to give me even a day to myself, but she dug her heels in, asking whether I planned to pick Miss Olivia over her.”

Although tired of the conversation, Julius was also annoyed on Jilk’s behalf. “Enough,” he said. “I’ll make you accompany me for a day. I plan to go out with Olivia; you can join us as my bodyguard.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. I won’t let Clarice complain about it. You’re like a brother to me. She can wait an extra day to take that trip with you.”

Jilk was genuinely relieved. “Thank you, Your Highness.” 

He bowed his head low, secretly pleased that his scheming had worked in his favor. Clarice had indeed complained about Jilk’s obvious favoritism, but she wasn’t nearly so demanding and forceful as Jilk suggested—she’d only expressed suspicions about his closeness to Olivia. Jilk had lied to win Julius’s help for his own benefit. It was a bit deceptive of me, but it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Clarice wouldn’t take that well.

“I’d like to ask one more thing of you,” Jilk said.

“What is it?”

“Please keep this from Clarice until after the first day of our break. If she discovers my intentions beforehand, there’s no telling what she might do.” Jilk furrowed his brow, frowning for added effect. This time, he wasn’t ­lying for his own benefit. He realized that, if Clarice knew that he was attempting to skip the first day of their trip, she might really try to drag him off.

Julius cocked his head, but he didn’t press Jilk further. “I’ll take your word for it. All right, I won’t say a thing to Clarice.”

“Much appreciated, Your Highness.”

That’s one less thing on my plate, Jilk thought. I’m touched that Clarice feels so strongly about me, but I have no intention of fully accepting her affections.

Seeing Jilk’s visible relief, Julius asked, “Do you dislike Clarice that much?”

At first, Jilk refused to meet the crown prince’s eyes. He soon acquiesced, however; he and Julius were too close for him to play this off. “Her shows of affection are…unique, to say the least. She’s unhappy unless she investigates every little detail about me.”

“That’s all? It doesn’t seem that big of a deal to me.”

Jilk had always known that Julius was naive, but he couldn’t stomach that. “Unique at best,” he spat back in disbelief, voice dropping low. “You have no idea how terrifying she can be. She’s managed to ferret out all the places I’ve ever visited in secret and keeps a detailed log on when and how often I’ve gone! The gifts she offers me are even more terrifying—things I’ve wanted but never told anyone about!” If Clarice hadn’t had so many issues, he wouldn’t have been so anxious to keep her at arm’s length.

Julius thought his friend was exaggerating a little. Still, he smiled indulgently. “I didn’t think any girl out there could make you so uncomfortable.”

“I wish you’d take me seriously. You don’t know how many times I’ve found myself sweating bullets with her.”

“I haven’t seen you this flustered in a long time,” Julius said, amused.

“Please don’t tease me.”

***

Meanwhile, Olivia was in her room, reading a letter. Having scanned the contents, she used fire magic to disintegrate the missive, then dusted the ashes from her hand. She wiped away what remained with a nearby cloth.

“It seems the situation here is quite precarious. Everything’s going so much more smoothly than I imagined,” Olivia murmured to herself, face devoid of emotion. 

Once she’d wiped her hand, she sat primly upon her chair. She was reaching for some stationary to pen her response when there was a knock at the door.

“Mistress, it’s me,” came a frightened voice.

A grin spread across Olivia’s face. “You may enter.”

“Excuse the intrusion.” Kyle slipped inside nervously. All the haughtiness he’d shown before was nowhere to be seen.

Olivia smiled pleasantly at him. “How did it go?” she asked.

“I did as you said and fed rumors to the slave market. The master there seemed skeptical, though.”

“That’s fine.” 

Olivia’s heart soared over this success. Meanwhile, Kyle remained confused about what he’d even participated in. That was probably why he was so curious about it.

“He was really dismissive about it, though,” he emphasized. “I don’t think your plan has succeeded. Anyway, what is this all for?”

Olivia held her index finger to her lips. “It’s safer for you to stay in the dark.”

***

The academy held its graduation ceremony, and afterward, a party was thrown. All students, regardless of year, were invited to attend. I escorted Marie to the event, and when I spotted Nicks, I made my way over. 

Nicks wore his school uniform for the occasion, and for some reason, his hand kept wandering to his neck. Was he restless because he didn’t have a collar on? As his younger brother, I could only pray that he wasn’t so used to the collar that he actually felt lost without it.

“Once you graduate, you’ll finally climb the social ladder and officially become viscount,” I reminded him with a grin.

Nicks smiled wryly back. “All because someone foisted it on me.”

“I think you should be incredibly grateful to that someone. As far as everyone else is concerned, you’re a success story—a standout among your peers.”

Nicks was married to Dorothea and receiving financial support from the Roseblades; soon, he’d also have his own lands and the title of viscount. To his fellows, he was a source of envy and jealousy. Nicks must’ve realized his good fortune, too, because he looked suddenly uncomfortable.

“Thanks to that, all these people I’ve never spoken to are reaching out to me. Frankly, it’s more a burden than anything,” said Nicks.

So he’s already got people trying to brownnose.

