She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner! - Chapter 67

“At last.”

I was descending the stairwell in the royal palace that led to its underground prison. The reason was simple: I was here to visit Rei. She was detained for her involvement in the recent chain of events surrounding Yuu-sama, and I had finally received permission for a visitation.

The stairwell that led to the prison was only poorly lit by shabby torches spread several meters apart. On top of that, the footing was poor as well. I very carefully followed the guard guiding me as we continued down. I was sure that even Rei, who normally never let anything get to her, would feel depressed locked up in a place like this.

“We’re here, Claire-sama.”

“Thank you. Let us meet alone.”

“Of course… Uhm…”

“What is it?”

“We have made sure not to treat her roughly, I ask that you please relay that to Dor-sama on my behalf.”

“!”

The soldier who had escorted me here gave a brief salute and left… Really, so my father had actually taken precautions after all.

When I approached her cell, Rei noticed me immediately. She seemed to be doing much better than I had imagined. Cautious to try and hide my relief, I called out to Rei.

“You seem to be doing much better than I expected.”

“Well that’s because Claire-sama came to visit me.”

That was our first exchange after an entire week. I suppose even in a situation like this, Rei was still Rei. Even though seven days couldn’t really be considered a long time, I felt as though we had been pulled apart for much longer. Despite her circumstances, Rei really did appear happy.

“How have things been in the prison?”

“They haven’t done anything horrible, much thanks to you.”

According to Rei, they did not do anything extreme during their interrogation. While she had been throne into a cell, limiting her freedoms, they had not tortured her, and the interrogation was only an exchange of words. This was largely thanks to Yuu-sama and everyone else ensuring their testimonies lined up. Yuu-sama claimed that she had orchestrated everything, Cardinal Lily, I, and even Rodd-sama and Sein-sama had testified the same. Above that, though I could not claim to know the reason, King Rousseau also seemed to have taken our side, meaning that most of the palace was on Rei’s side as well.

Given all that, I was almost sure that she’d be released soon, but perhaps I was too naive.

“Well, they did try to poison my food though.”

“Huh!?”

For a moment I doubt my ears. According to Rei, it was likely done by someone from Queen Lishe’s faction. The party that had taken the most damage from recent events was no doubt Lishe-sama. Her dearest wish was for Yuu-sama to take the throne, but with that possibility crushed before her eyes… I suppose it was only natural that she might seek revenge in one way or another. So while I wasn’t surprised that she tried something, I was surprised that she would stoop as low as poison. Fortunately, Rei had kept her guard up and used her magic to analyze and treat any food before consuming it. She told me that she only had the wand to do so due to my father’s negotiations. Just as I’d expect from him!

“You did well to protect yourself…”

“It was all thanks to Misaki.”

Rei said something that didn’t seem to make sense. Wasn’t Misaki that unbearable wretch that Rei had mentioned when she talked about her first love? I suppose Rei had said that they had made up… Considering how much Rei grieved over Misaki’s gender dysphoria, perhaps they truly had. But if I recall correctly, Misaki had already ended her own life.

“Thanks to Misaki…? What do you mean?”

“I saw her in a dream.”

Rei told me that on the night she had been imprisoned, Misaki visited her in her dreams.

『As always, you’re an irredeemable pushover, huh.』

It seemed just like her to mix in the insults.

『That said… You did well. Felt good seeing that. Thank you for saving someone with a similar problem.』

With that, the Misaki who appeared in Rei’s dream gave a clumsy smile.

『Enough with that dumb look on your face. Hey, be careful with the food.』

According to Rei, after saying all that, without giving Rei the chance to respond, she disappeared. What a strange phenomena.

“So things like that really happen.”

“Well, it could’ve just been an illusion that came from my latent desires.”

In spite of what she said, Rei’s happiness was apparent.

“That aside… This is exactly what I was trying to tell you. This was too dangerous.”

“Really was, wasn’t it~”

The one who had been most against Rei’s schemes this time was none other than I. In the end, hearing about what happened to Misaki persuaded me, but I opposed everything to the very last second. In the worst case we would have made the entire palace our enemy. As I knew just how terrifying that reality would be in an aristocracy, it was only obvious that I would stand against the idea.

“Being in here like this I have no idea what’s going on outside. What happened after?”

“It all happened more or less just as you thought it would.”

I explained what happened in the aftermath of the Offering Dance. First, Yuu-sama was sent to live at a monastery. As already stated, the palace tried to cover things up by presenting an alternate reality stating that Yuu-sama was sent there to be treated. Despite their attempts, it was clear the situation had fallen out of the palace’s hands. I didn’t think that we were too far off from a time where Yuu-sama could once again live freely.

