༺ The Soaring Hawk (3) ༻
Louise had been acting a bit strange lately. Well, that didn’t sound quite right. It was more as if she had become more alert and careful.
Her gaze often seemed downcast as if she was deep in thought, and I noticed her biting her lips more frequently. Unlike her usual self, she wasn’t leading the conversations and was often just sitting there, lost in her own world.
‘Is it because of the impeachment saga?’
Maybe the continuous stress of being impeached had worn her down, leading her to retreat into silence. It made sense; when everything leads back to impeachment, staying silent might seem like the best option.
It was a pity, really. It was like a capybara finally yielding to the relentless hunting of five predators.
“Mmph!”
‘Maybe it’s six instead?’
My eyes met Louise’s as she cautiously looked up. She quickly lowered her gaze again, making a strange sound. I guess I was counted among those relentless hunters, too.
‘What’s going on?’
It surely wasn’t just about the impeachment. That was just light-hearted content we all participated in for laughs, and Louise had joined in, too. If she was worried about that, she would have shown it earlier. This sudden change was out of place.
Was she feeling guilty about rejecting the members? That seemed even less likely. If that was the case, she would have shown it right after it happened. Besides, Louise knew that showing guilt would be more of an insult to them.
And if it’s out of guilt, she wouldn’t need to be so wary of me.
“Loui—”
“Oppa, do you need more cookies?”
“Ah, yes.”
Before I could even finish saying her name, Louise quickly changed the subject with a force that could make anyone flinch.
It was hard to ask her directly when she kept deflecting it like that. Well, I can’t force her if she doesn’t want to talk.
Thinking about it, she might legally be an adult, but she was just a seventeen-year-old girl in reality. Maybe her adolescence was just hitting a bit late.
A teenage girl in her adolescence, surrounded by six guys. The thought was somewhat horrifying.
‘If only Irina were here.’
If she was, then Louise would at least have another girl to confide in. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen Irina since school started again.
Louise said that Irina was too busy with her club activities to visit after the semester began. Well. it was unavoidable. While Irina was almost like an honorary member of the pastry club, she was still an outsider.
“Ma—”
“Here you go!”
“…Thank you.”
I was just going to say that she didn’t need to give me so many.
‘That’s a lot.’
She had hurriedly scooped up a plateful of cookies, probably to prevent me from saying more. The amount reminded me of the amount of pastries they baked in preparation for the club fair.
I’m sorry. I won’t call on you carelessly anymore. I’ve been too thoughtless.
“I’ll eat them well.”
Looks like I’ll be having a light dinner tonight.
***
Although it was autumn, my insides felt like they were burning up in summer.
Ever since I started learning ice magic, I hadn’t felt hot. However, I didn’t expect to feel this kind of internal heat.
‘Is this going to be okay?’
Was it correct to just watch and do nothing about her behavior?
The advisor quietly ate cookies while Louise sneaked glances at him, quickly looking away whenever their eyes were about to meet.
‘What a pity.’
She had been like this for weeks, but it seemed to become worse recently. Her glances at the advisor became warmer and her escapades became quicker.
Well, I understood where she was coming from. With a designated first wife in the picture, she couldn’t make the first move. As a prince, I knew all too well how noble marriages worked.
But it was frustrating to watch. The advisor seemed oblivious, so Louise should take the initiative.
Just as I was about to sigh, I felt a cold droplet fall on the back of my neck.
“Are you alright?”
I turned around and saw Rutis behind me. It was clear he was the one who had dropped the water droplet.
“Yeah, I feel a bit better now.”
I almost questioned what he was doing, but then I let it go. That thick-skinned guy wouldn’t care what I’d say, and he had brought me back to my senses. Otherwise, I would probably just be sighing.
Rutis chuckled at my response and naturally took the seat next to me.
“People say that what goes around comes around.”
His words seemed out of the blue. Though this was a teaching of the Dawn Sect, it felt irrelevant to the current situation. But as if to clear my confusion, Rutis’s gaze shifted towards Louise and the advisor.
“I didn’t expect it to come back this quickly, though.”
He didn’t need to say anything more. I quickly understood the implication of his words.
Yes, it was karma. Since we had caused painful situations in the past, now seemed to be our turn to face consequences. As Rutis said, I never imagined it would come back this fast. It was as if the divine presence of Enen was watching over us because of the future saint among us.