This was a standing buffet-style party. Marie had already piled her plate high with an assortment of dishes and was currently shoveling them down. “You sure have it rough,” she told Nicks. “Oh! Be sure to give my regards to Dorothea. She invited me to come visit again, so I’ll pop in when I next have a chance.”

I suspected that Dorothea had issued said invite because she pitied Marie. As for Marie, she’d taken such a great liking to the Roseblade chef that she was eager to visit them again.

Nicks smiled, cheeks glimmering with freshly fallen tears. “You’re welcome to come whenever you want,” he told Marie. Both he and Dorothea had been much kinder to her since hearing about her traumatic background. I couldn’t blame them; even I empathized with her.

I scanned the faces of the guests near us. “Hm? Marie, where are Cynthia and the other girls?”

Cheeks bulging with half-chewed food, she glanced around. “Over there. They’ve got a bunch of guys doting on them, which means I’m free from mothering duties.”

“Hunh. You don’t say. What about Brita and her two friends?”

“They’re over that way, surrounded by a different group of guys.”

My group—the sons of poor barons—had taken up positions around Cynthia, Ellie, and Betty, as if protecting them from any other men who might otherwise approach them.

“Seems like everyone’s having fun at least,” I said, watching my comrades desperately try to fend off any would-be suitors.

Deirdre’s high-pitched laughter rang out as she appeared in front of me dressed in a luxurious gown. “Oh ho ho! I’m glad to see you’re so forlorn about my graduation.” 

She was a bit conceited, but she’d been an attentive upperclassman this past year. “Of course,” I said. “I’ve relied on you so much. It’ll be lonely without you.”

“You lose points for your self-interest. That said, you’ll have to figure out how to handle things on your own from now on.”

Deirdre had helped us a lot in the past. Marie set her plate aside. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us, Miss Deirdre!” she said. “In the beginning, I thought you were kind of a weirdo, but you’ve actually got a good head on your shoulders.”

Deirdre responded to Marie’s frankness with a smile. “If my older sister didn’t adore you so much, I would’ve struck you across the cheek.”

“Aw, nonsense. You’d smile and forgive me, wouldn’t you?”

“I keep them well concealed, but I have quite fiery emotions. There’s no telling what I might do if you angered—”

Before Deirdre could finish speaking, a smack resounded through the room. Murmurs erupted across the venue. All of us turned our attention to the location of the commotion. Angelica stood there, cheek red and swelling rapidly. Clarice hovered in front of her, hand still raised after delivering the slap. Her brow was furrowed, her face contorted in incandescent rage.

“You have some nerve encouraging those rumors about me! Of all the things you could’ve said, I can’t believe you’d accuse me of employing a personal servant for myself!” Clarice shrieked.

That was why she’d lost her temper? Over the weird rumors? Before, Clarice had given us the impression that the rumors didn’t bother her, so I couldn’t hide my surprise at her sudden transformation. 

Marie was as taken aback as I was. “She’s like a different person,” she said.

“Y-yeah. She really is.” I couldn’t believe what we were seeing. Clarice had seemed so kind and friendly.

Nicks was similarly puzzled. “A personal servant? Don’t most women have those?” He couldn’t see why that would so offend Clarice.

Deirdre stared coldly at the two other women. Angelica was too stunned to react, and Clarice’s face was still flushed with anger. “What a shameful display,” Deirdre said with disgust. “Although I understand why Clarice reacted so strongly.”

“You do?” I asked. “What part of this justifies that level of anger?”

Since lots of girls at the academy had personal servants, I couldn’t comprehend why such a rumor would offend someone so much that they’d explode as Clarice did.

“Neither my sister nor I have personal servants,” Deirdre reminded me. She was being cagey.

“Aren’t you two just exceptions to the rule?”

“No. Angelica and Clarice don’t have personal servants, either.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said with a thoughtful nod. “You’ve got a point.”

There were some female students who didn’t have personal servants. Brita and her two friends were examples; they couldn’t afford such a luxury. But in general, I thought that was the only reason a girl wouldn’t have one. I knew that Deirdre and some other, higher-ranking noble ladies didn’t have personal servants, either, but in those cases, they had their own retinue to attend them; they didn’t really need a personal servant.

Deirdre studied Angelica, who remained paralyzed in place. “It doesn’t look like those two will patch this up easily,” she said, her voice hard. “But I’ll be graduating, and anyone else would have trouble mediating between those two. They may end up remaining on bad terms.”

“But you could solve this, couldn’t you?” Marie asked anxiously.

“Of course. It would take too long, though.” Since she’d already graduated, Deirdre sounded hesitant to intervene; she wouldn’t have much time to play mediator before she left entirely.

My eyes were glued to Clarice, who was still hurling furious barbs at Angelica. When we met with her before, she’d voiced doubt that Angelica was behind the rumors. She hadn’t even paid the gossip much mind, only mentioning in passing that she’d scold Angelica for not handling the matter. She really was like a different person.

I was also curious about Angelica’s reaction to all this. She had such a short temper; she was like a ticking time bomb, prone to exploding. When Clarice slapped her, I figured she might retaliate. To my shock, though, Angelica had lowered her gaze to her feet and stood there quietly.

