[Episode 11]
For the record, I had chosen playwriting for my art class.
That's right.
I had been unable to give up my modest ambition of making money through creative writing….
However, watching the professor's expression grow increasingly grave as he read my ambitiously written first play, *Romiatt and Juliano*, followed by him calling me aside the moment class ended to suggest that I “consider another class while the add-drop period is still open,” was more than enough to kill my ambition.
Anyway, for physical training, I chose archery. There were various subjects like horseback riding, swordsmanship, and dance, but standing still with a bow seemed the most bearable option.
*It’s questionable whether my legs can endure standing for long, but it’s better than other classes I couldn’t even attempt.*
“Welcome to archery class.”
I looked up at the sudden voice, and the archery instructor was surprisingly young. Apparently, he had been an Academy student just a few years ago. He looked around the students gathered at the range with a pleased expression.
“Still, quite a lot of students have gathered this year.”
*…There’s only six of us, including me.*
The archery instructor, Agasa, laughed awkwardly and said that archery lacked the flashy movements of other sports, and that rumors of how tedious the basic training was had quietly spread among students, so not many chose it.
It was certainly true that compared to the students leading horses in a line before physical training, or the sound of clashing swords from the distant drill grounds, the archery range was rather quiet.
Archery practice… was tedious enough to understand why it was unpopular among Academy students. The long preparatory training itself was difficult, but even after I started drawing the bowstring in earnest, my arrows simply refused to hit the target.
Perhaps he noticed my frustration, for Agasa approached me and firmly corrected my posture. I took a breath and calmly drew the bowstring.
The arrow struck the target with a crisp thwack.
“See? You’re good at this.”
Agasa grinned and patted my shoulder.
Class continued. Not every arrow hit the bullseye, but at least they all landed within the target. Watching from behind, Agasa soon walked back to my side and began asking this and that.
Whether I had learned archery before, or if either of my parents had practiced it.
I had never learned archery, and I had no way of knowing if Dietrich’s parents had ever shot a bow. Fearing a repeat of the playwriting disaster, I shook my head with a worried expression, and the archery instructor opened his mouth as if to reassure me.
“Your form is good for a beginner. Your strength is decent too, despite how you look.”
“You picked it up so quickly that I thought you’d learned before. It’s a shame your lower body strength is a bit lacking, but that’s not something you can help,” he muttered, correcting my posture once more.
“Work hard at it. Don’t give up.”
“You’ll do well if you’re just diligent.” Saying that, Agasa smiled satisfactorily and moved to check the posture of the student at the next target. I focused again and drew my bowstring. The surroundings grew quiet, and only the target and I remained. The sound of the arrow cutting through the wind was pleasant.
But… after a refreshing workout, just as I was finishing my meal, suddenly coming face-to-face with Roxanne was something I couldn’t handle.
Roxanne, standing in the sunlight, was so vivid that her already clear colors seemed almost translucent under its glow. Beside her stood the Crown Prince with an expressionless face. He had probably followed Roxanne to the cafeteria. Otherwise, there would be no reason for the Crown Prince to come all the way down to the student cafeteria.
In the original story too, he would often go out to eat at the student cafeteria when Roxanne suggested it. He wanted to experience ordinary daily life that he couldn’t have outside the Academy. The Crown Prince had once eaten food that Roxanne either couldn’t or didn’t like in her stead. I remember when Roxanne looked at him in surprise with rabbit-like eyes, he had curtly answered, “Someone did that for me a long time ago.”
Distracted by Roxanne and the Crown Prince’s appearance, I hadn’t noticed Cedric was there too. Judging by his displeased expression as he watched me, he seemed offended that his sister had taken his seat and was talking to a fraudster who had insulted the ducal house. Moreover, since Roxanne had spoken to me first, he couldn’t find any justification to reprimand me, which made him look even more annoyed.
“Ah, yeah. You can sit.”
Saying that, I rose from my seat. Truthfully, with so many empty tables scattered spaciously around the cafeteria, Roxanne insisting on sitting next to me meant she either had business with me, wanted to talk, or had some reason regardless. But if I stayed with them, I felt like only one of two endings awaited me: indigestion or vomiting.
