The following day at lunchtime, Monica hurried out of the school building and headed for the backyard.
Avoiding the old garden, which she had sneaked into before, because of the possibility of running into Felix, Monica moved to a secluded corner of the backyard.
Then, making sure that no one was around, she took a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it.
On the paper, she had written down the basic steps of ballroom dancing and the tempo of the song. Monica reviewed what Neil had taught her yesterday and put it down on a piece of paper.
After carefully re-reading it, Monica immediately started practicing the basic steps.
"1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3…"
It was just a matter of repeating the same steps, but when Monica, who has poor athletic skills, did it, her upper body would wobble unsteadily. Even just doing that was difficult for her.
"Let's see… put my right foot forward, take my left foot out to the side, put it back in, then… turn clockwise with my left foot as the axis."
When turning around, losing her balance and stumbling, she heard a burst of laughter.
Her shoulders jerked involuntarily and she looked up to see a tall young man looking at Monica with a smirk on his face, wondering how long he had been there.
He has reddish brown-colored hair and droopy eyes. The young man who looks so friendly when he's not talking was the student council secretary, Elliot Howard.
"No wonder it was this terrible. Your dance almost like a drunk person."
Elliot's demeanor was friendly and easy-going, but his eyes were clearly looking down on Monica.
Although they were the same student council members, Monica had not talked to Elliot very much.
However, she had a vague feeling that Elliot did not have good feelings for Monica.
If Brigitte's sharp words were like a sword, then this person's words were like poison. She can feel his malicious intent slowly tormenting Monica.
"Have you not ever attended a ball before?"
"No, I haven't…"
"Haha, I guess it's natural. That kind of dance couldn't be displayed in the public, after all."
Elliot spat out his poison, with a soft tone and a soft smile, as if he were making chitchat.
Monica was stood there shriveling, while Elliot slowly closed the distance between them before looking down at Monica's face.
"You're not a noble, are you?"
"………"
"Most likely you're a child born from a nobleman's mistress, right? …I guess that's not too far off the mark, huh?"
She wondered what kind of setting Louis had devised. As a matter of fact, it was so complicated that she couldn't remember much about it.
If I recall correctly… I was an orphan who was adopted by the former Count Kelbeck's wife… right?
At any rate, it would be best not to say anything inappropriate. When Monica silently looked down, Elliot seemed to take it as a bull's-eye.
"Serendia Academy has become an extension of the social circle. And student council members are the flower of the social circle."
As the second prince, Felix has chosen the members of the student council, it's no exaggeration to say that the student council members are his future aides or potential wives.
In such a gorgeous place, Monica was a thorn who blended in.
"Nobles have their own roles and duties. To be honest, I don't like the idea of a commoner with no aspirations mixed in."
Reaching out his hand, Elliot picked up Monica's badge from her lapel.
He then tossed it up high into the air.
A small badge that proved her membership, fell with a thud onto the decorative part of the roof of the school building. It's far too high for Monica to reach.
"…ah."
As Monica stood there, Elliot sneered at her.
"I have never heard of members losing their badge. Stripping off your position might be inevitable."
Elliot shrugged his shoulders dramatically before looking down coldly at Monica.
"Glad to see you understand your place. Miss commoner."
＊ ＊ ＊
After Elliot walked away, Monica was looking up at the school building with a troubled look on her face.
Her badge that fell on the roof of the school building can be retrieved by using flight magic… but it will be difficult for Monica, who can barely leap high enough, to do so.
Above all, if someone found out, it would be a disaster.
"W-What do I do?"
Would making strong wind with a wind spell make it fall off the roof? However, if the wind accidentally blows away from the roof as well, it will be a disaster.
When she thought about calling Nero to get it for her… someone tapped Monica on the shoulder.
"What's the matter?"
"Yesh!?"
As Monica turned around, cowering, she saw Glenn Dudley standing there. For some reason, Glenn was holding a wooden skewer in one hand.
Don't tell me he's going to kill me by stabbing that wooden skewer to my neck…!? or so Monica thought as she stared at the wooden skewer that Glenn waving like a baton before saying.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Um… Er…"
As Monica was at a loss for words, Glenn stared at Monica's lapel.
"Hey, your lapel is a little loose, isn't it? Aah! Where's your badge! Did you drop it?"
Monica replied hesitantly to Glenn, who started to make a lot of noise.
"Um, my badge… was got stuck… on that roof over there…"
It was a rather lame excuse. But Glenn didn't pry any further, he placed his hands over his eyes and looked up at the roof.
"Do you mean that roof, with that decoration?"
"P-Probably… somewhere around there."
"Then it's easy!"
As Monica widened her eyes, wondering what he meant by it's easy, Glenn was, "Hold this for me!" then gave her a wooden skewer that he was holding.
Then, after snapping his neck, he chanted a short incantation.
Monica's eyes widened. What Glenn was chanting was a flight magic spell.
When Glenn kicked the ground with a light "Here we go," his body leaped immediately to the height of the roof. Maintaining that height, Glenn's body moved horizontally approaching the roof.
"Found it!"
Picking up the badge on the roof, Glenn descended slowly from over four stories building and landed in front of Monica.
The flying spell was a high-level spell that can only be used by an advanced magician. Above all, it required both magic knowledge and physical ability.
Monica was surprised at how easily Glenn used it, and Glenn put the badge in Monica's hand before putting his index finger to his lips with a "shhh".
"Don't tell the others about that, okay? In fact, I've been told not to use magic without supervisor permission."
"Um… are you a magician… Glenn?"
"I'm still an apprentice, though!"
Even as an apprentice, being able to use a flight spell means that he was as skilled as an advanced magician.
