Chapter 94 – Party preparations are over… Now…
“I’m sorry…. No, I’m sorry….”
“It’s okay. Thank goodness I was able to dry myself with magic. “I won’t catch a cold.”
“I tried removing all the impurities with cleansing magic… I’m not very confident in magic, so take a bath when you get back. The river water doesn’t seem to be very clean. “It would be much better than a big city that was nothing but filth.”
“It’s okay. “But I saw fish still alive.”
“……… And I’m not sorry for falling into the river.”
Anastasia continued speaking in a muffled voice.
Professor Aegis’ medicine, which is described as mysterious and suspicious, has not yet lost its effectiveness.
It was a little strange to apologize while wearing the appearance of ‘Eugene Seo Neferna’, but it also gave me courage to hear such an unfamiliar story as if I was wearing a mask.
“I’m sorry for tricking you. Since it seems like I’ve already been caught, I’ll tell you again formally. I am Princess Anastasia. She ruined a long-awaited date and was really… Really… I’m sorry.”
“………… Date?”
“To Master… So, you’ve been looking forward to your day with Professor Neferna, right? “It might have been an excuse to buy things or ingredients needed for the party.”
Cecilia could feel her tail rustling under her skirt. It was not difficult to see that her face flushed at the mere mention of Eugene. Looking at her like this, she actually feels jealous but also loses her temper.
“Anastasia.”
“……… Yes?”
“I am enjoying my day to the fullest.”
“Yes?”
Anastasia blinked her eyes and looked at Cecilia.
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Cecilia’s face looked so peaceful that I couldn’t believe she was ‘enjoying’ anything.
“… Is that correct? “Have fun?”
“Yes, it’s been a while since I went out. “I’m pretty excited.”
“I don’t think it’s the facial expression.”
“Is that so? “I thought she was smiling.”
“You don’t have to lie.”
“… It’s not like that. It’s quite enjoyable. Of course, it’s nice to be alone with the teacher, but it’s also fun to be with Anastasia like this. It reminds me of when I was in the old castle. “At that time, you hid your identity as ‘Princess.'”
The tip of her nose felt like it was being pulled.
The sad feelings I had tried so hard to hide began to burst out like a flood.
I could have expressed it a little more softly, but when I came to my senses, I ended up muttering in a sulking manner.
“… “You didn’t even pretend to know when you came here.”
“I did it.”
“I didn’t do it.”
“I remember jumping in as soon as I first saw him. It wasn’t like this now….”
Looking back on my memories, it was the day I entered the academy with the crown prince as a princess.
All the way… Pigmentation? Did you say it was a characteristic of the fox tribe?
Anastasia also recognized young Cecilia at a glance, but she never pretended to know her directly. Because she knew very well that if she was rejected even once, she would never be able to come back again.
To tell the truth, Anastasia had always expected Cecilia to talk to her first.
“It’s all the rage and all, and after it got bigger again, I couldn’t even make eye contact!”
“Well, okay.”
“You don’t deny it. Are you feeling burdened by me being the princess? … “Is it too hard to get close?”
Then Cecilia just smiled calmly.
“…… Once upon a time, in the imperial castle. When she helped me, she usually appeared disguised as a maid. “Even though she didn’t come that close as a princess.”
“…… “She was just wondering, but I guess she noticed then too.”
“As you may have felt today, the princess herself, she is not good at lying. She knew right away. …… But she will always be grateful.”
“No. She can’t be thanked. She didn’t even help me in person. “She gives useless help when no one is watching, and even if she had good intentions, it is a deception.”
“If the princess had not been there at the time, I wonder if I would have been here now. …… She may sound a bit mean-spirited, but she is actually a princess. When the princess came to the academy and declared that she wanted to become a warrior of the 6th Holy Sword, she knew that more than anyone else, the princess had her qualifications. “I firmly believed that I had it.”
“………… “You overestimate me.”
“Even if she didn’t necessarily help me in the imperial castle in the past, she knows that the princess has a heart for someone…. She hid her identity and often went outside the imperial palace to take care of those in need. “She must have been struggling in her difficult position in the imperial palace, but even in the midst of that, she always did good deeds.”
“It’s a fairy tale. It’s fantasy. She just wanted to fulfill herself by doing that. In the end, it may have been well-intentioned, but the motive was extremely disrespectful…. “That’s not justice.”
“I don’t even have such a dream.”
“Okay, I understand. I won’t talk like that again from now on. Are you done?”
I guess it will continue to be a parallel line.
Anastasia felt discouraged as she saw Cecilia smiling brightly instead of answering.
“But how did you know? As I was quietly listening to what was being said, it sounded as if I had known it from the beginning. “I was acting like my teacher.”
“I knew that it wasn’t just the acting, but also that it changed once in a while.”
“Yes? Really?”
This is amazing. Anastasia made a threatening sound with an absurd expression. As Professor Aegis’s special medicine slowly wears off, his original voice comes out.
“It is a spirit.”
“Spirit?”
“The teacher told me that the fox race is a race loved by spirits. I see spirits in my eyes. Each person is followed by various spirits. And if you look closely, you can see the difference. For example, the teacher always has a round, black spirit attached to him.”
“Really? Is that what you noticed? That’s all… ? “This is the first time I’ve heard that such a subtle difference can be seen even through the eyes of a fox tribe member.”
I knew very well that the fox tribe was sensitive to spirits, but it also had its limitations. When Anastasia pointed that out, Cecilia began to relax a little. Sighing softly, she belatedly and carefully answered.
