I watch the cute girl in front of me all flushed red from her confession. I can only imagine how breathless she would have been if she had known the person she was confessing about was right in front of her. Still, this is giving me a headache and draining me at a speed I am no longer used to.
The Heroine is adorable, to say the least. No, in fact, I am quite sure she has been made to fit the ideal woman for... if not girls... then boys. Perhaps a mix of both. I mute out the fawning whispers of the rest of our classmates and focus on the problem in front of me.
I mean that quite seriously. She is a problem. She is digging into something I cannot allow her to dig into. I didn't expect her to actually have fallen in love with me. We were eight years old, it is nothing more than a childhood crush. Alstair, it's your job to have the prince role, go charm her and make her forget about 'Augustus'...
"Your love will never blossom, Claire-chan," I finish off her hopes of marrying Augustus with a swift strike. As expected her eyes go wide and teary.
"Why not, Lily-sama?" She almost whisper out.
"Ah~ something about Augustus being impotent, right?" Gilbert intervenes as the bundle of death, poison and information he is. Looks like he finished dealing with the poor foreigner. I should probably check up on her later.
"Eh?" Our sweet Heroine's eyes fill with shock, and then pain.. or more correctly... pity. She's imagining her beloved hero being in such pain for not being able to have children, and how lonely he would be... She's open as a book... aaand here it comes, that little bit of determination that will make everything go awry:
"I will love Augustus-sama even if that is such! Even if I cannot share the blessing of life with him, I still love him."
Ah... beloved Heroine... please... stop... don't shine so brightly! Look! Even Soleil is looking like he's about to give up on you because of your intense public confession!
She's so determined... it's so pretty, but I don't want to be a target of that! If I am a target of that, then I'll have to marry Alstair and he'll get rid of me to get to her!
'Augustus likes men.'
Nearly pops out of my lips in a panic. Thank goodness it didn't, that would've had irreversible consequences. I must've paled a bit at the thought of how all the soldiers would've reacted to Augustus if they saw him again.
Okay, okay, let's talk to her logic. I doubt it'll work, but it is worth an attempt.
"Claire-chan, you must not say such things. You are the only person in the country blessed by a fairy of light. You have a duty to the kingdom to bring new life."
I give her my very best sympathetic smile. I am hardly good at it, but just let it work this once.
Our sweet Heroine presses her lips together, and her tears appear to be right about to flow over.
"But! Hero-sama..."
She gripped her skirt as the first tears began to roll down her sweet pale cheeks...
This doesn't count as bullying... right?
You cannot just go easy on me to drop the heroine's tears on me like this!
"It is fine, Claire-chan. Augustus will not be alone, and I am sure one day Augustus will smile. Augustus needs not a Heroine to save him after all."
T-there... my very best response.
How is it?
She cries harder.
Someone... please help me-
Kyun~
Eh?
I solidify. I'll admit that. My body runs cold in an instant and I gasp for a small breath... as Claire throws herself against me and wraps her arms around me all while sobbing. Her chest presses against my lap as she slides down against the floor, her face against my stomach as... a child seeking solace would in this world.
Help.
I glance stiffly to the side for William and Soleil who should have interest in the girl... but they're looking away awkwardly... Bridgette is crying too... Jesmaine... she looks away immediately, pretending we don't exist. A-anyone else? Gil?! Gilbert just smiles as if he's looking at something cute. Don't just look! HELP!
No help arrives and our Heroine cries harder.
Erhhhh.... etiquette for this world... h-how should I console someone like this?!
P-perhaps that stroking of heads would work.
I hesitantly move a hand to her head and with a careful stroke give her head a little pet...
She doesn't stop crying.
I stiffly try a few more times... and thankfully... with more times it seems to work. Though, by the time she finally stops crying our teacher has arrived and is waiting impatiently for the scene to end... and my nerves are frayed and frazzled.
The rest is a bit blurry... but our Heroine apologizes many times and our teacher finally gets started on introductions. Thankfully our proper classes don't start until tomorrow, so I can escape for some, in my opinion, well earned rest.
I excuse myself from the classroom without allowing anyone to even attempt to stop me with conversation. I intend to head directly back to the dorm room, and I am relieved I managed to place my things there this morning.
Magdalin actually let out a small yipe as she saw me in the hallway and hurried to my side.
"L-Lily-sama?! What happened?!" Is it that visible? I must be incredibly exhausted.
"She asked about Augustus." I decide to leave it at that for now and make it back to the dorm room without further interruptions and lay down on the bed.
Magdalin watches me with sweet worry.
"Are we done for the day? Are all the events over for today?" She asks innocently. I understand why. I don't have the energy to come into contact with the Heroine again, so I shouldn't risk it by observing her events in case I would get caught.
"There are two more I believe. The Heroine gets lost on her way to the dorm, gets distracted at the school fountain and falls into it... is the next one."
Magdalin's eyes narrow in disbelief, though not at me.
"She falls into the fountain?" She asked to reconfirm my declaration.
"Eric ends up surprising her, and in return leads her here. They should be arriving around now." I roll over on my side, while Magdalin moves to my window since it faces the entrance.
"Ah! You're right, she's soaking wet." Magdalin still finds this amusing to some extent. Either way, I'll have to ask Eric of his first impression of her tomorrow. He is partly aware of the situation as well after all. I did hint that he would fall in love with her, when we were still kids.
"So, what is next?" She asks curiously, probably running through the options in her mind.
"Mmm... She goes to the public bath and bumps into Lionel there. Since his shirt is open she will see his battle scars and they'll go into a conversation about war, if the wounds hurt, things like that."
Magdalin perks up.
"WHAT?!"
What? That one piqued her interest?
"We cannot miss an event like that?"
Why? Ah, could it be...
"You want a view too?" I ask without a worry of the decency of the question. We aren't in public, and I trust Magdalin after all.
"Of course." She smiles excitedly.
"I will prepare our things," she says with a happy hum and scurries off for towels and changes of clothes.
...
Then, I'll take a nap in the meanwhile. The villainess needs a break.