Roxanne seemed flustered, as if she hadn’t expected me to stand.
“No, I wasn’t trying to take your seat….”
Saying that, Roxanne looked at me with a restless expression. Cedric’s expression was gradually souring. Wanting to defuse the situation before Cedric could open his mouth, I replied nonchalantly.
“You didn’t take it. I was going to get up anyway.”
Hoping my actions looked as uncalculated and unconscious of them as possible, I picked up my plate and stood. Before I had taken even a few steps, Roxanne hurriedly followed and caught me.
“Shall I carry your tray?”
“Huh?”
Roxanne fidgeted, glancing down at my leg.
“Well, your leg… it looks injured….”
“Ah.”
I let out a foolish sound and looked down at my leg where Roxanne’s gaze had settled. Come to think of it, Roxanne had known Dietrich even before entering the Academy. She had met her when Dietrich was staying at the Erexion household. So, Roxanne had known Dietrich since she took Roxanne’s place.
*And yet she talks to me so comfortably.*
I couldn’t help but admire the original heroine’s sunshine-like personality anew. Roxanne didn’t seem to care about what had happened between her and Dietrich in the past.
“It’s fine. It’s always like this. No, it wasn’t always like this, but anyway, it’s nothing.”
Honestly, it was a kindness I would have refused from anyone, not just Roxanne. It wasn’t heavy luggage—just a plate, not something I couldn’t carry while walking. Still, Roxanne couldn’t move, her face full of worry.
Thinking I needed to send her away quickly so I could leave comfortably, I was about to tell her I could walk on my own when someone roughly grabbed my arm.
“Don’t put on such pathetic pride.”
It was Cedric. He snatched my tray away as if seizing it.
I stared at Cedric with dazed, bewildered eyes. He was already striding far ahead, setting the plates down as if throwing them. I should have told him I could do it, but it was hard to follow Cedric with my limping gait.
*And he was the one ranting at me not to stand out….*
Cedric turned around and looked at me with a *now get lost* expression. Roxanne was at a loss between us. Anyway, the situation seemed to be over, so I gave Roxanne a nod of farewell with my eyes and was about to leave the cafeteria.
Again, a strong grip pulled my arm. I yelped and turned around to see Cedric frowning at me.
“Your thanks.”
“What?”
*Are all ducal heirs thugs who grab people’s arms like gangsters?*
Setting aside such curiosity, when I made an expression showing that I didn’t know exactly what I should be thankful for, Cedric’s frown deepened.
“At the Academy, even members of the Imperial family clean up after themselves when they finish eating. If someone bestows upon you an excessive kindness, isn’t a word of thanks only natural?”
I was nothing but bewildered by this forced, foisted-upon kindness. But Cedric seemed like he wouldn’t let me go until I thanked him—even if he had to hold my dislocated arm hostage.
“Thank… you?”
When I gave a cursory greeting, implying I just wanted to get it over with, and tried to leave, Cedric pushed Roxanne, who had been standing beside him, forward. Roxanne’s face flushed pink at Cedric’s sudden action.
“Not to me. To her.”
At Cedric’s words, Roxanne grew even more flustered, waving her hands and saying there was no need. Of course, I thought so too. But this time, Cedric truly seemed like he’d keep me standing there until tomorrow if I didn’t greet her. A tightness welled up in my chest.
“Tha… nks?”
Though he didn’t seem satisfied with my bewildered reply, Cedric apparently decided it was enough and led Roxanne back to the table. He didn’t forget to glare at me warningly until the very end.
*What the hell.*
Unable to come to my senses in this absurd situation, I stood frozen, when I heard Cedric’s voice from afar, telling Roxanne, “You’re too soft.” Is he really crazy? I felt like I’d been hit in the head by an invisible punching bag.
*The hell.*
In that instant, a certain insight flashed through my mind.
*Maybe the reason I started learning the bow was to kill that bastard.*
Marveling at the foreshadowing of my life, laid as densely as Cedric’s thick hair, I made a vow. I must practice hard to become the best archer. And someday, I’ll shoot and kill him.
Feeling filled with unprecedented passion, I headed toward the dormitory.