Since When Did You Have The Illusion That You Don’t Have Magical Powers?! - CH 30

I followed the two ladies and to my surprise, I was led to a salon, a place that only children of high-ranking aristocrats are allowed to use. I thought I would be taken to a secluded place at the back of the school building, but this was not the case. Unexpectedly, I stood there at the entrance to the salon with a blank stare.

“This way, please.”

When I entered the salon as prompted, three ladies were waiting. The salon is bright and clean and appears to be ready to entertain guests. Now now, what is this all about?

“Sapphiras-sama, welcome to our salon.”

The ladies all present a beautiful greeting.

“Eh?”

“I apologise for inviting you here so unexpectedly. Sapphiras-sama is always with the Knight of the Sun, isn’t it? I couldn’t really reach out to you, but now that the exams are over, I took the plunge and decided to invite Sapphiras-sama to our tea party.”

“Come this way, Sapphiras-sama.”

One of the ladies ushers me to the seat of the guest of honour. This is not a summon, but an invitation to a tea party?

“We wanted to have a long and leisurely talk with you in this way, Sapphiras-sama!”

“Aurora-sama told us that Sapphiras-sama likes sweets, so we brought our very own special sweets.”

When one of the young ladies turned her gaze to the maid who was waiting, tea and sweets were brought over as if she understood. On the plates lined up in front of my eyes, there are colourful confectioneries.

“Um……?”

“I’m terribly sorry about this. We have not yet introduced ourselves.”

The five ladies introduced themselves politely one by one. Everyone is in a different class, but they seem to have wanted to reach out to me since before.

“After all, you’re called the Spirit of the Twilight, so it wouldn’t be a good idea if everyone thought we were trying to get a head start by talking to you casually.”

“However, since we are students studying in the same academy, I thought it would be a shame if we were too reserved and didn’t interact with each other, so I prepared a place for a tea party like this.”

“Now, Sapphiras-sama, please do not hesitate to enjoy your meal. I recommend the pêche tart, which is in season now.”

“The cheese and berry jam cookies are delicious too.”

One after another, the ladies recommend unusual pastries. This is a delightful embarrassment.

“Well, then, I’ll take them without reservation.”

I put my hand on the confectioneries they recommended without hesitation. All of these are rare. I’m sure they’re sweets that’s popular in the royal capital right now. Because women are conscious of trends.

“Come to think of it, the other day, the soirée hosted by His Highness the Crown Prince was the talk of the town.”

“Yes, yes, it was truly a miraculous sight to see three beautiful knights, led by Sapphiras-sama, protecting Aurora-sama.”

When the topic turned to the soirée, the lady’s eyes sparkled. It seems that they were all there.

“Did Sapphiras-sama know that Aurora-sama was a saintess?”

“Um, I knew that she was a holy magician.”

“Did you also know that Clawis-sama is the Crown Prince of the Beast Kingdom?”

“No, I really didn’t know that.”

The young ladies asked me one question after another. When the talk of the soirée died down, it was time to talk about magic. Naturally, I spoke fluently about the wand’s magnificence here. Everyone listened to me so earnestly that I ended up having three more cups of tea because of the passion with which I spoke. However, at the time, I didn’t even expect that this story would later lead to an unprecedented craze for wands among young ladies.

Such a peaceful tea party ended after about two hours.

“Thank you for the meal. The sweets were all very delicious.”

“Please come and join our tea party again.”

“I’m sure everyone will be envious when they find out that we had tea with the Spirit of the Twilight.”

Also this embarrassing nickname being called so many times, don’t get used to it for goodness sake. With a bitter smile on my face, I left the salon. I wonder if I should give them some flowers later as a thank you for the sweets. I’m sure Percival will give me some good advice on that.

I was on my way back to the dormitory in a good mood after the tea party when I was approached by Percival, who had apparently finished his sword training.

“Sapphiras,”

“Ah, Percival. Have you finished your sword training?”

“Ahh……what was Sapphiras doing?”

“About that, I was invited to the ladies’ tea party.”

“Tea party?”

Percival looked doubtful, so I told him that I had been invited to the ladies’ tea party, that it was my first time in the salon and that I had been treated to some rare sweets. Percival smile certainly said, “That’s good to hear” but as soon as his gaze turned to behind me, his expression suddenly turned grim.

“Hm? What’s the matter, Percival?”

“Sapphiras!”

What is it? I was pulled in strongly by the arm and hugged tightly. What the hell!? While confused, I immediately put up a barrier magic to solidify the surroundings, bang! And the shock of something hitting the barrier and a woman’s high-pitched scream went up.

