Cyril sat Monica down on the couch and picked up a blanket that had fallen to the floor to drape it over her shoulders.
"I'll be heading back to my work soon… but until you're feeling better, you should stay here and rest."
"I-I will… and, um… thank you for everything."
Monica was trying to be helpful, but instead, she was being helped. And when she thought that Cyril had taken care of all this for Monica, her heart was filled with a sense of guilt. But Cyril, as he typically did, lifted his chin haughtily and snorted.
"As His Highness' right-hand man, this is nothing much of a problem for me. Soon, General Affairs Manager Maywood will be back."
Thus, the sight of his chest outstretched and his chin lifted sharply, made her think, "Ah, it's the usual Lord Cyril," and strangely reassured Monica even more.
When she first met him, she felt intimidated by Cyril's haughty behavior, but lately, looking at his proud manner only makes her feel strangely at ease instead.
"Lord Cyril, um…"
"What is it?"
Monica pinched the ribbon that hung from the flower ornament on her chest and bit her lip tightly. She really wanted to thank Cyril before he went back to continue his job.
"…Thank you very much for giving me this charm… Thanks to it, I was able to work harder than usual today."
The always cold eyes of Cyril softened slightly. A small smile crept onto the edges of his lips.
"I see…"
Murmuring as if chewing on something, Cyril walked out of the room.
As she listened to the sound of the door quietly closing, Monica tightly squeezed the blanket over her shoulders. Her dizziness had subsided considerably, but it would be better to rest a little while longer since she had just collapsed not long ago.
For no particular reason, Monica looked out the window and let out a sigh of admiration at the stars twinkling in the night sky.
Probably by now, Lady Star Oracle Witch was looking up at the night sky and predicting the future of this country.
Come to think of it, I wonder what Lady Star Oracle Witch was referring to when she said,
"I've been foreseen many futures of the kingdom, especially on the royal family… but for the past ten years, I've been unable to read His Highness Felix's destiny."
Star Oracle Witch was unable to foresee Felix's destiny. For some time now, there has been a series of major incidents around Felix. An assassination attempt by Casey, an intruder at a chess tournament, and today, an assassin named Yuan has reappeared. Every single one of them was a major incident. And yet, the Star Oracle WItch was unable to foresee any of these incidents.
I am also curious about what that Yuan guy said… if his goal was not to assassinate His Highness… then why did he intrude into the school?
What Yuan said was:
"Yeah, I've confirmed it at a close range after pretending to be getting rid of a spider from him. It's the work of the traitor Arthur… That person's prediction was right"
At close range, what did Yuan confirm from Felix? Who is the traitor Artur? Who is "that person" that Yuan talking about? The more she pondered, the more questions came flooding in. Leaning against the window sill, Monica gazed blankly at the twinkling stars.
Somewhere on that star, is there a destiny for Felix?
"…huh?"
Monica might unable to foresee Felix's destiny in the night sky… but she couldn't help but peel her eyes away when she spotted him by the tree just below her.
"W-Why would His Highness be in a place like that…"
As Monica's mouth opened and closed repeatedly, Felix looked around—and then, unexpectedly, he started to climb the tree in his formal wear.
"Whaaaat!?"
What is the star of this party planning to even have sneaking out of the party at this time? Whatever it was, it was something that Monica, as his secret guard, could not overlook. So Monica rushed out of the room and headed to Felix's place.
＊ ＊ ＊
Monica remembered the shape of the tree Felix had climbed, so when she walked out of the hall, she was able to find it right away. Upon closer inspection, she could see the honey blondes glowing in the moonlight through the leaves.
"Y-Your Highness…"
Monica looked up at the tree and called out to him, and the leaves rustled and swayed.
"You are still very good at finding ‘me', aren't you?"
Felix looked down at Monica from the top of the tree and chuckled, then he lightly jumped down from the tree and landed in front of her.
Monica was anxious, wondering if it was safe for him to jump down from such a high place, but Felix looked nonchalant and picked the leaves from his hair with his fingertips.
"U-Um… what about the party…"
"I just wanted to get some fresh air."
"If you want to get some fresh air, why would you need to climb a tree?"
Monica asked fearfully, but Felix laughed in a mischievous way—it's the laugh he showed when he was in the entertainment district.
