Chapter 101

So yeah, remembering how I got here, I can’t believe Queen Amalee got me into all this.

Summing up the rest, Queen Amalee proceeded to tell Edwen that I would be playing as myself with the cooperation of Clare, whom she managed to track down, and Alice, who was going to act as an intermediary for me, as Rita, after Queen Amalee had made contact with me in the Lunslur residence, where Queen Amalee and I worked out a deal where I, as Blake, would be a body double for myself till the trial against my father begins.

Thinking about all that is honestly getting confusing, so basically, I’m going to play as myself, as Rita, the noble lady of the tarnished Lucendi family. Edwen, along with everyone else he knew—Aria, my brother, Isaac, and Serell—had been informed about it, in which, after they saw me in a girls' school, they all had different reactions.

Aria was blushing when she saw me, and, reading her inner thought, she was questioning something that I got a vague feeling that I shouldn’t find out, so I immediately stopped reading her mind. Isaac and Serell, on the other hand, were completely shocked that I, as a dude in their minds, looked like a girl after putting on some female clothes, in which Isaac laughed straight up at my face, while Serell could barely keep it in, seeing what I had gotten myself into.

As for my brother, when he saw me, he immediately assumed I was Rita. He nearly rushed toward me and grabbed me in desperation, only to discover that I was Blake, posing as me. That caused his depression, which he had been slowly recovering from, to immediately plummet.

Sighing, I placed my right hand over my left arm as I looked out the window. So far, I had regained some use of my left arm, but everything below my elbow showed no signs of recovery, even with the royal healers Queen Amalee had sent; nothing they did seemed to help.

For that reason, Queen Amalee had done all of this to keep me safe and prevent me from venturing further into the dungeon, even though I still wanted to go back despite everything, though I suspect that was not the whole reason.

While I’d been roped into her schemes, I am willing to play along; after all, she is the queen. But there was another reason too, because once we found a way to heal my left arm, if possible, I could use the shortcut I had unlocked in one of the Royal Palace’s secret passageways. That way, I wouldn’t ever have to deal with that godforsaken, trap-ridden section of the dungeon again, which was why I was doing all this.

Seeing me blankly and expressionlessly looking out the window, holding my left arm, and fidgeting with my gloves that hid my Aether scars, Alice guessed what I was thinking since I had been unconsciously doing that lately whenever something troublesome came to mind, in which she decided to change the subject of the conversation to something other than the massive amount of work we have to do, me with schoolwork and her with her family.

“So, Rita, I just got a letter yesterday that Alex, Maria, Chelsie, Lucia, and Wendy are coming to the capital to meet with us in roughly two months from now.”

Hearing that, I was a little surprised. Given how busy I’d been, I’d… Let’s just say, I’ve completely forgotten about them up until now.

“Oh, really? What have they been up to these days?”

Smiling at my interest, she said, “From their letter, they have been mainly going around the kingdom and adventuring. Not only that, but they have been getting quite famous as new rising stars of the adventurer guild from saving a couple of towns from monster attacks and hordes and from even clearing a dungeon by themselves, which has raised their ranks for all of them to B rank.”

“That sounds like a fun time. It’s a shame that we can’t join them because that sounds fun.”

Hearing all that, I was for sure jealous of what they were doing because all that sounds leaps and bounds more fun than what I am forced to do.

I wonder how much stronger Alex and Wendy are now because they have definitely grown significantly more powerful, which makes a sparring match with those two going to be even more fun than the last time I fought them.

“Plus, interestingly enough, Alex also told me that they found a pitch-black sword artifact at the very bottom of the dungeon they’d conquered, by the core. He says that it’s a really powerful sword and that, for some reason, he can only use it.”

Well, now, that just makes it more interesting as a sparring match when he comes here. I can't wait to challenge him.

I had been waiting for him to have something like that because he is a protagonist and all, which I expected. Now I just wonder what kind of ability that sword has.

Ooh, how much am I going to bet that sword has some sort of spirit in it that is going to be part of his harem or something?

“Really, what type of sword is it? What are its abilities?”

