After class, Ximo pulled out her Student Terminal and found that Melrose had finally replied to her message… Well, now Ximo was certain: phones were probably “invented” by that dear fellow countryman of hers too.
—
Not long before, in the Student Council President’s Office.
“Xiliya has been spending all her break time in the library studying lately. No other activities.”
“Ximo… besides going to the Guard Station a couple days ago, she hasn’t been anywhere else…”
Mira kept her head down, her toes drawing uneasy circles on the floor. The haughty young lady truly didn’t want to sell out her friends, but if it involved Melrose, that was different.
Melrose had told her to report periodically on the whereabouts of the other two in her dorm, and Mira didn’t dare disobey.
She and Melrose had known each other for a long time. Mira was a native of Cantelot, and her family doted on their only daughter, giving her the best education from childhood. They’d been classmates since junior high.
But even after knowing each other so long, their relationship… Mira felt it definitely couldn’t be called “friends.” Follower wasn’t quite right either—she wasn’t waiting on Melrose hand and foot every day.
Melrose just occasionally had her handle things that weren’t convenient for her to do personally—like the auction before, which Mira had handled diligently.
Her family had gained quite a few benefits from this connection in the past two years. Many even mistakenly thought she and Melrose were close privately—which was nothing but beneficial for Mira.
It was just that this time, Melrose’s orders made her a bit conflicted. If she wasn’t on good terms with Xiliya and Ximo, it would be fine, but lately she felt their dorm relationships were pretty good. So spying for Melrose always left her with a twinge of guilt.
Melrose kept her head down processing activity funding applications from several major clubs while listening to Mira’s report. When it went quiet, she looked up.
“That’s it? Nothing else?”
Mira was silent for a moment, struggling internally, but Melrose’s gaze—which seemed to pierce right through to one’s true thoughts—made her unable to stay silent.
“There is one more thing… Last night after curfew, those two snuck out.”
“Hm?”
Melrose set down her pen. This was unexpected— the academy’s higher-ups already knew about the intruder in Instructor Shasta’s basement last night, and as Student Council President, she was among those informed.
There had been two intruders yesterday, one wearing the academy uniform… Mira’s words immediately made Melrose think of that description.
“Go on. Do you know what those two went out for?”
Melrose didn’t hold much hope for Mira’s answer. If they’d really gone out to do something shady, they surely wouldn’t have let Mira know.
“Um…” Mira hesitated. “According to them, they went on a date.”
Melrose’s pen froze mid-stroke.
Well, well, something shady indeed, huh?
“…You can go now.”
“O-Okay.”
After a moment of silence, Melrose spoke. Mira swallowed, closing the door extra gently on her way out.
She’d known Melrose for years. Though this perfect princess always seemed approachable in public, Mira could tell her mood.
Melrose’s pen tapped the desk rhythmically… No, “date” was probably just an excuse. With such obvious features, those two were likely the culprits from last night. “Date” was just a cover to fob off Mira.
But Xiliya and Ximo did seem close, and both hailed from Camberlan City…
…
The princess rarely spaced out, as her daily schedule was packed with no spare time to kill. But unwittingly, Melrose found herself picking up her Student Terminal, with Ximo’s message interface open.
Only then did she notice Ximo had messaged her very late the night before, but she’d already been asleep and missed it. By morning, it had been buried under a pile of to-dos, unnoticed.
“Senior, is your full name Melrose Roland meow?”
Looking at the message on the terminal, Melrose chuckled softly. Was this some new flirting tactic with such a dumb question? Didn’t Ximo know this country was the Roland Empire?
Ximo really didn’t know Melrose’s full name. Common knowledge like that was always a pain for a transmigrator with amnesia. In the spirit of asking when she didn’t know, she’d casually messaged Melrose the night before.
Melrose typed on her Student Terminal for a while, paused, then deleted the whole question… Only then did she realize how much she cared about what Mira had just reported.
…No, “date” was definitely an excuse. How could she, an imperial princess, care about such petty gossip?
“Or what? You can be endearingly naive sometimes, Ximo.”
“Are you free this weekend? Want to go out together?”
After thinking, Melrose edited and sent two new messages.
Hm, she wasn’t hung up on the “date” thing or wanting to go out with Ximo—this was just necessary probing.
Those two last night were most likely Ximo and Xiliya. Without alerting them, she could test the waters. The date invite was incidental.
See—if she confirmed they weren’t like that, it proved “date” was a lie, and their late-night outing was for something else. This was all for the academy, fulfilling her Student Council President duties.
Soon, she got a reply from Ximo.
“Sure, no problem for me.”
Melrose contentedly set the Student Terminal aside, but then that reply was suddenly retracted, and Ximo quickly sent a new one.
“Sorry, Senior. I have some personal matters this weekend and might not be able to go out with you.”
Melrose: “?”
If she hadn’t been staring at the Student Terminal, she might not have noticed Ximo’s sudden change. So what made the little maid flip-flop like that? Some push-pull tactic?
