Each day after classes ended, the academy halls flooded with students heading to club activities, tea gatherings, and social appointments. Naturally, the corridors were packed.
Among the crowd stood three female students chatting near the student council room. At their center was Caroline Simmons, the caramel-haired daughter of Count Devill.
"Why was that girl walking with Lord Cyril and Lord Neil, I wonder?" Caroline asked from behind her folding fan.
Her two followers lowered their voices in reply.
"Perhaps she forced them to accompany her. She is the medical officer…"
"I doubt this could happen, but… she wouldn't be giving them dangerous drugs, would she?"
Caroline let out an amused snort. That girl, Lillian. That boring, unappealing girl—a member of the student council.
Members of the Student Council were the elite of Serendia Academy. Only those with both exceptional grades and exceptional lineage could join, especially under Felix Arc Castina, the empire's second prince and the current president.
The emperor had three sons but had yet to declare an heir. At present, support for the second prince was rising among the nobility. Backed by Duke Crockford, Felix's faction grew stronger each day. If this continued, he would surely become emperor.
Which meant every noble lady in the academy was practically tripping over herself for the chance to become his fiancée. Felix was also far more handsome than the boorish first prince or the forgettable third.
Caroline, who had fallen for Felix at first sight, loitered near the student council room whenever she could. Since Felix was a third-year and she a second-year, their paths rarely crossed. She would simply have to create those opportunities herself.
Lord Felix should be coming down this hallway any minute, she thought, brimming with quiet determination. Today, I'll make him notice me.
Footsteps sounded behind her. Her heart leapt—could it be him? She turned, only to see a stunningly beautiful girl with sleek blond hair.
Bridget Grayham, daughter of Marquess Tara. The first female member of the student council. One of the three most beautiful girls in the academy.
"You three are blocking traffic. Move aside," Bridget said coolly.
That was all it took. Caroline's followers immediately stepped back, and Caroline stiffly followed. If it had been Lana Colette—the impudent nouveau riche girl—she would have snapped, Why don't you go around me? But Bridget was on a completely different level.
Top grades, impeccable etiquette, flawless lineage. A childhood friend of Felix. The only female student he had personally nominated to the council. Many believed she was the most suitable candidate for his future fiancée.
In front of such perfection, all Caroline could do was bow her head and yield.
Bridget entered the student council room—but paused. The door was unlocked.
I should have been the first one here, she thought, puzzled.
Though the main room appeared empty, she heard soft voices from the adjacent reference room. Curious, she stepped closer—and froze.
Inside were two dark-haired figures. One, Claudia, with lapis-blue eyes and an aura of perpetual gloom. The other, emerald-eyed Lillian, reviewing documents calmly.
Claudia said something; Lillian rejected every suggestion. Between them, Neil and Cyril exchanged desperate looks.
Noticing Bridget, Neil straightened. "Good evening, Lady Bridget."
"Good evening, Secretary Grayham," she replied politely. Then, frowning, she asked, "Why is she here?" while pointing at Claudia.
"Oh." Claudia turned at once, expression utterly shameless. "Is this somewhere I shouldn't be? Or were you hoping to have my fiancé all to yourself?"
Bridget kept her face impassive, but the air around her shifted—her cool composure wavering just a touch. Neil looked helpless.
Lillian, glancing up from her documents, caught something subtle—Claudia's lips had curved upward by the faintest fraction as she spoke.
"…I didn't realize you were friends with her, Lady Lillian," Bridget said, attempting to change the subject. "I thought Lady Claudia hated all women near her fiancé, Lord Maywood."
Before Lillian could respond, Claudia slid close and practically pressed herself against her.
"We are friends," Claudia purred. "Isn't that right, Lillian, dearest?"
It was the first Lillian had heard of it. Wasn't this the girl who followed her around with thinly veiled hostility? Lillian stared in bewilderment as Claudia gazed up at her with vivid lapis eyes.
Just then, the second prince appeared, golden hair gleaming. "Hi there," Felix said casually. "What's all the ruckus about?"
"Well, that's…" Neil stepped back from the feuding ladies, relieved, and explained everything—how Claudia was determined to deduce how Lillian had solved the Classics Club's missing journal case.
"That is interesting indeed," Felix said, eyeing Lillian. "Lady Lillian, how did you do it?"
His tone sounded almost accusatory. Lillian sighed; she was not good at dodging questions.
"I simply set a trap after solving a math problem."
"A trap? For the Wall Newspaper Club president?"
"Yes. But could everyone speak more quietly?"
"Why?" Cyril asked. "Was it something shady?"
"In my experience, everything in the world is shady," Lillian replied dryly. "But in this case, it concerns Lord Wesley's medical privacy."
"…We won't tell anyone," Felix promised.
"Very well. First, Lord Maywood—didn't you find it strange that Wesley kept the door locked?"
"Well… he said he was preparing articles. I thought he didn't want to be disturbed."
"And the prep room? Why was the fan on when the window was open?"
"He was hot?"
"If that was true, the fan should've been placed near the window. Instead, it was positioned opposite it. In that position, even a small movement of the pen case would blow away all the B1 paper on the desk."
Claudia scowled. "So what?"
"What does that setup suggest?"
"…He was ventilating the room," Claudia muttered.
"Correct. The question is—why? And what was Wesley, from a respected lineage of scholars, doing alone with the door locked and motion-detecting sensors outside?"
"Wait—sensors?" Cyril blinked. "Those things only appear in novels!"
"No. They exist. State police proposed public access decades ago. Merchants over a certain profit threshold must install them."
"Where did you see them?"
"On the third-floor corridor wall outside the Wall Newspaper Clubroom. They blend in. And the prep room had a detector inside."