Hearing my question, Alice shook her head, saying, “I’m afraid I don’t know, and they don't know either, which is why he is coming here because an apparent artifact appraiser acquaintance of theirs says that the sword of his is something that he doesn't even know and is beyond his ability to appraise. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, they won’t be here for roughly two months. The dungeon they’re conquering is located on a remote island, and the waters this time of year are quite turbulent, making it really unsafe to come back to the mainland.”

We continued to talk, where Alice filled me in on everything Alex and everyone had been doing, which was quite a lot, like their time taking down a criminal syndicate or exploring an isolated village on the southern coast of the kingdom.

Eventually, we were back at Alice’s manor, where Clare and I were staying. Passing the gate and at the doors to the manor, I saw Clare and Arnald waiting for us.

After exiting the carriage, they both greeted us, and we headed inside. Alice went to her office, while I went straight to my room and immediately began working on the schoolwork I needed to catch up on.

As the sun started to set, which was around the time I was halfway done with all the work that I needed to get done for today, I asked Clare, who was delicately embroidering a handkerchief to pass the time while occasionally helping me with certain things since I couldn’t use my left arm, to bring me some dinner to my room.

“Clare, I’m done with my homework. Could you bring me some dinner?”

“Of course, my lady.”

Putting down the needle she was using to embroider the handkerchief, Clare got up and bowed before exiting the room. Seeing her leave, I got up from my desk, unbuttoned the top button of my button-up uniform, and let out a breath.

Then, stretching a bit after sitting for the last couple of hours, I move to my bed and plop myself on it, letting out a miserable groan, which, of course, was completely flat and emotionless to a normal person.

Reaching for a pillow, I buried my head in it and began to roll on the bed, letting out most of my frustration.

Man, I goddamn hate all this work. I just finished all of my homework, but that is not the end of it. I still have to finish writing a 5-page essay that is due in a couple of days, followed by studying for several quizzes and tests I am going to have to make up over the weekend.

Most of the subjects were things I was already knowledgeable about, since I’d had tutors teaching me the material so I wouldn’t become an embarrassment to my family before I ran away. However, the problem was that my teachers were swamping me with all the work I’d missed all at once. On top of that, between the quizzes and tests I had to make up, I needed perfect scores on all of them just to compensate for my very poor attendance record.

It’s almost like they hate me, which I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear from them, since the old nobility faction is the one who is currently holding most of the power in the school right now, given that most of the children born to powerful families are currently from the old nobility faction.

When will all this end?

Another reason Queen Amalee was so adamant that I go to school, something she explained to me only after she had set everything in motion, was that, aside from keeping me safe while I recovered from my father, she believed it was what was best for me because education was important, after all.

Spreading my right arm and legs out, I stare up at the canopy and let out long, miserable sighs until I hear Clare’s footsteps coming, with a cart she was pushing that had my dinner.

Normally, since I am a noble and a guest at Alice’s home, I should eat dinner in the dining room with everyone, but… since I, and also Alice, were swamped with work, I decided to do what Alice was doing, which is to have someone bring food for her, which saved us a lot of time.

I got up as Clare came in and then walked to the table by the window, where Clare began setting up my dinner.

Seating me and helping place a cloth napkin on my lap, I saw that my dinner was grilled chicken breast with a spice rub, roasted root vegetables, and a herby butternut squash soup.

Given that I can only use one hand, the cooks have already cut the chicken and cubed the vegetables for me to make it easier for me to eat with one hand.

After I had eaten everything, which was quite tasty, though not as good as Clare’s, Clare gathered the plates and bowls onto the cart and informed me that the bath was ready for me before leaving to return the dirty dishes to the kitchen.

Now taking a bath, I keep it short since I have a lot of studying to do. So, a bit refreshed after taking a bath, I went back to work after Clare helped me put on my clothes, till it was late into the night.

I brushed my teeth and went to bed around 10:30 p.m. The next morning, Clare woke me up at about 6 a.m.

Helping me up. Clare once again helped me change out of my clothes after I took a really quick bath to wake me up and brought me food, which was a sweet porridge with diced-up fruit and a fruit bowl. When I was done eating, Clare and I quickly made our way to the main entrance and waited for Alice to show up.

“Good morning, Alice.”

“Good morning as well, Rita.”

