PMZ 064 – Who’s that pretty girl?

The peaceful time passed quickly, and the afternoon bell rang.  

Following this, we have a break time called a review session.  

It’s a free time to loosely discuss and write reports while drinking some medicinal herbal tea provided by the school’s maids.  

“Oh? By the way, where’s Mr. Blaze?”  

The teacher assigned for mock battle hasn’t arrived.  

“Maybe he’s still sleeping. It’s okay. You only need to submit your report. So, let him sleep.”  

Esmeralda, who gracefully sipped her teacup, was the MVP of the day. She, who usually only provides support in the back, shows exceptional performance in casting freezing, burning, paralyzing, and sleeping spells to her opponent.  

Brigitte and Cecilia also did a great job of protecting Esmeralda with their coordinated play.  

Their action was solid proof that girls can be in the frontline too. Of course, not everyone can copy them, but I think you should go ahead and do it if you are good at something. It’s not just about fighting; it could be anything.  

“… Miranda’s your report was great because it gave a clear picture of the situation. Your handwriting is beautiful, and it’s a sign that you have a well-organized mind. If you have time, please elaborate your explanation for improvement on this part a little further. I think it’s a very good viewpoint and I’d like to read more about it.”  

“Okay!”  

When I asked Miranda to resubmit her report, she looked rather happy despite having to do it again; she took her report back to where the B team was gathered (in the hallway).  

The teacher’s desk is in the corner by the window, so I wait for the next submitter.  

A corner by the window. In other words, this place was right in front of Hayato’s seat.  

The best position to watch my handsome boy who was earnestly studying at his desk from the front. Can I count this abusing my authority?  

Usually, this is an example of no good teacher…, But I forced myself to believe that I should be pardoned because I am his fiancée.  

All of the team A gathered by the window and wrote reports while examining each other’s movements flaw during the battle.  

But Hayato, who hadn’t participated in the group battle, had been thinking about something for quite a while; he placed his left hand on his cheek while his right hand is spinning the pen.  

I admired the mysterious sexiness of his downcast eyes, But I was unconsciously taken aback a little when my eyes suddenly met his as he raised his face.  

“Elie-sensei…”  

“Yes, what is it?”  

“I don’t know what to write.”  

…figures.  

You can’t write that you fell for Mrs. Ellie’s honey trap, can you?  

“Hayato, you should write a letter of apology for evaporating the school building.”  

Then Anna, who was standing next to me, entered the conversation with a chuckle.  

“You’re amazing, Hayato. I can barely light the wood for the fireplace. How do you get that kind of heat?”  

Grrr…  

I did not expect she is this kind of girl. But this is an excellent opportunity for me to observe how she will turn the conversation around.  

Hayato replied while glancing up at me with his face turned to the desk.  

“What do you mean, just put some power into it? Just like everyone else.”  

“I see. Even if you use the same magic as everyone else, the result is that different, aren’t you awesome, Hayato? You know, at our next free day – or in other words, tomorrow? Can you teach me how to do it, it’s will be just the two of us, please? I’ll bake you some homemade cookies in return.”  

Y-You …!   

What’s with that barrage of girl’s affection?  

“You are awesome”, “just the two of us”, “Homemade cookies” that’s quite a parade of sweet words!  

You can’t convince me she didn’t mean to do that; she’s definitely aiming for him.  

Besides, …Betty and her friends are throwing us an engagement party tomorrow. You absolutely can’t accept her invitation.  

“We have an engagement party tomorrow. I’m sorry. I can’t.”  

Hayato also gave her a finishing blow. Good.  

“I see. ….eh? But I didn’t hear anything about that. My dad didn’t tell me either. I mean, if it’s the Stuarts’ engagement party, there’s no way Dad wouldn’t know about it.”  

Of course not! Because It’s not Stuart’s family party.  

“Okay then…. but, ahh it’s a shame, I can’t believe you will marry Alisha, I wish I had met your earlier, or if my family was of higher rank, I probably will probably marry you instead.”  

What? What were you going to do if your family had a higher rank?  

I can treat this as a declaration of war, right?  

Then Hayato lifted his face from the desk and looked firmly at Anna.  

“You know, Anna. I wanted to marry Alisha regardless of her family status. Because That’s what love at first sight is all about.  

