It was still early afternoon, too early for dinner.
I called Flora to the cafe “Fairy’s Teacup”.
After a short wait, a girl with platinum hair, spread out like a roll cake, confidently approached me and placed a letter on the table.
“You asked me to come to the cafe by 6. Is there a reason for such a request? Do I look like someone who obediently follows your instructions, Victor?”
“But you came anyway.”
“Well, there are many things I’d like to discuss.”
“Then, sit down, and I’ll listen to everything.”
“Really, I can’t tell who is the noble and who is the commoner in situations like this. I’m a third-year student. Shouldn’t you show some respect as a junior?”
Despite her words, Flora sat down with a stern expression.
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
“Nothing much. After the news of the breakup spread, I was curious about Arkwright’s true nature.”
“What do you think? Everyone is in chaos. Especially my father… Lord, he is very angry. If you happen to meet him, it would be wise to lower that stiff head of yours.”
It was the reaction I expected.
As long as I moved forward with my plans smoothly, everything should be fine.
Now, let’s get to the real point.
“You said you’re in the third year now.”
“Yes. I’ll soon graduate from this tedious Ludens. I plan to return to our glorious and luxurious homeland. You, on the other hand, continue to endure your hardships here.”
Flora sat with a smug expression, covering her mouth with the back of her hand and letting out a light laugh. It was the typical behavior of a noble lady.
It felt strange to hear this directly from her.
By the way, this strange laugh can be heard when Flora’s favorability is in the negative.
Flora’s favorability is not easily lowered to negative, but Victor and Flora didn’t get along well, huh?
With that thought in mind, I asked, pushing that impression to the side.
“The third year is an important time. What are your plans for the future?”
“Well, I’ll just stay here for a while and graduate safely without any trouble. Why should I tell you about my plans?”
“You’re not obligated to. But don’t you think it’s a waste of time? How about setting a goal?”
“A goal?”
“For example, a goal like winning the Miss Ludens Contest in the second semester. Yeah, that would be good.”
Flora laughed at that. It wasn’t an exaggerated laugh like before but rather a somewhat deflated and melancholic one.
“Victor, you’ve become quite a funny person since I last saw you. I failed to enter the student council or become a representative of Class A. Do you think I can win the Miss Contest?”
“You will.”
“Not ‘I can’, but ‘I will’? Why are you so confident?”
Well, I saw that future.
But I can’t say that honestly.
So, I decided to use one of my lies for the day.
“…It’s just a feeling.”
Once to join hands with Victoria.
And now once.
There was only one lie left.
It was getting hard to bear the slowly increasing pain in my stomach.
“A feeling? How amusing. Victor, you, who hang on to such uncertain things. Rather than that, let’s talk about the breakup of the engagement story.”
Flora wasn’t an easy conversation partner.
She shook the conversation towards the topic she wanted to talk about.
“Why did you participate in such a reckless act? Breaking up just because another girl appeared. Isn’t that just tarnishing your reputation?”
“….”
“Be honest here. Have you really broken your engagement? Is Victoria lying to me?”
It seemed that Victoria couldn’t convince Flora completely.
I found myself in a serious dilemma.
“If the engagement really broke off, what do you plan to do?”
“Even if I don’t know what the family will do, I’m a third-year student. I could make your Ludens life a bit uncomfortable. Like giving low ratings to the club’s food.”
That would be troublesome.
Club ratings were quite important.
I had no choice.
I decided to use my last lie.
“As Victoria said, our breakup is a deception. But it must remain a secret to everyone.”
“…”
Flora seemed momentarily surprised. Then, after looking around discreetly, she spoke with a somewhat serious expression.
“…Are you saying there is an enemy among us?”
“…”
Since I’ve used up all my chances to lie, my options now were between telling the truth and remaining silent. It seemed better to remain silent than to speak the truth.
“It looks like you have no intention of talking. Are you afraid it might become dangerous if I find out?”
“…”
“Victor, even though you didn’t say anything, are you actually worried about me?”
What kind of logic goes like this?
The logic in the conversation was confusing.