Saying goodbye to Clare, I got in the carriage with Alice, and we proceeded to make our way to the Royal Academy.

Roughly 30-ish minutes later, at the main entrance, and another 10 minutes of walking to reach our building, where all of our classes are, for us, first and second years.

Entering my classroom, I went through the door, and the noise inside from my classmates chatting with each other suddenly stopped as they all turned to look at me.

Some of them whispered among themselves about me; others hid their giggles as they laughed behind my back, thinking I wouldn’t notice. A few even looked at me with open scorn as I walked to my desk by the window.

I ignored all that, as it barely concerned me, and sat down, setting my backpack on a small hook on the side of the desk and staring out the window until our homeroom teacher came in.

I listened to the lectures and took notes as my teachers came and went with each class until noon, when the bell rang to signal lunchtime, giving us a surprisingly long two-hour lunch break.

During that time, about a quarter of my classmates, those from at least moderately wealthy families, left the campus to dine at the restaurants and cafés outside for lunch. The rest of us, mostly from lesser noble families, such as the sons and daughters of barons or poorer viscount households, went to the dining hall for lunch instead.

As for me, I followed the ones who went to the dining hall, but I didn’t stay there for too long because, compared to most of the people there, who were waiting in line to get their food, which was in a tray that they had to carry and find a seat for, I went to the line that was offering baked bread and sandwiches instead, which was much faster and convenient since I am not going to eat here.

Choosing a bread that was best described as a bun with beef stew inside, a ham and egg sandwich, specifically the one with melty cheese in it, and a glass bottle of juice, I put them in my backpack and, leaving the dining hall as quickly as I came in, because I really didn’t want to encounter trouble.

However, just as I was stepping out of the dining hall through the less-used, more obscure third entrance I’d discovered the other day, I ran straight into the very trouble I’d been hoping to avoid.

Damn, these three, so they finally figured out where I went and found me.

Three girls moved to block my path. They were Elara, Mirelle, and Verena, basically the main bullies I have been encountering for the last few days. All of them are from relatively low-ranking families in the old nobility faction, making this a classic case of the lowest-ranking members of a clique acting under the orders of someone much higher up, just like in an otome game. Only, I’m not the heroine because Aria was.

All of them sneer at me, and Elara, the leader of this band of theirs, mockingly spoke first, followed by Mirelle, then Verena.

“My, what did the gutter rat bring in?”

“Did you whore yourself to those dirty Lunslurs, from what I have heard?”

“Oh, how far are you going to disgrace yourself further?”

Doing that thing where you cover your mouth a bit with the back of your hand, hiding their sneers beneath, as they giggle among themselves from their insults.

However, expecting me to react, I was instead thinking to myself, Oh, are they running out of things to insult me with already? Like, those very first insults they had hurled at me when I encountered them for the first time, though they were saying it differently this time

Putting up a smile since I want it to end quickly, I respond,

“Why yes, I did whore myself to the Lunslur family after all. I’m more than willing to do anything for the right price, you see. How did you know all that?”

Man, trying my best to act is really getting tiring and hard, though I was suspecting nothing was really changing that much from my default smile that I learned how to do after much, and I mean much, work, and the blood and tears of those poor tutors who had to teach me to make such an expression.

I hoped that they would pick up on my sarcasm; however, their sneers faltered, and the thing they were doing with their hand dropped.

I waited for them to respond, but I saw that they were stunned, completely so. Huh?

Seeing them like that, like they completely believed what I said, I didn’t really want to wait any longer and slip past them with the opening they presented. A few seconds later, as I rounded the corner and began to jog away, I heard them finally realize I was being sarcastic. Elara raised her voice and said, “Hey, wait, we aren’t done with you!” followed by them quickly chasing me, but by the time they did that, I was long gone.

Letting out a small "phew" that I lost them, a small part of me hoped that they would do something much more, how you put it, original or clever with their insults, other than the expected insults I would think to hear. I don’t know, maybe go for some low-hanging fruit that they think might hurt, like saying Edwen never really loved me in the first place or wishing that I were dead.

Heck, I would even take them directly threatening me with their magic so I could have an excuse to beat the hell out of them in self-defense.

