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Chapter 20: Picnic Alone

The days were getting longer and the overcoats were left hanging inside the closet. On one particular weekend, Razé, who was wearing her usual attire; shirt and trousers, took out the notebook from Carna, which could be called the ‘Book of Prophecies’, and spread it on her desk.

“Let’s see.”

Her roommate, Folia, went out to the shopping district with Luca Fein Streinge today. She wanted to buy him a treat to thank him for accompanying her with her magic practice. This was actually one of the ‘events’ and Razé almost overlooked it because Folia never treated those guys as love interest. She already had someone she liked. Razé read through the Book of Prophecies and ticked off events that had already happened.

Regardless who Folia was going to end up with, Carna’s tragic ending was equal to her own tragic ending. In order to prevent that, Razé would comb through the Book of Prophecies day by day to make a list.

“Let’s see. The next event would be Prince Ruben and Folia getting locked up in the storeroom. Reject. This one cannot be let happen.” Razé marked a cross next to the text. The list she was making was to prevent any event related to Prince Ruben and Folia. As for events with other love interest, she honestly didn’t really care. The most important thing was to prevent Folia from falling in love with Ruben. Just to be clear, Razé wasn’t doing this to make trouble for Folia. This was done with regard to her wish, and only to avoid triggering a romance flag with Ruben.

“The problem is Carna-sama is a bit dull-witted and lack self-confident.”

Although Carna and Ruben were a lovey-dovey couple, Carna couldn’t help but worry about the plot and wouldn’t rely on Ruben. On the contrary, there were many occasions where she was convinced that she was destined for a tragic ending. Razé was aware of the reason, and she felt that Carna’s attitude was dangerous.

“If worse comes to worst, then I’ll do something about it (even if I have to risk my life) … She should enjoy her school life while she can!”

She broke into a grin. Below the text she marked with a cross, she drew an arrow and wrote ‘change to Prince Ruben and Carna’. All she had to do now was to manipulate the situation as the event occurs.

“Today Folia went out with Luca-sama, and Carna is having tea party with Ruben. Alert level should be low.”

Her empty stomach made a rumbling sound, so she decided to go out for lunch. Since the weather was so nice, she decided to eat outside. She went to the dining hall at the dormitories to order food for takeaway. There, she bumped into Alisa.

Alisa: “Oh, Razé! Morning～”

Razé: “Good morning, Alisa-senpai.”

Razé saw Mary sitting behind Alisa. Taking a closer look, she saw Mary was playing chess with Norman.

Razé: “Is it chess today?”

Alisa: “Yeah. It’s chess today.”

Whenever Razé saw Mary, she was always having all sorts of match with Harlens’s son.

Alisa: “She’s supposed to teach me with my study. *sigh* But it’s interesting to watch them too.”

Razé: “They look good together, aren’t they?”

Alisa: “Yeah.”

Razé could understand how Alisa felt. It was interesting to watch this couple, the same with the Ruben-Carna’s couple.

Alisa: “Oh, that’s Dreis! Nice timing. Razé, see you later!”

Alisa saw the quiet-looking boy with glasses, and ran up to him.

Alisa: “Dreis! Can you help me with my study? Please! I beg you!”

The young man who was called by Alisa looked annoyed. He asked her, “Which subject?”

Razé smiled looking at the heartwarming scene. Her expression made her looked older, perhaps due to the experience of her previous life.

She bought sandwich and snacks to go, and with a warm and peaceful countenance, she headed to the hill behind the training ground. Even couples who prefer privacy would not come near here, so she could eat quietly without any worry.

She was humming as she walked through the forest. The slopes were getting steeper, and then she reached a cliff. The magnificent view spread out in front of her. She was fascinated with the scenery. It was a place that she happened to find during her morning run.

She wondered where the school was located. The location was unknown because Harlens had used illusion magic to hide it. Seeing that there were no guardrail or safety measure there, this cliff might be fake too.

Razé rested under a tree shade and took out her lunch.

“Itadakimasu[1].”

Sometimes, it was not bad to eat alone like this. Razé munched her food while listening to the sound of the pleasant breeze swaying the trees. As expected from a dining hall of an aristocratic school, even the sandwiches were so delicious.

After a while, a rattling sound could be heard from behind her back.

“This place …”Adis was stunned. It seemed that it was his first time to reach this place.

Razé felt annoyed and she drank through a straw with a loud noise.

His hair, blue deeper than the sea, swayed in the wind.

