Ch.15

Presentation day!

I opened my eyes in high spirits.

I finally get to see Dad!

Sortie and I ate breakfast in a flutter of excitement, stopped by the library to say hello to Professor Yuliope, then headed for the huge banquet hall.

They said the presentation would be held there in the form of a party.

“There are so many people outside!”

“I know! My mom and dad said they’d come as soon as the Academy gates opened too— Oh! Daaaad! Mom!”

Sortie tore off at top speed.

Count Camelan, who had been lingering in front of the banquet hall, scooped Sortie right up with a bright smile.

“Oh, Titi! I missed you!”

Mm, what a heartwarming sight.

But where was my dad?

No way. Don’t tell me he couldn’t make it back from his trip? He said he’d definitely come to the closing ceremony.......

Tap, tap.

I nudged the floor with the toe of my shoe.

I had even gone to the trouble of taking out a pretty pair of shoes and putting them on too......

Well, if he’s busy, it can’t be helped!

It wasn’t like I wasn’t used to not having parents around on observation day, anyway.

Seriously. Who even invented things like observation day?!

The hope I had secretly been holding onto shriveled like a popped balloon.

It’s a cold-hearted system made by adults who assume every child has perfectly fine parents with the time to come observe!

My lips pushed out on their own, sharp little feelings prickling inside me.

Harshly criticizing society in my heart, I went into the banquet hall by myself.

Unlike the crowd outside, the inside was still a little sparse.

Looks like Khalid isn’t here yet either.......

Should I just look around for a while?

“Damn it, so it’s really the last day.”

Just then, I heard a familiar grumble.

“Why didn’t the princess come, anyway? My father told me I absolutely had to get close to her and set up a private meeting with the Duke.......”

It was Haben, playing in one corner of the banquet hall and bouncing a ball thunk, thunk with his friends.

“Well, what can you do if the princess didn’t come?”

“Still, my father keeps taking it out on me. What was it called again? Purple stones? I think he’s planning to sell those!”

“Purple stones? What’s that?”

“No idea. I heard all the knights from the North wear them. Because of that, purple jewels are selling insanely well in the capital and in the south these days. But supposedly they feel kind of different from the ones the northern knights use.”

Well, of course. Those were magic stones.......

I blinked.

“My older brother said he wants one of those jeweled decorations too. He said if you have one, you get crazy strong.”

“No way, so the rumors were real.”

Hmm.

What exactly have the senior knights been doing in the capital and the south?

I fell into serious thought.

Of course the Zebbert knights were the object of admiration for a lot of people, but...... I had no idea that would make purple jewels fashionable.

Wait, but if I think about this properly...... is this a chance to build up our shop?

The calculator in my head started spinning furiously.

Asha! I think we’re about to get rich!

Meanwhile, Haben’s grumbling kept going.

“Damn it, why register and then not show up? Seriously. They say she’s arrogant and has a nasty personality. I guess that was true.”

I fiddled with my nose. It was soft enough, but I wasn’t sure about arrogant.......

“Ru!”

Just then, someone called me. I turned, and Jerdin was walking over.

His trademark fluffy hair was especially neatly groomed today. It looked like he had tried to dress up a little since he was meeting his parents.

Kind of like how I had put on pretty shoes.

“Hi, Jerdin.”

“What, it’s just commoners.”

As expected, Haben spotted us and immediately started picking a fight.

“You’re wearing shoes that actually look decent today. Ohhh, those almost look real.”

“They are real.”

I stuck out my sleek shoe proudly. There was a small gemstone set into the strap over the top of the foot.

These were Birthday Present Number Sixty-Four shoes! What about it!

“Hmph! How would you even afford those? Let me see! I need to inspect whether they’re real or not.”

“Sure! Then hurry up and get down at my feet so you can inspect them thoroughly!”

“Why does that make me feel bad?”

By now, this kind of bickering was getting a little familiar.

“Pi-picking on people is bad, Haben.”

Jerdin, standing beside me, lightly tried to stop him. At first, it felt like he ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ couldn’t even properly meet Haben’s eyes, but now......

Haben huffed, but he didn’t spit out cruel things the way he used to.

Wow. The power of ninety-nine penalty points.

The truth was, Haben had nearly filled all one hundred penalty points a while ago because of the way he tormented Jerdin. But Jerdin gave him one last chance.

Professor Yuliope had said that if Haben sincerely apologized to Jerdin, and Jerdin accepted it, he would knock one penalty point off.

Well, maybe it was just a forced apology because he didn’t want to get forcibly expelled.

Still, maybe it had at least become a chance for him to realize his behavior had been wrong.

“Seriously! Commoners really do stick together, huh? Fine, then. You commoners can help each other out and live happily ever after!”

“He even gives blessings now.”

Well, that commoner-this, commoner-that habit of his still clearly had a long way to go.

“That’s not wha—!”

“Haben, you’re being noisy.”

Just as Haben was about to shriek, a large shadow fell behind him.

“F-Father!”

My eyes widened a little.

A stern-looking middle-aged man, frowning deeply at us, was staring this way.

Wow. What a rotten Count.

I could feel Jerdin, standing next to me, draw back a little.

“You seem to have been doing well. But.......”

A cold gaze turned toward me and Jerdin.

“What are you doing among children like these?”

Children like these.

As expected, what a perfectly rotten choice of words.......

“The nobles are gathered over here, so come along at once.”

“Yeees.......”

“The atmosphere at this Academy, honestly. The smell of commoners is everywhere....... Tch.”

So Haben’s commoner-this, commoner-that habit really had come from his father after all.

“Move aside. Don’t stand in the way.”

With an irritated look, the Count flapped his hand at me and Jerdin like he was shooing flies.

Just as I was stepping back, thinking what an unbelievably awful man he was—

I noticed the entrance had gotten strangely noisy.

What was going on? I was about to turn my head when—

“Eek! Wha......!”

My body suddenly lifted into the air.

“Dad told you, didn’t he.”

Gasp, this voice!

“Eat well.”

“......!”

“Sleep well.”

My body spun once in the air.

And then I found myself staring straight into a pair of deep violet eyes.

“Ah......!”

“And if any kid gives you trouble, write their name down.”

“D-Daaad!”

It was Dad!

Ruby’s dad had come!

I threw my arms around his thick neck before I could stop myself. Dad laughed low under his breath and pressed a large hand firmly against my back.

“When did you get here? Did your trip go well? What time did you arrive? What did you ride to get here? Where did you go? What did you go there for?!”

I really thought he either would not make it or would arrive very late!

I was even happier to see him than I had expected, so the questions came pouring out in a rush. Dad lightly tapped my mouth.

“One at a time. Dad only has one mouth.”

“I only have one mouth too, and I asked loads of questions!”

“Hm, true.”

Carefully looking over my face, Dad let out a small snort of laughter.

“Then sending you to school was worth it.”

I was really, really happy to see him!

“Hngh. Daaad.”

“You’ve only gotten more spoiled. This might be the first time I’ve thought it was a good idea to send you to camp.”

I hugged his neck tight again.

All the noise in the bustling banquet hall had cut off at once. Every stunned gaze in the room had turned our way, but I was so happy to see Dad that I did not notice a thing.

Not until I heard Count Abellus’s disbelieving voice.

“Duke Zebbert...... why...... Dad......?”

Only then did I realize the entire room had gone frighteningly silent, and I pulled back from him a little.

Oh no. I got too excited and shouted everything out loud.

When I looked around, I saw Jerdin’s startled face.

And along with it, Haben’s face—far more deeply aghast.