"You concluded all that in such a short time…" Felix said, visibly impressed. He couldn't recall the last time something genuinely surprised him.
"But that still doesn't explain where the journals were."
"I'm getting there. Since the sensors warned him in advance of people approaching, the question becomes, "Why risk scattering the B1 papers just to ventilate?"
Claudia tapped her finger, then snapped, "An odor."
"Yes. He was trying to get rid of a smell. If we include his use of alcohol spray, it wasn't obsessive cleanliness—it was to mask something."
Bridget hesitated. "Was he… smoking?"
"Correct."
"But smoking isn't illegal. Why go to such lengths?"
"I suspect two reasons. First, his family. They are prestigious educators. A scandal involving him would be unacceptable. In this age, anyone in a scholarly or public profession must avoid even minor impropriety."
"...I see. He certainly went to a lot of trouble."
Lillian agreed silently. Wesley had looked shaken when he realized Cyril and Claudia were from the esteemed Lineage of the Wise. If his secret were exposed by students from another venerable scholarly family, inter-family relations would worsen.
"And the second reason," she continued, "is that he was smoking for pain relief."
"Pain?" Cyril asked. "What pain?"
"He had white spots on his nails—symptoms of liver or kidney dysfunction. He likely consulted a doctor outside the academy, who prescribed medicinal tobacco to ease the pain."
Neil thought about it for a moment. "Then, um, why did he snap at you earlier?"
"Probably because he realized I knew what he was on edge about and where the safe was."
"And where was it?" Felix asked.
"In the prep room. This is the math problem I told you about. The Wall Newspaper Club made a makeshift table using the boxes when they changed rooms. However, those boxes are shaped in such a manner that they could only handle force from one side. If you constantly put weight on them for a long period of time, they will break. That is where the safe comes in."
"...But we didn't see it."
"Doesn't mean it wasn't there. You couldn't see it because it was covered up... I'm talking about the safe itself, not just the journals."
Lillian let the others digest what she meant by that and continued, "In most likelihood, he used the safe as a pillar and stacked the boxes around it, making a table, covering it up with a B1 sheet. As such, the journals were also hidden along with it. As for why he hid the safe away, that's because he was using it to store his cigarettes. Considering that we didn't see them or a lighter or an ashtray, it is likely he hid them all inside the safe. Which is why he was reluctant to let others inside the room."
"I see..." Bridget nodded. "Even if we decide not to speak a word of it, servants of noble families have extensive information networks. The moment they step into the room, everyone will eventually know about his secret."
Lillian took a deep sigh upon finishing her explanation. She did something bad to Wesley by putting him in a position where he had to comply with her request. Though she had no intention of exposing his secret, as everyone has secrets to keep, and Lillian wouldn't like it if her secrets were exposed either. Let's just say he was unlucky.
Cyril, whom Lillian had been speaking to all this time, took a sidelong glance. Following it, Lillian noticed the presence of a person who ought to have been more talkative about this.
"Your Highness?"
"There is something I want your opinion on," Felix continued. "There's been word that the barbarian tribe has been successfully subdued."
"Has it? And what's to come of it?" Bridget's eyes glowed with curiosity; this subject was more than enough to excite the interest of a bird trapped in the cage.
Several days before, a band of warriors had been sent out, on information that a tribe was once again plotting ill. At the moment, Castina Empire is largely at peace but issues such as this did sometimes mar its tranquility.
The warriors successfully drove back the barbarian scouts who had ventured into the empire, with hardly casualty to speak of. The trouble started on the way home. The food in the encampment was compromised and almost a dozen men came down with food poisoning. Many more were deeply demoralized. They had obtained the provisions at a nearby village just prior to coming into contact with the barbarians. Those villages were technically part of Castina, but historically they were not without their ties to the tribes.
One of the soldiers, armed, arrested the village chieftain. Several villagers who attempted to resist were killed on the spot for conspiring with the barbarians. The rest of the villagers would learn their fate after it was determined what would happen to their chief.
When Felix had delivered this precis of events, he took a sip of tea. Lillian wanted to grab her head in her hands. She wished she had never heard the story. There were so many things in the world one would be happier not knowing. While Bridget seem interested in the story, Claudia's reaction was the same as Lillian.
Upon noticing the frown on their brows, Felix smiled and asked, "So, what do you two think of it?" It was as good as an order to say something, so they had to find someting to say.
"There are far too many variables in this for me to come to a conclusion," said Claudia.
"And you, Lady Lillian?"
"...I offer only my personal opinion," Lillian said and pocked a branch out of a nearby vase in which some flowers had been arranged. This branch, which had no blossoms itself, was from a rhododendron. She plucked off a leaf and put it in her mouth.
"Is it flavorful?" Bridget asked, but Lillian shook her head. "No. Touching it can induce nausea and deifficulty breathing."
"And yet you've just had it in your mouth!?" Cyril said with a scolding look.
"You needn't fret," Lillian said to the worry-wart vice president, setting the branch on the table. "You see, even here on the grounds of the academy, there are poisonous plants. The rhododendron's poions is in the leaves, but other contain their toxins in the branches or roots. Some release poison if you so much as burn them up."
These hints, Lillian suspected, would be enough to leade the prince and the clever Bridget where she wanted them to go. Despite doubting it was necessary to continue, she did so: "When encamped, soldiers make a campfire from local materials, do they not?"
"Ah," Felix exclaimed.
"But that..." Bridget added.
It would mean the villagers had been punished unjustly. Lllian watched as Felix rubbed his chin throughtfully. She doesn't know his interest in the matter but she hoped that he might be able to help in some way, however minor.