“I have a message for you from Yuu-sama.『Thank you, I’ll make sure to thank you when I get the chance.』That’s what she said.”

“I see. So? What about the situation surrounding her body?”

“Perhaps to be expected, that did cause a bit of a stir. I mean, the people aware of her situation thought that it had just been a temporary lapse caused by the full moon.”

Yuu-sama had not returned to her female body during the Offering Dance only due to the full moon. It was because we had treated the opposite sex disease with the Tears of the Moon. Normally we would have needed two members of the church of rank of Cardinal or greater to access the Tears of the Moon, but because we had Lily-sama and Yuu-sama cooperating with us there were no problems there. They had investigated Lily-sama as well, but she simply explained that she couldn’t deny a request from Yuu-sama. This had also been one of Yuu-sama’s instructions.

“Lily-sama herself stands high on the social ladder so I don’t believe it will be easy for the palace to take punitive action.”

“How about Misha?”

“She’s in the middle of convincing her parents.”

It appeared that MIsha wanted to quit the academy and follow Yuu-sama to the same monastery, but of course, her parents were against the idea. Misha was an outstanding student at the academy. From House Yule’s perspective, they wanted to entrust their future to her, so they must have felt that having her abandon her studies to enter a monastery would be a waste. That said, House Yule had other capable heirs as well so Misha’s mother had taken her side saying, “Can’t we allow our daughter to live as she pleases?” I believe the fact that Yuu-sama herself had said, “I want her by my side.” was a large factor as well.

“Up until now, Misha’s parents had put her through a lot of hardship, so it was difficult for them to take a firm stance.”

“That makes sense.”

From my perspective, it was clear that Misha had long held affections for Yuu-sama. I felt that it was only a matter of time before Misha’s desires were fulfilled.

“Then, what about you, Claire-sama?”

“Nothing of note happened to me. At the most you could say that my maid was taken from my side… It was a bit of an inconvenience.”

I put on airs, but in truth these last seven days had been more taxing than I had ever imagined they would be. I was in a constant state of worry that something terrible may have happened to Rei, I just couldn’t contain myself. I still couldn’t voice these feelings, but it really surprised me just how important Rei had become. From the bottom of my heart, I felt relieved that this had not become a repeat of what had happened with my mother.

“Is that all? Didn’t you miss me or feel lonely?”

“Just how much confidence do you have in yourself?”

It was as though she had seen straight through my facade. While trying to hide the inner turmoil, I lashed back harshly. In response, Rei had a wide grin as if to say that she knew all along. Really, she had such a twisted personality.

“Has Dor-sama said anything?”

“He hasn’t.”

Thinking about it, I tilt my head to one side.

“I was sure that he would fire you or at least take some sort of punitive action, but I’ve heard nothing of it… Rei, just what dirt do you have on my father?”

“It’s nothing like that, really. Dor-sama simply has a very big and accepting heart.”

Or so Rei claimed, but I knew that there had to be something the two were hiding. Neither Rei nor father would tell me anything about it, so I felt a little left out. I could only wonder if they’d let me in on their secret one day.

We continued to talk, but then the prison guard came by.

“Claire-sama. I beg your pardon, but it is time for us to continue our investigation.”

“Just what is left to investigate? Isn’t it already clear that she was only acting under Yuu-sama’s orders?”

Within my words I implicitly demanded for Rei’s prompt release, but the response I received surprised me.

“Well uhm… King Rousseau will be inquiring directly…”

“HIs Majesty will be?”

I couldn’t help but wonder what this was about. I had assumed that King Rousseau was on Rei’s side, but…

“At any rate, this ends your visitation for today.”

“I suppose there’s no helping it. I’ll come again.”

I very reluctantly left Rei’s cell.

◆◇◆◇◆

That night, back at the dorms.

“So, basically, Lishe-sama has declared war! I think I’ll accept the challenge and strike back.”

“Poisoning someone’s food is at worst a warning~ Rei was allowed to bring a wand in with her, there’s no way that Lishe-sama wasn’t aware of that~”

“Even so! To think that she’d try to do something like that to my Rei!”

“Woah there, woah, calm down a little~”

In the end, my anger did not last very long. There was no way that I could have predicted what was about to happen. I never would have expected that His Majesty would expel Rei from the Royal Academy and appoint her as a Special Official who reported directly to him.