If I hadn’t met Alisha, I would have thought that marriage was still a long way off, and first of all, I am not interested in becoming a noble, I don’t think Anna and I will ever meet.”  

Then, Julius, Esmeralda’s fiancé, called out to her from behind.  

“Oh, that’s very noble of you. It’s no wonder you’ve taken on Stuart’s abandoned daughter. Your taste in women is not ordinary. As for me, I don’t like those ornaments-like women, so I can understand His Highness feelings a little.”  

The loud, clear voice brought a silence to the bustling classroom. As if he didn’t notice, he continued.  

“It is obvious that she has no confidence in her face when she’s applying so many layers of makeup. I’ve always wondered what happens to women like that after they get married, and when I heard that she married a commoner, I laughed.  

You cannot even complain about her ugly face, can you? I think you did an excellent job holding it in.” {wanna bet he is dead?}  

**SMACK**  

Lady Esmeralda gave him a hard slap almost the same moment as I reached for the whip, and Hayato, who looked extremely upset, stood up.  

Julius staggered a few steps after being slapped on the cheek and looked at Esmeralda as if he witnessed something impossible.  

Esmeralda said in a calm and composed manner.  

“No matter how much Anna fooling around, you can’t take it out on others. Stop this.”  

“Eh? I wasn’t trying to fool around; I want to become fri–”  

“Anna. Shut up.   

I’m talking to Julius.”  

I hurriedly stood up and intervened between them after controlling the snapped Hayato with my hand.  

“Let’s calm down for a moment.”  

“I can’t do that. I was very uncomfortable listening to his outburst against Alisha-sama. I will not back down it until he apologizes.”  

“Esmeralda…”  

I can’t forgive Him for saying something insulting to Hayato either. But I am the one who should be angry here.  

There is no need for you to raise your hand against your fiancé.  

As expected, Julius’s face turned red, and he continued his outburst.  

“Oh, look at you, you’re a woman, and yet, you’re violent! That’s why I hate noble women! If only all women were as ladylike, quiet, charming, and natural as Miss Anna…!  

Most women, including you, are too busy dressing up, and every time you opened your mouth, all you talk about is love, romance, or gossiping about others…   

Unlike Miss Anna, you all don’t even have the speck of intelligence to even grief about the country and its policy.  

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. You all have no substance, you’re empty, you’re nothing!”  

Lady Esmeralda’s eyes moistened a little.  

This time, I cracked my whip and silenced Julius with a crackling wind.  

I. hate. You.  

“I see.   

I understand what you are trying to say. Even so, you have crossed the line. so, apologize.”  

“To whom!?”  

“Don’t you understand? I don’t know how capable you are, but can you imagine how Lady Esmeralda must have felt when she saw you being so friendly with Lady Anna?”  

“It’s because she doesn’t like Anna who hold low status.”  

“Do you really think so…? How could you openly insult others with that level of competence? The policies discussed by such a person who doesn’t understand people’s feelings held no value.  

Can’t you see? Esmeralda was heartbroken thinking about your honor when Anna nearly rejected you.  

How can a person with no substance feel such a thing?  

Even though we hadn’t known each other very long, I could tell right away that she had a very generous heart. I assure you that she is a wonderful girl who is too good for you. Please retract your statement and apologize.”  

“….Tsk.”  

Julius rubbed his cheek and walked out of the classroom. A small red flame and smoke came out from the back of his hair, and everyone gasped in unison.  

“Wait, Julius…”  

“Shhhh, Ali– ehm, I’m sorry, I mean Ellie-sensei he’ll find out soon enough, so leave him alone.”  

Hayato grabs me by the shoulders and makes a secret gesture with his fingers over his mouth.  

“You’re the culprit huh?”  

“Pardon? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  

It is very difficult to materialize magic at a distance from your own body. Otherwise, there’s no need to send something flying that’s easily defended like a fireball.  

If not Hayato, who else is capable of doing it?  

In the end, Julius’s voice echoed from the corridor, and Esmeralda wiped her eyes and said   

“ufufu, Well, serves him right. Thank you Hayato and Ellie for–”  

“I didn’t do anything. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.”  