"I just want to see some stars, because it's looked beautiful today."
"… are you fond of the stars?"
"Not really."
Felix denied it easily and looked up at the stars above him squinting.
"I wasn't that interested in it at the beginning, but my friend was very knowledgeable about it, you see. So, the more he told me about it, the more I became familiar with it. Maybe that's why I feel like going outside when I see the stars."
Felix took Monica's hand in a very natural gesture and put his other hand on her waist. It was as if they were about to start dancing.
"Um, Your Highness, I think you should back to the ball…"
"Just hang out with me for a while. I mean, you sure would refuse my invitation if we're in the hall."
He's right, so Monica decided to be quiet and let Felix take the lead.
Rather than dancing, it was more like just strolling along to the music. Even though Monica's steps were messed up and she didn't get her turn, Felix didn't seem to mind, in fact, he seemed to be enjoying it.
"It reminds me of the time I taught you to dance. At that time, you were thinking about embroidering in my scarf, weren't you?"
"Uh…um…well, it's about a theorem applying the scarf pattern, to be exact…"
"Then, I suppose you don't remember anything I said to you back then, do you?"
Once again, he was right on the spot, so Monica kept her silent. Felix chuckled meanly and brought his lips to Monica's ear.
"You look pretty good in that dress. It's dainty, yet subtly gorgeous, and it seems to bring out your charm. I knew a green dress would suit you very well. Right, dark green color like a forest can be wonderful, but the color of young leaves in spring looks lovely too."
"Well, uh, thank you."
Being complimented on the dress made her feel embarrassed, but she was also honestly happy. It was like he was praising Lana who'd prepared this dress for her.
"Your hair is pretty, too. Did your friend do that flowery hairdo for you?"
"Yes, Lana and I have matching hairstyles."
Looking at Monica smiled bashfully, Felix lifted the edge of his lips slightly, formed a dispirited smile.
"…how envious."
"…eh?"
The hand that held Monica's waist strengthened. The music was still going on, but the steps stopped. Felix's blue, gleaming eyes looked somewhat inorganically at the flower ornament on Monica's chest. He then reached out his hand to Monica's neck, traced a line down Monica's neck with his fingertips, while keeping his other hand on her waist.
"…I gave you that peridot necklace, but you never wore it."
Monica's body jumped involuntarily at the low voice that shivered in her ears. Now Monica realized why Felix had been so concerned about her neck during the day. His voice sounded somewhat sulky, just like he did that night.
"…Eig"
"Hmm."
"I'm not yet skilled in fashion, so…"
"Nevertheless, I wanted to see you wearing that necklace."
Felix's words were as if he were jealous of Lana who gave her a floral hairdo and Cyril who gave a floral ornament. And she thought it was impossible. Confusion filled Monica's eyes, and strangely, the stare that Felix gave to Monica filled with passion.
"The brilliance of a jewel and the brilliance of a star are very similar. If the peridot had been shining around your neck, I would have admired you more than the shooting stars in the night sky."
As the sweet, well-groomed face stared at her at close range, Monica's eyes whirled around as she struggled to think and squeeze out the words.
"W-W-Wha…"
"What is it?"
"What made a shooting star can shine so beautifully is because they're moving unbelievably fast for it to travel from one country to another within one second, even it only has the size of a small pebble. Objects moving at high speed would emit light when they collide with the tiny atoms and molecules in the night sky, which is much different from the principle of shining jewels. In the first place, jewels do not emit light from within themselves, unless they have magical power added to them, but rather by reflecting light…"
Felix put his hand over his mouth and shuddered. His throat quivered, before letting out a breathy laugh. Although he didn't understand exactly what was being said, the words she said to him has really tickled him.
"I see you are familiar not only with numbers but also with stars."
"Well…"
Monica doesn't specialize in astronomy, but she has been calculating the orbits of stars at the request of the Star Oracle Witch. So, she had a good amount of basic knowledge about astronomy.
"…If you delved deeper in Biology subject, you will find many aspects in it only composed of a minuscule number which accumulated to add up with each other. While Astronomy is all about calculating huge numbers which much bigger than the national budget… Well, they're both very interesting, mathematically speaking."
"Do you want to be a scholar in the future?"
