Chapter 37. Failure
"How do you feel?"
After two days of finals, as they walked out of the testing room, Xander stretched and relaxed.
They didn't allow early submission after finishing, so he was bored to death.
Watching Ken Sugisaki and the others come out with him, he asked casually.
"It was okay. No tricky questions, but getting a perfect score again might be hard."
To keep his place in the student council, his grades could not be bad.
Kirito did not say much.
He just nodded lightly and said it was fine.
"What's there to worry about for finals? By the way, have you decided where to go for summer break? If not, want to come hang out with me?"
All four of them were near the top of the grade.
Iori Kitahara waved his hand and looked at the three with some anticipation.
"Ah, sorry. I promised everyone in the student council we'd move as a group, so I can't go with you."
Walking along, Ken Sugisaki apologetically patted Kitahara on the shoulder, only to receive his blank-faced response.
"Oh. Then may your harem dream come true."
Not jealous.
Not jealous.
It's just going out with four beautiful girls.
Iori Kitahara wasn't jealous at all.
"What about you two?" He turned his gaze to Xander and Kirito.
"Me? I'll probably stay home. It's too hot in the summer. And a few games I like just came out..."
Scratching his cheek, a little embarrassed, Kirito's voice carried a tinge of apology.
"Ah, as for me, I've already made plans with someone to go to Europe, so, sorry~"
Xander spread his hands, cutting off Iori Kitahara's last hope.
"Tsk. No one's free? Forget it. My older cousin invited me to spend a few days at the beach near her place. I was thinking of dragging you along. Looks like I'll go by myself."
Iori Kitahara scratched his head and spoke helplessly.
"Older cousin? What are you doing at the beach?"
Catching a detail that drew Xander's interest, he asked curiously.
"Mm. I remember her family runs a dive shop. It's pretty close to the St. Freya we went to last time. I don't really know how to swim, but I heard you don't need to swim for diving, so I can just go try it."
"I see..."
Looking at Iori Kitahara's slightly expectant expression, Xander silently mourned for him for a moment.
Brave warrior, farewell.
...
"Princess. Princess?"
In an elegantly decorated tatami room, Reisen looked worriedly at Kaguya Houraisan, who was kneeling at the table, eyes unfocused and a little absent.
A dozen calls finally drew Kaguya's attention.
She looked at Reisen, the expression on her face still faint.
"Is there something you need?"
"N-no, it's just... your condition seems poor today. Not only in the flower-arrangement class during the day, but just now as well..."
"No need to worry. I merely slept poorly."
Kaguya shook her head lightly and then stopped paying attention to Reisen.
Her condition was indeed poor, and not sleeping well last night was just one insignificant reason.
The true cause was what she had gone through the previous night.
After the game's release, the first week's sales and profit numbers had already come out.
Having made a prior promise, she could only bite the bullet and take the data to her father.
Because the costs were too high, they had only just about broken even so far.
In the eyes of her father, who controlled the lifeline of the national economy, those were probably dreadful numbers.
Sure enough, after looking over the document, her father didn't say a single word.
He didn't even look at her.
He simply let out a faint scoff and tossed the document into the trash.
And Kaguya could only dim her gaze and slink away alone.
To this day she still did not understand why a work like To the Moon would appear on a stage aimed at newcomers.
Wasn't that just deliberately bullying people?
Unfortunately, thinking about it now was useless.
Having lost her one chance, she had also lost the fate of gaining her freedom.
Most likely, in the future, her father would arrange a marriage with some other magnates—marry a man she had never even met—then stay at home to manage the household and teach children, and have a headache over those rotten affairs between great houses.
She exhaled softly and let go of the helplessness in her heart.
Forget it.
Hadn't she long since steeled herself for this?
Long ago, Kaguya had foreseen such a future.
This time, even Eirin probably wouldn't be able to protect her.
To want the treatment of a noble house and also want freedom—how could there be such convenient good fortune in this world?
While Kaguya was still a little absent-minded, the bedroom door was knocked upon.
"Please, come in."
As soon as Kaguya's voice fell, the delicate wooden door swung open.
A mature-looking woman with a white braided ponytail entered with a trace of worry on her face.
She was about to speak upon entering, but after seeing Reisen to the side, she silently halted.
The quiet air congealed for a moment.
If Reisen still couldn't read the atmosphere now, she might as well not work in this country.
Giving the two an awkward nod, Reisen hurried out and firmly closed the door.
She even deliberately made her footsteps louder as she left.
Only when there were no other sounds did Kaguya, as if setting down a heavy weight on her body, sigh again and speak.
"So you've come, Eirin."
Lifting her head to look at her, Kaguya's smile was somewhat bitter.
"Sorry, Eirin. I failed."
The woman Kaguya called Eirin was silent for a moment.
Her voice carried comfort.
"No. You already did well enough. What happened this time was just an accident."
"An accident? It seems my luck really is poor. I wasted the one chance you fought for me."
As someone who wasn't even the eldest daughter of the family, she had been raised as a fine "tool" from birth.
If not for the friendship she had formed with her teacher and family executive, Eirin, she might never have even had a chance to resist.
"So then, Eirin—coming this late, is there something you need?"
It was already close to dinner time.
Eirin should still have been busy now.
At this, Kaguya suddenly noticed Eirin's brow knit, and even her voice grew heavy.
"Your father... asked me to bring you to tonight's banquet. They say... there will be an important guest."
Hearing this, Kaguya's expression stalled for a moment.
But then she bloomed into the most beautiful smile, like a cluster amaryllis by the Sanzu River—so bewitching, yet so fragile.
"Is that so? He really does like to strike at the heart. He even had you come to invite me on purpose."
She stood slowly and walked to the window.
Her thick black hair slipped free of its hairpin and spilled down with the breeze.
The orange sunset shone through the window and draped over Kaguya, as if reflecting the scant afterglow left upon her.
"Eighteen already and still not married out. I wonder if anyone will still like an 'old woman' like me~"
Turning back, Kaguya seemed to smile happily.
Eirin could only reply with silence.
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