I continue to make my way to my destination, which is in the underground gymnasium for the students who are taking magic classes, specifically the lockers, choosing a random one to put my backpack in because I know those three, especially, would do something to my backpack if I just left it alone by my desk while I was away. Plus, on a side note, carrying it everywhere was a pain since my left arm doesn’t work, making this much more convenient for me.

With my lunch in hand after taking it out from my backpack and locking my locker, I made my way up the stairs to the roof of the building, where nobody would disturb me, making it the usual place I go to for lunch break.

Nobody was supposed to be there, given the safety hazards. I was lucky to discover that one of the doors didn’t lock properly while I was looking for a place to hide from everyone, because if I repeatedly jiggled the doorknob just right, it would unlock.

So, walking up the stairs all the way up and to the doors that open to the rooftop, I open the door to find that I wasn’t completely alone.

There I saw Aria, Edwen, Isaac, and Serrel on the roof. Everyone was here, except for my brother, and they were all sitting on a picnic blanket with what seemed to be boxed lunches with them.

Aria noticed me first and waved me over to join them, letting everyone else know I was here in the process.

Oh, great, why this?

“Blake, over here.”

Walking up to them, I asked, “I didn’t think I'd see you all over here. What are you doing here?”

“I thought we would join you since you have been eating all by yourself.”

Hearing her explanation, I thought it was a complete pain and responded. “Well, yeah, I kind of need to keep my distance from you and Edwen, and maybe Isaac and Serrel as well, since, you know, I am pretending to be Rita right now, the former fiancée of Edwen, the 3rd prince of the kingdom, you know.”

Scratching the back of her head, she gave a wry smile and looked away apologetically, as if she hadn’t really thought about it, which she definitely had, from what I could sense.

“Ugh… right, it didn’t cross my mind, sorry.”

Bowing her head in apology, I looked at her and sighed, since it wasn’t entirely her fault because, looking at everyone else, they should have stopped her, but didn’t.

“Anyways, I don’t see Eric around. Is he here?”

Answering my question was Edwen, saying, “No, he’s… You know…”

Signaling to me, and I realized he meant since I looked like Rita, as Blake, leaving my brother unable to look at me or be around, given his already fragile mental state.

Seeing Edwen and me look at each other silently, both of us noticed Aria was about to ask, so Edwen quickly changed the subject.

“So, Blake, how is your arm?”

Asking that, it immediately drew the attention of Aria toward that subject, as well as Isaac and Serell.

“It’s fine, but it is not healing, which makes it a pain to hide it from everyone.”

Saying that out loud as I sat on the picnic blanket and carefully placed down my lunch that I was carrying with my right arm, Isaac asked a question pertaining to my left arm.

“So Blake, you haven’t told us what happened, have you?”

“No, I have not, and I don’t plan to because, as I said before, there were things I can’t divulge; what happened to my left arm is one of them, you see.”

“Really, out of curiosity, have you seen a healer? Have you tried having Aria heal it for you?”

Sounding like he didn’t really care but cared a bit like a tsundere, Serell adjusted his glasses while asking that.

“Unfortunately, I did, but they didn’t seem to heal it either, which is all I am going to say.”

“Most curious.”

“Yeah…”

Saying that put a bit of a damper on the mood, so seeing this, Aria clapped her hands together and asked how everyone’s day had been and what they planned to do today, trying to change the subject.

They responded by saying, "Good," which I did as well, and proceeded to tell everyone what we were going to be doing after school.

Edwen would return to the royal palace to catch up on his studies after finishing his student council duties. Isaac would be training with the new members in the swordsmanship club he was in, and Serell would head home immediately to continue his research and experiments in his lab.

As for me, I just told them I would be going back home, also catching up on my studies and school, saying that it’s to make up for all the work Rita missed.

Upon hearing all that, they asked if Aria would join them, causing them to argue among themselves about who Aria would join.

However, reading her mind, I had already guessed who she would join after school, which was Isaac, training the new members in his club because… muscles and… abs…

Yeah… I should really stop reading into her seriously, paradoxically dirty and pure mind. Thinking that, I took a bite of my sandwich, watching Isaac raise a fist in the air in a victory pose as Aria chose him in the end.