Part 6
“What is this place?” Claire asks.
“A special parlor only accessible to the elite,” Alexia replies as she turns on the extravagant room’s lights.
“Then what are we doing here?”
“I am a princess, you know.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.”
Did you seriously forget? Alexia wonders. “Go ahead and sit down.”
“Ooh, this is comfy. And the embroidery is so pretty. What a colossal waste of our taxes.”
“Say, do people ever tell you that you don’t know when to shut up?”
“Not that I can recall.”
Alexia and Claire sit on a pair of big fluffy sofas as they converse. The two of them are the only ones in the room.
Alexia takes another look at the girl sitting across from her.
Claire has black hair and red eyes, and she excels both at her schoolwork and as a dark knight. Her sudden meteoric rise in strength has been the talk of the town, and she’s already informally been offered a spot in the Knight Order.
The way Alexia sees it, Claire and her brother don’t have a single thing in common—not a single thing, aside from how disrespectful they are.
“Why are you giving me that serious look?” Claire asks.
“Because we need to have a serious conversation.”
“That’s for sure. I won’t let you have Cid.”
“I—I don’t want him!” Alexia’s voice comes out shrill, which she covers with an affected cough. “This is about you falling on that teacher in the middle of class.”
“What, and you want to lecture me?”
“I just want you to tell me what happened.”
“I used my magic to jump in from outside the classroom and attack him,” Claire replies in a brisk monotone. “I guess I went a little bit crazy from stress. I’m not sure I totally follow, but that’s definitely for sure what happened. I regret my actions, and I won’t do it again.”
“I’m not asking about your cover story.”
“Well, that’s exactly what I wrote in my apology letter.”
“But it’s not the truth, is it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you’ve been doing research on the demon Diablos.”
With that, Alexia takes the papers she retrieved from Claire’s room and dumps them on the table.
“Wait, why do you have my—?”
“I can tell you’re driven by more than just idle curiosity.”
Claire’s expression turns serious. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything. I’m trying to figure out what’s going on here at the academy.”
“…And you won’t make fun of me?”
“I won’t. Not a chance.”
“You swear?”
“I swear.”
Claire goes silent and shifts her gaze. Now she’s staring intently at a spot of empty space. From the look in her eyes, it’s almost as though someone’s talking to her.
Eventually, Claire shakes her head. “Sorry, Aurora.”
“Huh?”
Unsure what to make of the non sequitur, Alexia tilts her head in confusion. However, Claire isn’t talking to her. She’s still staring at nothing.
“I’m at my limit here. I don’t understand what’s going on, and it scares me…” Claire’s shoulders tremble a little.
Then she turns back to Alexia and offers her a small smile. “Sorry, you can go ahead and ignore all that.”
“…Are you okay?”
“Nothing’s okay… And that’s why I’m going to tell you everything. It’s going to sound ridiculous, so it’s up to you whether you want to believe it.”
“I believe you.” As Alexia sees it, there’s no sign that Claire is trying to lie to her.
“Really? Then I had better start by introducing her.”
“Who?”
“Her name is Aurora. She’s a spirit known as the Calamity Witch. Go ahead and say hello.”
Claire points over to the side. There’s no one there. Alexia squints, then rubs her eyes, but still, nada.
“Now, I first met her back when…”
As soon as Claire launches into her explanation as if there’s actually a person there with them, Alexia starts regretting having told Claire that she would believe her.
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