“Me too. I was just saying what I wanted to say. Thank you, Lady Esmeralda, for being angry for Alisha…”  

Esmeralda tried to smile and wiped her eyes several times, but every time she did, tears pour out from her eyes, and she couldn’t stop them. She buried her face in my shoulder and began to cry in a muffled voice.  

Most of the girls in the class surrounded me and hid her, and the boys pretended not to see her.  

Perhaps Anna was feeling uncomfortable, she grabbed her bag and walked out of the classroom without saying a word. She was probably going to leave early.  

After a while, Esmeralda began to calm down and spoke to me in a whisper with her forehead on my shoulder.  

“…Alisha, you spent the whole of last year feeling this way. And there were five of them like that …right now, I deeply regret my decision to not take your side at that time.”  

“That did happen. But it wasn’t all bad… it wasn’t all that bad. Thanks to that, I was able to meet someone I truly love.”  

“Maybe I should run away from home, too.”  

“No, you can’t run away from home. I had my parents’ approval, too, remember?”  

“Yes. yes, you did. Social studies, right? That’ s one way of putting it.”  

“Yes. Remember, whatever you do, please discuss it with your father, Marquis Hardy, before you act. If it becomes too difficult for you to accept, please come to my home. I’m sure we can help you.”  

“Thank you.”  

Esmeralda, who had a smile back again on her wet cheeks, was a strong and wonderful girl after all.  

No wonder she’s known as the Queen of the Academy.  

—-  

After school that day, I was on my way to the staff changing room to take off my disguise after skimming through the reports I had collected and found the Quinby-three girls waiting for me in front of the door.  

“Miss Ellie?”  

“Oh dear, what’s the matter?”  

“We’ve brought you a present.”  

Cecilia held out a paper bag to me.  

“What is it? No most importantly, why are you giving it to me?”  

“It’s a token of thank you for today. We’ve talked about it. We talked about what we thought would make Ellie happy. That’s our answer.”  

I looked and saw that a school uniform inside.  

“Why?”  

“You had a rough time at the academy, didn’t you? I thought with Maria and the queen’s education, you probably didn’t get to experience the pleasures of school life that normal girls do.”  

“Yeah.”  

“It hasn’t been long since you graduated, and some of us are still in school at 16…”  

“Wait, wait, wait. No way.”  

“Yes. We thought now was the only time to have an after-school date in uniform.   

I apologize for using my spare uniform, but please have fun with Hayato as if you are a normal student at this academy.”  

“Eh? can I? Really?  

“You can, you totally can!”  

I guess so. But I’m a little uncomfortable with it.   

……!!!! And before I knew it, the three of them dragged me into the changing room and had me change into my uniform.   

They said, “Let’s take off all the makeup,” and then they removed all the makeup from my face and carefully combed my hair, which had become ruffled because of the wig.  

“anddd Done! Here comes Alisha!”  

“He said he would wait for you at the same place as yesterday! Where is that?”  

“At the piano room…”  

“Oh, perhaps that piano we hear now is Hayato’s? Wait, What? Isn’t he very good at it?”  

“Yes, he is. He learned it at church.”  

“How much special person he will be? Come on, let’s go!”  

When I was walking down the hallway with Quinby-three pulling my arm and pushing my back, I passed Julius in front of the infirmary.   

Julius opened his eye wide and looked at us.  

Then Esmeralda muttered in a low voice.  

“What do you think? Did you feel ashamed of your knothole?” {idiom: Eyes without the ability to judge.}  

“What do you mean by knothole?”  

“I mean about how Hayato fell in love with Alisha at first sight, to think of if my eyes are also a knothole. After all, she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.  

So, Alisha, you don’t have to worry about what that idiot said, okay?”  

“Hmm? Did that person say anything about me?”  

“Ah… Well, that’s okay. If you don’t remember, you don’t need to worry about it.”  

The only thing I remember is how he insulted Hayato, Esmeralda, and girls in general. I don’t remember anything else.  

Still, I’m going to make him apologize for what he did today. I’m the kind of person who holds a grudge.  

“This is the room, isn’t it? Hayato, Lady Alisha is here to pick you up. We messed with her a bit, though.”  

Hayato stopped the piano and looked at me.  

He also opened his eye wide in surprise.  

TN note :  

I didn’t remove or translate the idiom because it’s too hard to replace it with another word. If any of you has a suggestion to replace that [knothole] terms, please write in the comment below.