“Eh? What, what? What happened?”

I was completely overwhelmed by Percival because of the difference in our physique, but I was released from the strong protection, so when I checked my surroundings to see what had happened, I saw a woman collapsed on the ground a little further away. Apparently this lady rushed at me.

She must have rushed in with great force. Her dress was rolled up and her legs were completely visible as she was knocked back by the barrier and fell down.

Eh? What should I do with this? Should I lend a hand? Or should I pretend I didn’t see it? Somewhat awkwardly, I quickly averted my gaze and found a dagger with a broken tip lying by the woman’s side. I see, she was going to stab me with it. If I get stabbed with a dagger like that, I wouldn’t die. If it was badly done, Percival, who was protecting me, would have been in danger. This isn’t a joke. Why should I have my life threatened by a total stranger like that?

“Why!”

The woman shouted. I’m the one who wants to ask why. Who the hell is this woman?

“If you had listened to Gilliam obediently, none of this would have happened! Someone like you, ostracised by your family, is an unnecessary existence! We were trying to make you useful! You’re a disgrace with no magical powers, and you’ll be a nuisance wherever you go! Why are you still relaxedly attending the academy?

Ehhh, that’s a bit too much. I don’t care if I’m of no use to anyone or not. Whether I am useful, it’s none of your business. But now I know who the woman is from her rant. It’s the Marchioness of Spencer. I’ve never met her before, even though she’s the mother of my former fiancé. Moreover, what kind of first meeting is this, where someone tries to kill you?

“Don’t joke around,”

I felt like I had to say something, but before I could open my mouth, Percival’s low voice that seemed to resonate from the depths of the earth interrupted the Marchioness of Spencer’s selfish words.

“You people don’t understand the value of Sapphiras, do you?”

“I-I am the Marchioness! My daughter was to be His Highness the Crown Prince’s betrothed! And yet!”

“So what? She just didn’t deserve to be the Crown Princess Consort.”

“Now, now, Percival.”

Percival, who is usually gentlemanly, is using ‘omae1’ to address a woman. I’m happy that you’re so angry because of me, but on the other hand, I’m a little shy. In the first place, he almost got hurt while protecting me. I can’t use healing. I really want him to stop being so reckless.

“I think it’s a pity that the young lady’s engagement came to nothing, but no matter how you look at it, it’s not my fault, it’s your family’s problem, isn’t it? The fact that you couldn’t control Gilliam was ultimately the Anderson family’s problem. But why do I have to sacrifice myself for you?　Don’t force your household problems on me. Even if I’m useless, my life is mine, it is not the Anderson’s and not even Perfectio’s. If you have to use others as a stepping stone to get happiness, then that’s something you don’t deserve. If you are aristocrats who don’t know where your responsibility lies, the annulment of the engagement would have been made sooner or later, even if what happened with Gilliam hadn’t happened.”

“……Wh-why……”

The Marchioness of Spencer, still repeating ‘why’, broke down in tears.

Even if she is the wife of a marquess, she would not have been able to do much. It was a child her husband had outside at his own convenience and brought into the house at his own convenience. Even so, the least she could do was to educate him. Abandoning it and forcing it on a person in a weak position is an extreme abdication of responsibility. Since everyone in the marquess’ family didn’t say anything, that idiot son got carried away and did whatever he wanted.

The guards of the academy, who heard the commotion and rushed to the scene, were bewildered to see the madam lying on the ground and weeping profusely. Certainly, it would be difficult to deal with a classy-looking aristocratic lady crying with her dress rolled up.

“This woman tried to stab a student with her dagger.”

As Percival explained, the guards stood the madam up and took her away. She cried and said, you2, you, you until the end, I was impressed that even though they are not blood related, they are still parent and son. I wondered if it was because of the environment in which they were living.

I found out later that she explained to the gatekeeper that she had come to pick up Gilliam’s personal belongings and entered the academy. I don’t think the Marchioness would go out of her way to do such a menial task. The academy’s security may be more crude than one might think. After all, I’ve been in danger twice in an academy that is claimed to be safe.

And then, It was the madam who planted the demon scorpion in Gilliam’s cabin. It was her long-cherished wish to have her daughter become the Crown Princess Consort. She must have felt deep resentment, because it was all undone by her son Gilliam, who is not related to her by blood.

I feel sorry for them, but that’s the seed they sowed. It’s not my fault or anything. If anything, Sapphiras was a victim.

I hope the day will come when the madam realises that.