However, one thing became clear in this situation — the silence chance was not infinite.
It wouldn’t be available several times in the future, at most, just once.
The question lingered: was it right to reveal the truth and then leave?
“By any chance, is suggesting that I participate in the Miss Contest also part of your plan to deal with the enemy?”
“What does that mean?”
“Are you trying to make me a public figure to protect me from the attacks of the enemies? If I become Miss Ludens, those enemies won’t dare to touch me recklessly.”
It was quite a good deduction, but not correct. T
his time, Victor could honestly speak about it.
“No, that’s not it. It’s a simpler story. Flora, you have the potential to win the Miss Ludens Contest. I can help you if you want.”
“Me…? In a contest that selects the most beautiful woman in Ludens?”
“Yes.”
“Do you really think of me as the most beautiful woman here in Ludens?”
“No.”
“You didn’t even hesitate a bit. Usually, in situations like this, you could say something to flatter me.”
“But I do think you’re beautiful enough to win the Ludens Contest.”
Flora’s hair, like a bun, bounced left and right.
“Well, what are you saying right now? Ha, it’s funny. If someone wins the Ludens Contest, isn’t it the same as being the most beautiful woman?”
Flora covered her face with her hand.
Are sisters really sisters?
Their reactions when embarrassed were similar.
“It’s not a lie. You will win the Miss Ludens Contest. I’ll make sure of it.”
And give me the trophy.
Ah, ask for it.
So, was the persuasion successful?
Looking at Flora’s complexion, it seemed that something changed, and she opened her lips with a calm expression.
“Victor, do you remember the day when I cried?”
“The day you cried?”
“Back then, you didn’t console me. Did you intentionally keep your distance because I was so beautiful? Or was it because of problems in your engagement life? Did you deliberately act coldly towards me?”
I couldn’t understand what she was saying.
The day Flora cried?
Comfort?
Recall, the brain of victory─!
Was there a line in Flora’s dialogue where she mentioned crying?
No, I don’t remember!
If it’s not in my memory, then it doesn’t exist!
What’s the closest story?
━Actually, a while ago, there was a big fight. My partner abandoned me and had an affair. I’m so happy that the person who he had an affair with was defeated in the contest. It’s exhilarating!
This is it.
Flora, a woman who was sad because of her fiancé’s betrayal.
There was no other plausible interpretation.
Maybe Victor and Flora hadn’t entered Ludens at the time.
At that time, Victor treated Flora, who was soaked in sadness, without comforting her but rather coldly.
Life is tough for a guy like Victor.
The problem was that the arrow had come back to me.
“Victor, did you keep your distance from me because I was so beautiful? To avoid problems in your engagement life? Was that why you deliberately acted coldly towards me?”
If I deny it here, will Flora’s Miss Contest chance be ruined?
No, participating in the episode might not guarantee that the trophy will go to me instead of Luke.
I really had to get that trophy.
It was the difference between normal and hard mode in life content.
So, I closed my eyes tightly.
I decided to use the fourth lie, beyond the allocated quota.
“Tha-at’s right…”
…Huh, why was this dragging on?
Why was the ground coming closer to my nose?
* * *
“I haven’t seen this ceiling in a while.”
When I opened my eyes, I saw a white wall.
“Is this the infirmary?”
As I tried to get up, my body felt incredibly heavy, and I thought I might vomit. I remembered a time when I had worked tirelessly for three days unloading packages, leading to exhaustion. That’s exactly how I felt now.
“The fourth lie….”
If I do the fourth lie well, I might really die.
The sense of a life-threatening situation was palpable.
Victor, you b*stard.
Don’t you hate being dishonest so much?
So, what happened?
I looked around.
An individual recovery room.
The first thought that crossed my mind upon seeing it was the same as when I had collapsed from exhaustion during package handling.
This was going to cost a lot in medical bills.
I hadn’t anticipated an unexpected expenditure.
Something caught my eye beside me.
It was a letter.
The same cheap stationery I had given to Flora.
On the back of the simple promise I had written was the following:
“Goal for the third year. One year left. P.S. I’ve paid for the medical bills, so be grateful, commoner.”