What an absurd turn of events. Thinking about it now, feeling any contempt or scorn would be meaningless. It would be no different from spitting in my own face.
‘We can’t even help.’
Louise was holding back since she was being cautious of Lady Marghetta’s opinion, so there was nothing we could do to assist.
“We’d just add another failure to the count and change it from five failures to six.”
Rutis’s words from before were quite convincing. Who were we to think we could help?
We wanted happiness for Louise, not to have her as a comrade in romantic failure.
“Advisor, did you give Erich a push?”
“Advisor, you should’ve just kept watching.”
‘How awful.’
Just the thought of romance brought back the worst nightmares, and my brow furrowed automatically.
It was the worst nightmare of my life. Why did I ever say those things? I promised to do it right, but it ended up like this.
We’d probably become a hindrance instead of a help if we intervened now. Louise might even think we were trying to sabotage her out of spite.
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. I messed up, so please forgive me…”
I wasn’t a prophet, but I could almost see the future — I’d probably be desperately pleading after a misguided attempt to help.
“Do you think we’ll be able to survive this semester?”
“Well, hopefully. Let’s pray for that.”
The advisor suffered enough during the first semester; so I hope we’d be able to put up with it for one semester, too. Anything beyond that would be truly sad.
“Have some tea with us!”
“Thank you.”
I quietly shifted my gaze away.
It’d be better not to look any longer.
Club hours finally ended just when I felt the urge to freeze my senses, and I was finally able to return to the dorm.
‘This’ll probably last ‘til the end of the term.’
And that was just the bare minimum.
It was going to be a tough battle. Advisor, what kind of battles have you fought?
As I sighed softly, there was a knock on the door. I didn’t feel like seeing anyone, but it must have been important if someone had come to my door.
“Come in.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The person who entered was Dame Amanda.
‘It must be something about the homeland.’
Dame Amanda was in charge of communications with our homeland. In a way, she was the busiest person among our forces stationed at the academy.
If Dame Amanda had come personally, that meant that it must’ve been no ordinary matter. Normally, she would resolve things herself or report to Sir Gardan, who was our representative.
“What’s the matter?”
“I have a report from the homeland.”
My bad hunches were never wrong.
“The Five Pillars have made their move.”
“That’s rather urgent.”
I couldn’t help but sigh again at Dame Amanda’s report. I had heard that the Dove faction within the Five Pillars had lost power.
It was a significant shift in the political landscape, and even though I was in another country, I couldn’t be unaware of it.
However, I didn’t need to know more than that. Even the aggressive Hawk faction would take some time to regroup, maybe at least a couple of months. That time would have been enough for the royal family to respond, so it wasn’t something I needed to worry about.
But to say that they’ve already made their move? Were they out of their minds? The Dove faction hasn’t been completely eradicated yet.
“And, with all due respect…”
Dame Amanda hesitated unusually, struggling to continue. Her use of formal language suggested that the Hawk faction had caused a significant problem.
“They dared to plot against Your Highness.”
“Against me?”
This was unexpected.
‘Did I hear that right?’
Why would those in the homeland target me, who was here at the academy?
Even Dame Amanda seemed just as stunned, her expression filled with disbelief. She looked as if she was questioning the validity of her own words.
“Fortunately, loyalists within the Five Pillars exposed the traitors and quickly subdued them.”
“…That’s fortunate.”
I barely managed to get a response out. A major plot of royal assassination, foiled before it could properly begin, and by enemies within. To think that they would target me, someone so far from the homeland, and yet fail so miserably.
‘What are they even doing?’
Did they even prepare properly before attempting this? It was completely incomprehensible.
Of course, understanding the thoughts of a madman was naturally impossible.
‘This is irritating.’
It felt infuriating to be seen as an easy target by those lunatics.
“His Majesty suggested that since Your Highness is the victim in this situation, you may return to the homeland to personally punish the traitors.”
“I appreciate his kindness, but please tell him that I will not return.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Hearing my father’s subtle intention to call me back to the homeland made my head spin.
How could I return with my own two feet when I just left my homeland? Besides, only half a year had passed. I needed to complete the full three years.
‘What a mess.’
Did I enjoy living in a foreign country? I was here out of necessity.
It seemed Father understood, hence the offer instead of a command.
‘I should have been born later.’
Or perhaps my elder brother should have been born earlier.
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