Arc 10: The Empress’s Eye (6)

Aten and I sat side by side in the library.

We had drawn plenty of attention on the way, but perhaps because this was a library, people soon lost interest. Aten had been following me around since yesterday, so anyone likely to hear about it probably already knew.

“Are you really going to tutor me?”

“Yes.”

Aten gave me a dubious look. Actually, her expression barely changed; that was just my interpretation. Maybe I was imagining it.

“I have my doubts.”

I wasn’t imagining it.

Was she the type who couldn’t rest until she said everything on her mind?

I brushed it off and opened my notebook. Then I opened the class materials I had copied into the Workshop so far.

Aten couldn’t see them, but I was quite literally copying the material into my notebook.

“... What are you doing?”

“Honestly, it’s too late to teach you the conventional way and get you through the exams without failing.”

The problem wasn’t how difficult the midterms were. It was how much they covered.

Aten had spent her life in the imperial household learning etiquette and skills, so she knew almost nothing about the school curriculum. That was something I knew for certain from playing the game.

‘All of Constel’s written exams require written responses anyway.’

The game didn’t make players take the exams themselves, but that was what I’d heard.

In that case, I couldn’t simply transcribe what I had stored in the Workshop. That would go beyond any claim of having a good memory. If someone accused me of cheating, I’d have no defense.

So I needed to rewrite the class materials I’d copied into the Workshop in my own words. The summary I was writing now served that purpose too.

I filled an entire page and handed it to Aten.

“Here. Memorize this.”

“... What is it?”

“A month’s worth of classes since I enrolled at Constel.”

It didn’t contain everything. I had cut out anything unnecessary without hesitation.

I couldn’t write all of it down, there was no guarantee Aten could remember it all, and I wasn’t trying to get her a perfect score in the first place. She only needed to avoid failing.

Aten took the sheet and stared blankly at it.

“... Is this really from the curriculum? You didn’t just make it up?”

“It would be more impressive if I could come up with something like that off the top of my head.”

“But you’re writing straight into your notebook without even a textbook.”

“Well, yes.”

Because I was copying what was in the Workshop.

“Don’t tell me you remember it all? Everything covered on the midterms?”

“Well, more or less.”

The Workshop was mine, after all.

I was already writing the next page as I answered. Aten watched for a moment, then focused on the sheet I’d handed her.

She seemed to have realized I was serious.

A stretch of quiet followed. I copied material from the Workshop while Aten concentrated on reading the pages I gave her.

She occasionally underlined passages she thought were important, so she seemed to be taking this seriously too.

At last, I said, “Finished.”

I handed Aten the final sheet. That was a brief summary of everything covered on the midterms. Rewriting the Workshop’s contents in my own style had made it worthwhile for me too.

Aten took the sheet and stared blankly at it. After all this, she had to realize I hadn’t just carelessly scribbled something down.

She spoke, still looking dazed.

“I heard you were lazy...”

“I’ve been reborn as a new man.”

Well, that wasn’t exactly untrue.

* * *

That night, Aten was studying at her mansion.

Following Frondier around left her only a little time at night to study. She had thought she would never get through all the exam material on this schedule, but now it seemed possible.

“... It was real.”

Aten compared the pages Frondier had given her against the course materials.

... They were accurate down to the last word. Even the spelling of difficult-to-memorize terms was flawless.

“Can a human being really have a memory like this?”

Of course, he hadn’t included everything, but he had left out none of the important points. That could only mean he had a grasp of the entire curriculum.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Just then, Aten’s Sagephone rang. It was a loud, urgent sound, as though a disaster alert had gone off.

She picked it up and answered.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Aten, dear! You’ve worked hard today. How are you doing?”

Philly’s affectionate voice came through the phone.

“Fine, I guess.”

“Have you made friends with your classmates?”

“Hmm, not really.”

“Oh, my! I told you to make friends with them. At your age, studying is all well and good, but friends are the most impor—”

“I’ve gotten a little closer to Frondier, that’s all.”

“That’s my girl! ... I mean, i-is that so?”

Mom, you’re letting your true feelings slip right out.

Why was she so bad at hiding what she thought?

Aten would make sure never to be like that.

“Then, have you asked him about... that?”

“The Dragon Heart?”

“Yes, yes.”

“No, not yet.”

“Good. Well done. Wait until the boy is so hopelessly smitten with you that he can’t think straight, then ask.”

... So smitten he couldn’t think straight?

Aten considered that for a moment. If she waited for that, she might never get to ask.

Philly spoke as though something had suddenly occurred to her.

“Oh, right. I hear Constel’s midterms are coming up.”

“... Yes.”

Of course, Aten knew it hadn’t simply “suddenly occurred” to her.

“About those midterms. Apparently, outsiders can watch the practical exams! So I’m coming to see my daughter shine.”