Nice, the medical bills were covered. Sweet.
The door creaked open.
“Victor, I heard you collapsed?”
“Victoria.”
“Sister told me. You two were talking and then you collapsed. What in the world… no, never mind. It doesn’t matter. What were you two talking about?”
“The Miss Contest.”
“The Miss Contest? I don’t know what that is, but sister went back to the mainland. She left in a hurry, not even bothering to take her belongings.”
“Is that so?”
“And sister said she would help me. She promised to try to persuade Father and my brother about our breakup. Of course, Unni doesn’t know if we really broke our engagement.”
That worked out well.
Collapsing from exhaustion was worth it.
But I never want to experience this again.
Really, never.
Anyone who has gone through such a dreadful exhaustion experience will find it hard to forget.
At the same time, I realized one thing.
Perhaps Victor’s honesty was due to this intense exhaustion?
He also had no choice but to be honest, forced into it.
Victor must have experienced exhaustion like me.
The quirk «Steel» imposed on him.
Until now, I hadn’t had time to question it, but why did Victor have this quirk, unlike skills and stats that wouldn’t appear without specific conditions?
Then it happened.
“Victor, I brought some porridge for you.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. Engaged couples usually do this kind of thing, right?”
“True, but we…”
“I know. But you fooled sister. You never know what kind of stories will reach her ears, so it’s better to practice in advance.”
“…”
I was hungry.
However, I didn’t have the strength to even lift a finger.
Perfect discharge.
Thanks to that, I had to accept the porridge that Victoria was spoon-feeding me.
“I never thought I’d be feeding you porridge. A month ago, I couldn’t even imagine such a thing.”
“I feel the same. By the way, where did you get this?”
It tasted like chicken porridge. Surprisingly delicious.
Maybe I should make another dish with porridge next time.
Then, Victoria spoke to me.
“Victor, what if our family had no issues? What would our relationship be like now? Would our engagement still be intact?”
“No. If your family had no issues, we wouldn’t have been engaged in the first place.”
“Well, getting engaged at the age of five isn’t normal. Our father isn’t quite normal.”
Victoria’s expression looked dark as she said that.
She seemed to have an idea of who she was dealing with.
Perhaps she was slowly grasping who the enemy was.
“However, if we had better choices, we wouldn’t have broken our engagement.”
If Arkwright had been fine.
Would I need to sweep away the luck I had?
So, this was the most sincere thing I could say.
I couldn’t lie anymore.
Victoria seemed to understand my sincerity and casually laughed, saying, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Come to think of it, it was almost the first time I’d seen her actually smile.
It felt like unlocking a special CG.
“Victoria, you’re smiling like that for the first time.”
“Well, I’m human too. I should find things amusing, right? Lately, it feels like I’ve had more reasons to frown than laugh, but have you ever thought I’m just as stiff as you?”
“I do laugh sometimes.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Victoria looked at my face.
However, this time, she didn’t blush and stammer like before.
“Come to think of it, Victor. I’ve never seen you smile.”
Then, she spoke softly.
“I feel like I’ve talked more with you recently than I have throughout my life. And even when talking with you or Miss Mokemoke, it wasn’t always so rigid.”
“Is that so?”
It seemed that way.
It looked like the part of me hidden within Victor was gradually emerging.
A good sign?
Victoria swept the bedding of the recovery room with her palm.
“If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have talked to you more before our breaking our engagement. If I had, then…”
If ~.
If only.
Regret.
Regret won’t help in moving forward.
The only lesson you can learn from regret is “let’s not do that again”.
I wanted to tell this to the still youthful Victoria.
“What’s there to regret? Victoria, you have plenty of time. We’re just second-year students at Ludens. It’s an age where we can start anew and build our names even if we have to start from scratch.”
“What are you saying, you’re talking like an old man.”
I was not even twenty years old now.
An age where I could do anything.
“A fresh start….”
Victoria mumbled, deeply moved by my senior life story.
Victoria, don’t worry too much. You’ll do well.
And I felt like I could do well no matter what, either.