Adis: “Oh, it’s you.”

Razé: “Good morning, Zars-sama.”

She felt disappointed that her alone time was disturbed.

Adis: “What are you doing here, scholarship student?”

Since she had defeated Adis in the practice match, she felt that his attitude towards her had become a little hostile. She desperately hoped that he wouldn’t complained to his father about a ‘cheeky commoner’. She would rather not look at the Grim Reaper’s face but acting repugnant to it would be rude to Adis. She pulled herself together and replied, “I’m having my lunch.”

Adis walked towards Razé. He frowned when he saw her seating cross-legged, an unladylike manner.

He had never saw her wearing skirt other than the school uniform. Although her shirts were wrinkle-free and her trousers were decent, normally girls at this school would pay more attention about their appearance regardless of their status. He said to her, “Can’t you do something about it?”

Razé tilted her head wondering what he was talking about. After thinking for a while, she hurriedly sat up straight[2] and replied, “My apologies for my improper manner.”

Adis looked at her reaction and wanted to tell her that she got it wrong, but somehow, he couldn’t be honest to his feeling. Whenever he tried to provoke her, she would always give a serious response. Adis felt it was uninteresting.

If it was any other girl, they would give him a cute response. But Razé always gave a textbook answer like a role model student. He didn’t know how he could get her to show him her true nature. Furthermore, he was always the one that got surprised. She even beat him in a sword fighting match. He didn’t want to keep losing, so he unconsciously felt competitive against her.

Looking at Adis who was keeping silent, Razé started to tidy up her things as she said, “Am I disturbing you? I’ll leave right away.”

“Hey! No, it’s not like that!” Adis scratched his head in frustration. He said, “Just stay here. I didn’t tell you to leave.”

Razé was surprised at his brusque answer, which was rare since he always acted like a gentleman in front of the ladies. Oops! Did I make him mad? If she made her superior’s son angry and he complained about it, she might get bullied at her workplace later. Her plan to escape from him had backfired.

“Okay. I’m sorry about that. Would you like to have some cookies?” Razé changed her plan and tried to please him.

The tactic trying to please someone with cookies normally worked with the kids or the elderly. Adis was speechless as he looked at the cookies she offered. He had been offered cookies by girls many times before, but it was rare to receive one from her. But it was obvious that she offered them because she just happened to have some and wanted to share it. After giving it some thought, Adis took the cookies and sat next to Razé. He hadn’t had lunch yet because he was running away from the girls and came here to escape.

“Ah, I will get a drink for you.” Razé used her teleportation skill to produce a drink and gave it to Adis. She watched him as he drank the juice and noticed that he had very long eyelashes. It made her felt jealous. Not knowing where to look, she dropped her gaze and started to eat her sandwich. As Carna had said before, Razé looked like she thoroughly enjoying her meal.

“Ah. It was delicious,” Razé said after she finished her sandwich. Then she realized that Adis was looking at her with widened eyes. Adis was surprise because it was his first time seeing Razé so happy.

Razé realized that she had been ignoring Adis who was sitting next to her. She asked, “By the way, why are you here, Zars-sama?”

Adis replied, “The girls keep asking me out.”

So annoying, thought Razé.

Yesterday, it was unofficially announced that Ruben’s birthday party would be held next month. The party would be held by the students at the main hall. The organizer of the party was his fiancée, Carna. With the help from the student council, the preparation for the birthday party was going well. Carna was very busy every day, but Razé knew that she was looking forward to the party.

Adis had been asked to help organize the party. As for Razé, she planned to attend it because it was her top superior’s son’s birthday party. But she didn’t have many dresses like other aristocratic ladies, so she was unsure whether to attend it or not.

Razé said to Adis, “I see. Well, you’re the famous ‘Blue-haired Young Lord’.”

Adis knew that Razé was making fun of his embarrassing nickname. He immediately replied, “Hahaha. I don’t know when they started to call me with that nickname. I’m not fit to be called a young lord.”

Both of them were silent.

What an annoying guy, Razé thought in her heart.

What an annoying girl, Adis thought in his heart.

Both of them were thinking of the same thing; If we got matched at the Battle Fiesta, I’ll definitely beat you.

Unknown to them, they both were so in sync with each other.

[1] itadakimasu: A phrase that Japanese says before they eat. It means something like ‘thank you for the food’. ↩

[2] 正座Japanese style proper sitting. Wiki page here. ↩