Why would such a person be at Serendia Academy?
If he could use a flight spell at such a young age, it would not be surprising if he was recruited by Minerva, an institution specializing in the training of magicians.
Unable to say such a question, Glenn picked the wooden skewer from Monica's hand.
"Oh, I was just about having my lunch. Would you like to join me?"
Now that he mentioned it, she could smell some kind of meat being grilled.
Waving the wooden skewer in a good mood, Glenn walked deeper into the backyard. Fearfully following him, she found the remains of a bonfire in a slightly open area. On top of a leaf, which served as a plate, was a skewer of roasted meat. Apparently, the wooden skewers were used to skewer this meat.
"You know, this school's cafeteria is kind of uptight, and besides its high price, the portions are too small, so it was not enough to fill my belly."
"T-That's why… you grill some meat here?"
"When it comes to meat, freshly butchered is the best! Besides, I won't have energy if I don't eat my fill of meat!"
With that, Glenn offered Monica one of his skewers.
Unable to say no, Monica thanked him and took a bite of the meat without hesitation. The chicken was grilled just right, the skin was crispy and the meat was moist and tender. The spices were also spread evenly which was good.
But where did he get this meat from?
Earlier, Glenn seemed to have said something like "freshly butchered", but he couldn't have been hunting during the break, could he?
In response to Monica's puzzled expression, Glenn answered as he chewed on the meat.
"My family owns a butcher shop in the downtown area. I flew in with my flight spell to pick up the meat from my parents' house! Oh, don't tell anyone I went to my parents' house! Don't tell anyone, okay?! Absolutely don't tell anyone, okay?!"
Although she had suspected it for some time, Glenn seemed not from the noble family.
But why would a butcher's son, an apprentice magician, who was not from the nobility, enroll in this academy?
"Um, why did you… decide to enroll in this school, Glenn?"
"Hmm, I have a master who teaches me spells… My master told me that I was too restless, so my enrollment in this school was to learn how to behave."
Although Serendia Academy was built for the children of noble families, it was not uncommon for children of semi-aristocratic or wealthy families to enroll their children in the school to learn some mannerisms.
Nevertheless, if someone was as talented in magic as Glenn, attending Minerva, the pinnacle of magician training institutes, should be a natural choice.
I wonder who is his master.
"Thank you very much… Thank you for taking the badge for me, and also for the meat…"
"In times of trouble, we should all help each other!"
Glenn smiled pleasantly, showing his white teeth.
Looking at his carefree smile, she felt that her dislike for him had faded a little.
＊ ＊ ＊
Hmm?
Felix watched the exchange between Monica and Glenn in the backyard from the window and squinted a little.
He had seen the entire exchange—from Monica secretly practicing her dance moves to Elliot stealing her badge, to Glenn retrieving it with flight magic.
"…Your Highness."
Will, the white lizard, peeked out of his breast pocket and whispering to him.
"I have been listening to some of the conversations, and looks like there is no connection between Monica Norton and Glenn Dudley."
"Yeah, I guess so. She was quite surprised when Glenn Dudley using a flight spell."
After saying that much, Felix let out a sigh with a languid look on his face.
"Still, it wasn't funny. Why are all of them ganging over bullying my little squirrel?"
"I believe it's because Your Highness is also bullying her."
"Shall I put a collar on her so as to let them know she's mine? Maybe a pretty ribbon with some embroidery on it will do."
"I think that would be looked bad on you."
"I have got the same feeling."
Giggling, Felix covered his breast pocket with his hand. As a signal for him to hide, Will withdrew deep into his pocket.
After confirming that Will had withdrawn, Felix turned his gaze behind him. The person walking towards him was the student council secretary, Elliot Howard. He was the one who had just taken away the badge from Monica.
Felix had anticipated him to walk through this corridor to get back to the classroom, so he had taken the trouble to wait here for him.
When Elliot noticed Felix, he lifted one hand in a friendly manner.
"Yo, Your HIghness."
"Oh, Elliot. Did you have fun playing with the little squirrel?"
Elliot didn't seem to be upset and looked at Felix with his usual frivolous smile plastered on his face. That's a very typical attitude of an aristocrat.
"Say, Your Highness. I think you already know that I really hate commoners who don't know their place."
Elliot Howard may pretend to be a frivolous man, but his nature has always been more aristocratic than anyone else.
It's not that Elliott looks down on the commoners. It's just that he can't tolerate people who do not fulfill their duties… whether they were nobles or commoners.
Felix was aware that Elliot was the one who was more upset than anyone else about the previous accounting irregularities.
"You once said, didn't you, Elliot? Nobles have their roles, common people have their roles. Each of us should play our role according to their standing…"
"Yeah, I did. That's why I'm asking you."
Elliot retracted his frivolous smile and looked sharply at Felix with his drooping eyes.
"Why did you make Monica Norton the treasurer?"
"Because I don't know where Miss Norton's ‘standing' is."
Elliot argued that common people should play roles that fit the status of common people. Felix, however, could not grasp Monica's "standing". That's why he assigned her the role of treasurer. He thought that by doing so, he might be able to grasp her true nature.
Elliot did not seem to be satisfied with Felix's answer. Still, he did not pursue the matter any further and turned his cold eyes on Felix.
"Do you know what I hate more than "the common people who don't know their place"? And nobles who don't do their duty… That goes for royalty as well."
Felix was not offended by his disrespectful attitude towards royalty and replied with a gentle smile.
"Of course, as long as I call myself Felix Ark Ridill, I will fulfill the duty of my role."
—Right, as long as I carry this name.
With eyes that seemed to be looking somewhere far away, Felix whispered faintly to himself.
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