Marie tugged my sleeve. “Leon, look around.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“Just look,” she said impatiently.

I surveyed the others in the room and noticed that they’d split into two groups and were glowering at one another.

Deirdre smiled sardonically. She quickly hid her expression by lifting her fan over her mouth. “It seems the hostility is only growing. You two had better be careful. Whether you decide to get involved or not, if you don’t watch yourself, you may get burned.”

This situation had never happened in the game. Marie and I were both at a loss.

At that point, Jilk stepped in between Clarice and Angelica. “Please—that’s enough. You’ll ruin the party.”

Clarice was visibly flustered. “The rumors are wrong, Jilk! I’ve never wanted a personal servant!” Her voice cracked with desperation as she protested her innocence.

Jilk scowled at her. “I’m not addressing that right now. I’m asking you to stop bickering here at the party.”

“But it’s an important topic to address!” Clarice objected. 

Her panic seemed really exaggerated to me. “Is there something more to having a personal servant than we know about?” I whispered to Marie, careful to lower my voice so that no one else could eavesdrop.

“It feels like there’s got to be, huh? Want to look into it?”

“Nah. I’m more worried about what’s going on with Miss Clarice. I’d like to get an audience with her to ask her some questions, but…she leaves tomorrow, right?” I remembered how excitedly she’d referred to her upcoming trip with Jilk. She probably wouldn’t have free time to spend indulging me for a while.

“Let’s give her a send-off, then. We’ll drop by the harbor and make her talk to us,” Marie said decisively.

I recoiled. “Don’t you think that’d be a bit over the top? We’re barely even her acquaintances.”

“Do you want to spend the next two weeks worrying about this? ’Cause I sure don’t.”

At Marie’s urging, I finally relented. We decided we’d drop by the harbor the next morning to get our audience with Clarice.

“I’m not confident that I can be as shameless and assertive as you. I mean, you know how reserved and sensitive I am,” I said.

“If you want to fight, let’s fight.” Marie raised her fists, ready to take me on.

I turned away quickly. “Sorry. I got ahead of myself.”

***

As soon as Clarice’s slap landed on Angelica, Julius and his friends fled the venue.

“Will Mr. Jilk be all right?” Olivia asked worriedly after Jilk took it upon himself to mediate.

“Clarice and Jilk are engaged. They’ve known each other for a long time. Nothing bad’ll happen,” Greg said, trying to reassure her.

Chris was more worried about the party’s uneasy atmosphere than the squabble between Clarice and Angelica. They’d left with Olivia partly because they’d noticed how tense the other students were. Getting Olivia to safety had been their top priority, although once Jilk was sure that she was far from the danger, he’d doubled back to handle the mess. Ever since the attempt on Olivia’s life, all the boys were extremely overprotective of her.

“Anyway,” Chris said, “the atmosphere in there was off. There was a strange tension.” From the way the students had split into two groups, he had a decent idea of what had prompted the shift in the air.

“There was hostility between the court nobles and the regional nobles,” Brad remarked, having noticed the same thing. “I assume the strange rumors going around must have widened the rift between them.” He spoke as if he were a mere bystander, uninvolved in this conflict.

“This is extremely troubling. Can’t you take it more seriously?” Chris snapped at him.

“Get involved in a messy situation like this? I’ll pass,” said Brad. “I’m scared that the students will break into factions over this. You’d better keep your nose out of it, too, Chris.”

The division had already begun, and which group a student fell into was predetermined based on whether they were born to court or regional nobility.

Olivia frowned. “Um, there’s animosity between the nobility? It’d be better if everyone could just get along.”

Brad burst into laughter. Olivia’s suggestion was innocent and simple, but that was what charmed him. “I figured you’d say something like that. I like the way you think, but sadly, the rest of the world is more complex than that. Still, this is probably just a temporary thing. It’ll cool down eventually.”

Greg rubbed his stomach. “Let’s get back as soon as the fighting’s over. I’m starvin’.”

Chris gave him a disapproving look, but Brad just laughed again. 

Julius was the only one not paying attention to their antics. “Court nobles, regional nobles… All they do is look for excuses to squabble. It’s repulsive.” A dark aura had settled around him.

Olivia gripped the crown prince’s hand. “You’re so kind, Julius. You take all this so seriously.”

“Me, kind? No, I just hate how pointless all these feuds are.”

“Avoiding such feuds is kind in itself. And you’re genuinely concerned about the kingdom’s future, aren’t you? My compliments stand, then.” She beamed at him.

Julius glanced down at their joined hands. “You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say that. I thought you’d dismiss my thoughts.”

“I’d never dismiss your thoughts,” Olivia said defensively. “I think your opinions are wonderful.”

“Thank you, Olivia.” A smile finally broke out on his face.

In her head, Olivia was cursing him out. Urgh. Men like you make me want to barf. She pretended to blush and look away, if only to hide her disgust. I wish I could kill you right here. But no, I need to exercise restraint. Soon enough, I’ll plunge you and the rest of this nation into hell. But until then, I’ll continue playing the fool for you.