“You’re coming here?”

“Yes, with your older sisters.”

Aten’s expression stiffened.

Her sisters were coming. They were the very reason she had so readily agreed to transfer to Constel.

Aten sighed before replying.

“Okay, I understand. But don’t come during the written exams. You won’t get to see me even if you do.”

“Of course not. Your mother is a busy woman, you know! I’m making quite an effort to find time for the practical exams.”

“All right.”

After a few more exchanges, Aten hung up and sighed.

Her sisters were coming. In some ways, they were even more troublesome than her mother.

She glanced at the pages she had been reading—the pages Frondier had written for her.

“... Let’s work hard.”

After saying those few words aloud, Aten picked up the pages.

* * *

The written midterms.

I wrote down all my answers and left the room. I’d worried that what I’d stored in the Workshop might not be enough, but that hadn’t been a problem at all.

Was this the power of a cheat sheet? For the first time in a while, I actually felt like I was breaking the rules in this world.

I was the first student in the classroom to leave. No one seemed to find it particularly strange.

They probably thought I’d scribbled down whatever came to mind or turned in a blank paper. I didn’t care what they thought.

Today was the day I would test the Wizergram. With midterms looming, I hadn’t had a chance to use it, but now the written exams were over.

As I hurried toward the estate, right in front of me—

SCREECH!

A car stopped.

“...?”

It was an exceptionally luxurious sedan, the kind of vehicle whose mere ownership spoke volumes about someone’s wealth.

A rear window rolled down.

“Hellooo.”

A woman greeted me languidly. White hair, red eyes. I recognized that harmless, rabbit-like face.

Philly Terst.

She had come to see me.

“Get in. We have somewhere to go.”

“...”

I opened the car door without a word. I couldn’t refuse anyway. What else could I do when the invitation came from the empress?

Besides, Philly was an uncomfortable person to deal with, not a villain. As things stood, I had no reason to be afraid.

... Though she came awfully close to morally gray.

The car pulled away as soon as I sat in the back seat. Apparently, the destination had already been decided.

“Why didn’t you answer my text?”

“I thought you were joking, Your Majesty.”

I’d hoped she was joking. Of course I would, when the empress suddenly told me, ["Let’s meet sometime soon."]

Philly tilted her head.

“You must know why I contacted you.”

“I haven’t the slightest idea.”

“Ahahaha!”

Philly laughed aloud. Then she slowly opened the red eyes her laughter had hidden.

“You’re lying.”

“...”

“You know, don’t you?”

I deliberately kept silent.

Philly disliked people who were excessively obliging toward her, people who seemed easy to push around. If I let her position as empress intimidate me, I couldn’t have a proper conversation with her.

“How do you know about Dragon Hearts?” Philly asked.

Her red eyes were different from Aten’s. Her gaze, her expression, her tone—everything suggested nothing more than pure curiosity.

I met her eyes and smiled.

Languidly.

“Who knows?”

“Have you seen one somewhere?”

“Have I, indeed?”

“And how did you know that eating one would leave someone a wreck?”

“That’s a secret.”

My answers were as good as no answers at all.

“Hmm.” Philly grinned.

“Aren’t you curious what would happen if you died here?”

At some point, a dagger had appeared in her left hand. She lightly pressed it against my throat.

I looked at the dagger. Naturally, it was added to Weaving’s Workshop.

[Terst Imperial Ceremonial Dagger]

- A dagger required for conducting various imperial ceremonies.

- As a ceremonial implement, it has no killing power.

Well, now.

Sure, even a blunt weapon could kill someone if you stabbed them in the throat.

Seen like this, Philly’s smile and mine were remarkably alike.

“I am curious. About what would happen to you, Your Majesty.”

“...”

Philly’s expression stiffened slightly at my words.

“After creating a strange event like a department-store quiz to obtain information on Dragon Hearts, sneaking around behind the imperial household’s back, and arranging for your own daughter to meet a boy she’d never seen before...”

I moved closer to Philly. I paid no attention to the dagger pressing into my throat, because she drew back by the same distance.

“If that boy were to die in a car like this, if all those painstaking efforts you didn’t even want the imperial household to see were to come to nothing... I’m very curious indeed about just what would happen to you, Your Majesty.”

“... Frondier de Roach.”

“Yes. That is my name. Exactly right.”

“What do you want?”

That was Philly Terst for you. Quick to assess the situation.

I said, “I want to see a real Dragon Heart.”

“... Hmm. Just seeing it would be enough?” Philly asked.

Oh dear. You’ve made a mistake.

My smile deepened.

“So you agree that alone wouldn’t be enough, Your Majesty.”

Philly let out a hollow little laugh.

Well, since she’d put it that way, I might as well get a bonus.

“Allow me to choose one weapon from the imperial armory.”