On the first day of the new semester, Monica was more cautious than ever, constantly looking around as she made her way to her classroom.
Checking to the right, checking to the left, checking ahead, checking behind… With each step, she appeared highly suspicious, glancing around nervously, which made her look like nothing less than a suspicious character to anyone who saw her.
"…What are you doing?"
Monica was caught off guard when Lana called out to her from behind, causing her to shudder and let out a strange, high-pitched sound, "Eek!?" It was a weird noise that resulted from suppressing the urge to scream out loud.
If she were to scream loudly in front of "that person"… there was no doubt he would notice. He would definitely notice. And then, "that person" would say…
──Well, well, well, long time no see, huh? Everett?
Remembering the fear she had experienced in the past, Monica shivered involuntarily. Lana leaned in, looking concerned, and peered into Monica's face.
"Hey, you look really pale. Maybe you should rest in the dorm?"
"N-No, I'm f-f-fine. No classes t-today."
The first day of the new semester was only an easy orientation.
The young ladies from families with connections held tea parties after the orientation, busy bragging about their winter break and exchanging information. But that was a world that Monica had no connection to.
There's the student council meeting after the orientation… Can I act normal like always?
Thinking about the events from the winter break, a pain throbbed in her left arm. Although the bruises from the damage inflicted by the cursed dragon had healed beautifully, the pain still remained. Her grip strength hadn't recovered much either, so even lifting a teacup with her left hand was difficult.
…I need to hide it properly.
Monica thought back to the events during the winter break.
When faced with the Silent Witch, Felix had shown deference and respect in his eyes.
The same with Cyril. He had acted with utmost courtesy toward the Seven Sages, the country's top figures.
If Lana were to find out… Monica would probably never be able to interact with her as a friend like before.
…I really don't want that.
Monica clenched her left hand, which had almost no grip strength. Just slightly curling her fingers caused a sharp pang of pain from her fingertips to her wrist.
She had to hide it well. The pain in her left hand, her true identity, everything.
That's why I can't let "that person" find out…
Thinking about the senior who had once chased her, Monica's face twisted with bitterness. Just then, she heard a familiar voice from behind.
Turning around, Glenn and Neil were walking towards them.
Waving energetically at Monica and the others, Glenn, who was entirely bruise-free now, had a vibrant voice and was as lively as always.
The four of them exchanged greetings and started chatting about their winter break as they headed to the classroom.
Neil talked about how he had leisurely spent time at home, and Lana described her visit to the Southern Doll Port with her father.
"Southern Doll is amazing no matter how many times you visit. There are so many shops that it never gets boring. So, what about you two, Monica, and Glenn?"
Finally, the question came.
Recalling the contents of Isabelle's diary, Monica pondered what she should say. However, Glenn beat her to it.
"I was helping my mentor with work during the first half of the winter break and went to Reinberg."
Lana's eyes widened in surprise.
"What!? You…you went to Reinberg!? Wasn't it the place where the cursed dragon incident happened?" The source of this content ɪs novel•fire.net
It seemed that Lana wasn't aware that Glenn had been to Reinberg.
The cursed dragon incident in Reinberg had been a massive upheaval that shook the entire kingdom, but since the Second Prince and the Silent Witch were the ones who had defeated the dragon, their names had garnered all the attention.
There weren't many who knew that a disciple of the Barrier Magician had been present. Lana's surprise was understandable.
As Monica was lost in thought, Lana looked at her intently.
"…Monica, you don't seem that surprised. Did you maybe already know?"
"Huh? N-No, I'm…I'm really surprised."
Monica vigorously shook her head, almost looking like she might break her neck in the process.
I can't tell her that I was actually there…!
Luckily, Lana didn't press further about Monica's odd behavior and turned to Glenn instead.
"Hey, hey, so did you also fight the cursed dragon in Reinberg?"
Glenn hesitated for a moment, his words faltering, and he lowered his gaze.
Monica wondered what to say, fearing that the memory of the terror from that dragon might be causing him distress.
Surely, only Monica knew at this moment that Glenn had been afflicted by the curse of the dragon and nearly died.
But before Monica could say anything, Glenn suddenly lifted his head and laughed.
"I didn't do anything. The ones who defeated the cursed dragon were the student council president and Lady Silent Witch!"
"You didn't see His Highness and the others fight?"
"Nah, I didn't really see much."
Naturally. Glenn had been unconscious after being cursed on the hunting grounds.
However, it seemed Glenn had no intention of sharing the fact that he had been cursed.
I wonder if his health is okay…
Even Monica, who had only suffered a slight bit of the curse from the dragon, still struggled with its aftereffects. Even though he has high resistance to magic, there was no way Glenn, who had been affected by the curse throughout his body, could be completely fine. Monica couldn't help but think that if she had handled things more skillfully, Glenn wouldn't have had to bear the curse.
During the New Year's ceremony, Monica apologized to Louis. She had apologized for causing harm to his important disciple.
Louis Miller's response had been refreshingly straightforward.
"I'm not foolish enough to blame someone else for my disciple's lack of skill."
While Louis was the type to create debts whenever possible and then thoroughly collect them, he didn't reproach Monica about the cursed dragon incident.
Nonetheless, Monica couldn't help but think she could have done more to help Glenn. She couldn't shake off the feeling that she could have prevented Glenn from being cursed.
"Monica, what's wrong? You seem down. Are you feeling okay?"
Monica snapped out of her thoughts when Glenn looked down at her with concern. She managed to smile vaguely.
"By the way, Monica, what did you do during the winter break? Did you have a meat pie for the winter solstice?"
"No, I had crackers and pickles…"
She began answering before realizing that her actual meal──because Hilda, her adoptive mother, had wreaked havoc in the kitchen, Monica's winter solstice feast had consisted of crackers──had been accidentally revealed. Yet, this setting was also mentioned in Isabelle's diary.
Monica hastily thought back to the contents of the diary she had read the previous night.
"Um…well…um…at the Count Kerbeck's house, we had a lot of amazing feasts. There were crispy meat pies, hearty soups, and gingerbread cake loaded with white sugar…"
However, in Isabelle's diary, Monica is portrayed as barely able to enjoy these feasts, shivering while slurping a meager vegetable broth at the farthest seat from the fireplace.
"…But I saw that girl picking up a piece of gingerbread cake I dropped and eating it. Oh, how unsightly! She looked just like a stray dog!"
That was a passage from the diary. But how could she explain this?
As Monica fumbled for words, Lana, Glenn, and Neil all looked at her sympathetically.
"…Today, let's have a proper meal in the cafeteria. You should join us."
"…Sniff…sniff…I feel so bad for Monica…"
"…Um, what should I say… You've been through a lot."
Apparently, based on their reactions, the three of them had interpreted it as "Monica only had crackers and pickles while Count Kerbeck's house had an amazing feast," which wasn't that different from Isabelle's diary's setting.
For now, since it wasn't too different from Isabelle's diary's content, Monica decided to smile ambiguously and play it off.