"I wonder…" trailed off Monica at Felix's question and smiled vaguely.
Monica has never dreamed of being anything else in her life. Not knowing what she wanted to be while frightened by people, she lived her life in a state of flux… until she realized she had become the Seven Sages.
After becoming one of the Seven Sages, she had been slaying dragons and doing calculations that other Seven Sages had asked her to do, but her main focus was still on researching magic formulas. In that sense, Monica can already be said to be a researcher of magic. And probably the best in the country.
But she kept quiet, not telling Felix about it, to which he responded in a sincere manner.
"If you have a particular path you wish to pursue, I can talk to Count Kerbeck for you."
Monica's eyes widened at Felix's suggestion and she shook her head in panic.
"N-No, I-I'm fine."
"Do you know what happens to girls who graduate from Serendia Academy?"
"…?"
To the puzzled Monica, Felix told her.
"They will be married to."
The students of Serendia Academy were all children of noble families, so it was quite natural for them to be married. Moreover, they can't choose who they want to marry.
"Have you ever thought about marrying someone?"
Monica responded immediately to Felix's question.
"No."
That much was for certain and she denied it definitively.
For a witch who doesn't know love nor romance—moreover a one who is always frightened of people—will she have a future where she can build a warm family?
Maybe, after she leaves Serendia Academy, she will return to the days of hiding in a mountain cabin where she lives only facing numbers and magic formulas while holding these memories in Serendia Academy like treasures.
As Monica looked down with vacant eyes, Felix took Monica's hand gently. Lifting up her face to face Felix, she blinked when saw Felix looking at her with a warm gaze.
Which smile is he showing now? Is it His Highness' or Eig's? But, without answering Monica's puzzling face, he told her.
"A long ago, my friend had told me some words, ‘I wish you could find many things you would be obsessed with that you like, you enjoy, not for anyone else, but for yourself.'"
He had said those words when they walked through the entertainment district before. For that reason, he's looking for something he can enjoy, something he can be passionate about.
"Perhaps I don't have much freedom left. I hope you can carry on this wish."
Monica felt a kind of resignation at those words, and thought, the person standing before her must be Eig.
"Then…what about you, Eig?"
He is going to give up his friend's words that he has been holding in his heart for a long time, leaving all the wishes in those words to Monica. The moment she realized that, for the first time, Monica felt a kind of insecurity about this young man in front of her.
"D-Didn't the friend of yours tell you to find something you like to do? A-Are you going to… stop looking for it?"
When Monica spoke awkwardly, Felix lowered his eyebrows and smiled somewhat sadly.
"… I have a wish that I must fulfill, even if I have to break my friend's promise."
With that, Felix turned his gaze away from Monica and looked up at the night sky.
"Do you see the two large stars over there that connected in a trapezoidal shape? It's a constellation of the Hero Ralph. It said when he was on the verge of dying, he was afraid that people will forget about him… so his wife, Amelia, asked the Spirit King of Darkness, Eldiora, to create a constellation for the dying Ralph. So when people gazing upon the starry sky and saw those stars, they would immediately think about him."
Why are we suddenly talking about mythology? She thought Felix was changing the topic to avoid answering her question, but Monica's intuition whispered that it was not the case.
And Monica probably has touched something around his true feelings which probably caused the young man before her to speak like that.
Looking up at the hero's star, Felix's eyes were somewhat tranquil—as if he were dreaming.
"…even in his death, the Hero Ralph still leaves something to us in the brilliant night… and wouldn't it be wonderful if we can leave something like that as well?"
Monica's hair stood on end.
Felix was always smiling calmly and gently. When he called himself Eig, he seemed easygoing and rarely showed any attachment to anything. Even when he was called a puppet of Duke Crockford, he still behaved like an exemplary prince. But in the eyes of the young man who was now looking up at the stars in front of her, there was a definite flame of obsession. And she felt a firm belief and madness deep-rooted within.
But when Felix turned back his gaze from the starry stars to Monica, he had the usual smile which was warm and gentle.
"I think it's getting cold here. Shall we go back inside?"
All the sweet voices and gentle smiles showed outside only to mask his true feeling inside. Perhaps, even she pressed the matter more, it wouldn't touch his true feeling anymore. After nodding with her pale face, Monica followed behind the walking Felix.
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