“…… The rate at which the teacher breathes, and the sighing rate of once every 45 minutes. Pulse that can be heard by ear. And his habit of occasionally putting his hand on her shoulder when he was anxious. The number of times you blink, the first thing you make eye contact with when looking at me, but then your cute gaze goes straight to my chest. Even the way he always twitches his hands as if he wants to touch my tail and ears, all of that adds up to teacher…………..”
“……… ….”
“………… “As expected, you’re scared.”
“……… ….”
“………… It’s a secret from you, teacher. “Of course.”
“…… Eliminating the smell wasn’t going to work in the first place.”
Why on earth was he doing this?
It felt as if everything had been lost.
She never thought that being a princess, being noble, or showing off was unnecessary, but she never wore a mask with sincerity either.
Things that you have been holding on to for a long time leave in an instant.
When I took off one layer, I saw that it was not the princess Anastasia, but the woman who had stolen a rough maid uniform and appeared in front of Cecilia, and her personality and way of speaking, which I had kept secret since I was a child and only when I was alone, came out.
The first thing I did was get rid of honorifics that didn’t suit me. Looking at her friend, she loosened her hair and struck him.
“Ah, I don’t know. I want to stop now. “I’m exhausted.”
“Now I finally know you as the princess. The appearance was so foreign that it was difficult to approach. “It’s unfamiliar.”
“Really? Would you like to act it yourself? ‘Princess Anastasia’…. Well, it might be easier than playing her teacher.”
“But the reason you did this… ? Is there something urgent for you, teacher? “If you had told me, she would have changed the day.”
“Don’t even talk. That’s a really absurd reason. He said he had a dinner date with Professor Freya. Oh, and that… Same with the promise I made with a blood relative named Undine. “She said she tried to ask you to change her appointment, but she couldn’t meet you?”
She did not miss the way Cecilia’s eyes sank for a split second.
“… So, the teacher is currently having her meal with Professor Freya…… ?”
“Huh? Ah, uhm… Well, for now… ?”
“……… ….”
“………… Cecilia?”
“…… Are you saying that you chose to abandon me and enjoy a meal with someone else?”
Ah, yes.
This is a crack. This is a chilling feeling that goes beyond jealousy.
Now, wouldn’t she be able to get her friend back who was taken away by that foolish man?
My body came back before I knew it. She felt like her field of vision was strangely narrowing, but it was because her height had dropped by about a hand. Anastasia muffled her excitement by covering her mouth with her own slender hand, now free of her magic potion.
This is your opportunity. You have to seize the moment. hehehe, she smiled and then accepted it in a sly tone.
“That’s right. She must be sitting across from each other and drinking a lot of wine by now, right? Just in case. “I wonder what they’ll do when they get drunk together.”
“Wine… ?”
“Yes, wine.”
“Just now… “She changed her body with you.”
“Ah, yes. That’s right. I’m scared that my identity will be discovered… “
“Then…” What did you do with the wine glasses and cutlery? When the princess changed her body.”
“Dishware? She wrote what was on that table… ?”
“The teacher would naturally have used it too.”
“I guess so. “Because she didn’t drop it.”
“Then it’s an indirect kiss.”
For a moment, I didn’t understand what they were talking about.
Why on earth does that happen? They say the mind has changed, but the body is the same. Therefore, the saliva is still the saliva of ‘Eugene Seo Neferna.’
“Wait a minute, Cecilia. Think about it a little calmly. If you look at it that way, if I enter Master’s body and breathe and swallow saliva, does that mean it’s a deep kiss? Huh? That’s not true. I just changed my body briefly with magic…… “
“……………………………… Deep kiss… ?”
It may have been thought to calm her down, but it seemed to only arouse her excitement. Losing her vitality, she felt her whole body tremble the moment she met her black, discolored eyes.
Something happened. It was not the time for her to worry about Eugene.
***
ㅡNow that you have been caught by Cecilia, take your time and relax.
When on earth… ?
After Anastasia’s last words, I had to end dinner with Freya in anxiety. I thought I was enjoying expensive food for the first time in a long time, but I was so distracted by that one word that I couldn’t even taste it. I wanted to ask what was going on, but Anastasia was out of range after that one word. Was it an illusion that the voice was strangely subdued?
Anyway, I walked Freyja, who was a little drunk, to her dorm, pretended that I had some business to do, and then left the school.
“Where are you going?”
“…… Oh, I have something to give you from Undine.”
“Ah, I see. It’s a shame. See you tomorrow.”
I arrived at the stream in the next village, leaving behind Freya, who waved her hand in a strangely disappointed look, and immediately pinched the cheek of Undine, who was sleeping comfortably inside the 13-layer barrier.
It’s like soft dough.
“Undine.”
“Ugh… “
“Undine, you need to wake up.”
“Huh…… “
He complains until midnight.
I didn’t expect you to be sleeping until now, but I guess I really didn’t sleep a wink last night.
That was when I pulled Undine’s cheekbones and made them into star shapes.
At that very moment, I felt a sign of presence behind my back.
“Teacher. “Are you here?”
“How…?” It’s a surprise… Three, Cecilia?”
“Hello, teacher.”
When I turned my gaze, I saw Cecilia looking at the two of us. Since when has it been there? I didn’t hear any footsteps… ?
Against the dreary darkness, a detached smile is directed at me. She opened her mouth.
“The party is ready.”